Chapter VI: Part 6

In 1390 Sir James Douglas, first Lord of Dalkeith (already referred to), “bequeathed, besides a cup and a missal, a sum of money for the reparation and roofing of the Chapel of St. Nicholas at Dalkeith;” and by another

deed two years later, “he assigns the residue of his goods to the fabric and ornament of the said chapel,”[101] and for other purposes. Before his death, in 1420, he raised the chapel to the rank of a Collegiate Church, and is supposed to have finished the building, endowing it with “stipends and manses for a provest and five prebendaries, as perpetual chaplains.”[102] In 1467 St. Nicholas was disjoined from Lasswade, and Dalkeith was made a separate parish, and in 1477 the church was enlarged by the

Shield at Head of Lady.]

addition of three canonries, endowed by the Earl of Morton. At the Reformation, St. Nicholas’ was settled as the Presbyterian church of the parish.

In 1686 the minister reported the church to be ruinous, and the Presbytery ordered it to be made wind and water tight.

On the north side of the church there is a vault occupied as the funeral vault of the Buccleuch family.

ST. MUNGO’S CHURCH, BORTHWICK, MID-LOTHIAN.

This church is situated near the well known castle of the same name in the south-east part of the county, and about nine miles from Edinburgh. With the exception of the south aisle or chapel, the church (Fig. 1136) was entirely rebuilt about forty years ago.[103] To judge from what of the old plan can now be made out, the structure has originally been a Norman one, with aisleless nave and choir, and a circular eastern apse. The reconstruction of the edifice included that of the apse and the south wall of the chancel, which, although not entirely new, are yet practically so, none of the ancient architectural features being left, but only, at most, some of the walling. The apse is about 16 feet wide by about 10 feet 6 inches deep, and was lighted by three narrow widely splayed windows. The chancel was about 16 feet 6 inches long by 22 feet wide. The south wall contained two windows, and apparently a piscina, but all these features have disappeared, as well as the more important arches which formed the entrance to the chancel and the apse.

A south aisle or chapel (see Fig. 1136) has been added to the church. It is entire and is a good example of Scottish Gothic of the latter half of the fifteenth century, having in all probability been built about the same time as the castle, the licence for the erection of which is dated 1430. William de Borthwick, a man of some eminence, was created Lord Borthwick shortly before that date, and the aisle is believed to have been erected by him. This aisle is vaulted with a pointed barrel vault, covered on the

outside with a stone roof (Fig. 1137), to resist the thrusts of which massive buttresses are provided. The roof consists of overlapping stone flags, carefully wrought, and the cornice at the wall head (Fig. 1138) is ornamented with carved heads and leaves alternately. The chapel contains in the south wall a recess for a monument, and the remains of two piscinas and a locker in the south and west walls. There is a small pointed window in

the west side, and a larger one in the south end. The tracery of the latter is probably modern, as is the west doorway. The wide arch which

formerly opened into the church has been built up.

A stately monument (Fig. 1139), containing two recumbent figures, is built against the east wall of the aisle. The statues are supposed to be those of the founder of the castle and the aisle, the first Lord Borthwick and his wife, who was a Douglas. The monument is not now in its original position. Before the time of the rebuilding it stood in the inside of the wall of the apse, and it was then removed and placed in its present position, where it has apparently suffered from

over restoration. The effigies, which are remarkably well preserved, have been entirely coloured, and considerable traces of the colour still remain. The length of the arched recess in which the figures lie is 7 feet, and the depth of the recess 3 feet 8½ inches. The height to the arched recess is about 3 feet 6½ inches, and the total height of the monument is 10 feet 3 inches, and the width over the buttresses 8 feet 11 inches. The design is of a usual form, and the enrichments indicate a late date in the fifteenth century.

The Church of Borthwick was annexed by Chancellor Crichton to his newly erected College of Crichton. After the Reformation Borthwick was united to Heriot and Stow, and served by a reader, but in 1596 James VI. erected it into a separate parish. In 1606 the kirk-session complained that the church was falling into ruin for want of proper repair. Commissioners from the Presbytery met the complainers, and after deliberation they refused to “stent” themselves for the repair of the church, but offered instead to sell the vestry (see Plan) “as a family burial-place to any gentleman who would pay such a price as would enable them to repair the choir.”[104] An offer of the building was made to Sir James Dundas of Arniston, who ultimately purchased it, and with the money thus raised the church appears to have been repaired in a rough fashion. The chancel arch was built up and a gable wall erected above it, which thus became the east end of the church, and the apse was left outside. A gallery was then placed against the east gable. The structure remained in this condition till 1780, when it was destroyed by fire. The walls which survived the fire are those shown on the Plan (see Fig. 1136). The vestry (now the Dundas burial vault) and south aisle, both having stone roofs, remain comparatively unscathed. The nave and the north wall of the chancel have entirely disappeared.

LADYKIRK CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

This very complete and almost unaltered church stands on the high north bank of the river Tweed, nearly opposite Norham Castle. Before the Reformation the parish consisted of the two parishes of Upsetlington and Horndene. In 1296 the parson of the former swore fealty to Edward I., who, while endeavouring to arrange regarding the succession to the crown of Scotland, adjourned the Scottish Parliament from Brigham in England to an open field in Upsetlington. The existing church is said to have been built in 1500, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin by James IV., in gratitude for his delivery from being drowned by a sudden flood of the river Tweed.

The structure (Fig. 1140) is a specially characteristic example of the Scottish church architecture of the period. It is a triapsidal cross church, without aisles, having an apsidal termination at the east end of the chancel and at the north and south ends of the transept. The body of the church and the transepts are covered with pointed barrel vaults, with ribs at intervals, springing from small corbels (Fig. 1141); and the whole is roofed with overlapping stone flags (Fig. 1142). The nave and chancel are 94 feet 6 inches in length by 23 feet 3 inches in width internally, and the transepts, which are very short, each measures 12 feet in depth from north to south by 19 feet in width. The side windows are of considerable width, but being entirely below the springing of the vault, they are low compared with the height of the church. The side walls rise greatly above the windows on the exterior, and have a heavy appearance, while the lofty vaults of the interior render the building dark. The arches

which open from the main church into the transepts (see Fig. 1141) are also kept below the springing of the main vault, and are therefore low, but the windows in the transepts are kept well up. To resist the pressure of the heavy vaults and roof the walls are well buttressed, and the buttresses terminate with the somewhat stunted pinnacles in vogue at the time. It will be noticed that the overlapping stone roofs are constructed in three distinct portions, viz., one roof extending over the whole of the nave and chancel, and two separate roofs over each transept. The roofs and vaults of each of the transepts terminate against a gable raised on the side walls of the main part of the church, and the transepts are entered by low arches, on which these gables rest.

Both the interior and exterior of the church are quite plain, especially the former, in which there is no attempt at ornament of any kind. As regards the exterior, the buttresses with their pinnacles, and the windows with their simple tracery, give a pleasing effect, especially as seen from the east (Fig. 1143).

Perhaps the most striking feature of the exterior is the elliptic form of the arches over the side windows of the nave and choir (see Fig. 1142). This peculiar form has evidently resulted from the desire to make these windows as wide as possible, so as to admit light. But as all the window

arches required to be kept below the springing of the vaults, the interior is but imperfectly lighted. There are three doorways in the building--the south-west door in the nave, the priest’s door in the chancel, and a door in the south transept. These are all semicircular in the arch-head, as is common in Scottish examples. That in the south transept is now built up.

The tower at the west end is 14 feet square externally. The lower part is of the same date as the church, and has the base courses returning round it. The upper part has been rebuilt. The doorway to the tower is from the outside.

SETON COLLEGIATE CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

A disused edifice situated in the private grounds of Seton Castle, about two miles east from Prestonpans Railway Station. The parish of Seton having been joined to that of Tranent in 1580, service in the church has from that time been abandoned.

There was a church here from an early date. It is rated in the ancient Taxatio at 18 merks. In a MS. pedigree of the family of Seton, by Maitland of Lethington, quoted by Grose,[105] it is stated that Sir Alex. Seton, in the time of David II., was buried in the Parish Church of Seton. Also that Katherine Sinclair, wife of William, first Lord Seton, about 1390, “Biggit ane yle on the south side of the Paroch Kirk of Seton of fine estlar, pendit and theikit it with stane, with ane sepulchar thairin quhair she lies.” Her son John (died 1441) was buried in this aisle.

George, the second Lord Seton, in 1493, made the church collegiate. He built the sacristy and covered it with stone in the reign of James IV. He died in 1507, and was buried near the high altar.

George, the third Lord Seton, who was slain at Flodden, “Theickit the Queir of Seton with stane.” Jane Hepburne, his widow, after his decease, “Biggit the forewark of Seton above the zit, and also she biggit the northomoss yll of the College Kirk of Seton and took down the yll biggit be Dame Katherine Sinclair on the south side of it, the said college kirk, because the syde of it stood to the syde of the kirk, to mack it a parfecte and a proper cornet and a cross kirk and biggit up the steeple as ye see it now to ane grit hight swa that it wants little of compleiting.” This lady also presented the church with many ornaments of silver and rich vestments.

From the above quotations it would appear that the parish church existed in the fourteenth century. This church was probably rebuilt towards the end of the fifteenth century, and was added to by the second Lord Seton when he made the church collegiate in 1493, and completed by the third Lord Seton. The transepts and tower and spire would appear to have been erected by the Dowager Lady Seton in the sixteenth century, after her husband’s death at the Battle of Flodden.

The collegiate foundation consisted of a provost, six prebendaries, one clerk, and two singing boys. The edifice has undoubtedly been rebuilt or restored at the date of its being made collegiate. It corresponds in style with the numerous collegiate foundations established in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The eastern apsidal termination, the stone roof supported on a pointed barrel vault, and other details point to its date and associate it with the other collegiate churches of Scotland erected in the fifteenth century.

In 1544 the structure suffered much at the hands of the English invaders, who carried off the organ and bells, and burnt the timber work.

The stone roof of the choir was removed at some period. The masonry, however, survived, and the edifice has now been roofed in and properly defended from the weather by the late Lord Wemyss, who, along with his Countess, is buried in the choir. The broken tracery of the windows has been renewed by the present Lord Wemyss. The church was designed

as a complete cross without aisles, and with a central tower and spire over the intersection, but the nave has never been built. The portions erected (Fig. 1144) consist of the choir (with its three-sided apsidal east end), a north sacristy, a north and south transept, and a central tower and spire over the crossing. The choir is 53 feet in length by 22 feet in width internally. The exterior (Fig. 1145) is divided into three bays, separated by buttresses. There is a round-headed doorway in the central bay of the south wall, with a panel containing a coat of arms in the upper part of the wall, and mullioned windows in the other bays (including the apse), except that in the north wall at the part where the sacristy is built. The arched heads are all filled with tracery of a simple character and of

a pattern common in third pointed work. The buttresses are of good substantial form, and each is crowned with a square, but rather stunted, pinnacle, the enriched pyramidal tops of nearly all of them being wanting. A carved corbel and canopy are placed on the face of each buttress to receive a statue, but they are now all empty. Fig. 1146 shows two of these corbels, one containing the Seton arms. The cornice of the choir is enriched with flower ornaments.

The interior of the choir (Fig. 1147) is extremely simple. It is roofed with a pointed barrel vault, the surface of which, towards the east end, is ornamented with moulded ribs. These ribs spring from corbels in each angle of the apse and in the side walls, and extend to nearly the centre of the choir, where they cease, leaving the remainder of the vault plain. The idea has apparently been, by the introduction of these ribs, to make the presbytery somewhat ornamental. The windows, being below the

springing of the vault, are necessarily low, and the vault is in consequence dark. There are a plain sedilia, with elliptic arch, and an ornate piscina (Fig. 1148) at the east end of the south wall. Opposite them in the north wall a monument (Fig. 1149) under the north-east window contains, in an arched recess, an effigy, probably that of the second Lord Seton, who erected the church into a college. The choir is now roofed with wood and slates above the vault, but it was no doubt originally

Seton Collegiate Church.

Piscina in Choir.]

covered with a roof of overlapping stone slabs. The door to the sacristy is opposite that in the south wall. The sacristy is about 14 feet by 12 feet. It has a plain barrel vault, which supports an upper story, of which the window is visible (Fig. 1150), but there is no apparent means of access to it. The building has a roof of overlapping stone flags. The sacristy has one small eastern window, with a piscina near it, and a fireplace. In the angle next the apse there is a squint commanding a view of the altar.

The tower is 25 feet square. On the ground level there are arched openings 9 feet 6 inches wide (Fig. 1151) towards the choir and each transept, and also in the west wall towards the intended nave, the latter being built up. The stair turret is placed at the south-east angle, and partly projects into the south transept (Fig. 1152). It is also visible on the exterior (see Fig. 1145). The tower is carried up over the crossing one story in height above the roof, and is crowned with a broach-spire, the top of which is unfinished. This is one of the very few examples of broach-spires in Scotland. The ground floor over the crossing is groin vaulted, and has a circular opening in the centre.

The transepts are each about 27 feet long by 18 feet wide, and each is divided into two bays, with buttresses, pinnacles, and traceried windows, similar to those of the choir. These traceries were all much damaged, but they have been repaired by Lord Wemyss. The vaulting (see Figs.

1151 and 1152) is of the pointed barrel kind, similar to that of the choir, but without ribs, and supports a roof composed of overlapping stone flags

(see Figs. 1145 and 1150). The north and south end windows of the transepts (Fig. 1153) are peculiar. They are of considerable size, and

each is divided into two compartments by a large stone mullion built in courses, each compartment being filled with smaller tracery. Several examples of this mode of treating large windows about this period may be mentioned, such as King’s College, Aberdeen; Haddington Church, &c. There is an arched recess under the two large end windows of the north and south transepts (see Figs. 1151 and 1152), which perhaps at one time contained monuments. A piscina occurs in the east wall of the south transept (Fig. 1154), and another, supported on three heads, on the north-west pier of the tower. Other monuments in the Renaissance

style have been erected against the east walls of the transepts (see Fig. 1151). An octagonal font (Fig. 1155), carved with shields bearing the Seton and other arms, is placed in a temporary manner in the crossing.

From the history of the structure it would appear, as above mentioned, that the transept and tower were erected by Jane Hepburne (Lady Seton) in the sixteenth century. The style of the transept is

evidently later than that of the choir, but the details of the buttresses have been copied in the later part of the structure from those of the earlier part.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ARBUTHNOTT, KINCARDINESHIRE.

This church, which is dedicated to St. Ternan, is situated about three or four miles from Bervie, and not far from the old mansion of Arbuthnott. It is an exceedingly interesting and picturesque structure, and contains work of three distinct periods, representing different phases of Scottish ecclesiastical architecture. There is first the chancel (Fig. 1156), dedicated by Bishop Bernham in 1242, and possibly the nave may also be in part of the same period. Then there is the very striking south wing or aisle, which is known, from the Arbuthnott Missal, to have been built by Sir Robert Arbuthnott in the end of the fifteenth century. This aisle (Fig. 1157), which is two stories in height, is a remarkable example of the style with which we are familiar in the collegiate and other churches of the period. In the third place, the quaint west end (Fig. 1158) represents an example of the application to an ecclesiastical structure of features of the domestic architecture of the country, of which there are so many examples throughout Scotland. In February 1889 “the nave, then the only part in use, was burned, and the fire destroyed a partition which cut off the chancel.” None of the structural features of the church suffered any damage, and the chancel and the south aisle, having little or nothing in their construction of a combustible nature, escaped altogether. The church has been well restored by Mr. A. M. Mackenzie, architect, Aberdeen,[106] a new roof having been placed on the nave and chancel, and suitable new fittings and furniture introduced. The three windows in the east wall of the chancel have been renewed, exactly after the remains of the original ones.

The nave, which measures internally about 60 feet 6 inches long by 18 feet wide, has a north and south round-arched doorway, with a bead moulding on the angles. These doorways are, perhaps, of the sixteenth century. The three windows on the south side have centre mullions, and are finished with straight lintels (see Fig. 1157); and, although renewed, they represent the original arrangement. Besides these there are two small windows in the west gable (see Fig. 1158). A stoup in the wall inside adjoins the south door.

The chancel arch is about 12 feet wide by 13 feet high. It has a double splay on each side, and is acutely pointed. The chancel is about 26 feet 5 inches long by 15 feet 6 inches wide. The total internal length of the church is 90 feet. There is a small north doorway in the chancel, which was evidently not meant to lead to the outside, but to a

sacristy or some such apartment; and projecting tusk stones in the corner outside the door show that such a building was contemplated. The chancel (Fig. 1159) is lighted by small widely splayed windows on each side, and three lintelled windows in the east end (Fig. 1160). Mr. Mackenzie shows reasons for believing that this gable has been reconstructed, and that it originally had only two windows in the lower part, with perhaps some kind of central window at a higher level, something like what is found at Mortlach. The pointed piscina (Fig. 1161) beneath the eastmost south window (see Fig. 1160) has, as usual, been mutilated.

To connect the chancel with the Arbuthnott Aisle a round archway (see Fig. 1160), 7 feet 8 inches wide, has been cut through the chancel wall. The details of this arch are shown in Fig. 1162. This chapel or aisle, which has an apsidal south end, measures about 20 feet 3 inches long by 12 feet 11 inches wide, and has a vaulted stone roof (Fig. 1163) about 18 feet high, with a semi-octagonal dome over the apse. This view gives an idea of the appearance of the interior of the chapel. In front of the apse windows stands a sarcophagus 6 feet 2 inches long by 2 feet 2 inches wide, having a rude recumbent figure on the top. It contains the following arms on the front, beginning at the head, viz., Douglas, Arbuthnott, Arbuthnott, Stewart; and there appear to be indications that there have been other shields, now cut away. There is a round arched entrance door to the aisle on the west side (see Fig. 1157), with a stoup beneath the adjoining window on the inside, and in the east wall are the remains of a credence. A turret staircase (see

Fig. 1157) gives access from the aisle to a priest’s chamber on the upper floor, which Bishop Forbes, believing it to have been the place where the Missal referred to below was written, describes at some length.[107] It had a strong door, which folded back into a recess. The room is of the same size and shape as the aisle below, and is lighted with three windows with square heads, two in the apse, and one (the largest) looking towards the west (see Fig. 1157). The latter is strongly guarded with an iron grating of the usual construction. The windows are fitted with seats like those commonly found in the castles. “There is a stoup for holy water at the

entrance, and a small ambry, ornamented with a single trefoil, probably for the reservation of the holy Eucharist.”[108]

The Collegiate Church of Arbuthnott.

Piscina beneath Eastmost South Window.]

The external appearance of this chapel is illustrated in Fig. 1157, where the fine angle buttresses of the apse, with their considerable projection and height (owing to the upper story) and their picturesque pinnacles, and the stair turret are fully shown. The buttresses have each an ornamental corbel and canopy for a statue placed on their face, but without any niche. Fig. 1164 shows one of them with its elaborate carved work. The very quaint aspect of the whole building looking from the west is seen in the drawing (see Fig. 1158). The height of the two turrets, as shown on Mr. Mackenzie’s geometrical drawings, is the same, viz., 41 feet 6 inches.

The Collegiate Church of Arbuthnott. Details of Arch to South Aisle.]

The Arbuthnott Missal, already referred to, with its two companion volumes the Psalter and Office of the Blessed Virgin, have been well described by Mr. William MacGillivray. They were specially written for the use of this church by the vicar, James Sybbald. The Missal was finished in the year 1491, and was presented by the writer and the founder

of the aisle “to the high altar of the pious Bishop St. Ternan.” The Psalter was finished in 1482, and from internal evidence the last of the three volumes was probably written a short time before the Psalter.

From the Register of the Great Seal of date 30th May 1505, it appears that the chapel was then endowed by Robert Arbuthnott, “James Sybbald, Vicar of Arbuthnott,” being one of the witnesses. Sir Robert died in 1506, and the vicar in the year following.

The building adjoining the church, seen in Fig. 1158, is the old manse.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF CRICHTON, MID-LOTHIAN.

This edifice stands on the south side of the valley where the river Tyne takes its rise, about four miles from Tynehead Railway Station. It is seen from the railway, together with Crichton Castle, from which it is only about a quarter of a mile distant.

The building is still in use as the parish church. It consists (Fig. 1165) of a chancel, measuring internally about 44 feet from east to west by about 24 feet 10 inches in width, a central tower about 24 feet square,

and north and south transepts, the total length of which, from north to south, is about 70 feet. The north wall of the nave is erected for a length of about 16 feet, but of the south wall only a few feet have been built.

To adapt the edifice to the Presbyterian system of worship, probably the very worst plan which could have been devised has been adopted, and is shown on the Plan by clear lines. The original fabric may be said to remain, but it is greatly deformed. As the tower opened into the unbuilt nave it had necessarily to be walled up, and has an entrance doorway left in the centre. This doorway, which is round arched, seems to be old,

and was probably brought from a building which appears to have formerly stood on the north side of the church. Across the interior of the tower a stone wall has been built to enclose the modern church. The portion of the tower outside this wall thus forms a vestibule, from which a stair

leads to a west gallery fitted up in the enclosed portion of the tower. Another door has been slapped through the east wall to the outside, and an outer stair at the east end leads to an inserted gallery running across that end. One window and a sacristy or similar building on the north side have been done away with, to allow the erection of a passage for reaching another gallery, which runs along the north side of the chancel. The north transept has, perhaps, been worst used of all. A wall has been built between the moulded responds to a height of about 5 feet, and the whole area of the transept at this level is roofed over to form a burial vault. The south transept is not utilised in any way except as a sort of lumber place.

Instead of this unsuitable and costly arrangement, the area of the church as it stood would suffice to give more accommodation than is thus obtained, and that without sacrificing the dignity of the building, as has been done by the arrangements just described.

It would appear from a letter by the Rev. John Gourlay, the parish minister, to General Hutton, dated Crichton, 4th April 1789, that the

tower, with probably the transepts, then sufficed for the congregation. He says, “There is a high building upon the one end where the bell hangs, and where divine service was lately performed, but since considerable reparations were given, it is now again altered to what is called the quire.”

The original entrance to the church was on the south side of the chancel (see Fig. 1165). It has been partly destroyed and is now built up, but portions of its moulded jambs can still be seen. The mouldings are of a common kind, consisting of two beads separated by a hollow. The doorway has been 3 feet 10 inches wide. Above the doorway a window has been roughly hacked through the wall, and on the inside of the sill there are rudely carved the initials P. L., with the date 1729. These are probably the initials of the worthy who contrived certain of the alterations above described. At the same time two small windows have been knocked through the side walls beneath the original windows on the north and south sides nearest the east end. One of these is shown in the view Fig. 1166, and the other on the north side is shown on the Plan. These windows have been referred to by Mr. Muir and in the Architectural Publication Societies Dictionary as examples of lychnoscope or offertory windows; but undoubtedly they were inserted to give light beneath the east gallery, and are of no older date than last century. Only one of the original windows, that on the north side, retains the original tracery (Fig. 1167). Indications of the tracery of the transept windows also still remain. The choir has been divided into three bays by buttresses, which have the numerous set-offs of the period, and are finished with the ordinary late pinnacles. The high blank wall over the windows, which generally

The Collegiate Church of Crichton.

Arms in West Wall.]

accompanies the pointed barrel vaults, has been in this case lightened by the introduction of a false parapet (see Fig. 1166), with enrichments of square shaped flowers, both in the main cornice and in the upper cornice, which represents the cope of the parapet. But here there is no parapet wall, the eaves of the roof being placed where the parapet cope would be in ordinary circumstances. This is a plan often adopted in domestic buildings, from which the idea was, no doubt, borrowed in this instance. The transepts are without buttresses and have a bare appearance. Adjoining the south entrance doorway there are what appear to be the remains of a sedilia (Fig. 1168). The lower portion is entirely concealed, and the eastern shaft and recess are almost blocked. In the north wall opposite the original entrance there can be seen on the inside the indications of a round arched doorway, now built up, which probably led to the sacristy or a chapel, now destroyed, as already mentioned. Five feet east from this blocked doorway there are slight remains of a sixteenth or seventeenth century monument (see Plan), now cut away to permit of the erection of the gallery over, and it seems probable that from this monument was taken the coat of arms (Fig. 1169) now built into the wall which closes up the west archway of the tower. The shield bears the Nicolson arms, and are probably those of Agnes Nicolson, third wife of Patrick, first Lord Elibank, who possessed the ecclesiastical lands of the Collegiate Church of Crichton about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Mr. Billings shows another coat of arms on the outside of the turret stair, but this part of the building is now a dense mass of ivy. The turret stair is in the north wall of the nave, and is placed at some distance from the tower. Fig. 1170 shows the piscina in the south transept. Across this

The Collegiate Church of Crichton.

Piscina.]

transept, where shown on the Plan, there is a wooden screen (Fig. 1171) of late erection, but not without some character, near its centre, and beneath the south arch of the tower there stands up, a few inches from the pavement, a broken worn stone about 12 inches square, the purpose of which is not obvious.

The church throughout is vaulted with a pointed barrel vault, but no provision has been made for the vaulting of the nave. Crichton Church was converted, in 1449, by Sir William Crichton, well known as Chancellor Crichton, into a collegiate establishment for a provost, nine prebendaries, and two singing boys, and was suitably endowed. The existing structure was probably erected at that time. Sir William also built an extensive addition to the Castle of Crichton, and doubtless the same builders were employed on church and castle, as many of the details closely resemble each other. From Mr. Gourlay’s letter, already referred to, it appears that there was a provost’s house about a mile distant. He mentions that it was then used as a farmhouse and called Rosehall, and that there was a place of worship beside it and a churchyard, but with the exception of the latter nothing now remains.

The tower is supported by pointed arches springing from responds in the four sides. The responds are of simple section, and the caps contain some good late foliaged carving (see Fig. 1171).

The walls are carried up with one low story above the set-off

immediately over the sloping water table of the roofs. This story contains, in each face, a two-light window with square lintel and central mullion. The story is surmounted by a plain parapet, supported by a corbel course, and the tower is finished with a gabled roof, having a simple belfry on the apex of the east gable.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF CORSTORPHINE, MID-LOTHIAN.

The village of Corstorphine is situated about three miles west of Edinburgh.

The church is intimately associated with the Forrester family. It was erected and endowed by them, and their tombs and monuments, emblazoned

with heraldic emblems, are conspicuous on its walls. The manor was acquired by Adam Forrester, a burgess and provost of Edinburgh, in the year 1376, and the title of Lord Forrester of Corstorphine continued in the family till the year 1763.

There was a chapel at Corstorphine as early as the year 1128, which was granted to the new Abbey of Holyrood. This structure afterwards became the parish church, and continued to be so after the erection of the collegiate church, which still exists. Of this original chapel no trace now remains. It stood on the north side of the present building, on part of the ground now occupied by the existing north transept. This transept, which was built in the present century, is not the immediate successor of the old parish church, but takes the place of an aisle which was built in 1646, the erection of which caused the removal of what remained of the old parish church.

The existing church (Fig. 1172) consists of a chancel, a nave with north and south transepts situated at its west end, a western tower and spire, and a sacristy on the north side of the chancel. The whole building is small in size and of low proportions, the height of the tower and spire

The Collegiate Church of Corstorphine.

Stone Built into Wall of Field.]

being only 50 feet, but although somewhat debased in style, it is very quaint and picturesque.

The structure suffered great alteration and damage from a restoration which took place about the beginning of this century. At that time the north transept, together with the seventeenth century aisle, above mentioned, and a part of the nave were taken down.[109] A new north transept was built, and a new additional nave was erected on the north side of the old nave. A doorway was knocked through the east wall of the chancel, which necessitated the shortening of the large east window above it by raising the sill. At the same time, the chancel was converted into a lumber chamber and porch, by the process of building up the chancel arch. As regards the sacristy, its floor has been dug out to a depth of about 7 feet, and it is now used as a heating chamber and coal cellar.

During this restoration a quantity of carved and moulded stones was removed from the church to Juniper Green, in the vicinity, where probably about fifty fragments, several containing the Forrester arms, were built into a wall on the road leading from the above village to Baberton House, but the wall has since been removed. Fig. 1173 is a sketch of one of these stones, bearing three hunting horns impaling a bend engrailed. At Hermiston House, also, several carved blocks

removed from Corstorphine Church have been preserved, some of which contain the Forrester arms.

The plan of the building (omitting the alterations above described) is remarkable. It seems to consist of two portions--(1) the transepts and division to the east of them, forming one church, and (2) the choir further

to the east, which seems to have formed an independent chapel. This view is supported by the history of the structure.

In the east wall of the chancel a stone is fixed, with an inscription in memory of the first provost of the college, the stone being “apparently transferred,” says Mr. Laing, “from the place where the provost was buried.” The inscription is in the following terms, viz.:--

Istud · collegiū · incepit · āno · dn̄i · Mº,ccccºxxix · et · eodē · āno: maḡr · nicholay^{q} · bānachtȳ · p^{r}posit^{q} · hic · subt^{q} · iacēs · qui · obiit · āno: dn̄i · Mºcccc{o}lxx ... cui^{q} · āniu^{r}sare · simul · pr̄ isq · mr̄ is: celebrabitur · xiiiiº ·die · mēsis · iunii · p · quo · ānuus · redditus · x: s · in · villa · de · kyrk · cramuound · orate · pro · āib^{q} · eor^{l.} [This collegiate church was begun in the year of our Lord 1429, and in the

same year Mr. Nicol Bannatyne was provost here, who, lying beneath, died in the year 1470. A commemoration of him and his successors in office will be celebrated on the 14th of June annually, for which an annual rent of £10 is set apart, out of the lands of Kirk Cramond--Pray for their souls.]

This inscription clearly fixes the date of the commencement of the collegiate church, but although it has been transferred to the chancel, there is nothing to show that the collegiate church it refers to is the chancel. It is quite as likely to have reference to the church to the west of the chancel, from which it was probably removed to its present position. Both from the arrangement of the Plan and the aspect of the eastern part of the building generally, it presents a distinct individuality. It is both

higher and wider than the church to the west, and suggests the idea of having been built at a different time. Now it is matter of history that Adam Forrester, already mentioned, who died in 1405, built a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist adjoining the parish church, and it is not unlikely that this chancel was that chapel.

In 1425-6 a charter was granted by King James I. for the endowment of three chaplainries in the chapel contiguous to the Parish Church of Corstorphine,[110] and securing to it, amongst other things, the annual rents in Edinburgh bestowed by the late Sir Adam Forrester. That charter clearly shows that this chapel, wherever situated, was in existence before

Tomb of Sir John Forrester (younger) and his Wife.]

the year mentioned in Provost Bannatyne’s inscription. Further, in the Chamberlain Rolls of 1434,[111] reference is made to the three chaplains of the Chapel of St. John the Baptist--“contiguous to the Parish Church of Corstorphine,” showing the independent existence of that chapel after the date in the Bannatyne inscription. It seems, therefore, most probable that this was the chapel erected by Sir Adam Forrester.

Sir Adam was succeeded by his son Sir John Forrester, who filled the office of Great Chamberlain of Scotland, and on the return of James I. from England was appointed Master of the Household in 1424. The

collegiate church was founded and endowed by Sir John. Although the inscription to Bannatyne, the first provost, says that it was begun in 1429, the foundation was only completed by a Papal Bull in 1444, at which date Sir John was probably living. The foundation consisted of a provost, four prebendaries, and two singing boys.

From the above records, and also from the style of the architecture, there can scarcely be a doubt but that the church to the west was the collegiate church erected after 1444, and in designing it, the plan was so arranged as to incorporate the older Chapel of St. John the Baptist as the chancel of the new church. It is remarkable that, although the chancel

contains monuments to his successors, there is none to Sir Adam, the supposed founder of it. It may, however, be mentioned that Mr. Laing believes that an inscription on a stone, which has been built out of its proper place, in the small porch to the west of the tower, has been taken from a monument to Sir Adam.

Whether the above view of the history of the Church of Corstorphine is correct or not, the chancel or the Chapel of St. John the Baptist is the

most interesting part of the building. It measures internally 25 feet 6 inches in length by 21 feet in width, and is covered with a pointed barrel vault, having a roof of overlapping stone flags. It contains an

east window of three lights (Fig. 1174), having perpendicular tracery, the lower part of which has been altered, as above pointed out.

There are two small windows in the south side of the chancel, and between them, in the interior, is a fine sedilia, somewhat mutilated (Fig. 1175). Beside it is a piscina (Fig. 1176), with the basin, as usually happens, cut away. In the niche of the piscina there is a stone shelf used as a credence table, and over the niche a projecting round canopy. A very similar canopy exists over the upper small niche on the exterior of the east gable.

In the north wall of the chancel are two recessed tombs (Figs. 1177 and 1178). These monuments, judging from the disturbed appearance of the surrounding masonry and from the different character of the two designs, were apparently not original parts of the chapel, but were subsequently inserted as the occasion arose. The arch stones of the westmost tomb (see Fig. 1177), that of Sir John Forrester (the eldest son of Sir Adam) and his wife, are cut away or concealed by the west wall of the chapel, an arrangement not likely to have been adopted had the tomb been erected when the chapel was built. This monument is usually called the Founder’s Tomb, from the circumstance that Sir John founded the collegiate church. He was twice married: first, to Jean Sinclair, daughter of Henry, first Earl of Orkney; and, second, to Dame Marion Stewart, Lady Dalswinton, widow of Sir John Stewart.[112] His effigy rests on the tomb, along with that of one of his wives. Sir John died after the year 1444.

The eastmost tomb (see Fig. 1178) is that of the son of the foregoing, also Sir John, who died before 1454. It contains his effigy and that of his wife. It does not appear to be known to what family the lady belonged; but from the heraldic blazons (to be afterwards described) she seems to have been a member of the Wigmer family.

There is another tomb situated in the south transept (Figs. 1179 and 1180). It is believed to be that of Sir Alexander Forrester, son of the last mentioned Sir John. The date of his death is not recorded, but he is known to have been alive in 1467. It contains his effigy only. There has been a finial on the tomb, which is now gone.

The amount of heraldic carving on the above tombs, on the gable of the south transept (Fig. 1181), and on the western porch (Fig. 1182) is considerable and is well preserved.[113]

The arms represented on the various shields throughout the whole series comprise, for the different members of the Forrester family above mentioned,

FORRESTER OF CORSTORPHINE, viz.:--

Argent, three hunting horns stringed sable.

These occur alone and conjoined with the arms of their wives,
viz.:--

I. Sinclair, Earl of Orkney.

1st and 4th. Azure, a lymphad within a double tressure, flory
counter flory, or (for Orkney).

2nd and 3rd. Argent, a cross engrailed (for Sinclair).

II. Stewart of Dalswinton.

Or, a fesse chequé azure and argent, surmounted of a bend engrailed
gules.

III. Wigmer.

Argent, on a bend sable a ribbon dancettée of the field.

IV. Forrester (differenced with Sinclair--probably an unauthorised
coat).

Argent, a cross engrailed and couped between three hunting horns
sable.

The above arms are distributed as follow on the three tombs--

FIRST TOMB, SIR JOHN FORRESTER (see Fig. 1177).

1st shield. Forrester.

2nd shield. Forrester impaling Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. The dexter
half only--viz., 1st and 3rd quarters of the complete arms--being
given.

3rd shield. Forrester.

4th shield. Forrester impaling Stewart of Dalswinton.

5th shield. Forrester.

SECOND TOMB, SIR JOHN FORRESTER, son of above--Eastmost (see Fig.
1178).

1st shield. Forrester.

2nd shield. Forrester impaling Wigmer.

3rd shield. Forrester.

THIRD TOMB, SIR ALEXANDER FORRESTER (see Figs. 1179 and 1180).

1st shield. Sinclair of Orkney (1st and 3rd quarters only) impaling
Forrester (the same arms as first tomb, 2nd shield, but reversed,
in error).

2nd shield. Forrester.

3rd shield. Forrester differenced with Sinclair.

The shields on the gable of the south transept (see Figs. 1174 and
1181) are as follow--

1st. Central shield, Forrester.

2nd and 3rd. (Two shields, one on each side of the large window.)
Forrester impaling Wigmer.

These shields are all reversed, so that the shield is couché the
wrong way and the crest looks the wrong way. The impaled shields
have Forrester on the sinister instead of the dexter, and the
Wigmer arms make the bend and ribbon sinister instead of dexter.

SOUTH TRANSEPT.

The shields, both on the gable outside and on the tomb inside, seem to have been carelessly executed from an impression of the arms, thus placing everything in the reverse way; so that what in the original is on the dexter side of the shield is here on the sinister, a bend is converted into a bend sinister, and so throughout.

The two shields on the porch are--1st, Forrester; 2nd, Forrester impaling Wigmer.

The sacristy, on the north side of the chancel, enters by a plain lintelled door between the two tombs (see Fig. 1172). It has a rough pointed barrel vault, and looks, from there being windows at two levels, as if it had contained two stories. The sill of the east window projects about 11 inches; and Mr. Muir considers it, without doubt, to have been an altar.[114] Adjoining this window is a piscina, with the orifice of its drain wrought on the base mouldings outside.

As regards the architecture of the church, it accords well with the other collegiate structures of the latter half of the fifteenth century. The perpendicular tracery in the east window of the chancel and the south window of the transept (see Figs. 1173 and 1181) is remarkable, such tracery being very uncommon in Scotland. These two large windows are recessed in the wall, the outer jambs having two or three broad splays. The side windows have the tracery flush with the outer face of the wall.

The buttresses have the usual numerous set-offs. They have now finials, consisting of cubic stones carved as sundials; but, as Mr. T. S. Muir states, these are modern additions, the buttresses having doubtless been originally pinnacled above the eaves.

The tower to the west of the transept (Fig. 1182) is one of the most characteristic features of the structure. It measures externally about 18 feet 6 inches from north to south by 17 feet 3 inches from east to west. The tower has a door to the church, and also a west doorway. It thus formed an entrance porch to the building; but another porch has been added to the west, which is vaulted and covered with a stone roof.

The tower is built with ashlar, and rises, without buttresses, to the eaves. A two-light window is introduced on each face under the cornice. Above the tower there is a stone spire of the stunted description usual at the period. Four pinnacles give some relief to the angles at the base of the spire. The latter is divided by battlemented string courses into three stories, and has lucarnes in the middle story.

After the Reformation the collegiate church became the church of the parish in 1593, and has so continued ever since.

THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF CRAIL, FIFESHIRE.

The quaint old seaport of Crail lies near the eastern point of the north side of the Frith of Forth. It is one of the earliest places in Scotland which are known to have carried on commerce with the Continent, having had intercourse with the Netherlands in the ninth century, where its salt fish were sold, and the name of Crail occurs on a map of the twelfth century.

There was in ancient times a royal castle at Crail, in which David I. resided, and a number of names still exist in the locality, showing its connection with royalty. The earliest charter of the burgh was granted by Bruce in 1310, and confirmed by subsequent kings. It is believed that at one time Crail was the site of a priory dedicated to St. Rufus, the tradition of which is preserved in several local names, such as, the prior’s croft, the prior’s walls, the nun’s peat field, and the house of the prioress, which in 1640 was in the hands of a neighbouring proprietor.

The Church of Crail belonged from an early date to the Cistercian Nuns of Haddington. In 1177 the stipend is mentioned. This church was made collegiate and well endowed by Sir William Myreton, vicar of Lathrick in 1509. He also established the altar of St. Michael the Archangel in 1512, and in 1514 he founded an altar to the praise and honour of God, the Virgin Mary, and all saints, which he placed in the presentation and donation of the bailies and community. Sir William Myreton also showed himself a benefactor of the town by founding schools there in 1525, one being for the teaching of grammar and the other of music. In 1515, besides the above chaplainries, there existed in the church chaplainries of St. James the apostle, St. Bartholomew, and St. Nicholas. An inventory has been preserved, from which it appears that the various altars were well furnished with plate and vestments. On account of the foundation of the new College in the parish church, a charter was issued by Andrew, Archbishop of St. Andrews, confirming letters by the Prioress of Haddington, by Sir William Myreton, by the bailies and community of Crail, and by the parishioners of the parish church, for the foundation of a provostry with ten prebendaries, to be in the gift of the Prioress. In 1520 another prebend was added, viz., that of St. John the Baptist. The priory of Haddington having been erected in 1621 into a temporal lordship in favour of John, Master of Lauderdale, the kirk lands of Crail fell to him.

But in 1587 James VI. had granted a charter to the town of everything belonging to the chaplainries, altarages, and prebends, or to the kirk or college, except what pertained to the Abbey of Haddington. This charter was granted on account of the prebendaries and others following the usual course as the Reformation approached, and alienating the lands of their benefices for their own private advantage. The old College Church thus passed into the hands of the burgh, and was confirmed to it in 1633 by Act of Parliament, and is still used as the parish church.[115]