Chapter X: Part 10

a circular stone stair. There is a string course above the level of the ridge of the church, above which the tower rises one story. In this there are several openings or loop holes of a roughly formed cross shape, similar to those sometimes found in the old castles. The tower is built of rubble work in quite a different style of masonry from that of the church. There is nothing to indicate that it is older than the church, except its position. Mr. T. S. Robertson[160] is probably correct when he states, “From its position, I am clearly of opinion that it existed before the church, and that the church walls were built up to it. I cannot believe that any one capable of building the round tower would have taken out the centre of a gable fully 3 feet thick to insert this tower,” for it will be observed that the tower projects inside. “The most that would have been done, had the church been earlier than the tower, would have been to slap a door of communication through the wall of the church.” The tower was probably erected independently as a belfry and for other occasional purposes. A circular stair beginning at the level of the church floor, and entering from the church by a square-headed door, is carried up as far as the upper story of the tower, which has been mended with brick work, otherwise the tower is all of one age. The walls are only 18 inches thick, but the

stone steps of the stair bind them together, and make the building as strong as if it had been built of one solid mass of masonry.

The small building at the east end is probably a century later than the church. It has a pointed barrel-vaulted roof, and an original square-headed doorway in the centre of its east wall. It is now used as the heating chamber of the church.

On the apex of the south-west buttress there is a remarkable sundial, which has already been illustrated.[161]

From Mr. Ferguson’s remarks[162] it is evident that the history of this building has not been investigated. There were a chapel and a hospital at

Cockburnspath in early times. Robert, Chaplain of Colbrundspath, is mentioned in 1255, but Mr. Ferguson has doubts as to this being the site of the chapel referred to.

PRESTON CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

A ruined church situated about two miles north from Duns. It is in a state of complete dilapidation, and is densely covered with ivy. The structure (Fig. 1352) consists of a nave and chancel of equal width, the whole internal length being about 70 feet by 14 feet 6 inches in width, and the chancel is about 18 feet 6 inches long. The round chancel arch is blocked, and it is doubtful if it is original. There are two narrow pointed windows in the east wall and one in the west wall, all widely splayed towards the interior, and finished with a segmental arch. Another window in the south wall of the chancel (shown in Fig. 1353) is of the same character, only that it is lintelled on the inside instead

of being arched. Beneath this window there is a peculiar piscina (see Fig. 1353). It consists of a triangular shelf projecting about

17 inches from the wall (Fig. 1354) and having a shallow basin supported on a rounded base. Above the shelf there is a round-arched recess 2 feet 2 inches high by 18 inches wide. The back of this recess leans forward, so that while it is 8½ inches deep at the base, it is only 3 inches at the crown of the arch.

There are two south doors with square lintels, one in the chancel and another in the nave near the west end. A later door has been made at the east end of the nave.

All the doors and windows are finished on the outside with a simple chamfer.

There has probably been a sacristy on the north side of the nave.

Mr. Ferguson[163] assigns this church to an early period. The small windows

in the end walls and the shallow buttresses at the west end have an early appearance, but the same cannot be said of the details shown in Fig. 1353. Mr. Muir[164] is doubtful as to its “just claim to antiquity.” This church, with that of Bunkle, about two miles distant, belonged to the Bishopric of Dunkeld.

ST. MARY’S ABBEY, ROTHESAY, BUTESHIRE.

About half a mile westwards from the town of Rothesay, and approached by an avenue of fine old trees, there stands in the ancient burial-ground the choir of the Abbey Church of St. Mary. The west end has been built up with a wall containing a wide gateway, but otherwise the chancel remains in fair preservation, although roofless. A modern church has been erected beside it, but with an interval of a few inches between the new and old structures.

The ancient chancel (Fig. 1355) now measures 27 feet in length by 18 feet in width internally. The east wall, with its gable (Fig. 1356), still survives, and contains a large three-light window, of which the tracery has been of the simple intersecting kind. The east ends of the side walls had each a single pointed light with pointed rear arches. Near the west end of the north wall is a plain pointed doorway, and a small window with square lintel. The west end of the south wall contained a doorway, now built up.

Opposite one another, in the centre of the north and south walls, are erected two more than usually interesting monuments. Both are recessed in the wall, and are covered with an arched canopy, and in each the effigy of the person commemorated is preserved. The monument in the south wall (Fig. 1357) is the larger and finer of the two. It measures nearly 11 feet over the side buttresses. The ogee arch in which it is enclosed contains bold, but late, mouldings. The arch has been ornamented with large crockets, but they are now much wasted away. The monument has doubtless been erected in memory of one of the Stewarts of Bute, who buried here, but its heraldry is peculiar. At the apex there is a shield, which appears to contain the royal arms, but has two lions for supporters, instead of the usual unicorns. There is also on the base or pedestal of the monument a coat of arms, containing quarterly first and fourth the Stewart arms, and second and third the royal arms. The shield is supported by two angels. In a paper by Mr. John Mackinlay,[165] written in 1825, these arms are fully described and illustrated. They were then doubtless better preserved than they now are, but the arms can still be deciphered. Mr. Mackinlay tries to explain the remarkable circumstance of the Stewart arms having precedence in the lower shield over the royal arms, by supposing that they are placed on the tomb of the chief of the

Clan. But the name of the person whose monument this is has not been discovered.[166] As the bearings in quartered shields are often reversed by mistake, the same may have happened here.

The effigy is that of a knight in complete plate armour. The head rests on a tilting helmet, with a dog’s head for crest, which is attached to a cap put on over the helmet. The round hollow visible to the spectator represents the inside of the helmet. The feet rest upon a lion. The figure is considerably worn, but the plate armour and the gauntlets are still distinctly seen. The bottom of the shirt of mail worn under the cuirass and the jewelled sword belt and hilt of the sword are also clearly visible. A coat of arms, similar to that on the pedestal, is carved on the breast, being intended to represent the arms wrought in embroidery on the surcoat.

The lower part of the monument has been divided into panels, each containing a quatrefoil, and between the panels there were at one time small

figures of armed knights, each holding a spear. When Mr. Mackinlay wrote, one of these figures survived; now they are all gone, together with parts of the quatrefoils, and an irregular empty space is left where they once stood. Mr. Mackinlay mentions that some excavation was made, and an arched recess was found under the monument in which the coffins had been placed, and three skulls were discovered therein. In the upper part of the monument over the arch are two recesses, which probably at one time contained coats of arms.

The other monument (Fig. 1358) in the north wall of the chancel has been erected in memory of a lady and child, whose effigies it contains. The

figures of the lady and child are cut in a thin slab of stone, and have not the bold effect of the knight in armour. There are no arms or inscription on this monument, and the name of the person commemorated is unknown. The arch over the figures is of the same description as that of the opposite monument, but it is lower and not so effective. The mouldings are also similar, and there have been crockets over the arch, which are now greatly decayed. The width of the monument over all is fully 8 feet.

The lower part of the monument on which the effigies rest is divided into eight panels by shafts, and each panel contains a sculptured figure. Mr. Mackinlay says that they represent saints, and that amongst them is the Virgin and Child. In their decayed condition the latter is not now recognisable. The figures seem rather to resemble persons in the dress of the fifteenth century, and some of them appear to be kneeling.

At the east end of the chancel there is a pointed piscina in the south wall (see Fig. 1357) and an ambry in the east wall.

The style of the structure and of the monuments is undoubtedly late, probably sixteenth century.

THE PARISH CHURCH AND THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. MARY, DUMBARTON, DUMBARTONSHIRE.

The town of Dumbarton is situated on the left bank of the river Leven, near its junction with the Clyde, and not far from the detached rock on which stands the Castle of Dumbarton. A church existed here from a very early time, and the parish church appears to have been rebuilt at least three times, and is now a modern edifice of 1811. Previously the parish church was represented by the quaint structure shown in Fig. 1359, which has entirely disappeared, along with the hospital or bead-house adjacent, which was erected in 1636 by Buchanan of Auchmore, and endowed by him with £1021. This view is copied from a pencil sketch made by Paul Sandby in 1747, which forms part of a valuable collection of sketches relating to Scotland, preserved in the Library of the Royal Scottish Academy, to the Council of which we are indebted for permission to reproduce it.

The parish church (see Fig. 1359) was probably intended to consist of a choir and nave with a central tower, but only the choir and tower would seem to have been built. As frequently happened, a north aisle or transept appears from the view to have existed. This contained what was known in later times as Mr. Campbell of Stonefield’s gallery and the town council gallery, and it was entered by an outside stair. From the description of the interior in Glen’s _History of Dumbarton_, p. 74, the church was evidently a typical specimen of those picturesque, though plain, interiors which have now almost disappeared. The pulpit stood on the south side, and there were various galleries for the trades and for the

garrison, while an upper end gallery called the hen-bauk was occupied by single ladies. In 1622 Dame Jean Hamiltone, Lady of Luss, having no convenient seat, was granted liberty by the kirk-session “to build ane seat for hirsel, upon ye top of the east gavil.” The spire was of wood, and was presumably covered with lead. Shortly after this sketch was made the spire appears, from the Burgh Records, to have been ruinous, so that its leaning appearance may be quite correct. The tower was of the low squat form, with plain parapet, common at the time.

The hospital appears, from the view, to have been of considerable extent. It was evidently two stories in height, and was lighted by round-headed windows. This bead-house and the small chapel attached to it

were ultimately dismantled and lay in a ruinous state till, in the year 1758, they were entirely demolished by the magistrates, and the stones used to build the East Bridge and for other purposes. The church appears to have been used as the parish church till about 1810, when it was taken down and a new church built on the site.

The Collegiate Church and Hospital of St. Mary were founded in 1450 by Lady Isabella, Duchess of Albany and Countess of Lennox. She was the widow of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, who was beheaded at Stirling in 1425. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Earl of Lennox gifted the church, with the temporality, to the Abbey of Kilwinning. The chapter consisted of a provost and six canons, and was endowed with the parish churches of Bonhill, Fintry, and Strathblane, and also held considerable lands in the neighbourhood of Dumbarton, which yielded to Kilwinning at the Reformation an annual revenue of £66, 13s. 4d. sterling.

The founder erected the college for the repose of the souls of “her dearest husband, her father, and her sons,” who had been slain by their relative James I. of Scotland, under the belief that they had been to blame in connection with his long imprisonment in England.

After the Reformation the college was allowed to fall into ruin, and its materials were gradually carried off. In 1858, in order to make room for the railway station, the last remnants of the edifice, one of the pier arches and its piers (Fig. 1360) were removed from their position on a grassy knoll, from which a fine view of the Leven was visible, and re-erected as the gateway of a house.[167]

CHAPEL AT THE KIRKTON OF KILMAHEW,[168] DUMBARTONSHIRE.

This structure is an interesting example of a private ecclesiastical foundation. The remains of the chapel stand in an ancient churchyard, on a knoll close to a small stream, about one and a half miles north-west from Cardross Railway Station. The building has attached to it the piece of land with which it was endowed, and is surrounded by the estate of Kilmahew, the property of John William Burns, Esq., to whom we are indebted for bringing the structure under our notice.

This chapel is believed to have been erected for the convenience of the inhabitants of the locality, owing to the great distance of their parish church at Roseneath, and also of the church of the neighbouring parish of Cardross. The Napiers were proprietors of Kilmahew from about 1300. John Napier was one of the defenders of Stirling Castle in 1304, along with Sir William Olyfard. In 1406 William Napier obtained a charter of the half lands of Kilmahew, “where the chapel is situated.”[169]

A chapel existed here in 1370, when a charter was granted to Roger Cochran of the lands of Kilmahew, “with the chapel thereof.” In 1467 a new chapel was erected by Duncan Napier, then proprietor of Kilmahew, who endowed it with an annual rent of 40s. and 10d. out of tenements in Dumbarton. In the above year the new chapel, dedicated to St. Mahew, was consecrated by George, Bishop of Argyll, in mitre and full pontificals, with the permission of the Bishop of Glasgow, in whose diocese it was situated. Possibly the existing chancel is part of the structure then dedicated.

At the Reformation this chapel was used as a preaching station by a reader under the minister of Roseneath, but when the site of Cardross Church was altered so as to bring it into its present more convenient position as regards this locality, the chapel fell into disuse. The burying-ground attached to it, however, continued in use for interments till recent years. In 1640 a portion of the chapel was turned into a school, in terms of an agreement between Robert Napier of Kilmahew and the other heritors. Under this agreement Kilmahew bound himself--first, “to give the use of his chapel of Kilmahew bewest the quir thereof, for and in place of a school; second, to mortify to the schoolmaster annually five

bolls one firlot of tiend bear, and also a house and a piece of land layand thereto beside the chapel of Kilmahew, extending to about an acre or therby, together with ane piece of land for pasture, which was of old possest by the priest of Kilmahew, by order of the said Robert Napier of Kilmahew his predecessors in time of superstition and popery; and in case the annual value of these provisions should fall short of eighty merks to make it up to that sum; third, to entertain the school master present and to come, in meat, drink, and bedding, in household with himself within the house of Kilmahew, so long as he shall discharge the duty of family exercise and prayer within the said family.”[170]

The acre of ground above referred to is now in the possession of the School Board, together with two acres excambed in 1795 for the priest’s right of pasturing a cow on Kirkton farm.

The building is now unoccupied, but it is kept in good repair. It consists (Fig. 1361) of an eastern portion or choir, which is roofed, and of a western portion or nave, which is roofless. The former is ancient, but the latter appears to be comparatively modern. The choir is, internally, 13 feet 6 inches in length from west to east, by 16 feet 3 inches in width from north to south, and the walls are 3 feet in thickness. In the west wall there is a rounded and chamfered arch 9 feet 2 inches in width, now built up. The choir has two windows, one in the north

wall and one in the south wall (Fig. 1362), each of which is square-headed, and the outer jambs and lintel have a double splay. The doorway, which is in the south wall, has also a square lintel and a bold bead and hollow round the opening. In the interior of the north wall there is an arched recess 8 feet in length by 2 feet in depth, which may have contained a monument, or may have been an Easter sepulchre. The east wall has two recesses, one of which may have contained a piscina, while the other (Fig. 1363) is an ambry of an ornamental character, but evidently of very late date. There is also a window in this wall placed at a very high level, and out of the centre (see Fig. 1362). The gables are finished with crowsteps, and on the south skew putts there are shields

Ambry In East Wall.]

(Fig. 1364), that at the south-west end containing the sacred monogram I. H. S., and that at the south-east end the initials M. C. In the east gable, which has a set-off above the wall-head, there is a window placed so as to light an upper room in the roof, which probably formerly existed.

The nave measures 34 feet 7 inches in length by 19 feet 8 inches in width over the walls, which are thinner than those of the choir. There is a doorway in the west end, and the enclosure contains some flat monuments lying on the ground, which commemorate some of the Napiers of Kilmahew and Buchanans of Drum (1789-80). This enclosure probably occupies the

South Skew Putts.]

site of the original nave, but the wall appears to have been rebuilt. There was apparently a nave in existence in 1640, as it was the chapel “bewest the quir” which Robert Napier then agreed to give as a school.

CANONBY PRIORY, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

“Some remains of this canonry were, until recently, visible at Halgreen.... A portion of the ancient church (the sedilia) may be seen in the churchyard.”[171]

This priory was founded during the reign of David I. by Turgot de Rossendal, near the junction of the Esk and Liddel, and was destroyed by the English after the battle of Solway Moss in 1542. The annexed illustration (Fig. 1365) shows the only fragment that survives. It is probably of thirteenth century work (but was omitted in Vol. II.)

The priory, as the residence of the canons, became known as Canonbie.

KIRKBRYDE CHURCH, DUMFRIESSHIRE.[172]

A ruin situated five or six miles south-east from Sanquhar.

The church (Fig. 1366) measures 42 feet 4 inches in length by 14 feet 6 inches wide inside.

There is a north chapel, measuring about 10 feet by 9 feet 3 inches, opening into the church by a round arch.

The east wall (Fig. 1367), on which is the belfry, is almost entire, as is also the greater part of the west wall and the south wall (Fig. 1368). The north wall is pretty well preserved at the east end, as well as the chapel and north archway (Fig. 1369). At the west end the north wall is very fragmentary.

The doorway in the south wall has a pointed arch cut out of two stones (see Fig. 1368). There are three windows on the south side of

the church (see Fig. 1368). One of them is entire, and has a pointed arch cut out of two stones. A kind of shoulder is wrought on the

Window in South Wall.]

stone above the arch (Fig. 1370). The east window is square lintelled, and is provided with strong iron bars. There are no windows in the north wall.

The masonry of the north chapel is of a better kind than that of the main building. The opening arch is about 7 feet 2 inches wide, and is entirely plain, without even a splay on the edge.

ST. CUTHBERT’S, MOFFAT, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

On a hill on the opposite side of the River Annan from the town of Moffat stand the small remains of St. Cuthbert’s Church.

The building is believed to have been originally erected by the Knights Templars, who had considerable possessions in this locality. All that now remains of the structure is a portion of what appears to have been the west wall, containing parts of a pointed window (Fig. 1371), which has been divided into three lights by two mullions, one of which, and one arch and half of another, only remain. The three lights had sharply pointed openings, and the principal arch had two splays on its ingoing. The design might belong to almost any period of Gothic, but the form adopted was common in late work.

The east wall of the church appears to have been made available as part of a farmhouse, and its features are quite obliterated. Considerable foundations of other structures are observable in the grassy mounds scattered around.

SANQUHAR CHURCH, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

The old church of Sanquhar was demolished in 1827, and the present church was built partly on its site, as indicated by the dotted lines shown

on the Plan (Fig. 1372). In 1895 Lord Bute had excavations made, which partly revealed the Plan now submitted.[173]

The position of the east wall was thus determined, as likewise that of the east end of the north wall with one buttress, and considerable portions of the south wall throughout its whole length, with indications of three buttresses and the return of the west wall at the south-west

Effigy.]

corner. The dimensions of the building were ascertained to be about 96 feet from east to west by about 30 feet 6 inches from north to south over the walls. The angle buttresses shown at the east end are conjectural, and are based on a tradition that the corners of the existing church were copied from the form of the east end of the old church.

Mr. Schultz states that an old burial list, of which the date is uncertain, but which may be of the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, alludes to certain graves which can still be recognised as so many feet from the “queer pillar” (buttress), _i.e._, the buttress opposite which the chancel arch is represented. Mr. Schultz assumes from this that the choir or “queer” extended as far as this buttress; and the fact that a splayed base was found all along the choir wall as far as this point, and that no such splay existed farther west, gives a certain sanction to the above view, as does also the circumstance that the nave or western part of the building had no buttresses. It is frequently found that the eastern end was treated in a different manner from the west end. A foundation was found inside the building, at a distance of about 6 feet from the east wall, and it is conjectured that this may represent the seat of an altar. The windows, of which several stones were found, appear to have had single mullions with simple pointed arches.

Although only demolished in this century, there does not appear to be any view of the old church known. It is described by Symson, in his _Large Description of Galloway_, “as a considerable and large fabrick, consisting of a spacious church and stately quire, where are the tombs of the Lord Crichtons of Sanquhar, wrought in freestone, and before them some Lords of the name of Ross.”[174]

The effigy of an ecclesiastic (Fig. 1373) was taken from Sanquhar to Friars Carse when the old church was demolished, but it has recently been brought back by Lord Bute.

CARNOCK CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

A ruinous structure comprising some fragments of the ancient parish church which was remodelled soon after the Reformation. The church (Fig. 1374) now measures, internally, about 42 feet in length by 17 feet 6 inches in width. The east end contains one narrow, but complete, pointed window, with a simple jamb moulding, and the remains of another similar window, both having wide internal splays. Another narrow

pointed window yet exists in the north wall, but in the south wall the windows have been enlarged. The west wall (Fig. 1375) has been rebuilt or heightened, and a belfry of Renaissance style erected upon it. A round-headed doorway has been inserted in each of the north and south walls, and the round arch of the south door now stands detached. A south porch has also been added (see Fig. 1375) with a stone seat on each side, and having a round-headed entrance with large bead on jambs and arch. Two small windows near the ground at the west end seem to indicate that there has been a gallery above them at that end. The church is now disused, but still stands in the old churchyard, and is greatly covered with ivy.

John Row, the ecclesiastical historian, was minister of this parish from 1592 to 1646. It is situated about three miles west from Dunfermline.

DYSART CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

This church has already been illustrated and described at length;[175] but as it is a building of considerable importance, it is introduced here in order to illustrate some points not formerly brought out. The edifice is a long parallelogram, with central avenue and north and south aisles, and is fairly entire along its whole length, except the outer wall of the north aisle. It has a lofty pele-like tower quite entire at the west end of the south aisle (Fig. 1376), which enters from the interior of the church by a doorway about 10 feet above the floor.

The tower is strong and quite capable of resisting a considerable attack. The main arcade is supported chiefly on round pillars, but at intervals the piers may be described as portions of the wall, as they

extend to five feet and even 9 feet in length, and have rounded ends corresponding to the intermediate pillars. The pillars at the east end are gone, but there were probably seven bays in the whole internal length of 135 feet. The tower occupies one bay at the west end of the surviving bays. Only the bay adjoining the tower on the south

side and the two bays opposite on the north side now remain (see Fig. 1376). The centre pillar on the north side is low, and supports lofty pointed arches. The second piers from the west are the large ones already described. Their caps are, as will be seen, at different levels, being higher on the east side than the west. The arcade to the eastwards may thus have been round arched, at all events the arches were not so acutely pointed as the western ones. The corbels for supporting the rafters of

Niche on South Porch.]

Cap in North Aisle.]

the roof are visible along the north face of the tower, and those for supporting the roof of the north aisle, with the drip moulding above, will be observed over the two arches at the west end, there being no stone vaulting used in the building. Fig. 1377 shows the east and south sides

Dysart Church.

Cap of Piers at south Aisle and North-West Respond.]

of the tower, and the large south porch with its stone covered roof and round arched doorway, over which is the canopied niche (Fig. 1378), and the bracket, ornamented with the pot of lilies, for supporting a statue. The figure was therefore probably one of the Virgin. The windows in the south aisle wall were (some of them at least) square headed.

Fig. 1379 shows the capital of the pillar in the north aisle as far as it can be seen, on account of the modern wall in which it is almost lost. It is formed to the shape of the double splayed arch moulding, and dies off into the round pillar below. The mouldings of the cap indicate very late work. Fig. 1380 is a still simpler cap from the south aisle and from the north-west respond.

KILCONQUHAR CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

A small ruin consisting of three arches of an old church, which stood on the ancient site before the present modern structure was erected in the immediate vicinity. The village of Kilconquhar is situated on a large loch about one mile and a half north-west from Elie.

The name is derived from the ancient Saint Connacher. There is little of the history of the church preserved. It was granted in 1200 by Duncan, Earl of Fife, to the Convent of North Berwick, and in 1266, after a controversy between the Laird of Kilcomath and the prioress of North

Berwick regarding the right of patronage, it was resigned into the hands of the Convent.[176]

The three arches (Fig. 1381) are all that now survive of the old church. They probably formed the arcade between the centre and side aisle, but there is nothing to show how the rest of the building was placed with reference to them. The north wall of the enclosure of a burying-place (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1382) has an ancient look, and may be part of the old church.

The arches have plain splays. The round pillars have caps formed by a single hollow without any necking, and the bases are formed with a splay. Both caps and bases follow the curve of the pillars. They indicate a structure of very late date, probably about the time of the Reformation.

KILRENNY CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

The village and church of Kilrenny stand about one mile inland from the coast at Anstruther. The only record before the Reformation is that in 1268 a pension was given to the vicar, who in 1336 was a certain “John.”[177] The tower of the church (Fig. 1383) is old, and is attached to a modern edifice. It is of the form common in Fife about the time of the Reformation, being carried up (Fig. 1384) without buttresses or ornament,

and having a parapet supported on corbels similar to those used in the castles of the period. There are traces of a large arch in the east wall of the tower, and another in the south wall, as if intended to open into a building, possibly the old church. The mark of the roof over the building on the south side still remains, and also a portion of a thick wall running southwards from the tower. In the internal angles of the tower there are square shafts with rude caps, apparently intended to support a vault, but there are now no traces of any vaulting. There are also the remains of a two-light window in the north wall of the tower. Attached to the west end of the tower is a stately monument erected by the family of Lumsdaine of Innergelly.

In the churchyard of Kilrenny may still be seen the monument of Cardinal Bethune or Beaton. It is an enclosure which stands to the eastward

of the church, built with ashlar and ornamented with Ionic pillars. The frieze and cornice are unfortunately wanting.

The entrance is in the east end, and in the opposite wall is a well-carved representation of the arms of Bethune of Balfour, viz., quarterly, 1st and 4th, azure a fesse between three mascles, or, for Bethune; 2nd and 3rd, argent on a chevron sable an otter’s head erased of the first, for Balfour. Crest, an otter’s head proper; motto, “Debonnaire.”

ROSYTH CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

A ruin situated on the shore of the Frith of Forth about five miles west from North Queensferry and about one mile east of Charleston.

Part of the structure is ancient, but the western portion has been added in post-Reformation times. All that now remains of the building consists

(Fig. 1385) of the east wall and gable, and a considerable part of the north wall. The east end (Fig. 1386) contains two narrow pointed windows with a simple moulding on the outside, which is returned round the sill. The moulding (see Fig. 1386) is rebated on the exterior for a shutter. The ingoings are widely splayed and have pointed rear arches. The ancient part of the north wall is built with ashlar work, the stones being of a cubic form, resembling Norman work, and the mortar is well washed out of the joints. The remainder of the north wall is built with irregular courses, and the wall opening has a straight lintel. There is an ambry in the north wall near the east end, and a recess in the wall near the doorway. The church has been 15 feet wide internally, and probably about 50 feet in length.

THE CHURCH OF THE DOMINICANS OR BLACKFRIARS, ST. ANDREWS, FIFESHIRE.

Amongst the many remains of religious establishments still visible in this old ecclesiastical centre, the ruins of a small part of the Church of the Blackfriars are prominent from their situation, being an ivy clad fragment of the church which stands detached in the grounds of the Madras College, and forms a conspicuous object close to South Street, one of the leading thoroughfares of the town.

The Dominicans or Friars preachers were introduced into Scotland in 1231 by Bishop Clement of Dunblane, and they were encouraged by Alexander II., who founded eight houses of the order in the principal towns of Scotland. This order was brought to St. Andrews by Bishop William Wishart, well known from the great works carried out by him at the cathedral.

Bishop Elphinstone, the distinguished prelate of Aberdeen and founder of the University in that city, died in 1514, leaving a sum of £10,000, part of which Prior Hepburn of St. Andrews succeeded in obtaining from the executor, Sir Thomas Myrton, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, for the purpose of rebuilding the convent of the Friars preachers in St. Andrews. In connection with this arrangement, the provincial of the order, John Adamson, a great reformer, held a chapter at Stirling in 1519, in which the revenues of the convent at Cupar and part of those of St. Monans were transferred to St. Andrews, while these convents were suppressed.[178]

No record is preserved of the buildings erected at this time, but probably the church was rebuilt and a series of domestic structures erected round a quadrangle on the south side of the church. The monastery was attacked and pillaged by the mob in 1560. The possessions of the convent had been gradually disposed of in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and after the Reformation the monastery was abandoned, and the buildings gradually fell to pieces, the materials being carried off in the usual manner.

The only portion now surviving is an apsidal wing or chapel (Fig. 1387) which projected from the north side of the church. It is 26 feet long by 21 feet in width internally. The three-sided form of the north end is not uncommon in the sixteenth century in Scotland, but it is not usually adopted in side chapels or transepts, being generally reserved for the east end of the chancel. At Ladykirk, Berwickshire, however, we have an example of the three-sided apse introduced in the chancel, and also

in the north and south transepts. There is a window in each of the three sides of the apse (Fig. 1388), the central one containing four lights and the diagonal windows three lights. A large window in the west wall has also four lights. The tracery in the windows has been renewed in modern times in a somewhat imperfect manner. The buttresses on the exterior angles have been almost entirely carried away. The altar probably stood on the east side, where there is an ambry, with the arch-head carved with a debased form of tracery. There seems to have been a doorway in the east wall, now built up.

The vaulting of the chapel (see Fig. 1388) is partly preserved. That over the square portion is a pointed barrel vault with ribs, arranged in sexpartite form. The ribs spring from corbels and small shafts. One of the corbels is carved with the Hepburn arms. The central boss of the vault bears the heart surrounded with two hands and feet,

emblems of the Passion. The vault of the apse is broken away, but it has been divided into three panels by ribs rising to a point at the apex. The vaulting of the main part of the chapel is of plain barrel form, and the cross ribs are introduced as ornaments on the surface, a common arrangement in late work. The ribs of the apse spring from two vaulting shafts rising from corbels, the caps of which have shields bearing the Hepburn arms (on a chevron a rose between two lions rampant). The chevron is still distinguishable. From the threefold repetition of these arms, it is supposed that this chapel was erected by Prior Hepburn, as a memorial and, perhaps, a burial chapel. The responds at the entrance, with their caps and other details, are of the third pointed period, and correspond with the date when the chapel was erected. A row of plain corbels, visible over the main arch, doubtless supported the roof of the principal nave of the church.

THE CHURCH OF ST. LEONARD’S COLLEGE, ST. ANDREWS, FIFESHIRE.

In the middle of the thirteenth century the Hospitium or Guest Hall of St. Leonard’s was founded by Prior John White, for the reception of pilgrims and visitors to St. Andrews. Some remains of the Guest Hall

have recently been excavated in the ground eastward from St. Leonard’s Church, from which it appears that it was a hall with central nave and two side aisles. The building was afterwards converted into a nunnery. In 1512 it was appropriated for a college.

This college was founded by John Hepburn, Prior of St. Andrews, in conjunction with Archbishop Alexander Stewart. It remained under the authority of the prior and chapter, and was designed for the education of twenty-four poor students. The college, however, soon became famed for its learning, and was attended by sons of the nobility. The students were specially instructed in music, and helped to spread a knowledge of sacred music throughout the country. George Buchanan, the well-known scholar, was at one time Principal.

The chapel (Fig. 1389) is a simple oblong chamber, being, internally, about 80 feet in length by 20 feet 6 inches in width, and has no division between chancel and nave. The design of the windows and buttresses (Fig. 1390) accords well with the date of erection in the sixteenth century, being in the perpendicular style, such as is common in the colleges in England. The windows are all square-headed, and the three-light ones have the heads of the lights cusped like quatrefoils. The church appears, from the marks in the walls, to have been extended 24 feet at the east end, probably at the time when it was converted into the college.

On the north side of the church is a room with a round barrel vault, probably the sacristy. From the door of the sacristy a narrow passage runs along the east end of the church in the thickness of the wall, and from it there are two loops into the church. Above this passage, and also in the thickness of the wall, another narrow passage is constructed in the east wall, which is continued round in the north wall as far as the vault of the sacristy extends. There is a shallow piscina in the east window sill. The west end has a door in the centre, and three remarkable niches above it. They have the appearance of having been placed there in recent times, when the west end was rebuilt. The arms of Prior Hepburn are inserted in this wall, and they are also carved on one of the south buttresses.

There are no windows in the north wall, but the interior contains several good Renaissance monuments. In the floor is the flat tombstone of John Wynram, Superintendent of Fife, who died in 1582; and against the north wall is the monument of Robert Stewart, Earl of March, who was commendator of the priory after the Regent Moray’s death.

The church was for long used for public worship, but after the College of St. Leonards was united to that of St. Salvator in 1747, the former was abandoned in 1759.

A long range of buildings on the south side of the church was occupied as the students’ lodgings, but these were also abandoned, and have now been converted into private residences.

Several alterations were likewise made on the church within recent times, the steeple being taken down, and the west end “set back,” so as to give more room for access to one of the private houses.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, ST. ANDREWS, FIFESHIRE.

This church, usually called the Town Church, is of ancient foundation, but was almost entirely rebuilt at the end of last century. The church which was then demolished is believed to have been erected in 1412. The north-west tower (Fig. 1391) is the only part of the old structure which survives. 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 the 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. The tower is carried up square to the parapet with only a string course beneath the windows of the belfry story. In the latter trefoil-headed double windows are introduced, except on the north side, where a mullioned window is inserted between the stair turret and the east angle. The parapet is plain and rests on simple corbels. Above this rises an octagonal spire, with lucarnes. The spire is rather short and stunted, like most of the late Scottish examples.

Over the staircase a small turret with pointed roof is carried up within the parapet, and groups picturesquely with the main spire. The tower resembles that at Wester Crail, and, like it, is of fifteenth century date.

AIRLIE CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.

Two relics of the ancient church of St. Medan (demolished 1783) have been preserved, one being a mutilated figure of St. John the Baptist (Fig. 1392) built into the west gable of the existing church, and the other a sacrament house (Fig. 1393) inserted in the wall under

Figure in Tower.]

Belfry.]

the stair to the gallery. The sacrament house is of rude design and workmanship, and is evidently of very late date. The ambry has an opening 10½ inches in width, and its size over all is 2 feet 5 inches in height by 21 inches in width. It has, as usual in such features, a broad base surmounted by the recess to contain the consecrated host. The opening is finished with an ogee arch-head having a cable-moulding on the jambs and arch, and a fleur-de-lys on top. As usual the ambry is

(From Sketch kindly supplied by Mr. Archibald M‘Pherson, architect.)]

flanked by small buttresses. In the panels at the spandrils there are carved on one side a cross with a crown of thorns, and on the other the heart, with hands and feet showing the five wounds of the Passion.

The back of the ambry is formed with a stone containing the initials W. F., and the arms of the Fentons of Baikie, which are turned upside down, probably by mistake, when rebuilt in the present position.

The belfry of the church (Fig. 1394) is a good example of a structure of that description of the date it bears (1783).

INVERGOWRIE CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.

A simple oblong ruin situated about three miles west from Dundee. The site is associated with the Celtic Church, and is one of the churches believed to have been founded by St. Boniface, in Angus, about the

beginning of the seventh century, Restennet being another.[179] Several fine sculptured stones of an early period are still preserved in the building.

Invergowrie Church.

South Window.]

Between 1153 and 1165 the Church of St. Peter, Invergowrie, was given to Scone by Malcolm IV.; but of this early structure nothing whatever remains, and the existing building is probably not earlier than the first half of the sixteenth century. The walls of the structure (Fig. 1395) are entire, although the west gable hangs in a very tottering manner. The building measures inside about 46 feet in length by 15 feet 9 inches in width. There are two doorways in the south wall (Fig. 1396), the one towards the west end being round-arched, but not built on the arch principle, being cut out of two large stones. The other doorway is lintelled. There are two windows also in the south wall, the one being round-arched and cusped (Fig. 1397) and having the

Invergowrie Church.

Cross-like Object.]

arch cut out of a single stone. The other window is lintelled and had a central mullion. There is a high window in the west gable, and a west doorway, which probably dates from Presbyterian times. A stoup adjoins the western doorway in the interior of the south wall, and a locker recess occurs in the east gable. Lying inside the church there is the curious cross-like object (Fig. 1398). It is pierced in the centre, and appears to have had a shaft, which is broken, as shown.

MAINS CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.

This fragment of a church is situated in the centre of its churchyard, on the margin of a romantic glen, on the opposite side of which stands the ruined Castle of Mains, in the region of Strath Dichty, about three miles north from Dundee. The remains consist of a small building which projected from the south side of the church, and which Mr. Muir[180] calls “the sacristy of the demolished church of Mains.” The view (Fig. 1399) shows three lancet windows in the south gable, which are of very simple design, having merely a splay on their outer edge. The place is locked up, but Mr. Muir says that the windows have separate rear-arches.

Over the window there is a very beautiful sculptured fragment representing the Annunciation. It is sadly wasted, the head of the Virgin, and what may have been the descending dove, being an indistinct mass. The lower part of the figure, however, is well preserved, and is extremely graceful. The figure of the angel, although wasted, is in good preservation, while the scroll and pot of lilies are fairly distinct. Beneath the pot there is a shield on which are visible two piles issuing from a chief, with the remains of what may be mullets or annulets on the piles. There were probably three piles at first.

The Church of Mains belonged to the Abbey of Arbroath.

There is a sundial, of more recent date than the building, carved on the south-west corner, similar to the sundials on the porch of Linlithgow Church and on the south transept of Melrose.

MARYTON CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.[181]

Maryton Church is situated about two miles south-west of Montrose.

The fine grave slab (Fig. 1400) was found by Mr. Robertson lying broken and uncared for; and at his suggestion the minister, Mr. Fraser,

had it removed and placed in the church vestry. The upper part is occupied with a finely incised figure of a knight in sixteenth century costume, and the lower portion is occupied with the arms, supporters, helmet, and mantling. The arms are, an oak tree growing out of a mount (for Wood of Bonyton), between two cross crosslets (for Tulloch of Bonyton). Walter or William Wood married Dorothy Tulloch, one of the co-heiresses of Bonyton, sometime before 4th January 1493, in which year they got a confirmation of a charter by James IV. An inscription can still be partly traced round the slab, and it is believed to date from 1530.

PERT CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.[182]

An old church situated on the North Esk about midway between Montrose and Edzell. The building (Fig. 1401) is in a state of ruin and covered with ivy. It measures in the inside about 43 feet from east to west by about 18 feet in width.

There is a door in each of the north and south walls near the opposite ends, which have square lintels with rounded shoulders, as shown in Fig. 1402; and three narrow lancet windows (Figs. 1402 and 1403), two in the east wall and one

Doorway and Window.]

Central Buttress.]

Belfry.]

in the west wall. These windows are about 12 inches wide, and have the arches cut out of two stones, with wide splays towards the interior. Between the two, in the east gable, there is a central buttress with splayed base (see Fig. 1403).

These features appear to indicate that this was originally rather an early church, probably of about the close of the first pointed period, but it appears to have been almost rebuilt, probably in the fifteenth century.

The belfry on the west gable (Fig. 1404) is even later, and bears the date of 1676.

ST. VIGEAN’S CHURCH, FORFARSHIRE.[183]

This church is pleasantly situated at the head of a little valley through which winds the stream of the Brothock, at a distance of between one and two miles north from Arbroath or Aberbrothock. Previous to the Reformation it was the parish church of Arbroath. The edifice stands on the top of a regularly shaped mound, and occupies nearly the whole of the summit. It has been the site of a religious settlement from a very remote period, far earlier than the erection of the great abbey at Arbroath. This is shown by several Norman wrought stones that have been found on the site, as well as a large and most important group of elaborately carved sculptured stones, relics of the Celtic church which once stood here. Vigianus has been recognised as the Latinised form of the name of St. Fechin of Fohbar, an Irish saint who died in 664. Dr. Joseph Anderson mentions that the twelfth century builders had utilised a large quantity of fragments of sculptured monuments as building materials.[184]

In 1871, under the direction of Dr. R. Rowand Anderson, architect, the church was restored and considerable additions were made to it. A large polygonal apse, with massive buttresses, was built at the east end, a second aisle was formed on the north side of the existing north aisle, and the tower was raised and finished with a saddle-back roof. At the same time a new roof and internal fittings were added, making the edifice one of the most seemly parish churches in Scotland.

Previous to this restoration, the structure consisted (as shown in Fig. 1405) of a central nave of eight bays, with north and south aisles, and a western tower. The original Norman church appears to have occupied the site of the north aisle, and to have extended in width to about the centre