Social History In 50 Objects Number 4. - A Gourock Communion Token
My Papa Robert 'Robey' Ritchie Ahlfeld was also a lifelong teetotaller who never touched alcohol. We think this was possibly due to the fact that he was descended from a long line of strict Presbyterians on his Mother’s side, Margaret ‘Meg’ Ritchie. Although, others in the family did enjoy a drink.
The Ritchies are a very old Gourock family who joined the dissenting party during the great disruption of 1843. It is said that Gourock’s Free Church adherents belonged to families descended from Covenanters.
As such, they spent sometime during the early days of the disruption, holding their services of worship at old conventicles out on the open moors above Gourock, just as their ancestors had done centuries earlier during the ‘Killing Time’ of the 1680s.
The location of one such conventicle from this period known locally as White’s Well can be found up on the moors at Earnhill behind Kirn Drive, on what was once known as Drumshantie Moor.
In a previous post about Dockers Brass Tallys, I also discussed the way in which dockyard foremen acted as gatekeepers with the power of life or death over casual workers looking for a day's employment.
The same themes of gatekeepers and the strict Calvinism continues with today's object which is a Gourock Communion Token from 1832.
Communion tokens were required in many Presbyterian congregations in Scotland during the 18th and 19th Centuries to access the eucharist. Parishioners had to be of sufficient moral standing and have some knowledge of scripture and Church teachings in the eyes of the Elders in order to receive a token, the idea was to restrict communion to those deemed to be holding to a correct belief and living lives of ‘proper Christian conduct’.
However, by 1882 it appears that nobody seems sure who was worthy enough or learned enough to receive communion.
50 years later in 1882, Pastor Purves of Gourock Free Church writes to his flock saying “I think there is a little backwardness in regards to this which I should like, if possible, to remove.”
He goes on to say “they plead such excuses for holding back, as they are not good enough, and have no sufficient knowledge and so on.”
Rev Purves then tells the adherents of Gourock Free Church that “communion is for the weak not for the strong and the only knowledge required is to know that we are sinful, and stand in need of the grace of Jesus Christ.”
This marks a profound shift in religious attitudes and thankfully moved the Christian faith away from the 'Holy Willies' and parish 'worthies' charged with deciding who got a communion token and who didn't, often based on small town gossip.
Communion tokens were much like the aforementioned brass tallys - You needed a brass tally to get your daily bread and you needed a communion token to get your spiritual bread, with gatekeeping foremen and elders controlling both aspects of life.
Now just as then, we should be mindful of power hungry gatekeepers and unaccountable busy bodies seeking to control every aspect of our daily lives, in our workplaces, in our churches, homes and communities.
Our strength still lies in doing things communally, in associations with others. This is where our collective power to resist today's modern gatekeepers, is to be found.
