Page:The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland ( Volume 3).djvu/334

 An earlier church than that just described existed here, and was dedicated to St. Bothan, after whom also the parish was named, until, on the erection of the present mansion house, the baronial name of the extensive domains of Yester superseded the old parochial name.

In the ancient Taxatio (1176) the Ecclesia de Bothani was rated at 30 marks, and it is again referred to in Bagimont's Roll (1275) as the

—St. Bothan's Collegiate Church. East End.

Præpositura de Bothans, and is rated at £40. The territory of Yester was from the twelfth century in the possession of the family of Gifford, and in 1418 it passed, by marriage, into the possession of Sir William Hay of Locherwart, with whose descendants it still remains.

In 1421 Sir William founded the Collegiate Church of St. Bothan for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys. And he and his