The main purpose of a religious house was to sing Masses for the souls of the founders, benefactors, and their families, and to cultivate a holy life among its members; but the religious and their lay-brethren made important contributions to the cultural and economic life of Scotland. They were great builders, and introduced new techniques from Norman England or direct from France. Among the majestic monuments of the age—some of them now sadly impaired by the ravages of time and misfortune—are the cathedrals of St Andrews and Glasgow, the priory of Inchcolm, the abbey of Arbroath, and parts of the great Border abbeys (which were to suffer so much from English invasion). The monks were good agriculturalists too, and good sheep farmers; they became wool-merchants, miners of coal and producers of salt.
(J. D. Mackie, A History of Scotland, 2d ed. [New York: Dorset Press, 1978], 55)
