Chapter IV: Part 4

This church has the unenviable notoriety of having been the centre whence issued, in 1559, the unruly mob who in a short time demolished the splendid monasteries and other numerous religious houses of Perth and the neighbourhood, and whose example was only too readily followed by other communities throughout the whole country. Such was the effect of a sermon preached here by John Knox. The fabric of St. John’s was spared after being purged of all monuments of idolatry. Nothing was left but the bare walls and roofs, which were retained for use as the Parish Church. Before the end of the century, the building was fitted up with galleries, and in course of time it was divided into three separate places of worship by thick walls, which still exist.

In 1585 the kirk-session declared the church to be in a “ruinous, pitiful, and lamentable state,” and the minister was requested to preach a sermon and obtain a collection for the repair of the fabric,[66] but apparently not till 1598 did “the town begin to repair the new kirk in wallis and wandows.”[67] The next item in the _Chronicle_ regarding St. John’s shows that the existing lead-covered spire on the central tower is of a considerable age, for in March 1607, “Thair rais ane great extaordinarire winde, that blew the lead of the steipill, to Mr John Malcolme’s back yett.”[68] This was evidently a formidable mishap, as ten years elapsed before the session, in 1617, “appointed David Sibbald to be master of work to the reparation of the decayed parts of the steeple, and to recieve furth of an chest, containing the Hospital’s writts, the sum of £20 (Scots), left over the last collection lifted for reparation of the kirk, and help to repair the said seeple with.”[69]

As already mentioned, nothing now remains of the church of the twelfth century, referred to in the earlier of the above notes, no part of the present structure being older than the beginning of the fifteenth century. The rebuilding of the Chapel of St. James in 1400 is spoken of above, but that chapel no longer exists. In 1448 the east end of the church is referred to as the “New Choir,” and we shall see as we proceed that the other portions of the edifice are of still more recent origin.

The church (Fig. 1032)[70] consists of a choir and nave, with north and south aisles, and a north and south transept without aisles. The total length of the main building within the walls is about 191 feet by about 58 feet 9 inches wide. The nave and choir are of almost equal length. The transept measures about 91 feet in length from north to south, by about 23 feet 6 inches in width. There was a chapel on the west side of the north transept, which no longer exists, but the wide arch of the opening into it is partly visible in the transept. A view of this chapel is given in the _Memorabilia of Perth_, of which Fig. 1033 is a copy. It is represented as a lean-to of two stories in height, adjoining the north transept, the upper story being evidently reached by a stair in the erection on the west side.

It will be remembered that, in 1448, the east end of the church is referred to as the “New Choir,” and it is quite evident from its style

that the choir and crossing beneath the central tower are of about that period. The transepts may be later, and, judging from the details of the wide arch which exists in the west wall of the north transept, that arch

must undoubtedly be later, one of the arch-jambs being patched on to the great pillar of the tower. The north gable of this transept was rebuilt in 1823.

The south transept is probably of the same period as the north transept.

A view of the church dated 1775, given in the _Chronicle of Perth_,[71] and of which Fig. 1034 is a copy, shows the south side of the whole church, and the transept is drawn very much as it still remains. Another view of the south transept, made in 1765, and published in the papers referring to the Blackfriars’ Monastery (where it is by mistake called the “north” front), shows the south transept nearly the same as the above.

A curious row of corbels is partly seen in the interior, projecting through the plaster along the top of the east wall of this transept. They were probably meant for supporting the upright pieces of timber which secured the feet of the rafters.

The two eastern bays of the main arcade of the choir are more elaborately moulded than the others, and round the eastmost pillar on the south side there is finely cut the following inscription (Fig. 1035), which is carved on a band running round the shafts of the pier, as shown in Fig. 1036:--

Iohan̄es: fullar: et: uxor: ejus: mariota: foullar.]

It will be observed that the husband and wife mentioned in the inscription have the same name, with a slightly different spelling. The two shields

contain the same charges--viz., a key with a mullet--while on one are also carved the last letters of the lady’s first name.

It has been recently pointed out by the Rev. John Ferguson, of Aberdalgie,[72] Perthshire, that John Fullar was one of the bailies of Perth, and that his name occurs as a witness in more than one of the charters belonging to the Charter House, Perth, of the year 1441. His identity is placed beyond doubt by the fact that the charges on the seal attached to the charter are the same as those on the two shields on the pillar, viz., a key in pale and a spur in fess. Mr Ferguson further states:--“We know from the _Registrum de Dunfermline_ that an arrangement was made between the monastery and the magistrates of Perth, by which the latter received

Piscina in Choir.]

the tithes of Perth for six years, subject to paying the vicar and a certain sum to the monastery, along with the fees for the right of burial in the choir, for the purpose of building ‘Chorum, et vestibulum ecclesie parochiale dicti burgi de Perth, prout eis placencius et honestius videatur, ac eadem postquam fuerint edificata perpetuis temporibus sustentabunt in omnibus et singulis reparacionibus choro et vestibulo pertinentibus tectura,’ &c. This agreement was made in 1440, the year before John Fullar was made a bailie. It is possible that the tithes and fees did not suffice for the execution of the work laid upon the magistrates, and that John Fullar and his wife volunteered to pay for a part, certainly for the pillar on which their names are inscribed.” From this it is evident, as Mr. Ferguson remarks, that the work of renewing the building was to be begun after 1440. It is somewhat singular that the above two persons, who were evidently great benefactors to this church, should have been so completely forgotten that their good work at St. John’s required to be rediscovered and brought to notice again here.

In the second bay of the choir from the east, on the north side (at B on Plan), there is a round arched doorway, now built up. It led to the sacristy or revestry, as it was sometimes called. After the Reformation the sacristy was used for meetings of the kirk-session, but it was taken down about the beginning of this century, and the meetings were

afterwards held in the building, shown in Fig. 1034, on the south side of the nave near the west end, which has also since been in its turn removed.

The existing north and south doorways in the choir are modern, although the south one is in the position of the old doorway, as the print from the _Chronicle_ shows (see Fig. 1034).

The four piscinas marked A on Plan and shown by Fig. 1037 all resemble each other.

The choir (Fig. 1038) has no triforium, but good plain masonry instead, undivided by wall shafts. The clerestory windows are small and round arched, and are divided into two lights by a central mullion, and have

Section of Pier of Choir.]

plain tracery in the arch-head. The whole details of the choir are very simple and refined for their period, and contrast favourably with most of our late Scottish churches. The section (Fig. 1039) shows that the pillars are simply and beautifully moulded. They are surmounted with good caps, and rest on plain bases (Fig. 1040). The mouldings of the arches (Fig. 1041) are distinctly marked, and rest well on the caps above the shafts or mouldings of the pillars. Some of these details resemble first pointed work, especially the section of the piers which is almost identical with that of the choir piers of St. Andrews Cathedral, from which it is probably copied. The details of the crossing (Fig. 1042) are simple and effective, even as seen under the very unfavourable circumstances that a partition wall blocks up the east arch, and that there are galleries beneath the others. There is a west gallery, but it is omitted in the sketch. The massive piers, with their rounded shafts and very broad fillets, have a striking effect. The groining is of the usual kind found in this position in Scotland. It will be observed that in the ridge ribs, holes for bell ropes are most carefully wrought through the ribs, which are strengthened at those parts. The holes are not all equidistant from the centre. On the two great western piers of the crossing there are projecting corbels to carry the beams on which the rood was placed. Strong iron hooks are fixed in the tower arch above, which were doubtless used for the support of the rood, or to steady it.

Of the rood itself, as a matter of course, nothing remains. The south-west pier is built hollow to contain the stair to the tower. Since the Plan (Fig. 1032) was made the original doorway to this stair has been discovered, as shown in the view. The door shown on the Plan has been cut out at some later time.

As already stated, the nave is almost of the same length as the choir

(being only about 12 inches less), but each of the arches of the arcade is of rather smaller span than those of the choir, owing to the internal projecting responds at the west end, which may be regarded as fulfilling the purpose of buttresses, and also to the enlargement of the two great piers on the west side of the crossing. Like the choir, the nave is divided into five bays. It has no triforium nor clerestory, but owing to the comparative lowness of the arcade arches (see Fig. 1042), while the ridge of the roof throughout is kept at about the same level as in the choir, there is a deep blank wall above the arcade arches. This wall is of rough masonry compared to that in the choir, and the whole of this part of the church is of a much coarser and ruder description, betokening a later age. The capitals of the piers are of the very rudest kind, and are a perfect contrast to the delicate work of the choir. In the meagre descriptions of St. John’s to be found in the books on Perth, this rudeness is pointed to as a sign of great antiquity, but the reverse is unquestionably the case. This nave is undoubtedly “the New Kirk of Perth” referred to in the _Chronicle_, in which “ane Synodall assemblie” was held in April 1606.

It will be seen from the views (Figs. 1043 and 1044) that the top of the wall over the piers of the nave just shows itself and no more on the

St. John the Baptist’s, Perth.

Section of Arch Mouldings in Choir and Nave.]

outside, rising above the lean-to roof of the aisles. It has been contemplated, early in this century, to raise this wall and erect a clerestory, and two of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side (see Fig. 1043) have actually been built as part of a pretentious design, with massive buttresses surmounted by high finials, but the work has never been carried further, and indeed could not be carried further to the west, as there is no proper support for such massive building. Below the new clerestory (but not shown on the Plan) a new wall has been brought up to support it.

Fig. 1044 shows a peculiarity in the west wall, which seems to indicate that there has been some change of design here, the gable being thinned above the western doorway. There is a tradition that the church extended further west at one time, and it seems not improbable that a western tower in the centre of the front may have been contemplated and even begun. This tower, like those at Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may have been intended to open towards the church, with a wide arch, of which the jambs still remain; but this idea having been abandoned, and any part of the tower which then had been built having been taken down, the present makeshift gable was put up instead to fill up the gap, which, in these circumstances, would be left for the supposed opening into the church.

There is a large porch on the north side of the nave (see Fig. 1043), called Halkerston’s Tower, the structure having been at one time much higher than it is now. It was a two storied building, the upper story having evidently been of great height and vaulted, as well as the lower one (see Fig. 1033). Two-storied porches are met with at Aberdeen Cathedral and Linlithgow Church, but they are not so rich in architectural

adornment as this one seems to have been. This sketch is copied from a drawing in the _Memorabilia_, a book seldom to be seen, so that this

view is not well known. The circular part of the stair which formerly led to the upper floor, and now leads to a gallery over the north aisle,

was finished with a conical spirelet like the corresponding feature at Linlithgow, and the top of it is seen in the view. The lower part of the tower, which forms the porch, is very effectively vaulted (Fig. 1045). The round arched doorway leading from the porch to the church partakes of the rudeness already referred to as characteristic of the whole western part of the church. A curious coincidence between a part of this church and of the Cathedrals of Dunblane and Dunkeld, all in the county of Perth, may be referred to. The north-west window of the nave aisle in the three buildings is treated in very much the same way in each edifice, and these windows have all a very decided resemblance to each other, and are quite unlike the other windows in their respective structures. They are all three light windows, and have square heads at Perth and Dunkeld, while at Dunblane the head is practically square, having a very flat segmental arch. The south aisle wall of the nave (Fig. 1046) is a curious medley (which we hope will not be restored). The round arched doorway near the east end is, we presume, original; but it is not easy to tell the new work from the old, as the mouldings of all windows and doors on the outside have received a great amount of patching with cement and paint, owing to the crumbling nature of the stone.

The erection of the west end of the church is clearly referable to about the time (1489) when, according to the _Lord High Treasurer’s Accounts_ (already cited) small payments were made “to the kirk werk of Pertht.” It will be remembered that on the same day the payments were made to Walter Merlioune, the mason, and the conjunction of the two payments suggests the idea that Merlioune was the builder of the church. We have already partly traced his career[73] and found that in all probability he built the palace in Stirling Castle. The resemblance between the fretted work over the panels containing statues at Stirling Castle and that over the upper window in Halkerston’s Tower is certainly very remarkable. There is also a resemblance in this feature of Halkerston’s Tower to the large fretted panel over the outside of the east entrance to Linlithgow Palace. At Linlithgow the panel is filled with heraldic emblems, while at Perth it appears to have been intended to fill it with statues, as indications of brackets for supporting them are shown in three rows. There was a John Halkerston, “master of the work” to Mary of Gueldres at the building of Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, between 1461 and 1469. It is quite possible that he may in some way have been connected with the erection of the nave of St. John’s, and so his name became attached to this tower as it was to a steep wynd in Edinburgh. However this may be, all the details of the western part of this church obviously belong to a late period, corresponding with above date.

The central tower (see Fig. 1046), which is about 31 feet square, could only have been built after the adjoining part of the nave was reared. It is a very simple structure, with one window in each face. The parapet and corbelling were renewed about forty years ago, following in the main

the old details, which were, however, much obliterated. A good deal of the stone facing was renewed at the same time.

The exterior of the church has been considerably altered and _improved_ at various times. An open parapet has been carried along the top of the walls of the choir over the clerestory windows, and also along the walls of the aisles and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows to light the presbyterian galleries break in on this parapet on the aisle walls, and windows for the same purpose, constructed of wood, are seen on the roofs of the nave (see Fig. 1046). These dormer windows are all shown on the print in the _Chronicle of Perth_ (see Fig. 1034), but not the parapets. This print shows a large and very elaborate porch, with a round arched doorway of many orders richly ornamented, as occupying the eastmost bay of the choir. This was originally the gateway or porch of the Carthusian Monastery of Perth, which, after the demolition of the abbey in 1559, was set up in this position, where it remained till about the end of the eighteenth century, “when it was demolished by an edict of the Magistrates.”[74]

The effect of the interior of St. John’s is greatly marred by the cross partitions already referred to. This is much to be regretted, as the interior is exceedingly interesting, and, being in a comparatively fair state of preservation, exhibits more of its original features than the exterior does. When the church was complete, the effect of the gloomy nave, with its lofty unpierced wall above the main arcade, and the noble centre crossing, with the light refined choir beyond, must have been very striking and grand.

A peculiarity of the church and another resemblance to the nave of Dunblane and the north nave aisle of Dunkeld is the absence of vaulting in the aisles which many of our Scottish churches have. The aisles in St. John’s never were vaulted, the only parts so constructed being the crossing and the north porch; the latter, it will be remembered, having also an upper vaulted story. This want of vaulting is a great defect of the church.

DUNDEE CHURCH TOWER.

The earliest notice in history of Dundee occurs in the first charter of Lindores Abbey, executed before 1198, in which the Church of Dundee is bestowed on the abbey. The church then existing is stated to have been erected by Earl David of Huntingdon, as a thankoffering for his escape from a great tempest. The Church of Dundee thus belonged to the Abbey of Lindores, which stood on the opposite side of the Frith of Tay, and a little further up the river.

In the time of Abbot James of Rossy (1442), an agreement was entered into between the abbot and the Provost and Burgesses of Dundee, by which the latter took on themselves the construction and maintenance

of the choir of the Parish Church of Dundee.[75] The only portion of the ancient parish church which now remains is the western tower (Fig. 1047). Although this structure had no immediate connection with the choir, it has evidently, as its style shows, been erected about the middle of the fifteenth century, probably about the time when the choir was built by the Provost and Burgesses in terms of the above agreement.

Three parish churches in connection with the tower were gradually developed from the original chapel. They comprised a large cruciform

structure, the various portions of which were called St. Mary’s, or the East Church; St. Paul’s, or the South Church; and St. Clement’s, or the West Church. The structure was greatly damaged by the English before the Union, and St. Clement’s had suffered so much that it required to be rebuilt in 1789. The three churches were almost totally destroyed by fire in 1841, and in consequence the choir and transepts were thereafter rebuilt, St. Mary’s still occupying the choir, St. Paul’s the transept, and St. Clement’s the nave.

The ancient tower has escaped these various destructions and restorations, and is now the only representative of the church erected in the fifteenth century. It is a large and massive structure, measuring about 40 feet square over the walls (Fig. 1048), which are about 8 feet thick. Its total height is about 165 feet. The tower forms a prominent object in all views of the town. It contains in the lower stage the western

doorway to St. Clement’s Church, or the nave (Fig. 1049), consisting of two round arched doorways, 8 feet 11 inches high, comprised within a larger circular or elliptical arch, which again is enclosed by a square moulding. The arch mouldings are enriched with foliage. The jambs and central pillar are moulded (Fig. 1050) with alternate rounds and hollows. The carved capitals have a continuous abacus, enriched either with rosettes or flowing foliage. In the spandril over the centre shaft there is a circular panel, enclosing the Virgin and Child; and below, on a shield, are the arms of the Diocese of Brechin. “The late Bishop Forbes blazoned them _Argent_, three piles in point gules; but Dr. Woodward thinks they should be _Or_, three piles in point gules.”[76] This doorway, as well as much else about the tower, was greatly restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, and probably only certain of the carvings are genuine. One of these, which has not been touched, represents, on the ingoing of the northern capital, a boar eating acorns from a branch. It is quite in the spirit of such scenes as occur on the ancient sculptured stones which are so abundant in the neighbourhood of Dundee. The base is peculiar (see Fig. 1050). It projects but little beyond the outer member of the jamb, and the face is upright; but considerable effect is obtained by the curved terminations of the various members. Above the doorway rises a lofty traceried

window (Fig. 1051) divided, in the late Scottish mode, by a large central mullion having two arched branches which form two principal openings, each filled with late tracery of the ordinary kind. Above this window the tower is vaulted. In connection with this vaulting and what appears to have been an apartment below it there are some peculiarities. The floor of the tower is about 12 inches lower than the ground at the entrance, and the height from the floor to the groined ceiling is about 47 feet. It will be observed from the Plan and Fig. 1051 that at each of the four corners there is a large circular shaft, measuring about 13¼ inches diameter. Each individual shaft is fitted into its position in a manner different from the others. These differences are not of a slight or accidental kind, but appear to have been purposely made, there not having been any “restoration” on this part of the building. At the inner or eastern shafts (Fig. 1052) the walls are considerably bevelled towards

the opening into the nave, and form parts of the piers of the great archway from the tower into the church. This opening, which is now blocked up, was about 17 feet 10 inches wide, and was arched beneath the vaulting (see Fig. 1052). The tall angle shafts have bases and caps, the mouldings of the latter being continued along the bevelled walls.

The vaulting ribs do not spring directly from the four angle shafts, as there appears to have been an intermediate floor of timber (or a gallery along the sides), which rested on the angle shafts and on large corbels visible in the side walls. Over each of the main shafts there rises, for about three feet or so, a group of very delicate shafting, having carved caps, from which spring the ribs of the groining. These delicate shafts are quite a contrast to the massive lower shafts, and, at first sight, suggest the idea of a great change having been effected in the vaulting at some later period. The mouldings above the small upper shafts are carried along the west wall and ingoing of the large window (see Fig. 1051). There is a considerable resemblance between the treatment here and that at the large west window in Paisley Abbey. There are stone benches round three sides of the tower.

Over the large west window there is another window (see Fig. 1047), with round arch-head, entirely filled with tracery, composed of small cusped circles, and above it a two-light pointed window. The tracery in the first of these windows recalls that in the tower windows of Iona Cathedral.

The tower is divided into two principal stages by an enriched parapet and outside passage, which surround it above the last mentioned window, at a height to the walk of about 96 feet. The parapet is pierced with quatrefoils and ornamented with crocketed pinnacles. The lower stage of the tower has boldly projected buttresses, which are just carried as high as is necessary for resisting the pressure of the vaulting, and each is crowned with a crocketed pinnacle, having a small flying buttress attached. Above these buttresses the tower is carried up with square angles, like most of the Scottish towers of the period. The upper stage has the wall set back, so as to allow of the passage round, and is divided into two stories. The lower story is the belfry and has triple pointed and cusped openings in the various sides, except the north side, where, owing to the space occupied by the staircase, there are only two openings. There is a bead on the angles of this story. The upper story appears to project slightly over the lower story, and contains two pointed and cusped windows over the solids, between the windows beneath them. The north side has only one such window. The tower is crowned with a cornice and an elaborate pierced parapet, having corbelled pinnacles at intervals, the ornamental upper parts of which are unfortunately wanting. The ornamentation of the parapet strongly resembles that of the tower of St. Giles’, Edinburgh. The roof of the tower is of the saddle-back kind,

having gables towards the east and west, a form of roof with which ancient Scottish towers were often crowned.

Although the tower is thus finished, a careful examination shows that it was undoubtedly meant to have an open crown termination, but for what reason the idea was abandoned we cannot tell. The preparations exist for the springing of the angle arches. When the tower lately underwent renovation, it was proposed to remove the present cape house and put up a crown; and a design for this was prepared, and is engraved in Lamb’s _Book of Old Dundee_. Very fortunately the design was not carried out.

Attached to the north-east angle is a boldly projected stair turret, which ascends from the foundation to the summit. Figs. 1047 and 1053 illustrate this feature. The pierced parapet at the top returns round it, and the turret is finished with a pointed roof. A great many loopholes in the turret show the number of the winding spirals of the staircase. In the view (Fig. 1053) there is seen on the east side of the tower a plain, square-headed window, having four brackets arranged around it. We presume these were for supporting figures. Beneath them, and near the ridge of the church roof, there is a panel with a coat of arms, which is too far off to be made out.

This tower is undoubtedly the boldest and most striking edifice of its kind and date in Scotland.

GLENLUCE ABBEY, WIGTONSHIRE.

This abbey, like so many others, stands in a fertile holm or flat ground in the quiet valley of the Water of Luce, about one mile and a half from the town of Glenluce. Although sometimes called _Vallis Lucis_, the name is probably the same as Luss in Dumbartonshire, meaning a place of herbs. The abbey was founded in 1190 by Roland, Lord of Galloway, and colonised by Cistercians from Melrose.

The buildings were at one time “extensive and magnificent,” but the ruins are now very scanty. Of the church (Fig. 1054) there remain only parts of the south wall of the choir and the south wall of the south transept. The cloister enclosure is still marked by a good wall, but of the conventual buildings which formerly surrounded it, only the chapter house and some vaulted cellars on the east side survive.

The existing ruins cover about an acre of ground, but formerly the enclosure of the garden and orchard extended to twelve Scotch acres.

Little is known of the annals of the monastery. Its earliest charter is by Robert I., granting the property of the abbey to be held as a free barony, and this was confirmed by David II. At the Reformation the lands were leased at a low rate to the Earl of Cassilis, who was created

bailie of the abbey. In 1587 the estates were annexed to the Crown. James VI. erected them into a temporal barony in favour of Laurence Gordon, commendator at the time. The lordship of Glenluce afterwards passed to the Stair family, and the lands to the Hays of Park.[77]

In this remote region the buildings remained long undisturbed, and as late as 1646 the abbey is referred to in the Records of the Presbytery of Stranraer as having received little injury.[78] “The steeple,” says Symson, who wrote in 1684, “and part of the walls of the church, together with the chapter house, the walls of the cloyster, the gatehouse with the walls of the large precincts, are for the most part yet standing.”

So far as can now be ascertained from the ruins, the church (see Fig. 1054) seems to have comprised a nave with aisles about 90 feet in length,

now entirely destroyed; a transept, of which part of the southern arm with its eastern aisle or chapels remains; and an aisleless choir, of which only a fragment of the south wall survives. From Symson’s statement, above quoted, there was also a steeple, but whether over the crossing or not does not now appear. To the south of the nave lay the cloisters, the walls of which (partly old and partly reconstructed) now subsist, and enclose a space measuring 89 feet from north to south by 86 feet from east to west. The north, west, and south sides are enclosed with a stone wall, and on the east side there is a row of structures comprising the chapter house in the centre, a ruined heap on the north side of the chapter house, and two cellars with plain barrel vaults on the south side.

The chapter house (Fig. 1055) is the only portion of the abbey in good preservation. It consists of an apartment about 24 feet square, with a central pillar, from which spring the ribs of the groined vaulting. At the side walls the ribs rest on corbels. The apartment is lighted with two traceried windows (Fig. 1056), the tracery of which has been renewed within recent years, after the pattern of the old tracery. The door enters from the cloister on the west. It is of semicircular form (Fig. 1057), and exhibits in its capitals some peculiar and striking sculpture. The leaves of the foliage are large and the design is remarkable, some of the leaves, which are probably intended to represent sun flowers, having very much the appearance of starfish. The interior of the chapter house doorway (Fig. 1058) has also some peculiar sculpture, and the manner in which the ribs of the vaults descend on the round arch-head is well managed.

Corbel in Chapter House.]

The stone benches which surrounded the chapter house, including the abbot’s chair between the two windows (see Fig. 1055), are much destroyed, but the central pillar and the vaulting are well preserved. The capital of the pillar is carved with foliage of a late character, and the corbels supporting the ribs of the vaults at the wall show similar work. One of these corbels is quaintly carved, in imitation of a figure clothed in the costume of the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries (Fig. 1059), thus giving an indication of the date of the building. From this and the work on the doorway above referred to, as well as the character of the work generally, we have no hesitation in fixing the date of this part of the abbey about the end of the fifteenth century. The bosses of the vaults are carved with various devices, one of them bearing a lion rampant, which is probably meant to represent the arms of the founder, the Lord of Galloway.

The design of the tracery in the windows (see Fig. 1056) is good for the period. It is remarkably like that of the chapter house at Crosraguel Abbey, which was also fifteenth century work.

This sketch likewise shows the small portions of the church which still remain. The lofty south gable of the transept is visible with the sloping water table of the roof of the building, which stood on the south of it. This building has apparently been at least two stories in height. It no doubt extended over the chapter house wing, and contained the dormitory, &c. (as at Crosraguel). A small lancet window on each side of the water table near its apex and another small window over it seem to indicate that there was an apartment in the roof of the transept. The wall seen in the distance is part of the south wall of the choir. It contains the water table of the roof of the east aisle of the transept, and is broken off at the jamb of a high window, which lighted the choir or presbytery, thus showing that the latter must have extended further eastward than the existing ruin.

TORPHICHEN CHURCH, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

This church, from the circumstance of its castle-like appearance and its possessing a complete dwelling-house over the transepts, was included in _The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland_, Vol. II. p. 131, in which a full description of it is given, illustrated with numerous drawings. The building is here introduced with the view of more fully explaining some features formerly omitted, and also to form a complete record of such an important example.

The new features introduced in the Plan (Fig. 1060) are the choir, the nave, and an outbuilding to the north. The width and height of the choir and the arch leading into it are clearly seen against the central tower (Fig. 1061), while the lower part of the east wall and part of the north wall of the choir are still standing, as shown in the Plan, although reduced to only a few feet in height.

The present parish church (Fig. 1062) occupies the site of the nave, the ancient splayed base being utilised in the north wall, where it is visible along the whole length. It is also probable that the west end of the present church corresponds with the position of the old west end. In that case the dimensions were as follow, viz.:--The choir was about 63 feet 6 inches long by 25 feet 6 inches wide, and the nave was about 65 feet 6 inches long by 25 feet wide. The total length of the church was 158 feet 3 inches outside measure. The total length of the transept was about 68 feet. There was apparently an aisle along the south side of the nave, the beginning of the wall of which is visible on the Plan. A row of buildings existed as a continuation northwards of the north transept, and at a distance of about 31 yards northwards a portion of these buildings still remains, measuring about 40 feet in length. The first erection to the north of the transept had a window with stone seats looking into the church, and it had also a communication with the house over the church. There may thus have been a row of dormitories on the upper floor extending northwards.

Fig. 1063 is a general view of the transept looking towards the south, and shows the recess for a tomb under the south window. Fig. 1064 is

an enlarged view of this tomb recess; the centre stone of the ogee arch has dropped slightly, owing to a failure in the walls at the south-east corner. The piscina alongside has a neatly constructed square basin.

Fig. 1065 shows the outside of an angular headed doorway near the north-west corner of the transept. The doorway with the projecting hood, seen alongside, leads into the staircase giving access to the house.

Measured drawings of these two last subjects were given in the account already referred to.

ST. ANTHONY’S CHAPEL, EDINBURGH.

This edifice occupies a very picturesque situation on the summit of a crag in the bosom of Arthur’s Seat, not far above the base of the hill. Immediately to the north and west of the walls the ground descends in an abrupt and precipitous manner, and to the south the surface, which gradually rises, is rough and rocky (Fig. 1066); while on the east a huge wall of rock towers high above the building, completely hemming it in on that side.

Only the north wall of the chapel and the returns of the west and east walls remain, together with the foundations of the south wall, enough, however, to enable it to be determined fairly well what the completed building was like. In the drawings (Fig. 1067) the indications existing are completed and restored, so as to give a better idea of what the structure was like than can be done by description alone. The present condition of the edifice is shown in the ground Plan, section from east to west and north elevation (Fig. 1068), and in the general view from south-east (Fig. 1069). The building measures on the outside 43 feet in length by 18 feet 3 inches in width, but the internal dimensions of the chapel proper (see Plan) are only 32 feet 9 inches by 12 feet.

The chapel (see Fig. 1068) was divided into three bays by a vaulted and groined ceiling, portions of the ribs of which, with their corbel supports, still exist in the north wall. The height of the vaulting at the wall is about 14 feet.

There was a window in the central and eastern bay of the north wall, and a doorway in the west bay, and, according to Maitland,[79] the same arrangement existed on the south side. There is a locker in the usual place at the east end of the north wall. Maitland further says that in the “southern wall near the altar is a small arched niche, wherein was put the holy water.” This, however, does not now exist. There was a priest’s house over the western bay, the size of which can still be determined by the existing return of its east wall, as seen in the north elevation, and the longitudinal section. Part of the building, at the west end, on the ground floor, was screened off from the chapel by a partition wall, of which the indications exist. On the ground floor this was vaulted, as shown by

section at tower, and contained a locker. Within this space at the south-west corner there was, doubtless, a wheel stair, which by the first revolution led to an entresol over the arched space just referred to. This entresol was probably a garderobe, and was lighted by a small window, shown on the Plans and Section. The stair, continuing upwards, would land at the first floor over the chapel, which consisted of a room about 15 feet by 13 feet, lighted by a north window. Adjoining this window a portion of the north wall is thinned by about 15 inches at the floor level so as to form a recess, which contains a window. Over this the wall is carried at its usual thickness by a half arch, as shown by the longitudinal section. Probably this recess was screened off from the room to form a small closet. There was a fireplace in the west gable; part of its flue still remains, with one of its corbels for supporting the lintel and chimney breast. In the restored drawing (see Fig. 1067) it is supposed that there was an upper room. Assuming that the

first floor room was 10 feet high in the ceiling--and it is not likely to have been higher--the height of the existing wall at the north-west corner warrants this assumption, as above the 10 feet level it rises 3 feet more in its present broken down condition. That it rose to a higher level than it does now is almost certain, in which case an upper room would be obtained, as shown by section at tower (see Fig. 1067). This corresponds with Maitland, who says that the tower was perhaps upwards of 40 feet in height. The second floor room would, of course, be reached by a continuation of the stair. At the staircase landing a small outside bartizan is introduced in the restored drawing, such as is frequently found in the pele towers. This arrangement of the two upper rooms is similar to what is found in the church of the Carmelite Friars at South Queensferry and at Torphichen, both of the same period as St. Anthony’s. There is also, but on a more elaborate scale, something of the same arrangement at Stobhall in Perthshire, already illustrated.[80]

To the south and west of the chapel there are remains of walls, and particularly of what is called the hermitage (see Fig. 1066); but these are very fragmentary, and so intermixed with the natural rock, which crops up everywhere, that not much can be made out in connection with them.

Of the origin of the chapel nothing appears to be known, and almost the same may be said of its history. One of the earliest notices of it--if not the earliest--occurs in the _Treasurer’s Accounts_ of 1473, as follows--“Item, vj^{to} Februarij, to offir in Sanct Antonis in the crag, to the King, xijs.” In the same accounts it is again referred to in 1491 and 1496--“Item,

at he laid down for the King, on Sanct Anthonis day in Sanct Anthonis chapel, besid Edinburgh, to the Kings offerand ixs.” Again in 1498, the King (James IV.) made an offering in “Sanct Anthonis of the crag of xjs. viijd.”

An exhaustive review of the present condition of the chapel and hermitage, and an account of the various references to them by different writers, has been prepared by Mr. Fred. R. Coles.[81] Mr Coles gives reproductions of various old views, with notes on all the earlier known drawings, as also observations on St. Anthony and churches dedicated to him, and for further information on this subject we beg to refer readers to this valuable paper.

Grose states that hermitages were frequently erected on the sea coast, and at dangerous places, and that the patron or tutelary saint of these hermitages was St. Anthony the hermit, and suggests that the situation of St. Anthony’s on the crag which stands conspicuous from the Firth of Forth

was perhaps chosen with the intention of attracting the notice of seamen coming up the Firth, who, in cases of danger, might be induced to make vows to its tutelar saint. There is a fine spring of clear water close to the site, which may have led to the establishment of the hermitage there. The building contains almost no features by which its date can be ascertained, but it is here classed along with the buildings of the third period, to some of which it bears in certain respects an analogy.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ROSSLYN, MID-LOTHIAN.

The village of Rosslyn is picturesquely situated on the high north bank of the river North Esk, about seven miles south from Edinburgh; and the ancient castle of the St. Clairs[82] stands on an isolated promontory called the College Hill, which, adjoining the village of Rosslyn, juts out

into the deep valley of the Esk. The celebrated Church of Rosslyn, erected by the proprietors of the castle, stands on the brow of the steep bank of the river above the castle, and commands a splendid view of the valley. The church, so far as erected, is in perfect preservation, and is a charming portion of an incomplete design. It is, in some respects, the most remarkable piece of architecture in Scotland; and had the church been finished in the same spirit as that in which it has been so far carried out, it would have gone far to have realised a poet’s dream in stone. When looked at from a strictly architectural point of view, the design may be considered faulty in many respects, much of the detail being extremely rude and debased, while as regards construction many of the principles wrought out during the development of Gothic architecture are ignored. But notwithstanding these faults, the profusion of design so abundantly shown everywhere, and the exuberant fancy of the architect, strike the visitor who sees Rosslyn for the first time with an astonishment which no familiarity ever effaces.

The principal authority regarding the history of the church and the family of the St. Clairs of Rosslyn is Father Richard Augustin Hay, prior of St. Pieremont, whose mother, by a second marriage, became wife of Sir James St. Clair of Rosslyn. About the year 1700, Father Hay made copious extracts from the family documents, which have been since lost, and these extracts, together with his comments, have been published under the title of the _Genealogie of the Sainteclaires of Rosslyn, including the chartulary of Rosslyn_.

The edifice was erected by Sir William St. Clair, third Earl of Orkney, who succeeded to the estates about 1417. About thirty years afterwards he founded the Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Certain letters which occur on shields along the cornice of the north wall have been ingeniously deciphered by Dr. Thomas Dickson, of the Register House, Edinburgh, as the initial letters of the following words,[83] viz.:--WILZAME · LORDE · SINCLARE · FUNDIT · YIS · COLLEGE · YE · ZEIR · OF · GOD · MJJJJL. The structure appears, however, to have been begun a few years earlier, about 1446, as in the year 1447 the continuator of the _Scotichronicon_ says, “Dominus Willelmus de Sancto Claro Comes Orcadiæ _est in fabricando sumptuosam structuram apud Roslyn_;”[84] and probably the foregoing inscription refers to some ceremonial event connected with the building. Sir William died in 1484, and he appears to have left the building very much in the condition in which we now find it. In that case its erection would be the labour of about forty years.

The church was a collegiate foundation, for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys or choristers, and was dedicated to St. Matthew. It consists (Fig. 1070) of a choir with north and south aisles, connected

by an aisle which runs across the east end, and gives access to a series of four chapels beyond it to the east. The dimensions of the building are as follow, viz.:--interior--length of choir, 48 feet 4 inches; width of central aisle, 17 feet 10½ inches; width over aisles, 35 feet; total exterior length, 69 feet 8 inches; height to the apex of the roof, 41 feet 9 inches. The original intention was to have completed the building as a cross church, with choir, nave, and transepts, but the choir only has been completed. The transepts have been partly erected, the east wall being carried up to a considerable height, but the nave has not been erected. The length across the transepts, as founded, is about 72 feet. Mr Thomson, the custodier of the chapel, who saw the west walls of the transept exposed, states that the transepts were intended to be 18 feet wide, as drawn on Plan. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, Rosslyn, in his guide to the chapel, says that the foundations for the entire building had been laid, and that those of the nave, which extended to about 91 feet to the west, were dug up and exposed at the beginning of the present century. This exactly corresponds with the length which the nature of the ground would permit.

The choir, both internally and externally, is remarkably symmetrical, the bays being all of the same dimensions, with only slight differences in the carving, which do not affect the general design. Thus (Fig. 1071) all the buttresses rise unbroken by set-offs to the wall head of the aisles, where the cornice continues round them, and they have all on the face canopies of the same size and style. Above the cornice on the ten buttresses on the north and south sides of the choir there rise on each two massive pinnacles, connected by a small flying buttress between them (Fig. 1072). The outer pinnacles, which are flush with the face of the buttresses, are square on Plan, and are decorated according to two alternate patterns (Fig. 1073), viz., canopied niches in the one, and large rosettes set in hollows in the other. The inner pinnacles (Fig. 1074), which rest on the thickness of the wall, are all practically alike. They are oblong on Plan, and are so placed as to offer most resistance to the flying buttresses, which are thrown across the aisles and rest upon them. The pinnacles are ornamented with rosettes on the angles, and crockets on the sloping top. The back of these pinnacles and the lower parts, where not seen from below, are left plain, without any ornament. The flying arches abutting against the pinnacles are carved with a revived Norman-like chevron.

The pinnacles (Fig. 1075) on the buttresses of the east chapels are naturally somewhat different, as they have no thrusts from flying buttresses to counteract. There is only one pinnacle on each of these buttresses, and although they are all of different design, their effect corresponds with that of the outer pinnacles of the aisles of the choir. The back of these pinnacles is left unfinished (Fig. 1076), like those at the sides, but the portions visible are very elaborately carved.

The windows of the aisles (see Fig. 1072) are all of two lights, and

have the same mouldings and orders of decoration both in the inside and outside of the wall, each jamb having two beaded shafts with carved caps. These beads are continued round the arches, and a large hollow

moulding connects them, which in the arches is always filled with carving. In the jambs there are two different patterns in the alternate windows, the one being a simple niche with canopy and bracket for a figure, and the other the same, but with a moulded block instead of the figure. There is very little variety in the tracery. The windows on each side correspond with those on the opposite side. In the eastern chapels four of the windows have the engrailed cross of the St. Clairs wrought into the tracery.

The clerestory windows (see Fig. 1072) are all after one design, the shafts, mouldings, and arches on the outside being repeated in the interior (Fig. 1078). These are similar to those of the aisle windows just described. Their decoration consists of large rosettes, occurring at regular intervals in the hollow moulding between the shafts of the jambs. All the clerestory windows are single lights. The tracery of the large window in the east end (Fig. 1077) is modern. Its design is probably founded on ancient remains, but whether or not it accords well with the rest of the building.

The north and south doorways, which are opposite each other, are recessed in quasi porches (see Figs. 1072 and 1073), formed by round arches thrown between the buttresses, and the minor differences of the doorways are shown in the sketches. The upper part of a window appears over each, as in the south doorway of Glasgow Cathedral. The aisle roofs being flat, there is no triforium or blind story, and the clerestory windows are carried down to the string course over the main arches (see Fig. 1078).