As is so often the case in regard to various abbeys, the mutilated remains of this conventual church, once belonging to the Præmonstratensian monastery, founded at Fearn in the 13th century, are now appropriated for the religious worship of the inhabitants of the town--the nave, chancel, and two side chapels (all of the Early English period), being converted into the parish church of the district. The abbey, curiously enough, was originally founded at Edderton, twelve miles to the north-west, but was subsequently placed in its present position, owing, it is thought, to the fertility of the soil. It was built by Farquhar, first Earl of Ross. Patrick Hamilton, the noted Scotch reformer of the 16th century, was abbot there. He and George Wishart--both ardent followers of John Knox--were burnt at the stake for heresy during the primacies of Archbishop Beatoun, and his successor. It may be of interest to follow the various stages of Scottish religion from early Celtic times until the Reformation. “From the days of St Columba up to the 12th century, the old Celtic Church of Scotland preserved its independence; but it had to bow before the onward march of papal usurpation just as the Church of England had done. Their wild nature and their tribal feuds made the Scots a ready prey to the diplomacy of papal embassies when the sister kingdom sought for aid against Norman conquerors, and the Scots allowed the Pope to claim feudal lordship over them that he might help them to keep the English south of the border. The ecclesiastical supremacy obtained by Anselm over the Scottish Church was only temporary, for Pope Clement III. was induced (A.D. 1190) to declare the Scotch Church independent of any authority outside his own. After that the Scotch clergy fell into the worldly minded habits of mediæval Christianity, and many scandalous proceedings were recorded ... until the cry went up in Scotland as elsewhere that the church should be purified. But the Scottish Reformation came like a deluge, sweeping away the good and the bad together, until nothing was left of the apostolic constitution which has descended from the old Celtic Christianity. John Knox ... was the leader of the Scotch Reformers; and the example of England, with which his position as chaplain to Edward VI. had made him familiar, was speedily followed in the destruction of the Scottish monasteries.”--_English Church History_ (Rev. C. ARTHUR LANE).