[From Ecclesiological Notes, 1848]

PREFACE.

THE following pages are intended as a very humble offering to the descriptive Ecclesiology of England. They may, perhaps' possess some little interest from the fact that the localities of which they treat have never been ecclesiologically visited, and - the northern portion at least - lie quite out of the beat of the ordinary tourist.

The first chapter embraces the Isle of Man. Besides my own notes, I have derived great advantage from Trane's History¹;-Waldron's Account²;-Feltham's Tour³;-Sacheverell's History⁴; but 'above all' Mr. Cumming's very interesting and valuable " Isle of Man' recently published⁵. Though designed as a geological work, it embraces a vast fund of general information; and the spirit in which it treats of the Manx Church, ancient and modern, is a most refreshing contrast to the general character of such books.

The second chapter though containing little besides the churches of Fortrose, Learn, S. Duthus of Tain, and Dornoch, embraces the ecclesiology of Cromarty, ROSS, Sutherland' and Caithness.

The third chapter is occupied with a sketch of the ecclesiastical history of the Orkneys and Zetlands, and of the life of S. Magnus,-some acquaintance with which is necessary to a clear comprehension of the history of Kirkwall cathedral. The authorities are principally Torf~eus, Barry's Orkneys, Edmonson's Zetlands, and Debes's Faeroes: and also the Bollandists, whose accuracy in localities I have frequently had occasion to admire, but especially in the life of S. Magnus.

The fourth chapter is taken up with a description of the cathedral of S. Magnus. Till Sir Henry Dryden shall favour the public with the extensive and valuable collections he is understood to have made respecting that noble church, this chapter may serve to fill a gap in English ecclesiology.

The fifth chapter comprises the parochial ecclesiology of the Islands: but is not entirely, like the foregoing, the fruit of personal observation; though I believe that the information collected from others will be found correct.

J. M. N. [John Mason Neale DD]
SACKVILLE COLLEGE,
AUG. 16, 1848.