page_title: Canon Alexander Galloway
section_title: The Liturgist
hierarchical_section_title: Canon Alexander Galloway / The Liturgist
caption_attribution_description: English: Replacement plaque for Kinkell Crucifixion Plaque 1902
context_page_description: Canon Alexander Galloway was a 16th-century cleric from Aberdeen in Scotland. He was not only a Canon of St Machar’s Cathedral, he was a Royal Notary and Diocesan Clerk for James IV and James V of Scotland; vicar of the Parishes of Fordyce, Bothelny, and Kinkell; five times Rector of King’s College – University of Aberdeen; Master of Works on the Bridge of Dee in Aberdeen and for Greyfriars Church in Aberdeen; and Chancellor of the Diocese of Aberdeen. According to Steven Holmes, he was one of the most notable liturgists of his time, designing many fine examples of Sacrament Houses across the North-East of Scotland. He was a friend of and adviser to Hector Boece, the first Principal of the University of Aberdeen, as well as Bishop Elphinstone, Chancellor of Scotland and Gavin Dunbar. He was an avid anti-Reformationist being a friend of Jacobus Latomus and Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus and clerics in the Old University of Leuven. Along with Gavin Dunbar, Galloway designed and had built the western towers of the cathedral and designed the heraldic ceiling, featuring 48 coats of arms in three rows of sixteen.
context_section_description: Apart from his organisation skills, Galloway was a deeply committed conservative priest. He was a “canonist”. He also left a legacy of buildings, signs and symbols that place him as one of the great 16th century Liturgists in the NE of Scotland.  Carter has recalled him as : 
   [..] the man behind the late flowering of medieval [sic] art which took place in the NE of Scotland during the first third of the 16th century ..[..] .
  — Carter, Charles. 1956 
  Galloway made three important liturgical contributions at his own Church. First a sacrament house (1524). In Scotland the host was most often held in an ambury usually situated at the east end of the sanctuary. His sacrament house at Kinkell is in the form of an ambury on the NE wall. Galloway had visited the Low Countries where there are similar sacrament houses. There he met Jacobus Latomus at Louvain, Belgium The sacrament house at Kinkell can still be seen although it heavily weathered. It is cross-shaped, with the cupboard (ambury) in the lower part. It is decorated with the words HIC EST SEVATUM CORPUS DE VIRGINE NATUM (“Here is preserved the body which was born of a virgin’”) on the panelled compartments forming the arms of the cross. Two angels can be seen holding the monstrance on the centre and at the top of the cross. At the bottom is the date, AD 1524,  together with Galloway’s initials. There is considerable damage to the installation due to weathering.  
  Second, a unique crucifixion plaque (1525). The crucifix  scene was designed to show the mass as a re-presentation of the passion. Holmes claims:
   [..] .. ..the crucifix suggests that its purpose was to show, in the same way as much liturgical interpretation and medieval Eucharistic theology, that the mass was a re-presentation of the passion…..this plaque gave a Catholic interpretation of the mass for the people in the church … the prominence of Galloway’s initials suggests that he wanted to be remembered for this teaching…....[..]
  — Steven Holmes (2015)]]
  The panel that is now visible, in the ruins, is a copy made in the early 20th century after the original had been removed for restoration and lost in 1903!  The original installation would have been painted and decorated with coloured wires. The Cross is adorned with the liturgic sign INRI. That is,  IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum) "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (John 19:19). To the left of the cross is the Archangel St Michael the patron saint of Kinkell church. To the right the Virgin Mary. Below, to the left, is a  representation Souls in Purgatory. Indicating ”preces sanctorum” – prayers for the dead. To the right, below, a figure that was probably Galloway. His initials and the Marian rose are depicted on the altar as well as on the frame of the plaque. Steven Holmes 
  Third, a baptismal font. This can be seen in St John’s Episcopal Church,  Crown Terrace in Aberdeen. The bowl is octagonal with sunken panels on each face. This design is striking when compared to other medieval fonts in Scotland.  The liturgical signs are as follows: the eight sides of the bowl itself are a reference to the eighth day of Holy Week – the Sunday of the Resurrection and new birth. A striking feature on one side of the  bowl is the letters A & G intertwined with a cord.  There are in addition on other faces, the Arma Christi (five wounds - the objects associated with Jesus' Passion),  two sacred monograms (one being “IHS” - abbreviation of the name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (Jesus); the other a crowned M for Mary), a pierced heart  (the “arms of Mary” ), two carved roses and the cross with a crown of thorns. Galloway  made extensive use of the Marian Rose in his liturgical signs, as well as being a practicing “Marianist”. The bowl, which is 18” deep and 9 ½” wide has a drain. It now sits on a pedestal which was designed by the Aberdeen architect James Mitchell who provided the setting in 1851 when it was installed in St John’s.
caption: Kinkell Crucifixion Plaque (replacement)
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