Chapter III: 1. Diocese of St. Andrews (3)

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]