Archie Darroch, Precentor (1841)

The "tradition of the stone" may have been one reason Archie wanted to stay in Clachan, even though his wife, Mary wished to join her family in Upper Canada. A second reason may have been his new, prestigious role as precentor in the parish.[1] Today’s secular society would view such a role as menial. In the 1800s, however, it held status in the community and the church. Even the government acknowledged the role of a precentor by listing in the census those who held the calling.

This story picks up from when Reverend Macarthur offered Archie the position and shows him fulfilling his duties on the Sabbath.

---

On Sunday, September 12, 1841, the Darroch family was in church as usual. Mary sat with her children in the pew, while their father, Archie, sat at the precentor’s desk positioned in front of and below the elevated pulpit.

Today was a special day for the family, for Kate was with them. She had moved out of town to work as a domestic, employed at Ronachan House, about a 30-minute walk west of Clachan. It wasn't the distance that kept Kate from visiting, but the long, arduous hours. Plus, like most employers, Mr. McAlister preferred that his servants not fraternize with their families. That was the best way to reduce gossip about the goings-on in their personal lives.

The Sabbath, however, was honoured by employers and domestics alike, and servants were often given time to attend church. So Kate was given an occasional break to be with her family on Sundays.

The precentor's desk in the Kilcalmonell Parish chapel.

Today was also Margaret's eighth birthday, so she was understandably a little squirmy. Mary settled Margaret by saying, "If you stop wiggling, I'll let you sit with Kate."

Margaret nodded. Her eyes brightened as she moved over to sit by Kate. Kate smiled down at her little sister as she snuggled in beside her. Mary's strategy had worked.

On the other side of Kate sat her eighteen-year-old brother, John. The two had been inseparable while growing up, and absence makes the heart grow fonder. Now that she was working at Ronachan House, they were closer than ever.

John kept one eye on Archie at the precentor's desk. This father-son relationship complex (as often is the case) but John respected his father and was proud of him redbeing the precentor in the parish.

Tuning Fork

Up front, Archie read from the scriptures until it was time for the service to begin. Reverend Macarthur entered, so Archie closed the Bible, stood, and cleared his voice. With dignity and just a wee bit of pomp, he lifted his tuning fork and tapped it on the desk. Archie sang the first line of the Psalm and the congregation repeated it. He sang the second line, and the congregation followed. The whole Psalm was sung in this counter-point fashion.

At the end of the singing, Reverend Macarthur delivered his sermon. John watched his father listen intently to the minister’s discourse so he would know when to lead the congregation in the next hymn.

John paid close attention to the whole process. Archie had promised him if he watched and practiced, he could substitute as precentor. John recalled how when they were in the kirk by themselves one day, his dad let him strike the tuning fork. John gave it a decisive smack on the stand.

“Not so hard,” Father said. “It’s not how hard you strike, but how true. A light touch will do.”

That resonated with John. Little did he know he would apply that sage advice as a metaphor for both his work and family responsibilities for the rest of his life.

---

The above story is derived from Frank Darroch’s account in his red book, coupled with research on the role of the Scottish Precentor.

In a previous post, Reverend Macarthur gave the etymology of precentor when he invited Archie to serve in that role. An earlier title for the position was lettergae, referring to “the man who let go the letters who gaed [gave] out the lines of psalm before singing them to an unlettered congregation.”[2]

The precentor sat at a desk, similar to the pulpit. Often it was on a raised platform. The desk was also called a Letteran, from which “The lettergae or Reader continued to read the Scriptures from the desk until the entrance of the minister when the psalm singing began.”[2] When a Psalm was to be sung, the precentor selected a melody to apply to the Psalm. (His repertoire may have been as few as a dozen tunes.) He would then obtain the pitch from a tuning fork and sing the first line, and the congregation would sing it back.

The position of precentor was originally needed due to low literacy rates. Even after literacy rates improved, however, the role endured for decades, especially in rural areas. Scots had “become so much accustomed to lining out they could not think of giving it up even though they could read the psalms as well as the schoolmaster or the precentor.”[2]

Giving up this time-honoured custom of reading the line was difficult. "It seemed to have produced almost as much genuine grief and honest heart burning as did the introduction of the organ in these degenerate days of ours.”[2] A remnant of the practice still survives in Scotland's rural churches.

The pulpit. Photo by E. Ball.

Keith Robertson at the desk.

As in most parishes, the precentor role has long been abolished in Kilcalmonell. Elizabeth Ball, Sessions Clerk for the Kilcalmonell Parish, infers that "...the Precentor either used the pulpit or sat at the seat just under the pulpit on the slightly raised altar. The oval frame under the pulpit is the backing to that seat." [3] (Photo credit for above left: Elizabeth Ball.)

In 2011, Keith Robertson stood at the precentor's desk where his third-great-grandfather, Archie Darroch, served in the 1840s and 1850s. (Photo credit for above right: Doug Robertson.)

It is unclear when Archie was first called to serve as the parish precentor. The 1851 census lists him in the role, so we know he started before then. Frank Darroch's 1974 red book narrows it down even further. He wrote that John "substituted at times for his father" and also noted that John left Clachan in 1842. This story's 1838 setting presumes Archie was in the role for a few years before sharing duties with his son.

Our next few posts will show John's wrestle with a life-changing decision. Should he inherit his father's occupation, or leave Clachan forever to pursue his own dreams?

---

Sources:

1. Frank Darroch, A Darroch Family in Scotland and in Canada, (1974). Re: the "tradition of the stone" and Archie Darroch's role as precentor (http://www.darroch.org/family_scotland.html).

2. Nicholas Dickson, The Auld Scotch Precentor as Sketched in Anecdote and Story, (1894). Quotes are taken from pages 21, 23, 37, and 34.

3. Quote from Elizabeth Ball, Sessions Clerk for the Kilcalmonell Parish, from a personal email, July 18, 2020.