page_title: Greyfriars Kirk
section_title: Organs
hierarchical_section_title: Greyfriars Kirk / Features / Organs
caption_attribution_description: English: Greyfriars Church pipes
context_page_description: Greyfriars Kirk is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland.
  Greyfriars traces its origin to the south-west parish of Edinburgh, founded in 1598. Initially, this congregation met in the western portion of St Giles'. The church is named for the Observantine Franciscans or "Grey Friars" who arrived in Edinburgh from the Netherlands in the mid-15th century and were granted land for a Friary at the south-western edge of the burgh. In the wake of the Scottish Reformation, the grounds of the abandoned Friary were repurposed as a cemetery, in which the current church was constructed between 1602 and 1620. In 1638, National Covenant was signed in the Kirk. The church was damaged during the Protectorate, when it was used as barracks by troops under Oliver Cromwell. In 1718, an explosion destroyed the church tower. During the reconstruction, the church was partitioned to hold two congregations: Old Greyfriars and New Greyfriars. In 1845, fire ravaged Old Greyfriars. After its reconstruction, the minister, Robert Lee, introduced the first organ and stained glass windows in a Scottish parish church since the Reformation.
context_section_description: The current three-manual organ stands at the west end of the church and was built by Peter Collins of Melton Mowbray in 1989. The organ possesses almost 3,400 pipes, which are arranged in towering cases with trumpets en chamade. Carved details on the cases by Derek Riley show Scottish plants and animals, a Franciscan Friar, and Greyfriars Bobby. Along the frieze of the towers runs the penultimate phrase of Psalm 150: "Laudate Dominum onme quod spirat" ("Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord"). A chamber organ stands in the north aisle: this was built around 1845 by David Hamilton of Edinburgh and purchased in 1968.
  The first organ in Greyfriars was a harmonium installed against the west wall of Old Greyfriars in 1863, during the ministry of Robert Lee. This was the first successful attempt to introduce an organ in a Church of Scotland building. The harmonium was replaced in 1865 with a two-manual pipe organ by D. & T. Hamilton of Edinburgh. This was rebuilt and enlarged to three manuals in 1883 by Brindley & Foster of Sheffield. In 1932, after the union of Old and New Greyfriars, the organ was donated to St Columba's Church, Blackhall.
  In 1899, D. & T. Hamilton of Edinburgh installed a three-manual organ against the east wall of New Greyfriars. This had originally been made in 1866 by the same firm for Park Parish Church, Glasgow. It was overhauled in 1901 by Charles and Frederick Hamilton of Edinburgh. When the dividing wall between Old and New Greyfriars was removed in 1938, this organ was rebuilt in the north-west gallery by Gray & Davison of London. The console was placed at ground level under the opposite arcade until it was moved to the east end during the 1950s. It was overhauled again in 1960 by H. Hilsdon of Glasgow and scrapped in 1990 after its replacement by the current organ.
caption: The pipe organ, built by Peter Collins and installed in 1989
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