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THE HISTORY OF SCOTTISH THEOLOGY
The History of Scottish Theology, Volume I
Celtic Origins to Reformed Orthodoxy
The History of Scottish Theology, Volume II
The Early Enlightenment to the Late Victorian Era
The History of Scottish Theology, Volume III
The Long Twentieth Century
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Edited by
DAVID FERGUSSON
and
MARK W. ELLIOTT
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
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© Oxford University Press 2019
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2019
Impression: 1
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by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
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above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
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and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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ISBN 978–0–19–875933–1
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Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
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Acknowledgements
We wish to record our thanks to several people who have assisted with the
production of this three-volume work. Dr Sandy Forsyth has provided valuable
support with contracts, organization of conferences, and regular communication
with authors. As associate editor, he has contributed much to this project and we
are greatly indebted to him for his labours. Initial copy editing was undertaken by
Dr Cory Brock, Revd Craig Meek, and Dr Laura Mair. Three conferences were
held which enabled contributors to present initial drafts of their work; these were
held in 2016–17 at Princeton Theological Seminary and New College, Edinburgh
with financial support from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. We
are also grateful to the members of the Editorial Advisory Board for their advice
and encouragement, particularly during the early stages of the project.
David Fergusson and Mark W. Elliott
List of Contributors
University, his research interests and publications have been mostly in the area of
Reformation history and theology, especially text-critical editing of primary sources includ-
ing ones for the Opera Latina of Martin Bucer, Reformierte Bekenntisschriften, and the new
expanded edition of Conciliorum oecumenicorum generaliunque decreta. He is chief editor
of the international journal, Reformation & Renaissance Review.
Stephen Mark Holmes is Rector of Padstow, St Merryn and St Issey with St Petroc Minor in
Cornwall, an Honorary Fellow at Edinburgh University School of Divinity, and teaches at
the Scottish Episcopal Institute. He is a graduate of the universities of St Andrews,
Maynooth, and Edinburgh and has published books and articles on church history, liturgy,
and historical theology.
David G. Mullan retired at the end of 2016 as Professor of History and Religious Studies
from Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He is the author or editor of eight
books, including Scottish Puritanism (2000) and Narratives of the Religious Self in Early-
Modern Scotland (2010). He has also prepared sixteen journal articles and book chapters
in multi-authored volumes. In retirement, he lives with his wife and near their family in
St Albert, Alberta.
Stephen G. Myers is Professor of Historical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological
Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Previously, he served as a pastor in the
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. His publications include Scottish Federalism
and Covenantalism in Transition: The Theology of Ebenezer Erskine (2015).
Thomas O’Loughlin is Professor of Historical Theology in the University of Nottingham
and a specialist in tracing how Latin theology developed in the aftermath of Augustine. In
this quest he has paid particular attention to the practice of theology in the British Isles and
how writers received theological questions and models from late antiquity, transformed
them, and then bequeathed them to the university theologians. He is the Director of Studia
Traditionis Theologiae.
This three-volume study of the history of Scottish theology begins with the
monastic period prior to the foundation of the universities and concludes around
the end of the twentieth century. In covering fifteen hundred years of theological
work, we have sought to combine breadth of coverage with selection of key themes
and writers. Inevitably, this has resulted in some difficult decisions about inclusion
and exclusion; but our central aim has been to provide a synoptic view of Scottish
theology that is more comprehensive and diverse than any previous scholarly
effort. We have resisted the temptation to work with a ‘great men’ approach to
the subject by concentrating on contexts, themes, and texts. Some of those
contexts are far from well known, for many major movements and trends in
Scottish church history and history remain under-researched. However, the
point of our project is not to foreground church history as res gestae but instead
to situate Scottish theology through the generations. While contextual work is
necessary to understand the meaning of the key concepts and themes in the text,
we have sought wherever possible to let the texts as theological works speak for
themselves.
Hitherto, we have lacked a useful textbook treatment of Scottish theology
that affords a clear and scholarly guide to the various movements, controversies,
figures, and outputs. Now a period piece, James Walker’s The Theology and
Theologians of Scotland, chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(Cunningham Lectures; revised edition, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1888) is almost
part of the history itself. Some of Walker’s insights one might characterize as
‘antinomian evangelical’, e.g. he criticizes James Fraser of Brea and the Marrow-
men for believing that God was ‘necessitated’ to atone for sin. Although there are
other important one-volume studies to which we remain indebted (Macleod 1943;
Drummond and Bulloch 1973, 1975, 1978), the history of Scottish theology has
not been properly narrated with sufficient attention to its diversity and breadth,
nor updated for at least a generation. And, given the progress that has been made
in the study of other areas of Scottish culture—history, literature, and
philosophy—the time is now overdue for a similarly concerted treatment of our
theological traditions.
David Fergusson and Mark W. Elliott, Scottish Theology: Contexts and Traditions. In: The History
of Scottish Theology Volume I: Celtic Origins to Reformed Orthodoxy. Edited by David Fergusson
and Mark W. Elliott, Oxford University Press (2019). © Oxford University Press.
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198759331.003.0001
2 .
Three recent models have also helped shape our thinking. First, T. F. Torrance’s
Scottish Theology (1996) offers a book-length treatment of the continuous stream
of Scottish theology over almost four centuries, while also bringing to light long-
buried treasures. At the heart of the Scottish Reformation, not least in the Scots
Confession of 1560, Torrance discerns a devout and pronounced Christocentrism.
Yet within a generation the truly evangelical stream (as Torrance would see it) had
gone largely underground, though it was still observable in John Davidson of
Saltoun’s Catechism, the Aberdeen Forbeses, in some of the works of Samuel
Rutherford and James Fraser of Brea (d. 1689)—a warrior in the lists against
‘limited atonement’—the Marrowmen, and those who might be called ‘Romantic
Presbyterians’ such as Thomas Erskine, Edward Irving, and John McLeod Camp-
bell. Torrance himself burrowed into the texts of this tradition and his method
displays a commendable critical empathy with his own Scottish theological heri-
tage. He found it regrettable that so often ‘the focus is not so much upon Christ
himself as upon (a) doctrines, with attention given to reasoning out their inner
connections with a view to deepening and clarifying believers’ grasp of their truth
on the solid ground of four “warrants to believe”, and (b) upon probing into the
ground and sincerity of personal convictions and testing whether they reveal
evidences of true faith in the soul and of their personal reconciliation with God’
(Torrance 1996: 121). This intense and pugnacious engagement of Scottish theo-
logical traditions is much indebted to biblical interpretation, spirituality, and a
strong missiological impulse. But it suffers arguably from a binary distinction
between a pure Reformed tradition and its later declension in Reformed ortho-
doxy. Since the appearance of Torrance’s work, there has been a re-evaluation not
only of ‘Puritan theology’ (by Richard Muller et al.), but also of Enlightenment
theology, in which reason and faith are viewed as having a more harmonious
relationship, together with a revisioning of the Romanticism (and Idealism) that
buoyed Scottish theology in its ‘silver age’ through the nineteenth and into the
twentieth century. In any case, while Torrance’s work begins in the early modern
era and concludes in the mid-Victorian age, this present work will cover a
significantly broader chronological span.
A second precursor was the production of the Dictionary of Scottish Church and
Theology (1993), largely through the leadership and scholarly acumen of David
F. Wright. Although its style was more akin to reportage, partly because of its
genre as a work of reference, it included longer and more evaluative essays
(e.g. Andrew Walls’ magisterial survey of ‘missions’). Yet its welcome exposure
of the breadth and richness of Scottish theology has set down a marker for further
scholarly activity, even if its slant was towards Presbyterianism, with only a few
worthwhile but hardly sufficient nods to Catholicism and Episcopalianism. Our
present project is more in-depth and selective, yet with greater ecumenical
breadth. Its multiple and diverse authorship has ensured the absence of a single
history of one grand narrative, whether of rise and fall, progressive maturation or
: 3
prolonged struggle between orthodox and heterodox trends. The dictionary and
edited collection formats are complementary in many respects and our hope is
that the emergence of this present collection may eventually facilitate a new
edition of the Dictionary by T&T Clark.
Third, recent work on the history of Scottish philosophy, also published by
Oxford University Press (Garrett and Harris 2015; Graham 2015), has revealed the
extent of academic interest in thinkers many of whom had close links with the
Scottish church in one or other of its branches. This applies not only to Thomas
Reid and his associates, but also to other scholars, including David Hume whose
more sceptical work cannot be understood apart from the proximity of Scottish
philosophy to the Kirk. One might conclude that a revealed theology structured
around the Bible and the Westminster Confession was supplanted by a natural or
moral theology concentrated on practical matters. Instead of election, sin, atone-
ment, and effectual calling, the focus shifted to providence, ethics, and an afterlife
of reward and punishment. Yet the moderate theology that emerged in the
Enlightenment reflected distinctive Reformed elements, in particular its ethical
preoccupations and stress on our epistemological limitations. Though in some
ways distinct, the stories of theology and of philosophy have largely been inter-
twined for most of the period under review.
The construction of our three volumes has been governed by several editorial
decisions. First, we have resolved to interpret ‘Scottish’ with a degree of latitude.
As a result, we have sought to include all significant work that has been under-
taken within Scotland (i.e. anything undertaken north of the River Tweed to the
Orkney and Shetland Islands), the work of those who came from Scotland but
plied their theological trade elsewhere (e.g. Richard of St Victor, Duns Scotus,
P. T. Forsyth, and John Macquarrie), the extensive crossover with Ireland, and
also those who divided their careers between Scotland and other parts of the
world. In particular, we explore in later volumes the Scottish diaspora in other
English-speaking locations (Australasia and North America) and in missionary
activity in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Second, we have sought to avoid an
exclusive concentration on the universities. Much important theological work has
taken place outside the state-funded institutions in colleges, churches, manses,
and by freelance writers. Less familiar voices need to be heard, including those of
women who were prevented from preaching and teaching but whose theological
convictions were expressed in poetry and hymnody. Third, we have become
increasingly mindful of the importance of looking back to the richness of the
medieval period and beyond the post-Reformation Presbyterian churches to
consider other traditions. Tom McInally has described the Scots Colleges in
Europe as Scotland’s sixth university, a reminder that Scottish Catholics found
their theological voice often outside Scotland but in ways that were significant for
the enrichment of church life on home soil (McInally 2011). Hence, other
traditions—independent, Episcopalian, and Congregational—are also considered.
4 .
Fourth, we have sought to balance a stress on key theological figures with the study
of movements, themes, and challenges. So for example while we profile familiar
figures such as Scotus, Mair, Knox, Melville, Rutherford, McLeod Campbell,
Robertson Smith, and Torrance we also consider inter alia the sacraments,
spiritual practice, the atonement, biblical criticism, Darwinism, slavery, the
Gifford Lectures, and feminism. Finally, we have resolved to consider more
popular expressions of theology that had a wide impact upon church and society,
perhaps more so than some academic efforts. Several essays are devoted to
theological media—Bible translation, liturgy, art, reference works, popular writ-
ing, and some of the most important figures in the canon of Scottish literature—all
of which represent the expression and reception of theology.
One question that arises is whether there is a distinctively Scottish theology,
analogous to Scottish philosophy. Gordon Graham and Alexander Broadie have
pointed to ways in which there is a continuous Scottish philosophical tradition
from the time of Hume and Reid until at least the early twentieth century (Broadie
2009: 1–6; Graham 2015: 303–22). This can be defined narrowly or broadly.
On one reckoning, it can be considered in terms of allegiance to a single doctrine
regarding the so-called principles of common sense—‘a spiritualistic philosophy,
cautious and measured, designed to meet scepticism’ (Davidson 1925: 261)—or to
a shared set of convictions that exclude idealism and other speculative trends
(McCosh 1875: 2–6). More capaciously understood, Scottish philosophy repre-
sents a tradition spanning a time period from about the late seventeenth century
(when the first chair of philosophy was established in Glasgow) to about the
middle of the twentieth century. Within this more broadly conceived tradition,
philosophy is characterized by a common set of questions, an acknowledged set of
resources, and an institutional context in which its study was a required compo-
nent within a broad curriculum. As a moral project, moreover, philosophy was
tasked with equipping students with skills of knowledge and wisdom that would
serve them well in a variety of professions. Hence, there was a time when many
people entering the medical, legal, or teaching professions would have undergone
some instruction in philosophy. Much of this work was closely aligned both
institutionally and intellectually with the Scottish Kirk. Graham notes that in
T. E. Jessop’s review of seventy-nine distinctively Scottish philosophers, about half
were also clergy (Jessop 1938: 75–184; Graham 2015: 315). Not unexpectedly, this
fusion of religious and philosophical interests also generated a theological climate
that was marked by the constraints of philosophical work, a confidence in the
power of reason allied to an awareness of its limitations, a commitment to the
unity of church and society, and a pathway into ministry that often required a
prior training in classics and philosophy. Although this milieu allowed a good deal
of diversity in relation to method and content, the institutional setting of much
(though not all) theology with its proximity to other disciplines shaped much of
the output of the divinity professoriate. It is not surprising therefore to discover
: 5
that McCosh, in his survey of Scottish philosophy, judges Thomas Chalmers not
only the greatest preacher of his age but also the foremost exponent of the unity of
philosophy and theology. For example, with his commitment to the design
argument, especially with reference to the human mind, Chalmers establishes a
theistic philosophy of conscience which is strikingly matched with the Christian
doctrine of the forgiveness of sins (McCosh 1875: 393).
Notwithstanding this context, as far as theology is concerned we see little
evidence of a single, distinctive tradition with leading authorities and methods
of study. In this respect, Scottish theology does not track Scottish philosophy.
While planning these volumes, therefore, we have not assumed that we are dealing
at any stage with a demarcated tradition in the sense of a body of thinkers whose
work acknowledges discrete authorities and magisterial texts as a point of refer-
ence, or one set of common problems, or a single universe of discourse or a social
purpose that sets Scottish theologians apart from other traditions. Although
Scottish theology has been marked by recurrent themes, influences, and orienta-
tion, it does not constitute a single tradition of enquiry in the MacIntyrean sense
(MacIntyre 1988). Obviously, the Reformed tradition has been the province of
many Scottish thinkers since the middle of the sixteenth century but not to the
exclusion of other trends. In any case, the Reformed tradition itself is very
capacious, to the point that some have accused it of bending in the direction of
every prevailing cultural breeze. Within Scotland, Reformed theology has com-
prehended Amyrauldian thinkers in the seventeenth century, the moderates of the
eighteenth century, the liberal evangelicals of the late Victorian period, as well as
those who might be characterized as neo-orthodox, existentialist, and liberationist
in the twentieth century. And, although the Westminster Confession of Faith
(1646) may have commanded widespread subscription amongst all the Presby-
terian churches, it hardly induced theological uniformity.
Another hallmark of Scottish theology is the strong continental influence
especially from Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. Much has been
written on this and it characterizes Scottish theology throughout the entire period
under review. But these three volumes also display the very significant influence
of English influences upon much of what has been written. The Reformation
was supported by English allies and, as Jane Dawson’s recent biography shows,
Knox was both a Scottish and a British figure (Dawson 2016). The Westminster
Confession was produced in London, as was the Marrow of Modern Divinity.
Deism influenced the Moderates. Newtonian science, the Cambridge Platonists,
and the natural theologies of Butler and Paley left their mark on Scottish theolo-
gians including Chalmers and Flint. From the seventeenth century, Episcopalian
theology and spirituality made a distinctive contribution even when representing
only a small minority. More recently, John Baillie’s Diary of Private Prayer (1936),
probably the best-selling work by any Scottish theologian, reveals the steady
influence of the Book of Common Prayer. One can find many more examples of
6 .
bonds with the people they served. And, although the relationship of the
Reformed churches to the arts could be fraught and complex, this was never
simply iconoclastic or repressive in the way that some critics of Calvinism have
suggested. One-sided fictional caricatures of the Scottish clergy now need to be
discarded in favour of more historically alert and nuanced portraits.
Produced in London, the Westminster Confession of Faith has shaped much of
Scottish Reformed theology whether through allegiance, contested interpretation,
or the outright opposition it has generated. From 1647, it became the subordinate
standard in the Presbyterian churches, though some dissent surrounding its
teaching on the role of the magistrate, the destiny of the ‘heathen’, and double
predestination emerged in succeeding centuries. The different ways in which it has
been read, defended, and accommodated have provided a point of reference for
several essays in these volumes. As the companion document to the Confession,
the Shorter Catechism, was arguably more influential in shaping the mind-set of
successive generations of Scots through recitation and testing, until the mid-
twentieth century. Its theology was thus internalized by much Scottish Protestant
culture. While more attention to its influence is now required in historical study,
what seems clear to us is that there has seldom been a time in when this theological
paradigm has commanded universal consent throughout the Scottish Presbyterian
churches. To this extent, its durability is itself quite remarkable and confirms the
absence of any other influential Reformed confession in Scotland after 1647.
As already noted, a prominent feature of Scottish theology throughout its
history has been its European dimension. This has played out in different ways.
The commerce of ideas is apparent from the early middle ages and continues into
the Reformation with important French, Swiss, and Dutch influences all apparent
into the seventeenth century. Scottish theologians themselves made their way to
the continent whether to take advantage of opportunities to study and teach or as
exiles. This is apparent not only during the political turbulence and religious
ferment of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but also through the achieve-
ments of beleaguered Scottish Catholics who maintained colleges across Europe
for the training of priests. Given these contexts, it was inevitable that Scottish
theology would be European in character. This continued into the later nine-
teenth century and beyond with the ‘Scottish caravan’ that travelled to Germany
each summer, thus ensuring that the works of Schleiermacher, Hegel, Ritschl,
Herrmann, Barth, Brunner, Bultmann, and Bonhoeffer would become translated
and thereafter line the walls of manses throughout the country.
But the European dimension of Scottish theology should not obscure the links
with other parts of the UK and Ireland. The connections between Presbyterians in
Scotland and Ireland ensured a steady flow of students across the Irish Sea to
Glasgow and other centres of learning, while many of the theological disputes that
divided Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were played out,
albeit rather differently, in Ireland. The aforementioned influence of theologians
8 .
in England is also apparent from the very beginning so that the more inclusive
term ‘insular’ may be preferred to ‘English’ or ‘Scottish’ in characterizing the
theology of the British Isles in the pre-scholastic era. These links continued
through the Reformation—Knox had ministered to English exiles in Frankfurt
and Geneva, and of course it was the English Bible that was adopted in Scotland.
Further influences can be discerned during the era of the Puritans, the Enlight-
enment, and the Oxford Movement which had a significant impact upon Scottish
Episcopalianism.
By the 1830s, a majority of Scots were already worshipping outside the
established church (Brown 1987: 61). Much of this plurality both reflected and
generated divisions not only within the Presbyterian church, but amongst
Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and a variety of evangelical groups. Each of
these manifested different theological tendencies and social contexts which
require some consideration. Other voices on the margins of the Church and
in alternative spiritualities have not received adequate scholarly attention but we
seek to register their presence in some of these essays.
The extent to which theology has shaped Scottish society, contributing to its
ethos, mind-set, and overseas export, is considered by several contributors. Tom
Devine has written of the ‘parish state’ that emerged in the eighteenth century as
an enabling condition of the Scottish Enlightenment (Devine 1999: 84–102).
This may apply a fortiori to much of the nineteenth century in the work of
scientists, architects, politicians, diplomats, and scholars. Though understated
and unpretentious, a Presbyterian self-confidence seems to have manifested
itself in a commitment to education, industriousness, and social improvement.
Disseminated through para-church organizations such as the Boys’ Brigade, this
was a powerful force through Scottish society. Much of the architecture in our
towns and cities continues to attest this, albeit in markedly different social and
religious milieux. Even today, the obituary notices of those steeped in this
culture (until about the middle of the twentieth century) continue to reveal its
formative influence. The social theology of the Scottish churches reflects an
ethos largely shaped by the dominance of a Presbyterian culture, though admit-
tedly this could manifest itself in very different ways including political quietism,
a commitment to social justice, bouts of sectarianism, and a readiness, as in the
case of the wartime Baillie Commission, to commit to a programme of reform
for both church and society.
These three volumes tell the story until around 2000. As a historical project,
our work does not attempt to take the pulse of Scottish theology today or to offer
a prescription for its future. But a few comments may be in order here. Charted
by Callum Brown, the rapid dechristianization of British society since the 1960s,
puts the churches and their theologians in a different social space (Brown 2001).
With the shift from a culture of obligation to one of consumption (Davie 2015:
133–74), there is a much greater degree of plurality evident in the study of theology
: 9
and religion. This has generated an ecumenical and multi-faith dimension in the
universities accompanied by the relative decline of the Church of Scotland as the
national church. One significant institutional indicator is the quiet disappearance
of the statutory committees comprising equal numbers of church and university
representatives to appoint professors in the Divinity Faculties. While several faith-
based theological colleges continue to survive and prosper, the universities have
increasingly combined their traditional theological pursuits with more compara-
tive and less confessional approaches to the study of religion. This has coincided
with the arrival of scholars representing other faith traditions—Mona Siddiqui is
one prominent example—whose work suggests that more comparative approaches
will prevail in the future. From this vantage point, it is surprising how little
attention was devoted to the study of other faiths by Scottish theologians, though
they were hardly egregious in this respect. Occasional attempts were made to show
that the practitioners of different faiths could be included in the economy of
salvation, but these were largely intra-Christian exercises intended to solve an
intellectual and moral puzzle. In part, this dearth of reflection may reflect the
relatively late appearance of other faith communities in Scotland—not until the
early nineteenth century is there evidence of a Jewish community in Edinburgh
(Daiches 1929). Contact with other faiths being more evident through missionary
activity, this resulted in attempts to present Christianity as the fulfilment, correc-
tion, or clarification of what could be discerned in other cultural contexts.
A fulfilment model enabled Scottish theologians to see different faiths on a similar
path, but with Christianity surpassing the others. In the process of encounter,
however, the Christian faith would develop through the enrichment offered by
other traditions ‘as a gradual process of absorption rather than an abrupt one of
confrontation’ (Stanley 2009: 246). This was the approach favoured in 1910 at the
World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. Chaired by David S. Cairns of
Aberdeen, Commission IV attracted a good deal of attention in advocating this
model, though as Stanley notes the success of the approach was limited, particu-
larly in relation to Islam which did not seem to fit the model at all. While
missionary endeavour continued, it became more effective when Christianity
was presented as a novum rather than as the development of what was already
present (Stanley 2009: 247). Academic work that involved greater reference to the
empirical study of other religions similarly resulted in Christianity being presented
in Hegelian manner as the sublimation of other faiths or in treating the incarnation
as the high point of religious self-consciousness (Caird 1893). More focused
reflection has taken place on the empirical study of religion, partly through the
Gifford Lectureships (Hick 1989; Pannikar 2010), but this has largely been the
work of scholars from other contexts using paradigms less recognizably Hegelian.
The future is likely to involve more work in comparative mode, perhaps on a much
less ambitious scale, as theologians from different faith traditions identify prob-
lems, themes, and questions for common exploration.
10 .
Bibliography
ca, calcaneum or fibulare; cl, claw; f, femur; fb, fibula; t, tibia; t³, t⁴⁻⁵,
tarsalia; tb, tb′, tibiale-centrale; IV, V, 4th and 5th metatarsals.