DEAN OF TIIE CHAPEL ROYAL (Scotland), an office held by six (formerly three) clergymen of the established church, to which they are appointed by the crown. The benefice of the chapel royal, which was instituted by James was richly endowed, but it has been disputed whether the revenues now enjoyed by the deans belonged origin ally to the chapel royal of Stirling or to the chapel royal of Holyrood. It is known that the existing revenues were once attached to the see of Dunblane; and an act of par liament was passed in 1621, sanctioning the annexation of the revenues of the chapel royal of Stirling to the bishopric of Dunblane, which was the poorest bishopric in Scot land. hence it is assumed that the whole existing deanery revenues belonged to the chapel royal of Stirling. But there are some facts which prove that the benefice was connected' with the chapel at Holyrood equally with that at Stirling. William Cowper, bishop of Galloway, held the office of dean of the chapel royal from 1615 to the com mencement of 1619. He resided at the foot of the Cavongate, and preached regularly in the royal chapel of Holyrood. This individual drew part of his revenue from the parishes of Kirkinuer and Kirkcowan in the co. of Wigton, and part of the present deanery revenues is likewise drawn from the same parishes. Dr. Adam Bellenden, who was bishop of Dunblane when the act above mentioned was passed annexing the reve nues of the chapel royal of Stirling to his bishopric, performed the duties of dean of the chapel royal at Holyrood for many years subsequent to 1621. It seems clear, therefore, that if the revenues of the benefice were ever divided between the two chapels, they were united to the see of Dunblane during the incumbency of Dr. Bellenden. The state of the case probably is, that at its institution by James V. who resided frequently at Stirling, the benefice was held by ecclesiastics chiefly resident there. The chapel royal is noticed as in full operation in Stirling in 1540. During the reign of queen Mary, the chapel royal seems to have been at Holyrood. In 1574, again, after the reformation, the name of Johne Duncaneson appears as minister of the chapel! royall, or king's house at Stirling, where James VI., then very young, resided; while at Holyrood the minister was apparently the regular parish minister of Canongate, and not connected with the chapel royal. Afterwards, when the royal residence became fixed at Holyrood, the
dean of the chapel royal officiated in the chapel, of which abundant proof exists in the history of the period. The chapel at Stirling was left to decay; whereas during the reigns of James VI., Charles I., Charles II., and James VII., the chapel royal of Holy rood was repaired and embellished. The last of the Stuarts laid out considerable sums for the purpose only the year before the revolution. The revenues of the benefice fell to the crown, jure corona', on the abolition of episcopacy in 1690, and have since been gifted at the royal pleasure. For a long period, the emoluments were not at all consider able, owing to the practice which existed of giving tacks or leases of the teinds (q.v.) to the proprietors of the lands at nominal rents. In consequence of the termination of some of those leases in 1841, and the deans being debarred in the gift of the appoint ment from accepting anything but the full yearly value of the revenues, a very great increase took place in the emoluments, which, however, were again somewhat diminished • by augmentations made to the parochial clergy out of the teinds in question. A large portion of the revenue is drawn from the parishes of Yarrow and Ettriek, and the remainder from Wigtown, Kirkcudbright, and Ayr shires. In 1841, the annual rental divided among the three deans was £252; in 1858, £2018. The duties of the oflico used to be nearly nominal; but on the foundation of the chair of biblical criticism in the university of Edinburgh in 1846, it was endowed with one third of the revenues, the professor becoming one of the three deans. The universities commission, 1858, recom mended that when the requisite vacancies occurred, the revenues should be divided into six parts, attached respectively to the chairs of divinity and Biblical criticism in Edin burgh university (the latter receiving pits of the whole), Biblical criticism in Aberdeen university, biblical criticism in Glasgow university, and church history in St. Andrews university. This arrangement has now come fully into operation, the result being that the revenues of the chapel royal are divided among the incumbents of the above men tioned chairs. Besides these five deans, the (lean of the order of the thistle bears the title of dean of the chapel royal, but draws none of the revenues.