[38] The original name of Temple on the Southesk, according to Chalmers, was Balantrodach. In the Chartular of Aberdeen the Preceptory is styled "domus Templi de Balantradock;" and in the Chartular of the Abbey of Newbattle we find mentioned, "Magister et Fratres Templi de Blentodoch," which is a contraction or corruption of the same term. The place became known by the designation of Temple only after the establishment of the Order there. This was the head-quarters of the Grand Preceptors of Scotland, and became, at the suppression of the Templars, attached to the Hospital of St. John. In the 15th century, Sir William Knolls, Grand Preceptor of St. John's, obtained an Act of Parliament, changing the old name into that of the barony of St. John. But the people never conformed to the alteration. Part of the foundations of the original convent were dug up about a century ago. The ancient chapel of the Temple continued till lately to be used as the parish kirk. It is now partly dilapidated, in consequence of a new church being built. On the eastern gable there is an antique inscription, formed with lead run into the letters, which appears to be as follows:-- V Æ S A C M T H M. These letters, when extended, may signify, _Vitæ Sacrum Militiæ Templi Hierosolymitani_; or, _Virgini Ædem Sacram Militiæ Templi Hierosolymæ Majister_; supplying _condidit_ or _consecravit_. The Virgin Mary, it is well known, was the patroness of the Order. What monstrous mysteries would not the ingenious Von Hammer make these letters the vehicle of revealing! In the second line the learned German could not fail to discover the presence of the _Metis_ or _Tau_ of the Gnostics, whose doctrines, he insists, the Templars held, as attested by their monumental remains, and by coins or medals imagined to refer to them. [39] Book of Cupar quoted in Father Hay's MS. [40] This gallant Templar,--worthy to have fallen in a holier cause,--is thus strangely vilified, after death, by some miscreant, at the trial of the Templars:--"Brian le Jāy dixit quod Jesus Christus non fuit verus Deus et vérus homo; quod minimus pilus barbæ unius Saraceni fuit majoris valoris quam totum corpus istius qui loquitur. Pauperibus quibusdam eleemosynam a Briane petentibus pro amore Dei et beatæ Mariæ Virginis respondit, 'Que dame, allez vous pendre à votre dame;' et projiciens impetuose unum quadrantem in luto, fecit pauperes musare in eodem et hoc tempore frigidæ hyemis." Such is a sample of the evidence against the Order. [41] It appears by the following extract from Clifton's examination, that the Preceptor of Scotland was a subordinate officer to the Master, or Grand Prior in England. "Interrogatus; quis recepit eum ad dictum ordinem et dedit ei habitum? dixit, quod Frater Willielmus de la More oriundus de Comitatu Ebor. tunc et nunc Magister dicti Ordinis in Anglia et Scotia."