GLOSSARY / NOTES PAGE

quoad sacra

Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary (pub. Edinburgh) defines quoad sacra thus: as far as concerns sacred matters (of a parish disjoined for ecclesiastical purposes only). When the ancient parishes were parcelled out, and churches built, the theory was that every parishioner should be within reasonable walking distance of the parish kirk. However, even allowing for our ancestors' ability to walk long distances (in the absence of any alternative means of travel), the theory sometimes failed, and some people found themselves too far from the parish kirk. The common solution in such cases was to establish a "chapel of ease", that is, a subsidiary church within the parish.