1544 - The Earl of Hertford was sent by King Henry VIII to enforce marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry’s son, Edward. Mary had become Queen at one week old in 1542. The Scots refused this "Rough Wooing" and so Leith was captured, Border Abbeys destroyed, Holyrood and Edinburgh burned and St Cuthbert’s suffered severely.  

1550 - In "Cosmographie", published in Basle, Alexander Alesius wrote that "Under the rock of the Maiden Castle is the new parish Church of St Cuthbert".  

The Reformation and William Harlow 

1559 - John Knox became leader of the Reforming Party and drew up the Scottish Confession of Faith. The Reformation sought to restore Christianity to its early purity.  

1560 - Scottish Confession of Faith adopted by the Scottish Parliament. 20th December, William Harlow, first Protestant Minister of St Cuthbert’s, attended the first General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (held in the Church of St Mary Magdalene).  

Originally a tailor in the Canongate, Harlow became a noted leader in the new Kirk of Scotland. He conducted the first reformed service in St Cuthbert’s. Previously a priestly exercise watched by the people, this service - in their own tongue - invited participation.  

Each parish appointed a Kirk Session of lay-elders. Any wrong-doers, be they rich or poor, were brought before the Session. One of the elders' duties was to go out into the parish on Sundays and find out what the absentees were doing !  

1573 - English artillery sent to end the siege of Edinburgh Castle, held for Mary, Queen of Scots (reign 1542-67, executed 1587). A battery, set up near the Church by the English, attracted gunfire from the Castle and the thatched roof of St Cuthbert’s Church was set ablaze.  

Robert Pont 

1574 - Rev. William Harlow gained a distinguished colleague named Robert Pont. Under their ministries, the West Kirk, as it was now called, had "ane greit congregatioun".  

King James VI (reign 1567 - 1625) had grown to hate the Presbyterian Church, especially when it became extreme and calvinist. He appointed bishops and forbade the Assembly to meet.  

Robert Pont was the second minister of St Cuthbert’s after the Reformation. He was one of the most eminent of its Ministers and was born in Culross and educated at St Andrew’s University. Learned in law, he was, at various times, a senator of the College of Justice, Provost of Trinity College, Commissioner of Orkney and five times Moderator of the General Assembly.  

He strongly opposed James VI’s attempts to introduce Episcopacy but he and others had to flee to England. On his return he was briefly imprisoned. Nicol Dalgleish was appointed in Robert Pont’s absence, and he too was arrested for sympathising with his exiled brethern.  

1583 - Kirk Session issued begging permits for use by the parish poor.  

1584 - During Robert Pont’s absence, William Aird became Minister of the West Kirk. This able and fearless man was chosen by the Presbytery to excommunicate the wild Earl of Bothwell, a great favourite of the King!  

1585 - Robert Pont welcomed back to St Cuthbert’s.  

1592 - Being near the City, the Church had many aged, helpless, infirm and vagrant people to provide for. The list of the poor recorded 80 names.  

1593 - Badge system introduced to help each parish identify its own poor.  

1594 - Extensive church repairs left no money for a Manse. Robert Pont agreed to pay for one himself and it was later bought from his heirs. By the end of the 16th Century, the Kirk also had a small cemetery which - in over a century’s time - would have the unwelcome attention of grave-robbers.  

The main thoroughfare we now call Princes Street was then a straight country road called the Lang Dykes and, to the north, was a bleak common called Bearford’s Parks. A road called Kirk Loan ran from the Church to Stockbridge and, because of this, the Princes Street gate of St Cuthbert’s is still known as the Stockbridge Gate.  

1596 - First reference made to a school, run by the Session Clerk  

If you are researching your family history, or are interested in finding out more about the history of St Cuthbert's Church or Parish, you can find information on available resources HERE