Evening star., 1923-09-06
Great Gaelic College to Be Erected
On Scotland's Holy Island of Iona

was only prevented from doing so b
his premature death.
X
Iona was the seat of an archbish
opric, was for time subject TO th5
kings of Norway, then freed from
their rule by the Scottish hero
Sorherled the Great, founder of the
Macdonald dynasty of the ancien
Lords of the Isles" and was fnallyN
wrested from them by the Campbells
of Lorne, with the assistance of KIND
Robert Bruce. The superchieftain Oh
the Campbells, the eighth Duke ot
Argyll, took advantage of his owner
ship of the holy isle to make over all1
his ecclesiastical remains on thc1
island to the trustees of the Pres
byterian Church of Scotland. He wasI
a presbyterian of the strictest tvpe5
and he was determined to preventA
them, az all costs. from falling intoA
the hands of the Church of England
or OF the Church of Rome. For
while his eldest son. the late duke.
VINO married Queen Victorias daugh-
ter, Princess Louise, was an enthusi-
ast1c member of the Church of Eng
land, the second heir of the present
and tenth duke is a half American
and is Roman Catholic The trus,
tees of the Presbyterian Church
while accepting the gift with graft
tude, openly regretted that the gift
tearing that it might fall once more
into the hands of the Roman Catholic
church, to whom 1t had originally be-
longed.
1t must be admitted, however, that
the, trustees have not made a good
hox xvn ch
ed all those possessed of any sense of
art or of reverence for the historic
past by the vandalistic restoration of
the glorious old ruin of the Cathedral
OF Iona. 1t has not only been re-
rooted, but also fitted with neo-Gothic
brass work. woodwork and other
twentieth century furnishings from
church furniture emporiumS. which
offend the eye not only by their ag-
gressively modern Philistinsm, but
also by their glaring anachronism.
That the trustees should have desired
to use the old sanctuary of what was
once the Gaelic counterpart of Eng
lands Canterbury Cathedral and
BILE, but it passes Imagination how
they could have had so little sense Of
propriety as to convert II into what
looks like a brand-new Presbyterian
church. utterly out of place among It's
wonderful environment.
The late Duke of Argyll, while
devout Anglican of this low church
type, feared the high church and rit-
ualistic inclinations of his nephew
and successor. the present, duke, might
end in his conversion to Roman Ca
tholicism. So he attempted TO intro
duce a clause in his will, according
to the terms of which membership of
the Roman Church should constitute
a disqualification to the possession of
the holy island. But he was warned
by his own lawyers, as we'll as by emf
nent jurists whom he consulted, that
Iona formed part and parcel OF the en-
tailed estates of the dukedom and
that he had no power to ALLEVIATE It's
ownership from any OF his successors
to the dukedom.
The present duke, who still remains
a bachelor, is perfectly empowered TO
grant a lease of ninety-nine years or
longer to the Duke of Atholl and his
committee of trustees for the cree
tion of the projected Gallo college on
the island, to serve as sort of a Gal
lie Mecca of Presbyterianism. But
there is nothing save death or CONVEX
sion to Professionalism that can prevent
his young half-American cousin, Ian
Douglas, now twenty years old, son
of Douglas Campbell and of the late
Susanne.' daughter and heiress of
John Lawrence of New York. from
eventually succeeding his father aS
the heir to the family honors and nSt
tates, as the twelfth Duke OF Ar--If.
and thus giving the holy island of
Iona a Roman Catholic owaer and
overload