Chapter IX: Part 9

This edifice is the completest of our Norman parish churches, consisting (Fig. 251) of a chancel with eastern apse and a nave or main building, separated from the chancel by an elaborate chancel arch. As usual in parish churches of this period, there are no aisles. Although the above divisions are complete, the church has not entirely escaped alterations and additions. On the north side projecting wings have been added, which contain a gallery and a north porch, and staircase leading to the gallery. The south front and east end are, however, almost untouched, and show the work of the twelfth century, uninjured save by natural decay.

The church stands beside the quiet and pleasant rural village of Dalmeny, about one mile inland from South Queensferry, and about eight miles west from Edinburgh. Little is known of its history. A charter is signed by Robert Avenel, “parson of Dumanie,” about 1166-82, and in the thirteenth century, during the reign of William or Alexander II., the church was granted to the monks of Jedworth. It is believed to have been dedicated to St. Adamnan,[170] and the fact of the neighbouring church of Cramond being dedicated to St. Columba tends to confirm this belief, as it has been pointed out by Dr. Skene that these two saints’ names are generally found together in the dedication of churches.

The edifice consists of a nave 42 feet long by 18 feet wide, with a projection in the south wall, which contains the doorway. It has three small windows in the south wall. In the interior of the south wall there is a recess, now linteled over, which may have contained a monument.

From the rough nature of the masonry at the west end of the nave, a tower would appear to have been intended to be built there. Part of the commencement of its side walls exists, and into these the two buttresses shown on Plan have been toothed or joined at a later period.

The nave (Fig. 252) opens to the chancel with a splendid chancel arch, having three orders decorated with elaborate chevron ornaments, enclosed with a hood moulding carved with an enrichment somewhat resembling the dog-tooth (Fig. 253). The soffit of the arch 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 (Fig. 254) is 16 feet long by 15 feet wide, and is vaulted with bold diagonal groin-ribs, enriched with chevron ornaments and springing from grotesque corbels (Fig. 255). It has one small window on the south side, with plain splay in the ingoing and plain sconsions and arch.

The apse is semi-circular, and is entered from the chancel by an

enriched arch (see Fig. 254). The arch has two orders carved with chevron ornaments and a hood mould with faceted enrichment. The shafts and caps are similar to those of the chancel arch. The apse is vaulted like a single square bay, with boldly moulded groin-ribs springing from large corbels carved with grotesque heads (Figs. 256 and 257). The wall is of

plain ashlar, and the apse is lighted by three plain window openings (Fig. 258), the central one of which has been enlarged.

The exterior of the church (Fig. 259) is built with the usual cubic ashlar of the period. All the windows in the building (Fig. 260) have a single pair of shafts with cushion or carved caps, and an arch, of one order, carved with chevron ornament, and a hood mould enriched with faceted patterns. The choir and apse have a boldly projected cornice supported on corbels carved with grotesque heads. The choir has the side walls carried up in the form of a parapet above the cornice, having evidently been raised at some period to the same height externally as the nave. A string course runs round the building immediately below the windows, of which it forms the sills. It is enriched with a carved floral pattern.

The doorway (Fig. 261) is placed in a projecting part of the south wall, and is surmounted by an arcade of interlacing arches, with corbel course above, carved with grotesque heads.

The doorway has two nook shafts on each side, the outer one round

and the inner one octagonal. These are detached and in single stones. They carry enriched caps, three of them having foliage and volutes imitated from the Roman, and one with traces of an animal. A string course, enriched with scrolls, forms an abacus above the caps, and from the abacus spring the arch mouldings in two orders, with carved hood mould beyond.

The inner order of arches contains thirteen voussoirs, each of which is sculptured with a figure. These figures (Fig. 262) are very similar to those often found on the ancient sculptured monuments of Scotland, and have also considerable analogy with the figures carved on the Norman churches of England and on the Continent, thus indicating (as pointed out in the Introduction) the connection between the former and the latter. Commencing at the right-hand voussoir of the inner order, we have (No. 1) a clear representation of the Agnus Dei, bearing the cross in sign of victory; No. 2 seems to represent a serpent, possibly with a human head; No. 3 represents a winged quadruped with a bird’s head; No. 4, a lion (a favourite emblem both in Norman work and Scottish monuments); Nos. 5 and 6 are too much decayed to be intelligible; No. 7 seems

to be a hare running and an animal with scrolled tail at rest; No. 8, a winged bird and serpent; No. 9, a winged dragon with tail passing into a divided scroll, part of which it is biting with its bill; No. 10, a winged griffin; No. 11, a bird with a fish’s tail pecking at a serpent; No. 12, two

seated human figures clasping hands; No. 13, a nondescript bird and serpent.

The outer order of the arch contains eight projecting heads of grotesque form, but some of them much decayed. Alternating with these heads are voussoirs carved with figures somewhat similar to those of the inner order. These, so far as can be made out, are--No. 1, a man with a pair of horses; No. 2, a lion, perhaps crowned; No. 3 seems to represent a number of darts radiating from a centre; No. 4, a centaur or Sagittarius shooting an arrow at an undefined object; No. 5, two seated

figures, one holding a spear or pastoral staff. At each side of the arch, and resting on the string course, are two detached figures, which recall the figures similarly placed at Whithorn Priory. That on the right represents a man holding a spear, that on the left, although apparently a human figure, is too far gone to be clearly made out.

This doorway is particularly interesting from being, as we believe, the only example in Scotland of similar well-preserved sculptures upon a church. In England, as pointed out by Mr. Romilly Allen, sculpture

of this description is common on Norman structures after 1135, especially on doorways and fonts. It is difficult to form an idea of the meaning of many of these sculptured figures, occurring, as they do, in the strangest juxtaposition. On this point Mr. Romilly Allen observes[171] that “one of the most remarkable features in Norman sculpture is the way in which the Agnus Dei is associated with what appears to us to be the most incongruous surroundings, such as animals, serpents, and a bird at Parwich in Derbyshire; animals and a figure holding a pastoral staff at Hagnaston in Derbyshire; a tree with birds and Sagittarius and Leo at Stoke Subhampton in Somersetshire, &c.” Such descriptions would well apply

to the doorway of Dalmeny Church, where we have associated with the Agnus Dei, Leo, Sagittarius, serpents, birds, dragons, and human figures, one, perhaps, bearing a pastoral staff.

Numerous similar figures may be also seen on the sculptured monuments

of Scotland, and thus a connection is observed between these remarkable erections and the sculpture of Norman buildings, which brings the earlier monuments into close connection with the later, and provides them a place in the general history of art in the country. Sculptures of a similar description have, at one time, existed at Dunfermline and Jedburgh, but they are now too far wasted away to be intelligible.

LEUCHARS CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

Situated four and a half miles from St. Andrews, and one mile from Leuchars Railway Junction, this church, like that of Dalmeny, forms one of the best-preserved examples of our parish churches of the Norman period. Though not complete, like Dalmeny, the choir and apse of Leuchars, which alone remain, are even more richly decorated with the

characteristic ornaments of the style than the former. As usual, the church is without aisles.

It is scarcely possible to ascertain the date of these early structures, but we find from the registry of the Priory of St. Andrews that the Ecclesia de Lochres existed in the year 1187. There are letters by Orabile, Countess of Mar, attesting that she was present when her father,

Nes, the son of William, gave the Church of Leuchars, in Fife (Lochres), to the Canons of St. Andrews, 1171-1199.

Orabile was married to Robert de Quinci. Between 1210 and 1219 Syer de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, gave to the Canons of St. Andrews three merks of silver yearly from his mill of Leuchars for the souls of his

grandfather and grandmother, of his father, Robert de Quinci, and his mother, Orabile.[172]

The church (Fig. 263) now consists of a choir, 19 feet 9 inches long by 18 feet wide, with a circular apse, 12 feet 6 inches wide and 12 feet deep. There are traces of an arch at the west end of the choir, which opened into the nave; but the latter is now rebuilt.

The general view (Fig. 264) shows the exterior of the semi-circular apse, with its arcade of two stories, 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 zig-zags (Fig. 265). The cornice is supported on a series of boldly-carved grotesque heads, all varying in design.

On the top of the apse vault there has been built, in the seventeenth century, an incongruous turret, which, although not of bad design, is extremely out of place. To support this belfry, a plain arch has been introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. (Fig. 266.)

The design of the exterior of the choir (Fig. 267) 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 (see Fig. 265), 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 (see Fig. 266) attention is drawn to the elaborate carving of the chancel arch, which has two orders of complex chevron ornament, and an outer order or hood mould of four rows of billets. The soffit of the arch is also enriched with chevrons, so arranged as to form a row of lozenge ornaments in the centre. The chancel arch 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. (See Fig. 265.) 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.

BUNKLE CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

There exist in Berwickshire the remains of a number of Norman churches which, unfortunately, are very fragmentary. This is the more to be regretted, as the portions still remaining of some of them show that they must have been equal, if not superior, in richness of detail to most of the better preserved specimens in other parts of the country. The fragments at Edrom and Legerwood are of the finest Norman architecture, while the extreme simplicity of the work at Bunkle seems to indicate that it is very early in the style. At Chirnside and St. Helen’s but little is left; indeed, the latter is now almost only a memory of the past.[173]

The numerous remains of Norman parish churches scattered throughout Berwickshire point to the direction from which the Roman influence gradually spread over the country.

Amongst these fragments, the small piece of Bunkle Church (Fig. 268) which survives is one of the earliest. It is situated about 4½ miles north-west from Chirnside Station, on the Duns Branch Railway, and stands in the immediate neighbourhood of the fragmentary ruins of

Bunkle Castle. The building appears to have been entire till about 1820, when it was demolished, and the materials used in the erection of the existing parish church, which adjoins it. Only the semi-circular apse, with the arch leading into it, remains of what was the original parish church. The building is extremely plain, and Mr. Muir[174] suggests that it may be of even earlier than twelfth century date. The apse is about 11 feet in width, and projects 7 feet internally. It has a small round-headed window to the north-east, and another to the south-east, but none to the east. These windows are placed high, and are 18 inches wide on the outside, and are widely splayed inwards. Adjoining the south-east window are the remains of a piscina, about 14 inches square by 11 inches high. The entrance to the apse from the choir is preserved. It is 7 feet 6 inches in width, and 7 feet 10 inches high to the springing of the arch. The wall is 3 feet in thickness. The jambs are plain, and the semi-circular arch is also plain, having one deep square-edged order extending the full thickness of the wall. The impost is a simple fascia, with a small splay on the under edge. The apse is vaulted with a plain semidome similar to that of St. Margaret’s Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, and the roof is formed with overlapping stones. A few stones are observable in the walls of the new church which are carved with zigzag ornaments, and were, doubtless, derived from the old building.

EDROM CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

Of the ancient parish church of Edrom, situated about one mile from Edrom Railway Station, there still survives a Norman doorway of beautiful workmanship. (Fig. 269.)[175] It has been preserved by being made the entrance to a burial vault at the west end of the church. This doorway (Fig. 270) is one of the finest of the style in Scotland, and is of considerable size, being 11 feet high and 4 feet 8 inches wide. It has two shafts (one of them a nook shaft) in each jamb, and the ashlar work of the wall forms the support of the outer order. The arch contains three orders, all elaborately carved with Norman enrichments. The inner enrichment (Fig. 271) consists of a series of chevrons; the central order is also ornamented with two sets of chevrons, arranged so as to form lozenge shapes between them, which are filled with delicate carvings. The outer order contains a repeating ornament, arranged in squares, and the whole is enclosed with a small label carved with a delicately foliaged ornament.

The caps of the shafts are somewhat remarkable. Fig. 271 shows those of each side. The cushion caps and the elaborately carved scrolls of the left central cap correspond with ordinary Norman work, but the peculiar and twisted serpent-like forms of the right jamb are remarkable.

It is not quite clear that the doorway is in its original state. There are three capitals on each side, only two of which have shafts. It is not unlikely that the remaining two capitals had either shafts or some kind of decoration continued to the base, as at Iffley or Middleton; Stoney,

Oxfordshire; or Kirkham Priory, Yorkshire (see _Parker’s Glossary_). It is also probable that the opening was square-headed, and the tympanum filled with a shield, as at Abercorn and Linton.

The lands and church of Edenham, with Nisbet, were granted to

St. Cuthbert’s monks by Gospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, and confirmed, in 1139, by David I. The investiture is in favour of the Prior of Coldingham.

An aisle of some interest is attached to the church. It contains in a panel occupying the position of a niche on one of the buttresses a modern inscription giving the history of the aisle, viz.:--“Founded by Robert Blackadder, Archbishop of Glasgow, in the year 1499.” The only portions of the aisle still preserved which are of any interest are the two angle buttresses (Fig. 272). Both of these have had niches with canopies and corbels for supporting figures. The canopy of one is gone, but a sundial occupies its place. The archbishop’s arms and initials (Fig. 273) are carved on the buttress. His family name is derived from a place of the same designation in the parish. Another shield (Fig. 274), with arms almost obliterated, occurs a little further west.

LEGERWOOD, BERWICKSHIRE.

Legerwood stands in the hilly region, about four miles north-east from Earlston Station. The parish church is old, and has been often repaired. Attached to it, but entirely cut off by a wall, are the roofless

ruins of the original Norman chancel (Fig. 275), which is complete, and measures internally 17 feet 4 inches square. It is fairly preserved, and contains some good Norman work. The chancel arch is entire, but is partly concealed on the face with plaster, and the ingoing is entirely hidden by the stone wall, which separates the chancel from the church. There is a 10 inch diameter round shaft in each internal angle, which is continued up as high as the walls, but there are no indications of vaulting. A small round-headed window, 9 inches wide, is introduced in the centre of the east and north sides (Fig. 276), and apparently a doorway has existed in the south wall. The chancel arch has been large, being about 14 feet 8 inches wide, including the columns, and is enriched with shafts and carving; but, unfortunately, it is so built up that only portions are visible. The caps and mouldings, so far as they can be seen, are shown in Fig. 277. The

ornament consists largely of square facets, with various forms of sinkings. A small recess, 11 inches deep, 15 inches wide, and 17 inches high, which occurs in the north wall, is

shown in Fig. 278. It has not been fitted with a door.

Masons’ marks are distinctly chiselled on the stones of the chancel. Throughout the chancel there are clear indications of coloured decorations, consisting of a cross or star in red on a circularly-shaped ground of white. Fig. 278 shows one on the wall, and another in the recess.

Till the Reformation the Church of Legerwood belonged to Paisley Abbey, to which it was granted in 1163; but “John Priest of Ledgureside” is found witnessing a charter granted in 1127 by Robert, Bishop of St. Andrews, in favour of the Priory of Coldingham. The modern church appears to occupy the site of the original nave, as its east wall and part of the return of the side walls are old. The nave measures 47 feet 10 inches long by 27 feet 9 inches wide. A piece of stone carved with Celtic interlaced work is built into the south wall near the west end, and on the corner there is a double sundial, bearing the initials W. G., and the date 1682.

CHIRNSIDE CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

Another fragment of Norman work survives at Chirnside in the doorway of the ruined church, situated about one mile from Chirnside

Railway Station. The village stands high, and commands an extensive view. The church has been much restored, but the ancient Norman walls in great measure remain. Its size can, therefore, be determined, being 78 feet in length by 23 feet ½ inch in width. The only architectural feature remaining is the doorway on the south side. (Fig. 279.) It is contained in a shallow projection of 9½ inches, which is 10 feet 2 inches in breadth. The doorway is 2 feet 10¾ inches wide, and the height to the lintel is 6 feet 10 inches. The arched head is somewhat peculiar, consisting of two segmental arches, resting on caps placed at different levels.

Each jamb contains two nook shafts (the two outer shafts being modern), with simple bases and cushion caps, the inner cap being lower than the outer. A bead runs round the jambs and square lintel, and the tympanum is plain. Each cap carries an order, the inner order being enriched with a series of chevrons, and the outer order with mouldings. The soffit in both orders is plain. The outer order is enclosed in a small label, which has a break at the termination--a very unusual feature in Norman work.

At the sides of the doorway there are remains of a projection, probably a porch. The church had a western tower, which was taken down in 1750. It was vaulted in stone.

The Church of Chirnside, before the Reformation, was under the patronage of the Collegiate Church of Dunbar. In the taxation of 1176 the _Ecclesia de Chirnesyd_ is valued at 50 merks. The church is probably somewhat older than that date.

ST. HELEN’S CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

The ruins of this church stand in a lonely and lofty situation overlooking the sea, about three miles eastward from Cockburnspath. The fabric is now in a greater state of dilapidation than is shown by the annexed views, which are copied from a sketch by James Drummond, R.S.A., engraved in the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_.[176] It is accompanied by a description and plan by Mr. Thomas S. Muir, from which it would appear that about the middle of this century the east gable wall, which was then entire, was taken down, the stones being used for agricultural purposes, and that most of what is shown of the chancel arch shared a similar fate. The dimensions can still be ascertained from the ruins.

The church (Fig. 280) was a Norman structure, with the exception of the west gable wall, and consisted of a nave about 30 feet 9 inches long by 18 feet wide, and a chancel 15 feet 2 inches long by 11 feet 6½ inches wide. The total internal length was thus about 48 feet 11 inches. The building was barrel vaulted throughout. The apertures where the north and south walls of the nave are shown broken down (see Fig. 280) probably indicate the position of a north and south doorway. There were two windows

in the south wall, with three shallow arched recesses beneath. (Fig. 281.) These recesses measure 11 inches deep by about 3 feet high, and have not been fitted with doors. Their purpose is unknown. The chancel arch, when entire, measured about 7 feet in width. The stone shown in

the foreground of Fig. 281 gives an idea of the section of the jambs of the arch, only part of which now remains. A broad band connected with the caps runs along the north and south walls of the nave. The band is decorated with a circular rosette ornament. As will be seen from this view, the arch was flanked on each side by a square recessed opening, similar in position to those at the chancel arch at Tynninghame, but the recesses at the latter are arched. Beneath each of these there is a small opening, as shown on view, about 6 inches square, which goes into the wall for about two feet, but the place is now too ruinous to permit of the matter being further investigated.

The north wall of the chancel is almost entire, and has had no opening. The south wall is nearly all gone, and, as already stated, nothing remains of the east wall. The narrow east window, with its wide internal splay, appears to have been set in a recess, and enriched round the arch and down the jambs with a single chevron ornament.

The west gable wall (Fig. 282) has been rebuilt in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It is without opening of any kind, save the numerous putlog holes used for the masons’ scaffolding when erecting the building.

This was the church of Aldcamus, incorporated before the year 1750 in the parish of Cockburnspath. The manor of Aldcamus was granted by King Edgar (1098-1107) to Durham, and “thenceforth belonged to the monastery of Coldingham, as a cell of Durham.”[177] How long after this date the church was built we do not know; but as Chalmers remarks in a footnote that it was the manor, not the church, which Edgar granted to Durham, it may be doubted whether the church then existed. It appears to have fallen into ruin about the time of its annexation to Cockburnspath.

TYNNINGHAME CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

The few relics which survive of this ancient monastery lie buried in a thick clump of trees, which stands between the modern mansion of Tynninghame and the river Tyne, about three miles north-east from East Linton. This was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred, of which there were several on the East Coast. That Saint seems to have selected the Bass Rock as his place of abode, whence his fame spread through the adjoining regions. He is believed to have come from the establishment of the Columbans at Lindisfarne, whose diocese extended as far as the Frith of Forth. He died in 606. The foundation of Tynninghame was laid by St. Baldred, or Blathere,[178] and the church continued as a separate parish till 1760, when it was united to Whitekirk.

What remains of the structure is of Norman architecture, and exhibits elaborate ornamental work of that style. The plan of the church (Fig. 283) is in part still traceable. The west end of the choir, with its great arch (Fig. 284), is fairly preserved, and the outline of a rectangular choir, about 18 feet in length by 17 feet in width, is observable, although the side walls are greatly demolished.

The nave, if it ever existed, has entirely disappeared. At the east end an enriched chancel arch still survives (Fig. 285), and also portions of pillars, which indicate that there has been an eastern apse.

The western arch (see Fig. 284) is supported on a series of nook shafts, some of which are broken away. These carry simply formed caps, with

square abacus, carved with scale work. The arch contains three orders enriched with ornaments and a label. The first and third orders are enriched with very elaborate chevron ornaments; the central order has the billet and the hood mould, a series of small semicircles placed back to back. An arched recess occurs in the wall at each side of the central arch. That on the north side is original, and is ornamented with the chevron. The arch on the south side has been renewed. It is not clear what purpose these arches served, but most probably they contained altars. Arched recesses in this position, although not common, are sometimes found in Norman churches. The arch of the apse (see Fig. 285) is enriched in three orders, and the caps of the shafts have volutes (Fig. 286). Two of the pillars which formed part of the apse survive. The details of the caps and central band are shown in Fig. 286.

Many of the smaller ornaments of this structure are very beautiful, and are well preserved. On the south side (see Fig. 284) there remains the recessed pointed arch of a monument, in which parts of a decayed recumbent effigy are visible. The three shields on the top give it a picturesque effect.

The ruined church is now used as the family mausoleum of the Earls of Haddington.

STOBO CHURCH, PEEBLESSHIRE.

This church is situated in the valley of the Tweed, six and a half miles west from Peebles, and within one mile of Stobo Railway Station. It is

a Norman structure, to which some alterations and additions have been made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The building is still used as the parish church. The roof and interior fittings are modern, as are also the skews and gabled skew putts, of which latter there was no suggestion in the old work. But the most serious injury inflicted on the

structure was the entire destruction of the Norman chancel arch at the restoration of the building in 1868, “in order to insert a modern pointed one.”--(_Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society, 1887_, p. 6.)

The building (Fig. 287) consists of a nave about 40 feet long by 18 feet 7 inches wide, with a chancel about 24 feet 4 inches long by 16 feet wide, thus making the total interior length about 67 feet 4 inches. There is a tower at the west end, about 20 feet square over the walls, and 11 feet by 9 feet 6 inches inside. The tower has originally opened into the church with what appears to have been a round arch, which is now partly concealed by a gallery and other erections. This opening has been reduced in size, as shown on the plan, to a doorway about three feet wide. The doorway is pointed, and of old date.

As the whole building is harled or rough cast on the outside and plastered on the inside, it is impossible to say definitely whether the tower is Norman or later. The work of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries consists of the south porch (Fig. 288), built up against the Norman doorway (Fig. 289), and a north aisle or chapel, which opened from the nave with a round arch, now built up. This chapel, which is ruined, was barrel vaulted. The windows in the south wall are also of this period. The mullions and tracery of those of the nave are modern, as is also a monument erected against the interior of the east wall, which may possibly conceal a Norman east window. The four-light window in the south wall of the chancel (Fig. 290), although of this late period, is quaint and pleasing, the small circle in the apex giving it quite a touch of originality.

A round arched recess for a monument in the north side of the chancel also belongs to this period. It has contained a coat of arms, which is effaced.

The original windows in the north side of the chancel remain. The daylight is about 7 inches wide by about 2 feet high. There has been a Norman doorway in the north side of the nave. It has a plain arch, and was probably not unlike the doorway in the opposite wall, which is of very simple design, with octagonal shafts. The capitals are slightly mutilated.

The window to the west of the porch is modern, as are the doorway and stair in the tower. The latter is of wood, and leads to the gallery already referred to. There does not appear to have been a stone stair in the tower. The belfry is late, as is the present tower roof. It is impossible to say how the tower was originally finished.

The walls being lined with wood on the inside, the usual fittings are concealed, the only feature visible being the locker, shown on Plan, near the east end. It is widely splayed in the ingoing, and is not Norman. The south chancel door is probably of the period of the adjoining windows.

Stobo Church, like most of the churches of Peeblesshire, “belonged to the diocese of Glasgow at the epoch of Earl David’s Inquisitio in 1116, and both the church and manor were confirmed to that see, by several bulls of successive Popes, in the twelfth century.” In Bagimont’s Roll (1275) it is mentioned as the “Rectoria de Stobo” and the “Vicaria de Stobo.”[179] It was the church of a _Plebania_,[180] having subordinate churches or chaplainries within its territory, over which its priest, who was styled dean, exercised a certain authority. There were four subordinate parishes--viz., Broughton, Dowie, Drummelzier, and Tweedsmuir. In 1116 the rectory of Stobo was converted into the valuable prebend of Tweeddale in Glasgow Cathedral.

DUDDINGSTON CHURCH, MID-LOTHIAN.

This ancient Norman edifice has formed the place of worship for the locality since the twelfth century, and is still used as the parish church. It is picturesquely situated on the north side of Duddingston Loch,

immediately under the south side of Arthur’s Seat, and within a mile of Edinburgh.

The structure has undergone many alterations during the six centuries of its existence, but still retains its original Norman character to a greater extent than at first sight might be supposed; indeed, it is one of the best preserved examples we have in Scotland, although the introduction of a

few prominent features in later times, such as the windows and buttresses, have somewhat detracted from its antique appearance.

The building appears to have originally consisted of a nave and chancel; if it had a tower, it must have been of smaller dimensions than the present one, as the base of the west wall abuts against the side walls of the present tower instead of returning along it, as it would otherwise in all likelihood have done.

The nave (Fig. 291) measures about 33 feet 4 inches long, and was probably about 19 feet wide inside. The chancel is about square, being 16 feet 1½ inch from east to west by 15 feet 6 inches wide, the total inside length of the church being 52 feet 9 inches.

On the outside a series of pilaster buttresses divided the nave into four bays; these still exist along the south side, measuring about 2 feet on the face, and having a projection of 9 inches, with a large base returned round them. To these pilasters massive buttresses (Fig. 292) projecting three feet have been added. At the corners of the church the original angle pilasters remain unaltered. The old doorway in the west bay of the south side (Fig. 293) still continues unchanged, except that it

is built up, and has an incongruous granite slab occupying the whole space. The opening of the doorway is about 4 feet 2 inches wide. The arch is richly sculptured with the chevron in two orders, the inner order being supported on shafts decorated with the chevron in a manner not found, we think, anywhere else in Scotland. On one of these shafts there are two sculptured scenes. The upper one represents the Crucifixion. (See Fig. 293.) The lower one (Fig. 294) shows a figure holding aloft a drawn sword; beside the sword, in the shade where the shaft disappears at the jamb, there is what looks like a key, possibly the symbol of St. Peter, so that the subject may be the incident of cutting off the ear of the High Priest.

The chancel arch (Fig. 295) is the only Norman feature now remaining in the interior. It is in two orders, having on the outer order the usual chevron ornament, with a notched hood moulding similar to what is found at Dunfermline. The inner order has a bold bead on the edge. The arch is quite plain on its inner face towards the chancel. It is carried by three semi-shafts (Fig. 296), with cushion caps and simple bases. The abacus has been carved with facets.

On the exterior of the chancel there occur on the north and south sides (see Fig. 292) characteristic Norman corbels supporting the wall-head parapet. These consist generally of the usual bridled heads and monstrous faces, but they are now very weather-worn.

The north wall of the nave has been taken down and a north aisle added (see Plan), apparently in the year 1631, as that date (Fig. 297) is carved on a window lintel of the east wall. In the north gable of this aisle there are two traceried windows, somewhat after the style of the Perpendicular Period. (Fig. 298.) It will be observed that the mouldings of the loop form of the tracery do not mitre with the arch mouldings.

At a later period a central window, without tracery, has been placed in the north wall of the aisle. It corresponds exactly with the windows

seen in the south side, and with the one in the east wall of the chancel, judging from which it was probably at this later period that all the present windows, seen in Fig. 292, were inserted. The original windows were, doubtless, the usual small windows found in Norman churches, and when they came to be enlarged, the builders probably increased the buttresses to compensate for the weakening of the wall, and added the conical finials on them and on the gables (see Fig. 292). It is obvious that to this period also the upper part of the tower belongs. The lower part of the tower, although not of the original structure, is, we are inclined to think, of considerable antiquity; it opens into the church with a plain, round arch. The staircase shown in it and on the north aisle lead to galleries.

Jamb of Chancel Arch.]

Lintel in East Wall, North Aisle.]

Window in North Aisle.]

During the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) the church and lands of Dodin-ston were acquired by the Abbey of Kelso, but from whom they were acquired is not known. There were several persons of the name of Dodin, but the one who gave his name to this place does not appear to be known. But there was a “Hugo filius Dodini de Dodines-tun” who witnessed a charter to the Canons of Holyrood in the time of William the Lion (Dalrymple _Collection_, Pref. lxvii.; also, _Caledonia_, Vol. II. p. 791.)

In 1296 John Combale, the vicar of Dodinestun, swore fealty to Edward I.

In the ancient _Taxatio_ (end of twelfth century), Duddingston Church is rated at twenty-five merks.

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH, GULLANE, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

The village of Gullane lies in the parish of Dirleton, about four miles north-west from Drem Station, and half-a-mile from the sea.

The old church of St. Andrew is now a roofless ruin, thickly clad with ivy, and standing in the middle of the ancient churchyard. The church was bestowed early in the thirteenth century on Dryburgh Abbey by Sir William de Vaux, and in 1446 it was erected into a collegiate institution by Sir Walter de Haliburton. Both these knights were the proprietors of the Castle of Dirleton in the vicinity.

The structure (Fig. 299) consisted of nave and chancel, the chancel being entered from the nave by a semicircular chancel arch, almost the only remnant of the edifice of the twelfth century which survives.

The chancel as it now stands is 35 feet in length by 15 feet 6 inches in width internally. The eastern portion is a comparatively recent addition, and has a square east wall, but it is believed that the chancel formerly terminated towards the east with an apse. Part of the old south wall of the chancel, extending to about 20 feet in length, still remains. It contains two pointed windows, with late mouldings on the exterior, probably fragments of the restoration of the fifteenth century, at the time when the church was made collegiate. These windows have been reduced to mere slits by being built up with slabs in the interior. This filling up was probably inserted when the place was converted into a burial-ground for a private family, in order to prevent entrance through the windows.

The south wall of the nave is still about 72 feet in length, but the north wall is reduced to about 43 feet long. The west end is gone, and the nave has been divided up into private burial-places. The windows which remain in the south wall of the nave have been much altered in Presbyterian times, having had flat lintels, &c., introduced.

The chancel archway (Figs. 300, 301) is 8 feet in width. It has square jambs on both sides of the wall, and a central half shaft on each jamb of the opening. The caps of these shafts (see Fig. 301) are fairly preserved, and

show a form of volutes, with a cabled necking and a three-sided abacus, which was continued as a string course along the walls on each side.

The arch has been built up, but the two plain orders of the east side are visible, and the outer order on the west side (Fig. 300), carved with a bold chevron and finished with a three-sided hood, is well preserved. There can be no doubt as to this part of the structure being of Norman origin, and the north wall of the nave has a three-sided string course, which seems to indicate the same date, but the remainder of the structure

has been greatly altered. The earth inside the choir has been filled up to near the caps of the chancel arch. A round arch in the north wall of the chancel appears to belong to a side door at the original level of the floor.

An “aisle” or wing has been built out to the north from the nave. It has been entered by a large semicircular arch from the nave, and has had a large north window, but these openings are now built up. This erection seems to be of about the time of the Reformation.

UPHALL CHURCH, AND ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH, STRATHBROC, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

The Church of Uphall is a Norman structure throughout, and consists of nave, chancel, and a western tower. It has been subjected to various

alterations and extensions, but the original plan is still perfectly clear, and is shown by Fig. 302, which ignores the changes, except the addition of the south aisle or wing. The building has no side aisles.

The nave measures about 35 feet long by 15 feet wide, and the

chancel 30 feet 6 inches long by 13 feet wide. The doorway (Fig. 303) is in the usual place at the west end of the south front. It is of Norman design, having a nook shaft at each side, with cushion cap and plain square abacus. The arch is round, and has two orders, the inner order being square edged, and the outer composed of mouldings, and having a moulded label. It is probable there was some piece of carving beneath the arch, or else the square lintel is an alteration. A stoup adjoining in the south wall has a pointed opening, and probably dates from the fifteenth century. There is another doorway opposite in the north wall, which is perfectly plain, and, so far as it can be seen, it appears to be original; but, as the lower parts of the walls are covered with wood boarding, other requisites which may exist, such as ambries and piscina, are concealed. None of the windows are original, so far, at least, as they are seen on the exterior, and the whole masonry on the inside is covered. The east window in the south wall (Fig. 304) has a horizontal arched lintel, with radiating joints, and probably dates from late in the fifteenth century. It is impossible to say whether there were windows in the east wall or not, and, as regards the north wall, it has nearly all been taken down between the west door and the chancel arch, in order to admit a modern addition. The chancel arch itself has been taken away, and the

wall above removed, and the place occupied by it has been filled up with lath and plaster, and slated on the outside.

The western tower (Fig. 305) has been appropriated as the burial-place of the Buchan family; so that it now forms no part of the church. It is entered by a fanciful Norman door in the west end. The windows in the tower are all modern, and so, we need hardly say, is the belfry. The upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a late period, probably during the fifteenth century alteration.

The south aisle probably dates from the seventeenth century, and was built by the Shairp family, whose mansion house of Houston is in the neighbourhood. It is now partly used as their burial aisle, and is a quaint structure, forming an agreeable contrast to the modern additions.

The parish of Uphall was formerly called Strathbroc, and at this place, near the modern mansion of Kirkhill, and about one mile east from Uphall, stood the old parish church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, which was abandoned in the sixteenth century, when the Church of Uphall became the parish church. What kind of building it was before this does not appear to be known. The Rev. Mr. Primrose, who has devoted much attention to the antiquities of the locality, suggests that it was the chapel of some order of monks.

Of the Church of Strathbroc only two relics now remain. The one is the font (Fig. 306), of which the basin only is old. It was rescued from the adjoining farm steading, where it served a useful, if not dignified, purpose, and placed on its present base, and now stands in the Roman Catholic Church of Broxburn. It is octagonal in shape, and contains (Fig. 307) the letters M· and IHS·, repeated twice. Two of the faces bear the inscriptions STA/ECCLESIA· and NICOLAS·, and two faces are vacant.

The other relic of St. Nicholas is the bell which now rings in the parish church of Uphall. It contains the inscription “Campanum Sancti Nicholai de Strathbroke, 1441.”[181] Mr. Primrose states that the bell was recast in 1503, and contains the Seton arms--Kirkhill at this period belonging to that family.

ABERCORN, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

The ancient church of Æbbercurnig, or Abercorn, lies in a sheltered spot amidst the fine woods surrounding the grounds of Hopetoun House, about three miles west from Queensferry.

It is believed that when the Northumbrian kingdom was extended to the Forth in the seventh century, a church was founded here in 675, under St. Wilfrid, as a central point from which to superintend the northern part of his diocese. Under Trumuini, this church became the see of the earliest bishopric in Scotland, during the years from 681 to 685. But the victory of the Picts over the Northumbrians at Dunichen caused the latter to retire from Lothian, and drove the monks back to Whitby. The site, however, continued to be occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure belongs to the Norman period. It has been very greatly altered in modern times--so much so, that a round-headed doorway (Fig. 308) in the south wall is now almost the only portion remaining which can be

identified as of Norman date. This Norman doorway has the usual nook shafts, with cushion caps, and the lintel within the round arch is square. The tympanum is filled with stones, arranged in zig-zag patterns, and is one of the few examples in Scotland of a tympanum filled with a shield containing ornament of any kind.

Several burial-places have been added on the south side of the church since Reformation times. (Fig. 309.) These can generally be identified by the coats of arms they bear.

To the north-east of the church there has been erected, probably in the eighteenth century, a house of two stories as a place for the lord of the manor, from which he obtained access to his private gallery, erected about that time at the east end of the choir, which it still disfigures.

In the churchyard there are many interesting tombstones, and amongst them are two stone monuments of rather unusual form. (Fig. 310.)

These consist of solid stones, doubtless intended to be laid over graves, triangular in section, with the ridge rising to the centre. One has the sides carved with figures of fish-scale pattern, arranged in rows; the other has the scales of a squarer shape. The ends are broken. They are good specimens of the hog-backed form of tombstones.

KELSO ABBEY, ROXBURGHSHIRE.

In 1113, David, Earl of Huntingdon, introduced thirteen Reformed Benedictine monks from Tiron, in France (hence called Tironenses), and settled them at Selkirk, near his castle there. But the place was not found suitable, and in 1128, after David had become king, the monks, with the consent of the Bishop of Glasgow, were removed to Kelso, where they were established near the royal castle of Roxburgh. The foundation of the new abbey was laid in 1128, and the church was dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. The monastery soon became the richest and most powerful in Scotland. 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. But in 1420 this precedence was decided by James I. in favour of the Prior of St. Andrews. Many of the abbots of Kelso were men of learning and celebrity, and were employed in important offices in and out of the kingdom, and others were promoted to bishoprics.

During the War of Independence the abbey, which lay near the Border, suffered severely. The monastery was laid waste, and the monks were supported by contributions from the other houses of the order. In 1344, the buildings of the abbey having been destroyed by fire, David II. granted permission to the monks to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart Forest, to enable them to carry out the necessary reparations.

In 1511 the abbacy passed into the hands of the Bishop of Caithness, as commendator, and its decline soon followed. After the Battle of Flodden, in 1513, David Ker of Cessford took possession of the abbey, and had his brother made abbot. In 1522-3 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 till 1558 James Stewart, natural son of James V., filled the office of abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk,

and in 1545 the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed the monastery. On the latter occasion the defenders sought refuge in the tower, which they defended till darkness enabled some of them to escape. The shattered walls seem still to have afforded some shelter; but they

were again still further reduced by Lord Eure in 1546. 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 had been taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation in the name of the Crown.

These 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.

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 shown in Grose’s view, made 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.[182]

After the many batterings and the long neglect the abbey church has endured, it is astonishing to find even the fragments which still exist.

The edifice has consisted (Fig. 311) of a 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 the nave form three arms of equal length round the three sides of the crossing, above which rises the massive square tower.

The church has been originally constructed in the late Norman style of about the end of the twelfth century, passing into the transition style; but the upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a later period.

A portion of each of the departments of the church survives, but in the case of the chancel there remains only a fragment. The chancel is the only part which had aisles, but these have now entirely disappeared; and of the chancel itself, all that remains (Fig. 312) is two of the south main piers, with their arches, and two stories of arcades above, which represent the triforium and clerestory. This arrangement is peculiar, and the effect is striking.