Page 12 - LOTN Issue 45

DIOCESE
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows
BY ANGUS M HAY
t. Mary’s Roman Catholic Chapel,
also known as the Chapel of Our
Lady of the Snows, is located
Sclose to the A939, a short distance
from the junction with the A944, west of
Strathdon, and on the way to The Lecht.
The buildings are set in woodland, a
short distance from the Candacraig Estate’s
Keepers’ kennels, alongside the Burn of
Tornahaish. There are two conjoined
buildings: the Chapel itself, and a cottage.
The Anti-Catholic Penal Laws had forbidden
the building of Catholic churches: thus the
Catholics in Strathdon had been obliged to
hold services in secret around Corgarff - at
one point in a corn drying kiln. However,
in 1797, the Anti-Catholic Penal Laws were
relaxed and the building of Catholic churches
was permitted throughout Britain.
There were at that time numerous Catholics living in
Strathdon: many working on the Estate of Castle Newe,
owned by the Forbes of Newe, the major landowners.
Jock Forbes of Bellabeg and his nephew, Sir Charles
Forbes (1774/1844), 1st Baronet of Newe and member
of parliament, donated land in the early 1800s for the
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows before the
summer renovations
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows no longer neglected Smith who subsequently departed in 2019.
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The Chapel, suitably clad in a blanket of snow
building of the Chapel and also paid for the construction of
the adjacent cottage - the "priest's house" which were both
then donated to the Church.
Mass at that time was celebrated once a month by a priest
from Glengairn. However, subsequently, services were only
held once or twice a year. Recently, for at least eight years,
Mass has not been celebrated in the Chapel.
Sir Charles Forbes was the nephew of “Bombay Jock”
John Forbes (1743/1821). The family fortunes of the Forbes’
of Newe were founded by "Bombay Jock", who made his
fortune with Forbes and Company in British India. This
branch of the Forbes family came from Strathdon and
many members of the Family went to India to work for
Forbes and Company.
“Bombay Jock” Forbes returned in 1780 from India to
Aberdeenshire and wanted to purchase Castle Newe in
Strathdon. However, his cousin, James Forbes (the three
times great grandfather of the present writer) had returned
to Aberdeenshire earlier and had already purchased Newe.
“Bombay Jock” asked his cousin James Forbes to sell him
Newe. James Forbes agreed, and sold Newe to “Bombay
Jock” in 1781 at, the story goes, a handsome profit.
“Bombay Jock’s” nephew Charles Forbes had spent his
early life in India working for the family firm. He returned
to Aberdeenshire in the early 1800s. He inherited Castle
Newe from his uncle “Bombay Jock” in 1821. He was an
active MP and in 1823 was created a Baronet of the United
Kingdom. He sat in Parliament for upwards of twenty years:
and supported the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.
The Chapel and cottage were visited for many years
by guest priests who, as well as enjoying holidays in the
neighbouring countryside, celebrated Mass in the Chapel.
A recent tenant in the 20th century was Barbara King, who
was well known in the Strathdon area. She looked after and
maintained the Chapel. On her departure from the cottage,
due to her age, she was succeeded as the tenant by Jo