Dunkeld Lectern

The Dunkeld Lectern is a mediaeval lectern which was one of the most prized possessions of St Stephen's Church, St Albans. The 150 kg brass reading desk stood approximately 1.6 metres high and took the form of a large eagle with outspread wings with the bird perched on an orb supported by a turned shaft - an eagle lectern. Engraved on the orb was a Latin inscription - Georgius Creichton Episcopus Dunkeldensis (translation: 'George Creichton Bishop of Dunkeld'). George Crichton was abbot at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh from 1515 to 1522, and it is believed that he was presented the lectern to the Abbey on being made Bishop of Dunkeld by Pope Alexander VI. The lectern was plundered by English invaders in 1544, lost (and recovered) in the English Civil War, and stolen by a group of Scottish nationalists in 1984. On two occasions the lectern was hidden in a grave. It remains the subject of dispute.

In the autumn of 1543 Scotland and England signed two agreements which are often referred to as "The Treaties of Greenwich". The first guaranteed peace between the two countries for a fixed period of time and the second affirmed that an arranged marriage would take place between Prince Edward of England, the son of Henry VIII, and Mary, Queen of Scots, soon after her tenth birthday.

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