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Title: Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys
Author: Dugald Butler and Herbert Story
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SCOTTISH CATHEDRALS AND ABBEYS.
By Rev. D. BUTLER, M.A., Abernethy.
With Introduction by Very Rev. Principal STORY, D.D., LL.D.
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SCOTTISH CATHEDRALS AND ABBEYS
[Illustration: _From Photo by T. & R. Annan & Sons._
GLASGOW CATHEDRAL.]
SCOTTISH CATHEDRALS
AND ABBEYS
BY
REV. D. BUTLER, M.A.
ABERNETHY, PERTHSHIRE
AUTHOR OF 'THE ANCIENT CHURCH AND PARISH OF ABERNETHY,' 'JOHN WESLEY AND
GEORGE WHITEFIELD IN SCOTLAND,' 'HENRY SCOUGAL AND THE OXFORD METHODISTS'
WITH INTRODUCTION BY THE
VERY REV. R. HERBERT STORY, D.D., LL.D.
PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
LONDON: A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE
EDINBURGH: R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED
PUBLICATION AGENTS FOR THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
1901
PREFACE
In preparation for this Guild Book I wrote an account of every
pre-Reformation structure in Scotland of which any remains now survive,
but the prescribed limits of the series necessitated a selection. The
Scottish cathedrals are all here treated, with representative collegiate
and monastic buildings. Reference is also made to parish churches that
represent the architecture of the various periods indicated in Chapter
II. A survey of Scottish mediæval architecture will be found in pp.
194-206 that may enable readers to take a comprehensive view of the
whole. A study of those treated in particular will lead to a study of
those treated of necessity in general, and illustrate the idea that the
history of the Scottish Church is the history of the ideality and faith
of the Scottish people, and that the one cannot be separated from the
other. A healthy present must always be bound by a natural piety to the
past that has made it, or at least helped it to be what it is, and this
study may enable readers to realise more that the Church of Scotland has
a great and glorious past that begins with the days of St. Ninian and
St. Columba. The past has much to teach the present, and the narrative
of historical facts is not without suggestiveness to the varied life and
work that characterise the Church of Scotland to-day.
I desire to express my indebtedness to the investigations of many
workers, which I have striven to recognise in the many references
throughout the work, but most of all I am indebted to Messrs. MacGibbon
and Ross in their colossal work, the _Ecclesiastical Architecture of
Scotland_--a book of national importance.
D. B.
MANSE OF ABERNETHY,
PERTHSHIRE, _14th January 1901_.
CONTENTS
GLASGOW CATHEDRAL _Frontispiece_
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
CHAP.
1. RELATION OF CELTIC CHURCH TO ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 1
2. SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE 4
NORMAN ARCHITECTURE 7
TRANSITION STYLE 8
FIRST POINTED PERIOD 9
MIDDLE POINTED PERIOD 10
LATE POINTED PERIOD 11
3. CATHEDRALS--
ST. ANDREWS 13
GLASGOW 22
DUNKELD 35
ABERDEEN 37
MORAY 40
BRECHIN 44
DUNBLANE 47
ROSS 52
CAITHNESS 54
GALLOWAY 56
LISMORE 59
ISLES 60
(KIRKWALL) ORKNEY 69
4. COLLEGIATE CHURCHES--
INTRODUCTION 76
BIGGAR 77
BOTHWELL 77
ST. NICHOLAS (NEW ABERDEEN) 78
KING'S COLLEGE (OLD ABERDEEN) 80
ROSLIN 85
CHAPEL ROYAL (STIRLING) 88
ST. GILES' (EDINBURGH) 89
ST. MARY'S AND ST. SALVATOR'S (ST. ANDREWS) 102
5. SCOTTISH NORMAN PARISH CHURCHES--
DALMENY 102
LEUCHARS 104
MIDDLE POINTED--
LINLITHGOW 105
HADDINGTON 107
LATE POINTED--
ST. JOHN'S (PERTH) 108
DUNDEE 113
STIRLING 114
ST. LEONARD (ST. ANDREWS) 116
HOLY TRINITY 117
6. SCOTTISH MONASTICISM 119
ST. ANDREW'S PRIORY (AUGUSTINIAN) 123
HOLYROOD ABBEY " 124
JEDBURGH " " 129
DRYBURGH " (PRAEMONSTRATENSIAN) 134
DUNFERMLINE " (BENEDICTINE) 139
PAISLEY " (CLUNIACENSIAN) 148
KELSO " (TYRONENSIAN) 169
ARBROATH " " 177
MELROSE " (CISTERCIAN) 184
7. GENERAL SURVEY OF SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE--
NORMAN 194
TRANSITION STYLE 197
FIRST POINTED PERIOD 198
MIDDLE POINTED PERIOD 201
LATE POINTED PERIOD 203
APPENDIX--
DEFINITION OF LEADING ARCHITECTURAL TERMS 209
INTRODUCTION
This book is designed to render to Scottish Churchmen the special
service of presenting to them, in a brief but comprehensive survey, the
record of their ecclesiastical history which is engraved in their
ecclesiastical architecture. There is no record so authentic as that
which is built in stone. There is none so sacred as that which attests
and illustrates the religion of our forefathers. Much of that record has
perished: enough remains to engage our reverent study and our dutiful
care. Foreign war and rapine have wasted and destroyed our heritage of
sacred places. Kelso, Jedburgh, Melrose, and Haddington fell before the
English invader. Iona was ravaged by the Dane, while yet the island
formed part of a Scandinavian diocese. Internal lawlessness and tribal
fury have wrought like disasters. Elgin, once "the fair glory of the
land," stands a forlorn monument of the savagery of a Highland chief.
St. Andrews, Lindores, Perth, Paisley, and many others bear witness to
the reckless outrage which cloaked its violence under the guise of
religious zeal. Of all our spoilers this has been the most destructive.
The pretence (for it often was nothing else) of "cleansing the
sanctuary" not only robbed the Church of many a priceless possession,
but begat, in the popular mind, a ruthless disregard of the sacred
associations of places where generation after generation had worshipped
God, and a coarse indifference to the solemnity of His ordinances,
which made it easy for those who should have been the guardians of the
churches to let them fall, unheeded, into decay.
It is not uncommon, even yet, to find people who ought to know, and
perhaps do know, better, blaming Knox and his co-reformers for the
dilapidation and desecration of our ancient fanes. The blame belongs to
the "rascal multitude," and to the rapacious laymen who were served
heirs to the properties of the despoiled Church. What is the Church the
better for their enrichment? What has religion gained by it? The
Reformed Faith could have flourished none the less graciously if its
purified doctrine had been preached, and its reasonable worship offered,
under the same roofs that had protected priest and people in the days of
Romanist error. Is the cause of pure and undefiled religion stronger in
the land because Melrose and Crossraguel and Pluscarden are desolate;
St. Andrews a roofless ruin; Iona as yet open to the Atlantic winds? Is
the voice of praise and prayer sweeter in the North because Mortlach is
effaced and Fortrose shattered, and the bells are silent which men on
the mainland used to hear when the north wind blew from Kirkwall?
Granted that ignorant superstition may have tainted the veneration in
which our fathers' holy and beautiful houses were held 400 years ago,
the iconoclasm which devastated them was not the remedy for it. The
revived interest in our old churches, which has asserted its influence
in such restorations as those of St. Giles, Dunblane, Linlithgow, St.
Vigeans, and Arbuthnott, is no revival of superstition. It is the
outcome of a more reverent spirit; of a deeper sense of the honour due
to God; of the conviction that we owe Him, in all that pertains to His
worship, the offering of our very best; and of a deeper consciousness
also of the supreme value of the Church's national position and
character, and of the duty of piously conserving whatever helps to
illustrate the historical continuity which binds its present to its
past. As regards this, nothing is so full of helpful stimulus as an
intelligent study of our ecclesiastical architecture. In it we can read
the lessons of the gradual growth of the Scottish nation from the
loosely connected tribal conditions of the ninth and tenth centuries
onwards to its consolidation under a settled monarchy; the development
of its commercial and industrial progress; its expanding relations to
the peoples of the Continent; and the vital changes in its political
life, and its religious system and belief, thence resulting. All these
have left their mark in those records which neither time nor revolution,
neglect nor violence, have been able wholly to destroy--the architecture
of our cathedrals, abbeys, and monasteries.
The primitive buildings of the early Celtic period of the Church have
long since disappeared. Their clay and wattles could not withstand the
wear and tear of time; only in a distant glen or lonely island can we
discover scattered traces of the beehive cell or simple shrine of the
anchorite or missionary. Few relics of the more substantial structures
of that time survive.
The Roman era of Church organisation superseded the Celtic; and with the
Roman dominance came the architecture of the Anglo-Normans, whom the
presence and policy of Margaret, saint and queen, attracted to Scotland.
It developed itself, always with some national characteristics of its
own, until the War of Independence broke off all friendly intercourse
with England.
Later came, in place of alliance with England, the alliance with France,
which lasted till the Reformation, and left its mark on many of the
pages of "The Great Stone Book," which chronicle for us the vicissitudes
of the past, the days of peace and prosperity, of war and penury, of
reviving national health and energy, of new combinations and ideas in
politics and statecraft, of spiritual decay and carnal pride and
ostentation. These annals can be deciphered by the patient student of
the walls and cloisters of the ancient churches and religious houses.
To the founders and the owners of the latter, and chiefly to the great
orders of the Augustinians, the Benedictines, and the Cistercians, we
owe many of our noblest remnants of the past--all of them unhappily
ruined; for the popular violence of the sixteenth century raged more
fiercely against the monasteries than against the cathedrals. To the
Episcopal system of government, introduced under Margaret, we owe the
bishops' churches or cathedrals.
The life and thought of the Church at the present day, move far enough
apart from either prelacy or monasticism to allow us to look at each
with an impartial eye, and to consider whether in its abolition we have
parted with aught that it would have profited the Church to retain.
The monasteries, at first the homes and shelters of charity and
learning, had, before the sixteenth century, waxed fat with unduly
accumulated wealth, become enervated with luxury and corrupt through bad
government. They were swept away, their possessions secularised, and
their communities broken up. But with them disappeared two things which
were of great price: a large and liberal provision for the poor, and a
comprehensive scheme of Education. The monastery gate was never shut
against the suffering and the needy. The monks were indulgent landlords
and kind neighbours; the sick benefited by their medical skill; the
indigent could always look to them for eleemosynary aid; the houseless
wanderer was never sent empty away. Those great centres of friendly
helpfulness and charity were planted all over the land. No doubt the
gift of indiscriminate alms to every applicant would tend to abuse and
lazy beggary; but a scheme of sympathetic and well directed aid
thoughtfully administered would not. _Abusus non tollit usum._ The
scandals of the monasteries did not justify the robbery of the destitute
for the benefit of the secular supplanters of the monks. The
Kirk-sessions of the Reformed Kirk did their best to take the place of
the former guardians and kindly benefactors of the poor, but their funds
were scanty; the old wealth had fallen into tenacious hands; and schism
and sectarianism finally necessitated the transfer of the care of the
poor from the Church to the State.
Could the ancient system have been reformed and not destroyed, the
poverty of the country would have been less grievous than it is to-day;
the Church's relation to the poor more intimate; and the method of
relief pleasanter to the recipients than that which makes them familiar
with the grim charity of the Poor's House, the Inspector, and the
Parochial Board.
The monasteries were the seats of a general system of higher education.
The burghs had their own independent seminaries; the "song schools" were
more closely connected with the churches in town and in country; but the
highest grade of education was found in the monasteries. Before the
foundation of any of the universities they supplied the place both of
secondary school and university, and trained the youth, especially of
the higher ranks, until prepared to go out into the world, as they
constantly did, speaking the "lingua-franca" of all scholars, and
carrying Scottish energy, genius, and scholarship into the halls and
cloisters of many a college and many a monastery, from Coimbra to
Cracow, from Salerno to Upsala. These schools all perished with the
downfall of the monasteries; and consequently we cannot, to this day,
cope with the great public schools of England, or adequately supply the
blank in our educational system created by their spoliation and
abolition. Here, too, wise reform might have spared and remodelled what
misguided zeal, allied with unprincipled greed, destroyed.
With the ruination and impoverishment of the cathedrals, an element in
the Church's life inseparable from them, and most salutary and useful,
ceased to be. The bishops' deprivation of an authority they had too
often disgraced and misused, vested the government of the Church in the
presbyterate; and the national sentiment approved of the change. But
there was no necessity for upsetting the whole cathedral system, and
rooting out the whole cathedral staff, because the bishop was turned
adrift. Had the Canonries been spared, an immense boon would have been
secured for the Reformed Church. Had the stipends attached to them not
been alienated, the Church would have possessed, at all its most
important centres, a staff of clergymen chosen for their ability and
worth, for their learning and power of government and organisation,
aiding the minister in his work, or enriching the theological literature
of their time. With them might have been associated younger men, either
under their supervision as candidates for the ministry, or as
probationers acquiring practical knowledge of its duties and
requirements. The cathedral would have stood out, in its city, great or
small, as the Mother Church--holding forth the model of devout ritual,
of earnest and learned teaching, of zealous work. How vastly superior
its influence would have been, spiritually, intellectually, socially, to
that of struggling _quoad sacra_ churches, with their ill-paid clergy,
or "missions" in charge of worse-paid probationers, it is, I think,
needless to point out. But the possibility of such an institution passed
away when the cathedrals were desecrated, and their revenues were
"grippit"--to use Knox's phrase--by the ungodly robbers of the Church.
I have written these few pages to serve as an introduction to what
follows, from the hand of my friend, Mr. Butler. The Committee of the
Guild asked me to prepare a volume on the most notable of our ancient
churches; and finding that other engagements stood in the way of my
doing so, I recommended that the work should be entrusted to Mr. Butler,
of whose ability to do it well I felt confident. Having read what he has
written, I find my confidence was not misplaced, and that his treatment
of the subject is most instructive, thorough, and exact. It will add to
the reputation he has already gained by his history of his own parish of
Abernethy on Tay, and his books on Wesley in Scotland, and on Henry
Scougal; and will prove an invaluable guide to all students of our
historic churches, cathedral, collegiate, and monastic.
R. H. S.
SCOTTISH CATHEDRALS AND ABBEYS
CHAPTER I
RELATION OF CELTIC CHURCH TO ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The period begun by the influence of Queen Margaret (1047-1093),
continued by her sons and their successors on the Scottish throne, and
culminating in the Scottish Reformation of 1560, is that with which this
book deals.
The old Celtic Church of Scotland was brought to an end by two
causes--internal decay and external change. Under the first head, notice
must be taken of the encroachment upon the ecclesiastic element by the
secular, and of the gradual absorption of the former by the latter.
There was a vitality in the old ecclesiastical organisation, but it was
weakened by the assimilation of the native Church to that of Rome in the
seventh and eighth centuries, which introduced a secular element among
the clergy; and the frequent Danish invasions, which may be described as
the organised power of Paganism against Scottish Christianity,
grievously undermined its native force. The Celtic churches and
monasteries were repeatedly laid waste or destroyed, and the native
clergy were compelled either to fly or take up arms in defence; the
lands, unprotected by the strong arm of law, fell into the hands of
laymen, who made them hereditary in their families, and ultimately
nothing was left but the name of abbacy, applied to the lands, and that
of abbot, borne by a secular lord. Under the second head--external
change--may be noted the policy adopted towards the Celtic Church by the
kings of the race of Queen Margaret. It consisted (1) in placing the
Church upon a territorial in place of a tribal basis, in substituting
the parochial system and a diocesan episcopacy for the old tribal
churches with monastic jurisdiction and functional episcopacy; (2) in
introducing the orders of the Church of Rome, and founding great
monasteries as counter influences to the Celtic Church; (3) in absorbing
the Culdees or Columban clergy into the Roman system, by first
converting them from secular into regular canons, and afterwards by
merging them in the latter order.[1] King David especially founded
bishoprics and established cathedrals, equipped with the ordinary
cathedral staff of deans, canons, and other functionaries, and
monasteries equipped with representatives of the monastic orders. Thus
the native Celtic Church, undermined by internal decay, was extinguished
by external change and a course of aggression which rolled from St.
Andrews until it reached the far-off shores of Iona. All that remained
to speak of its vitality and beneficence to the people of Scotland
consisted of the roofless walls of an early church, or an old churchyard
with its Celtic cross; the names of the early pastors by whom the
churches were founded, or the neighbouring wells at the old foundations,
dedicated to their memory; the village fairs, stretching back to a
remote antiquity, and held on the saint's day in the Scottish calendar;
here and there a few lay families possessing the church lands as the
custodiers of the pastoral staff or other relics of the founder of the
church, and exercising a jurisdiction over the ancient "girth" or
sanctuary boundary such as the early missionaries instituted in the days
when might was right, and they nobly witnessed to the right against the
might.
The new policy was connected with the introduction of the orders of the
Roman Catholic Church, and with the building of cathedrals and abbeys.
This movement commenced with the close of the eleventh century, and
continued to the middle of the sixteenth; it embraced all the time when
the Church of Scotland was guided by the regime of Rome, although it is
to be recalled that the Scottish Church never ceased to maintain a
native independence--its heirloom from the ancient Celtic Church. This
independence, manifested on important historical occasions throughout
mediæval times, at last found its national embodiment in the Reformed
Church of 1560.
Scotland was divided into thirteen dioceses--St. Andrews, Glasgow,
Dunkeld, Aberdeen, Moray, Brechin, Dunblane, Ross, Caithness, Galloway,
Lismore or Argyll, the Isles, and Orkney; but before sketching the
history and architecture of each of the thirteen cathedrals, it will be
necessary to indicate the general features of the various periods of
Scottish architecture itself, as it is of this movement the structures
themselves are all an expression.
CHAPTER II
SKETCH OF SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE
Architecture is a great stone book in which nations have recorded their
annals, before the days of the printing-press: have written their
thoughts, expressed their aspirations, and embodied their feelings as
clearly and truly as by any other form of utterance. We know Egypt as
vividly by its pyramids, the age of Pericles by the Parthenon of Athens,
Imperial Rome by the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Baths of Caracalla, as
from the pages of their respective literature. The mediæval cathedrals,
monasteries, and churches are a living record of the faith and devotion
of mediæval men, who have left besides them but little else whereby we
can know their aspirations and civilisation; we find in them an
expression of the deepest life that characterised the periods to which
they belong, and a record which, though often mutilated, and sometimes
nearly obliterated, never deceives. Wherever these architectural
creations are found, there also a voice ought to be heard, telling what
at that spot and at some previous time men thought and felt; what their
civilisation enabled them to accomplish, and to what state they had
attained in their conception of God. In a very true sense it can be said
that the architecture of a country is the history of that country, and
that the record of the architecture is the record of its civilisation.
"Mediæval architecture," said Sir Gilbert Scott, "is distinguished from
all other styles as being the last link of the mighty chain which had
stretched unbroken through nearly 4000 years--the glorious termination
of the history of original and genuine architecture....[2] It has been
more entirely developed under the influence of the Christian religion,
and more thoroughly carried out its tone and sentiment, than any other
style. It is _par eminence_ Christian.... Its greatest glory is the
solemnity of religious character which pervades the interior of its
temples. To this all its other attributes must bend, as it is this which
renders it so pre-eminently suited to the highest uses of the Christian
Church. It was this, probably, which led Romney to exclaim, that if
Grecian architecture was the work of glorious men, Gothic was the
invention of gods."[3] This architecture was perfected by the mediæval
builders--the round arch in the twelfth and the pointed arch in the two
succeeding centuries. Its progress was the realisation of three great
aims, towards which the Romanesque architects were ever striving--the
perfecting of the arcuated and vaulted construction, the increase of the
altitude of their proportion, and the general adding of refinement and
delicacy to their details.[4]
Scotland, it has been maintained by those competent to judge, can show a
continuous series of Christian structures, beginning with the primitive
cells and oratories of the early anchorites, and extending through all
the periods of mediæval art. It exemplifies two distinctive phases of
artistic development--the first comprising the rise and decline of
Celtic Art in early Christian times, and the second allied to the
various stages of general European culture. The Celtic churches, round
towers, and sculptured monuments similar to those found in Ireland, are
followed by primitive examples of Norman work, pointing to the Saxon and
Norman influence of the eleventh century, which produced a complete
revolution in the artistic elements of the country and led to a full
development of the Romanesque or Norman style of architecture--a style
similar to the round arched architecture of other European countries in
the twelfth century. This is manifested chiefly in small parish
churches, but also in large, elaborate buildings, and one cathedral.[5]
The succeeding Gothic styles are also well represented in Scotland, and
exhibit both certain local peculiarities and a general correspondence
with the arts of the different periods in France and England. The First
Pointed style is represented in Scotland during the thirteenth century,
but owing to the disastrous situation of the country during the
fourteenth century, the number of "decorated" buildings is pronounced to
be comparatively small. On the other hand, it is maintained that during
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the "Perpendicular" style
prevailed in England and the "Flamboyant" in France, the architecture of
Scotland was distinguished by a style peculiar to the country, in which
many features derived from both the above styles may be detected.[6]
"While the mediæval architecture of Scotland thus corresponds on the
whole with that of the rest of Europe, there exists in the ecclesiology
of the country an amount of native development sufficient to give it a
special value as one of the exponents of the art of the Middle Ages. Its
buildings further contribute largely to the illustration of the history
of the country, by showing in their remains the condition and growth of
its religious ideas and observances at different epochs, and the manner
in which its civilisation advanced. We observe striking evidences of the
Irish influence in the relics of the primitive Celtic Church. The Norman
and English influences are clearly traceable up to the invasion of
Edward I., and the political connection with France and the Netherlands
is distinctly observable in the period of the Jameses."[7]
1. NORMAN ARCHITECTURE
The Abernethy Round Tower, the Priory of Restennet, Forfarshire, and St.
Regulus' or St. Rule's Church, St. Andrews, illustrate the transition
from Celtic to Norman architecture.[8] The dates of the Irish round
towers[9] extend from the ninth to the twelfth century, and the
Abernethy Tower is regarded on historical grounds by Dr. Skene as
belonging to the period about 870 A.D.; the upper windows and doorway
are either additions of the twelfth century, or, as this was an early
Irish house in Scotland, may illustrate what has been asserted, that in
Ireland a form of Romanesque was introduced before the Anglo-Saxon
Invasion.[10] At any rate, the tower is a combination of Celtic and
Norman work. As to Restennet, the present choir is a First Pointed
structure. David I. founded there an Augustinian Priory, which Malcolm
IV. made a cell of the Abbey of Jedburgh. The tower is the only one of
the square towers which has very marked features of a pre-Norman
character.[11] The building above the second story is probably
fifteenth-century work. St. Regulus' Church is treated pp. 17-19.
The twelfth century was in Scotland as elsewhere the great
church-building period, and the number of churches in the south and east
that reflect the Norman movement is very large. All the large ones were
conventual. Parish churches of the period are generally small and
aisleless--the most of them being single oblong chambers, with an
eastern chancel, sometimes with an eastern apse, and occasionally with a
western tower.[12] Towards the close of the period, the ornament became
very elaborate, especially in the arched heads of doorways. A common
feature was the arcade running round the walls below the windows, either
in the exterior, interior, or both; the caps and arches are generally
carved elaborately and richly with ornaments, the chevron or zig-zag
enrichment being a characteristic feature. The windows are always single
and simple in detail.[13]
Some of the towers connected with such churches are amongst the earliest
instances of Norman work which survive; they are simple in design,
square on plan, and are carried up, without break or buttress, to the
parapet, where they are finished with a gable roof, forming the
saddle-back arrangement still preserved in the Muthill Tower.[14] The
break in the height is formed by string courses, which mark the unequal
stories. A small wheel-stair usually leads to the top, and the doorway
is occasionally several feet from the ground. Such are the leading
features that can be traced in the buildings connected with the period.
2. SCOTTISH TRANSITION STYLE
The term "transition" is by general agreement reserved for the
architecture of the end of the twelfth century, when the Norman style
gradually gave place to the first pointed Gothic style. In England this
period extends from about 1180 to 1200; in Scotland it extends
considerably into the thirteenth century. The characteristics of the
style are the gradual introduction of the pointed arch and its use
along with some of the decorative features of the Norman style. "The
pointed arch shows the advent of the new style, but the ornaments of the
old style continue to linger for a time. The first pointed style was not
complete till these old ornaments were abandoned, and the more vigorous
enrichments of the new style were introduced. The other constructive
features of the Norman style gradually changed at the same time as the
arch. The buttresses by degrees assumed the projecting form of the first
pointed style, and the pinnacles and spires of the latter style were in
course of time introduced."[15]
3. SCOTTISH FIRST POINTED PERIOD
"The pointed Gothic style which had its origin in the north of France
about the middle of the twelfth century appeared in England about 1170,
but can scarcely be said to have reached Scotland till after the close
of the twelfth century.... The pointed arch, for example, although
generally adopted, did not entirely displace, as it had done in the
south, the round form of the Normans, a feature which, especially in
doorways, continued to be employed not only in the thirteenth century,
but throughout the whole course of Gothic art in Scotland. In other
respects the thirteenth century style in this country corresponds very
closely with that of England. Its features are however, generally
speaking, plainer and the structures are smaller."[16]
"This new departure sprung from the necessity which arose for the
invention of an elastic system of vaulting which should admit of all the
arches, forming vaults over spaces of any form or plan, being carried to
the same height at the ridge. This requirement led to the introduction
of the pointed arch in the vaulting, and from that departure it soon
spread to all the other arched features of the architecture."[17]
Architecture, which had hitherto been confined to the monasteries, was
now undertaken by laymen, and while the great monasteries were either
rebuilt or founded, the cathedrals mostly belong to this period. To
these attention was chiefly devoted, and the number of parish churches
constructed was comparatively small. This partly arose from the large
number of parish churches built during the Norman period. In Scotland
the cathedrals of St. Andrews, Dunblane, Glasgow (the choir and crypt),
Elgin, Brechin, Dunkeld, Caithness, the choir of St. Magnus in Orkney
and Galloway belong in whole or in part to this epoch.[18]
4. SCOTTISH MIDDLE POINTED OR DECORATED PERIOD
The period from 1214 to 1286 comprised the first pointed work in
Scotland. The country was during the time prosperous, and is believed to
have been more wealthy than at any time till after the Union with
England.[19] The disputed succession after the death of Alexander III.
gave Edward I. the opportunity of asserting his claims to the Scottish
throne; war followed, and with it poverty and barbarism. "The first note
of contest," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "banished every English priest,
monk, and friar from the northern realm. Its termination was followed by
the departure of those great Anglo-Norman lords--the flower of the
Scottish baronage--who, holding vast possessions in both countries, had
so long maintained among the rude Scottish hills the generous example of
English wealth and refinement. Then it was that De la Zouche and De
Quincy, Ferrars and Talbot, Beaumont and Umfraville, Percy and Wake,
Moubray and Fitz-Warine, Balliol and Cumyn, Hastings and De Coursi,
ceased to be significant names beyond the Tweed--either perishing in
that terrible revolution or withdrawing to their English domains, there
to perpetuate in scutcheon and pedigree the memory of their rightful
claims to many of the fairest lordships of Albany, and to much of the
reddest blood of the north."[20] This had a twofold consequence to
architecture. Comparatively few buildings arose in the north, and these
were in a smaller scale. And England now becoming an hereditary enemy,
no longer supplied models for the churches north of the Tweed, which
received the impress of France. In England the First Pointed was
succeeded about 1272 by the Middle Pointed or Decorated, which swayed
for about a century, being succeeded by the Third Pointed or
Perpendicular, whose reign, beginning about 1377, ended with the
Reformation.[21] The Decorated style did not reach Scotland till it had
passed away in England, and the Scottish representatives of the style
are scanty in number and late in date.[22] When the country revived
after the long struggle with England, and building began towards the
close of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century, few
new works were undertaken, energy and resources were concentrated on the
rebuilding or completion of the edifices that had been destroyed or left
unfinished. This period, along with the Third Pointed in Scotland, is
regarded as the work of native architects.[23]
5. SCOTTISH THIRD OR LATE POINTED PERIOD
The Middle Pointed passed by a gentle gradation into the Late Pointed
style, and it is difficult to say when the one ceased and the other
began. Yet there are some characteristics of the Third Pointed which are
peculiar to it and render it a distinct epoch. The large churches are
nearly all restorations, and no new churches of great size were
undertaken. The Scottish churches are usually smaller in size than the
English ones, and consist of single compartments without aisles. The
east end frequently terminates with a three-sided apse--a feature which
owes its origin to the Scottish alliance and intercourse with France.
The leading and distinguishing feature is, however, the vaulting--the
pointed barrel vault being almost universally employed. The windows of
these churches are necessarily low, so as to allow the point of the
arch-head to come beneath the spring of the main vault. The buttresses
are generally somewhat stunted. The windows are almost always pointed,
and contain simple tracery derived from the earlier styles. The doorways
are generally of the old round-headed form, with late foliage and
enrichments. Porches are occasionally introduced, and coats of arms are
commonly carved on shields of the period, and are useful in determining
the dates of portions of the buildings. Towers were generally erected or
intended, and are somewhat stunted, finished with short spires, having
small dormer windows inserted in them. Monuments are of frequent
occurrence, and are frequently placed in arched and canopied recesses.
Richly carved sacrament-houses are occasionally introduced, and perhaps
some of the good carving may be due to the French masons who were
numerous in Scotland during the reigns of James IV. and James V. The
structures of the period were either parish or collegiate churches.[24]
CHAPTER III
1. DIOCESE OF ST. ANDREWS
The connection between St. Andrews and the neighbouring Pictish Church
at Abernethy was, during the early period, very close. Dr. Skene thinks
that the first church at Abernethy was built during the visit of St.
Ninian to the Southern Picts, or the people living between the Forth and
the territory south of the Grampians; it was endowed with lands by King
Nectan in 460 A.D., and dedicated to St. Bride;[25] and between 584 and
596, during St. Columba's visit, and as a result of his mission, a
church was rebuilt by Gartnaidh, King of the Picts.[26] St. Columba is
distinctly stated to have preached among the tribes on the banks of the
Tay,[27] and to have been assisted in this work by St. Cainnech, who
founded a church in the east end of the province of Fife, near where the
Eden pours its waters into the German Ocean, at a place called
Rig-Monadh, or the royal mount, which afterwards became famous as the
site on which the church of St. Andrews was founded, and as giving to
that place the name of Kilrimont.[28] The earliest Celtic church at St.
Andrews was probably, like that of Iona, constructed with wattles and
turf and roofed with thatch. It was customary to have caves or places
of retirement for the hermits; they were used, too, as oratories or
places of penance, and one such there is at St. Andrews, known as St.
Rule's cave:--
Where good Saint Rule his holy lay,
From midnight to the dawn of day,
Sang to the billows' sound.[29]
The connection of the place with St. Andrew has no historical basis till
between 736 and 761, when a cathedral was dedicated to St. Andrew, and a
portion of his relics was brought by Acca, Bishop of Northumbria, who
was banished from that country in 732, and founded a church among the
Picts. Dr. Skene points to the similarity of the events which succeeded
one another in Northumbria and Southern Pictland in the eighth century.
In the former country the Columban clergy were expelled, secular clergy
were introduced, dedications were made to St. Peter, and afterwards
Hexham was dedicated to St. Andrew and received the relics of the
Apostle, brought there by one of its bishops; in the latter country,
sixty years later, the Picts expelled the Columban monks, introduced the
secular clergy, placed the kingdom under the patronage of St. Peter, and
then receiving from some unknown quarter the relics of St. Andrew,
founded the church in honour of that Apostle, who became the national
patron-saint.[30] This "cathedral," dedicated to St. Andrew, was
probably of stone, and was the church intervening between the early
Celtic Church and that of St. Regulus. Angus, King of the Picts, endowed
it with lands.
On the destruction of Iona by the Danes, the bishopric was first
transferred to Dunkeld (850-864); then to Abernethy (865-908), when the
Round Tower was probably built;[31] and in 908 it was transferred to
St. Andrews, which retained it until the Reformation. St. Adrian was
probably one of the three bishops of Alban[32] at Abernethy, as chapels
and crosses in the district are all connected with his name; and Cellach
appears as the first Bishop at St. Andrews, and he was succeeded by
eight Culdee bishops, the last of whom was Fothad, who officiated at the
marriage of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. The next three bishops
all died before consecration, and for about sixteen years after the
death of Malcolm the bishopric would appear to have been vacant. Turgot,
Queen Margaret's friend and confessor, was the thirteenth bishop, and
ruled from 1107-1115--the first bishop not of native birth.
Prior to 1107 the Culdee community had split up into two sections,
dividing the spiritualities and temporalities between them, and Bishop
Robert (1121-1159), with the object of superseding the Culdees, founded
in 1144 a priory for the regular monks of St. Augustine, granting to
them the Hospital of St. Andrews, with portions of the altarage. In the
same year King David granted a charter to the prior and canons of St.
Andrews, in which he provided that they shall receive the Keledei of
Kilrimont into the canonry, with all their possessions and revenues, if
they were willing to become canons-regular; but, if they refused, those
who are now alive are to retain the property during their lives, and,
after their death, as many canons-regular are to be instituted in the
church of St. Andrews as there are now Keledei, and all their
possessions are to be appropriated to the use of the canons. There were
thus two rival ecclesiastical bodies in St. Andrews--the old corporation
of secular priests and the new order of Austin-canons; the former
enjoyed the greater part of the old endowments, and the latter
recovered a considerable portion of the secularised property that had
passed into lay hands. Popes, bishops, and kings endeavoured to end this
rivalry, but their efforts were not crowned with success; although
influence was on the side of the canons-regular, the Keledei clung to
their prescriptive right to take part in the election of a bishop down
to 1273, when they were excluded by protest; in 1332 they were
absolutely excluded, and the formula of their exclusion from taking part
in the election was repeated;[33] we hear of them afterwards not as
Keledei, but as "the provostry of the Church of St. Mary of the city of
St. Andrews," of "the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Rock," and of
"the provostry of Kirkheugh"--the society consisting of a provost and
ten prebendaries.[34]
In the reign of Malcolm IV. the bishopric of St. Andrews included the
counties of Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, the three Lothians,
Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, parts of Perthshire, Forfarshire, and
Kincardineshire; and, although the see was lessened by the creation of
new bishoprics, the importance of St. Andrews was always great, for at
the Reformation the primate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction included 2
archdeaconries, 9 rural deaneries, the patronage of 131 benefices, the
administration of 245 parishes. In 1471 or 1472 the see was erected into
an archbishopric by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. and at this time the
Archbishop of York surrendered his claim to have the Bishop of St.
Andrews as his suffragan--a claim repeatedly made since the time of
Turgot and as frequently resented. The office of bishop or archbishop
involved great spiritual and temporal power; the primates were lords of
regality and ultimate heirs of all confiscated property within their
domains; they levied customs and at times had the power of coining
money; they presided at synods, controlled the appointment of abbots and
priors, were included with the King in the oath of allegiance, and took
precedence next to the royal family, and before all the Scottish
nobility. There were in all thirty-one bishops and six archbishops, who
held the see in succession from 908 to 1560, and among the more famous
of them may be mentioned Turgot, the friend and biographer of Queen
Margaret (1107-1115); Robert, prior of Scone, who founded the Priory of
St. Andrews, received the gift of the Culdee Monastery of Lochleven, and
built the church and tower of St. Rule (1124-1158); Arnold, Abbot of
Kelso, who started the building of the great cathedral (1158-1159);
William Wishart of Pitarrow, who was lord-chancellor and bishop
(1273-1279), and rebuilt, between 1272 and 1279, the west front, which
was blown down by a tempest of wind; William Lamberton (1298-1328), who
consecrated the cathedral in 1318, in the presence of King Robert the
Bruce; Henry Wardlaw (1404-1440), who founded in 1411 the University of
St. Andrews; James Kennedy (1440-1466)--the greatest of all the
bishops--who founded St. Salvador's College; James Stewart (1497-1503),
second son of James III., Duke of Ross and Marquis of Ormond, who was
made primate at twenty-one; Alexander Stewart (1506-1513), who was the
natural son of James IV., and fell with his father at Flodden; James
Beaton (1522-1539), who founded St. Mary's College and burnt Patrick
Hamilton; David Beaton, nephew of James Beaton (1539-1546), who burnt
Wishart and was murdered; John Hamilton (1549-1571), who was the author
of the Catechism of 1552.[35]
As to the buildings, St. Regulus' or St. Rule's, standing in the ancient
churchyard at a distance of about 120 feet south-east of the east end
of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, was unquestionably the earlier
Cathedral Church, and occupies probably the site of the earlier Celtic
church.
Bishop Robert (1121-1159) introduced the canons-regular of St. Augustine
in 1144, and these gradually absorbed many of the Culdees into their
community. It was during this time also that St. Rule's was built. Dr.
Joseph Robertson says of it:--"The little Romanesque church and square
tower at St. Andrews, which bear the name of St. Rule, have, so far as
we know, no prototype in the south.... No one acquainted with the
progress of architecture will have much difficulty in identifying the
building with the small 'basilica' reared by Bishop Robert, an English
canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, between the years 1127 and
1144."[36] The Pictish Chronicle states that Robert was elected Bishop
in the reign of Alexander I., but was not consecrated till the reign of
David I. in 1138; that, after his consecration by Thurstan, Archbishop
of York, he expended on this work one-seventh of the altar dues which
fell to him, reserving them for his own use. "But inasmuch as the outlay
was small, the building made correspondingly small progress, until, by
the Divine favour, and the influence of the King, offerings flowed in,
and the work went on apace. The basilica was thus founded and in great
part constructed."[37]
What now remains of this building consists of a square tower, 112 feet
high, and an oblong chamber. Discussion has arisen as to whether there
ever was a nave, and in favour of the positive view it is urged that
marks of three successive roofs may be seen on the tower-wall, and that
the seals of the church, dated 1204 and 1214, show a nave and chancel.
Eminent authorities take this view. Sir Gilbert Scott thinks that the
large size of the western arch, and the mark of the roof on the tower,
suggest a nave;[38] while later authorities, recalling that this church
was once a cathedral, as well as the church of a monastery, and served
the purpose of a parish church, hold it as more than probable that it
must have been a larger building than the simple oblong chamber to the
east of the tower which now survives.[39]
The architecture corresponds with the period of Bishop Robert,[40] so
that there is more than probability in averring that St. Rule's was the
cathedral built by this bishop, and took the place of an earlier Celtic
church, founded by Bishop Acca. The square tower of St. Regulus was
probably designed to fulfil the same purposes as the Round Towers of
Abernethy and Brechin: (1) to serve as a belfry; (2) to be a keep or
place of strength in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other
valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics could retire
for security in case of sudden predatory attack; (3) when occasion
required, to be a beacon or watch-tower.[41]
Besides the Church of St. Regulus, there are still to be seen the ruins
of the great Cathedral of St. Andrews, which consisted of a short
aisleless presbytery, and choir of five bays with side aisles, with an
eastern chapel in each aisle; north and south transepts, each of three
bays with eastern aisles; nave of twelve bays with north and south
aisles, and a large central tower over the crossing. The interior
dimensions were--total length, 355 feet; width of nave, 63 feet; length
of transepts, 167 feet 6 inches; width, 43 feet 2 inches. The older
parts of the Cathedral exhibit traces of the transition from the Norman
architecture, but the principal parts of the structure have been carried
out in the First Pointed style.[42]
The Cathedral Church was also the Conventual Church of the
Austin-canons, and the Bishop was _ex officio_ prior of the monastery.
Of the conventual buildings erected by Bishop Robert nothing remains.
The Cathedral was erected from east to west in about 115 years.[43] The
work was commenced by Bishop Arnold in 1161, was continued by eleven
successive bishops, and was consecrated by Bishop Lamberton in 1318.
During its progress in 1276, the eastern end was greatly injured by a
violent tempest, and in 1378 the Cathedral suffered from fire, which
according to Wyntoun destroyed the south half of the nave from the west
end, and eastward to and including the ninth pillar. The restoration was
begun at once by Bishop Landel (1341-1385), and completed in the time of
Bishop Wardlaw (1404-1440), who in 1430 improved the interior by the
introduction of fine pavements in the choir, transept, and nave, and by
filling the nave with stained glass and building a large window in the
eastern gable. The south wall of the nave extends considerably westwards
beyond the present west end, and contains the remains of a vaulting
shaft, leading to the inference that the Cathedral was originally of
greater length than it now is by at least 34 feet. The north wall of
nave also projects westwards about 7 feet. There is a difficulty in
connection with the west front, and it is regarded by competent
authorities that this wall was not part of a western porch, but
"indicates that there has been a change in the design, and that the
original intention of having a wide porch extending along the whole of
the west end has been departed from after the first story was built up
to the level of the above string course, all above that point being of
later design and execution."[44]
The early chapter-house was 26 feet square, and was vaulted with four
central pillars. It opened to the cloisters, and the doorway is
pronounced to be in the purest style of early pointed architecture.[45]
Bishop Lamberton (1298-1328) erected a new chapter-house, and the old
one was made a vestibule to the new. South of the early chapter-house
was probably the fratery; on the upper floor of this building and the
chapter-house was the dormitory--a wheel-stair leading to it from the
south transept. On the west side of the cloister was the sub-prior's
house, known also as Senzie House; south-east of the fratery is the
prior's house or Hospitium Vetus, which was sometimes the residence of
the bishop. West of the cathedral are the remains of the entrance
gateway, called the "Pends," and in continuation of the "Pends" was the
enclosing wall of the priory grounds, containing sixteen towers. The
Guest-House was within the precinct of St. Leonard's College, and was
built about the middle of the thirteenth century.[46] Within the
precincts of the Priory-grounds were the various offices connected with
the great ecclesiastical establishment.
The conventual and other buildings attached to the Cathedral have been
recently excavated at the expense of the late Marquis of Bute, and
considerable remains of the foundations disclosed to view. The ruins of
the castle stand on a rocky promontory, overhanging the sea, N.N.W. of
the Cathedral; and between the Cathedral-wall on the N.E. and the sea
are the foundations of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.
In 1559 the Cathedral was attacked by the mob and greatly destroyed.
Time and weather helped to complete the work of destruction; the
Protestant Archbishop Spottiswoode in 1635 strove to make provision for
its restoration, but nothing appears to have been done to arrest the
work of destruction. The Barons of Exchequer in 1826 took possession of
the ruins, had the rubbish cleared away, and what remained of the great
building strengthened. The pier-bases have been made visible, and the
outline of the building marked on the turf. St. Andrews has been
associated with most of the stirring events in Scottish Church history,
and will always possess its two great voices of the Cathedral and the
Sea.
2. DIOCESE OF GLASGOW
Towards the end of the fourth century, St. Ninian, a Christian
missionary trained at Rome in the doctrine and discipline of the Western
Church, is said to have established a religious cell on the banks of the
Molendinar. How long he remained there is uncertain, but his labours are
chiefly centred around the Candida Casa at Whithorn and among the
southern Picts, whose district, according to Bede, he evangelised. With
St. Ninian's departure, the district around the Molendinar relapsed into
barbarism, and the only remaining monument of his work was a cemetery
which he was reputed to have consecrated. The next historical reference
to Glasgow is in connection with St. Kentigern, or, as he was popularly
known, St. Mungo, about the middle of the sixth century. He was of royal
descent, and was born in 518 or 527. His biographer, Joceline, states
that he was adopted and educated by St. Servanus or St. Serf, who lived
at Culross, and by him was named "Munghu," _i.e._ dearest friend. But
this must be a mistake, for Servanus lived two centuries after
Kentigern's time;[47] if it is correct, there must have been an earlier
and a later St. Serf. On attaining his twenty-fifth year, according to
Joceline, he proceeded to Carnock, where lived a holy man named Fergus.
After he reached the abode of Fergus, the good man said his "nunc
dimittis" and died; and Kentigern, placing his body on a wain drawn by
two bulls, took his departure, praying to be guided to the place which
might be appointed for burial. The place where the wain stopped was
Cathures, afterwards called Glasgow, where St. Ninian had consecrated a
cemetery, and here Fergus was buried. Such is Joceline's account of
Kentigern's first connection with Glasgow. The king and people of the
district pressed him to remain as their bishop, and he consented,
establishing his see at Cathures and founding a lay society of the
servants of God, and fixing his own abode on the banks of the
Molendinar. After some years of austerity and beneficence there, he was
driven from his work by the persecutions of an apostate prince and
settled in the vale of Clwyd, North Wales, where he founded a monastery.
After a time he returned to Glasgow, at the solicitation of the King of
Cumbria, and appointed St. Asaph as his successor in Wales. In a
martyrology ascribed to the year 875 Kentigern appears as "bishop of
Glasgow and confessor."[48] While resident at Glasgow, St. Kentigern was
visited by St. Columba, his distinguished contemporary and the apostle
of the Picts, who presented him with a crozier, which, Fordun says, was
afterwards preserved in St. Wilfrid's Church at Ripon. Bishop Forbes
describes the meeting of the two great men "as one of those incidents
which we wish to be true, and which we have no certainty for believing
not to be so."[49] St. Kentigern died in 603 or 614, and was buried in
Glasgow, which is still known as the city of St. Mungo--Mungo being his
name of honour or affection. Everything connected with St. Mungo's early
church, of wood and wattles or of stone, on the banks of the Molendinar,
is shrouded in the mists of antiquity until the first quarter of the
twelfth century, when David, Prince and Earl of Cumbria, the youngest
son of Queen Margaret, took measures to reconstruct the see and recover
its property. Of Glasgow during the Culdee period nothing can be
definitely known. The result of Prince David's inquest is contained in
the _Register_ of the Bishopric,[50] and it sets forth that Prince
David, from love to God and by the exhortation of the Bishop, having
caused inquiry to be made concerning the lands belonging to the church
in Cumbria, had ascertained that they belonged to the church of Glasgow,
and restored them. These lands extended from the Clyde on the north to
the Solway and English March on the south, from the western boundary of
Lothian on the east to the river Urr on the west, including Teviotdale,
and comprehended what afterwards formed the site of the city of
Glasgow.[51] The building of the cathedral would appear to have been
begun before David succeeded to the throne in 1124, and he appointed his
tutor John (called Achaius) to the bishopric. In 1136 the church, which
was probably chiefly of wood, was dedicated, and King David endowed it
further with lands, tithes, and churches. The church of Achaius was
destroyed by fire, but through the exertions of Bishop Joceline a
society was founded to collect funds for its restoration, and the work
was sufficiently advanced for its consecration on 6th July 1197.[52]
Although built at different dates, the building has a very homogeneous
appearance, and might be mistaken for a building of one period. Under
competent guidance,[53] we now propose to give a short sketch of the
cathedral itself.
The first attempt to erect a cathedral was made by Bishop Achaius, whose
episcopate extended from 1115 to 1147, and Mr. Honeyman regards the
portion of the lower church at the south-west angle as the most ancient
part of the structure. He holds that the church built by Achaius was
restored by Bishop Joceline (1175-1199) at the end of the twelfth
century, and that the above portion formed a chapel, and was part of
that restoration. The strongest argument is its nearness to the tomb of
the patron saint. If we assume that the old choir terminated in a
semicircular apse, projecting eastward beyond the aisles, we shall find
that the tomb would be enclosed in such a position as to admit of the
high altar being placed immediately over it. Assuming that the choir was
not apsidal but square, we get the same result. The probability is that
the end of the church erected or altered by Joceline was square, and
that it projected two bays beyond the aisles, as at St. Andrews and
other churches of the same period.[54] The crypt, or, strictly speaking,
"lower church," was evidently suggested by the sloping eastward
character of the site, which would have placed St. Mungo's tomb at a
depth below the level on which a large church could possibly be built;
while Achaius, from his long residence in Italy, would be led to imitate
some notable Italian examples.[55] Some similarities between Glasgow and
Jedburgh (which was in the diocese of Glasgow) have suggested that there
was in the olden times such a servant of the church as a diocesean
architect.[56] "One thing is abundantly clear," says Mr. Honeyman, "to
any one who intelligently studies the building, namely, that the whole
design was carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It
is a skilful and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a
man of exceptional ability and great experience. Nothing has been left
to chance, or to the sweet will of the co-operating craftsman, but the
one master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and
has left the impress of his genius upon it all. The mark of the master
may be discerned by the practised eye in every feature of the
magnificent edifice; the marks of the craftsmen may be seen on the work
they were told to do, and did so well."[57] To Bishop Joceline is due
the credit of having formed a society to collect funds for the
restoration of Bishop John's church, which was burnt by fire,[58] and he
appears to have rebuilt the choir, and also to have designed, if he did
not also partly build, the nave.[59] This part of his work was
sufficiently advanced for consecration on 6th July 1197.[60] The work
was probably continued by his successors, but the next great benefactor
of the cathedral was Bishop William de Bondington (1233-1258), who
perfected Joceline's work, and built both choir and lower church or
"crypt," as they now are.[61] According to Mr. Honeyman, the foundations
of the nave were laid and part of the walls was carried up before the
building of the choir was begun.[62] Most of the nave appears, from its
architecture, to have been erected at the end of the thirteenth, or the
beginning of the fourteenth century, and is pronounced to form "one of
the finest examples of the late First Pointed or Early Decorated style
in Scotland."[63] "The spacing (of the piers) is that of the twelfth
century (considerably less than that of the choir), while the height and
the treatment, in other respects, is that of the latter portion of the
thirteenth."[64]
Bishop Wishart during the war of Independence supported the Scottish
party; he obtained permission from Edward I. to cut timber in Luss
forest for erecting the spire of the cathedral, and it was one of the
causes of accusation against him, which led to his imprisonment in
England, that he had used the said timber not for building the spire but
for making engines of war wherewith to attack Edward's army. In 1400 the
wooden spire of the cathedral was destroyed by lightning, but a new
tower of masonry was erected over the crossing by Bishop Lauder
(1408-1425), who carried the work as high as the main parapet. "This
bishop appears also to have begun the completion of the chapter-house, a
detached structure lying to the north-east of the choir. The walls of
this building were partly erected about the time of the construction of
the choir, but were afterwards raised to two storeys in height, and
vaulted by Bishop Cameron."[65] This latter prelate (1426-1446) was
known as "the Magnificent," from the splendour of his retinue and court.
He erected the stone spire above the tower of Bishop Lauder, and also
completed the chapter-house wing containing the sacristy on the upper
floor, and the chapter-house on the ground floor. His arms are still to
be seen on the portions of the structure erected by him. The beautiful
rood-screen was also probably constructed by him.[66] Bishop Cameron
also increased the number of prebendaries from seven to thirty-two, and
ordained that they should all have manses and reside near the cathedral.
In his day the episcopal court was said to rival that of the King, and
he built the great tower of the castle or episcopal palace, which was
probably erected by Bishop Bondington and stood with the garden in the
open space between the cathedral and the present Castle Street, now
called Infirmary Square. The Bishop's palace was a Scottish baronial
structure, and had an elaborate turreted gateway or port at the
south-east angle of the wall nearly opposite the gate that now leads to
the cathedral yard.[67] Bishop William Turnbull, who succeeded Bishop
Cameron, held office from 1448 to 1454. He did not add much to the
cathedral, but his memory ought to be gratefully remembered, for in
response to his representation and that of the King, Pope Nicholas V.
issued his bull, on 7th January 1450-1451, by which he erected the
University, ordaining that it should flourish in all time to come, as
well in theology and canon and civil law as in the arts and every lawful
faculty, and that the doctors, masters, readers, and students might
there enjoy all the liberties, honours, exemptions, and immunities
granted by the Apostolic see to the doctors, masters, and students in
the University of Bologna. He gave the power to confer degrees and make
licentiates--an important recognition in those days, for it brought the
influence of the Church on the side of schools of learning, and gave
universal European validity to the degrees so conferred.[68] The Bishop
of Glasgow was the patron and head of the University of Glasgow, which
was thus founded forty years after that of St. Andrews, and forty years
before that of Aberdeen. The next prelate, Bishop Andrew Muirhead
(1455-1473) took an important part in the State affairs of the period,
and as far as his work in the cathedral is concerned, built the hall of
the choral vicars. It is situated between the two buttresses at the west
end of the north aisle of the choir, and is a low building now roofed
with flags. It was called the "aula vicariorum chori," and was built as
an accommodation for the vicars choral, whose duties were to serve and
sing in the choir. They were formed into a college by Bishop Muirhead,
were originally twelve in number, but were afterwards increased to
eighteen, and were aided by boy choristers. Archbishop Eyre thinks that
this building on the north side of the cathedral was the early
song-school of the church, which passed into the hands of the college of
vicars choral, and was a hall for their business meetings and musical
practice, the second storey being probably their reading-room, or the
sleeping-place of the sacristan, who was required to sleep in the
church.[69]
Robert Blacader (1484-1508) was high in favour with King James IV., and
was one of the embassy sent to England to arrange the marriage of the
Scottish monarch with the daughter of Henry VII. James had previously
sought consolation under the Bishop's care, enrolled himself as a
prebendary in the cathedral, and in person attended as a member of the
cathedral-chapter. The King was always favourable to Glasgow, and did
not desire the see to be subordinate to that of St. Andrews. He urged
upon the Pope that the pallium should be granted to the Bishop of
Glasgow, whose cathedral, he urged, "surpasses the other cathedral
churches of my realm by its structure, its learned men, its foundation,
its ornaments, and other very noble prerogatives." A bull was granted in
1491-1492 by Pope Innocent VIII. in which he declared the see to be
metropolitan, and appointed the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway,
and Argyll to be its suffragans.[70] Blacader was the first Archbishop
of Glasgow, and beautified his cathedral by building or adorning the
fine rood-screen which separates the nave from the choir[71] by founding
altarages and erecting two altars in front of the rood-screen, on both
of which his arms and initials are carved.[72] He built also the
decorated flights of steps from the aisles of the nave to the choir, and
partly erected the building in continuation of the south transept,
called Blacader's aisle, but it was never carried higher than the ground
storey or crypt.[73] It is also known as Fergus's aisle.[74] Archbishop
Blacader was the last to add to the cathedral, and there is reason to
believe that his addition occupies the site of the cemetery consecrated
by St. Ninian, and thus the earliest consecration and the latest
building effort are identified with the same spot.[75]
Glasgow, like Elgin, Aberdeen, and Brechin, possessed originally two
western towers, but at Glasgow, grievously and unfortunately, the
south-west tower was removed in 1845, and the north-west one in 1848 by
the Restoration Committee. They were venerable in their antiquity, and
were probably built after the completion of the nave and aisles, if not
at the same time. Evidence showed "that probably the north-west tower
was part of the original design, or if not, that its erection was
resolved on before the north aisle was completed, and it was built
before the west window of the north aisle required to be glazed. The
south-west tower was probably of the same date."[76] The latter was best
known as the consistory house, and was the place where the bishops held
their ecclesiastical courts and the diocesan records were kept. The only
comfort amid the demolition of the towers is that the proposed new ones
were not erected in their place; and better counsel ought to have
prevailed, since Mr. Billings described the removal as an act of
barbarism. "All who now see the grand old building, shorn of its
cathedral features, and made like a large parish church, mock and laugh
at the action of the local committee, saying, "These men had two towers,
and they went and pulled them both down.""[77]
The higher church had twenty-four altars or chapels;[78] the lower
church, commonly but incorrectly called the crypt, had six altars;[79]
the high altar occupied the usual place, was dedicated to St.
Kentigern, had a wooden canopy or tabernacle work over it, and in front
of it, on the right-hand side, was the bishop's throne.[80] When it is
recalled that the cathedral possessed these thirty altars or chapels
(most of them beautiful works of art), thirty-two canons, college of
choral vicars, with other assistants, one can well understand the great,
almost dangerous power which the "Spiritual Dukedom" possessed, and the
dread, felt even by its own chapter, when it was first proposed to make
the bishopric into an archbishopric, for they regarded the movement as
conferring too much power on the bishop.[81] A conception of the
archbishop's power may be formed by recalling that the archdeaconry of
Glasgow contained the following deaneries--Nycht, Nith, or Dumfries,
with 31 parishes, besides 2 in Annandale and 8 in Galloway; Annandale,
28 parishes, besides 8 in Eskdale; Kyle, 17 parishes; Cunningham, 15;
Carrick, 9; Lennox, 17; Rutherglen, 34; Lanark or Clydesdale, 25;
Peebles or Stobo, 19; the archdeaconry of Teviotdale, 36 parishes.[82]
Besides the prelates already mentioned there were, as the direct
successors of Blacader, James Beaton (1508-1522), afterwards Archbishop
of St. Andrews; Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547); James Beaton, the last Roman
Catholic archbishop, who at the Reformation retired to France with the
writs of the see, which were deposited, by his directions, partly in the
archives of the Scots College, and partly in the Chartreuse of Paris,
and have been since published by the Maitland Club.[83] Among the
Protestant archbishops space will only permit us recording the names of
John Spottiswood (1612-1615) and Robert Leighton (1671-1674).[84]
Glasgow has passed through the various stages of burgh, burgh of barony,
burgh of regality, city, royal burgh, and county of a city.[85] But it
grew under the protection of the Church, for as David I. granted to
Bishop John of St. Andrews the site of the burgh of that name, so
William the Lion granted to Bishop Joceline of Glasgow the right to have
a burgh in Glasgow, with all the freedoms and customs which any royal
burgh in Scotland possessed.[86] Glasgow thus owed its existence to the
Church, under whose fostering care it developed for centuries, and the
ruling ecclesiastic elected the provost, magistrates, and councillors.
Its motto still is "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word,"
and its seal emblems have been thus interpreted: "The employment of
these four emblems (fish, bird, tree, bell) in connection with St.
Kentigern was meant to convey that he was sent as a fisher of men, that
his work from small beginnings grew to very large dimensions, 'like to
a grain of mustard-seed, ... which is the least indeed of all seeds, but
when it is grown up ... becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and dwell in the branches thereof'; and that his name and fame
became so great that he was heard of everywhere. 'Verily their sound
hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the
whole world.'"[87]
The most beautiful features of the exterior are pronounced to be the
doorways, especially those of the lower church,[88] the vaulting of
which was said by Sir Gilbert Scott to contain nowhere two compartments
in juxtaposition which are alike.[89] It has been suggested that the
motive of the architect was to reproduce, as nearly as circumstances
permitted, the plan of Solomon's Temple, and the arrangement corresponds
exactly.[90] The beauty of the lower church is much obscured by the dark
stained glass in the windows, and it is matter for regret that this
masterpiece of design and wonderful variety of effect[91] are not more
visible.
"The plan of the cathedral," says Mr. Honeyman, "is remarkably compact,
and the exterior is symmetrical and harmonious. The best points of view
are from the north-east and the south-east. From either of these points
the full height of the structure is seen, and that is sufficiently great
to give the building a dignified and impressive effect, the height from
the ground-level to the apex of the choir gable being 115 feet. The
well-proportioned short transept breaks the monotony of the long
clerestory, without unduly hiding it, as transepts with more projections
do. The gable of the choir, with its four lancets, rises picturesquely
over the double eastern aisles, while the sombre keep-like mass of the
chapter-house adds a romantic element to the effect of the whole
composition, which culminates gracefully in the lofty spire. The
pervading characteristic is simplicity, and the effect solemnising. Sir
Walter Scott, with his usual quick perception of _character_ in
buildings, as well as in man, puts an admirable reference to these
salient points into the mouth of Andrew Fairservice, who exclaims, 'Ah!
it's a brave kirk; nane o' yer whigmaleeries an' curliwurlies, an'
open-steek hems about it.' It may, indeed, be called severe, but not
tame."[92] Internally the cathedral has a nave of eight bays, with side
aisles; transepts, not projecting beyond the aisles; a choir of five
bays, with side aisles and an aisle at the east end, with chapels beyond
it. At the north-east corner of the choir is the sacristy or vestiarium;
below it is the chapter-house, with an entrance from the lower church;
on the south side of the church, as a continuation of the transept, is
another low church or crypt, called "Blacader's Aisle"; on the north
side are the foundations of a large chapel. Over the crossing rise the
tower and spire, 217 feet high. The church within is 283 feet long by 61
feet broad.[93]
The history of the cathedral is closely connected with many of the
stirring events in Scottish history. King Edward prostrated himself
before its altar; Robert the Bruce within it received absolution, "while
the Red Cumyn's blood was scarce yet dry upon his dagger"; and within
its walls was held the Glasgow Assembly of 1638, when the Episcopate was
abolished, and the Presbyterian government was restored. Robert Leighton
has preached within its choir, in his low, sweet voice, and with those
angelic strains of eloquence and devotion which lingered in the memory
of his hearers to their dying day.
3. DIOCESE OF DUNKELD
Dunkeld is situated amid lovely scenery, and was from the earliest times
a religious centre. The name means fort of the Culdees. After the
destruction of Iona by the Norsemen in the beginning of the ninth
century, Dunkeld became the seat of the Columban authority in Scotland,
and part of the relics of St. Columba were brought here by King Kenneth
Macalpine in 850. Its abbot was named Bishop of Fortreum, but in 865 the
primacy was transferred to Abernethy, and thence to St. Andrews in 908.
One of the lay abbots at Dunkeld married a daughter of Malcolm II., and
through the influence of their descendants the religious order in
Scotland was changed. Emerging as great secular chiefs, these lay abbots
weakened, if they did not destroy, the ecclesiastical foundation. The
bishopric was revived by Alexander I. in 1107, and prior to the
thirteenth century was not confined to Atholl, but extended to the
western sea, and included the districts stretching along its shores from
the Firth of Clyde to Lochbroom, and forming the province of Argyll.[94]
The western part was separated about 1200, and formed into a new
bishopric, termed first that of Argyll, and afterward that of
Lismore.[95] Cormac, the Culdee abbot, was the first bishop under the
new order, and among his successors may be mentioned Bishop Sinclair
(1312-1338), the friend of Bruce, and a "man of courage, the champion of
the Church, and the brave defender of the constitution of the
kingdom";[96] Bishop Lauder (1452-1476), who filled the see "with
unfading honour,"[97] and built a bridge across the Tay, as well as
adorned the cathedral; George Brown (1485-1514), who divided the see
into four deaneries, procured Gaelic preachers,[98] promoted clerical
efficiency, enlarged the palace at Dunkeld, and built the castle of
Cluny;[99] Gavin Douglas (1516-1522), "a noble, learned, worthy
bishop,"[100] who translated the _Æneid_ into Scots verse, and thus
in a barbarous age,
Gave to rude Scotland Virgil's page.
The diocese had four deaneries: (1) Atholl and Drumalbane, with 47
parishes; (2) Angus, with 5; (3) Fife, Fotherick, and Stratherne, with
7; (4) South Forth, with 7.[101]
Canon Myln's quaint _Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld_ professes to give
an account of the building of the cathedral, and it appears that the
existing structure is chiefly of the fifteenth century.[102] It consists
of an aisleless choir, a nave with two aisles, a north-west tower, and a
chapter-house to the north of the choir. It appears that the different
parts of the structure were begun at the dates given by Abbot Myln, but
were not completed until some time afterwards.[103] All are Third
Pointed in style except the choir, which retains some scanty portions of
First Pointed work. The following are given as the approximate dates of
the original construction: choir (1318-1400); nave (1406-1465);
chapter-house (1457-1465); tower (1469-1501).
The episcopal palace was a little south-west of the cathedral, which
contained many valuable ornaments and vessels, a painted reredos, and in
its great tower two large bells, named St. George and St. Colm
(Columba). At the Reformation in 1560, the cathedral suffered the common
fate of most of such structures, although Argyll and Ruthven, in
requiring the lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid "to purge the kirk of all
kinds of monuments of idolatry," requested them also "to tak good heid
that neither the desks, windocks, nor doors be onyways hurt or broken,
either glassin work or iron work." The closing injunction was not
observed, and the roofs were also demolished. In 1600 the choir was
re-roofed, and is the present parish church. But the ruins still speak
of the former grandeur of this old church-town, and perhaps a like day
may yet dawn for Dunkeld, as has been seen at Dunblane.
4. DIOCESE OF ABERDEEN
The earliest ecclesiastical history of Aberdeen is connected with St.
Machar (a disciple of St. Columba), who preached the Gospel among the
Northern Picts and settled on the banks of the Don, founding there both
a Christian colony and a church, which, from its situation, was called
the Church of Aberdon. Another band of Columban missionaries established
themselves in the sequestered vale of the Fiddich, at Morthlac, and in
the beginning of the twelfth century the "Monastery of Morthlach"
possessed five dependent churches.[104] The tradition that there was a
bishopric at Murthlack or Morthlach is not founded on reliable evidence,
and is discredited by Dr. Cosmo Innes[105] and Dr. Skene.[106] What
David I. did was to graft on the Culdee monastery of St. Machar the
chapter of a new diocese, and in this manner the bishopric was founded
before 1150, and endowed with old Culdee possessions, among others with
the "Monastery of Morthlach" and its five churches.[107] The third
bishop, Matthew de Kininmond, began to build a cathedral between 1183
and 1199 to supersede the primitive church then existing,[108] "which
(new building), because it was not glorious enough, Bishop Cheyne threw
down."[109] The second edifice was begun by Bishop Cheyne about 1282,
and the work was interrupted by the Scottish war with Edward I. during
the bishop's absence in temporary banishment. "The king (Bruce) seeing
the new cathedral he had begun, made the church to be built with the
revenues of the bishopric."[110] The cathedral thus built was thrown
down in turn by Bishop Alexander Kininmond, who succeeded in 1355 and
began the present cathedral about 1366. "Of his operations there remain
two large piers for the support of the central tower, which form the
earliest portion of the structure of St. Machar's now remaining."[111]
The dean and chapter (of which Barbour, the father of Scottish poetry,
was a member) taxed themselves for the fabric in sixty pounds annually
for ten years; the bishop surrendered revenues worth about twice that
sum; the Pope in 1380 made a grant of indulgences to all who should help
the work. All these appliances but availed to raise the foundations of
the nave a few feet above ground.[112] Forty years elapsed before Bishop
Leighton (1422-1440) completed the wall of the nave, founded the
northern transept, and reared the two western towers.[113] Bishop
Lindsay (1441-1459) paved and roofed the cathedral; it was glazed by
Bishop Spens (1459-1480). Bishop Elphinstone (1487-1514), who founded
King's College in 1500, and who was "the most distinguished of all who
ever filled the episcopal chair," ... and possessed "manners and
temperance in his own person, befitting the primitive ages of
Christianity,"[114] adorned the cathedral. He built the great central
tower and wooden spire, provided the great bells, and covered the roofs
of nave, aisles, and transept with lead.[115] This central tower was
four storey high, and square, and had two battlements and fourteen
bells; it was a noted landmark to mariners at sea.[116] Bishop Gavin
Dunbar (1519-1531) built the southern transept, added spires to
Leighton's towers, and constructed at his own "pains and expenses" the
flat ceiling of oak, which still remains with the heraldries of the
Pope, the Emperor, St. Margaret, the kings and princes of Christendom,
the bishops and the earls of Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone began to
rebuild the choir, but it never seems to have been finished. Alluding to
1560, Orme says, "The glorious structure of said cathedral church, being
near nine score years in building, did not remain twenty entire, when it
was almost ruined by a crew of sacrilegious church robbers."[117] The
ruins of the choir have been entirely removed; of the transepts only the
foundations now remain, the architecture being destroyed by the fall of
the central tower in 1688. The nave is nearly perfect, and is used as
the parish church. The west front, except the spires, is entirely built
with granite, and is regarded as one of the most impressive and imposing
structures in Scotland,[118] and as stately in the severe symmetry of
its simple design.[119] There is a remarkable entrance doorway, the
jambs being mere rounds and hollows, with a flat stone laid along at the
springing of the round arch. Above the doorway are seven lofty narrow
windows, crowned each with a round and cusped arch, and forming a
striking feature of the whole. The clerestory windows are narrow and
round arched, without any moulding, while the aisle windows are filled
with the simplest tracery. East of the cathedral was the bishop's
palace (1470), "a large and fair court, having a high tower at each of
its four corners";[120] to the south stood the deanery. Aberdeen was
created a city or bishop's see by King David,[121] and the diocese
contained five deaneries, with 94 parishes.
5. DIOCESE OF MORAY
Previously to Elgin, the see was successively at Birnay, Kinnedor, and
Spyny, but without a proper cathedral.[122] Alexander I., shortly after
his accession in 1107, founded the bishopric, but it was not till the
time of Bricius, the sixth Bishop of Moray, who filled that position
from 1203 to 1222, that the bishops had any fixed residence in the
diocese.[123] When Bricius became bishop in 1203, he fixed his cathedral
at Spyny, founded a chapter of eight secular canons, and gave to his
church a constitution founded on the usage of Lincoln, which he
ascertained by a mission to England.[124] Andrew de Moravia succeeded
him in 1222, and in his time (1224) the transference of the episcopal
see and the cathedral of the diocese to Elgin was effected, which had
probably been designed and solicited by his predecessor.[125] This
bishop probably built the cathedral church, munificently endowed it,
increased the number of prebends to twenty-three, of which he held one,
and sat as a canon in the chapter.[126] The Cathedral of the Holy
Trinity was founded in 1224, on the site of an older church with the
same dedication, and the work proceeded under Bishop Andrew's
supervision during the eighteen remaining years of his life.[127] The
_Register_ of the see shows us "Master Gregory the mason and Richard the
glazier" at work in autumn 1237.[128] Of the building itself probably
now little is left, for it is recorded by Fordun under the year 1270
that the Cathedral of Elgin and the houses of the canons were burnt, but
whether by accident or design he does not add. The ruins now standing
probably date from a subsequent period, when there was raised the
stately building, of which Bishop Alexander Bur wrote to the king that
it was "the pride of the land, the glory of the realm, the delight of
wayfarers and strangers, a praise and boast among foreign nations, lofty
in its towers without, splendid in its appointments within, its
countless jewels and rich vestments, and the multitude of its priests,
serving God in righteousness."[129] This description is taken from a
letter addressed to King Robert III., complaining that on the feast of
St. Botolph, in 1390, the king's own brother, the Earl of Buchan,
popularly known as the "Wolf of Badenoch," had descended from the hills
with a band of wild Scots, and burned a considerable part of the town of
Elgin, St. Giles Church, the Maison Dieu, the manses of the clergy, and
the cathedral itself. The bishop appealed for aid and reparation, and
the "Wolf of Badenoch" was compelled to yield, but, on condition that he
should make satisfaction to the bishop and church of Moray and obtain
absolution from the Pope, he was absolved by the Bishop of St. Andrews
in the Blackfriars Church at Perth. Notwithstanding his age and
feebleness, Bishop Bur energetically pressed on the restoration of the
cathedral, and it was continued by Bishops Spynie (1397-1406) and Innes
(1406-1421), and even then it was not completed. It thus occupied many
years, even though it was promoted by grants of the royal favour, by a
third part of the whole revenues of the see being devoted to it for a
time, and by yearly subsidies being levied on every benefice in a
diocese stretching "from the Ness to the Deveron, from the sea to the
passes of Lochaber and the central mountains that divide Badenoch and
Athol."[130] Early in the sixteenth century the central tower showed
signs of weakness, and had to be rebuilt in 1538. It fell in 1711,
destroying the nave and transepts.[131]
The Cathedral of Elgin was complete in all arrangements, and had a large
nave with double aisles, an extended choir and presbytery, north and
south transepts, a lady chapel, and a detached octagonal chapter-house.
It had a great tower and spire over the crossing, two beautiful turrets
at the east end, and two noble towers at the west end. Most of the
existing portions are pronounced to belong to the period when Scottish
architecture was at its best.[132] The existing ruins testify to the
former splendour of the completed structure, which was said to be a
building of Gothic architecture inferior to few in Europe. "Elgin
alone," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "among the Scottish cathedrals of the
thirteenth century, had two western towers. They are now shorn of their
just height, but still they may be seen from far, lifting their bulk
above the pleasant plain of Murray, and suggesting what the pile must
have been when the amiable and learned Florence Wilson loved to look
upon its magnificence as he meditated his _De Animi Tranquillitate_ on
the banks of the Lossie, and when the great central spire soared to
twice the altitude of the loftiest pinnacle of ruin that now grieves the
eye."[133] The destruction of the cathedral was hastened by the
alienation of Church lands by Bishop Patrick Hepburn, among the worst of
the bishops; by the Privy Council in 1568 ordering the removal of lead
from the roofs; by wind and weather; by Cromwell's troops; by an
irrational zeal, which in 1630 broke down the carved screen and lovely
wood-work; and lastly by the falling of the central tower, which
destroyed the whole nave and part of the transepts. The passing away of
such a colossal work of beauty is grievous, and not less so when it is
recalled that the cathedral expressed the devoted labour of centuries.
According to the latest authorities, the following are the probable
dates. The transept was erected about 1224, and may possibly have formed
part of the original Church of the Trinity. The western towers followed
soon after; the western portal somewhat later. The west part of the
north wall of the choir may have been part of the original church, but
the general work of choir, nave, and early chapter-house would appear to
have been carried out during the thirteenth century, and before the
Scottish War of Independence. The cathedral, thus completed, remained
for about a century, when the "Wolf of Badenoch" deformed or destroyed
nave and chapter-house. The west front above the portal and the whole of
the nave were reconstructed about the time of Bishop Dunbar (1422-1435),
and the chapter-house by Bishop David Stewart (1482-1501). The
architecture corresponds with their respective periods, and bears their
coats of arms, engraved on each department.[134]
Dr. Thomas Chalmers considered the ruins of Elgin to be the finest
remains of antiquity in Scotland, and as picturesque in their
variety.[135]
6. DIOCESE OF BRECHIN
The two bishoprics of Brechin and Dunblane were formed from the old
Pictish bishopric of Abernethy, in so far as its churches were not yet
absorbed by the growing bishopric of St. Andrews, which immediately
succeeded it.[136] Abernethy was the last of the bishoprics which
existed while the kingdom ruled over by the Scottish dynasty was called
the kingdom of the Picts; St. Andrews was associated with that of the
Scots.[137] Abernethy was from the earliest days dedicated to St. Bride,
and Panbride in the diocese of Brechin, and Kilbride in that of
Dunblane, indicate, in Dr. Skene's view, that the veneration of the
patroness of Abernethy had extended to other churches included in these
dioceses.[138] From this old Pictish diocese the bishopric of Brechin
was formed, towards the end of King David's reign, about 1150.[139] The
Church of Brechin has no claim to represent an old Columban
monastery:[140] its origin as a church is clearly recorded in the
Pictish Chronicle, which states that King Kenneth, son of Malcolm, who
reigned from 971 to 995, gave "the great city of Brechin to the Lord,"
founding a church to the Holy Trinity, a monastery apparently after the
Irish model, combined with a Culdee college. We hear of it next in two
charters of David I. to the Church of Deer, and in the second of these
the "abbot" of the first appears as "Bishop of Brechin" (about 1150).
The abbacy passed to lay hereditary bishops, and the Culdees were first
conjoined with, next distinguished from, and at last superseded by, the
cathedral chapter.[141]
The early Church of Brechin emanated from the Irish Church, and was
assimilated in its character to the Irish monastery. Of the early
connection, there still survives at Brechin the famous Round Tower,
which now occupies the place of a spire at the south-west angle of the
present church. This, with the older one at Abernethy, and the ruined
one at Egilshay in Orkney, are the only surviving types in Scotland.
There were said to have been four others, which are no longer existing,
viz. Deerness in Orkney; West Burray, Tingwall, and Ireland Head, in
Shetland.[142] Dr. Skene gives the date of the Abernethy one as about
870, or between that year and the close of the century, and asserts that
the date of the Brechin tower can be placed with some degree of
certainty late in the succeeding century.[143] Probably it was erected
in the reign of Kenneth (971-995), or about 1012, when Brechin was
destroyed by the Danes.[144] Egilshay probably dates about 1098.[145]
The Brechin tower is capped by a conical stone roof. Dr. Joseph Anderson
shows that those round towers are outliers of a group of which Ireland
is the home;[146] and they were erected during the time when the Celtic
Church was much perplexed by the pillaging attacks of the Danes, that
the ecclesiastics might protect their valuable illuminated manuscripts,
and other costly possessions. The Brechin one corresponds with the Irish
ones, and is built in sixty irregular courses, of blocks of reddish-grey
sandstone, dressed to the curve, but squared at neither top nor bottom;
within, string-courses divide it into seven storeys, the topmost lighted
by four largish apertures facing the cardinal points. A western doorway,
6-2/3 feet from the ground, has inclined jambs and a semicircular head,
all three hewn from single blocks, and the arch being rudely sculptured
with a crucifix, each jamb with a bishop bearing a pastoral staff, and
each corner of the sill with a nondescript crouching animal.[147] The
sculpture on the graceful Tower of Brechin was, there as elsewhere, the
repetition in stone of the illuminated page of the Celtic scribe, who in
turn repeated many of the graceful and varied designs of the
pre-Christian worker in bronze and gold,[148] adding to them Christian
symbols. Dr. Joseph Anderson finds in the figures of the crouching beast
and winged griffin at Brechin a close affinity to the figures of
nondescript creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial
stones.[149]
The cathedral, founded about 1150, and added to at various periods, was
originally a cruciform structure, consisting of a five-bayed nave with
two aisles, late First Pointed mixed with Second Pointed; a transept
formed by an extension of these aisles to the north and south; an
aisleless choir (with lancet windows), the ruins of which are a fine
example of First Pointed work,[150] and which when complete must have
been a very pure and beautiful piece of architecture. The north-west
tower was being constructed in the time of Bishop Patrick (1351-1373),
but must have been a long time in erection. The western doorway presents
the oldest feature of the existing building,[151] and is simple and
massive. The tower and spire are pronounced to be the completest and
best remaining example of their kind in Scotland.[152]
By the alteration of 1806 the choir was reduced, the transepts
demolished, new and wider aisles built on each side of the nave, while
the outer walls of the aisles were carried to such a height that the
whole nave could be covered with a roof of one span, "thus totally
eclipsing the beautiful windows in the nave, and covering up the
handsome carved cornice of the nail-head quatrefoil description which
ran under the eaves of the nave."[153] The cathedral was thus sadly
deformed, but plans of restoration have been recently adopted, funds are
being raised, and the noble minster will before long be restored to its
former grandeur.
The diocese contained thirty parishes, and the bishop sat in the chapter
as Rector of Brechin, that being his prebend.[154]
The Maison Dieu formed part of a hospital, and is an interesting part of
First Pointed work. The rector of the Grammar School is still
"Praeceptor Domus Dei."
7. DIOCESE OF DUNBLANE
Dunblane was an early ecclesiastical centre. Its first church dates back
to the seventh century, and seems to have been an offshoot of the Church
of Kingarth in Bute, the founder of which was St. Blane, whose name is
perpetuated in that of the cathedral town.[155] St. Blane was of the
race of the Irish Picts, and "bishop" of the Church of Kingarth which
Cathan his uncle had founded. The church at Dunblane seems to have had a
chequered history, for the ancient town was burned (844-860) by the
Britons of Strathclyde, and in 912 was again ravished by Danish pirates.
Bishop Keith thinks there was a college of Culdees at Dunblane,[156] but
we do not hear anything about it in history, and the important college
was at Muthill, where the Dean of Dunblane afterwards had his seat.
Centres of the Celtic Church were also at the neighbouring Blackford,
Strageath, and Dunning, and they all served their day, until the new
order, inaugurated by Queen Margaret and continued by her successors on
the Scottish throne, was established in the district. About 1150, King
David I. established the bishopric of Dunblane, and about 1198 Earl
Gilbert and his countess introduced canons-regular by the foundation of
the Priory of Inchaffray. Under the growing importance of these centres,
the possession of the Keledei fell into lay hands, and after 1214 the
prior and Keledei of Muthill disappear from the records.[157]
The square tower of Dunblane, which still survives, is a relic of the
structure erected in the twelfth century,[158] and is one of the group,
centred in early Pictavia, revealing characteristics of Norman work, and
all connected with the sites of early Culdee establishments. Those north
of the Tay are at Brechin and Restennet; those south of it, at St.
Andrews (Regulus), Markinch, and Dunblane; Abernethy, Muthill, and
Dunning.[159] The lower four storeys of the Dunblane tower form part of
the original structure; the two highest are evidently of a late
date;[160] the walls are not parallel with those of the nave, and the
tower projects into the south aisle from 6 to 7 feet, and may have been
associated with an earlier church.
The see seems to have fallen into a forlorn condition, for when the
learned Dominican, Clement, was bishop (1233-1258), he made a pilgrimage
to Rome, and represented to the Pope among other things that "its rents
were barely sufficient to maintain him for six months; there was no
place in the cathedral wherein he could lay his head; there was no
collegiate establishment, and that in this unroofed church, the divine
offices were celebrated by a certain rural chaplain."[161] Evidently the
fourth part of the tithes of all the parishes within the diocese were
given for the support of the bishop and the building of the cathedral,
and he left it "a stately sanctuary, rich in land and heritage, served
by prebendary and canon." Bishop Clement built the nave, the most
beautiful part of the structure, but later in its architecture than the
north aisle of the choir or lady chapel, which was originally separated
from the choir by a solid wall, in which there never was any opening
into the aisle except the small doorway near the east end, which is of
First Pointed date.[162] Above the vault there is an upper storey with
small two-lighted windows, which may possibly have been used as a
scriptorium.[163] The cathedral consists of a nave of eight bays, with
north and south aisles, an aisleless choir of six bays, an eastern aisle
unconnected with the choir except by a doorway, and the tower attached
to the south aisle of nave. The following is a narrative of the building
of the cathedral as given by the most recent authorities. "The greater
part of the structure is of First Pointed date. The lady chapel may be
the oldest part (after the tower), and next to it is the east portion of
the nave. The western half of the nave seems to have followed soon after
the eastern portion, and is carried out nearly after the same design.
The transition tracery in the arcade of the clerestory and west end is
very interesting, as showing bar tracery in the act of being formed.
This could scarcely have occurred in Scotland before the end of the
thirteenth century. The style of the choir is further advanced than the
nave, and exhibits some transitional features between First Pointed and
Decorated work. The great east window and the large side windows of the
choir probably contained tracery more advanced than that of the west
end, and may probably date from the fourteenth century. The pinnacles
and parapet are of about 1500."[164] The west end, with its doorway,
deeply recessed with shafts and mouldings of First Pointed work, with an
acutely pointed blind arch on each side with trefoiled head within it;
with three lofty pointed windows, each divided into two lights by a
central mullion, and with arch-heads filled with cinquefoil and
quatrefoils; with north buttress so large as to contain a wheel
stair--is the finest part of the cathedral. Above the western window is
a vesica, set within a bevilled fringe of bay-leaves arranged
zigzagwise, with their points in contact. Of this Ruskin said in his
lecture,[165] "Do you recollect the west window of your own Dunblane
Cathedral? It is acknowledged to be beautiful by the most careless
observer. And why beautiful? Simply because in its great contours it has
the form of a forest leaf, and because in its decoration it has used
nothing but forest leaves. He was no common man who designed that
cathedral of Dunblane. I know nothing so perfect in its simplicity, and
so beautiful, so far as it reaches, in all the Gothic with which I am
acquainted. And just in proportion to his power of mind, that man was
content to work under Nature's teaching, and, instead of putting a
merely formal dog-tooth, as everybody else did at that time, he went
down to the woody bank of the sweet river beneath the rocks on which he
was building, and he took up a few of the fallen leaves that lay by it,
and he set them in his arch, side by side for ever."
Six of the stalls with, and several others without, canopies still
survive, and on one of the misereres are the arms of the Chisholm
family, surmounted by a mitre. Three bishops of this name presided in
Dunblane,[166] and the stalls were probably provided by the first,
Bishop James Chisholm, dating between 1486 and 1534. The stalls were
probably brought from Flanders, and the carving is spirited and full of
grotesque figures.[167] Other bishops, who ought gratefully to be
remembered for building done, are Bishop Dermoch (1400-1419) and Bishop
Ochiltree (1429-1447). Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray and Bishop of
Dunblane (1320-1347), is described as a man of fervent spirit, who gave
great encouragement at the battle of Bannockburn, and was chosen by King
Robert the Bruce as his chaplain and confessor.[168] There are some
vestiges of the bishop's palace still left to the south-west of the
cathedral; and the Bishop's Walk, leading southward not far from the
river, and overshadowed by venerable beech trees, will always be
associated with Leighton, of whom Burnet wrote, "He had the most
heavenly disposition that I ever yet saw in mortal ... and I never once
saw him in any other temper but that which I wished to be in, in the
last moments of my life."[169] Leighton was Bishop of Dunblane from 1661
to 1670, and chose it as the poorest and smallest of Scotland's sees. At
his death he bequeathed to it his library, which is still preserved.
Those who wish to understand his devotion and inner life may be directed
to Dr. Walter Smith's beautiful poem _The Bishop's Walk_.
Until recently, only the choir was used as the parish church, but in
1893 the cathedral was reopened after a complete restoration costing
£28,000. The restoration was largely due to the munificent generosity of
Mrs. Wallace of Glassingall. The town bears witness to the influence of
the cathedral--
A quaint old place--a minster grey,
And grey old town that winds away
Through gardens, down the sloping ridge
To river's brim and ancient bridge,
Where the still waters flow
To the deep pool below.[170]
8. DIOCESE OF ROSS
David I. followed the foundation of the great bishoprics by dividing the
country north of the great range of the Mounth into separate sees, and
the first of such appears to have been the diocese of Rosemarky or Ross.
Makbeth, the first Bishop of Ross, appears as the witness to a charter
between 1128 and 1130.[171] The church was founded as a Columban
monastery by Lugadius or Moluoc of Lismore before 577, and Bonifacius
refounded it in the eighth century, and dedicated the church to St.
Peter. The Culdees disappear in the course of history, and instead there
emerges a regular cathedral body of canons under a dean.[172] The Bishop
of Ross had this peculiarity, that he took his title from the province,
and not from the town, where he held his see. When the see was founded
by David I., Rosmarkie continued as the cathedral centre, but after the
chapter was enlarged by Gregory IX. in 1235, the cathedral site was
changed to Fortrose or Chanonry, and the church was dedicated to SS.
Peter and Bonifacius. Chanonry is half a mile south-westward from
Rosemarkie, and was united with it in 1455 by James II. as a free burgh
under the common name of Fortrose. The presence of an educated clergy
made the place a centre of culture, and famous schools of divinity and
law flourished under the shadow of the cathedral.
The undercroft of the sacristy (afterwards enlarged) seems to indicate
that the work must have been begun before 1250,[173] but the
architecture of the aisle presents a beautiful specimen of the Middle
Pointed or Decorated period, and dates before or about the beginning of
the fifteenth century.[174] The cathedral, when entire, was a handsome
red sandstone building, comprising a nave of four bays, with aisles 14
feet wide and round-headed windows; a choir, with aisles, lady chapel,
west tower, quasi-transept, rood-turret, and to the north-east a vaulted
chapter-house over a crypt. It stood on level ground, and commanded a
fine view of the Moray Firth. When complete it must have been an
architectural gem, and its mouldings have been said to show that in
whatever other respects these remote parts of Scotland were barbarous,
in ecclesiology at least they were on a par with any other branch of the
mediæval Church.[175] All that now remains of the cathedral consists of
the south aisle of the nave, and the sacristy or undercroft of the
chapter-house. No vestige remains of the various manses of the chapter
that were within the cathedral precincts. The cathedral suffered at the
Reformation, but was repaired by Bishop Lindsay in 1615, and in 1649 was
not very ruinous. It would appear that the tradition is correct which
says that the masonry of the walls was removed by Cromwell, like that of
Kinloss Abbey, to provide material for the construction of his fort at
Inverness.
In the south wall there is a beautiful piscina, and in the north wall an
ambry with a small stone penthouse; an octagonal baptismal font of
remarkable design stands against the east wall of the aisle. There is a
range of canopied monuments, which stand between the pillars on the
north side. The east end had a large traceried window of five lights,
and when complete it must have been very beautiful.
The most famous of the bishops was John Leslie (1527-1596), who studied
at King's College, Aberdeen, at Paris, and at Poitiers. He held offices
both in the Aberdeen University and in the State, and in 1566 Queen Mary
bestowed on him the Abbey of Lindores _in commendam_, and subsequently
appointed him Bishop of Ross. He was a zealous supporter of Queen Mary,
and, after her flight to England, followed her, and never afterwards
returned to reside in Scotland. He was imprisoned in the Tower,[176]
where he wrote two small books for her spiritual profit, which Queen
Mary liked and endeavoured to turn into French verse. After his release
he retired to France, where he wrote his _History of Scotland_. On the
day before her execution, Queen Mary wrote to Philip of Spain,
beseeching him to show kindness to the Bishop of Ross for his faithful
and devoted services to her. The request was complied with, and he was
able to end his days tranquilly in a monastery near Brussels. It is said
that the bishop persuaded the Queen in 1565 to grant to all men a
liberty of conscience.[177]
9. DIOCESE OF CAITHNESS
The early history of the Church in Caithness points to a time before the
Northmen had any footing there, and connects it with the missionaries of
Ireland and Scotland. The legend of St. Finbar or St. Barr marks the
settlement of some Irish colonists, who brought with them the veneration
they had rendered in their old country to the patron saint of their
tribe or province.[178] SS. Duthac and Fergus are also associated with
the church of the district during the Celtic period, and during the
time of the former Keledei they may have been introduced here. The early
church of Dornoch was dedicated to St. Bar or Finbar, and before 1196
the Culdees had disappeared, and the clerical element was reduced to a
single priest.[179] The deed establishing a cathedral chapter of ten
canons, with dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and archdeacon,
proceeds on the narrative "that in the times of his (Bishop Gilbert's)
predecessors there was but a single priest ministering in the cathedral,
both on account of the poverty of the place and by reason of frequent
hostilities; and that he desired to extend the worship of God in that
church, and resolved to build a cathedral church at his own expense, to
dedicate it to the Virgin Mary, and, in proportion to his limited means,
to make it conventual."[180] This benefactor of Dornoch was Bishop
Gilbert de Moravia (1222-1245), who organised the chapter after the
pattern of Elgin, which again had Lincoln for its model; and although
the see of Caithness is first heard of about 1130, to him is due the
credit of rebuilding the cathedral, which consisted of an aisled nave,
transept, choir, and massive central tower, with dwarfish spire. The old
cathedral town, with its society of learned churchmen, maintaining a
high position by their influence and example, cultivating letters,
preaching peace and practising it, must have been a centre of good in
the north, and Bishop Gilbert's name deserves to be honourably
remembered for his statesmanship, beneficence, and Christian character.
"He rests," says the breviary of Aberdeen, "in the church which he built
_with his own hands_"; even the glass was manufactured at Cyderhall
under his personal supervision.[181]
The tower is all that remains of Bishop Gilbert's work, for the
cathedral was burnt in 1570; the tower escaped with some fine Gothic
arches which fell before the terrific gale of 5th November 1605--the day
on which the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. In 1614 the 13th Earl of
Sutherland partially repaired the cathedral, to make it available for
the parish church, and in 1835-1837 it was rebuilt by the Duchess of
Sutherland at a cost of £6000. It had thus the misfortune to be restored
at a time when church restoration in Scotland was at its lowest ebb.
"The blame really attaches to those whom she entrusted with the
execution of her design."[182] The structure is now used as the parish
church of Dornoch. The square tower of the bishop's palace still
survives.
10. DIOCESE OF GALLOWAY
The name of Whithorn is a venerable one in Scottish Church history. It
is mentioned by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer, in the second
century as Leukopibia, a town of the Novantae. The Greek name is
synonymous with the Latin Candida Casa or "White House," under which
designation it was latterly known. It is associated with the first known
apostle of Christianity in Scotland, St. Ninian, who was probably born
here about the middle of the fourth century. Of studious and ascetic
habits, he visited Rome, and on his homeward journey visited St. Martin
of Tours, who died in 397. After his arrival in Scotland, he founded the
Candida Casa or Church of Whithorn, dedicated it to St. Martin, and,
although Christianity was probably known in Scotland before his time,
his work is the first distinct fact in the history of the Scottish
Church. After preaching the Gospel among the Southern Picts, he died in
432, and was buried within his church at Whithorn. It is a matter of
dispute, whether this first Christian oratory was built, after the
custom of the early Scottish Church, on a small island or peninsula at
the point of the promontory which lies between the bays of Luce and
Wigtown, about three miles south from Whithorn, or on the spot where the
monastery afterwards arose. There are the ruins of a small chapel on
"The Isle," and although belonging to a later date, it is more than
probable that it was the successor of St. Ninian's first church.
Whithorn was famous also for its early schools and monastery, and
exercised no small influence in Christianising both the surrounding
district and Northumbria, or what is now known as the northerly parts of
England. A bishopric of Whithorn was founded by the Angles in 727, was
held by five successive bishops, and came to an end about 796, when the
disorganisation of the Northumbrian kingdom enabled the native
population to eject the strangers and assert their own independence.
During the reign of David I. (1124-1153), Fergus, Lord of Galloway,
re-established the see of Galloway, and founded at Whithorn a
Premonstratensian priory, whose church became the cathedral, and
contained the shrine of St. Ninian. The see included the whole of
Wigtownshire and the greater part of Kirkcudbrightshire; the bishop
remained under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York till at least
the fourteenth century, and in 1472 became suffragan of St. Andrews. In
1491, when Glasgow became a metropolitan see, the Bishop of Galloway
became a Vicar-General of it during vacancies. The canons of Whithorn
Priory formed the chapter of the see of Galloway, and the prior ranked
next to the bishop; the diocese was divided into three rural deaneries.
The shrine of St. Ninian became a place of pilgrimage for people from
all parts of Scotland, and was visited by Scottish queens and
kings--James IV. visited it generally once and frequently twice a year
throughout his whole reign. The priory became wealthy, and the church
and other buildings were of great extent. Among its priors may be
mentioned Gavin Dunbar (1514), who was tutor to James V. and afterwards
Archbishop of Glasgow; and James Beaton, who was prior and afterwards
Bishop of Galloway, was advanced to the archbishopric of Glasgow in
1509, and of St. Andrews in 1522.
The buildings of the priory are now reduced to the nave--an aisleless
structure--and to some underground vaulted buildings, which no doubt
formerly supported the choir and other erections above.[183] The west
tower fell in the beginning of last century; the cloister lay to the
north of the nave; the chapter-house, slype, and site of domestic
buildings extended to the north of the transept. The north wall of the
nave interior contains two pointed recesses for monuments, which are of
excellent design. At the south-west angle of the nave is a doorway which
is undoubtedly Norman,[184] and the sculptures on the right and left of
the projecting wall point to a close affinity between the sculptured
figures on the ancient stones and the architecture of the twelfth
century in Scotland.[185] The ancient font, probably of Norman date,
bowl-shaped, and of simple design, has been preserved in the church, and
St. Ninian's Cave--probably a place of religious retirement--about three
miles south-east of the village, contains some very old stone crosses,
and on its east wall some very old inscriptions, a number of which are
partly unintelligible by being covered with more recent ones.
The neighbourhood will always be associated with St. Ninian, the apostle
of the Britons and of the Southern Picts, and may be called the
historical fountain-head of the Scottish Church.
11. DIOCESE OF LISMORE OR ARGYLL
Lismore is an ancient settlement, and is the Epidium of Ptolemy, one of
his five Ebudae.[186] The island lies near the south end of Loch Linnhe,
and at a short distance from the mainland of Argyllshire.
The bishopric was formed about 1200 by the separation of the districts,
belonging to the bishopric of Dunkeld, which lay to the west of the
great range of Drumalban. Eraldus was the first Bishop of Argyll, and
had his seat at Muckairn, while his church bore the name of
Killespeckerill, or the church of Bishop Erailt.[187] It is possible
that some of the Keledei from Dunkeld may have accompanied the new
bishop and been established there. In 1236 the see was transferred from
Muckairn, on the south side of Loch Etive, to Lismore, where, long
before, a Columban monastery had been founded by St. Lughadh or Moluoc.
The see was afterwards known as the bishopric of Lismore, and contained
the following deaneries: Kintyre, with twelve parishes; Glassary or
Glasrod, with thirteen; Lorn, with fourteen; and Morvern, with
eight.[188] The cathedral was perhaps the humblest in Britain, and was
probably erected soon after the transference of the see in the
thirteenth century. It is said to have been a structure 137 feet long by
29-1/3 wide, but of this there only now survives an aisleless choir,
with traces of a chapter-house and sacristy; and, as re-roofed in 1749,
this choir now serves as a parish church. It has four buttresses of
simple form against the south wall, and two at each of the north and
south angles of the east wall. In the south wall, and in the usual
position near the east end, there are remains of a triple sedilia;
there is a piscina in a pointed recess, having a trefoil-headed niche in
the wall behind.[189]
One of the deans of Lismore, Sir James MacGregor, between 1512 and 1540,
compiled a commonplace book, filled chiefly with Gaelic heroic ballads,
several of which are ascribed to the authorship of Ossian.
12. DIOCESE OF THE ISLES
The history of Iona is associated with St. Columba, and, although its
church did not attain full cathedral status until 1506, the island was
one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Scotland.
St. Columba (Columcille or Colm) was born at Gartan, County Donegal, 7th
December 521, and was the son of a chief related to several of the
princes then reigning in Ireland and the west of Scotland. He studied
under St. Finnian at Moville, and under another of the same name at
Clonard. In 546 he founded the monastery of Derry, and in 553 that of
Durrow. The belief that he had caused the bloody battle of Culdremhne
led to his excommunication and exile from his native land, and,
accompanied by twelve disciples, he left Ireland and sailed for the
Western Islands, settling ultimately at Iona, where he and his
companions began their work among the heathen Picts. The legend of his
perpetual exile seems to be a fable, and Dr. Skene adds, "His real
motive for undertaking this mission seems therefore to have been partly
religious and partly political. He was one of the twelve apostles of
Ireland who had emerged from the school of Finnian of Clonard, and he no
doubt shared the missionary spirit which so deeply characterised the
monastic Church of Ireland at that period. He was also closely
connected through his grandmother with the line of the Dalriadic kings,
and, as an Irishman, must have been interested in the maintenance of the
Irish colony in the west of Scotland. Separated from him by the Irish
Channel was the great pagan nation of the Northern Picts, who, under a
powerful king, had just inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Scots of
Dalriada, and threatened their expulsion from the country; and, while
his missionary zeal impelled him to attempt the conversion of the Picts,
he must have felt that, if he succeeded in winning a pagan people to the
religion of Christ, he would at the same time rescue the Irish colony of
Dalriada from a great danger, and render them an important service by
establishing peaceable relations between them and their greatly more
numerous and powerful neighbours, and replacing them in the more secure
possession of the western districts they had colonised."[190] It was in
563, and at the age of forty-two, that he settled at Iona and commenced
his mission-work by founding his monastery[191] there. He met there "two
bishops," who came to receive his submission from him, but "God now
revealed to Columcille that they were not true bishops, whereupon they
left the island to him, when he told of them their history." They were,
thinks Dr. Skene, the remains of that anomalous church of seven bishops
which here, as elsewhere, preceded the monastic church, while Columba
appears to have refused to recognise them as such, and the island was
abandoned to him. Possessed as he was with the soul of a poet, and
susceptible to the impressive in nature, Columba could not have chosen a
finer spot than Iona for his work, or one where he could better combine
with missionary activity a life of purity and self-denial. Tradition
says he landed at the bay now known as Port-a-churaich, and proceeded
to found the monastery and establish the church which was ultimately to
embrace in its jurisdiction the whole of Scotland north of the Firths of
Forth and Clyde, to be for a century and a half the national church of
Scotland, and to give to the Angles of Northumbria the same form of
Christianity for a period of thirty years. The buildings that now remain
are of much later date, but it may be inferred that in its constitution,
spirit, and work the Columban Church was not isolated, but was in
reality a mission from the Irish Church, formed an integral part of it,
and never lost its connection with it. The principal buildings were
constructed of wood and wattles, and were originally (1) a monastery
with a small court, on one side of which was the church, with a small
side chamber, on a second side the guest-chamber, on the third a
refectory, and on the fourth dwellings of the monks; a little way off on
the highest part of the ground were (2) the cell of St. Columba, where
he sat and read or wrote during the day, and slept at night on the bare
ground with a stone for his pillow; and (3) various subsidiary
buildings, including a kiln, a mill, a barn, all surrounded by a rampart
or rath. Not far off was a sequestered hollow (Cabhan cuildeach) to
which Columba retired for solitary prayer. The mill has left its traces
in the small stream to the north of the present cathedral ruins, and
remains of old causeways may be traced from the landing places of
Port-na-martir, Port-Ronan, and Port-na-muintir. All the early
buildings, except the kiln, were of wood; the guest-chamber was wattled,
Columba's cell was made of planks, and the church was of oak. The
members of the community were termed brethren, and were addressed by
Columba as familia or chosen monks. They consisted of three classes: (1)
the older brethren, who devoted themselves to the religious services of
the church, and to reading and transcribing the Scriptures; (2) the
younger and stronger working brothers, who devoted themselves to
agriculture and the service of the monastery; (3) the alumni or youth,
who were under instruction. The dress of the monks consisted of a white
tunica or undergarment, over which they wore a camilla, consisting of a
body and hood made of wool, and of the natural colour of the material.
When working or travelling their feet were shod with sandals; they took
a solemn monastic vow on bended knees in the oratorium, were tonsured
from ear to ear--the fore part of the head being made bare, and the hair
allowed to grow only on the back part of the head. The church of Iona
was monastic, and in it we find neither a territorial episcopacy nor a
presbyterian parity. The bishops were under the monastic rule, and were,
in respect of jurisdiction, subject to the abbot, even though a
presbyter, as the head of the monastery; the privilege of the episcopate
was not interfered with.[192] The monastery was described as a
"gloriosum caenobium."
Columba made Iona his centre of activity, but his labours were not
confined to it. He travelled with his companions and preached the Gospel
as far north as Inverness, where King Brude was converted. He also
preached among the Southern Picts, and a church was built at Abernethy
by King Gartnaidh, as an outcome of his mission and as a memorial of his
labours. He was also a far-seeing statesman, and succeeded in
reconciling the feuds of the Northern and Southern Picts, and in making
the two kingdoms one. His life was spent in missionary activity and
beneficent service, and he died at Iona. The day before his death he
"ascended the hill that overlooketh the monastery, and stood for some
little time on its summit, and as he stood there with both hands
uplifted, he blessed his monastery, saying, 'Small and mean though this
place is, yet it shall be held in great and unusual honour, not only by
Scotic kings and people, but also by the rulers of foreign and barbarous
nations, and by their subjects; the saints also, even of other churches,
shall regard it with no common reverence.'" On the following day, at
nocturnal vigils, he went into the church, and knelt down in prayer
beside the altar, and "his attendant Diormit, who more slowly followed
him, saw from a distance that the whole interior of the church was
filled with a heavenly light in the direction of the saint," which, as
he drew near, quickly disappeared. "Feeling his way in the darkness, as
the brethren had not yet brought in the lights, he found the saint lying
before the altar," and all the monks coming in, Columba moved his hand
to give them his benediction, and died 9th June 597, while "the whole
church resounded with loud lamentations of grief." He left behind him an
imperishable memory in the hearts of the people converted by him to the
Christian faith, and in the national church which he so splendidly
helped to build up. He wrote an Altus, and is said to have copied 300
books with his own hand. He was buried at Iona.
After Columba's death, the monastery of Iona appears to have been the
acknowledged head of all the monasteries and churches which his mission
had founded in Scotland, as well as of those previously founded by him
in Ireland. It was a centre of light and life, but the monks were not
permitted to pursue their work unmolested. The monastery was burned and
plundered by the sea-pirates in 795, 798, and 802; in 806 sixty-eight of
the community were ruthlessly slain. The monks remaining were filled
with fear, and before 807 the relics of St. Columba were carried away to
Ireland, and enshrined at Kells. In 818 they were brought back, and the
monastery at Iona was rebuilt with stone. The Danes, however, granted
little respite, and in 878 the relics were again removed, and were
probably placed first at Dunkeld and afterwards at Abernethy,[193] where
the primacy was successively established, and a memorial of which exists
in the Abernethy round tower. The plundering continued at intervals, and
the buildings were more or less ruinous till about 1074, when Queen
Margaret "restored the monastery, ... rebuilt it, and furnished it with
monks, with an endowment for performing the Lord's work." "One of the
present buildings," said the late Duke of Argyll--"the least and the
most inconspicuous, but the most venerable of them all--St. Odhrain's
Chapel, may possibly be the same building which Queen Margaret of
Scotland is known to have erected in memory of the saint, and dedicated
to one of the most famous of his companions. But Queen Margaret died in
A.D. 1092, and therefore any building which she erected must date very
nearly five hundred years after Columba's death; that is to say, the
most ancient building which exists upon Iona must be separated in age
from Columba's time by as many centuries as those which now separate us
from Edward III. But St. Odhrain's Chapel has this great interest--that
in all probability it marks the site of the still humbler church of wood
and wattles in which Columba worshipped."[194] Shortly afterwards the
island passed into the possession of Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway,
and in 1099 the old order culminated in the death of Abbot Duncan, the
last of the old abbots. Under the bishopric of Man and the Isles, the
monastery became subject to the Bishop of Drontheim till 1156, when
Somerled won it, and once more restored the connection between Iona and
Ireland by placing the monastery under the care of the Abbot of Derry.
In 1164 the community was represented by the priest, the lector, the
head of the Culdees, and the Disertach or the head of the disert for the
reception of pilgrims.[195] Somerled appears to have rebuilt the ruined
monastery on a larger scale, and about 1203 the Lord of the Isles
(Reginald) adopted the policy of the Scottish kings, and founded at Iona
a monastery of Benedictine monks (Tyronenses), and at the same time a
nunnery for Benedictine nuns, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was
first prioress. It is of this Benedictine monastery and nunnery that the
present ruins are the remains, and they were formerly connected by a
causeway which extended from the nunnery to the monastery. After a
struggle, the Culdees seem to have conformed to the new order of
Benedictines, and the head of the Culdees was represented by the Prior
of Iona, whom we afterwards find in the monastery. Iona was suffragan to
the Bishop of Man and the Isles till 1431, when the Abbot of Iona made
obedience to the Bishop of Dunkeld. In 1498, the Isles were made
suffragan to St. Andrews; in 1506 they passed back to the care of the
Bishop of the Isles; and from that date till the Reformation the abbey
church became the cathedral church of the diocese. In 1648 Charles I.
granted the island to Archibald, Marquis of Argyll,[196] and it still
belongs to his descendant, the Duke of Argyll. The diocese contained
forty-four parishes.
Surrounding the Chapel of St. Oran is a very ancient churchyard,
containing beautiful specimens of Highland carved tombstones, and near
which reposes the dust of Scotch, Irish, and Norwegian kings and
ecclesiastics. The late Duke of Argyll both preserved and restored, and
the foundations of the chapels and cloisters have been plainly marked
out, and give a clear idea of the original plan of the abbey. The abbey
or cathedral, although begun in the twelfth century, took a long time in
building, was altered and added to, and is classed with the buildings of
the Third Pointed period, as the greater part of the work connected with
it belongs to a late date.[197] It is cruciform in shape, consisting of
nave, transepts, and choir, with sacristy on the north side of the
choir, and aisle on the south. Near the west entrance was a small
chamber called St. Columba's tomb. Over the crossing is a square tower,
70 feet high, and supported by arches resting on four pillars. It is
lighted on one side by a window formed by a slab with quatrefoil
openings, and on the other by a marigold or Catherine-wheel window with
spiral mullions. The capitals of the pillars are carved with beautiful
ornamentation and grotesque figures, which are still sharp and well
defined.[198] There are three sedilia, and the high altar seems to have
been of marble. North of the nave is the cloister-garth; to the north
and east of the cloisters are the refectory and chapter-house; the
building over the chapter-house was the library, which was large and
valuable. There were said to be many crosses in Iona; the entire ones
are St. Martin's Cross, opposite the west door of the abbey church, and
Maclean's Cross, on the wayside between the nunnery and the cathedral.
There are the ruins of a small detached chapel to the north-east of the
chapter-house, and of another to the west of the cloister: to the
north-east of the cloister lie the total ruins of what is called the
abbot's house.[199] A short distance north-east of the abbey church, at
Cladh-an-diseart, there was found in 1872 a heart-shaped stone, with an
incised cross on it, which Dr. Skene is disposed to think was the stone
used by St. Columba as a pillow.[200]
The ruins of the nunnery, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was the
first abbess, and which was apparently erected soon after 1203, consist
of a quadrangle about 68 feet square, having the church on the north
side, foundations of the chapter-house and other apartments on the east
side, and the refectory on the south side. There may have been other
buildings on the west side, as the walls are broken at the ends; but if
so, they are now removed.[201] The church was an oblong structure,
divided into nave and choir, and had a northern aisle extending along
both. At a distance of about 30 feet north of the convent church stand
the ruins of another building, said to have been the parish church. It
was a simple oblong chamber, and was dedicated to St. Ronan.[202] Lovely
carved work has been found around the buildings, and these are carefully
preserved and have been reproduced in illustration.[203] These designs
were probably carved on stone from the beautiful illuminated tracery
which the Celtic monks executed in their scriptorium.
No ruthless destruction about the Reformation period could deprive Iona
of its three great voices of the mountain, the sky, and the sea. That
St. Columba's poetic nature and susceptible heart were impressed by them
is beyond doubt, for they survive in his poem--
Delightful would it be to me to be in Uchd Ailiun
On the pinnacle of a rock,
That I might often see
The face of the ocean:
That I might see its heaving waves
Over the wide ocean,
When they chant music to their Father
Upon the world's course:
That I might see its level sparkling strand,
It would be no cause of sorrow:
That I might hear the song of the wonderful birds,
Source of happiness:
That I might hear the thunder of the crowding waves
Upon the rocks:
That I might hear the roar by the side of the church
Of the surrounding sea:
. . . . .
That I might bless the Lord
Who conserves all,
Heaven with its countless bright orders,
Land, strand, and flood:
. . . . .
At times kneeling to beloved heaven:
At times at psalm singing:
At times contemplating the King of Heaven,
Holy the chief:
At times at work without compulsion;
This would be delightful.[204]
Thus Iona, the isle of the saints, the lamp lit amid the darkness of the
western sea, impressed the founder as he heard its voices. May there
soon be added another, the voice of the restored cathedral, connecting
the present with a glorious past, carrying us away in thought by its
architecture to earlier days, and by its situation to the hour when the
great apostle of the Picts first landed on its shores. This may at no
distant future be realised, since the late Duke of Argyll gifted the
ruined cathedral to the Church of Scotland, which hopes to do for it
what has already been done for Dunblane.
13. DIOCESE OF ORKNEY
Christianity reached the Orkneys through the labours of the Columban
clergy, and there are many traces in the islands that speak of their
work. Under the rule of the Norse, in the ninth and tenth centuries any
Christian influence that survived from the labours of such early
pioneers of the Christian faith must have died out. The first actual
Bishop of Orkney was William the Old, who was consecrated in 1102, held
the bishopric for sixty-six years, and died in 1168. His see was first
at Birsay, and was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the cathedral
in 1137-1152. The Bishop of Orkney was one of the suffragans of the
metropolitan see at Throndhjeim, erected in 1154. In 1472 the see of
Orkney was placed under the metropolitan Bishop of St. Andrews.
The story of the foundation at Kirkwall is as follows. The possession of
the Orkneys was divided between two relatives, and about the beginning
of the twelfth century two cousins, Hacon and Magnus, shared the
government. In 1115 Magnus was treacherously slain at Egilsay by Hacon,
who thus obtained the whole earldom. Rognvald, son of Magnus' sister,
became a claimant for Magnus' share of the earldom, and vowed that if he
succeeded he would erect a "stone minster" in honour of his predecessor
St. Magnus, who had been canonised. Rognvald was successful, and
fulfilled his vow by founding at Kirkwall a cathedral dedicated to St.
Magnus. The building was designed and superintended by the Norwegian
Kol, the father of Rognvald; the relics of St. Magnus were brought from
Christ's Kirk in Birsay, to be deposited in the cathedral as soon as it
was prepared to receive them, and until the work was finished they
rested in the Church of St. Olaf, an older edifice which then existed in
Kirkwall.[205]
"The Cathedral of St. Magnus was thus designed and erected by a
Norwegian earl, while the bishopric was under the authority of the
Norwegian Metropolitan of Throndhjeim. It is thus practically a
Norwegian edifice, and is by far the grandest monument of the rule of
the Norsemen in Orkney. In these circumstances, it is not to be expected
that the architecture should in every detail follow the contemporary
styles which prevailed in Britain, but it is astonishing to find how
closely the earlier parts correspond with the architecture of Normandy,
which was developed by a kindred race,--the successors of Rollo and his
rovers, who settled in that country at an earlier date. There can be
little doubt that the Romanesque architecture which prevailed in the
north of Europe found its way at a comparatively late date into
Scandinavia. The Norman form of that style would naturally follow the
same course amongst the kindred races in Norway and Denmark, just as it
did in England and Scotland, and from Norway it would be transplanted
into Scotland."[206] Kirkwall Cathedral, begun in 1137, was carried on
with great expedition, unlike Glasgow Cathedral, which took so long in
completion that it gave rise to a proverb, "Like St. Mungo's work, it
will never be finished." The Orcadians did their work nobly, and when a
difficulty arose as to funds, it was overcome by allowing the
proprietors of land in Orkney to redeem their property by a single
payment of a sum per acre, paid at once, instead of according to the
usual practice, on each succession.[207] Help was received from far and
wide, and the building was so liberally sped by the oblations of a past
age, that all Christendom was popularly said to have paid tribute for
its erection;[208] but the spirit of religion must have been fervid in
the islands themselves. The earl who founded the cathedral died after a
pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. "He had begun his High Church on no
mean scale, and it was afterwards greatly enlarged in length. To this
circumstance, together with its severe simplicity, its narrowness, its
height, and the multiplicity of its parts, must be ascribed the most
striking characteristic of the pile--its apparent vastness."[209] It has
been doubted if either York or Lincoln gives the _idea_ of greater
internal length, though Kirkwall measures less by half than the smaller
of these minsters. As pointed out by the latest authorities on the
cathedral, its western doorways recall the portals of the cathedrals of
France rather than those of England; its interior gives the impression
of great size, arising from the height and length of the building as
compared with its width; the exterior presents at a glance the changes
which have taken place in it, and the layers and masses of different
coloured stones tell their own tale; the oldest work (comprising several
periods) is constructed with dark slaty stone, having red freestone
dressings; the Norman work is observed in the transept and several bays
of the nave and choir nearest the transept, while the pointed work is
specially noticeable in the eastern half of the choir.[210] The first
parts of the cathedral built were the three westmost or Norman bays of
the choir, with their aisles, both the transepts, the crossing
(afterwards altered) intended to receive a tower over it, and two bays
of the nave, which served to form an abutment for the crossing. These
portions, where unaltered, are said to be in the earliest style of
Norman work in the edifice. The round piers and responds of the choir,
the two south piers and one north pier of the nave (with their cushion
caps), the main arches (with their label mouldings in the choir and
transept), the round arched and labelled windows in choir, transept, and
nave, and the interlaced arcades in the nave, all point to a somewhat
advanced period of Norman work. The choir originally terminated with a
central apse beyond the third pier. The Norman windows of the choir
aisle have three external orders, with a label ornament in the outer
order; the single shafts have cushion caps; the windows are largely
splayed internally.[211] An interlacing arcade of round arches, with
single shafts and cushion caps (some with volutes) runs round the north,
south, and west sides of the transept. The large arches leading into the
east chapels are part of the original structure, but the chapels were
built later. The lower string-course of the transept is enriched with a
four-leaved flower.[212]
After the completion of these portions, attention was given to the
continuation of the nave westwards for several bays. The north aisle
wall opposite the three bays, west from the crossing, would appear to
have been built early.[213] The buttresses are of flat Norman form. The
north aisle doorway is pronounced to be Norman in detail, but has been
restored at a later date; the south aisle doorway retains its old Norman
arch and shafts in the interior, but has been altered externally. The
nave piers were probably continued as far as the above doors about this
time, with the triforium, but the upper part of the nave walls and the
vaulting are later.[214] The transition style is prominently seen in the
piers and arches of the crossing, and the windows in the choir nearest
the main arches of the crossing, and the triforium openings into the
transept, appear to have been altered and rebuilt at the time of this
operation. The upper part of the north transept was probably raised and
its windows inserted at this time; the raising of the south transept and
the introduction of the rose windows is of somewhat later date.[215]
This circular window is very similar to that in the east window of the
choir. The chapels on the east side of the transept are of the advanced
transition period, which, in Orkney, was probably the middle of the
thirteenth century.[216] The completion of the nave would be next
undertaken.[217] The apse was taken down, and the choir, with its
aisles, was extended by three bays eastwards,[218] the style having a
resemblance to advanced First Pointed work, with some peculiarities of
detail, exhibiting probable French influence from Upsala.[219] The
triforium consists of plain, chamfered, semicircular arches and jambs in
three orders; the clerestory has simple pointed windows, moulded on
sconsion, but without cusps. A vaulting shaft is carried up between the
piers.[220] The east end of the cathedral is of First Pointed period,
and the great east window fills the whole space available.[221] The
three western doorways and the pointed doorway in the south transept are
later than the choir;[222] they present the finest examples in Great
Britain of the use of coloured stones in the construction.[223] The
north doorway and the central doorway of the west front have the colours
arranged in concentric rings in the arches, red and yellow alternating.
In the south doorway the same colours radiate and alternate, and in the
doorway of the south transept the red and yellow stones are arranged
chequerwise.[224] They are among the most charming portions of the
edifice, and are unique in Scotland. The upper part of the gablet over
the centre doorway is of the seventeenth century, and bears the shield
of Sir George Hay of Kinfauns, who rented the lands of the bishopric
about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the crozier being added
to the shield in connection with the lands of the see.[225] The tower
has been considerably operated upon in modern times; the old wooden
spire was destroyed by lightning in 1671. The parapet and pinnacles are
modern, as also the pointed and slated roof--the lower part being of
considerable age. The part within the roof of the church is apparently
of transition date; the upper part, with the large pointed windows, is
probably of fifteenth-century work.[226] There were originally beautiful
specimens of wood-work; the canopy over the bishop's throne has
disappeared.[227] The tower contains four bells, three of which were
given by Bishop Maxwell (1526-1540). The cathedral does not appear to
have suffered during the Reformation period, but an attempt made by the
Earl of Caithness to destroy it in 1606, during the rebellion of Earl
Patrick Stewart and his son, was prevented by the intervention of Bishop
Law (sacred be his memory!).
The bishop's palace was founded about the beginning of the thirteenth
century. Twenty bishops held the see in succession. The diocese
contained the archdeaconries of Orkney, with thirty-five parishes, and
of Tingwall (Shetland) with thirteen. The church suffered from vandalism
in 1701 and 1855, and the east end is used as the parish church. May the
northern minster soon be restored and made worthy of its glorious past.
Lord Tennyson's son's diary contains the following entry on the
Cathedral of St. Magnus: "Gladstone and my father admired the noble
simplicity of the church, and its massive stone pillars, but we all
shuddered at the liberal whitewash and the high pews."[228]
A catalogue of the Bishops of Orkney, by Professor Munch of Christiania,
will be found in the _Bannatyne Miscellany_.[229]
CHAPTER IV
SCOTTISH COLLEGIATE CHURCHES
The creation of collegiate churches was a practical endeavour toward
ecclesiastical reform in the fifteenth century, when the foundation of
monastic establishments ceased. They had no parishes attached to them,
and were regulated very much as the cathedrals. They arose with the
purpose of counteracting the evils incidental to the monastic system,
and were formed by grouping the clergy of neighbouring parishes into a
college, or by consolidating independent chaplainries. They were called
præposituræ, were presided over by a dean or provost, and the
prebendaries were generally the clergy holding adjacent cures. In
Scotland, during more recent times, the term "collegiate" was applied to
a church where two ministers (as at St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh) served
the cure as colleagues, but in the fifteenth century the term had a
different and wider significance. Collegiate churches were then an
expression of the zeal and munificence that were displayed in the
enlargement and decoration of buildings, when all classes vied with each
other in the endowment of chaplainries for the maintenance of daily
stated service, always including prayers and singing of masses for the
souls of their founders, their relations, and benefactors. The
collegiate churches were also an evidence from within the Church itself
of the need for reform in the great Benedictine and Augustinian abbeys
that were then in the ascendant throughout the country.
Scotland possessed forty-one collegiate churches, but space will only
permit us here to deal with nine of them: Biggar, Bothwell, St. Nicholas
(Aberdeen), King's College (Aberdeen), Roslin, Stirling (Chapel Royal),
St. Giles (Edinburgh), St. Mary's and St. Salvator's (St. Andrews).
_Biggar (Lanarkshire)._--The collegiate parish church of St. Mary was
founded in 1545 by Malcolm, third Lord Fleming, for a provost, eight
prebendaries, four singing boys, and six bedesmen. It is interesting as
being among the latest, if not indeed the last, of the Scottish
pre-Reformation churches. It belongs to the Late Pointed period, is
cruciform in plan, consists of chancel with apsidal east end, transept,
and nave, with square tower and north-east belfry turret over the
crossing. There are no aisles. Formerly a chapter-house existed on the
north side of the chancel, but it has been removed. The ancient roof was
of oak, and the timbers in the chancel were gilt and emblazoned.
_St. Bride's Collegiate Church, Bothwell_, was founded by Archibald "the
Grim," Earl of Douglas, in 1398, for a provost and eight prebendaries.
He endowed and added a choir to the existing parish church. The present
church is a fine Gothic building, erected in 1833, with a massive square
tower to the height of 120 feet. East of this tower is the choir of the
old collegiate church, of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period; it is
a simple oblong chamber with a sacristy on the north side. The church,
externally divided by buttresses, has four bays with a series of pointed
windows in the south wall, and three windows in the north wall. The arch
of the entrance doorway in the south wall is elliptic in form. The roof
of the church is covered with overlapping stone slabs, which rest on a
pointed barrel vault--one of the earliest examples met with. In the
sacristy there are a piscina and a locker, and in the south wall of the
choir the remains of a triple beautifully carved sedilia and a piscina.
The sacristy is roofed with overlapping stone flags supported on a
vault. Monuments to the two Archibald Douglases, Earls of Forfar, are in
the church. In this church David, the hapless Earl of Rothesay, wedded
Marjory, the founder's daughter, in 1400, and one of its provosts was
Thomas Barry, who celebrated the victory of Otterburn in Latin verse. It
has been recently restored and made worthy of its great past.
_New Aberdeen._--The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, said to be the
largest mediæval parish church in Scotland, was made collegiate about
1456 by Bishop Ingeram de Lyndesay (1441-1459), and is said to have
possessed, besides the vicar, "chaplains to the number of thirty."[230]
Its clergy were named the "College of the Chaplains" of St. Nicholas,
and after, as before, the institution of this new order the church
remained the parish church. Only two portions of the ancient building
now remain--the transepts and the crypt at the east end below the
choir.[231] The present nave was rebuilt about 1750; the choir was taken
down in 1835 and rebuilt in the most tasteless fashion; the walls of the
crypt and transepts were all refaced except the north front of the
transept, which was altered considerably in the seventeenth century; the
central tower was burned in 1874, and the existing central spire was
thereafter erected. A carillon of thirty-seven bells has been placed
within it.
After the Reformation the rood-screen gave place to a wall, and St.
Nicholas was divided into two churches, the West consisting of the
former nave, the East of the choir, and the Romanesque transept between
(known as Drum's and Collison's aisles) serving as vestibule. For the
early architecture attention must be confined to the interior of the
transept and crypt. The transepts are of the transitional style of the
end of the twelfth century; the piers which carry the central tower are
of the usual transitional type, having graceful capitals and square
abaci supporting round arches; on each side of the north transept there
are two original clerestory windows, and one of them has angle shafts,
with carved caps and mouldings. The present large north window has
remains of its original features, but its tracery is of late work. There
is a transition attached shaft with carved cap and square abacus in the
low pointed recess. There is only a shaft on one side of the recess, and
the pointed arch of this recess, as well as the tomb alongside, below
the large window, are of later work.[232] On the west side of the north
wall there has been a round arched doorway, and traces of it are yet
visible. The crypt is at the east end of the choir, but is on a lower
level, and was approached by two stairs, one from the north and another
from the south aisle of the choir. Only their round arched openings
remain as recesses in the walls of the crypt. The present stairs are
modern. The crypt consists of one central and two side aisles, with an
eastern apse; it is pronounced to be a very picturesque and interesting
structure, and it fortunately escaped being rebuilt, like the rest of
the church. It has a groined roof, and the three compartments in the
length are separated by pointed arches that spring from moulded caps on
octagonal responds. "The opening into the apse has a stunted round arch,
and is a prominent example of the love of the Scottish builders for
this form of arch all through the Gothic period."[233] Each compartment
of the apse has a central boss, and there is a considerable amount of
carved woodwork in the crypt--some of the fifteenth or sixteenth
century, and some later. The choir that was recently taken down
superseded an older one, and it is probably to this former choir that
references are contained in the _Council Register_ for about a century
from 1442.
_Old Aberdeen, King's College._--Of Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen
(1488-1514) it is said: "With no private fortune, and without
dilapidating his benefice, he provided for the buildings requisite for
his University and Collegiate Church, and for the suitable maintenance
of its forty-two members; and the Cathedral Choir, the King's College,
and the old gray bridge spanning the valley of the Dee are monuments to
his memory that command the respect of those who have no sympathy with
his Breviary, rich in legends of Scottish Saints, and who would scarcely
approve of his reformed Gregorian chant."[234] The college was dedicated
to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and being placed under the
immediate protection of the King, came to be known as King's College.
King James IV. and Bishop Elphinstone endowed it with large revenues. It
was a faithful copy of the University of Paris. The Collegiate Church of
St. Mary, on the north side of the quadrangle, was consecrated by
Edward, Bishop of Orkney, and had eight priests or vicars choral
belonging to it, and six singing boys.[235] It was begun in 1500 and
finished in 1506, and it was said that all its stones and beams proclaim
Bishop Elphinstone their founder, who also presented the chapter with
many valuable vestments, vessels, etc. The chapel is a long, narrow
building, with a three-sided apsidal east end. It is divided into six
bays by projecting buttresses, and has a large window filled with
mullions and tracery in each bay on the north side, except the second
one from the west, which contains a doorway. Similar large windows are
continued in the apse, and there is also one in the east bay of the
south side. Over the west doorway there is a large west window of four
lights, with solid built mullions and loop tracery enclosed within a
round arch.[236] The tower at the south-west corner has massive corner
buttresses. It is finished with one of the few crown steeples remaining
in Scotland, forming,
"with that of St. Giles, Edinburgh, and the Tolbooth, Glasgow, the
only three surviving of those which we could at one time boast. The
general style of the structure is very similar to that of St. Giles,
but in this case there are only four arches thrown from the angles
of the tower to the central lantern, while in the case of St. Giles
there are eight, which produce a fuller and richer effect.... The
part blown down (by a violent storm in 1633) was probably only the
lantern on the top of the four arches, the details of this part
having a decidedly Renaissance character, and being different from
the other parts of the tower. Doubtless the arches themselves would
suffer in the crash, and would require repairing and rebuilding in
part, which was evidently done, as the date 1634 is carved on the
soffit of the crossing. This difference of detail is interesting as
showing how persistently these old designers wrought in the style of
their time. Although it is evident that the present lantern is not
quite the same as the original one, it must be admitted to be an
extremely happy and picturesque composition."[237]
The chapel suffered both externally and internally in the course of the
centuries, but, thanks to the enlightened liberality of Aberdeen
citizens and alumni, it has been recently restored under the direction
of Dr. Rowand Anderson. In 1823 the choir end was fitted up for worship
on the Sundays, and the nave was occupied by the library, which was not
removed and located in a building of its own until 1873. The choir
screen was then shifted westward from its original position, where its
west front formerly bisected the chapel.
"In the ideas of Bishop Elphinstone," said the late Principal Sir
William Geddes, "and his age, the choir-screen was intended to
partition off the sacred _clerus_ from the _non-clerus_ or laity,
and, by the predominance of anthems and songs in the choir-service,
to image forth the conception of the blest society in heaven, where
there is only praise; but the 'Collegium' which he constituted has,
through historical causes, given way to the wider society of the
'Congregation,' in which preaching is as prominent as praise, and
hence came the removal of the choir-screen westward, so as to
accommodate a larger audience than the Collegium proper. This
removal the Restoration Committee of 1891 acquiesced in and
accepted, but the change is one for which they are not
responsible."[238] It will be interesting to give here a brief
resumé of what has been stated by the Principal regarding shields
and symbolism in the restored chapel. (1) As to the treatment of the
floor: no shield has been admitted into the floor but such as
represent persons in close relation to the King's College, of a date
antecedent to the Scottish Reformation of 1560. When the series is
completed, they will be found to represent:--
_Royal Shields_
1. James IV., the Royal Founder. Motto, _Leo Magnanimus_.
2. Margaret Tudor, his Queen. " _Rosa sine spina_.
3. St. Margaret, Queen of Malcolm " _Crux columbis lex_.
III. (Canmore).
_Episcopal_
4. Bishop Elphinston. Motto, _Non confundar_.
5. " Gavin Dunbar. " _Sub spe_.
6. " William Stewart. " _Virescit vulnere virtus_.
7. " John Leslie. " _Memento_.
_Literary_
8. Principal Hector Boece. Motto, _Silva frequens trabibus_.
9. Dean Robert Maitland. " _Consilio et animis._
_In Ante-Chapel_
1. (North side) _Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae_ (Lord, I have
loved the beauty of Thy House), Psalm xxvi. 8.
2. (East side) _Initium sapientiae timor Domini_ (The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom), Motto of the University.
3. (South side) _Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur_ (We praise
Thee, O Lord, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord).
4. (West side) _In te Domine speravi: non confundar_ (In Thee, O
Lord, have I trusted: let me never be confounded).
The roof has a continuous system of decoration in colour and floral
ornament, except in the four compartments at the extreme east end
over the apse, where structural necessities imposed a variation. The
central space of the roof is filled with scrolls containing the
words, Laus, Potestas, Honor, Gloria, in ecclesiastical letter,
varied by insertions of the monogram of the Saviour, I.H.S., at
intervals recurring. "Below these, and towards the junction of the
roof with walls, appears what may be called a flying scroll of
inscriptions, being a series of Latin texts and chants, chiefly from
the Vulgate, capable of being read continuously, round the roof, and
interrupted only by the apse, which, as explained, has a separate
treatment." "In the apse, which, like Scottish apses of that period,
is not semicircular, but has three facets, being semi-hexagonal, the
frieze inscriptions are the University motto in its two clauses,
with Sursum Corda in the centre. These occupy severally the three
divisions into which the apse frieze falls, while in the
compartments above are the symbolical figures in gold usually
associated with the four Evangelists, viz. the Angel of S. Matthew,
the Lion of S. Mark, the Ox of S. Luke, and the Eagle of S. John.
The flying scroll attached to these figures is the text in
Revelation (iv. 8). The band at the springing of the arched roof is
variegated by a series of shields or disks, in which the sacred
monogram alternates with the emblems of the Passion. The order in
which the emblems have been placed is as follows:
_West End_
South side ends. North side begins.
15. Moon. 1. Sun.
14. Ladder. 2. Bag of Judas.
13. Spear and Sponge. 3. Lantern.
12. Dice. 4. Cock.
11. Seamless Coat. 5. Scourges.
10. Hammer and Pincers. 6. Pillar and Cords.
9. Three Nails. 7. Crown of Thorns.
8. Cross, I.N.R.I.
_East or Apse End_
"The figures of the sun or moon, which are usually represented in
the Crucifixion scene, on either side of, and close to, the cross,
have here by a certain liberty been made to commence and close the
series." ... "Fortunately the fretwork, when reversed, was found,
though fragile, to be fairly sound; and, although not all entirely
on a uniform pattern, a large section of it, when turned upward,
presented the appearance of a series of Pots of Lilies, side by
side, a discovery which largely reconciled one to the alteration,
inasmuch as this emblem of the Virgin is known to have been not only
familiar to, but also a favourite with, the Founder of the College.
The King's College, besides, was originally the College of S. Mary."
_Chancel and Apse_
The Professorial stalls have for the cresting the emblems of the
Seven Virtues, viz. the four cardinal virtues of the Philosophers,
and the three celestial virtues, or Graces of the Theologians. The
sequence is:--
{1. Justice, symbolised by the Scales and Balance.
{2. Courage " " Thistle.
{3. Temperance " " Bridle.
{4. Prudence " " Compasses (Mariner's and Carpenter's).
{5. Faith " " Pillar with Wreath of Victory.
{6. Hope " " Anchor.
{7. Love " " Flaming Heart.
They are repeated in such order on both sides, and the four Cardinal
Virtues are towards the west or exterior; the three Theological
Virtues toward the east or interior of the apse. On the stall
forming the eighth on the south side, there is the monogram of the
Alpha and Omega. On the panels of the stalls, "the leading idea
sought to be maintained was the representation in sequence of the
various emblems of Christ and the Christian life, as drawn from the
cornu copiæ of Nature, in the fruits and flowers of the vegetable
world, that unfallen portion of creation which the Divine Teacher
honoured by drawing from it, and from it alone, His similes and
parables. They are severally as follows, commencing from the west:--
1. The Lily.}
2. The Palm.}
3. The Rose.}
4. The Trefoil.
5. The Vine and Grapes.}
6. The Olive. }
7. The Wheat-ears." }
At the eighth panel on the south side, under the [Greek: Alpha] and
[Greek: Omega] of the cresting, stands the Pot of Lilies as a symbol
of the Virgin.
We have given an account of the late learned Principal's paper as
appropriate to this history. It shows how art can both express the
spirit of the place and become a servant of religion. It illustrates
Professor Flint's declaration:--"God as the perfectly good is not only
Absolute Truth and Absolute Holiness, but also Absolute Beauty. He is
the source, the author, the giver of all beautiful things and qualities.
All the beauties of earth and sea and sky, of life and mind and spirit,
are rays from His beauty. The powers by which they are perceived are
conferred by Him. The light in which they are seen is His light."[239]
_Roslin (Mid-Lothian)._--The church was founded in 1450 by Sir William
St. Clair, Baron of Roslin and third Earl of Orkney. It was dedicated to
St. Matthew, and founded for a provost, six prebendaries, and two
choristers. In the quaint language of Father Hay:--
"His adge creeping on him, to the end that he might not seem
altogither unthankfull to God for the benefices he receaved from
Him, it came in his mind to build a house for God's service, of
most curious worke: the which that it might be done with greater
glory and splendor, he caused artificers to be brought from other
regions and forraigne kingdomes, and caused dayly to be abundance of
all kinde of workmen present: as masons, carpenters, smiths,
barrowmen, and quarriers, with others. The foundation of this rare
worke he caused to be laid in the year of our Lord 1446: and to the
end the worke might be the more rare: first he caused the draughts
to be drawn upon Eastland boords, and made the carpenters to carve
them according to the draughts thereon, and then gave them for
patterns to the masons that they might thereby cut the like in
stone."
He was probably himself the source of the design, and his enlightened
liberality attracted to the place the best workmen in Scotland, as well
as from parts of the Continent. It has been said by the most recent
authorities:--
"The church, so far as erected, is in perfect preservation, and is a
charming portion of an incomplete design. It is, in some respects,
the most remarkable piece of architecture in Scotland; and had the
church been finished in the same spirit as that in which it has been
so far carried out, it would have gone far to have realised a poet's
dream in stone. When looked at from a strictly architectural point
of view, the design may be considered faulty in many respects, much
of the detail being extremely rude and debased, while as regards
construction many of the principles wrought out during the
development of Gothic architecture are ignored. But notwithstanding
these faults, the profusion of design so abundantly shown
everywhere, and the exuberant fancy of the architect, strike the
visitor who sees Rosslyn for the first time with an astonishment
which no familiarity ever effaces."[240]
The original intention was to complete the building as a cross church,
with choir, nave, and transepts, but the choir only has been completed.
The transepts have been partly erected, the east wall being carried up
to a considerable height, but the nave has not been erected. The church
consists of a choir, with north and south aisles, connected by an aisle
which runs across the east end, giving access to a series of four
chapels beyond it to the east. Beyond the east end of the church, and on
a lower level, to suit the slope of the ground, a chapel has been
erected that is reached from the south aisle by a stair. It is
barrel-vaulted and is lighted by an eastern window. There are ambries in
the walls and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a
fireplace and a small closet on the north side. On the south a door
leads to what has been an open court, where there are indications of
other buildings having existed or being intended. In all probability
there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as
sacristy and private chapel. This chapel was probably built by the
liberality of Lady Douglas, Sir William St. Clair's first wife.
The church is profusely adorned with sculpture which generally
represents Scripture scenes, and one of the most curious examples in the
remarkable decoration of the edifice is the ornamentation of the south
pillar of the east aisle, known as the "Prentice Pillar"--named by
Slezer (1693) as the "Prince's Pillar" and by Defoe (1723) the
"Princess's Pillar." It consists of a series of wreaths twisted round
the shaft, each wreath curving from base to capital round one quarter of
the pillar. The ornamentation of the wreaths corresponds in character
with the other carving of the church, and the grotesque animals on the
base find a counterpart in those of the chapter-house pillar at Glasgow
Cathedral.
At the Reformation the lands and revenue of the church were virtually
taken away, and in 1572 they were relinquished by a formal deed of
resignation. The chapel does not seem to have suffered much violence
till 1688, when a mob did much mischief. It remained uncared for, and
gradually became ruinous till the middle of the eighteenth century, when
General St. Clair glazed the windows, relaid the floor, renewed the
roof, and built the wall round about. Further repairs were executed by
the first Earl of Rosslyn, and again by the third Earl, who spent £3000
principally in renewing and retouching the carvings of the Lady
Chapel--a work said to have been suggested by the Queen, who visited the
church in 1842. Since 1862, services in connection with the Scottish
Episcopal Church have been held within it. At the west end a vestry and
organ-chamber were erected a few years ago.
_Stirling (Chapel Royal, St. Mary's, and St. Michael's)._--On the north
side of the Castle Square is the building erected by King James VI. as a
chapel, and generally called now the armoury. There seems to have been a
chapel in the castle founded by Alexander I., and it was connected with
the monastery at Dunfermline. The original dedication is unknown, but in
the fourteenth century there is mention of the chapel of St. Michael,
which may possibly date from the time when an Irish ecclesiastic--St.
Malachi or Michael--visited David I. at Stirling Castle, and healed his
son, Prince Henry. The chapel was rebuilt in the early part of the
fifteenth century, and in the time of James III. became an important
church. It was constituted both as a royal chapel and as a musical
college, and endowed with the rich temporalities of Coldingham Abbey.
This chapel was the scene of the penitence of James IV., who, after the
victory at Sauchie, "daily passed to the Chapel Royal, and heard matins
and evening song: in the which every day the chaplains prayed for the
King's grace, deploring and lamenting the death of his father: which
moved the King, in Stirling, to repentance, that he happened to be
counselled to come against his father in battle, wherethrough he was
wounded and slain. To that effect he was moved to pass to the dean of
the said Chapel Royal, and to have his counsel how he might be
satisfied, in his own conscience, of the art and part of the cruel deed
which was done to his father. The dean, being a godly man, gave the King
a good comfort: and seeing him in repentance, was very glad thereof."
James IV. endowed the chapel with large revenues, and in 1501 erected it
into a collegiate church for dean, subdean, chanter, sacristan,
treasurer, chancellor, archpriests, sixteen chaplains, six singing boys
and a choir master. It was the richest of the provostries, and held many
churches. The deans of the chapel, who were first the provosts of
Kirkheugh at St. Andrews, afterwards the bishops of Galloway, and
eventually the bishops of Dunblane, possessed in their capacity as deans
an episcopal jurisdiction. The chapel, erected by James III., fell
evidently into a ruinous condition, and in 1594 James VI. pulled the old
structure down and erected on its site the present building. It was the
scene of the baptism of Prince Henry.
ST. GILES, EDINBURGH
"In the centre of the old town of Edinburgh," writes Dr. Cameron
Lees, "stands the great church of St. Giles. From whatever point of
view the city is looked at, the picturesque crown of the steeple is
seen sharply outlined against the sky. Soaring aloft unlike every
other spire in its neighbourhood, it seems like the spirit of old
Scottish history, keeping watch over the city that has grown up
through the long years beneath its shadow. Edinburgh would not be
Edinburgh without it. The exterior of the church itself is plain and
unadorned, and it is evident that unsympathetic hands have been laid
upon it and modernised it; but when one enters the building, a vast
and venerable interior is presented to him, and every stone seems to
speak of the past. St. Giles is a church whose history is closely
interwoven with the history of Scotland from the very earliest ages,
and it has been the scene of many remarkable events which have left
their impress upon our national character."[241]
Dr. David Laing thinks that a parish church of small dimensions may have
existed nearly coeval with the castle and town,[242] and the present St.
Giles occupies the site of the original parish church of Edinburgh.
Symeon of Durham, who flourished in the early part of the thirteenth
century, includes Edinburgh under the year 854 in reckoning the churches
and towns belonging to the Bishopric of Lindisfarne or Holy Island, in
the district of Northumbria, a see which, previous to the Scoto-Saxon
period, extended over the range of Lothian and the more southern
districts of North Britain.[243] The name "Edwinesburch" is taken as
having a special reference to the castle and town.[244] When David I.
founded the abbey in honour of the Holy Cross, the Virgin Mary, and all
the saints, he conferred upon the canons (among other churches) the
church of the castle, the Church of St. Cuthbert under the castle wall,
and at the period there were lands lying to the south of Edinburgh which
bore the name of St. Giles' Grange--so called from being the grange of
the vicar of St. Giles' Church. These lands were gifted by King David I.
to the English abbey of Holm Cultram or Harehope in Cumberland, and
probably the church went along with them; at all events, it continued to
belong to some monastery. In 1393 it belonged to the Crown, and King
Robert III. granted it to the Abbey of Scone; to that house it belonged
for some time, remaining still an humble vicarage.[245]
It is the most reasonable conjecture that the parish church, dedicated
in honour of St. Ægidius or St. Giles, and which has ever since
retained the name of that patron saint, was erected during the reign of
Alexander I. (1107-1124), the founder also of the Abbey of Scone and
other religious houses.[246] Some fragments of this church remained till
the end of last century, the richly ornamented Norman porch, which had
formed the entrance to the nave on the north side of the church, being
removed about 1797.[247] Dr. Lees thinks that possibly some of the
pillars of the choir, and also the door at the entry to the royal pew,
belonged to the first church of St. Giles.[248] The edifice appears to
have been rebuilt about the time of David II.[249]
In the frequent wars with England, Edinburgh suffered much, notably so
in 1322 and 1335. This latter raid, having occurred in February, was
afterwards known as the "burnt Candlemas." A reconstruction of the
church was probably required after these repeated conflagrations, and
this appears to have been carried out during the fourteenth century. But
shortly afterwards a devastation of the town and its buildings was
occasioned by Richard II. in 1385, when, during his occupation of five
days, he left the town and parish church in ashes. The citizens, with
the help of the Crown, made a great effort to repair the disaster to
their church, and from this period the history of the present structure
may be said to date.
"It is said that during the restoration, which took place in
1870-80, traces of fire were observed on the pillars of the choir,
and it is inferred that these pillars must have existed before the
burning caused by Richard II. This view is confirmed by the fact
that, after 1387, when, doubtless, the town authorities were doing
all they could to complete the restoration of St. Giles', they
entered into a contract with certain masons to erect five chapels
along the south side of the nave, having pillars and vaulted roofs,
covered with dressed stone slabs. These chapels still exist, and the
wall rib of the vaulting is yet visible on the south side of the
arcade, next the south aisle; but the vault and stone roof have been
removed, and a plaster ceiling of imitation vaulting substituted.
The above contract indicates that the walls of the nave then
existed. We must, therefore, assume that the church had been rebuilt
previous to the destruction of 1385, and that the above contract was
an addition to the building connected with its restoration two years
after the fire. Although, doubtless, much injured by the
conflagration, the walls and pillars of the church seem to have
escaped total destruction. The style of the architecture would lead
to the same view; the octagonal pillars of the choir, with their
moulded caps, being most probably of the fourteenth century."[250]
The church, as restored and added to after 1387, is regarded as
consisting of a choir of four bays, with side aisles; a nave of five
bays, also with side aisles; a central crossing, north and south
transepts, and the five chapels just added south of the nave.[251] An
open porch, to the south of these chapels, was also erected along with
them, with a finely groined vault in the roof, and over it a small
chamber, lighted by a picturesque oriel window, supported on a corbel,
carved with an angel displaying the city arms.[252] The whole of the
main divisions of the structure were vaulted, and the massive octagonal
piers of the crossing were probably raised about this period.[253] The
vaulting of the crossing, with its central opening, was executed about
1400.[254] The ancient Norman porch, forming the north entrance to the
nave, was the only part of the twelfth century structure then preserved.
The restoration seems to have continued from 1385 to 1416.
Shortly after the erection of the five south chapels, another chapel,
called the Albany Aisle, was built on the north side of the nave to the
west of the old doorway. It opens from the nave with two arches, resting
on a central pillar, and the roof is covered with groined vaulting in
two bays.[255] On the pillar are sculptured the arms of the Duke of
Albany and also those of the Earl of Douglas. Their names are often
ominously found together in the history of the times, and both were
accused of the murder of the Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne. They
were justly accused, and, although acquitted of the deed, the stain
continues to rest on their memory. The chapels were either built to
expiate their crime, or more probably to get a reputation for piety and
obtain the favour of the Church.[256]
Two other chapels were probably added to the north side of the nave
about the same period; they were on the east side of the Norman doorway,
and between it and the transept. One of them has disappeared, and the
eastern one was dedicated to St. Eloi. The vaulting of the north aisle
of the nave was necessarily rebuilt at the time when the north chapels
were erected.[257]
About fifty years later, great extensions and improvements were carried
out under the auspices of Queen Mary of Gueldres, by whom Trinity
College Church was also founded in 1462. The Town Council and merchants
of Edinburgh also endowed it. The extensions of St. Giles consisted of
(1) the lengthening of the choir by one bay; (2) the heightening of the
central aisle of the choir and vaulting it anew, together with the
introduction of a new clerestory; and (3) the lengthening of the
transepts.[258] The church is thus the work of many generations, and is
the outcome of public and private contributions. That the choir was
enlarged at this period is chiefly made evident by the heraldic devices
and armorial bearings still existing. While the pillars nearest to the
centre are plain octagons, with arches corresponding in simplicity,
those at the east end have decorated capitals, supporting moulded
arches. The King's pillar, as it is called, is the first from the window
on the north side, and is near the spot where stood the High Altar. On
the foliated capital are four coats of arms, and the first has the lion
within the double tressure, and the armorial bearings are usually
supposed to be those of King James II. (1436-1460); the second, impaled,
of his Queen, Mary of Gueldres (1449-1463); the third has also the lion
within the double tressure and a label of three points, which is held to
denote a prince or heir, if not a younger son. The fourth shield has
three _fleurs-de-lys_ for France.[259] These shields clearly connect the
pillar with Mary of Gueldres, and her husband, James II., and their son,
James III., who was born in 1453. The work was probably executed between
1453 and 1463.[260] On the opposite pillar, on the south side of the
high altar, are also four coats of arms, viz. those of the town of
Edinburgh and of the families of Kennedy, Otterburn, and Preston. To
commemorate other benefactors, on the demi-pillar, on the north side of
the eastern window, we have the arms (three cranes _gorged_) of Thomas
Cranstoun, chief magistrate of Edinburgh in 1439 and 1454; on the south
side, those of Napier of Merchiston, Provost of Edinburgh in 1457--a
saltier engrailed, cantoned with four rosettes.[261] (2) The heightening
of the choir and the introduction of a new clerestory were also carried
out shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century, the height of the
former choir being shown by the vault of the crossing, which it
doubtless resembled, and which was not altered at that time. The outline
of the old roof may also be observed against the east and west walls of
the tower--the raglet and a stepped string-course above it being yet
preserved, and being specially visible on the east side next the choir.
The beauty of the vaulting of the central choir aisle is noticeable when
contrasted with that of the side aisles.[262] The central crossing, with
its vault, was left unaltered, and still remains in the same position,
with its vaulting at the level it was raised to about 1400. It forms a
break between the nave and the choir, in both of which the vault has
been raised.[263] (3) The transepts were extended, their original length
being marked by breaks in the roof, where the vaulting terminates.
In a charter dated 11th January 1454-1455,[264] it is narrated that
William Preston of Gourtoun, after much trouble and expense abroad, and
aided by "a high and mighty prince, the King of France, and many other
Lords of France," had succeeded in obtaining an arm bone of the patron
saint, which he generously bequeathed to the church. The Town Council
were so gratified with the gift that they resolved to add an aisle to
the choir in commemoration of the event, and to place therein a tablet
of brass recording the bounty of the donor. This aisle was to be built
within six or seven years "furth frae our Lady isle, quhair the said
William lyis." It thus appears that the south aisle of the nave was
known as the lady chapel, and that Sir William was buried there. The
resolution was carried into effect, and a new aisle called the Preston
Aisle was constructed, south of the lady chapel. The Preston Aisle was
afterwards known as the Assembly Aisle. In carrying out the work the
south wall opposite the three westmost bays of the choir was removed,
and three arches carried on two piers substituted. These piers and
arches correspond with the work of the same period at the east end of
the choir. One of the caps contains a shield bearing the three unicorns'
heads of the Prestons. The structure extends into the choir the great
width of the four aisles of the church previously formed in the nave,
and adds greatly both to spaciousness and grandeur. The church was now
complete in all its parts, as, internally, it still remains, with a few
exceptions, to the present day.[265]
Several additional chapels were afterwards thrown out. In 1513 an aisle
of two arches was formed by Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Provost of the
city; in 1518 the altar of the Holy Blood was erected in this aisle,
which lay on the south of the nave, and to the east of the south porch,
immediately adjoining the south transept. It opened into the south
chapels of the nave with two arches, and had two windows to the south.
There was within it a handsome monument containing a recumbent statue,
or forming, as some suppose, part of the altar canopy. The monument is
still preserved, but one half of the chapel was obliterated in 1829.
In 1466 the parish church of St. Giles was erected by charter of James
III. into a collegiate establishment, but it is not called collegiate
till 1475. The chapter consisted of a provost or dean, sixteen
prebendaries, a master of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan, and a
beadle with chaplains. The revenues of the altars and chaplainries in
the church were appropriated for the support of the several officers in
the new establishment. The King reserved the nomination of the dean or
provost, who enjoyed the tithes and other revenues of St. Giles' Church,
with the adjacent manse; the provost had the right of choosing a curate,
who had a yearly allowance of 25 marks with a house adjoining.[266] In
subsequent charters the church is called the College Kirk of St. Geill
of Edinburgh.
About this period a few additions were made. A small chapel, called the
Chapman Aisle, was thrown out from the Preston Aisle close to the south
transept. It was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist by Walter Chapman,
called the Scottish Caxton, from his having introduced into Scotland in
1507 the art of printing. The chapel was dedicated within a month of
King James' death at Flodden. The south transept seems to have been
extended southward during the erection. The chapel to the east of the
north transept contained several storeys and a staircase. It is said to
have been erected after the Reformation. Used as the Town Clerk's
office, and later as a vestry, it has been recently set apart to contain
the monument of Dr. William Chambers, by whose liberality the cathedral
has been recently restored.
In 1829 the church was entirely renewed as regards the exterior, and two
chapels to the south of those built in 1389 and the south porch were
removed. The round arched doorway of the south porch was again erected
between the north pillars of the crossing as the entrance to the central
division of the church. It has now been transferred to the entrance
doorway to the royal pew at the east end of the Preston Aisle.[267] The
only portions of the exterior which escaped the unfortunate renewal of
1829 were the tower and steeple. Fortunately the well-known crown of St.
Giles was not interfered with. It was probably erected about 1500.[268]
"This crown," say the same authorities, "seems to have been a
favourite feature with Scottish architects. The crown of the tower
of King's College, Aberdeen, was built after 1505, and similar
crowns formerly existed on the towers of Linlithgow and Haddington
churches. The crown of St. Nicholas' Church, Newcastle, which is
probably the only other steeple of this kind in Great Britain, is
also of a late date. There is a crown of the same description on the
tower of the Town Hall at Oudenarde, in Belgium, which is also of
late Gothic work.... Some of the above crown steeples have an arch
thrown from each angle to a central pinnacle, an arrangement which
renders them rather thin and empty looking; but that of St. Giles'
has, in addition to the arches from the angles, another arch cast
from the centre of each side to the centre pinnacle. This produces
an octagonal appearance, which, together with the numerous crocketed
pinnacles with which the arches are ornamented, gives a richness and
fulness of effect which is wanting in some of the other steeples of
this description. The steeple of St. Giles' was partly rebuilt in
1648."[269]
In the tower was placed the great bell of St. Giles, which must have
been heard far and near on special occasions, as when, after the news of
the disastrous field of Flodden, the inhabitants were ordered at the
tolling of the common bell to assemble in military array for the defence
of the city. The bell was cast in Flanders.[270] About 1500 several of
the guilds had chapels assigned to them, and for these they contributed
to the church funds. Many famous Scotsmen were buried within St. Giles,
and amongst them were the Napiers of Merchiston, although it is doubtful
whether Baron Napier rests there or not.[271] The Regent Murray,
assassinated at Linlithgow in 1569, was buried in the south aisle; his
monument was destroyed, but the brass plate, with the inscription
written in his honour by George Buchanan, was rescued, and is inserted
in a new monument erected in the Murray Aisle. The scattered members of
the body of the great Montrose were collected and buried in the Chapman
Aisle, in the south part of St. Giles, in 1661, but all trace of his
remains has now been lost, and no monument until recently indicated his
grave.
The last day on which mass was said in St. Giles was probably the 31st
of March 1560;[272] the disturbances connected with the Reformation
broke out in Edinburgh at an early date, and St. Giles' Church was one
of the first to suffer.
All things have their end.
Churches and cities, which have diseases like to men,
Must have like death that we have.
The images were stolen from the church; that of St. Giles was carried
off by the mob, drowned in the North Loch, and then burned; his arm
bone, so precious before, is supposed to have been thrown into the
adjacent churchyard; the church was pillaged and the altars and images
cast down; the valuables were taken by the authorities and sold, while
the proceeds were spent in the repairs of the church.
"Irreverence," writes Dr. Lees, "had long been common. It was not to
be expected that with the change of religion would come any
additional reverence for the things and places which the old
religion had proclaimed sacred. We read without much surprise,
therefore, of weavers being allowed to set up their looms and
exercise their craft 'in ane volt prepared for them in the rufe of
Sanct Gellis Kirk,' of the vestry of the church being turned into an
office for the town clerk.... It is almost inconceivable that old
associations should so thoroughly and quickly have died out."[273]
The church suffered from the over-zeal of the early reformers and also
from the effects of civil contention when Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange
and Queen Mary's adherents retained possession of the castle. Kirkaldy
took forcible possession of St. Giles' Church, and placed some of his
men in the steeple to keep the citizens in awe.
They made "holes in the vaute of the Great Kirk of Edinburgh, which
they made like a riddell, to shoot thorough at suche as they pleased
within the kirk, or at such as would prease to breake down the
pillars."[274]
In 1560 St. Giles' again became the parish church, with John Knox for
its minister. It was afterwards considered too large for Protestant
worship, and in Knox's time the Magistrates began to cut it up into
sections and formed several churches. Other alterations were made at
different times, so that besides the High Church in the choir and the
Tolbooth Church in the nave there were under the same roof a grammar
school, courts of justice, the Town Clerk's office, a weaver's workshop,
and a place for the Maiden, or instruments of public executions! In
1633, on the introduction of Laud's form of worship, the church became
the seat of a bishop, and the choir was used as a cathedral. Between
1637 and 1661 it was again Presbyterian; from 1661 to 1690 it was once
more Episcopalian; at the Revolution the Presbyterian worship was again
restored, and the cathedral was divided with walls and filled with
galleries. The Tolbooth Church occupied the south-west angle, and
Haddow's Hole Church the north-west angle. The Old Church comprised the
south transept and portions adjoining; the Preston Aisle was used as a
place of meeting for the General Assembly and other purposes. The dark
portions under the crossing and north transept were occupied as the
police office. The alterations and rebuilding of 1829 left the cathedral
still divided into three separate churches, and "the ancient
architecture of the exterior of St. Giles was entirely obliterated by
the reconstruction."[275] As to this "restoration," Dr. Lees writes,
"What ensued was deplorable, and can scarcely be conceived by those who
have not themselves seen what was done."[276] On the other hand,
advantage was obtained by the removal of the small houses and booths
that had been built against the structure and between the buttresses.
All must at least be grateful that the steeple "was left alone."
The position of affairs remained thus until Dr. William Chambers, the
Lord Provost of Edinburgh, conceived the idea of removing the partitions
and opening up the whole building. By his exertions, and largely by his
own personal munificence, the restoration was effected between 1870 and
1883.
"The Cathedral," says Dr. Cameron Lees, "restored from end to end,
was opened with a public service on the 23rd May 1883. Her Majesty
the Queen was represented by a Scottish nobleman (the Earl of
Aberdeen), and representatives of all the chief corporations in
Scotland attended. The ceremonial was fitting the occasion, and
three thousand persons filled the immense building. The whole scene
recalled the brilliant pageants of an earlier day. But there was
sadness in the hearts of all present, for three days previous to the
ceremonial Dr. William Chambers had passed away. The words of the
preacher[277] received, and still receive a response from many. 'So
long as these stones remain one upon another, will men remember the
deed which William Chambers hath done, and tell of it to their
children.' Two days after the reopening of the church, the funeral
service of the restorer was conducted within the building his
patriotism had beautified and adorned, and amid a vast and solemn
crowd his body was borne forth from the place he loved so well, and
for which he had done so much, to his burial."[278] "What a strange
story its old gray crown, as it towers high above the city, tells
out day by day to all who have ears to hear. It is the story of
Scotland's poetry, romance, religion--the story of her progress
through cloud and sunshine, the story of her advance from barbarism
to the culture and civilisation of the present day."[279]
_St. Andrews--St. Mary's, or Kirkheugh._--A very old chapel, known as
St. Mary's on the Rock, is said to have stood on the Lady's Craig, but
no trace of it now remains. Another chapel, also dedicated to St. Mary,
stood on the Kirk Heugh, and was known as the Chapel of the King of
Scotland on the Hill. All traces of it were for a long time lost, but in
1860 the foundations were discovered, and they show it to have been a
cruciform structure. It is between the cathedral wall on the north-east
and the sea. It had a provost and ten prebendaries.[280]
_St. Salvator's, St. Andrews._--The College of St. Salvator was founded
and endowed by Bishop Kennedy in 1456 for a provost and prebendaries.
This bishop was distinguished for his liberality to the Church. The
Church of St. Salvator is the only portion of the college buildings
which still survives. It is now attached to the united colleges of St.
Leonard's and St. Salvator, which form the existing University of St.
Andrews, and the other buildings of which are modern.
The church bears the mark of the period when it was erected, the latter
half of the fifteenth century.[281] It consists of a single oblong
chamber, with a three-sided apse at the east end, a tower, with
octagonal spire, at the south-west angle of the church. In the interior
of the north wall, close to the apse, there is the splendid monument
erected to Bishop Kennedy, the founder of the college. The south wall is
divided by buttresses into seven bays.
CHAPTER V
PARISH CHURCHES ILLUSTRATING THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE NORMAN PERIOD
_Dalmeny Church (Linlithgowshire)._--"Two nearly perfect churches of the
Romanesque age," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "survive at Dalmeny and
Leuchars--the former apparently in the twelfth century a manor of the
Anglo-Norman house of Avenel, the latter a Scottish fief of one of the
Magna Charter barons, Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Neither
building need fear comparison with the common standard of English
examples. Both are late in style: Leuchars is the richer, Dalmeny the
more entire of the two. Both have semicircular apses--a feature found
also in the parish churches of St. Kentigern at Borthwick, and St.
Andrew at Gulane, and in the chapel bearing the name of St. Margaret
within the walls of Edinburgh Castle."[282]
Dalmeny Church is the most complete of Scottish Norman churches, and
consists of a chancel with eastern apse, and a nave separated from the
chancel by an elaborate chancel arch. The arch has three orders,
decorated with elaborate chevron ornaments, enclosed with a hood
moulding carved with an enrichment somewhat resembling the dog-tooth.
The soffit contains a similar faceted enrichment. The arch is carried on
three attached shafts on each side, built in ashlar, and provided with
subdivided cushion caps and plain bases. The chancel has one small
window on the south side, and is vaulted with bold diagonal groin-ribs,
enriched with chevron ornaments and springing from grotesque corbels.
The apse is semicircular, and is entered from the chancel by an enriched
arch with shafts and caps similar to those of the chancel arch. It is
lighted by three plain window openings, the central one being enlarged.
In the exterior a string-course runs round the building immediately
below the windows, of which it forms the sills, and is enriched with a
carved floral pattern. The chief feature is the main entrance door in a
porch, projecting to the south, the archway of which is supported on two
plain pillars with Norman capitals. There are over this door the
remains of a line, concentric with the arch, of sculptured figures and
animals, very similar to those found on the ancient sculptured monuments
of Scotland. Associated with the Agnus Dei, Leo, Sagittarius, serpents,
birds, dragons, and human figures, we have one perhaps bearing a
pastoral staff. From the rough nature of the masonry at the west end of
the nave it is probable that a tower was intended to be built
there.[283] On the north side projecting wings have been added to the
church, but the south front and east end are almost untouched and show
twelfth century work, uninjured save by weather and natural decay. The
church is believed to have been dedicated to St. Adamnan, and this is
rendered very probable by the fact that the neighbouring church of
Cramond was dedicated to St. Columba.
_Leuchars Church, Fifeshire._--We hear of a church here in 1187, and it
was given to the canons of St. Andrews (1171-1199). The church now
consists of a choir with a circular apse; there are traces of an arch at
the west end of the choir which opened into the nave, that has been
rebuilt. In the seventeenth century a turret was built, which is
incongruous and out of place; and to support the belfry a plain arch has
been introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. The
exterior of the semicircular apse shows an arcade of two storeys,
"the shafts of the upper tier resting on the arches of the lower
one, and all the shafts bearing cushion caps. Those of the lower
story are double shafts, and those of the upper story are double
shafts, with a broad fillet between them. All the arches are
enriched with chevron and billet mouldings, and the upper tier has
an extra order of elaborate billet-work. The string-course between
the two arcades is carved with zigzags. The cornice is supported on
a series of boldly-carved grotesque heads, all varying in
design.... The design of the exterior of the choir is similar to
that of the apse, there being two arcades, one above the other,
surmounted by a cornice, with corbels carved as grotesque heads. The
lower arcade, however, has interlacing arches, which indicate a late
period of the style. The two arcades are separated by a
string-course, enriched with scroll floral ornament. In the interior
... the chancel arch (which has elaborate carving) is carried on a
central attached shaft and two plain nook shafts, built in courses,
with simple cushion caps and plain bases. The chancel is vaulted
with heavy moulded groins, springing from the cushion caps of short
single shafts resting on grotesque heads. A small window is
introduced in each of the divisions formed by the shafts, and each
window has a pair of nook shafts in the interior and enriched arch
above. The lower part of the apse is plain, and is separated from
the upper part by a string-course, enriched with faceted
ornaments."[284]
PARISH CHURCHES ILLUSTRATING MIDDLE POINTED OR DECORATED PERIOD
_St. Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow_, was the scene of the
apparition that is said to have warned King James IV. against the battle
of Flodden, and is one of the largest parish churches in Scotland. A
church dedicated to St. Michael existed here as early as the time of
David I. A new church is said to have been erected in 1242, and probably
some parts of this are incorporated in the present edifice. In 1384
Robert II. contributed to the erection or repair of the church tower,
and in 1424 the church was injured and considerably destroyed by the
fire that reduced the town to ashes. The reconstruction of the edifice
probably progressed, under the Jameses, simultaneously with that of the
palace adjoining.
St. Michael's consists of a choir, including two aisles and a
three-sided apse at the east end; a nave, including two aisles; two
chapels inserted, north and south, in the place usually occupied by the
transept; a square tower at the west end, and a south porch giving
access to the nave. The nave is the oldest part of the building, and
appears to have been erected before the middle of the fifteenth century.
The choir is of somewhat later date.[285] A broad stone bench or seat is
carried round the nave, and the bases of the triple wall shafts of the
vaulting rest upon it. Those of the choir, different in design, rest on
the floor. In the nave there are triforium openings in each bay, and
clerestory windows above them. The windows throughout the church are of
large size, and filled with varied geometric tracery. The windows of the
apse are large, and the tracery of two of the windows is perpendicular
in character. The transepts (or north and south chapels) and the south
porch have crow-stepped gables both on their outer walls and also over
the inner or aisle wall which separates them from the church. Each of
these contains an apartment over the vault, that over the south porch
being probably a place for preserving documents. The buttresses of the
nave have a simpler character than those of the apse and north transept.
The canopies of the niches are ornamented somewhat similarly to those of
Rosslyn. The buttress of the south-west angle of the nave, crowned with
the sculptured figure of St. Michael, is a striking feature on
approaching the church. The western tower was originally terminated with
a crown of open stone-work, similar to that of St. Giles, Edinburgh.
About 1821 it was found to be in a dangerous condition, and had to be
taken down. The tower is of late design and contains a doorway,
continental in style, which may possibly be the work of Thomas French,
the King's master-mason, and above which there is a large perpendicular
window. The upper part of the tower would contrast well with the crown
on the top. The tower opens into the nave with a wide and lofty arch,
carried up to the clerestory level, and the groined vault with large
window below produces a good effect. In each side wall of the tower is a
richly canopied recess, intended for monuments or sculpture. A portion
of what seems to have been a carved altar-piece is preserved in the
church and represents scenes in our Lord's Passion.[286] The steeple
contains three bells with inscriptions.
The south transept contained an altar dedicated to St. Katherine, and
was the place where James IV. is reported to have seen the apparition
that warned him against the fatal expedition to England--an incident
chronicled by Pitscottie, and forming the basis of Sir David Lyndsay's
tale in _Marmion_. The church contained twenty-four altarages, which
were removed in 1559 by the Lords of the Congregation in their march
from Perth to Edinburgh; and probably still further damage was done by
Cromwell's dragoons, who used it as a stable. The church belonged to St.
Andrew's priory, and was long served by perpetual vicars. It has been
recently restored, and made worthy of its great past.
The west doorway is pronounced to be a pleasing specimen of the half
continental manner in which that feature was usually treated in
Scotland.[287]
_Haddington Parish Church (East Lothian)_ is one of the ecclesiastical
structures belonging to the ancient royal burgh of Haddington. Besides
it there were the monasteries of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the
Cistercian nunnery, and the chapels of St. Martin, St. Ann, St.
Katherine, St. John, and St. Ninian. Of these establishments the only
two that now survive are St. Martin's (a very ancient chapel) and the
parish church, which deserves the name now applied to it (although
originally it seems to have been given to the vanished church of the
Franciscan monastery) on account both of its beauty and the distance at
which its lights were visible--Lucerna Laudoniæ, or Lamp of Lothian. The
ancient church of Haddington was founded by David I., dedicated to the
Virgin, and by him granted in 1134 to the priory of St. Andrew. The
present structure is of later date, and from the style of the
architecture, was probably rebuilt in the first half of the fifteenth
century.[288] The church is cruciform, having choir and nave, both with
side aisles, and north and south transepts without aisles. Over the
crossing is the central tower. The choir and transepts are ruinous, and
the restored nave is used as the parish church. The tower was originally
crowned with a canopy or spire of open work similar to that of St.
Giles, Edinburgh, and King's College, Aberdeen; and large picturesque
gargoyles still break the line of the cornice on the top. Although the
edifice has been so sadly damaged, it does not appear to have suffered
at the Reformation. The town was under siege in 1548, when it was held
by the English after the battle of Pinkie, and was attacked and taken by
the Scots and their French allies. It is not unlikely that the church
suffered at that time.
PARISH CHURCHES OF THIRD OR LATE POINTED PERIOD
_Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Perth._--The ancient city of
Perth possessed many endowed religious establishments, but the only one
that survives is the church of St. John the Baptist, from which the city
derived its title of "St. John's Town." This church, divided by walls so
as to form three separate places of worship, is still the parish church
of the town. The first church of Perth was probably connected with the
neighbouring Pictish monastery at Abernethy, and was erected by the
monks there during the Celtic period. The register of Dunfermline
contains the earliest historical mention of the church under the years
1124-1127, when it was granted by David I., with its property and
tithes, to that abbey. The church was consecrated by David de Bernham,
Bishop of St. Andrews, in 1242, and it is stated that the heart of
Alexander III. was buried in the church of St. John.[289] The abbots of
Dunfermline allowed the building to become ruinous, and tried to place
upon the citizens of Perth the burden of upholding the fabric. The
interest of the citizens seems to have been diverted from the church,
and directed, probably at the beginning of the thirteenth century, to
the building of the Dominican monastery, and about the middle of the
century to the erection of the Carmelite or Whitefriars' monastery. It
is probable that in connection with repairs necessary for the church,
King Robert the Bruce in 1328 granted that stones might be taken from
quarries belonging to the Abbey of Scone, "for the edification of the
Church of Perth." Of the twelfth century church of St. John nothing now
remains to indicate its architecture, although it may have been both
magnificent and extensive. After the death of Robert the Bruce in 1329
the restoration begun by him probably ceased, and during the unrest of
the fourteenth century the church probably suffered further damage. In
1335 King Edward III. was in Perth, and slew his brother, John of
Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, before the high altar of the Church of St.
John for his excesses and ravages in the western districts of Scotland.
In 1393-1394, after a parliament at Scone, Walter Trail, Bishop of St.
Andrews, conducted divine service in St. John's Church. From 1401 till
1553-1556 there is a continuous record of the foundation of altars in
the church, and of endowment of already existing ones. The chapel in
which St. James' altar was situated stood on the south side of the
church, and the foundation charter of the altar of St. John the
Evangelist, founded in 1448 by Sir John de Bute, states that the altar
was situated "in the new choir of the Parish Church." The church
consists of a choir and nave, with north and south aisles, and north and
south transepts without aisles. The nave and choir are of almost equal
length; there was a chapel on the west side of the north transept that
no longer exists, but the wide arch of the opening into it is partly
visible in the transept. It was two storeys in height.
It is pronounced[290] as evident from the style of the architecture that
the choir and crossing beneath the central tower belong to the period
about 1448. The transepts may be later, and both are of the same period.
The two eastern bays of the main arcade of the choir are more
elaborately moulded than the others, and round the eastmost pillar on
the south side there is cut an inscription containing the names of John
Fullar and his wife.[291] It has been remarked that the tithes and fees
received by the magistrates probably did not suffice for the work laid
on them by the monks of Dunfermline, and that John Fullar and his wife
volunteered to pay for a part, certainly for the pillar on which their
names are inscribed. In the second bay of the choir from the east on the
north side there is a round arched doorway, now built up, and it led to
the sacristy, afterwards used as a session-house; it was taken down
about 1800, and the meetings were held in a building on the south side
of the nave near the west end, which has also been removed. The present
north and south doorways in the choir are modern, although the south one
is in the position of the old doorway. The choir has no triforium, but
good plain masonry instead, undivided by wall shafts; the clerestory
windows are small and round arched, are divided into two lights by a
central mullion, and have plain tracery in the arch-head. The nave is
divided, like the choir, into five bays, and has no triforium nor
clerestory; there is a deep blank wall above the arcade arches. "This
wall is of rough masonry compared to that in the choir, and the whole of
this part of the church is of a much coarser and ruder description,
betokening a later age. The capitals of the piers are of the very rudest
kind, and are a perfect contrast to the delicate work of the choir. In
the meagre description of St. John's to be found in the books on Perth,
this rudeness is pointed to as a sign of great antiquity, but the
reverse is unquestionably the case. This nave is undoubtedly 'the New
Kirk of Perth' referred to in the Chronicle, in which 'ane Synodall
assemblie' was held in April 1606."[292] Early in the nineteenth century
it was contemplated to raise the nave wall and erect a clerestory; two
of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side were actually
built, and still remain with massive buttresses, surmounted by high
finials; the work was never finished, and could not be carried farther
west, as there is no proper support for such a massive building.
Tradition says that at one time the church extended farther west, and it
seems not improbable that a western tower in the centre of the front may
have been contemplated, and even begun. "This tower, like those at
Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may have been intended to open towards
the church with a wide arch, of which the jambs still remain; but this
idea having been abandoned, and any part of the tower which then had
been built having been taken down, the present makeshift gable was put
up instead to fill up the gap, which, in these circumstances, would be
left for the supposed opening into the church."[293] On the north side
of the nave there is a large porch called Halkerston's Tower. It was a
two-storied building, the upper storey being of great height and vaulted
as well as the lower one. The erection of the west end of the church is
referable to about 1489,[294] when payments were made "to the kirk werk
of Pertht." The central tower was erected after the adjoining part of
the nave, and has one window in each face. The parapet and corbelling
were renewed about forty years ago.[295] The exterior of the church has
been altered at various times, and an open parapet carried along the top
of the choir wall over the clerestory windows as well as along the aisle
walls and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows to light
the galleries break in on this aisle-wall parapet, as well as on the
roof of the nave.
It was in the Church of St. John, Perth, that John Knox denounced the
Mass in 1559, and the multitude afterwards demolished the ornaments,
images, and altarpieces as well as the monasteries and religious houses
in Perth--an example quickly followed by others throughout the country.
In Scott's novel, _The Fair Maid of Perth_, the church is the scene of
the trial by bier-right to discover the slayer of Proudfute.
The East Church (or choir) has been recently restored, and many look
forward to the day when, the present partition walls being removed, St.
John's Church will once more reveal the full splendour of its striking
and grand interior. Perth awaits a generous restorer, and St. John's
affords a grand opportunity for patriotism and beneficence.
DUNDEE CHURCH TOWER
About 1198 the church of Dundee was bestowed on Lindores Abbey, and the
church then existing is stated to have been erected by David, Earl of
Huntingdon, as a thank-offering for his escape from a storm at sea.
About 1442 an agreement was formed between the abbot of Lindores and the
provost and burgesses of Dundee, by which the latter undertook the
construction and maintenance of the choir of Dundee Church. The only
part of the ancient church which now remains is the western tower, and
it was erected about 1450.[296] Three parish churches in connection with
the tower were developed from the original chapel--St. Mary's or the
East Church, St. Paul's or the South Church, St. Clement's or the West
Church. The church was damaged by the English before the Union, and St.
Clement's had to be rebuilt in 1789. The three churches were almost
totally destroyed by fire in 1841, and the choir and transepts were
thereafter rebuilt. The church tower survived, and has resisted for over
four centuries storm and tempest, fire and siege. Its massive strength
and height are features that strike the eye from far. It is square, and
165 feet high. The western entrance consists of two round arched
doorways, comprised within a larger circular or elliptical arch, which
is again enclosed by a square moulding. The arch mouldings are enriched
with foliage, while the jambs and central pillar are moulded with
alternate rounds and hollows. In the spandril over the centre shaft
there is a circular panel with a Virgin and Child; below are the arms of
the diocese of Brechin on a shield. Above the doorway is a lofty
traceried window, and above this window the tower is vaulted. The height
from the floor to the groined ceiling is about 47 feet. At each of the
four corners there is a large circular shaft, and each shaft is fitted
into its position in a manner different from the others. The sedilia or
stone seats still remain entire, and extend along the north, south, and
west walls. The tower is divided into two principal stages by an
enriched parapet and outside passage. The parapet is pierced with
quatrefoils and ornamented with crocketed pinnacles. The roof is of the
saddle-back kind, with gables towards the east and west. It was
evidently meant to have an open crown termination, and the preparations
exist for the springing of the angle arches.[297]
The tower was restored by the eminent Sir Gilbert Scott in 1871-1873.
_Stirling Parish Church._--Two churches in Stirling are spoken of in the
reign of David I. One of them was the chapel royal, which was dedicated
by Alexander I.; and the "vicar" of the "Kirk of Stirling" is mentioned
in 1315 and in the time of David II. There are also notices of it in the
reigns of Robert II. and Robert III., when it is designated as the
Church of the Holy Cross of Stirling. Of this earlier church, which was
burnt, nothing now remains. The present edifice consists of two
divisions, the nave and the choir, which were built at two different
periods. The nave, which is the oldest part, is referred to in the
Chamberlain's Accounts from July 1413 to June 1414, and the date of the
choir is known to be between 1507 and 1520.
The church contains a central nave with north and south aisles (the
aisles being vaulted in stone), an eastern apse, and a western tower.
The nave has five bays, the choir three bays, and they are separated by
a wide bay which may be termed the crossing. The crossing now serves as
an entrance hall to the two churches, into which the building is now
divided. Walls are built across each side of the crossing, so as to
enclose the choir as one church and the nave as the other. The west
tower, which is vaulted, opens into the nave through a lofty pointed
arch, springing from moulded responds. The original entrance to the
church was through the western tower, but the western doorway was
destroyed in 1818, and part of a window now occupies its place. The
tower is pronounced to be one of the best specimens of the Scottish
architecture of the sixteenth century, as applied to ecclesiastical
structures,[298] and the situation of the church on the Castle Hill
gives it an imposing and picturesque effect.
The piers of the nave (with the exception of two) are round and massive
cylinders, and the east and west responds are semi-cylinders. The
general appearance of these pillars has been taken to illustrate what is
so often found in Scotland (both in ecclesiastic and domestic work)
during the fifteenth century and onwards--viz. a tendency to imitate
Norman and Early Pointed details.
"This tendency is also seen in the nave piers of Dunkeld Cathedral,
in the piers and arches of the naves of Aberdour Church and Dysart
Church, in the imitation of First Pointed work in the late cloisters
of Melrose, and many other examples which might be cited. But the
later counterfeit is never perfect, there being always some touch of
contemporary design which reveals the imitation.[299]"
Over the crossing was an upper room, known as the King's room, from
which the service could be seen, but it was destroyed about the middle
of this century. At the north-west corner of the church was a chapel
(now removed) with a wide opening into the church. It was called Queen
Margaret's, and is supposed to have been built by James IV. in honour of
his queen. Another chapel was dedicated to St. Andrew at the north-east
end of the nave, and is still entire. It was erected by Duncan Forrester
of Garden, Knight, who was a liberal benefactor of the church.
The church is associated with many historical events. It was here that
the Regent Arran publicly renounced Protestantism in 1543, and here in
the following year also the Convention met that appointed Mary of Guise
regent. The church, although "purged" in 1559, was not injured, and was
used in 1567 for the coronation of James VI., then but thirteen months
old. When General Monk in 1651 was besieging the castle, the church
tower was one of the points of vantage seized by his soldiers, and the
little bullet pits all over it indicate how hot must have been the fire
directed against them. It was held by the Highlanders in 1746, and its
bells pealed in honour of the victory at Falkirk. John Knox has preached
within its venerable walls.
It was divided into two buildings in 1656, and comprises still the east
and west parish churches, the east being renovated in 1869. Since then a
large number of stained-glass windows have been introduced.
_Church of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews._--The Hospitium or Guest
Hall of St. Leonard's was founded by Prior John White in the middle of
the thirteenth century for the reception of pilgrims and visitors to St.
Andrews. Some remains of the guest hall have been excavated, from which
it seems to have been a hall with central nave and two side aisles. The
building was afterwards used as a nunnery, and in 1512 was appropriated
as a college. It was then founded by Prior John Hepburn in conjunction
with Archbishop Alexander Stewart. As a college, it was under the
superintendence of the prior and chapter, and was for the education of
twenty-four poor students. It became famous, however, and was attended
by sons of noblemen. George Buchanan was at one time principal, and the
college helped to spread a knowledge of sacred music throughout the
country. A long range of buildings on the south side of the church was
used as the students' residence. The church was long used for public
worship, but after the college of St. Leonard's was united to that of
St. Salvator in 1747, St. Leonard's was abandoned in 1759. Within recent
times several alterations have been made on it, the steeple being taken
down and the west end "set back" to give more room for access to a
private house.
The chapel is an oblong, and is without division between nave and
chancel. The church appears to have been extended 24 feet at the east
end, when it was converted into a college.[300] The design of windows
and buttresses (perpendicular) is pronounced to accord well with the
date of erection in the sixteenth century, and is similar to that of
English colleges. On the north side is a room with a round barrel vault,
probably the sacristy.[301] There is a piscina in the east window sill.
_Church of The Holy Trinity, St. Andrews._--This church, usually named
the Town Church, is of ancient foundation, but was almost entirely
rebuilt at the end of the eighteenth century. An early church is said to
have been built here in 1112 by Bishop Turgot, and subsequently
dedicated by Bishop de Bernham to the Holy Trinity. It had in its palmy
days thirty altarages, each with a separate priest and fifteen
choristers, and it was from the pulpit here that John Knox preached his
famous sermon on the purifying of the temple. The church demolished at
the close of last century is believed to have been erected in 1412.[302]
The north-west tower is the only part of the old structure which
survives.[303]
"Like the north-west tower at Cupar, it rises from the north and
west walls of the north aisle, without buttresses to mark its
outline or break the upright form of the walls. The square outline,
however, is partly relieved by a square projection at north-west
angle, which contains the staircase. The east and south walls are
carried by arches, which formerly allowed the lower story of the
tower to be included within the church, and the round pier at the
south-east angle is made of extra thickness, so as to bear the
weight of the tower."[304]
The parapet is plain and rests on simple corbels. Above it rises a short
and stunted octagonal spire with lucarnes, like most of the late
Scottish examples. There is over the staircase a small turret with
pointed roof. It is carried up within the parapet, and groups
picturesquely with the main spire. The tower resembles the one at Wester
Crail, and both are of fifteenth century date. It is of this tower or
steeple[305] that we hear in John Knox's _History of the Reformation in
Scotland_. When a captive on a French galley lying between Dundee and
St. Andrews the second time that the ship returned to Scotland (probably
June 1548),
"The said Johne (Knox), being so extreamlye seak that few hoped his
lyeff, the said Maister James (Balfour) willed him to look to the
land, and asked if he knew it? Who answered, "Yes, I know it weall:
for I see the stepill of that place whare God first in publict
opened my mouth to His glorie, and I am fullie persuaded, how weak
that ever I now appear, that I shall nott departe this lyif till
that my toung shall glorifie his godlie name in the same
place."[306] His hope, as we have just seen, was not disappointed."
CHAPTER VI
SCOTTISH MONASTICISM
The old Celtic monastic system, with Iona as its centre, was superseded
by the monastic system of the Roman Church in the eleventh century, and
the old Culdee monks were either driven from their ancient settlements
or compelled to become Augustinian canons or Benedictine monks. The life
of Queen Margaret marks the period of transition in Scotland from the
old system to that of the Church of Rome both in building and in every
other department, and what Queen Margaret began, her sons, Edgar,
Alexander and David completed. St. Margaret had a monk of Durham for her
chaplain; Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, was her chosen counsellor.
She introduced Benedictines from Canterbury into her foundation at
Dunfermline. Edgar and Alexander took for their adviser St.
Anselm--Lanfranc's successor, preferred English priests, and peopled the
monasteries with English monks. David was even more earnest in the
pursuit of this policy, and the kings who followed him found little to
"Anglicise." Saxon refugees were followed into Scotland by Norman
knights; these were received by David and presented with lands, and the
extent of their possessions is apparent in the names of the proprietors
settled in every part of the country. The policy is apparent: their
settlement helped to keep the country in order, and defend it from the
attacks of the unsubdued tribes in the north and west. It also helped to
facilitate the spread of the Roman Catholic system throughout the
country. "The new colonists," says Dr. Cosmo Innes, "were of the 'upper
classes' of Anglican families long settled in Northumbria, and Normans
of the highest blood and name. They were men of the sword, above all
service and mechanical employment. They were fit for the society of
court, and many became the chosen companions of our princes. The old
native people gave way before them, or took service under the
strong-handed strangers, who held lands by the written gift of the
sovereign."[307] ... "The new settlers were of the progressive party,
friends of civilisation and the Church. They had found churches on their
manors, or if not already there, had founded them. To each of these
manorial churches the lord of the manor now made a grant of the tithes
of his estate; his right to do so does not seem to have been questioned,
and forthwith the manor--tithed to its church--became what we now call a
parish."[308] Examples of these parish churches have already been
considered, and the two-fold movement of a cathedral system with
parochial benefices was continued for a time. It was the most effective
way of superseding the old Celtic church, and the policy was throughout
inspired by the aim of substituting the parochial system with a diocesan
episcopacy for the old tribal churches with monastic jurisdiction and
functional episcopacy. But this was accompanied by a third movement,
which to a very great extent paralysed it, and became a source of
weakness to religion. The parochial system was shipwrecked when scarcely
formed by the introduction of monasticism, which was then in the
ascendant throughout Europe. "The new monks," says Dr. Cosmo Innes, "of
the reformed rule of St. Benedict or canons of St. Augustine, pushing
aside the poor lapsarian Culdees, won the veneration of the people by
their zealous teaching and asceticism.... The church, too, with all its
dues and pertinents, was bestowed on the monastery and its patron saint
for ever, reserving only a pittance for a poor priest to serve the cure,
or sometimes allowing the monks to serve it by one of their own
brethren. William the Lion gave thirty-three parishes to the new
monastery of Arbroath, dedicated to the latest and most fashionable High
Church saint, Thomas à Becket."[309]
The Church thus became territorial instead of tribal; episcopal instead
of abbatial, and the new abbeys began to acquire large territory in the
country. By the end of the thirteenth century the old line of Celtic
kings closed in Alexander, and the movement was complete; the Church had
ceased to be Celtic in usage and character, and had become Roman. This
stream of tendency came from the south, and cathedrals with abbeys were
constituted after English models. "Of the Scottish sees, all," says Dr.
Joseph Robertson, "save three or four, were founded or restored by St.
David, and their cathedral constitutions were formally copied from
English models. Thus the chapter of Glasgow took that of Salisbury for
its guide. Dunkeld copied from the same type, venerable in its
associations with the name of St. Osmund, whose "Use of Sarum" obtained
generally throughout Scotland. Elgin or Moray sent to Lincoln for its
pattern, and transmitted it, with certain modifications, to Aberdeen and
to Caithness. So it was also with the monasteries. Canterbury was the
mother of Dunfermline; Durham, of Coldingham; St. Oswald's at Nosthill,
near Pontefract, was the parent of Scone, and through that house, of St.
Andrews and Holyrood. Melrose and Dundrennan were daughters of Rievaux,
in the North Riding. Dryburgh was the offspring of Alnwick; Paisley, of
Wenlock."[310]
Roman monasticism thus became an important factor in Scottish life, and
it is true to say that for a very considerable period the history both
of piety and civilisation in Scotland was the history of its
monasticism. It was a stage in the national development, a movement in
religious progress, and it was only abolished when the salt had lost its
savour, when monasticism had ceased to be spiritual and had become
worldly and corrupt. The system had served its day in helping to educate
the nation, and when its purpose was achieved it passed away.
Mediæval architecture was, too, the outcome of the leisure in the
cloister, and the men who designed and built those venerable temples
must have been men to whom their work was their religion, and who
regarded it as the way of honouring God. One cannot look at their
architecture without realising how true are Ruskin's definitions of
Art:--"Art has for its business to praise God."[311] "Great Art is the
expression of a God-made great man."[312] "Art is the expression of
delight in God's work."[313] "All great art is praise." "Art is the
exponent of ethical life."[314] One cannot look at their ruins and not
recall that by their destruction a beauty has passed away from the
earth; one cannot read of the rude forces that destroyed them, and not
see that the judgment on things is always on character, and that the
last testing principle is, "See--not what manner of stones, _but what
manner of men_." While we deplore the forces that destroyed, we have
also to deplore the indefensible lives of the monks which at their last
stage stirred such forces to their depths.
There were four principal rules, under which might be classed all the
religious orders. (1) _That of St. Basil_, which prevailed by degrees
over all the others in the East, and which is retained by all the
Oriental monks; (2) _That of St. Augustine_, which was adopted by the
regular canons, the order of Premontré, the order of the Preaching
Brothers or Dominicans, and several military orders. (3) _That of St.
Benedict_, which, adopted successively by all the monks of the West,
still remained the common rule of the monastic order, properly so
called, up to the thirteenth century; the orders of the Camaldules of
Vallombrosa, of the Carthusians, and of Citeaux recognised this rule as
the basis of their special constitutions, although the name of monk of
St. Benedict or Benedictine monk may still be specially assigned to
others. (4) _The Rule of St. Francis_ signalised the advent of the
Mendicant orders in the thirteenth century. It is to be noted that the
denomination of monks is not generally attributed to the religious who
follow the rule of St. Augustine, nor to the Mendicant orders.[315]
The canonical hours at which the monastic bell regularly summoned the
monks were seven in number:--(1) Prime, about 6 A.M.; (2) Tierce, about
9 A.M.; (3) Sext, about noon; (4) Nones, from 2 to 3 P.M.; (5) Vespers,
about 4 P.M. or later; (6) Compline, 7 P.M.; (7) Matins and Lauds, about
midnight.
Scottish monasticism exhibited the expansion of the two main
streams--the Augustinian and the Benedictine, and each subsequent order
is to be regarded as an endeavour towards reform. Space will only permit
us to deal with the Augustinian establishments at St. Andrews, Holyrood,
and Jedburgh; with the Premonstratensian abbey of Dryburgh; with the
Benedictine abbey of Dunfermline; with the Cluniacensian abbey of
Paisley; with the Tyronensian abbeys of Kelso and Arbroath; with the
Cistercian abbey of Melrose. The Premonstratensian order was a reform on
the Augustinian, and the Cluniacensian, Tyronensian, and Cistercian
orders, reforms on the Benedictine order. A study of their history and
architecture in representative forms will introduce us to the piety and
beauty of former days, as well as to an order of things very different
from our own.[316]
_St. Andrew's Priory._--The priory or Augustinian monastery was situated
to the south of the cathedral (_q.v._), and was founded by Bishop Robert
in 1144. The structure has now almost disappeared. It comprised about
twenty acres, and was enclosed about 1516 by Prior John Hepburn with a
magnificent wall, which, starting at the north-east corner of the
cathedral, passed round by the harbour and along behind the houses, till
it joined the walls of St. Leonard's College on the south-west.
This, about a mile in extent, is all that now remains, but it is
thought at one time to have passed back from the college to the
cathedral. The wall has thirteen turrets, and each has a canopied
niche for an image. The portion towards the shore has a parapet on
each side, as if designed for a walk. There were three gateways, the
chief of which, on the S.W., is known as the Pends, and of which
considerable ruins still remain. Another gateway is near the
harbour, and the third was on the S. side. Martine in his _Reliquiæ
Divi Andreæ_ mentions that in his time fourteen buildings were
discernible besides the cathedral and St. Rule's Chapel. Among these
were the Prior's House or the old inn to the S.E. of the cathedral,
of which only a few vaults now remain; the cloisters, W. of this
house, and now the garden of a private house, in the quadrangle of
which the Senzie Fair used to be held, beginning in the second week
of Easter, and continuing for fifteen days; the Senzie House, or
house of the sub-prior, subsequently used as an inn, but now pulled
down and the site occupied by a private house. The refectory was on
the S. side of the cloister, and has now disappeared, as well as the
dormitory between the Prior's House and the cloister, and from which
Edward I. carried off all the lead to supply his battering machines
at the siege of Stirling. The Guests' Hall was within the precincts
of St. Leonard's College, S.W. of Pend's Lane; the Teinds' Barn,
Abbey Mill, and Granary were all to the S.W. The new inn, the latest
of all the buildings, was erected for the reception of Magdalene,
the first wife of James V. The young queen, of delicate
constitution, was advised by her physicians to reside here; she did
not live to occupy the house, as she died on 7th July 1537, six
weeks after her arrival in Scotland. It was for a short time the
residence of Mary of Guise when she first arrived in Scotland, and
after the priory was annexed to the archbishopric in 1635 the
building became the residence of the later archbishops. Several of
its canons had sympathies with the Scottish Reformation. The prior
of St. Andrews had superiority over the priories of Pittenweem,
Lochleven, Monymusk, and the Isle of May, and was also a lord of
regality. In Parliament he took precedence of all priors, and he,
his sub-prior, and canons formed the cathedral chapter. The priory
possessed in all thirty-two churches or their great tithes. From
1144 to 1535 there were twenty-five priors; from 1535 to 1586 the
lands were in the possession of the Earl of Murray and Robert
Stewart, as lay commendators; from 1586 to 1606 they were held by
the Crown; from 1606 to 1635 by the Duke of Lennox; from 1635 to
1639 by the Archbishop of St. Andrews; from 1639 to 1661 by the
University; from 1661 to 1688 by the archbishop again; from 1688 by
the Crown. The part within the abbey wall was sold by the
Commissioners of Woods and Forests to the United Colleges.[317]
_Holyrood Abbey (Midlothian)._--The abbey of Holyrood was founded by
King David I. in 1128 for the canons regular of the order of St.
Augustine, and was dedicated in honour of the holy cross or rood brought
to Scotland by his mother, Queen Margaret. This cross, called the Black
Rood of Scotland, fell into the hands of the English at the battle of
Neville's Cross in 1346. The abbey was several times burned by the
English, and the nave on the last of these occasions, 1547, was
repaired with the ruins of the choir and transepts. This was used as the
parish church till 1672, when it was converted into the chapel royal. In
1687 it was set apart by King James VII. for the service of the Roman
Catholic Church, but was plundered and again burned at the Revolution in
the following year. It remained neglected until 1758, when it was
repaired and roofed; the new roof, proving too heavy for the walls, fell
with a crash in 1768, destroying all the new work. It suffered neglect
again till 1816, when it was repaired, and in 1857 it was still further
improved.
The abbey early became the occasional abode of the kings of Scotland,
and James II. was born, crowned, married, and buried in it. The
foundations of a palace apart from the abbey were laid in the time of
James IV., Edinburgh having then become the acknowledged capital of the
country. Holyrood Palace was henceforth the chief seat of the Scottish
sovereigns. In it the nuptials of James IV. were celebrated; here also
Mary Queen of Scots took up her abode in 1561 on her return from France,
and here James VI. dwelt much before his accession to the throne of
England in 1603.
The abbey church was beautiful in its architecture and of great
size. It consisted of nave, choir, transepts with aisles, and
probably lady chapel to the east, two western towers, and a tower
over the crossing; but of all that splendid structure there now only
remain the ruins of the nave and one western tower.
The surviving nave is in a ruinous state and consists of eight bays,
the main piers of which are complete on the south side, but only
represented by two fragments on the north side.[318] The vaulting of
the south aisle still survives, but that of the north aisle is gone.
The north wall of the aisle still stands, and the east and west ends
of the nave are restored. The N.W. tower is still preserved, but the
companion tower at the S.W. angle was demolished when the palace was
rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Some remains of the cloister are
still observable on the S. side of the nave.
The chief part of the architecture is pronounced to be first
pointed, but the doorway at the S.E. angle, which led from the
cloister into the nave is pronounced to be of genuine though late
Norman architecture. There was a nook shaft on either side, the
divided cushion caps of which survive. The arch is round and
contains two orders, both ornamented with zigzags. These orders are
enclosed with a label, containing a double row of square facets and
sinkings.
Some alterations have taken place adjoining the doorway, and two of
the windows, that over the doorway and that to the west of it, are
circular-headed and have a Norman character in their nook shafts and
cushion caps. These windows were probably constructed in imitation
of Norman windows which existed there originally. It is not
improbable that the choir was built before the nave, and was of
Norman work, and this supposition is regarded as accounting for the
Norman work found at the first bay of the nave, and which may have
been erected in connection with the choir and crossing.
The oldest part of the nave after the S.E. doorway is the wall of
the north aisle. The windows above the arcade are single lancets,
one in each bay. The south wall of the south aisle is similarly
designed, but the details are different and of a rather later
character. The lower story contains a wall arcade having single
pointed arches, with first pointed mouldings. The windows over the
arcade correspond generally to those in the north wall, and are all
pointed except the two east bays already mentioned. The lower part
of the exterior of the south wall, running westward from the Norman
doorway, is arcaded with a series of large pointed arches, each
enclosing five smaller pointed arches, and with a plain wall space
between the large and small arches. The above large arches were the
wall arches for a groined roof over the cloister walk, but whether
that vault was ever built it is now regarded as impossible to say.
The vaulting of both aisles has apparently been similar, but the
south aisle alone retains it, which is of a simple character,
consisting of transverse and diagonal ribs.
The main arcade of the nave has consisted of eight bays; the
triforium is divided into two arches in each bay by a single central
shaft, springing from a corbel over the apex of each arch of the
main arcade, and running up to the string-course beneath the
clerestory. This would suggest the view that the vaulting was
sex-partite. Each arch of the triforium is acutely pointed, and
contains two smaller pointed arches within it, each of which has an
inner trefoiled arch. The tympanum of the large arch is pierced
with a quatrefoil or trefoil. To counteract the weakening tendency
of the triforium passage, saving arches, as may be seen from the
south, have been introduced to carry the chief pressure across from
main pier to main pier. A similar strengthening arch exists in the
outer wall of the triforium gallery at Amiens. The west end is
pronounced to have contained the finest work of the building, and
the west door with the two towers must have presented a lovely and
imposing front. The S.W. tower was removed to make way for the
palace being erected, and even the W. doorway is encroached on by
the palace wall. A portion of the S.W. tower is still visible in the
interior, and contains a doorway. The upper part of the W. end was
reconstructed by Charles I. in 1633, and contains two nondescript
windows of seventeenth century Gothic with an inscription between
them. The tympanum of the doorway has also been altered at this
time, and an oaken lintel introduced containing a shield with the
initials of Charles I. The western doorway has been a beautiful
specimen of first pointed work, and the W. side of the N.W. tower is
ornamented with two tiers of arcades. "The lower arcade contains
five pointed arches, with a trefoiled arch within each. These rest
on triple shafts, with carved caps and rounded abaci. Over each
shaft and between the arches there is a circle containing a boldly
carved Norman head. The feature is unique and its effect is fine.
The upper arcade consists of three larger arches, each containing
two smaller arches, and all resting on shafts with carved and
rounded caps. The shields in the larger arches are pierced with bold
quatrefoils. Two circles occur in the spandrils over the arches, but
they do not now contain heads."[319] The same design is continued
round the S. side of the tower, and along the W. wall of the nave as
far as the main doorway, but the N. and E. sides of the tower are
plain. Above the two arcades the tower contains a large two-light
window on the N.E. and W. sides. Each window is divided into two
openings by a single central shaft, having a carved cap and broad
square abacus, on which rest the two plain pointed arches of the
inner openings. The shield above is pierced with a bold quatre-foil.
The two western piers of the crossing are still standing, and within
the arch there has been erected in modern times a large traceried
window. The spaces below the window and across the side aisles have
been built up with fragments of the demolished structure, and a
window is thus formed at the east end of each aisle.
The church has evidently undergone a thorough repair during the
fifteenth century, probably during the period when Crawford was
abbot (1460-1483). "The work executed at this time consisted of the
addition of seven buttresses on the north side and several
buttresses on the south side of the aisles. Those on the north side
are large, and may either enclose the old buttresses or have been
substituted for them. They have a set-off near the centre, above
which each contains an elaborately ornamented and canopied niche.
Beneath and above the niche there are carved panels, which have
contained angels and shields, with coats of arms. The arms of Abbot
Crawford are said to have been carved on the panels, but they are
now too much decayed to be distinguishable. Above the upper panels
the buttresses are continued with several set-offs, and finished
with a small square pinnacle. The pinnacles have been crocheted and
terminated with a carved finial, but they are now greatly wasted
away. There were, doubtless, flying arches from the above buttresses
to the clerestory, but they must have fallen with the roof. A
somewhat elaborate north doorway has been introduced, in a style
similar to that of the buttresses, in the second bay from the west
tower. The arch is semicircular, and has an ogee canopy. There are
small niches above the arch on each side which contained statues,
now demolished. This doorway was probably constructed by Abbot
Crawford at the same date as the buttresses."[320]
"A series of buttresses was also erected about the same time on the
south side of the fabric. It is believed, however, that these
buttresses are partly old or are on old foundations. In order not to
interfere with the cloister walk, which ran along next the south
wall, and where it would have been inconvenient to have any
projections, the buttresses were carried in the form of flying
arches over the top of the cloister roof. At the clerestory level
flying arches, similar to those on the north side, rested against
the upper portions of buttresses and pinnacles introduced between
the windows. On the outside of the cloister walk the flying arch
abutted upon oblong masses of masonry, which probably at one time
were finished with pinnacles, but these no longer exist."[321]
Robert Bellenden, the twenty-fifth abbot of Holyrood, and successor
to Abbot Crawford,[322] presented the abbey with bells, a great
brass font, and a chalice of gold. He was also beneficent to the
poor, and completed the restoration of the fabric by covering the
roof with lead. This happened about 1528, and in 1539 the office of
commendator was given to Robert, natural son of James V., while
still an infant. The brass font was carried off by Sir Richard Lee,
an officer in Hertford's army, in 1544, and was removed to St.
Alban's Abbey. It was afterwards sold for old metal. The brass
lectern of the abbey was also taken by Sir Richard Lee, and
presented to the Parish Church of St. Stephen's at St. Alban's,
where it still is. It is in the form of an eagle with outstretched
wing, and contains a shield with a lion rampant and a crozier, with
the inscription, "Georgius Crichton, Episcopus Dunkeldensis."[323]
Before becoming bishop, Crichton was abbot of Holyrood, 1515-22.
_Jedburgh Abbey (Roxburghshire)._--In 1118 David I., while Prince of
Cumbria, founded a priory on the banks of the Jed, and placed it in
possession of canons regular from the Abbey of St. Quentin at Beauvais
in France. In 1147 the priory was raised to the dignity of an abbey and
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, while the smaller buildings of the priory
served as a nucleus for the larger buildings of the abbey. Its abbots
were sometimes men of distinction, and in 1285, when John Morel was
abbot, Alexander III. was married in the abbey with much ceremony to
Iolanda, daughter of the Count de Dreux. In the wars between England and
Scotland (1297-1300) the abbey suffered so severely that the monks were
unable to inhabit it, and were billeted on other religious houses.
Jedburgh had to bear the brunt of many English onslaughts, and in 1410,
1416, 1464 it was damaged by repeated attacks of the English. In 1523
both town and abbey fell before the forces of the Earl of Surrey. The
abbey was stripped of everything valuable and set on fire. In 1544-1545
the process of destruction was twice repeated under Sir Ralph Eure and
the Earl of Hertford respectively. In 1559 the abbey was suppressed, and
its resources went to the Crown. For some years it was left a roofless
ruin, and a building designed for the parish church was afterwards
erected within the nave, roofed over at the level of the triforium, and
used as a place of worship till 1875, when a new church built in
excambion by the Earl of Lothian was opened for worship, and the abbey
ruin can now be viewed "clear of that incubus upon its lovely
proportions."
Like most ancient buildings that have been added to from time to time,
the abbey shows different styles of architecture, and the choir, which
is early Norman, is undoubtedly the oldest part. The church consists of
a choir with side aisles extending eastward for two bays, beyond which
was an aisleless presbytery, the east end of which is demolished; a nave
of nine bays, which had vaulted side aisles; a central crossing with
square tower above; a north transept well preserved, and a south
transept, of which the south end is destroyed.[324]
It has been suggested that the choir may have terminated with an
eastern apse, but of this there is no proof. What survives consists
of two bays next the crossing, the lower portions of which are in
the Norman style. A unique arrangement is visible here, as far as
Scotland is concerned, and resembles a somewhat similar design at
Gloucester Cathedral and Romsey Church, Hampshire. The main piers
have the peculiarity of being carried up as massive cylindrical
columns to the arch over the triforium. The lower story has the
round arch and vaulting ribs supported on corbels, projected from
the round face of the piers. The triforium arch is round and
moulded, and has a well-wrought chevron ornament. "It rests on large
caps of the divided cushion pattern. The main arch is formed into
two openings by a central round shaft and two half round responds,
with massive cushion caps carrying plain arches."[325]
The clerestory is of Transition work, having one lofty stilted and
pointed arch, and two smaller pointed arches in each bay. When the
Transitional clerestory was erected, the eastern part of the choir
is thought to have been built, and the remains of two lofty pointed
windows are preserved to the east of the cylindrical piers. The same
Norman style of architecture as in the choir is continued in the
south and north transepts, and appears to have originally also
extended into the nave. "This is apparent from the mode in which the
string-course over the triforium runs along on the north side from
the choir to the nave, where it is broken off. That the Norman nave
has probably extended westwards from the crossing is further
evidenced by the existence of the west end wall, with its great
doorway and windows, and the south doorway to the cloister, which
portions are all of characteristic Norman design." The Norman work
must have preceded the Transition work in choir and nave by a
considerable portion of time. There is no gradual development
visible.
The nave (129 feet in length and 27-1/2 feet in breadth) "is divided
into nine bays, each of which comprises a main arch resting on
clustered piers, a triforium with one round arch containing two
pointed arches, and a clerestory forming a continuous arcade, with
four pointed arches in each bay. The main clustered piers contain
four principal shafts at the angles, and four intermediate shafts
between them. The former are brought to a point on the face, the
latter are flatter. The caps are simple and of an ordinary
transitional form, each with a square abacus. The bases are also
simple, and stand on a massive square plinth, a feature not uncommon
in Norman work. The arches of the main arcade are somewhat acutely
pointed, and the mouldings are bold, and resemble first pointed
work."
The clerestory shafts are of trefoil section; the arches are all
pointed, and contain first pointed mouldings. The west end of the
nave and doorway are Norman in character, and Sir Gilbert Scott
declared the great western doorway and south doorway to be "perfect
gems of refined Norman of the highest class and most artistic
finish." The doorpiece is surrounded by three gablets, the central
one still retaining a trefoiled arch. The west wall has flat
buttresses of Norman character, and "the upper portion of the wall
has a central round-headed window, flanked on each side by three
small pointed arch heads, the caps carrying which rested on long
single free shafts, now gone. The central window has deep mouldings,
but no enrichments. The west front has been finished with an
octagonal turret on each side, as at Kelso Abbey, and the gable
contains a central circular window, which has been filled with
tracery at a late date. The west end walls of the aisles have each
contained a circular-headed window of Norman design, with a chevron
ornament in the arch and a nook shaft at each side."
"The lower part of the walls of the choir and the western wall and
doorway and south doorway being all of Norman work, it seems
probable that the whole building was set out and partially executed
in Norman times, and that the work was either stopped for a
considerable period and then resumed, or that the structure, after
being completed, was destroyed, and had to be restored in the late
Transition style. The Transition work is well advanced in style, and
may be regarded as being of the date of the end of the twelfth
century or beginning of the thirteenth century."
"The Norman north transept is fairly well preserved, but both the
north and south transepts have undergone great repairs about the end
of the fifteenth century. The crossing appears to have been so
greatly damaged by the assaults of the fifteenth century that it was
found necessary to rebuild it. The restoration is distinctly visible
in the south-east pier of the crossing, the style of which is quite
different from that of the Norman work adjoining in the choir and
south transept, and the junction of the new work with the old is
very apparent. This pier has clearly been rebuilt. It is plain next
the crossing, but next the aisle it consists of a series of shafts
with a moulded cap of late date. The upper mouldings of the cap form
a continuous straight line, while the bells of the caps are broken
round the shafts--a style of cap common in Scotland at the end of
the fifteenth century."
"This pier and the south aisle of the choir beside it appear to have
been restored by Abbot John Hall (appointed 1478), whose name occurs
on the pier and on one of the bosses. The south-west pier of the
crossing has also been rebuilt. This work was carried out by Abbot
Thomas Cranston (appointed 1482). On a shield on this pier are
carved the arms and initials of Abbot Cranston--three cranes and two
pastoral staves--saltierwise. The same abbot's initials are placed
on the north side of the west arch of the crossing, where the
chamfer begins, and on the lower part of the north-west pier. The
south-west pier, the north-west pier, and the arch between them
would thus appear to have been rebuilt by Abbot Cranston. The base
inserted by him is different from the old Norman base.
"About half-way up the south-east pier, rebuilt by Abbot Hall, the
springer of an arch may be seen projecting to the west. Abbot Hall
had evidently intended to throw an arch across the transept at this
point, but Abbot Cranston changed his plan and the arch was not
carried out. The mouldings of the portions executed by the two
abbots differ in their respective parts of the structure.
"To the north of the original Norman north transept an addition to
the transept has been erected. It is cut off from the old transept
by a wall, and thus forms a separate chapel, measuring 27 feet in
length by 22 feet in width internally. This chapel is vaulted with
the pointed barrel vault usual in Scotland in the fifteenth century,
and, consequently, the side windows are low, their pointed arch
being kept below the springing of the vault. The window in the north
end wall, however, is of large dimensions. The windows are all
filled with good fifteenth century tracery, similar to that in the
restored south aisle of the choir. This part of the edifice is now
used as a mortuary chapel for the family of the Marquess of Lothian.
The tower over the crossing is 33 feet square and 86 feet in height.
It contains three pointed and cusped lancets on each side, and is
without buttresses. It appears to have been erected about 1500. At
the top, near the north-west corner, are engraved the arms and
initials of Abbot Robert Blackadder, who was afterwards promoted to
the offices of Bishop and Archbishop of Glasgow. He was appointed to
that see in 1484, and died 1508. His arms are a chevron between
three roses."
The abbey thus completed was not permitted to remain unmolested.
Described by Sir Ralph Eure as "the strength of Teviotdale," and by
Hertford as "a house of some strength which might be made a good
fortress," it was, as already mentioned, the frequent object of attacks
by the English. It was pillaged and burnt in 1544 and 1545, and never
recovered from the damage done. In 1559 the monastery was suppressed. In
1587 the bailery of the abbey was continued or restored by a grant of
King James VI. to Sir Andrew Ker, and in 1622 the entire property of the
lands and baronies which had belonged to the canons of Jedburgh was
erected into a temporal lordship, and granted to him with the title of
Lord Jedburgh. Sir Alexander Kerr of Fernieherst was ancestor to the
Marquess of Lothian.[326]
_Dryburgh Abbey (Berwickshire)._--The name Dryburgh has been derived by
some from the Celtic darach-bruach, "bank of the grove of oaks," and
vestiges of pagan worship have been found in the Bass Hill, a
neighbouring eminence. St. Modan, a champion of the Roman party, is said
to have come hither from Ireland in the eighth century, and a monastery
on very scanty evidence has been attributed to him. St. Mary's Abbey was
founded by Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Constable of
Scotland, in 1150. According to the Chronicle of Melrose, Beatrix de
Beauchamp, wife of de Morville, obtained a charter of confirmation for
the new foundation from David I.; the cemetery was said to have been
consecrated on St. Martin's Day 1150, "that no demons might haunt it";
the community, however, did not come into residence till 13th December
1152.
The monks were Premonstratenses or White Friars; called by the latter
name because their garb was a coarse black cassock, covered by a white
woollen cape, "in imitation of the angels in heaven, who are clothed
with white garments." The monks introduced were from Alnwick. "A large
part of the domestic buildings seems to have been erected within fifty
or sixty years of the date of the foundation, as they are built in the
transition style of the beginning of the thirteenth century. The church
appears to have been in progress during the thirteenth century, as in
1242 the Bishop of St. Andrews, owing to the debts incurred in building
the monastery and other expenses, gave the canons permission to enjoy
the revenues of the churches under their patronage, one of their number
performing the office of vicar in each parish. The canons took the oath
of fidelity to Edward I. in 1296, upon which their property was restored
to them. Their possessions were widely spread, and extended into
several counties, as appears from letters addressed by Edward regarding
them to the sheriffs in the counties of Fife, Berwick, Roxburgh, and
Edinburgh."[327]
Tradition states that the English under Edward II., in their retreat in
1322, provoked by the imprudent triumph of the monks in ringing the
church bells at their departure, returned and burned the abbey in
revenge. Dr. Hill Burton remarks that Bower cannot be quite correct in
saying that Dryburgh was entirely reduced to powder, since part of the
building yet remaining is of older date than the invasion. King Robert
the Bruce contributed to its repair, but it has been doubted whether it
ever was fully restored to its former magnificence. Certain disorders
among the monks in the latter part of the fourteenth century brought the
censure of Pope Gregory XI. upon its inmates. Being within twenty miles
of the border, the abbey was frequently exposed to hostile English
attacks, and we hear of its burning by Richard II. in 1385, by Sir
Robert Bowes and Sir Bryan Latoun in 1544, and again by the Earl of
Hertford in 1545--James Stewart, the abbot commendator, having with
others crossed the Tweed into Northumberland and burned the village of
Horncliffe. It was annexed to the Crown in 1587, and the lands were
erected into a temporal barony, with the title of Lord Cardross, in
favour of the Earl of Mar, from whom they have passed by purchase
through the hands of several proprietors.
Chaucer was held to have visited the abbey, but the claim has been
demolished by Dr. Hill Burton in Billings' _Antiquities_. Among the
distinguished men, however, connected with the abbey was Ralph Strode,
"the Philosophicall Strode," to whom and the "moral Gower" Chaucer
inscribed his Troilus and Cresseide. He was a friend both of Chaucer
and John Wiclif.[328] Andrew Forman was superior of Dryburgh, and was
much occupied with affairs of Church and State under James IV. and James
V. He was appointed in 1501 to the bishopric of Moray, holding at the
same time the priories of Coldingham and Pittenweem, with the
commendatorship of Dryburgh. He became afterwards Archbishop of Brouges,
and finally Archbishop of St. Andrews. He is said to have written (1)
_Contra Lutherum_, (2) _De Stoica Philosophia_, (3) _Collectanea
Decretalium_.[329]
The monastery had the usual buildings around the cloister; the
church was on the north side, and stood about ten steps above the
level of the cloister garth. The sacristy, chapter-house, fratery,
and other apartments stretch from the transept southwards along the
east side; above these, on the upper floor, were the dormitories,
entering by an open staircase from the south transept. Along the
south side of the cloisters lay the refectory, which, on account of
the slope of the ground, was raised on a basement floor of vaulted
cellars. On the west side of the cloister garth are now only a few
vaulted cellars. A small stream runs along the S.W. side of the
monastic buildings, and beyond the stream are the remains of what
seems to have been a detached chapel.
The oldest portions of the structure are those forming the eastern
range; they are of Transitional date or about the beginning of the
thirteenth century.[330] The sacristy has a stone bench round the
walls and three steps in the floor. It has a door from the transept
and an outer semicircular-headed doorway of Transition character
from the cloister. Access is also obtained by a small door in the
north side to a wheel-stair leading to the upper floors, and visible
as a projecting turret at the S.E. angle of the transept. The east
window of the sacristy is pronounced remarkable, having two
round-headed windows surmounted by a visica-formed aperture. It has
a piscina in the south wall near the east end. The apartment next
the sacristy may originally have been a parlour, but is now
appropriated as a mausoleum. There is an ambry in the south wall
near the east end, and the doorway is semicircular and of Norman
character. The floor of the chapter-house is several feet below the
level of the cloister walk; the ordinary central doorway and side
windows opening from the cloister are placed in their usual position
on the level of the cloister walk. The side openings were unglazed,
and were used for seeing and hearing what was proceeding in the
chapter-house below. The doorway is large and deeply recessed; the
outer arches of the windows on each side of the doorway are plain
semicircles, filled in with two pointed lights having a central
shaft.
The chapter-house retains its round barrel vault, and has three
pointed windows in the east end and two similar ones in the side
walls, where the chapter-house projects beyond the general line of
the buildings. In the interior a round arched arcade runs along the
east side, supported on single shafts, and there are traces of a
similar arcade running round the side walls. There is an entrance
doorway in the south wall; the east gable wall over the
chapter-house still exists, possessing flat buttresses of a Norman
type at the angles and between the windows, but the pointed arches
indicate Transition work. There is a lovely fragment of carved work
still preserved in the chapter-house, representing the pascal lamb
slain and surrounded by a wreath of foliage, above which are the
letters I.H.S. The vine leaves flowing from the lamb may symbolise
the branches springing from the true vine.
South of the chapter-house was probably the fratery or monks' day
room. It has been vaulted at a late period--probably third pointed.
There is a fire-place in the centre of the west wall, and an outer
doorway at the south end of the same wall. The apartment was lighted
by three plain round arched windows in the east wall, one of which
has had tracery inserted in after times. At the N.W. angle, opening
from the level of the cloister, is a round-headed doorway, and
traces of a staircase which served as the day access to the
dormitory. South of the fratery is the slype or passage, with arched
openings to the east and west. It has also a doorway to the fratery,
and another to the apartment on the south side, the latter of which
now only exists in part, the south end of the range having been
destroyed. The range of these buildings still retains its eastern
wall to the full height of two stories--the upper story being
doubtless the dormitory.
On the south side of the cloister, where the refectory once stood,
there are now only the ruins of the vaulted basement on which it
stood. At the east end of this range there is a doorway from the
cloister giving access to a staircase which led down to the lower
level of the fratery, and the remainder of the south side was
probably all occupied by the refectory. The west wall is almost all
that survives; it is now ivy-clad, and contains a picturesque
circular window, with radiating tracery. Adjoining this wall in the
S.W. angle of the cloister there is an arched recess, apparently
intended for a tomb and monument, but now empty. Over the doorway in
this angle is a large shield, containing the arms of John Stewart,
who was commendator in 1555. On the shield are the initials J.S.,
with the crozier in the centre. He was brother to the Earl of
Lennox, and uncle to Lord Darnley, who married Queen Mary. The arms
are those of the Stewarts of Lennox.
The cloister occupies a space of 93 feet by 91 feet, and was
surrounded by a vaulted walk which has entirely disappeared. It is
evident that the cloister walk was at least partly vaulted, from the
small remains of the springing of the vaults which are visible in
the eastern wall on each side of the doorway to the chapter-house.
The south wall of the nave of the church extends along the north
side of the cloister, and at the N.E. angle is the doorway which led
from the cloister into the nave--a handsome specimen of the
Transition style. The nave of the church is entered through this
handsome doorway by ten steps up from the cloister, and presents a
scene of terrible destruction. The west end wall partly remains,
"and shows by the responds attached to it the form of the nave
piers, with their caps and bases. The position of the piers along
the nave is now roughly indicated by a collection of fragments
arranged as nearly as possible in the original position and form.
The mouldings indicate a late date, and were, doubtless,
restorations; but the responds, which were not so liable to
destruction, are of first pointed date. The responds which form part
of the west wall show that there was a central nave 28 feet wide and
side aisles, each about 13 feet 6 inches wide, making a total width
of 55 feet. There have been side chapels in the nave, apparently
divided by walls, some portions of which remain, with ambries in the
chapels. The western doorway has a round arched head, but its
details show that it is of late design. This part of the edifice has
apparently been restored in the fifteenth century, after the
destruction of the abbey by Richard II. in the end of the fourteenth
century."[331]
The transept has a slight projection to the north and south; this
part of the building and all to the east of it are evidently of
thirteenth century work, but only a few detached portions remain.
The south transept gable has a large window filled with simple
pointed tracery, rising in steps above the roof of the dormitory.
The arch through which the stair to the dormitory passed is visible
in this wall. To the east of the transept is a choir of two bays,
with aisles, and beyond which is an aisleless presbytery. The
portions left are pronounced to be of a very beautiful design, both
internally and externally. The exterior is simple but elegant, and
of first pointed work; the interior shows evidence of more advanced
design. The clerestory is of beautiful design; "each bay contains an
arcade of three arches, the central one, which is opposite the
window, being larger than the side arches. The arches are supported
on detached piers, behind which runs a gallery. These piers each
consist of two shafts, with central fillet. They have first pointed
round caps, over which a round block receives the arch mouldings as
they descend. A small portion of the north end of the transept
adjoins the above, which shows that the structure has been carried
up in two stories of richly moulded windows, all in the same style
as the adjoining portions of the choir. The remaining portion of the
aisle is vaulted with moulded ribs springing from responds and
corbels corresponding in style with the choir."[332]
Here rests the dust of Sir Walter Scott and his kinsfolk, and of it
Alexander Smith wrote that "when the swollen Tweed raves as it
sweeps, red and broad, round the ruins of Dryburgh, you think of him
who rests there--the magician asleep in the lap of legends old, the
sorcerer buried in the heart of the land he has made enchanted."
_Dunfermline Abbey (Fife)._--Dunfermline was from a very early period
the residence of the kings of Scotland and here Malcolm Canmore had his
tower; here he entertained the royal fugitives from England, and married
the Princess Margaret in 1068. The Glen of Pittencrieff contains the
remains of the Tower of Malcolm Canmore, and of a subsequent royal
palace, and they were in 1871 pronounced by the House of Lords to be
Crown property. Malcolm's Tower is believed to have been built between
1057 and 1070, and the royal palace may have been founded as early as
1100, although more likely it was not built till after the departure of
Edward I. of England, in February 1304. The kings of Scotland, from
Robert Bruce onward, appear to have frequently resided in the palace.
According to Turgot, Queen Margaret, after her marriage, founded a
church "in that place where her nuptials were celebrated," and it was
dedicated to the Holy Trinity in 1074. It became the place of royal
sepulture, and Queen Margaret was buried within it. There are frequent
references from this time onwards of grants to the church of the Holy
Trinity, and to interments of royal personages therein. "The original
church of Canmore," says Professor Innes, "perhaps not of stone, must
have been replaced by a new edifice when it was dedicated in the reign
of David I.,"[333] and Messrs. MacGibbon and Ross add
"As no notice has been preserved of the erection of any new church
till the building of the choir in the first quarter of the
thirteenth century, it has been supposed that the nave of the
existing structure (which is in the Norman style) may have been the
church founded and erected by Queen Margaret. But the style of the
building forbids this supposition. None of the English cathedrals
were founded till the end of the eleventh century, and few were
carried out till the expiry of the first quarter of the twelfth
century. Scotland would certainly not be in advance of England in
its style of architecture, and we know that little, if any, Norman
work was executed in this country till the days of David I.... The
style of the structure is early Norman, and would naturally follow
the erection of Durham Cathedral, which took place about twenty-five
years earlier."[334]
The same authorities think that the original church of Malcolm stood
where the new choir was afterwards erected, and that David I. added the
Norman nave to it.
"The nature of the site seems to favour this view, as the ground to
the west slopes rapidly away, and scarcely allows room for the west
end of the nave; while the conventual buildings, for want of
suitable space, have had to be carried with an archway over a public
street."[335]
Alexander I. seems to have contemplated its erection into an abbey, and
in the year of his succession David I. remodelled it as a Benedictine
Abbey, and placed in it an abbot and twelve brethren brought from
Canterbury. By the close of the thirteenth century it had become one of
the most magnificent institutions in Scotland.
David I., after introducing the Benedictine order, probably added the
Norman nave to the then existing church erected by his royal parents,
and it was evidently resolved at no distant time from this to rebuild
the early church and form a new choir and transept worthy of the new
settlement. This was done, and between 1216 and 1226 the choir, aisles,
transept, and presbytery were erected, and Abbot Patrick, formerly Dean
and Prior of Canterbury, presided at Dunfermline during the whole of the
above time. Appeals were made to the Popes Honorius III. and Gregory IX.
on account of the expenses incurred by church erection and the increase
of the number of canons from thirty to fifty.
In the dispute of 1249 regarding the consecration of the new choir, Pope
Honorious IV. decided that a new consecration was not necessary, as the
consecrated walls of the oldest part (the nave) continued in use. In
that year Queen Margaret was canonised, and in 1250 her body was
transferred from the old church to the new lady chapel in presence of
all the chief men of the kingdom. "The translation of the saintly
foundress," says Professor Innes, "was probably arranged to give
solemnity to the opening of the new church."[336] This is known in
history as the "Translation of S. Margaret," and the "grate companie" of
king, nobles, bishops, abbots, and dignitaries in procession kept time
"to the sound of the organ and the melodious notes of the choir singing
in parts." Soon after this, describing what it had become towards the
close of the thirteenth century, Matthew of Westminster wrote: "Its
boundaries were so ample, containing within its precincts three
carrucates of land, and having so many princely buildings, that three
potent sovereigns, with their retinues, might have been accommodated
with lodgings here at the same time without incommoding one another." In
1244 it had become a mitred abbey, Pope Innocent IV. having, at the
request of Alexander II., empowered and authorised the abbot to assume
the mitre, the ring, and other pontifical ornaments; and in the same
year, in consideration of the excessive coldness of the climate, he
granted to the monks the privilege of wearing caps suitable to their
order; but they were, notwithstanding, enjoined to show proper reverence
at the Elevation of the Host and other ceremonies.[337]
"This sumptuous pile," says Professor Innes, "was destroyed and levelled
with the ground by the soldiers of Edward in 1303, excepting only the
church and a few dwellings for the monks[338]--Edward I. of England
having occupied it from 6th November 1303 to 10th February 1304. It was
restored, probably in much less than its former magnificence, after
Bruce was settled on the Scottish throne, and it evidently remained in
that condition until 28th March 1560, when the choir, transepts, and
belfry were, with the monastic buildings, "cast down.""
It was a very wealthy abbey, and the greater part of the lands in the
western, southern, and eastern districts of Fife, as well as in other
counties, belonged to it. The abbey also possessed many rights, and the
abbot was Superior of lands--the property of others--and received the
resignation of his vassals sitting on their bended knees, and testifying
all due humility. The abbot and convent were invested with the power of
enforcing their rights by excommunication, and they exercised it on
several occasions. The abbey possessed the right of a free regality,
with civil jurisdiction equivalent to that of a sheriff over the
occupiers of the lands belonging to it, and with a criminal jurisdiction
equivalent to that of the Crown, wielding the power of life and death. A
bailie of regality, appointed by the abbot, and officiating in his name,
resided in an edifice called the Bailie House, near the Queen's House,
and presided in the regality courts.
The abbey church succeeded Iona as a place of royal sepulture, and
kings, queens, and princes were buried within it. Gordon gives the list
of eight kings, five queens, seven princes, and two princesses, besides
other notable persons,[339] so that it may well be called the "Scottish
Westminster."
The abbey church, when complete, was cruciform, and comprised a
seven-bayed nave, with side aisles, a transept, a choir with a lady
chapel, and three towers, two western ones terminating the aisles
and flanking the gable of the nave, and the great central tower
rising from the crossing. The monastic buildings were also on a
magnificent scale, but of the church and monastic structures there
only now remain the Norman nave, the base of the Lady Chapel, and
part of the refectory and kitchen.
The nave is well preserved and the piers are circular. The plan of
these with that of the wall responds shows that the original
intention was to groin the aisles. The two eastern bays between the
eastern pillars are built up with solid masonry, and only a portion
of the arches is visible. The two western bays and the triforium
arches above them have also been filled up with solid building to
strengthen the western towers.[340] "The pillars which support the
west towers are of greater size than the others, and are of a
different section. One of the pillars and the corresponding arch of
the north arcade are of late Gothic work, and may be part of the
repairs ordered by the Privy Council in 1563, or of the work done in
1594 under the direction of William Schaw, Master of Works, who at
that time built the north-west tower and steeple, as well as the
porch on the north side of the nave. At the same time, also, certain
great buttresses were built against the outer walls, which are now
conspicuous features of the structure."[341]
The great western doorway, a good example of Norman work, remains
unaltered, and consists of five orders, having alternately round and
octagonal shafts, chiefly with cushion caps, but some are ornamented
with scrolls. The abacus is heavy, and is carved with sunk diapers.
The orders are continued round the arches, and contain chevron
ornaments (much decayed), rosettes, and diapers.[342] The outer
order contains large heads and geometric figures in the alternate
voussoirs--an arrangement similar to that of Whithorn and Dalmeny,
where the geometric figures also resemble those adopted here.[343]
The _original_ north doorway, partly concealed by Schaw's porch, is
similar in design, with the addition of an arcade above the arch,
resembling but still plainer than that over the doorway of Dalmeny
Church. The south doorway of the church is of late work, and there
appears to have been another south doorway at the east end of the
nave, but it is now built up.[344] The whole of the aisle walls are
arcaded in the interior up to the height of the window sills, but
the arcade has been partly cut away for monuments. The general
design of the nave recalls that of Durham Cathedral, and Dr. Joseph
Robertson remarks, "Though not of great size, the sombre masses of
the (nave) interior are impressive. The English visitor will remark
more than one point of resemblance to Durham and Lindisfarne; and
there is no violence in the conjecture that the same head may have
planned, or the same hands have hewn, part of all the three. We know
that when the foundations of Durham were laid in 1093 by the
confessor and biographer of St. Margaret, her husband Malcolm was
present; and when the new church received the relics of St.
Cuthbert in 1104, her son Alexander witnessed the rites."[345] Both
at Durham and Dunfermline there are the same circular piers with
zig-zag ornaments, and massive cushion caps and clustered piers
occur in each. The small circular bases, resting on great square
plinths, are also common to both. The triforium and clerestory are
simple in design, and the aisles are vaulted and groined. The
windows of the aisles are single round-headed lights, having plain
sconsions, with one recessed shaft on each side, and the arch
enriched with chevron mouldings.[346] Internally and externally they
are of similar design.
From the existence of the large west end pillars, it was evidently
intended from the first to have two western towers. The northern
one, along with the upper part of the adjoining gable, was destroyed
to a considerable extent at the Reformation, and in its present
state it was designed and built up by William Schaw. The bold
corbelling at the top recalls the similar treatment of the towers of
St. Machar's, Aberdeen, and other examples derived from domestic
architecture.[347] The south-west tower seems to have remained
intact, although in a ruinous condition, till 1807, when it fell,
having been struck with lightning. Three years later the present top
was put on the old walls.[348] The Lady Chapel at the east end was
built to receive Queen Margaret's shrine, and is now reduced to a
small fragment, consisting of part of the south and east walls,
which remain to the height of about 2 or 3 feet. "It has been a
small structure of about 26 feet 9 inches by 22 feet, of delicate
and refined pointed work, as is apparent from the bases of the wall
arcading and the edge of the surrounding seat, enriched with
nail-head ornaments, which still exist. The Lady Chapel appears from
an old view to have been a low structure, reaching only to the sill
of the great east window of the choir, and it was evidently vaulted
in two compartments."[349]
No stones now remain of the thirteenth century choir, as they were
all removed to make room for the modern church, begun in 1818;
before this, however, considerable remains of the choir and the
whole of the foundations were standing.[350] The choir was a
prolongation of the present nave, having transepts and a great aisle
on the north side. There was a lofty central tower of two stories,
with three windows in each storey facing the four sides, and it was
this part of the structure which suffered on the 28th March 1560,
when "the wholl lordis and barnis that were on thys syde of Forth
passed to Stirling, and be the way kest doun the Abbey of
Dunfermling."[351] The nave was used as a parish church till 1821,
when the new choir was opened. In the south transept of it are three
much-admired white marble monuments: General Bruce's by Foley
(1868), the Hon. Dashwood Preston Bruce's by Noble (1870), and Lady
Augusta Stanley's by Miss Grant of Kilgraston (1876). The remains of
King Robert the Bruce were discovered in 1818 at the digging for the
foundation of the new parish church. They were found wrapped in a
pall of cloth of gold, thrown apparently over two coverings of sheet
lead, in which the body was encased, all being enclosed in a stone
coffin. "There was strong internal evidence of the remains being
those of Robert Bruce, and after a cast of the skull had been taken,
they were replaced in the coffin, immersed in melted pitch, and
reinterred under mason work in front of the _pulpit_ of the new
parish church. An inlaid monumental brass was in 1889 inserted in
the floor over his tomb." Near the east end of the church is a
square tower, with terminals showing an open hewn stone-work, in
place of a Gothic balustrade, having in capitals on the four sides
of the tower's summit the words "King Robert the Bruce," and at each
corner of the tower there is a lofty pinnacle.
The church occupies a commanding situation, from which the ground
falls away on the west and south sides. The monastic buildings were
on the south side of the nave, but on a lower level. Of these
structures considerable remains still exist. "The ground between the
dark walls and the church has, in recent years, been levelled up,
the outer portions of the monastic buildings serving as retaining
walls. With the exception of these outer walls, the site of the
monastery is thus buried."[352]
The refectory stood on the south side of the cloister, and the whole
length and height of its south and west walls still exist. The south
wall was divided into seven bays, and in six of them there are lofty
two-light windows. The eastern bay has a reading desk, from which
one of the monks read aloud during meals. It is lighted from the
outside by two windows. On the side next the hall there are two
lofty openings.[353]
Adjoining the refectory on the south-west is a large tower, beneath
which runs St. Catherine's Wynd, through a "pend" or archway, whence
it is called the "Pend Tower." "The outside of the refectory and
'Pend Tower' is very imposing, with a simple row of lofty buttresses
and windows along the top. The west gable wall of the refectory is
still entire, and has a large window of seven lights. The tracery of
this window is in good preservation, and is one of the most
favourable examples of a kind of tracery developed in Scotland
during the fifteenth century. At the north-west corner of the
refectory is the staircase tower, which leads down to the offices
below, and upwards to the refectory roof, over which access was
obtained to the upper story of the 'Pend Tower.' In the north wall
of the refectory, near the west end, are the remains of a flue,
which may have belonged to a fire-place. The 'Pend Tower' is still
entire, wanting only the cape house and roof. It served as a
connecting passage between the abbey buildings and the royal palace
beyond. A door led from the refectory by a passage into a groined
chamber, and from thence into a room in the palace situated over the
kitchen. The kitchen is a lofty room, now roofless, having remains
of large fire-places and some curious recesses. Below the kitchen,
but entering from another part of the palace, there is a large
vaulted apartment with central pillars. These pillars were continued
up through the kitchen, and probably to the room, now gone, which
stood over the kitchen. Another arched passage led from this
apartment through below St. Catherine's Wynd and up to the
monastery. The building known as the palace was doubtless intimately
connected with the monastery, and the kitchen may have been used in
connection with both."[354] Within the "Pend Tower" on the first
floor is a five-sided room with a fire-place, and it appears to have
been a sort of guard room. It is vaulted and has irregularly placed
ribs. Over this, and entering from the circular stair adjoining, is
another groin-vaulted room, which had a fire-place of good design.
The passage and staircase are additions made at the time when the
tower was built, and the arches were thrown between the already
existing buttresses of the refectory, and in the second bay the arch
is at a low level to permit of the descending stair, while the
builders have just managed to save a very beautiful doorway
belonging to the earlier building, and now hardly seen in the shadow
of the overhanging addition.[355] To the east of the refectory is a
narrow chamber with the remains of a two-light window in the south
wall, and projecting southwards from this is the lower part of the
wall of the fratery, reaching as high as the floor of the refectory.
On the east side of the fratery extends the south wall of a building
called the Baillery Prison.[356] These fragmentary structures
exhaust the remains of the monastic buildings. The chapter-house was
on the east side of the cloister garth. The monastery was burned by
Edward I. in 1303-4, but Tytler says the church escaped.[357]
Froissart states that in 1385 Richard II. burned the abbey and town,
and it is doubted if any of the existing monastic buildings belong
to an earlier date than that last mentioned.[358] "William Schaw,
Master of Works, besides the buildings already referred to,[359]
erected in 1594 certain of the immense buttresses which form such
conspicuous features in all the views of the abbey. He likewise
built, and doubtless designed, the Queen's House and the Bailie and
Constabulary House. In connection with the latter houses there are
considerable remains of buildings still existing to the north-west
of the abbey, and there seems every probability that they formed
part of the structures of the abbey and of the Queen's House. They
are extremely picturesque as seen from the low ground to the west.
The lofty house on the right hand dates probably from the end of the
seventeenth century, and is a fine example of the period. The
adjoining buildings are considerably earlier, and in the lower
parts, where they are buttressed, they are probably of
pre-Reformation times. The upper portions are somewhat later, and
are very likely part of the work of Schaw. The porch to the latter
buildings is on the other side, and is quaint and well known from
being seen from the church. William Schaw died in 1602, and was
buried in the nave, when the monument to his memory was erected by
order of Queen Anne."[360]
_Paisley Abbey (Renfrewshire)._--In his history of this great abbey, the
Very Rev. Dr. Cameron Lees thus describes its situation:--
"In the heart of the busy town of Paisley stands the Abbey, its
venerable appearance contrasting most strangely with its
surroundings. Many chimneys--so many that it seems impossible to
count them--pour forth their smoke on every side of it; crowds of
operatives jostle past it; heavily laden carts cause its old walls
to tremble; the whirr of machinery and the whistle of the railway
engine break in upon its repose; while within a stone's throw of it
flows the River Cart, the manifold defilements of which have passed
into a proverb. But it is not difficult, even without being
imaginative, to see how beautiful for situation was once the spot
where the Abbey rose in all its unimpaired and stately grace. It
stood on a fertile and perfectly level piece of ground, close by the
Cart, then a pure mountain stream, which, after falling over some
bold and picturesque rocks in the middle of its channel, moved
quietly by the Abbey walls on its course to the Clyde. Divided from
the Abbey by this stream, rose wooded slopes, undulating like waves
of the sea till they reached the lofty ridge called the Braes of
Gleniffer, from the summit of which the lay brother, as he herded
his cattle or swine, could get views of the Argyleshire hills, the
sharp peaks of Arran, and the huge form of Ben Lomond. To the north,
on the other side of the Clyde, were the fertile glades of
Kilpatrick, and beyond, the Campsie range. Gardens and deer parks
girdled the Abbey round; few houses were near except the little
village of dependants on the other side of the stream; and no sound
beyond the precincts broke the solitude, save the wind as it roared
through the beech forest, the bell of a distant chapel, or, on a
calm evening, the chimes of the Cathedral of Saint Mungo, seven
miles away. It was a well-chosen spot, answering in every way the
requirements of the Benedictines, who, we are told, "preferred to
build in an open position at the back of a wooded chain of
hills.""[361]
Paisley illustrates what was said by Dr. Cosmo Innes regarding the
country as a whole.
"Scotland of the twelfth century had no cause to regret the
endowment of a church.... Repose was the one thing most wanted, and
people found it under the protection of the crozier."[362]
The Church became the great factor in the development of civilisation
throughout the district. Had not the monastic system been good, it would
not have lasted so long; had it not had within it the elements of
weakness, it would not have come to such an untimely end. And even
while we criticise it is well to recall the words of Newman: "Not a man
in Europe who talks bravely against the Church, but owes it to the
Church that he can talk at all."[363]
The great abbey of Paisley was much to its neighbourhood, and its
history is the history of its district. It is a memorial of the coming
to Scotland of the great family of Stewart, which has left such a deep
impress on Scottish history. Walter, son of Alan of Shropshire, joined
David I. at the siege of Winchester, and the king showed to him great
favour, taking him into his household, and conferring on him the title
of Lord High Steward of Scotland. King Malcolm was even more generous,
ratified the title to Walter and his heirs, and bestowed on him a wide
territory, chiefly in Renfrewshire.[364] The Steward soon colonised
after the fashion of the time, built a castle for himself in the
neighbourhood of Renfrew, and gave holdings to his followers throughout
the wide territory of Strathgyff, as his Renfrewshire property was
called. But in those days no colonisation was complete without a
monastery, and this the Lord High Steward proceeded to found, entering
into an agreement with Humbold, Prior of Wenlock Abbey in the native
county of his family, to establish at "Passelay" a house of the Cluniac
Order of Benedictines, being the same order as the house at Wenlock.
Humbold in 1169 brought thirteen monks from the parent house, and,
having settled them at Renfrewshire in an island of the Clyde called the
King's Inch, returned to Wenlock. There was at this time in Paisley an
early church, dedicated to St. Mirinus, an Irish saint of the sixth
century, and a disciple of the great school of St. Congal at Bangor.
St. Mirin was a contemporary of St. Columba, and must have been a
friend of the great apostle of Scotland. He was probably the founder of
the early Celtic church at Paisley, and seems to have been an itinerant
preacher round the district, regarding Paisley as his centre, where at
last, "full of miracles and holiness, he slept in the Lord." It matters
little whether these legends regarding miracles are historically
correct, for the value lies in the moral of them. "The falsehood would
not have been invented unless it had started in a truth, and in all
these legends there is set forth the victory of a good and beneficent
man over evil, whether it be of matter or of spirit."[365]
When the monks had founded their church at Paisley they dedicated it to
the Virgin Mary, to St. James, St. Milburga, and St. Mirinus. St. James
was the patron saint of the Stewarts, and to him the church on the Inch
of Renfrew, where the monks first took up their abode, was dedicated.
St. Milburga was the patron saint of Wenlock, and it was natural that
the Shropshire monks should place their new home at Paisley under the
patronage of a saint whom they held in reverence, and who was a link
between Paisley and the scene of former days. St. Mirinus was the Celtic
saint of the neighbourhood, and by calling the new monastery after his
name they reconciled the sympathies of the people to themselves, and
connected their church with the old historic church of Scotland. The
monastery was at first in the second rank of religious houses, and was
ruled by a prior. The abbey of Clugny was very jealous of raising any of
its subordinate houses to the rank of an abbey, but it was very
inconvenient for the monastery of Paisley to be in subjection to one so
far away as the French abbot, and commissioners appointed by a papal
bull in 1219 decreed that the monks of Paisley might proceed to the
canonical election of an abbot, the patron of Paisley, the Lord High
Stewart, also giving his permission. Twenty-six years later, the abbot
of Clugny surrendered his rights, which had been reserved by the papal
bull,--the monks, through the Bishop of Glasgow, promising prompt
payment of the two marks for the future, and undertaking that the abbot
of Paisley should personally or by proxy visit Clugny every seven years
to make obeisance and render an account to his superior.[366]
William was probably the first abbot of Paisley, and he presided from
1225 to 1248. He established and consolidated the prosperity of the
convent, and obtained from the Popes several bulls conferring privileges
on the monastery.[367]
The following picture, drawn by a master-hand, has been applied by Dr.
Lees to the monastic life at Paisley during the prosperous reigns of
Alexander II. and III.
"In black tunics, the mementoes of death, and in leathern girdles,
the emblems of chastity, might then be seen carters silently yoking
their bullocks to the team, and driving them in silence to the
field, or shepherds interchanging some inevitable whispers while
they watched their flocks; or wheelwrights, carpenters, and masons
plying their trades like the inmates of some dumb asylum, and all
pausing from their labours as the convent bell, sounding the hours
of prime, nones, or vespers, summoned them to join in spirit where
they could not repair in person, to those sacred offices. Around the
monastic buildings might be seen the belt of cultivated land
continually encroaching on the adjoining forest, and the passer-by
might trace to the toil of these mute workmen the opening of roads,
the draining of marshes, the herds grazing, and the harvests waving
in security under the shelter of ecclesiastical privileges which
even the Estergoth and Vandal regarded with respect. If we exchange
for the 'Estergoth and Vandal' the marauding baron and Highland
chief, the picture is a true one of the surroundings of Paisley
Abbey in those peaceful years."[368]
"During the prosperous reigns of Kings Alexander II. and III. the
church was erected, but of the work of that period (the thirteenth
century) there remain only a portion of the west front and part of
the south wall of the nave, including the south-east doorway to the
cloister and three windows. The structure appears to have suffered
severely during the War of Independence. It stood in the vicinity of
Elderslie, the land of Sir William Wallace, and doubtless met with a
similar savage treatment to that allotted to the patriot leader. It
is stated to have been burnt by the English in 1307, and the burning
would appear to have led to a very complete destruction of the
edifice, as the portions of the original work which survive are very
small."[369]
The abbey church was a parish church, within the territory of which the
house of Elderslie was situated, and the connection of the family of
Elderslie with the monks of Paisley would naturally be very close.
Wallace himself was probably educated at the school of the Paisley
Clunaics,[370] and the influence of the abbey may have helped to mould
within him the character which Fordun thus describes:--
"He (Wallace) venerated the church and respected the clergy; his
greatest abhorrence was for falsehood and lying; his uttermost
loathing for treason, and therefore the Lord was with him, through
whom he was a man whose every work prospered in his hand."[371]
The monks of Paisley during the times of Wallace and Bruce were on the
patriotic side. After Bruce had murdered the Red Comyn before the altar
of the Franciscan friars at Dumfries, the deed lay heavy on his
conscience, and the Steward used his influence with the Pope to procure
absolution. A commission was issued to the abbot of Paisley by
Berengarius, the penitentiary of the Pope, to absolve the Bruce and
appoint him proper penance for his crime.
"How the duty committed to him was discharged by the Abbot or what
penance he enjoined, we do not know. It may have been to fulfil the
penance imposed at Paisley that Bruce desired so ardently to visit
the Holy Sepulchre. He was excommunicated again soon afterwards, and
years elapsed before he was finally restored to the favour of the
Church; but his absolution at Paisley was a gleam of sunshine in the
midst of his stormy life, and one of the most interesting pictures
in the history of our abbey is that of the monarch kneeling before
its altar and amidst its fire-stained walls."[372]
James, the Steward, died on 16th July 1309, and, like the earlier
Stewarts, was probably buried in the ruined abbey. He was succeeded by
his son Walter, who married Marjory, the daughter of Robert the Bruce.
Their married life was short, and the untimely death of Marjory took
place within a year. Walter died at Bathgate in 1326, and, like his
wife, was buried in the abbey.
"When long time their dule had made
The corps to Paslay have they had,
And there with great solemnity
And with great dule eirded was he."
Robert, the son of Walter and Marjory, was but a boy of ten or eleven
years of age at his father's death, but he was a boy with great
expectations. Failing the death of the king's son without heirs, the
Scottish Parliament had solemnly ratified his succession to the Scottish
throne. King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, and his only son, David II.,
succeeded him. By neither of his marriages had he any issue, and he was
succeeded by his sister's son, Robert II., who became the founder of the
Stewart dynasty.
"The abbey was now under royal patronage, and Walter, the son of
Alan, its founder--the Shropshire colonist--the progenitor of a race
of kings."[373]
Under royal favour and patronage the abbey entered on a course of
prosperity, unbroken till the time of the Reformation. Robert II. died
in 1390, and was buried at Scone.
"If this be true, he was the first of the Stewarts who were laid
elsewhere than in the precincts of the abbey, and the circumstance
is all the more strange because Elizabeth More, the much-loved wife
of his youth, and Euphan Ross, his queen, are buried there."[374]
Robert III. had two sons, the elder of whom was David, Duke of Rothesay
(1378-1402). He was under the guardianship of Albany, who after a short
time starved him to death at Falkland. Robert, anxious for the safety of
his younger son, James, resolved to send him to France, but on his way
thither he was captured by an English vessel, and thereafter imprisoned
in the Tower of London. There is good reason for believing that Albany
and the Douglases had to do with the imprisonment of the Prince, and
they did everything to prevent his release. When the news was brought to
the king in the castle of Rothesay, he succumbed to paroxysms of grief,
and died 4th April 1406.
"Touched by grief," says Fordun, "his bodily strength vanished, his
countenance paled, and, borne down by sorrow, he refused all food,
until at last he breathed forth his spirit to his Creator."
He was buried in the abbey of Paisley before the high altar, and was the
last of the Stewarts who was laid there.[375]
After the destruction of the abbey, caused by the wars with England, the
edifice seems to have remained for long in a dismantled condition, but
gifts having been received from the Bishops of Argyle and Glasgow to aid
the restoration of the building, the work was begun. Besides, the abbey
was from 1388 to 1408 under the ban of excommunication, and this must
have powerfully added to the delay in the building operations. Part of
this work was carried out under Abbot Lithgow (1384-1433), who was
buried by his own desire in the north porch, where his memory is still
preserved. The chief part of the rebuilding of the abbey church was
carried out under Abbot Thomas de Tervas (1445-1459). The _Chronicle of
Auchinleck_ says of this abbot:--
"The quhilk wes ane richt gud man, and helplyk to the place of ony
that ever wes, for he did mony notabil thingis, and held ane nobil
hous, and wes ay wele purvait. He fand the place al out of gud
reule, and destitute of leving, and al the kirkis in lordis handis,
and the kirk unbiggit. The bodie of the kirk fra the bucht stair up
he biggit, and put on the ruf, and theekit it with sclats and riggit
it with stane, and biggit ane great porcioun of the steple, and ane
staitlie yet-hous: and brocht hame mony gude jowellis, and clathis
of gold, silver, and silk, and mony gud bukis, and made statelie
stallis, and glassynnit mekle of al the kirk, and brocht hame the
staitliest tabernakle that wes in al Skotland, and the maist
costlie: and schortlie he brocht al the place to fredome and fra
nocht till ane michty place, and left it out of al kind of det, and
al fredome, till dispone as them lykit, and left ane of the best
myteris that wes in Skotland, and chandillaris of silver, and ane
lettren of brass, with mony uther gud jowellis."[376]
Abbot Thomas is said to have obtained the privilege of having a tavern
and selling wine within the gates of the monastery, and is believed to
have raised money thereby for the reconstruction of his church.[377] The
quaint language of the ancient _Chronicle of Auchinleck_, translated
into ordinary English, means that besides journeying to Rome and
procuring the articles mentioned, he carried up the triforium and
clerestory, finished the roof, erected a great part of the steeple, and
built a stately gate-house.
At the death of Abbot Tervas, Pope Pius II. decreed that the disposition
of the office and of the whole revenues of the monastery should fall to
the Pope, and he appointed Henry Crichton, a monk of Dunfermline, to be
commendator of the abbey, and assigned a pension of 300 florins out of
the revenues to Pietro Barlo, Cardinal of St. Mark's in Venice, to be
paid to him by Henry and his successors at the Feast of St. John the
Baptist, under pain of excommunication, in case of his failing to make
payment within thirty days after the appointed term, and total
deprivation if he persisted in his opposition six months after his
excommunication. When he got himself fairly installed as abbot he
declined to pay the stipulated pension to the Cardinal of St. Mark's,
and made some legal quibble the ground of his neglect. Trouble followed,
and since this, the appointment of its first commendator, the rights of
the abbey began to be invaded. Abbot George Shaw (1472-1498) endeavoured
to guard the monastery against encroachments; he built a refectory and
other structures, reared a lofty tower over the principal gate, enclosed
the church, the precincts of the convent, the gardens, and a little park
for deer within a wall about a mile in circuit.[378] Of this once
magnificent wall, with its four-sided beautiful stones and lofty
statues, very few fragments now remain, but there are still two tablets
that belonged to it. The central shield bears the royal arms, the
shields to the right and left of it the Stewart arms and the abbot's
own; and there is an inscription by the pious builder himself, which is
as follows:--
Ye call it ye Abbot Georg of Schawe
About yis Abbey gart make yis waw
A thousande four hundereth zheyr
Auchty ande fywe the date but veir
[Pray for his saulis salvacioun]
That made thys nobil fundacioun.
It has been thought that this inscription was designed by John Morow,
whose name appears on a tablet in Melrose Abbey.[379]
"The character of the lettering in design and workmanship is the
same as at Melrose. The references to the building operations, the
poetical form of the composition, the manner in which the names are
introduced, 'Callit was I,' and 'Ye callit,' and the devout
expressions with which they close, make it clear that the
inscriptions are the work of the same author."
The fifth line is chiselled away, and was possibly deleted because it
did not harmonise with the theology of the Reformed Church.
Abbot George Shaw was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Shaw, vicar of
Munkton, and a son of the Governor of Stirling. He was canonically
elected, and his election was approved by the Crown,--the Pope also gave
his consent on condition that Robert Shaw should take the monastic habit
within six months, and decreed that the old abbot should enjoy as his
pension a third part of the fruits of the monastery, and might return to
his former position when he thought proper. Robert Shaw took office in
1498, and his uncle lived for some years after, "the pensioner of the
abbey" as he is called in charters. George Shaw died probably in 1505,
and Dr. Lees says of him:--
"He filled his place well, and the visitor to Paisley who sees his
shield of three covered cups with the pastoral crook behind them
upon the wall of one of the outhouses, which has been ruthlessly
transformed by modern iconoclasts, or reads the defaced inscription
which tells of the 'nobil fundacioun' he reared, will do well to
remember that they are the memorials of a good man, one of the best
of his time, to whose wisdom and benevolence the town of Paisley
owes its existence."[380]
This refers to the creation of Paisley as a burgh by Abbot Shaw, who
obtained in 1488 a charter creating the village of Paisley into a free
burgh of barony, and thereby raising the status of the people both
socially and politically. The burgher was no longer in the condition of
a serf or slave, who could be transferred from one master to another,
and he escaped from all the severities and exactions of the feudal
system. The burghs had power of self-government, and were able to
develop commercial and industrial operations. The burgh of Paisley was
endowed with the usual privileges, and a right to hold a market every
Monday, and two yearly fairs--one on the day of St. Mirren, and the
other on the day of St. Marnock. In 1490 the abbot and chapter granted
to the magistrates of the burgh in feu-farm the ground on which the old
town stands and certain other privileges.
After an examination of the Rental Book, Dr. Lees regards it as
"corroborating all that historians tell us regarding the lands of those
ecclesiastics being the best cultivated and the best managed in
Scotland.... The neighbourhood of a convent was always recognisable by
the well-cultivated land and the happy tenantry which surrounded it, and
those of the Abbey of Paisley were no exception to the general rule
prevailing throughout the rest of Scotland.[381]
"The monks were kind masters. No cases of eviction or deprivation
are recorded. The same lands descended without rise of rent from
father to son. Children are held bound to maintain their parents in
their old age, and widows are specially cared for, and are
occasionally provided with another husband!"[382]
During the fifteenth century many altars were erected and endowed by the
burgesses, and the Chapel of St. Mirin, which occupies part of the site
of the south transept, was erected in 1499, and endowed by James
Crawford of Kylwynet, a burgess of Paisley, and his wife.
Abbot Robert (1498-1525) was received on 19th October 1525 as Bishop of
Moray in the cathedral of his northern diocese, and the next abbot was
John Hamilton, a natural son of the Earl of Arran, who had entered the
church as a monk of Kilwinning, and whom Magnus speaks of with contempt
as a "yonge thing." The earl was high in favour with the queen, who had
at the time the disposal of the church benefices, and he wished the
bishopric for his son. The queen, however, appointed Abbot Robert to the
see of Moray, and Hamilton to the abbey of Paisley. It was one of the
deeds of shame enacted in the Scottish Church which ultimately brought
its severe judgment.
Abbot John Hamilton (1525-1547) rebuilt at immense cost the first tower
that appears to have had insecure foundation, and fell. It seems to have
had an untimely end, falling, according to one account, with its own
weight, and with it the choir of the church, or, according to an another
account, being struck with lightning. In 1559, with Kilwinning and
Dunfermline, the abbey of Paisley was suppressed, and what that meant
can best be expressed in the words of Sir Walter Scott:--
"They fumigated the church with burnt wool and feathers instead of
incense, put foul water into the holy-water basins; they sung
ludicrous and indecent parodies to the tunes of church hymns; they
violated whatever vestments belonging to the abbey they could lay
their hands upon; and playing every freak which the whim of the
moment could suggest to their wild caprice. At length they fell to
more lasting deeds of demolition, pulled down and destroyed carved
woodwork, dashed out the painted windows, and in their vigorous
search after sculpture dedicated to idolatry, began to destroy what
ornaments yet remained entire upon the tombs and around the cornices
of the pillars."
Although the monks were expelled, the people of Paisley still continued
firm in adhering to the old faith, and the doors of the abbey were
"steyked" against the reformed preachers. The abbot and his friends were
accused as
"in the toun of Paslay, Kirkyard and Abbey place thereof, openlie,
publicklie, and plainlie taking auricular confession in the said
kirk, toun, kirkyaird, chalmeris, barns, middens, and killogies
thereof, and thus makand an alteration and innovation in the state
of religion, which our Soverane Lady found publicklie standing and
professit within this realm, ministrand, and alswa irreverently and
indecentlie the Sacramentis of Holy Kirk, namely, the Sacramentis of
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."
It was a serious charge, and if proven was punishable by death. Hamilton
had a powerful friend in Queen Mary, who interfered in his behalf, and
he and his companions were committed to ward.
Besides retaining the office of abbot at Paisley, Hamilton was appointed
Bishop of Dunkeld in 1543-44 by his brother, acting for the Queen, and
after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, on 29th May 1546, was raised to the
position of Archbishop of St. Andrews and Primate of Scotland. Probably
he never returned to Paisley until, in the adversities of his later
years, and the monastery being sacked and burnt by the Reformers, he was
forced to take refuge at Dumbarton Castle, where he was made prisoner,
and afterwards executed at Stirling. The Master of Sempill had been
appointed bailie of the monastery, and, at the dissolution, the whole of
the church property was handed over to Lord Sempill. The property
finally came into the possession of Lord Claud Hamilton, nephew of the
archbishop, and the monastic buildings were converted into the "Place
of Paisley," the residence of the Abercorn family.
After the archbishop's execution his body was quartered, and afterwards
buried, probably in Paisley. Dr. Lees says:--
"There is in the church a tablet, which looks as if it had marked
his grave. It has upon it the archbishop's coat of arms, the letters
J. H., the initials of his name, and the motto he assumed, and which
contrasts strangely with his troubled life and tragic
end--'Misericordia et Pax.'"[383]
Amid all that is said against the last archbishop of the old Church of
Scotland, and the last abbot of Paisley, it is well to recall that the
"Catechisme," which usually passes under his name, from having been
printed at his expense at St. Andrews in 1552, exhibits a solitary
instance of an attempt on the part of the old Roman Catholic clergy to
convey spiritual instruction to the people, and is creditable to
Archbishop Hamilton's memory.[384]
Referring to the disposal of the abbey property, Dr. Lees says:--
"The manner in which the Church property was gifted away forms a
scandalous episode in the history of Scotland. Men like Claud
Hamilton, who never had done anything for their country, became
enriched and ennobled through the spoliation. It is vain to picture
regretfully what might have been; but any one can see how much
better it would have been for Scotland if the whole community,
instead of a few unworthy individuals, had got the benefit of the
Church's wealth. Those who did get it have in too many instances
made a very miserable use of their ill-gotten gain."[385]
Prior to the Reformation the monastery consisted of a church, the
cloister and conventual buildings. The church comprised a long aisleless
choir, a nave with aisles, a north transept, a south transept, with St.
Mirin's Chapel attached to the south of it, and a tower and spire over
the crossing.[386]
The choir walls, containing an elegant sedilia and piscina, remain
standing to the height of 9 feet, and it is questioned whether the
choir was ever finished during the restoration. There is a
string-course all round; the building is of fifteenth century work,
and occupies the place of an earlier choir, which has been
demolished. The wall at the east end of the nave, which separates it
from the transept, may have been erected during the restoration of
the fifteenth century, with the intention of rendering the nave a
complete church until the transept and choir were restored. This
seems to have been in progress when the Reformation interrupted the
work. The design of the sedilia resembles that at St. Monans, Fife,
and adjoining the sedilia is the piscina, the aperture of which is
still visible.
The north transept is in ruins, but the north wall, with the remains
of a fine traceried window, still exists, as well as a traceried
window in the west wall. The south transept is also in ruins, while
the tower and spire have disappeared. St. Mirin's Chapel is well
preserved, but the openings connecting it with the south transept
are built up.
The nave survives as a whole, and contains six bays, divided by
massive piers, and surmounted by a triforium and clerestory. There
is a north porch, and two doorways from the cloister on the south
side.
The oldest portion of the building is pronounced to be the eastern
part of the south wall of the south aisle of the nave, where it
adjoins the transept. This portion of the wall consists of three
bays, containing the S.E. doorway from the cloister to the nave, and
three pointed windows in the upper part. The doorway is of the
transition style, and the windows above are simple in style, and are
early pointed work--this part of the building probably dating from
the first half of the thirteenth century.[387] The western portion
of the south aisle of the nave and the whole of the south clerestory
are evidently portions of the restored church of the fifteenth
century.[388] The south aisle wall contains the S.W. and S.E. doors
from the nave to the cloister.
The west end of the nave is in part amongst the ancient portions of
the structure, and the western entrance doorway is thirteenth
century work.[389] The aisle windows of the west front belong to the
first pointed period. The upper portion of the west front above the
two large windows is of considerably later date.[390] "The design of
the west front, which contains above the door-piece two large
windows, with pointed niches and small circles inserted between the
arch-heads, is probably original, but the upper portion and gable,
including the large traceried window, are doubtless part of the
restoration of the fifteenth century. The tracery of the two central
windows is peculiar, and may possibly be of the fourteenth century,
but that of the large upper window is later, probably of the same
period as the restoration of the interior of the nave. The tracery
of the large upper window is a specimen of the late kind of design
employed in Scotland in the fifteenth century."[391]
The interior of the west end of the nave exhibits the change of
style caused by the restoration of the fifteenth century. The first
or western bay of the main arcade is original, including the first
arches (one on each side), the first pillars, and the arches between
them, and the aisle responds. "These pillars and arches are of large
dimensions and first pointed section, and appear to have been
designed to carry western towers, but a part of their thickness has
been cut off next the choir. A portion of the triforium wall, a
piece of the string-course over the main arcade, and the corbelled
vaulting shaft in the angle as high as the top of the triforium, are
also parts of the original structure. The later work has been joined
to the above old parts in a very awkward manner."[392] The cap of
the west pier on the north side belongs to the first pointed work,
while the corresponding cap on the south side and all the other caps
belong to the fifteenth century restoration.[393] Except the west
piers, the piers of the nave are of the clustered form, common in
late Scottish work, and might be about the same date as the
restoration of St. Giles, Edinburgh (which they resemble), in the
early part of the fifteenth century.[394]
The triforium design consists of large segmental arches, the same
width as the main arches, springing from short clustered piers
introduced between them. It somewhat resembles the triforium of the
nave at Dunkeld Cathedral. The clerestory is probably designed in
imitation of that of Glasgow Cathedral, and is divided into two
pointed arches in each bay. They spring from a series of clustered
shafts with round moulded caps that are late imitations of early
work.[395] The earlier part of the nave restoration, including the
main piers and arches, and perhaps the tracery of the two lower
windows of the west front, were possibly executed by Bishop Lithgow,
who built the north porch, and the completion of the nave (the upper
portions) was carried out in the time of Abbot Tervas--the middle of
the fifteenth century. A peculiarity of the nave interior is a
series of large corbels, which project from the spandrils of the
triforium arcade, and the object of which was to enable a passage to
be carried round the solid piers introduced between the windows.
Each of the large corbels springs at its lowest point from the
sculptured grotesque figure of a man or animal. They were mostly the
work of Thomas Hector, a sculptor, who lived at Crossflat,[396] and
whom the abbot retained for his skill in the art.[397] The
employment of such grotesque figures was very much affected by the
monks of Clugny, and was the occasion of a rebuke from St. Bernard.
"What business had these devils and monstrosities in Christian
churches, taking off the attention of the monks from their prayers."
One of these figures near the west gable represents a man in a kilt,
and Dr. Lees thinks that many worshippers in the Abbey in more
modern times have in the midst of long sermons found relief in the
contemplation of those curious carvings which the saint thus
vigorously denounced.[398]
St. Mirin's Aisle was erected in 1499, and there is a large pointed
window in the east end, having jambs with single shafts. It is
divided into four lights, and the arch-head is filled with good
simple tracery. Beneath the eastern window is a frieze of one foot
eight inches deep between two cornices of eight inches deep, which
were intended for sculpture. Three compartments, measuring four
feet, at the north or right side, and seven compartments, measuring
ten feet, at the south or left side, are carved and filled with
sculpture. Dr. Lees says the reference of them to Mirin is clear
beyond all doubt: "In the one on the extreme left we see Mirin's
mother bringing him to St. Congal. In the next St. Congal putting
the religious habit on Mirin. In the next Mirin taking oversight of
the monastery of Banchor. There is after this a blank, and then we
have certain sculptures relating to Mirin's encounter with the Irish
king, who wears a crown on his head. In the first we have the
servant of the King driving Mirin away from the door of the palace.
In the next the King roaring with pain and held by his servants. In
the next the Queen lying in bed with a picture of the Virgin on the
wall, it being the custom to hang such before women during
confinement. Then we have the King on his knees before Mirin, and
afterwards Mirin received by him with joy. The next two sculptures
represent the last two acts of the Saint--the brother looking
through the keyhole and seeing Mirin illuminated by a celestial
light, and the Saint restoring to life the dead man in the Valley of
Colpdasch.... As they are evidently earlier than the date of the
erection of the chapel, they have probably been transferred with the
relics of the Saint from an older shrine. They look like
twelfth-century work, but it is possible they may be even
earlier."[399] The ceiling of the chapel is beautifully groined, and
the east end, where the altar stood, is raised four steps above the
western part. The west wall contains an outer doorway from the
cloister court, and there is a traceried window above it. A large
ambry adjoins the door in the outer wall. The chapel was connected
with the south transept by two wide archways, now built up, and near
the east end is a piscina, with three-sided head, like that in the
choir.
There is a dormitory above the chapel, arched by stone, and the
entrance is by a doorway in the middle of the south side of the
arch. The apartment is lighted by two windows--one in the east
gable, and the other in the west. In the west gable there is a
private stair leading from the dormitory to the chapel, and the
priest, who was bound by the charter to live at the chapel,
doubtless occupied the sleeping-place above it.[400] The chapel at
the Reformation was converted into a family burying-place by Claud
Hamilton, the commendator, and various members of the Abercorn
family lie buried in the vault below, the chapel belonging to the
present Duke, and being under his control.
On the floor of this chapel there now stands an ornamental altar
tomb, which was found lying in fragments near the Abbey by the Rev.
Dr. Boog, one of the Abbey ministers, and who in 1817 had it brought
within the chapel and erected again. It supports a recumbent figure,
believed to be the effigy of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of Robert
I. and the mother of Robert II. "The head of the figure is
surmounted by a large cusped canopy, placed in a horizontal
position, on the end of which is carved a crucifixion. The pedestal
is carved with a series of Gothic compartments, in each of which
there is carved a shield, enriched with heraldic blazons and figures
of ecclesiastics. The panels at the west end contain--the first the
_fess chequé_ of the Stewarts between three roses; the third the
_fess chequé_, surmounted of a lion rampant, and the central one,
two keys saltierwise, between two crosiers in pale."[401] The chapel
is famed for an echo, described by Pennant in his _Tour Through
Scotland_,[402] but Dr. Lees regards the description of the
far-famed traveller as either much exaggerated, or the strength of
the echo has become diminished since his time. "When any number of
persons are within the building, an echo is scarcely audible at all.
It is amusing sometimes to see a group of people expending the
strength of their lungs in vain by attempting to evoke it."[403]
Crosses seem to have been placed at intervals on the roads leading
to the church. One of the south piers of the nave is called the
Cathcart pillar, and has carved upon it a shield bearing the
Cathcart arms. This is believed to be a memorial of Sir Allan
Cathcart, who has thus been described by Barbour:--
A knycht, that their wis in hys rout,
Worthy and wycht, stalwart and stout,
Curtaiss and fayr, and off gud fame,
Schyr Allane of Catkert by name.
King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, and Sir Allan of Cathcart and
Sir James of Douglass sailed in 1330 for the Holy Land with the
King's heart. Sir James was killed in Spain in conflict with the
Moors, and Sir Allan came back with the heart of the King, which was
buried in Melrose Abbey. The pillar commemorates his safe return.
On the west buttress of the north transept, at 21 feet in height, is
the shield of the Stewarts, with a pastoral staff, and the word
"Stewart."
The first central tower erected over the crossing seems to have been
of inferior workmanship and to have given way. Another is believed
to have been erected by Abbot Tervas, which probably fell during the
siege by Lennox and Glencairn, and may have destroyed much of the
choir and transept in its fall. Western towers appear to have been
contemplated.
"We are only able," says Dr. Cameron Lees, "to conjecture what was
the position of the conventual buildings. But after comparing the
plan of Wenlock, from which the monks originally came, with that of
Crosraguel, which they afterwards erected, we think it is probable
that the chapter-house, with Saint Mirin's Chapel, occupied the east
side of the cloister court, the refectory the south side, and the
dormitory the west. The Abbot's house probably stood at the south
end of what is called Cotton Street. There were buildings also
between the Abbey and the river Cart attached to the monastery,
portions of the foundations of which are occasionally
uncovered."[404] "The shape of the cloister court has been partially
retained. The conventual buildings were almost all converted after
the Reformation into dwelling-houses, and though fragments of the
old houses, such as an occasional pillar or arch, are to be found,
there is little to remind one of dormitory, parlour, or
refectory."[405]
The nave is still used as the parish church. About 1782 it was in a
dreadful condition. The roof was full of holes, through which the birds
obtained free access, "distracting the attention of the worshippers in
time of sermon." They built their nests and reared their young under the
arches of the clerestory. A few of the gentry had "lofts" or galleries,
but the bulk of the worshippers brought their seats to church with them,
while the poorest sat upon stones on the earthen floor.[406] Things had
become so bad that the heritors thought of pulling down the abbey, and
building a "commodious kirk" with the stones.[407] This insane proposal
was averted from execution by the energy and wisdom of the Rev. Dr.
Boog, minister of the First Charge in 1782, and to him the country owes
the credit of preserving all that now remains. "He received much
assistance from the Dowager Countess of Glasgow, who resided at
Hawkhead, and through their joint exertions the Abbey was not only saved
from destruction, but was repaired in a way which, considering the
ignorance of that time on the subject of restoration, was highly
creditable."[408] Dr. Lees describes the condition of the building at
his induction in 1859 as dreadful: "The interior was like a vault in a
churchyard."[409] But thanks to the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Wilson and
Dr. Lees himself, several thousand pounds were collected and spent in
remedying this state of affairs. The church was made seemly as a
venerable temple for prayer ought to be. "The unsightly galleries were
taken down, the floor cleared of the accumulated rubbish of centuries,
the body of the church re-seated, the clerestory windows opened up, the
transept walls and windows restored, and the turrets rebuilt. Men of all
creeds contributed to the work, and when the Abbey, on the 27th April
1862, was re-opened for public worship, it could scarcely be recognised,
so changed was it from its former condition."[410] In closing his
splendid volume Dr. Lees adds, "We trust the time is not far distant
when the Abbey of the first Stewart will stand forth again in all its
pristine beauty--with transept, and choir, and tower, as in the days of
the founder." That hope will soon pass into a reality, and Scotland will
have a completely restored abbey church used as a parish church.
_Kelso Abbey (Roxburghshire)._--In 1113 David, Earl of Huntingdon, and
heir-presumptive to the Scottish throne, introduced a colony of thirteen
Reformed Benedictine monks from the newly founded abbey of Tiron in
Picardy, and planted it near his forest castle of Selkirk. He endowed it
with large possessions in Scotland, and a valuable territory in his
southern earldom of Huntingdon, but the French monks were dissatisfied
with their position on the banks of the Ettrick, and on David's
accession to the throne of his brother he removed them from Selkirk--"a
place unsuitable for an abbey"--and established the monastery "at the
Church of the Blessed Virgin on the bank of the Tweed, beside Roxburgh,
in the place called Calkow."[411] The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin
and St. John the Baptist. Its first abbot was Ralph, one of the French
monks, and the Scotch chronicles state that he succeeded St. Bernard,
the reformer of the order, in his abbacy at Tiron, on his death in 1116,
but Dr. Cosmo Innes thinks this can scarcely be reconciled with the
succession of abbots as given by the French writers.[412] The monastery
soon became the richest and most powerful in Scotland, and in 1165 the
Pope granted permission to the abbot to wear the mitre, and the abbot
claimed precedence of all the superiors of monasteries in Scotland. In
1420 this precedence was decided by James I. in favour of the prior of
St. Andrews.[413] Many of the abbots were distinguished men, who were
employed in the affairs of the kingdom, and several were promoted to
bishoprics.[414] Foremost in rank and power, the monks of Kelso also
vindicated their place by the practice of the monastic virtues, and a
copy of Wyntoun's _Chronicle_ is supposed to have been written at
Kelso.[415] They seem to have recalled the saying, claustrum sine
lîteratura vivi hominis est sepultura ("the cloister without literature
is the grave of a living man"), and Dr. Cosmo Innes remarks
"That the arts were cultivated within the Abbey walls we may
conclude without much extrinsic evidence. The beautiful and somewhat
singular architecture of the ruined church itself still gives proof
of taste and skill and some science in the builders, at a period
which the confidence of modern times has proclaimed dark and
degraded; and if we could call up to the fancy the magnificent Abbey
and its interior decorations, to correspond with what remains of
that ruined pile, we should find works of art that might well
exercise the talents of high masters. The erection of such a
structure often extended over several hundred years. Kelso bears
mark of having been a full century in building; and during all that
time at least, perhaps for long afterwards, the carver of wood, the
sculptor in stone and marble, the tile-maker and the lead and
iron-worker, the painter, whether of scripture stories or of
heraldic blazonings, the designer and the worker in stained glass
for those gorgeous windows which we now vainly try to imitate--must
each have been in requisition, and each, in the exercise of his art,
contributed to raise the taste and cultivate the minds of the
inmates of the cloister. Of many of these works the monks themselves
were the artists and artisans, and it would be a grievous mistake to
suppose that the effect was merely that of living and working in an
artist's shop. The interest and honour of the convent, the honest
rivalry with neighbouring houses and other orders; above all, the
zeal for religion which was honoured by their efforts, the strong
desire to render its rites magnificent, and to set forth in a worthy
manner the worship of the Deity--all these gave to the works of the
old monks a principle and a feeling above what modern art must ever
hope to reach."[416]
Situated as it was near the Border, the abbey suffered severely during
the War of Independence. The monastery was laid waste and the monks were
supported by contributions from the other houses of their own order. In
1344 the abbey buildings were destroyed by fire, and David II. granted
permission to the monks to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart Forest to
enable them to carry out the necessary repairs.
In 1511 the Bishop of Caithness was appointed commendator, and decline
of the abbey soon followed. After the battle of Flodden in 1513, David
Ker of Cessford took possession of the abbey, and his brother was
appointed abbot. In 1522 and 1523 invasion and havoc spread over
Teviotdale; Lords Ross and Dacre pillaged the town, sparing the abbey;
but in 1523 Lord Dacre sacked and burned it. The abbot's house and
buildings surrounding it, the chapel of the Virgin, and the cells of the
dormitory were all reduced to ashes; the lead was stripped from the
roof, and the abbey rendered uninhabitable. All religious services were
stopped, and the monks had to retire in want and poverty to a village
near. From 1536 to 1538 James Stewart, natural son of James V., was
abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk, and in 1545
the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed the abbey. On
the latter occasion the garrison of the abbey--numbering 100, of whom 12
were monks--refused the summons of the Herald to surrender, and
succeeded in repulsing the Spanish mercenaries, who were the first to
attack the building. It was then bombarded and the monastery captured;
but the garrison still held out in the strong square tower of the
church, whence some of them, though strictly watched, escaped by means
of ropes during the night. The next day the assault was resumed, the
tower carried, and the defenders were put to the sword. The buildings
were then sacked and destroyed, the order being given to "breik them"
and "thake of the leied, and outer myen the towres and strong places,
and to owaier trowe all." By the following Sunday this had been strictly
carried out; the abbey was razed, and "all put to royen, howsses, and
towres, and stypeles." The removal of the lead to Wark alone occupied
the carts of the army for several days. After this the abbeys of
Melrose, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh shared in the fate of Kelso,[417] but,
unlike it, they did not resist. Kelso Abbey was still further reduced by
Lord Eure in 1546; and finally in 1560, when a few monks still remained,
the buildings were attacked by the mob, and all the remaining fittings
and furnishings destroyed. In 1559 the revenues and property of the
abbey were taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation in the
name of the Crown. The temporalities were afterwards distributed
amongst the favourites of James VI., and were finally conferred on Sir
Robert Ker of Cessford, who was created Lord Roxburgh in 1599. The abbey
still belongs to his successor, the Duke of Roxburgh, and the remains of
the late duke are buried in the south transept.[418] In 1649 a vault was
thrown over the transept so as to convert it into a parish church, and
above this another vault served as a prison! This is seen in Grose's
view, made about a century ago.
"During service on a Sunday in 1771 a panic was caused by the fall
of a fragment of cement, and the church was thereafter abandoned.
The ruins were partly disencumbered by the Duke of Roxburgh,
1805-16, and in 1823 the buildings were repaired by the noblemen and
gentlemen of the county."[419]
Referring to the modern town, Dr. Cosmo Innes says:--
"Reposing on the sunny bank of its own beautiful river, the modern
town of Kelso looks a fitting rural capital for 'pleasant
Teviotdale.' It has little of the air of an old monastic burgh, and
still less calls up any recollection of the heaps of ruins that
impeded the plans of the English engineers. There is not much
knowledge or tradition of its former state, and but few memorials of
its old inhabitants. Last year (1845) a worthy burgher, who had dug
up in his garden under the abbey walls what seemed to him a rare
coin of a Scotch king, was scarcely well pleased to learn that it
was a leaden _bulla_ of Pope Alexander III., bronzed with the
oxidising of seven centuries.
In the midst of the modern town the abbey church stands alone, like
some antique Titan predominating over the dwarfs of a later
world."[420]
Considering all the dangers and neglect of the centuries, it is
astonishing that so many of the ruins still exist.
The building has consisted of choir or chancel of considerable
length, with north and south aisles, and of a transept and nave
without aisles. The north and south divisions of the transept and
nave form three arms of equal length round the three sides of the
crossing, above which rises the massive square tower.[421] The
church was originally constructed in the late Norman style of about
the end of the twelfth century, passing into the transition
style--the upper part of the tower having been rebuilt at a later
period.[422] Of the chancel only a fragment remains--two of the
south main piers with arches and two stories of arcades above, which
represent the triforium and clerestory. The chancel only had aisles.
The main piers consist of a circular column, five feet in diameter,
with smaller attached half-columns on three sides to carry the
moulded arches between the main piers and the arches between the
latter and the aisles.[423] "The piers have caps of the usual Norman
modified cushion pattern, and the arches were moulded and arranged
in several orders. The arcade immediately over the main arches has a
row of single round shafts, with spreading Norman caps, which carry
a series of moulded arches, occupying the position of the triforium.
The upper arcade, which takes the place of the clerestory, has
shafts of triple form, with wide spreading bases and caps of Norman
and transition design. On the latter rest the round boldly-moulded
arches. The arches opposite the windows in the outer wall are
slightly larger than the others. It will be observed that there is
no main vaulting shaft carried up over the main piers, as is almost
invariably the case, for the purpose of strengthening the wall. On
the contrary, the triforium arcade is continuous, and no provision
is made to support the side wall, except the single shafts of the
running arcade, which have a very weak effect. In the usual
arrangement, the triforium arches are separated by a substantial
piece of wall, including a vaulting shaft, and the triforium arch,
which is generally subdivided into several subordinate arches, is
introduced between the vaulting shafts. That is a much more
substantial form of construction, and also more satisfactory to the
eye, than the plan adopted here of a simple continuous arcade." In
the exterior of this portion of the choir the outside of the
clerestory windows is visible, being simple round-headed openings,
with flat buttresses between them. The remainder of the wall is
plain, but, judging from the level of the triforium window, the
vaulting of the aisle, which was very high and partly covered the
windows, seems to have been added at a later date. The crossing is
square; the piers are about nine feet square--that at the
south-east angle standing detached in consequence of the opening
into the south aisle, while those at the north-west and south-west
angles are incorporated with the walls. The piers are designed as a
series of shafts, set in square nooks (four on each of the complete
sides), with a large semicircular shaft at each angle. The shafts
are all built in courses with the piers, and have transition bases
and caps. From the latter spring large pointed arches, with plain
chamfered orders. The pointed arch indicates the transitional
character of this part of the building, and was probably introduced
in this position to give strength to sustain the tower. The three
arms of the cross branching to the north, south, and west from the
crossing are of equal size--an unusual arrangement, as the nave is
generally the longest division of the church. This was part of the
original design, as the western doorway is one of the most
prominently Norman portions of the edifice, and no satisfactory
explanation has yet been given of the shortness of the Kelso nave.
The upper portion of the west front has been in the transitional
style, and the Norman arcading, which runs round the interior of the
nave, was continued across the west end.
The nave, north and south transepts, contain each four stories in
height, consisting of an interlacing arcade of Norman work in the
interior of the ground level, and three stories of windows above.
The upper arcades of the choir do not extend round the nave and
transepts, except in a portion of the south transept. The windows in
the different stories have all round arches, both inside and
outside, and the exterior is marked at each angle by broad and
shallow Norman buttresses, with nook shafts in the angles, and an
interlacing arcade round the lower story, both internally and
externally. In the façades of the west end and north transept the
windows of the different stories have been grouped so as to form
distinct designs. "In the west end, over the great west doorway,
there has been an arrangement of tall windows of apparently lancet
form, having on either side an interlacing arcade of round arches,
supported on tall, bended shafts. This is now, unfortunately,
greatly destroyed. Above the arcade there runs a horizontal flat
cornice, enriched with several rows of carved ornaments, and this
was surmounted by a large opening of quatrefoil shape, surrounded
with numerous mouldings and enrichments. The angle buttresses have
been crowned with octagonal turrets."[424]
The north wall of the north transept has a fine transitional
door-piece, occupying the two lower stories. The next two stories
have each two windows, separated by a small buttress, and the upper
story has three arches in the interior. "Above these stories is a
small circular window with a curious saving arch over it, and the
whole is crowned with a top story, containing three round-headed
openings, and a gable with a small circular aperture. The buttresses
at the angles are crowned with circular turrets, which have been
finished with a projecting parapet, the corbels for carrying which
still survive. The upper part of the gable shows signs of having
been altered."[425]
The west doorway and the north door-piece are interesting; the
former, the south half of which has perished, and which was finished
with a sloping gable and stone roof, is regarded as a rich specimen
of the elaborate carved work that characterised the late Norman
period. "The jambs contained five detached shafts set in nooks, and
having Norman bases and carved caps. Over each of these shafts there
springs a circular order, carved with rich Norman ornament, now,
however, very much decayed. The jambs of the doorway also formed
moulded shafts, supporting their order in the arch."[426] The
door-piece of the north transept wall is a prominent feature,
projects 4 feet 6 inches from the main wall, has two stories, and is
roofed with a sloping stone roof. The shafts have the usual Norman
caps and bases, and the mouldings of the arch are pronounced to be
peculiar in their profile. The outer one is enriched with small
medallions, the central with the billet, and the inner one with
rosettes. Above the archway there is an arcade of interlacing round
shafts--the shafts, which were destroyed, having Norman caps. "The
tympanum of the gable is covered with a reticulation of round beads
or rolls."[427] The south and west sides and a small portion of the
north and east sides of the tower remain. It is 35 feet square over
the walls, and "is carried up with plain masonry externally, but the
interior has immediately over the great arches of the crossing an
arcade of round moulded arches, supported on triple shafts similar
to those of the choir. Above this arcade is another story containing
simple round arched openings, which are lighted on the exterior by
circular windows containing quatrefoils. Over this tier is the upper
story, which contains three pointed and deeply-recessed windows on
each side of the tower. Broad, flat buttresses are placed at each
angle of the tower, similar to those of the main building, and these
were, no doubt, originally finished with turrets like those of the
transepts.... The upper part of the tower is later than the lower
part. This is apparent from the pointed windows of the top story and
the quatrefoiled circular windows of the story beneath. The lower
story immediately over the great arches is, without doubt, of about
the same date as the choir."[428] There were probably similar
staircases in other parts of the structure now removed, but the
approach to the upper floors is now by one staircase in the N.W.
angle of the transept. Passages between the arcades and the outer
walls went round the building on every floor, and in the angles of
the tower there are small wheel stairs leading to every floor, and
passages running round the tower on every story. These arcades and
passages have tended to weaken the structure, and it has been found
necessary to strengthen it with numerous iron tie-rods, iron beams,
etc.[429]
There was an outer door in the S.W. angle of the transept, and
another in the north wall of the nave adjoining the crossing. A tomb
recess is in the south transept wall, and in the recess beneath are
two ambries or lockers and a piscina, the only one remaining in the
building. To the south of the transept there is a vaulted chamber
that may have been the sacristy.[430]
_Arbroath Abbey (Forfarshire)._--This abbey was founded in 1178 by
William the Lion, and dedicated to S.S. Mary and Thomas à Becket. Becket
had been martyred at the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral only seven
years before, and William the Lion had recently suffered defeat and
capture by the English at Alnwick. William had been personally
acquainted with Becket, and is supposed to have regarded him as a
private friend.
"Was this the cause," asks Dr. Cosmo Innes, "or was it the natural
propensity to extol him who, living and dead, had humbled the crown
of England, that led William to take St. Thomas as his patron saint,
and to entreat his intercession when he was in greatest trouble? Or
may we consider the dedication of his new abbey, and his invocation
of the martyr of Canterbury, as nothing more than the signs of the
rapid spreading of the veneration for the new saint of the high
church party, from which his old opponent himself, Henry of England,
was not exempt?"
As showing the eagerness with which King William pushed on the
buildings, Hollinshed mentions that
"The King came by the Abbey of Aberbrothoc to view the work of that
house, how it went forward, commanding them that were overseers and
masters of the works to spare for no cost, but to bring it up to
perfection, and that with magnificence."[431]
The abbey received great endowments from King William and from many
subsequent princes and barons; acquired in 1204 a charter of privileges
from King John of England and was one of the foremost and richest in
Scotland. Its monks were Tyronenses, and the first were brought from
Kelso Abbey.
"By the year 1178 part of the church was ready for dedication.
William the Lion died in 1214, and was buried in the east end of the
edifice, which was then finished. Shortly afterwards the south
transept was sufficiently well advanced to admit of the burial
within it, before the altar of St. Catherine, of Gilchrist, Earl of
Angus. On the 18th of March 1233, during the time of Abbot Ralph de
Lamley, the church was dedicated. The time occupied in the erection
and completion of the structure was thus a little over fifty-five
years, and when its dimensions are considered, it will be found in
comparison with other churches to have been carried on with great
rapidity."[432]
The abbots had several special privileges; they were exempted from
assisting at the yearly synods; they had the custody of the Brecbennach,
or consecrated banner of St. Columba; they acquired from Pope Benedict,
by Bull, dated at Avignon, the right to wear a mitre, and were in some
instances the foremost churchmen of the Kingdom. The abbey was
toll-free, _i.e._ protected against the local impositions which of old
beset all merchandise.
"But," says Dr. Cosmo Innes, "the privilege the abbot most valued
(and intrinsically the most valuable) was the tenure of all his
lands, 'in free regality,' _i.e._ with sovereign power over his
people, and the unlimited emoluments of criminal jurisdiction....
Even after the Reformation had passed over abbot and monk, the lord
of regality had still the same power, and the Commendator of
Arbroath was able to rescue from the King's Justiciar and to
'repledge' into his own court four men accused of the slaughter of
William Sibbald of Cair--as dwelling within his bounds (quasi infra
bondas ejusdem commorantes). The officer who administered this
formidable jurisdiction was the Bailie of the Regality, or
'Justiciar Chamberlain and Bailie'--the Bailiary had become
virtually hereditary in the family of Airlie.[433] ... The mair and
the coroner of the abbey were the executors of the law within the
bounds of the regality, and the best thought it no degradation to
hold their lands as vassals of the great abbey."[434]
The monks made a harbour and fixed a bell on the Inchcape Rock as a
warning to sailors; the abbey was burnt in 1272 and 1380.
Referring to its chartulary as a record of the names of the old Scottish
families Dr. Cosmo Innes says:--
"Many of our ancient families went down in the War of Independence,
and few of our present aristocracy trace back beyond the revolution
of families and property which took place under Bruce. The Earls of
Angus, Fife, and Strathearn are little more than mythological
personages to the modern genealogist.... It is the common case all
over Scotland."[435]
In connection with the monks he has the following interesting note:--
"It is to be remarked that in Scotland, as in other countries, while
the secular or parochial clergy were often the younger sons of good
families, the convents of monk and friars were recruited wholly
from the lower classes; and yet--not to speak of the daily bread,
the freedom from daily care, all the vulgar temptations of such a
life in hard times--the career of a monk opened no mean path to the
ambitious spirit. The offices of the monastery alone might well seem
prizes to be contended for by the son of the peasant or burgess, and
the highest of these placed its holder on a level with the greatest
of the nobility."[436]
The last abbot was Cardinal Beaton, at the same time Archbishop of St.
Andrews. The abbey suffered after the Reformation from the revenues
having become the property of the Hamiltons, and as they were
appropriated to the private use of that family, there were no funds to
keep up the buildings, which fell gradually into decay, and were freely
used by the magistrates and townspeople as a quarry. The property was
converted into a temporal lordship in favour of Lord Claude Hamilton,
third son of the Duke of Chatelherault.
In sketching the history of this famous abbey, the "Aberbrothock
Manifesto" of 1320 must be recalled, in which it becomes manifest that
the Scottish Church was never a complaisant vassal of Rome.[437] There
breathes in it a spirit of freedom and natural independence, and a
refusal to accept the interference of Rome in the affairs of the State.
The Scottish nobles protest against the papal countenance given to the
English aggressions, and distinctly tell Pope John XXII. that "not for
glory, riches, or honour we fight, but for _liberty alone_, which no
good man loses but with his life."[438]
The abbey church consisted of a choir of three bays, with side
aisles and an aisleless presbytery; a nave of nine bays, with aisles
and north and south transepts with eastern aisles; two western
towers and one large central tower. Considerable portions of these
divisions still remain, but the greater part of the north side of
the choir, the north transept and nave, and almost all the piers and
pillars have been swept away. Beginning at the east end, the eastern
wall is entire for nearly half its height, having an arcade below
and three lancet windows above, with the lower portions of an upper
row of similar windows. Somewhat less of the return wall of the
south side of the presbytery, comprising two bays, remains, and
adjoining it is the sacristy, a late building fairly well preserved.
The end wall of the south transept is almost complete, along with a
considerable portion of the west wall of the transept, which gives a
good idea of the grandeur of the church. The whole of the nave south
wall remains, showing a row of windows and indications of the
groining of the aisle. The central aisle was not vaulted, but
covered with a wooden roof. Most of the bases of the nave pillars
are in position, as are also the foundations of the north transept.
The west end fragment and the two towers left standing, are striking
and impressive in their vigorous work.[439] Bold, vigorous work,
with refinement of detail, is seen in the western doorway. It is
round arched, and its outer order, if it may be so called, extends
inwards for about five feet, unadorned as a bold and plain tunnel
arch, having a pointed arch in each ingoing. It then becomes shafted
and richly moulded, after the transition manner. This arrangement,
while it gives a fine shadow under the arch, has a feeling of
rudeness, which, to a considerable extent, characterises the whole
west front. "There is a remarkable resemblance in the decoration of
this doorway to that of the doorway in the porch of Lerida
Cathedral, Spain, supposing the tunnel arch of Arbroath away, and
the moulded part brought forward to the face of the wall, as is the
case at Lerida.... A similar ring ornament, on a large scale, is
also to be seen in a doorway at Lamington, Lanarkshire, where it is
likewise used along with the zig-zag, but there the ringed order is
the outer enrichment."[440]
The removal of the outer part of a gallery, which existed over this
doorway, has increased the rude appearance of the west front, but
the inner part of this gallery still remains. Within the great
thickness of the wall a chamber of considerable size was obtained,
and it opens into the nave by six pointed arches, and to the outside
over the doorway by three arches. It is regarded as obvious that
three gablets projected outwards from the wall for a distance of
about four feet, supported on two intermediate shafts, and that the
gallery was closed in at each end with walls or haffits, both of
which still remain in part. We now see the west front robbed of its
most unique features; the gallery was reached by a long passage at
each end from stairs in the angle-buttresses. It probably was a
gallery for an orchestra, and may have also been used as a pulpit to
address an open-air audience.[441]
Above this gallery was an immense circular window, a portion of
which still survives. "It is probable that this part of the building
was erected at two different times, the west doorway and some of the
pillars of the gallery being in the early transition style, while
the triple windows to the front and the six-light arcade towards the
interior are in the first pointed style. When the gallery was
completed in the first pointed period, the floor space was enlarged
by extending it to the front, hence the necessity for the deep
tunnel arch over the west doorway. The pointed arches in the ingoing
also indicate this first pointed period."[442]
The western towers opened with arches into the north, south, and
central aisles, but only the north tower retains its massive pier
and arches, while of the south tower nothing but the foundation of
the pier exists. The south wall of the transept is externally plain,
the upper part being visible above the dormitory roof. The façade
has two plain lancet windows, one shorter than the other, and above
them is a large wheel window. The interior of the transept is a very
grand design in the early pointed style.[443] Beneath the splayed
lancets there is a round arched open arcade, with a passage behind
it, and beneath this, two tiers of wall arcades with pointed arches,
the central arcade being very acutely pointed, the lower one not so
decidedly, and with trefoil cusps in the arches. A staircase in the
S.E. angle of the transept gave access to the dormitory by the door,
seen built up on the outside.[444] This staircase also leads to the
various passages in the thickness of the walls, and the church
doorway leading to this stair is round arched and ranges with the
lower pointed arcade. The lower arcade of the south end is continued
along the west wall, and above this rise two widely-splayed windows.
All the lofty south transept windows have passages on two floors,
and the transepts had chapels on the east side. "The respond of the
great arcade against the south wall is beautiful in detail. Above
this there exist fragments of the responds of the triforium story
and the clerestory. All the above features of this part of the abbey
point plainly to its having some lingering remains of transition
style, retaining, as it does, some round arches along with the
general features of the design."[445]
The vestry or sacristy was built by Abbot Walter Painter between
1411 and 1433, and is a two-storied building, the ground floor
having a groined ceiling, still entire, and the upper room being
roofless. Its features are of fifteenth-century work, and the
building is in good preservation.
Only fragments of the conventual buildings remain. "An octagonal
turret marks the south-east corner of the chapter-house with the
south and east return walls, and adjoining the south transept is the
slype, the walls of which determine the other walls of the
chapter-house. On the wall of the south transept is clearly seen the
mark of the dormitory roof, with the door between the church and
dormitory now built up."[446] The north wall and a portion of the
west wall proceeding southward from it are all that remain of the
extensive enclosure of the abbey. The enclosure was said to have
been of great height and to have extended 1150 feet on the east and
west, 760 feet on the north, and 480 feet on the south. There were
great towers at the angles and entrance gateways on the north and at
the south-east angle. In the centre of the north wall is the
portcullis entrance gatehouse. The front wall is almost entire, and
the upper floor window is crossed by the corbels which carried the
movable wooden hoarding that was erected over the gateway when
required for its defence.[447] At the western extremity of the north
enclosing wall there is a large square tower, three stories in
height in the inside, and four stories on the outside, owing to the
fall of the ground. The two lower floors are round-vaulted, and the
cape-house on top is said to have been removed during this
century.[448] The building adjoining the tower to the east was
called the Regality Court-house, and had a groined ceiling. The
abbot's house is on the south side of the cloister, and is the best
preserved abbot's house in Scotland. It is three stories high, and
the two upper floors have been converted into a modern private
dwelling-house. It has been altered externally and spoiled of its
ancient internal fittings, with the exception of two fine carved
panels, one representing the Virgin, and the other a large Scotch
thistle. The kitchen has central pillars supporting a groined
roof,[449] and the other offices connected with the kitchen are all
vaulted. The abbey suffered from fire in 1272 and in 1380, while in
1350 it was injured "from the frequent assaults of the English
ships."[450] Service was up to 1590 conducted in the lady chapel
"stripped of its altars and images."
_Melrose Abbey (Roxburghshire)._--The editor of the _Liber de Melros_
has said in reference to this abbey:--
"The incidental mention of the condition of the abbey itself at
different times strongly illustrates the history of the district and
the age. At one time powerful and prosperous, accumulating property,
procuring privileges, commanding the support of the most powerful,
and proudly contending against the slightest encroachment; at
another, impoverished and ruined by continual wars, obliged to seek
protection from the foreign invader: in either situation it reflects
back faithfully the political condition of the country.
But the political events of a country of so narrow bounds and small
resources as Scotland are insignificant unless they are associated
with the development of principles and feelings that know no limits
of place or power. How rich Scotland has been in such associations
is testified by the general sympathy which attends her history and
her literature, and gives a pride to her children that forms not the
weakest safeguard of their virtue. It is in recalling freshly the
memory of times in which the proud and virtuous character of her
people was formed, and which it is their delight and their duty to
look back upon, that such studies as the present are most useful.
Every local association, every faint illustration of antiquity, each
indication of the bygone manners of a simple age, are in this view
to be treasured, not only as filling a page of a meagre history, but
as so many moral ties to bind us closer in affection to the country
of our fathers."[451]
This abbey has a charming site in the hill-girt hollow known as the vale
of Melrose, occupying one of those peaceful situations near a river
which the Cistercians delighted to choose and colonise. An ancient
monastery of Melrose had existed since the seventh century, on a broad
meadow nearly surrounded by a "loop" of the Tweed, about 2-1/2 miles
lower down the river. It was established about 650 by St. Aidan, the
missionary from Iona, who preached in Northumbria, and founded the abbey
of Lindisfarne. Eata was the first abbot we hear of, and he was a
disciple of St. Aidan. St. Cuthbert spent much of his early life at this
monastery of old Melrose, and afterwards chose as the scene of his
labours Hexham and Lindisfarne. The monks of Lindisfarne, when expelled
by the Danes, took refuge at Melrose, and brought with them St.
Cuthbert's body, which afterwards found its resting-place at Durham. In
the eleventh century this old monastery of Melrose had become a ruined
and desolate place. It afterwards became the retreat of a few monks,
amongst whom was the celebrated Turgot, the confessor of Queen Margaret.
A chapel was erected and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, which at first
belonged to Coldingham, but was gifted finally by David I. to the new
abbey of Melrose.
This abbey was founded in 1136 at a place then called Fordell, and was
endowed by David I. and his nobles with extensive lands. The monks were
of the Cistercian order, and were brought from Rievalle in Yorkshire.
The original buildings were not finished till 1146, and on the 28th of
July in that year the church was solemnly consecrated and dedicated to
the Virgin Mary. It is thought that such buildings with an oratory were
probably the residence of the monks, and their period would suggest the
Norman style, like that of the abbeys of Kelso, Jedburgh, and Dryburgh.
Every trace of these early buildings has disappeared, and, situated as
it was on the border-country, Melrose Abbey was exposed to danger, and
frequently suffered in the wars between the two countries. It was in the
chapter-house at Melrose that the Yorkshire barons united against King
John and swore fealty to Alexander II. in 1215. In 1295 Edward I. gave
formal protection to its monks, and in 1296 he issued a writ ordering a
restitution to them of all the property they had lost in the preceding
struggle. In 1321 or 1322 the original structure was destroyed by the
English under Edward II., and the abbot, with a number of the monks, was
killed. In 1326 Robert I. gave a grant of £2000 to be applied to the
rebuilding of the church, and in 1329, a few months before his death, he
wrote a letter to his son David, requesting that his heart should be
buried at Melrose and commending the monastery and the church to his
successor's favour. His wish was granted, and so late as 1369 we hear of
King David II. renewing his father's gift, and it is to this grant we
owe a considerable part of the present building. In 1328 Edward III.
ordered the restoration to the abbey of pensions and lands which it had
held in England, and which had been seized by Edward II. In 1334 the
same king granted a protection to Melrose in common with the other
Border abbeys, and in 1341 he came to Melrose to spend Christmas. In
1385 Richard II., exasperated by his fruitless expedition into Scotland,
spent a night in the abbey and caused it to be burned. Notwithstanding
these disasters, the abbey increased in wealth and architectural
splendour, and it was not till more severe damage and dilapidations
befell it during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI. and Elizabeth,
that ruin began finally to impend. The approach of the Reformation
influenced its downfall, and though donations for rebuilding were given
by various individuals, the abbey never recovered the damage then
suffered. In 1541 James V. obtained from the Pope the abbeys of Melrose
and Kelso, to be held _in commendam_ by his illegitimate son James, who
died in 1558. In 1560 all the "abbacie" was annexed to the Crown, and in
1566 Mary granted the lands to James, Earl of Bothwell, with the title
of Commendator. After passing through the hands of Douglas of Lochleven
and Sir John Ramsay, the estates were ultimately acquired by the Scotts
of Buccleuch. The abbey gradually fell into decay through neglect. The
materials were used for the erection of other structures, and Douglas
built from the ruins a house which still stands to the north of the
cloisters and bears the date 1590. The masonry also formed a quarry for
the neighbourhood, and in 1618 the remaining portion of the structure
was fitted up as the parish church, "and in order to render it secure, a
plain pointed barrel vault was thrown across the nave, and was supported
by plain square piers built against the old piers on the north side. The
original vaulting seems to have been previously demolished."[452] A
great number of the stone images of saints which filled the numerous
wall niches were left untouched till 1649, when they were almost all
cast down and destroyed, but by whose order is unknown. Of the abbey
there now only remain the ruins of the church, and of it the most
competent authorities say:--
"No building in Scotland affords such an extensive and almost
inexhaustible field for minute investigation and enjoyment of detail
such as this. Whether we consider the great variety of the
beautifully sculptured figures of monks and angels playing on
musical instruments, or displaying 'the scrolls which teach us to
live and die,' or turn to the elaborate canopies and beautiful
pinnacles of the buttresses, or examine the rich variety of foliage
and other sculptures on the capitals of the nave and the doorway and
arches of the cloisters; or if, again, we take a more general view
of the different parts of the edifice from the numerous fine
standpoints from which it can be so advantageously contemplated, we
know of no Scottish building which surpasses Melrose either in the
picturesqueness of its general aspect or in the profusion or value
of its details. It occupies an important position also historically,
and it in part supplies an admirable example of that decorated
architecture, the existence of which in this country has been so
often denied, but of which, we trust, a sufficient number of
examples are now provided to render that reproach to Scottish
architecture no longer justifiable. We have to thank the fine red
sandstone of the district, of which the church is built, for the
perfect preservation of all the details of the structure. These
remain, even in the minutest carving, as perfect and complete as the
day they were executed."[453]
The cloister and domestic buildings, including the hall of Abbot
Matthew, were situated on the _north_ side of the church. They have
now entirely disappeared, leaving only a portion of the cloister
which indicates their position. The church is cruciform, and the
choir is unusually short and the nave unusually long. The aisled
choir extends only two bays eastwards from the crossing, beyond
which point the presbytery is carried one bay farther, without
aisles, and is lighted by large north and south windows as well as
by the great eastern window.
The shortness of the choir rendered it necessary that part of the
nave should be appropriated for the monks, and the enclosing screen
wall of this portion of the "choir" extended to the fourth pier west
from the crossing, where it was carried across the nave and formed
the rood screen. The screen was wide and contained a gallery, on the
top of which stood the rood.[454] The nave extends to eight bays,
but it has been intended to be longer--the west end being
incomplete. Extending southwards, beyond the south aisle, is a
series of eight chapels, which produced externally, along with the
south aisle, the appearance of a double aisle.[455] The north aisle
is narrower than the south aisle, and the position of the cloister
may have hampered the design.
This difference may have arisen from the plan of the original abbey of
the twelfth century being adhered to in the later construction.[456]
The transepts contain the usual eastern aisle only, in which are
situated four chapels.
The superstructure of the church has severely suffered and the
western part is greatly demolished. The portion eastwards from the
rood screen is in better preservation. The vaulting of the aisles is
well-preserved, but that of the centre aisle is demolished--a
pointed tunnel vault having been constructed in 1618. The eight
chapels are well preserved, but some parts of the three furthest
west ones are damaged and have lost their vaulting. The tracery in
the chapel windows is lovely; the vaulting of the nave, south aisle
and chapels, is supported by a series of flying buttresses, "which
form one of the most prominent and beautiful elements of the
building. No church in Scotland retains such a striking example of
that important feature of Gothic architecture."[457]
The eastern piers of the crossing were demolished probably in Henry
VIII.'s time, and their destruction entailed that of the central
tower, of which the western wall only remains. The transepts have
suffered by the fall of the tower, but fortunately the south wall of
the transept with its finely decorated window is still preserved.
From the south transept access is obtained to the roof of the nave
aisle and to the uppermost parts of the structure by a turnpike
stair, which also forms the only mode of approach to the tower.[458]
"The choir, so far as the east is concerned, is well preserved, the
buttresses and gable, the celebrated eastern window, and the
remarkable vaulting of the presbytery being all in good order. The
remainder of the choir, however, has been greatly wrecked by the
fall of the central tower; but many of the windows of the choir and
transept with their perpendicular tracery have escaped destruction,
and afford the best example in Scotland of that form of
design."[459]
The building, as it now stands, is, generally speaking,[460] of a
date subsequent to Bruce's time, and much of it is later than the
destruction which occurred under Richard II. in 1385.[461] "The
nave, from the crossing to the rood loft, and part of the transepts
are, undoubtedly, the oldest portions of the existing edifice. The
work in these is, for the most part, of the Scottish decorated
period. The nave piers, with their beautifully carved caps, and the
mouldings of the arches are distinctly decorated work; and the
flying buttresses and pinnacles on the south side of the nave are,
without doubt, of the same period. So also is the south wall of the
transept, with its magnificent window and tracery and its
buttresses, enriched with fine canopies and quaint figures carved as
corbels.
"All these features bear a close affinity to the decorated work of
the nave of York Minster, erected about 1400. The flying buttresses,
with pinnacles enriched with crockets and foliaged finials; the
niches, with their elaborate canopies and corbels composed of
figures of monks and angels; the statues which formerly filled the
niches, of which very few now remain; the decorated tracery of the
south transept window, and the whole character of the work, both in
its general scope and in its details, is of fine decorated design,
and vividly recalls that of York, Beverley, and other English
examples. It is not improbable that some parts of the nave and
transept were erected during the period between the death of King
Robert Bruce and the invasion of Richard II. It should be mentioned
that Bruce's bequest was not all received till 1399, and the
operations also probably proceeded slowly. The doorway in the south
wall of the south transept is apparently an insertion in older
work."[462] The south chapels of the nave have apparently been added
during the repairs in the earlier part of the fifteenth century; the
buttresses were probably executed towards the middle of that
century, and the east one contains the arms of Abbot Hunter.[463]
There is a distinct change in the transept's design from that of the
nave, as if the former had been added to the latter at a later
period.[464] The east wall and the other eastern parts of the choir
are more recent than the nave, and probably this portion of the
church had been more damaged by Richard II. than the nave, and
required to be almost wholly rebuilt. The style here corresponds
closely with the "perpendicular" of England which prevailed in the
fifteenth century.[465] The great eastern window is exceptional and
unique, and has more of the character of perpendicular than any
other style. Scott, referring to it, has described the moon as
shining
Through slender shafts of shapely stone,
By foliaged tracery combined;
Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand,
Twixt poplars straight, the osier wand,
In many a freakish knot, had twined;
Then framed a spell, when the work was done,
And changed the willow-wreaths to stone.
The design of the west wall of the north transept is different from
that of the other parts of the building, but the clerestory windows
are of the same design as the rest of the older church. "The wall
ribs of the vaulting include two windows in each; and the space
between the windows is occupied by two niches, each carried up from
a shaft--with late canopies, containing statues of St. Peter and St.
Paul, the former having the keys and the latter holding his sword.
These are the best preserved statues in the church, but they are not
of very remarkable workmanship."[466] The building or restoration of
the eastern part of the edifice is regarded as indicating, from its
style, work of the middle of the fifteenth century, and the vaulting
of the south transept appears to have been erected by Abbot Hunter
about the same time,[467] probably from 1450 to 1460. More of the
vaulting in the eastern part of the nave may have been carried out
at that epoch. The vaults all contain, besides the main and ridge
ribs, subsidiary ribs, or tiercerons, indicating a similarity to
English examples.[468]
The vaulting of the presbytery is peculiar, and points to a somewhat
later time; examples of vaulting similar to that of the presbytery
of Melrose may be seen at Winchester Cathedral, and other English
examples of the fifteenth century.[469]
The south chapels to the west of the fifth buttress west from the
transept, on which buttress another specimen of Abbot Hunter's arms
is engraved, are of comparatively late date.[470] "This buttress
belongs to the earlier part of the nave, and the chapel seems to
have been repaired when the additional chapels to the west were
erected. Besides the three hunting horns in the shield of Abbot
Hunter in the examples above mentioned, the arms engraved on the
fifth buttress contain two crosiers, saltierwise, and the initials
A. H. on the right and left; also, in chief a rose, and in base a
mason's mell for Melrose. The work in the chapels to the west is
inferior to that of those to the eastward, although copied from
them. The chapels each contain an enriched piscina, and these are so
inferior in style of workmanship as to lead to the belief that they
were inserted after the chapels were built. One of them contains the
initials of Abbot William Turnbull, whose date is the beginning of
the sixteenth century. A late piscina has also been inserted in the
south transept.
"Work in the nave and in the south chapels was apparently in
progress during the reign of James IV., as the royal arms, with the
letters I. Q. (Jacobus Quartus) and the date 1505 on the westmost
buttress testify."[471] On the south side of the cloister is a very
lovely doorway that leads into the church. To the right of this and
along the east wall of the cloister, are arched recesses of a late
style, and in the south wall is an arcade of trefoil form, with
nail-head enrichments. The latter is an example of the late revival
of early forms which prevailed towards the close of the Gothic
epoch.[472]
It has been stated that the arcade of the cloister formerly extended
150 feet each way. The cloister wall is now reduced to the portions
which abut against the nave and transept--50 feet on the east side
and 80 feet on the south side. "The former side contains a wall
arcade of seven arches. These are of the form called drop arches,
with crocketed ogee hood moulding, and have plain spandrils above,
over which there runs a straight cornice, enriched with flowers and
shells of all descriptions very beautifully carved."[473] Of these
Sir Walter Scott said:--
Nor herb nor floweret glistened there
But was carved in the cloister arches as fair.
The tower was doubtless erected about the same time as the
transept.[474] In the south transept are two inscriptions that have
given rise to much speculation and continue to exercise Border
antiquaries. One of these is carved over the doorway in the west
wall which gives access to the wheel stair, and part of the
inscription is carried down one side for want of room. It is the
following:--
Sa gays the cumpas evyn about,
Sa trouth and laute. do but duite.
Behald to ye hende q. Johne Morvo.[475]
The other inscription is carved on a tablet in the wall on the south
side of the same door:--
John Morow sum tym callit was I
And born in Parysse certanly
And had in kepyng al masoun werk
Of Santandroys ye hye kyrk
Of Glasgw Melros and Paslay
Of Nyddysdayll and of Galway
I pray to God and Mari bath
And sweet S. John kep this haly kirk frae skaith.
In the centre of the former inscription is a sunk panel containing a
shield with two masons' compasses, arranged somewhat like a saltier,
and beneath a figure resembling a _fleur-de-lys_.
The late Dr. John Smith, in the _Proceedings of the Antiquarian
Society of Scotland_, considers these inscriptions as applying to
one man, who may have been the master mason of the building. But Mr.
Pinches, in his account of the abbey, mentions that John Murdo, or
Morow, was engaged in building a church in Galloway in 1508. It thus
seems likely that these inscriptions are not earlier than that date,
and have been added to the building after its completion.[476]
An interesting view regarding John Morow will be found in _A
Mediæval Architect_, by Mr. P. MacGregor Chalmers. He believes that
the south chapel of the transept was that of St. John, and as John
Morrow's tablet is opposite this chapel, his prayer to "sweet St.
John" is most appropriate. Mr. Chalmers also points out that the
chapels at the east end of Glasgow Cathedral are dedicated to the
same saints and in the same order as those in the east aisle of the
transept at Melrose.[477]
Immediately beneath the site of the high altar at Melrose is the
resting-place of the heart of Robert Bruce, and to the south of it
is a dark-coloured polished slab of encrinital limestone said to
mark the grave of Alexander II., who was buried near the high altar
in 1249. Others maintain, however, that it marks the burial-place of
St. Waltheof or Waldeve, who was the second abbot of the monastery
founded by King David, and that it is the slab placed here by
Ingram, Bishop of Glasgow (1164-1174).
The chancel was also the burial-place of the Douglases. The Douglas
tombs were all defaced by Sir Ralph Evers in 1544. At the northern
end of the north transept a small doorway leads into the sacristy,
in which is the tombstone of Johanna, Queen of Alexander II., with
the inscription "Hic jacet Johanna d. Ross." Melrose is the
Kennaquhair of the _Abbot_ and the _Monastery_.
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL SURVEY OF SCOTTISH MEDIÆVAL ARCHITECTURE
Mediæval architecture of Scotland arranged according to the periods
stated in Chapter II.:[478]--
_Transition from Celtic to Norman Architecture_:--_Abernethy Round
Tower_, Perthshire (p. 7). _Restennet Priory_, Forfarshire (p. 7). _St.
Regulus, St. Andrews_, Fifeshire (p. 18).
_Norman Architecture_:--_Markinch Tower_ (Fifeshire). Present church
modern, early church consecrated 1243; the tower is an ancient Norman
building. _Muthill Church_ (Perthshire), has Norman tower at the west
end, with nave having north and south aisles and an aisleless choir. The
church is now in ruins, and was built by Michael Ochiltree, who was Dean
of Dunblane (1425) and Bishop (1430). _St. Serf's, Dunning_
(Perthshire), has Norman tower, with elaborately carved and pointed
archway opening from the tower into the church, which has been greatly
altered. The W. gable wall of the church and part of the N. and E. wall
are original. There appears to have been a chancel; the ancient corbels
at N. parapet survive, and the raggle of the original roof is seen
against the E. side of the tower. Church mentioned here in 1219
(ecclesia sancti servani de Dunnyne). _Cruggleton Church_
(Wigtownshire), in ruins; has early Norman chancel arch and north
doorway recently restored; the plan shows a simple oblong with chancel
arch. _Monymusk Church_ (Aberdeenshire), founded by Malcolm Canmore;
remains of ancient Norman church in lower part of the tower and chancel
arch, incorporated in modern church on old site. Ancient Celtic centre.
_St. Brandon's, Birnie_ (Morayshire), has nave and chancel without
aisles; chancel has no window in E. wall, but round-headed windows in N.
and S. walls; chancel arch has semicircular attached shaft with moulded
base and heavy Norman cap, with numerous sub-divisions. Advanced date.
Stone font of Norman design, and Celtic bell. _St. Oran's Chapel, Iona_
(p. 65). _St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle_, comprises a nave
with chancel arch and chancel, which has a round apse, formed within the
square E. end of the exterior. The genuine surviving Norman masonry
begins below the line of the S. windows; rest later work. Chancel has
locker and piscina, chancel arch decorated with chevron design, nave
arched roof is later than the walls. Chapel is a fairly advanced example
of Norman work in plan and decoration. _Dunfermline Abbey_ (p. 139).
_Kirkwall Cathedral_ (p. 69). _St. Blane's Church_ (Bute) has oblong
nave and chancel separated by lofty wall with chancel arch. Norman
masonry in nave and chancel arch. _Dalmeny Church_ (p. 102). _Leuchars
Church_ (p. 104). _Bunkle Church_ (Berwickshire) has Norman work in
ruined semicircular apse, with arch leading into it, and may be earlier
than 12th century. _Edrom Church_ (Berwickshire) has still surviving a
Norman doorway of beautiful design, now an entrance to a burial vault.
An aisle is attached to the church, and was founded by Archbishop
Blackadder in 1499; two angle buttresses are of interest. _Legerwood_
(Berwickshire) has attached to the parish church (old, but frequently
repaired), and cut off by a wall, the roofless ruins of the original
Norman chancel. A Celtic interlaced stone is built into the S. wall near
the W. end. _Chirnside_ (Berwickshire) has Norman work in the doorway of
the ruined church, and at the sides there are remains of a projection,
probably a porch. A western tower, vaulted in stone, was removed in
1750. _St. Helen's Church_ (Berwickshire), near Cockburnspath, now in
ruins, was a Norman structure, with the exception of the W. gable wall
(14th or 15th century). It was barrel-vaulted throughout, and the N.
chancel wall is entire. There is a narrow E. window. _Tyninghame Church_
(Haddingtonshire) was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred; the
structural remains exhibit elaborate ornamental work of the Norman
style. _Stobo Church_ (Peeblesshire) is a Norman structure, to which
alterations and additions have been made in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It was the church of a plebania, with subordinate churches.
_Duddingston_ (Mid-Lothian) is a Norman edifice, used since 12th century
as the parish church. It has been much altered, originally consisting of
nave, chancel, and perhaps tower, and the chancel arch is the only
Norman feature now remaining in the interior. _St. Andrew's Church,
Gullane_ (Haddingtonshire), is now a roofless ruin, and was made
collegiate in 1446. The semicircular chancel arch is almost the only
part of the 12th century work now surviving. _Uphall Church_ and _St.
Nicholas Church_ (Linlithgowshire). Uphall Church, consisting of nave,
chancel, western tower, is a Norman structure throughout, much altered.
When this became the parish church in the 16th century, St. Nicholas
(one mile east) was abandoned. Two relics of it remain--the font, of
which the basin is old, and the bell, now used in Uphall Church, and
dated 1441. _Abercorn_ (Linlithgowshire). A church was founded here in
675 under St. Wilfrid, and became the see of the earliest bishopric in
Scotland from 681 to 685. The monks were forced to retire to Whitby, but
the site was occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure
(the round-headed doorway in S. wall) is of Norman date. The tympanum is
filled with stones arranged in zig-zag patterns. The church has been
altered in modern times; there are good specimens in the churchyard of
hog-backed tombstones, with figures of fish scale pattern arranged in
rows, and scales of a squarer shape. _Kelso Abbey_ (p. 169).
_St. Martin's Church_ (Haddington) is a very ancient chapel; a simple
oblong; portion of barrel vault still exists; choir formerly existed;
the arch is late Norman in design. _Kirkliston Church_, Linlithgowshire,
has ancient tower and Norman doorways (S. and N.E.), and belonged
originally to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. _St. Mary's, Ratho_,
Mid-Lothian, has Norman work preserved in doorway in S.W. wall. _St.
Peter's, Peterhead_, Aberdeenshire, has chancel of Norman period. _St.
Mary's, Rutherglen_, Lanarkshire, had a nave with side aisles and a
chancel, but of the ancient church only a fragment now remains in the E.
wall with eastern tower attached to it. The E. wall masonry indicates
the Norman period, and the eastern tower, although built against, had no
connection with the church, while it is of later erection by two or
three centuries. _Lamington Church_ (Lanarkshire) has the old N. doorway
still preserved. _St. Boswell's Church_, Roxburghshire, has been
entirely rebuilt, but has some relics of carved corbels and other
fragments of Norman date. _Smailholm Church_, Roxburghshire, is
distinctly a Norman structure throughout its entire length, although
greatly altered in the 17th century. _Linton Church_, Roxburghshire, is
old, but has been restored and renewed. There is a Norman font, and a
sculpture in the tympanum of the ancient church doorway may possibly
represent St. George and the Dragon, or Faith overcoming Evil. It was
placed in 1858 over the entrance to a new porch then erected. _Duns
Church_, Berwickshire, had the chancel of the ancient structure existing
until 1874, when it was removed, and not a stone now remains. Its
masonry, judged from a photograph, looks very like Norman work. _St.
Lawrence Church, Lundie_, Forfarshire, was a Norman structure, of which
little remains except the ashlar walls, a narrow window, and outside
check for a shutter. The chancel arch was built up in 1786, when the
apse appears to have been taken down; the top of a sacrament house of
late date survives. _Kirkmaiden Church_, Wigtownshire, has a nave that
appears to be of Norman date, and there is an apparent chancel at the
east end, but its dimensions and origin are not distinct. _Herdmanston
Font_, Haddingtonshire, is a relic of the Norman period, and stands in
the burial vault of the Sinclairs of Herdmanston.
_The Transition Style._--_Dundrennan Abbey_ (Cistercian),
Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by David I. about 1142. Portions of N.
and S. transepts, choir, chapter-house, some cellar walls and other
walls, with a few carved caps now remain. Queen Mary was welcomed at the
abbey after her flight from Langside, and embarked for England from Port
Mary, at the mouth of the Abbey Burn. _Jedburgh Abbey_ (p. 129).
_Kinloss Abbey_ (Cistercian), Morayshire, was founded by David I. in
1150, and colonised from Melrose. The enlightened Robert Reid, founder
of the College of Edinburgh, was its abbot in 1528. Till 1650 the
buildings were tolerably entire, and were then used to construct
Cromwell's citadel at Inverness. The remains are now mere fragments.
_The Nunnery_, Iona (p. 68). _St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen_ (p. 78).
_Coldingham Priory_ (Benedictine), Berwickshire, was founded or
refounded in 1098 by Edgar, son of Queen Margaret, and dedicated to St.
Cuthbert, S.S. Mary and Ebba. The canons of Durham controlled it until
1504, and in 1509 it was placed under the rule of Dunfermline. It
suffered both from fire and its nearness to the Border; it was also
damaged by Cromwell, and was afterwards used as a quarry. Little of the
monastery now remains, and of the church only the N. and E. walls of
the choir and fragments of the S. transept. In 1662 the W. and S. walls
of the choir were rebuilt to make that part of the edifice suitable for
worship, and in 1854-55 the choir was restored, its W. and S. walls
being again partly rebuilt, S. porch added, and the corner turrets
carried up to their present height. Stones are preserved of an earlier
church than the existing one. _Dryburgh Abbey_ (p. 134). _Airth Church_
(Stirlingshire) dates from the period about the beginning of the 13th
century, but only a small part of the early structure remains--a bay of
what has been a nave arcade, opening into a north aisle. _Lasswade
Church_, Mid-Lothian, had an old church, consisting of oblong chamber
and tower. The S. wall doorway and tower reveal Transition work about
first half of 13th century. _Bathgate Church_, Linlithgowshire, is now a
ruin, being abandoned in 1739 for a new church. The doorway is almost
the only feature of its architecture left, and its details are of
transitional period. In the church is a recumbent statue.
_First Pointed Period._--_St. Andrews Cathedral and Priory_ (pp. 13,
123); _St. Mary's, Kirkheugh, St. Andrews_ (p. 102); _Arbroath Abbey_
(p. 177); _Holyrood Abbey_ (p. 124). _Kilwinning Abbey_ (Tironensian),
Ayrshire, was erected on a site occupied in the 8th century by an Irish
monk called St. Winnan, who is believed to be the same as St. Finnan of
Moville. On the spot sanctified by his cell the monastery was erected in
the 12th century by Richard or Hugh Moville, who came from England, was
created by the Scottish king Great Constable of the Kingdom and
presented with the lordships of Cuninghame, Largs, and Lauderdale. The
church was erected early in 13th century. The buildings were destroyed
shortly after the Reformation, and the parish church was erected on the
site of the choir about 1775. The ruins consist of S. wall and gable of
S. transept, one pier with respond and arch between S. transept and E.
aisle; handsome door which led from nave to cloisters; entrance to the
chapter-house from cloisters; long ancient wall which formed the wall of
S. aisle of nave; some portions of W. end of nave and S.W. tower. The N.
tower remained complete till this century, and a new tower has in recent
times been erected on its site. _Dunblane Cathedral_ (p. 47).
_Inchmahome Priory_ (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded and
endowed by Walter Comyn, fourth Earl of Menteith, and the church, which
has striking resemblances in detail to the neighbouring cathedral of
Dunblane, evidently dates about 1250. Inchmahome means Isle of Rest,
and the church is fairly well preserved. In 1543 Queen Mary, as a
child, found refuge here along with her mother after the battle of
Pinkie, and stayed for some months. Dr. John Brown has charmingly
written about the young queen's miniature or child's garden--a small
flower plot, the boxwood edging of which has grown up into a thick
shrubbery. _Elgin Cathedral_ (p. 40). _Pluscarden Priory_
(Valliscaulian), Morayshire, was, along with Beauly and Ardchattan,
founded by Alexander II. for the Order of Vallis Caulium. Pluscarden is
situated in a long, well-sheltered valley. About 1460, when the monks
had become corrupt, they were superseded by the Black Benedictine monks
from Dunfermline, and the priory became dependent on that house. The
last prior was Alexander Dunbar, and the first lay prior Lord Seton. The
existing buildings consist chiefly of the remains of the church--an
aisleless choir N. and S. transepts with eastern aisles, and square
tower. There is no nave. The monastic buildings consist of the sacristy,
or St. Mary's aisle, the chapter-house, the slype, and monks' hall--the
whole forming the E. side of the cloisters. To the S.E. of cloister
garth is probably the prior's house. The oldest parts are transepts with
eastern aisles, built doubtless soon after the foundation. _Glasgow
Cathedral_ (p. 22). _Brechin Cathedral_ (p. 44). _Lindores Abbey_
(Tironensian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1178 by David, Earl of
Huntingdon, grandson of David I., and brother of King William the Lion.
The church of Dundee belonged to the monks of Lindores, and the name
Lindores is believed to mean "church by the water." Alexander III.,
Wallace, Edward I., David II. visited the abbey, and the Duke of
Rothesay was buried in the church. James, Earl of Douglas, passed the
last years of his life here. Two small coffins, found buried in the
choir, are believed to have contained the remains of two children of
Earl David, the founder. The buildings, entering from the E. side of the
cloister, are the best preserved, and of the church little but the
foundations and some portions of the wall survive. Adjoining S. transept
is the vaulted slype, and the room over it may have been the scriptorium
or library. The night passage of the monks led through that apartment,
as the stair was in S.W. angle of transept, and could only be thus
reached. _Cambuskenneth Abbey_ (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded
by David I. about 1147. James III. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark,
were interred before the high altar, and a stone altar monument has been
erected over their remains by Queen Victoria. The detached tower at the
W. is almost the only part remaining in a completed state; the W.
doorway is nearly entire, as is also portion of gable wall and side
walls at S.E. corner of the buildings. _Culross Abbey_ (Cistercian) and
_Parish Church_, Perthshire. The abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm,
Earl of Fife, and considerable remains of that period, and some walls of
what might be of earlier date, still survive, but principal parts of
existing church are of later date. A few fragments of the monastic
structure survive. The tower divides the E. from the W. church. The
aisleless choir serves as parish church. The old parish church is a
ruinous structure, about one mile N.W. from the abbey; plain oblong; in
1633 the abbey became the parish church. _Beauly Priory_
(Valliscaulian), Inverness-shire, was founded in 1230 and endowed by Sir
John Bisset of Lovat. The ruined church survives, but has been sadly
abused. Monastic buildings have nearly disappeared. First Pointed was
later here than elsewhere. _Newbattle or Newbotle Abbey_ (Cistercian),
Mid-Lothian, was founded by David I. in 1140 for monks brought from
Melrose. It was a great house, and about 1350 its annual income could
maintain eighty monks and seventy lay brethren, with the corresponding
establishment. The last abbot was Mark Ker, and the lordship of Newbotle
was conferred on his son. The abbey appears to have been almost
abolished shortly after the Reformation, the only parts of the monastic
buildings allowed to remain being the fratery and portions of the
chapter-house, which were incorporated with the mansion-house. The nave
of the church contained 10 bays; the choir and presbytery comprised
1-1/2 bay. The piers supported a tower over the crossing, and the
architecture of the transepts was massive. _Lismore Cathedral_ (p. 59).
_St. Kentigern's_, Lanark, was ancient parish church; abandoned for new
one about 1777. It consisted of two six-bayed aisles, each with a
chancel, but without a nave; there remain the lofty pointed arches
dividing the two aisles, the wall of the S. one, and a fragment of the
chancels. In the S. wall is a beautiful doorway. _Burntisland Church_,
Fifeshire, _Prestonkirk_, Haddingtonshire, _Cowie_, Aberdeenshire, also
illustrate in whole or part this period. _Deer Abbey_ (Cistercian),
Aberdeenshire, was founded in 1218, and succeeded a church founded in
580 by St. Columba and his nephew Drostan. The conventual buildings now
existing are subsequent in date to the founding of the abbey church
(completed first), and this may account for the abbot demitting office
in 1267, "choosing rather to live in the sweet converse of his brethren
at Melrose than to govern an unworthy flock under the lowly roofs of
Deir." _Luffness Monastery, Redfriars_, Haddingtonshire, was founded by
Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, in 1286. The church consisted of nave and
choir, without aisles; the choir has arched recess and much-worn effigy.
The remains consist mostly of foundations. _Tungland Abbey_
(Premonstratensian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by Fergus, first
lord of Galloway, in 12th century, and is now represented by only one
doorway. _Inchcolm Abbey_ (Augustinian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1123
by Alexander I., who had been driven ashore on the island by a storm,
and was maintained with his followers for three days by a hermit who
made Inchcolm his retreat. There is still a small cell covered with a
pointed barrel vault, which may have been his abode. The island was the
cradle of religion in E. Scotland, and may have been visited by St.
Columba himself. Like Inchkeith, the Bass, Isle of May, and Fidra, it
possesses early ecclesiastical remains. The island, like Iona, was
celebrated as a place of burial. The monastic buildings date from 1216
chiefly; Walter Bower continued the Scotichronicon in the abbey. The
ruins consist of the cloister court with church on N. side, and
chapter-house beyond E. range. To the N. of the church was possibly the
infirmary. The S.E. has cellars, stores, and offices. First Pointed work
is also found at the churches of _Deer_; _Auchindoir_; _St. Cuthbert's,
Monkton_; _St. Nicholas, Prestwick_; _Altyre_; _St. Mary's, Rattray_;
_Abdie_; _St. Ninian's on the Isle_; _St. Colmanel's, Buittle_;
_Cockpen_; _Pencaitland_; _Gogar Font_.
_Middle Pointed or Decorated Architecture._--_New Abbey_ or _Sweetheart
Abbey_ (Cistercian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was dedicated to the Virgin. It
was called New Abbey because it was founded a considerable time after
Dundrennan, which was regarded as the old abbey. The founder was
Devorgilla, daughter of Allan, Lord of Galloway, wife of John Baliol of
Castle Barnard in Yorkshire, and mother of King John Baliol. When her
husband died in 1269, Devorgilla had his heart embalmed and placed in an
ivory coffin, which she carried about with her; at her death it was
buried with her in a grave in front of the abbey high altar, hence the
touching name of Sweetheart Abbey. She endowed the abbey, founded
Balliol College, Oxford, and built the bridge over the Nith at Dumfries,
portions of which still survive. The abbey suffered much last century,
but it has since been well cared for, and is in good preservation. Few
of our ancient churches are so well preserved, and the ruins represent a
period of Scottish Gothic of which not many examples survive. The
conventual buildings have been almost entirely demolished, but the
church is complete, although the roof is gone, and the walls are much
damaged. It comprises a nave with two side aisles, a choir without
aisles, N. and S. transepts (with eastern chapels opening off them), and
a square tower over the crossing. The precinct--a level field of about
20 acres--surrounds the abbey, and is still partly enclosed with a
strong wall, built with large blocks of granite. _Melrose Abbey_ (p.
184). _Lincluden College_, Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded anew about
the end of the 14th century by Archibald, the Grim, who expelled the
nuns. It was a frequent residence of the Earls of Douglas, and consisted
of choir separated from nave and transept by stone screen with wide
doorway. The choir is aisleless, consisting of three bays; the nave had
three bays with a window in each, and aisle on S. side. The architecture
is of great beauty. _Fortrose Cathedral_ (p. 52). _Crossraguel Abbey_
(Cluniac), Ayrshire, was founded by the Earl of Carrick and dedicated to
St. Mary. The last abbot, Quentin Kennedy, in 1562 held a famous dispute
with John Knox at Maybole. The abbey was much associated with the
Bruces. In 1570 occurred the cruel "roasting of the abbot." George
Buchanan received a pension out of the abbey revenues, and King James
intended to restore it as a residence for his son Henry. The abbey ruins
comprise, with the remains of the church, cloisters, and usual
buildings, an outer court to the S.W. with picturesque gate-house,
pigeon-house, and domestic buildings. The church is a simple oblong with
choir and nave, without aisles and transepts. _St. Giles'_, Edinburgh
(p. 89). _St. Michael's_, Linlithgow (p. 105). _St. Monans_, Fifeshire,
derives its name from St. Monanus, a missionary of the 8th century, who
suffered martyrdom by the Danes on the Isle of May. The original chapel
was replaced about 1362 by the present edifice, which suffered much at
the hands of the English, and has been altered. It consists of chancel,
N. and S. transepts, with tower and spire over the crossing, and is
still used as the parish church. It is picturesque and interesting.
_Whithorn Priory_ (p. 56). _St. Mary's_, Haddington (p. 107). _Fearn
Abbey_ (Premonstratensian), Ross-shire, was founded during the reign of
Alexander II. Of it there now only remain a part of the church, and the
ruins of some structures attached to it. The church is a simple oblong,
and part of it is still used as the parish church. _Balmerino Abbey_
(Cistercian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1229 by Ermengard, widow of
William the Lion, and her son Alexander II. Ermengard was buried in the
church before the high altar; she was a liberal benefactress, and her
son was a frequent visitor at Balmerino. Bishop Leslie ascribes the
demolition of the abbey in 1559 to "certain most worthless men of the
common people," for the damage of 1547, when Admiral Wyndham "bornt the
abbey with all thyngs that were in it," seems to have been much
repaired. The abbey buildings are now in a ruinous state, only the
chapter-house, with the erections adjoining it, being at all well
preserved. To the E. of the chapter-house are the ruins of the abbot's
house. The church is situated, as the mother church at Melrose, on the
S. of the cloister, and consisted of nave with S. aisle, transepts with
the usual eastern aisle, and short presbytery without aisles. _St.
Bride's College_, Bothwell (p. 77). _Temple Church_, Mid-Lothian; _the
Chapel in Rothesay Castle_; _St. Bride's_, Douglas, Lanarkshire; _St.
Duthus'_, Tain, Ross-shire; _St. Peter's_, Inverkeithing, Fife; _St.
Devenic's_, Creich, Fife; _Faslane Church_, Argyleshire; _the Monument
of Sir W. Olifurd_, Aberdalgie, Perthshire, also embody architecture of
this period.
_Third or Late Pointed Period._--_Paisley Abbey_ (p. 148). _Dunkeld
Cathedral_ (p. 35). _Iona Cathedral_ (p. 60). _St. Machar's Cathedral_
(p. 37). _Trinity College Church_, Edinburgh, was situated on the W.
side of Leith Wynd, and founded by Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James II.,
in 1462. It was a very fine specimen of Scottish Gothic architecture of
the 15th century, and consisted of a choir with N. and S. aisles, a
five-sided apse, N. and S. transepts, with the commencement of a tower
over the crossing and N. sacristy. The nave was never erected--the arch
having a circular window inserted in it. It was the church of Trinity
College Parish till 1848, when it was removed to make way for the
railway station. The new church is in many details an exact reproduction
of the corresponding features of the original building. _St. John's,
Perth_ (p. 108). _Dundee Church_ (p. 113). _Glenluce Abbey_
(Cistercian), Wigtownshire, was founded in 1190 by Roland, Lord of
Galloway; the chapter-house is the only portion of the abbey in good
preservation. _Torphichen Church_, Linlithgowshire, represents the
hospital or preceptory of Torphichen, from 1153 the principal Scottish
residence of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Of the cruciform
church, the chancel and nave are entirely gone, and there is only left
a portion of the transept or "quier." The modern church is on the site
of the nave. _St. Anthony's Chapel, Edinburgh_--"Sanct Antonis in the
crag"--stands conspicuous from the Firth of Forth, and was perhaps
chosen with the intention of attracting the notice of seamen coming up
the Firth, who, in cases of danger, might be induced to make vows to its
tutelary saint. There is a fine spring of clear water close to the site,
which may have led to the establishment of the hermitage there. Wall
remains survive. _Rosslyn Church_ (p. 85). _Dunglass Collegiate Church_,
Haddingtonshire, is cruciform, and a deserted but complete edifice. The
choir and tower may have been built in 1403, the nave after 1450. It was
founded by Sir Alexander Home of Home. _Foulis-Easter Church_,
Perthshire, is a simple, oblong structure without buttresses or
projections of any kind; is well preserved and most interesting. It was
built by Andrew, second Lord Gray. _St. Salvador's, St. Andrews_ (p.
102). _Dalkeith Church_ (Mid-Lothian) was constituted collegiate in the
15th century, and consists of a nave of three bays with aisles, N. and
S. transepts, a W. tower, and aisleless choir of three bays with E.
apse. Part is used as the parish church. _St. Mungo's, Borthwick_
(Mid-Lothian) has been rebuilt, with the exception of the S. aisle or
chapel, and the structure has originally been a Norman one, with
aisleless nave, choir, and round E. apse. _Ladykirk, Berwickshire_, is
very complete and almost unaltered. It is situated on the high N. bank
of the Tweed, and is said to have been built in 1500, and dedicated to
St. Mary by James IV. in gratitude for his delivery from drowning by a
sudden flood of the Tweed. It is a triapsidal cross church, without
aisles, with an apsidal termination at the E. end of the chancel and at
the N. and S. ends of the transept. The body of the church and transepts
are covered with pointed barrel vaults, with ribs at intervals springing
from small corbels, and the whole is roofed with overlapping stone
flags. The upper part of the tower has been rebuilt, the lower part
being of the same date as the church, which is still the parish church.
_Seton Collegiate Church_, Haddingtonshire, probably rebuilt about the
close of the 15th century, was added to by the second Lord Seton when he
made the church collegiate in 1493, and was completed by the third Lord
Seton. The transepts, tower, and spire would appear to have been erected
by the Dowager Lady Seton in the 16th century, after her husband's death
at Flodden. _Arbuthnott Church_, Kincardineshire, is an interesting and
picturesque structure, containing work of three distinct periods. The
chancel was dedicated in 1242, and the nave may be in part of the same
period. The S. wing or aisle was built by Sir Robert Arbuthnott in the
end of the 15th century. The quaint W. end represents a combination of
the ecclesiastical and domestic architecture of Scotland. The church has
been well restored; the Arbuthnott Missal with the Psalter and office
were written for the use of this church by the vicar, James Sybbald,
about 1491. _King's College, Aberdeen_ (p. 80). _Church of the Holy
Rood, Stirling_ (p. 114). _St. Mary's Parish Church, Whitekirk_,
Haddingtonshire, was a great place of pilgrimage, and was visited among
others by Pope Pius II. (Æneas Sylvius), who came to render thanks to
the Virgin for his safe landing in Scotland. The church is on the plan
of a cross without aisles; the choir is vaulted with a pointed barrel
vault, and the roof is slated. Over the crossing is a square tower,
finished with a plain parapet; the E. end is square, and there is a fine
porch at the S.W. angle. The S.W. porch is one of the most striking
features of the structure, and its interior is roofed with pointed
barrel vaulting, having ribs springing from carved corbels. Third or
late Pointed architecture is also found at _Crichton Collegiate Church_,
Mid-Lothian; _Corstorphine Collegiate Church_, Mid-Lothian; _Crail
Collegiate Church_, Fife; _Mid-Calder Church_, Mid-Lothian; _St. Mary's
Church of the Carmelite Friars_, South Queensferry, Linlithgowshire;
_Yester Collegiate Church_, Haddingtonshire; _Tullibardine Collegiate
Church_, Perthshire; _Maybole Collegiate Church_, Ayrshire; _Biggar
Collegiate Church_ (p. 77); _Carnwath Collegiate Church_, Lanarkshire;
_St. Mary's Collegiate Church, Castle Semple_, Renfrewshire; _Church of
the Franciscans or Greyfriars, Elgin_, Morayshire, and at _Aberdeen_;
_Rowdil Priory_ (Augustinian), Harri, Inverness-shire; _Oronsay Priory_
(Augustinian), Argyleshire.
Examples of Scottish mediæval architecture are also to be found in the
following churches, arranged alphabetically by counties.
_Aberdeenshire_:--Kinkell, Kintore, Leask. _Argyleshire_:--Ardchattan
and St. Mund's Collegiate Church, Kilmun. _Ayrshire_:--Alloway, Old
Dailly, and Straiton. _Banffshire_:--Cullen Collegiate Church, Deskford,
and Mortlach. _Berwickshire_:--Church of Abbey St. Bathans (Cistercian
Nuns), Bassendean, Cockburnspath (an ancient structure), Preston.
_Buteshire_:--Church of St. Mary's Abbey, Rothesay.
_Dumbartonshire_:--Dumbarton Collegiate Church and Chapel at Kirkton of
Kilmahew. _Dumfriesshire_:--Canonby Priory (Augustinian), Kirkbryde, St.
Cuthbert's, Moffat; Sanquhar. _Fifeshire_:--Carnock, Dysart,
Kilconquhar, Kilrenny, Rosyth, Dominican Church, St. Leonard's (p. 116),
Holy Trinity (p. 117), St. Andrews. _Forfarshire_:--Airlie, Invergowrie,
Mains, Maryton, Pert, St. Vigean's. _Haddingtonshire_:--Church of
Trinity Friars, Dunbar, and Keith. _Kincardineshire_:--St. Palladius'
Church, Fordoun. _Kirkcudbrightshire_:--Old Girthon.
_Lanarkshire_:--Blantyre Priory (Augustinian), and Covington.
_Linlithgowshire_:--Auldcathie. _Mid-Lothian_:--St. Triduan's Collegiate
Church, Restalrig. _Peeblesshire_:--Newlands, Churches of Holy Cross and
St. Andrew, Peebles. _Perthshire_:--Aberuthven; St. Moloc, Alyth; St.
Mechessoc, Auchterarder; Cambusmichael; Abbey of Coupar (Cistercian);
Dron Church, Longforgan; Ecclesiamagirdle or Exmagirdle, Glenearn;
Forgandenny; Abbey of Inchaffray (Augustinian); Innerpeffray
(Collegiate); Kinfauns; Methven (Collegiate); Moncrieff Chapel;
Wast-town (near Errol). _Renfrewshire_:--Houston, St. Fillan's, and
Kilmalcolm. _Selkirkshire_:--Selkirk. _Wigtownshire_:--St. Machutus'
Church, Wigtown.
Mediæval architecture terminated with the Reformation in 1560. In
closing this necessarily brief record of our ancient Scottish churches,
a word must be added on the Scottish Reformation. It was the aim of Knox
to cleanse, not to destroy the temple, and the iconoclasm that followed
was the work of the "rascal multitude," while many of the churches and
abbeys were ruined by the attacks of the English before the Reformation,
as the previous pages indicate. The old builders, too, did a great deal
of what is now known as "scamped work," although it was partly
counteracted by the excellence of their lime and the thickness of their
walls. The real cause of the subsequent destruction was _neglect_, not
violence, while the secularising of the old endowments alienated into
other channels the means that were necessary to undo the effects of wind
and weather. As Carlyle said, "Knox wanted no pulling down of stone
edifices; he wanted leprosy and darkness to be thrown out of the lives
of men," and it is known that he exerted himself to save the Abbey of
Scone from destruction. In the case of Dunkeld Cathedral, the order
makes it quite clear that neither desks, windows, nor doors, glass work
nor iron work, was to be destroyed (pp. 36, 37). The aim of the
reformers was at heart an endeavour to make the old temples fit symbols
of the reformed faith, and the iconoclasm of the multitude is not to be
attributed to them, but to the ignorance and savagery of the time, for
which the Church of Rome was primarily to blame. It was this that
lessened church feeling and separated the power of truth from the beauty
of holiness. It is our privilege to-day to seek the unity of truth and
goodness with beauty, to maintain the faith of the Reformation along
with that beauty of church architecture which, in its brighter days, the
old church witnessed to. It is a one-sided view which sees in Gothic
nothing but the development of utility or the endeavour to attain
greater height; it is the true view which beholds in it the ideality,
piety, and faith that possessed the hearts of our forefathers. The
architect's design could never have been realised apart from their
offerings of devotion to the Christian religion. When Emerson visited
Carlyle at Craigenputtock, the latter, pointing to the parish church,
said to his American friend, "Christ's death built Dunscore Church
yonder." It is a deep, true utterance, for Christ's death has built
every church in Christendom, and these embodiments of beauty not least
of all. In this light we see what is at the heart of these ancient
Scottish churches, and what has created the affection that treasures
them. The ruined walls of so many of them ought to have been the home of
the reformed faith, life, and work, linking the present to the past by
natural piety, and visibly reminding the worshippers of the church that
endureth throughout all generations. The present revival of interest in
them is like a new-discovered sense, and is undoing the spoliation and
neglect of an age subsequent to the Reformation, and for which the
Scottish Reformers are not to blame. Theirs was no easy work, and
history has vindicated its results in the progressive genius of the
Scottish people. The Reformation saved religion, but the alienation of
the religious endowments to secular purposes, often by unworthy hands,
is the chief cause of the ruins which tell of a beauty that has left the
earth, and it has deprived the Church of so many of its venerable
heirlooms. Otherwise there might have been said of the Scottish as was
said of the English Reformation that but for it there would have been
little Norman or Early English left in the cathedrals, for it just came
at a time when the early styles were being pulled fast down to make room
for the later.[479] It was the Scottish Reformers' aim to make all the
churches parish churches, and each church the centre of the life and
work of each parish. Their grievance against monasticism arose from the
corrupt lives of the monks and from its intrusion on the parochial
system with the alienation of the parish teinds to the use of the
monastery. But the idea of _a church in the centre of a residence_, is
one not without suggestiveness to the life of to-day, with its many
activities, as a training home for workers; as a temporary retreat for
rest, meditation, and prayer to the hard-wrought ministers in the city
parishes; as a place for conference on the religious problems; as a
theological hall and settlement for divinity students, like that at
Loccum near Hanover, where a reformed mediæval monastery, free from
vows, and in the full vigour of its life, is used as a college and
residence for the students of the Reformed Church, and where the old
monastic church is used as the parish church for the people around. To
visit Loccum and see it presided over by the venerable Protestant
theologian, Dr. Ullhorn, with its garden, grounds, and farm, its church
and cloisters, its great library and residence for professors and
students, is to be persuaded of the rich possibilities that lie within
the reach of the Scottish Church in the restoration of some of its
ruined abbeys. The saintly Leighton felt the need of this, and thought
"the great and fatal error of the Reformation was, that more of these
houses and of that course of life, _free from the entanglements of vows
and other mixtures_, was not preserved; so that the Protestant churches
had neither places of education nor retreat for men of mortified
tempers."[480] The Reformed Church would thereby purify a great idea,
and if it be true, as the late Master of Balliol asserted, that it is
the great misfortune of Protestantism never to have had an art or
architecture,[481] it can restore and adopt the old architecture that
was the creation of the Christian spirit, amid the leisure of the
cloister and in times more restful than our own.
APPENDIX
DEFINITION OF LEADING ARCHITECTURAL TERMS[482]
_Abacus_--the flat member at the top of a capital. _Apse_--the
semicircular space at the end of a building. _Arcade_--a series of
arches; is usually applied to the small ornamental arches only. _Barrel
vault_--resembling the inside of a barrel. _Bead_--a small round
moulding. _Boss_--a projecting ornament in a vault at the intersection
of the ribs. _Canopy_--the head of a niche over an image; also the
ornamental moulding over a door or window or tomb. _Capital_, _cap_--the
head of a column, pilaster, etc. _Chamfer_--a sloping surface forming
the bevelled edge of a square pier, moulding, or buttress, when the
angle is said to be chamfered off. _Chevron_--an inflected moulding,
also called zigzag, characteristic of Norman architecture. _Clere-story_
or _clear-story_--the upper story of a church, as distinguished from the
triforium or blind story below it, in which the openings, though
resembling windows, are usually blank or blind, not glazed. _Corbel_--a
projecting stone to carry a weight, usually carved. _Crocket_--an
ornament usually resembling a leaf half opened, and projecting from the
upper edge of a canopy or pyramidal covering. The term is supposed to be
derived from the resemblance to a shepherd's crook. _Crypt_--a vault
beneath a church, generally beneath the chancel only, and sometimes used
for the exhibition of relics. _Cusp_--an ornament used in the tracery of
windows, screens, etc., to form foliation. _Dormer_--an upright window
placed on a sloping roof, giving light to the chambers next the roof.
_Fillet_--a small square band used on the face of mouldings.
_Finial_--the ornament which finishes the top of a pinnacle, a canopy,
or a spire, usually carved into a bunch of foliage. _Flying
buttress_--an arch carried over the roof of an aisle from the external
buttress to the wall of the clerestory, to support the vault.
_Gargoyle_--a projected water-spout, often ornamented with grotesque
figures. _Jambs_--the sides of a window opening or doorway.
_Mullion_--the vertical bar dividing the lights of a window. _Ogee_--a
moulding formed by the combination of a round and hollow. _Pier
arches_--the main arches of the nave or choir resting on piers.
_Pinnacle_--a sort of small spire usually terminating a buttress.
_Piscina_--a water-drain in a church placed on the right-hand side of an
altar for the use of the priest. _Plinth_--the projecting member forming
the lower part of a base or of a wall. _Shaft_--a small, slender pillar
usually attached to a larger one, or in the sides of a doorway or
window. _Slype_--a passage leading from the transept to the
chapter-house. _String-course_--a horizontal moulding or course of
masonry, usually applied to the one carried under the windows of the
chancel, both externally and internally. _Tooth ornament_--an ornament
resembling a row of teeth, sometimes called dog's tooth and shark's
tooth. _Transept_--the portion of a building crossing the nave and
producing a cruciform plan. _Transition_--the period of a change of
style, during which there is frequently an overlapping of the styles.
_Transom_--the transverse horizontal piece across the mullions of a
window. _Triforium_ or blind story--the middle story of a large church,
over the pier arches and under the clerestory windows; it is usually
ornamented by an arcade, and fills the space formed by the necessary
slope of the aisle roofs. _Tympanum_--the space between the flat lintel
of a doorway and the arch over it, usually filled with sculpture.
THE END.
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* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 365, 366.
[2] _Mediæval Architecture_, vol. i. p. 8.
[3] _Ibid._ pp. 8, 9, 26.
[4] _Ibid._ p. 145.
[5] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 1, 2.
[6] _Ibid._
[7] _Eccles. Arch. of Scot._ vol. i. pp. 1, 2.
[8] _Ibid._ pp. 175-190.
[9] _Ibid._ p. 28.
[10] _Ibid._ p. 28.
[11] _Ibid._ p. 178.
[12] _Eccles. Arch. of Scot._ vol. i. p. 191.
[13] _Ibid._ p. 192.
[14] _Ibid._
[15] _Eccles. Arch, of Scot._ vol. i. pp. 387, 388.
[16] _Ibid._ pp. 46, 47.
[17] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 1.
[18] _Ibid._ p. 3.
[19] _Ibid._ vol. i. p. 50.
[20] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, pp. 68, 69.
[21] _Ibid._ p. 70.
[22] _Eccles. Arch. of Scot._ vol. ii. p. 332.
[23] _Ibid._ vol. i. p. 57.
[24] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 1-7.
[25] _Ancient Church and Parish of Abernethy_, p. 95.
[26] _Pictish Chronicle_, p. 201.
[27] _Amra Columcille_, pp. 29, 63.
[28] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 136, 137.
[29] Scott's _Marmion_.
[30] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 274.
[31] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 309, 310.
[32] _Scotichronicon_, bk. iv. c. 12.
[33] _Reg. Pri. S. And._ App. p. xxxi.
[34] Reeves's _British Culdees_, p. 41.
[35] _Church of Scotland: Past and Present_, vol. ii. pp. 309, 310.
[36] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 34.
[37] _Chronicle of the Picts and Scots_, p. 191.
[38] Lecture II. p. 24.
[39] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 190.
[40] _Ibid._ p. 186.
[41] Petrie's _Round Towers and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland_.
[42] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 6-8.
[43] _Ibid._ p. 6
[44] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 16.
[45] _Ibid._ p. 19.
[46] _Ibid._ p. 26.
[47] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 184, 185.
[48] _Celtic Scotland_, ii. p. 186.
[49] _Historians of Scotland_, v. p. lxxxix.
[50] Vol. i. pp. 3-5.
[51] Sir James Marwick's _Charters and Documents relating to the City of
Glasgow_, part i. p. dxxiii.
[52] Preface to _Register_, p. xxiv.
[53] Messrs. MacGibbon and Ross and Honeyman, architects.
[54] _The Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 229.
[55] _Ibid._
[56] _The Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 231.
[57] _Ibid._ p. 274.
[58] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, ii. p. 160.
[59] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 232.
[60] _Registrum Epis. Glas._ p. xxiv.
[61] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, ii. p. 161.
[62] _Ibid._
[63] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, ii. p. 161.
[64] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 267.
[65] _Eccles. Arch. of Scotland_, ii. p. 161.
[66] _Ibid._ pp. 161, 162.
[67] _The Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 324.
[68] See Professor Laurie's _Lectures_, pp. 136, 137.
[69] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, pp. 292-302.
[70] _Theiner_, p. 505; _Reg. Epis. Glasg._ ii. 470-473, 543, 544.
[71] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 265.
[72] MacGibbon and Ross, vol. ii. p. 162.
[73] _Ibid._
[74] See p. 23.
[75] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 108.
[76] _Ibid._ p. 277.
[77] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 291.
[78] _Ibid._ p. 305.
[79] _Ibid._ p. 317.
[80] _Ibid._ p. 304.
[81] Sir James Marwick's _Charters and Documents of Glasgow_, part i. p.
xli.
[82] Dr. Rankin, vol. ii. p. 315.
[83] _Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis._
[84] Complete list in _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, pp. 190-197.
[85] Sir James Marwick's _Charters_, part. i. p. dxxiv.
[86] _Ibid._ p. v.
[87] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, pp. 375, 376.
[88] _Ibid._ p. 244.
[89] _Mediæval Architecture_, vol. ii. p. 200.
[90] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, p. 252.
[91] MacGibbon and Ross, vol. ii. p. 172.
[92] _Book of Glasgow Cathedral_, pp. 239, 240.
[93] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 165.
[94] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 405.
[95] _Ibid._ p. 408.
[96] Myln's _Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld_, p. 38.
[97] _Ibid._ p. 44.
[98] Myln's _Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld_, p. 46.
[99] _Ibid._ p. 56.
[100] _Ibid._ p. 66.
[101] _Scoti-Monasticon_, pp. 216, 217.
[102] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 31.
[103] _Ibid._ p. 47.
[104] _Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis_, p. x.
[105] _Ibid._
[106] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 379.
[107] _Reg._ p. xi.
[108] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 75.
[109] _View of the Diocese of Aberdeen_, p. 148.
[110] _Ibid._ p. 163.
[111] _Ecclesiastical Architecture_, vol. iii. p. 75.
[112] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 75.
[113] _Ibid._
[114] Preface to _Register_, pp. xlii., xliii.
[115] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 75.
[116] _Collections of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_, p. 150.
[117] P. 104.
[118] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, p. 77.
[119] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 76.
[120] _View of the Diocese of Aberdeen_, p. 151.
[121] _Ibid._ p. 152.
[122] _Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis_, p. xii.
[123] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 369.
[124] _Registrum_, pp. xiii and 40.
[125] _Ibid._ p. xiii.
[126] _Ibid._
[127] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 121.
[128] P. xiii., No. 26.
[129] _Register_, No. 173, p. 204.
[130] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 52.
[131] _Ecclesiastical Architecture_, vol. ii. pp. 122, 123.
[132] _Ibid._ p. 125.
[133] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 50.
[134] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 145.
[135] _Life_, vol. ii. p. 437.
[136] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 397.
[137] _Ibid._
[138] _Ibid._
[139] Preface to the Brechin _Register_, p. vi.
[140] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 400.
[141] _Ibid._ pp. 400, 401.
[142] Dr. Rankin's _History_, vol. ii. p. 328.
[143] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 309.
[144] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 209.
[145] Miss Stokes, _Early Christian Architecture_, p. 73.
[146] _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, p. 45.
[147] _Ordnance Gazetteer_, vol. i. p. 187.
[148] _Early Christian Architecture in Ireland_, p. 5.
[149] _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, p. 41.
[150] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 213.
[151] _Ibid._ p. 212.
[152] _Ibid._
[153] Black's _Brechin_, pp. 253, 254.
[154] Preface to _Register_, p. xvii.
[155] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 402.
[156] _Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops_, p. 174.
[157] Reeves' _British Culdees_, p. 141.
[158] MacGibbon and Ross, vol. ii. p. 86.
[159] _Ibid._ vol. i. p. 174.
[160] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 89.
[161] _Lib. Ins. Missarum_, preface, p. xxix.
[162] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 92.
[163] _Ibid._
[164] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 102.
[165] _Edinburgh Lectures._
[166] Keith's _Scottish Bishops_, pp. 177-180.
[167] MacGibbon and Ross, vol. ii. p. 107.
[168] Keith's _Scottish Bishops_, p. 175.
[169] _History of His Own Times_, vol. ii. p. 243.
[170] _The Bishop's Walk_, p. 7.
[171] _Regist. de Dunf._, p. 3.
[172] Reeves' _Culdees_, p. 46.
[173] _The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 395.
[174] _Ibid._ p. 399.
[175] Mr. Neale.
[176] His diary for 1571 is published in the _Bannatyne Miscellany_,
vol. iii. pp. 113-156.
[177] Keith's _Scottish Bishops_, p. 198.
[178] Cosmo Innes's "Records of the Bishopric of Caithness," _Bannatyne
Miscellany_, vol. iii. p. 3.
[179] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 383.
[180] _Orig. Par._ vol. ii. part ii. p. 601.
[181] _Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society_ (1892), p.
36.
[182] _Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society_ (1892), p.
40.
[183] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 482.
[184] _Ibid._ p. 485.
[185] _Ibid._ p. 486.
[186] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. i. p. 69.
[187] _Ibid._ vol. ii. p. 408.
[188] Dr. Rankin, vol. ii. p. 350.
[189] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 265.
[190] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 83, 84.
[191] _Ibid._ p. 85.
[192] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 85-102.
[193] They were thence taken to Ireland.
[194] _Iona_, pp. 84, 85.
[195] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 414.
[196] _Register of the Great Seal_ (1634-1651), p. 708, No. 1903;
_Origines Parochiales_, vol. ii. part i. p. 294.
[197] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 49.
[198] _Ibid._ pp. 57-59.
[199] _Ibid._ p. 74.
[200] _Transactions._
[201] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 421.
[202] _Ibid._ p. 426.
[203] Cf. Drummond's _West Highland Monuments_.
[204] _Celtic Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 92.
[205] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 266.
[206] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 266-273.
[207] _Ibid._ p. 273.
[208] Dr. Joseph Robertson's _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 39.
[209] Dr. Joseph Robertson's _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 40.
[210] MacGibbon and Ross's _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_,
vol. i. pp. 259-262.
[211] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 273.
[212] _Ibid._ pp. 273-275.
[213] _Ibid._ p. 276.
[214] _Ibid._ p. 277.
[215] _Ibid._
[216] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 278.
[217] _Ibid._ p. 279.
[218] _Ibid._ p. 280.
[219] _Ibid._
[220] _Ibid._
[221] _Ibid._ p. 282.
[222] _Ibid._
[223] _Ibid._ p. 284.
[224] _Ibid._
[225] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 288.
[226] _Ibid._ p. 289.
[227] _Ibid._ p. 290.
[228] _Tennyson: A Memoir_, vol. ii. p. 280.
[229] Vol. iii. pp. 181-196.
[230] Dr. Cooper's Introduction to _Chartulary_, pp. xxv.-xxvi.
[231] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 426.
[232] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 427, 428.
[233] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 431.
[234] _Records of the University and King's College, Aberdeen_, p. xv.
[235] _Collections of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_, p. 210.
[236] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 287-289.
[237] _Ibid._ p. 295.
[238] _Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society_, sixth year
(1891), p. 63 _et seq._ to p. 76.
[239] _Sermons and Addresses_, p. 29.
[240] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 151, also
to p. 179.
[241] _St. Giles, Edinburgh, Church, College, and Cathedral_, p. 1.
[242] Of the early church, which stood on the site of the present _St.
Cuthbert's_, Edinburgh, Dr. Skene has declared that "there is no doubt
the church was founded by S. Cuthbert himself," and so there has been
Christian worship there for over 1200 years (Rev. Dr. A. Wallace
Williamson's paper in _Aberdeen Ecclesiological Transactions_, ninth
year, p. 114).
[243] _Charters of the Collegiate Church of St. Giles_, p. iv.
[244] _Ibid._
[245] Dr. Lees' _St. Giles, Edinburgh_, p. 3.
[246] Introduction to _Charters_, p. v.
[247] _Ibid._ p. vi.
[248] _St. Giles_, p. 4.
[249] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 419.
[250] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 420.
[251] _Ibid._
[252] _Ibid._ p. 422.
[253] _Ibid._
[254] _Ibid._
[255] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 425.
[256] Dr Lees' _St. Giles_, p. 23.
[257] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 426.
[258] _Ibid._
[259] Introduction to _Charters_, p. xiv.
[260] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 430.
[261] Introduction to _Charters_, p. xv.
[262] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 434.
[263] _Ibid._ p. 436.
[264] No. 77, p. 106.
[265] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 441.
[266] Dr. Laing's Introduction to _Charters_, p. xxx.
[267] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 445.
[268] _Ib._ p. 446
[269] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, pp. 445-449.
[270] Intro. to _Charters_, p. xix.
[271] Dr. Lees' _St. Giles_, p. 273.
[272] Dr. Lees' _St. Giles_, p. 117.
[273] _Ibid._ pp. 124, 125.
[274] Calderwood's _History_, vol. iii. pp. 73, 257.
[275] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 454.
[276] _St. Giles_, p. 262.
[277] Very Rev. Dr. Cameron Lees.
[278] _St. Giles_, p. 270.
[279] _Ibid._ p. 214.
[280] Rankin, vol. ii. p. 361.
[281] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 199.
[282] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 36.
[283] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 298-309.
[284] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 313, 314.
[285] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 455.
[286] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, pp. 455-470.
[287] Fergusson's _History of Architecture_, vol. ii. p. 222.
[288] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 493.
[289] Hay's _Sacra Scotia_, p. 323.
[290] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 109.
[291] Rev. John Fergusson of Aberdalgie in _Scottish Antiquary_, January
1897, p. 137.
[292] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 116.
[293] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 116.
[294] _Ibid._ p. 121, and Lord High Treasurer's Accounts.
[295] _Ibid._ p. 122.
[296] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 125.
[297] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 132.
[298] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 330.
[299] _Ibid._ p. 138.
[300] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 450.
[301] _Ibid._ p. 450
[302] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 451.
[303] _Ibid._
[304] _Ibid._
[305] Professor Mitchell's _Scottish Reformation_, p. 96.
[306] _The Works of John Knox_, vol. i. p. 228.
[307] _Sketches of Early Scotch History_, p. 10.
[308] _Ibid._ p. 11.
[309] _Ibid._ p. 18.
[310] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, p. 27.
[311] _Modern Painters_, vol. i. p. 23.
[312] _Ibid._ vol. iii. p. 44.
[313] _Ibid._ vol. v. p. 206.
[314] _Oxford Lectures_, p. 27.
[315] Montalembert's _Monks of the West_, vol. ii. pp. 40, 41.
[316] The Augustinian order had also monasteries at Scone, Inchcolm,
Lochleven, Isle of May, and Pittenweem, Blantyre, Cambuskenneth,
Restennet, Canonby, and Inchaffray, as well as smaller houses at Loch
Tay, Portmoak, Monymusk, St. Mary's Isle Priory at Trail, Rowadil,
Oronsay, Colonsay, Inchmahome, Rosneath, Strathfillan, Scarinche,
Abernethy (Perthshire); the _Premonstratensian_ order had also abbeys at
Saulseat, Holywood, Whithorn, Tongland, Fearn; the _Benedictine_ order
had also abbeys at Coldingham and Urquhart; the _Cluniacensian_ order
had also abbeys at Crossraguel, Fail, and Dalmulin; the _Tyronensian_
order had also abbeys at Lesmahagow, Kilwinning, Lindores, Iona, and
smaller houses at Dull, Fyvie, Inchkenneth, Rothesay (St. Mary's); the
_Cistercian_ order had also abbeys at Newbattle, Dundrennan, Kinloss,
Deir, Cupar, Glenluce, Culross, Balmerino, Sweetheart, and smaller
houses at Saddel, Friars Carse (near Dumfries), Hassendean, Mauchline,
Cadvan (in Dunbog), and Holm Cultram; the _order of Vallis Caulium_ had
priories at Pluscardine, Beauly, and Ardchattan; the _Carthusians_ had
houses at Perth and Makerstone (Roxburghshire). There were 14 religious
houses belonging to the Trinity Friars, 12 to the Carmelites, 18 to the
Dominicans, 7 to the Franciscans, 13 to the Observantines, 6 to the
Knights of Malta, 16 to the Knights Templars.
[317] _Scottish Ordnance Gazetteer_, vol. vi. p. 300.
[318] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 54 _et
seq._ to p. 72.
[319] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 68.
[320] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 71.
[321] _Ibid._ pp. 71, 72.
[322] Gordon's _Monasticon_, p. 156.
[323] Gordon's _Monasticon_, p. 158.
[324] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 401 _et
seq._ to p. 414.
[325] _Ibid._ p. 403.
[326] Gordon's _Monasticon_, p. 254.
[327] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 448.
[328] _Monasticon_, p. 324.
[329] _Ibid._ p. 340.
[330] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 451 _et
seq._ to p. 464.
[331] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 462.
[332] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 464.
[333] Introduction to _Registrum de Dunfermlyn_, p. 25.
[334] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 231.
[335] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 231.
[336] Introduction to _Registrum_, p. 25.
[337] _Monasticon_, p. 404.
[338] _Registrum_, p. 25.
[339] _Monasticon_, pp. 411, 412.
[340] _The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 234.
[341] _Ibid._ pp. 234, 238.
[342] _Ibid._ p. 238.
[343] _Ibid._
[344] _Ibid._
[345] _Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals_, pp. 33, 34.
[346] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 238.
[347] _Ibid._ p. 241.
[348] _Ibid._
[349] _Ibid._
[350] _Ibid._ p. 242.
[351] Lindsay's _Chronicle of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 555.
[352] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 245.
[353] _Ibid._
[354] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 246-249.
[355] _Ibid._ pp. 251, 252.
[356] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 252-254.
[357] _History_, vol. i., year 1303-1304.
[358] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. p. 254.
[359] See p. 144.
[360] _Ecc. Arch. of Scot._ vol. i. pp. 254-256.
[361] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 1, 2.
[362] _Scotland in the Middle Ages_, p. 114.
[363] _Historical Sketches_, p. 109.
[364] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 26, 27.
[365] Kingsley's _Roman and Teuton_, pp. 204-206.
[366] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 58, 59.
[367] _Ibid._ p. 63.
[368] _Ibid._ p. 65.
[369] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 8.
[370] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 91.
[371] _Ibid._ p. 91.
[372] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 96.
[373] _Ibid._ p. 109.
[374] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 117.
[375] _Ibid._ p. 120.
[376] Page 19.
[377] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 8.
[378] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 142.
[379] _A Scots Mediæval Architect_, by P. MacGregor Chalmers, pp. 14, 15
(Scots Lore).
[380] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 144, 145.
[381] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 159, 160.
[382] _Ibid._ p. 165.
[383] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 205.
[384] See Laing's _Knox_.
[385] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 228, 229.
[386] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 10-26.
[387] _Ibid._ p. 13.
[388] _Ibid._
[389] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 16.
[390] _Ibid._
[391] _Ibid._
[392] _Ibid._
[393] _Ibid._ p. 21.
[394] _Ibid._
[395] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. p. 21.
[396] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 166.
[397] _Ibid._ p. 209.
[398] _Ibid._
[399] _The Abbey of Paisley_, pp. 211, 212.
[400] _Ibid._ p. 212.
[401] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 25, 26.
[402] _Ibid._ p. 168.
[403] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 214.
[404] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 215.
[405] _Ibid._ p. 206.
[406] _Ibid._ p. 337.
[407] _Ibid._ p. 338.
[408] _Ibid._
[409] _The Abbey of Paisley_, p. 339.
[410] _Ibid._ p. 340.
[411] Introduction to _Reg. Cart. de Kelso_, i. p. viii.
[412] _Ibid._
[413] _Ibid._ p. xli.
[414] _Ibid._ pp. viii-xvi.
[415] _Ibid._ p. xliv.
[416] Introduction to _Reg. Cart. de Kelso_, pp. xliii, xliv.
[417] _Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles_, by Sir George Douglas, Bart.,
pp. 284, 285.
[418] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 350-352.
[419] _Ibid._ p. 352.
[420] Introduction to _Chartulary_, p. xlix.
[421] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 353-361.
[422] _Ibid._
[423] _Ibid._
[424] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 356, 357.
[425] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 357, 358.
[426] _Ibid._ p. 359.
[427] _Ibid._ p. 360.
[428] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 360, 361.
[429] _Ibid._ p. 361.
[430] _Ibid._
[431] Hay's _History of Arbroath_, p. 27.
[432] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 31.
[433] _Sketches of Early Scotch History_, p. 161.
[434] _Ibid._
[435] _Ibid._ p. 171.
[436] _Sketches of Early Scotch History_, p. 159.
[437] _National Manuscripts_, part ii.
[438] See Principal Story's _Apostolic Ministry in the Scottish Church_,
p. 197.
[439] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 31-35.
[440] _Ibid._ pp. 35-37.
[441] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 39.
[442] _Ibid._ pp. 39-41.
[443] _Ibid._ p. 41.
[444] _Ibid._
[445] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 43-45.
[446] _Ibid._ p. 45.
[447] _Ibid._ pp. 46, 48.
[448] _Ibid._ p. 48.
[449] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 50.
[450] Millar's _Arbroath and its Abbey_, p. 103.
[451] Pp. xxxi, xxxii.
[452] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 347.
[453] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 377.
[454] _Ibid._ p. 349.
[455] _Ibid._ p. 351.
[456] _Ibid._
[457] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 353, 356.
[458] _Ibid._ p. 356.
[459] _Ibid._ pp. 356, 357.
[460] Messrs. MacGibbon and Ross consider it probable that a fragment of
the original north wall may have been preserved as the core of the
present wall, and faced up on both sides with newer work
(_Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 360, 361).
[461] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 361.
[462] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 362, 363.
[463] _Ibid._ p. 366.
[464] _Ibid._
[465] _Ibid._
[466] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 372.
[467] _Ibid._ p. 373.
[468] _Ibid._
[469] _Ibid._
[470] _Ibid._ p. 374.
[471] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. pp. 373, 374.
[472] _Ibid._ p. 375.
[473] _Ibid._
[474] _Ibid._ p. 377.
[475] As given in Monteith's _Theater of Mortality_ (1713)--earliest and
most accurate reference.
[476] _Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 378.
[477] See _Scots Lore_, Nos. 1-7.
[478] In this summary I am specially indebted to the _Ecclesiastical
Architecture of Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 175-477, vol. ii. pp. 5-559, vol.
iii. pp. 7-533. The statements are much compressed on account of the
limitations of the space at my disposal.
[479] _Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett_, vol. ii. pp. 72, 73.
[480] _Burnet's History of my Own Time_ (Clarendon edition), vol. i. p.
246.
[481] _Life and Letters_, vol. ii. p. 71.
[482] Cf. Parker's _Introduction to Gothic Architecture_, 321-331; also
_Glossary of Architecture_, vol. i.
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