Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys

In preparation for this Guild Book I wrote an account of every pre-Reformation structure in Scotland of which any remains now survive, but the prescribed limits of the series necessitated a selection. The Scottish cathedrals are all here treated, with representative collegiate and monastic buildings. Reference is also made to parish churches that represent the architecture of the various periods indicated in Chapter II. A survey of Scottish mediæval architecture will be found in pp. 194-206 that may enable readers to take a comprehensive view of the whole. A study of those treated in particular will lead to a study of those treated of necessity in general, and illustrate the idea that the history of the Scottish Church is the history of the ideality and faith of the Scottish people, and that the one cannot be separated from the other. A healthy present must always be bound by a natural piety to the past that has made it, or at least helped it to be what it is, and this study may enable readers to realise more that the Church of Scotland has a great and glorious past that begins with the days of St. Ninian and St. Columba. The past has much to teach the present, and the narrative of historical facts is not without suggestiveness to the varied life and work that characterise the Church of Scotland to-day.

I desire to express my indebtedness to the investigations of many workers, which I have striven to recognise in the many references throughout the work, but most of all I am indebted to Messrs. MacGibbon and Ross in their colossal work, the Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland—a book of national importance.

D. B.

Manse of Abernethy,
Perthshire, 14th January 1901.

This book is designed to render to Scottish Churchmen the special service of presenting to them, in a brief but comprehensive survey, the record of their ecclesiastical history which is engraved in their ecclesiastical architecture. There is no record so authentic as that which is built in stone. There is none so sacred as that which attests and illustrates the religion of our forefathers. Much of that record has perished: enough remains to engage our reverent study and our dutiful care. Foreign war and rapine have wasted and destroyed our heritage of sacred places. Kelso, Jedburgh, Melrose, and Haddington fell before the English invader. Iona was ravaged by the Dane, while yet the island formed part of a Scandinavian diocese. Internal lawlessness and tribal fury have wrought like disasters. Elgin, once "the fair glory of the land," stands a forlorn monument of the savagery of a Highland chief. St. Andrews, Lindores, Perth, Paisley, and many others bear witness to the reckless outrage which cloaked its violence under the guise of religious zeal. Of all our spoilers this has been the most destructive. The pretence (for it often was nothing else) of "cleansing the sanctuary" not only robbed the Church of many a priceless possession, but begat, in the popular mind, a ruthless disregard of the sacred associations of places where generation after generation had worshipped God, and a coarse indifference to the solemnity of His ordinances, which made it easy for those who should have been the guardians of the churches to let them fall, unheeded, into decay.

It is not uncommon, even yet, to find people who ought to know, and perhaps do know, better, blaming Knox and his co-reformers for the dilapidation and desecration of our ancient fanes. The blame belongs to the "rascal multitude," and to the rapacious laymen who were served heirs to the properties of the despoiled Church. What is the Church the better for their enrichment? What has religion gained by it? The Reformed Faith could have flourished none the less graciously if its purified doctrine had been preached, and its reasonable worship offered, under the same roofs that had protected priest and people in the days of Romanist error. Is the cause of pure and undefiled religion stronger in the land because Melrose and Crossraguel and Pluscarden are desolate; St. Andrews a roofless ruin; Iona as yet open to the Atlantic winds? Is the voice of praise and prayer sweeter in the North because Mortlach is effaced and Fortrose shattered, and the bells are silent which men on the mainland used to hear when the north wind blew from Kirkwall? Granted that ignorant superstition may have tainted the veneration in which our fathers' holy and beautiful houses were held 400 years ago, the iconoclasm which devastated them was not the remedy for it. The revived interest in our old churches, which has asserted its influence in such restorations as those of St. Giles, Dunblane, Linlithgow, St. Vigeans, and Arbuthnott, is no revival of superstition. It is the outcome of a more reverent spirit; of a deeper sense of the honour due to God; of the conviction that we owe Him, in all that pertains to His worship, the offering of our very best; and of a deeper consciousness also of the supreme value of the Church's national position and character, and of the duty of piously conserving whatever helps to illustrate the historical continuity which binds its present to its past. As regards this, nothing is so full of helpful stimulus as an intelligent study of our ecclesiastical architecture. In it we can read the lessons of the gradual growth of the Scottish nation from the loosely connected tribal conditions of the ninth and tenth centuries onwards to its consolidation under a settled monarchy; the development of its commercial and industrial progress; its expanding relations to the peoples of the Continent; and the vital changes in its political life, and its religious system and belief, thence resulting. All these have left their mark in those records which neither time nor revolution, neglect nor violence, have been able wholly to destroy—the architecture of our cathedrals, abbeys, and monasteries.

The primitive buildings of the early Celtic period of the Church have long since disappeared. Their clay and wattles could not withstand the wear and tear of time; only in a distant glen or lonely island can we discover scattered traces of the beehive cell or simple shrine of the anchorite or missionary. Few relics of the more substantial structures of that time survive.

The Roman era of Church organisation superseded the Celtic; and with the Roman dominance came the architecture of the Anglo-Normans, whom the presence and policy of Margaret, saint and queen, attracted to Scotland. It developed itself, always with some national characteristics of its own, until the War of Independence broke off all friendly intercourse with England.

Later came, in place of alliance with England, the alliance with France, which lasted till the Reformation, and left its mark on many of the pages of "The Great Stone Book," which chronicle for us the vicissitudes of the past, the days of peace and prosperity, of war and penury, of reviving national health and energy, of new combinations and ideas in politics and statecraft, of spiritual decay and carnal pride and ostentation. These annals can be deciphered by the patient student of the walls and cloisters of the ancient churches and religious houses.

To the founders and the owners of the latter, and chiefly to the great orders of the Augustinians, the Benedictines, and the Cistercians, we owe many of our noblest remnants of the past—all of them unhappily ruined; for the popular violence of the sixteenth century raged more fiercely against the monasteries than against the cathedrals. To the Episcopal system of government, introduced under Margaret, we owe the bishops' churches or cathedrals.

The life and thought of the Church at the present day, move far enough apart from either prelacy or monasticism to allow us to look at each with an impartial eye, and to consider whether in its abolition we have parted with aught that it would have profited the Church to retain.

The monasteries, at first the homes and shelters of charity and learning, had, before the sixteenth century, waxed fat with unduly accumulated wealth, become enervated with luxury and corrupt through bad government. They were swept away, their possessions secularised, and their communities broken up. But with them disappeared two things which were of great price: a large and liberal provision for the poor, and a comprehensive scheme of Education. The monastery gate was never shut against the suffering and the needy. The monks were indulgent landlords and kind neighbours; the sick benefited by their medical skill; the indigent could always look to them for eleemosynary aid; the houseless wanderer was never sent empty away. Those great centres of friendly helpfulness and charity were planted all over the land. No doubt the gift of indiscriminate alms to every applicant would tend to abuse and lazy beggary; but a scheme of sympathetic and well directed aid thoughtfully administered would not. Abusus non tollit usum. The scandals of the monasteries did not justify the robbery of the destitute for the benefit of the secular supplanters of the monks. The Kirk-sessions of the Reformed Kirk did their best to take the place of the former guardians and kindly benefactors of the poor, but their funds were scanty; the old wealth had fallen into tenacious hands; and schism and sectarianism finally necessitated the transfer of the care of the poor from the Church to the State.

Could the ancient system have been reformed and not destroyed, the poverty of the country would have been less grievous than it is to-day; the Church's relation to the poor more intimate; and the method of relief pleasanter to the recipients than that which makes them familiar with the grim charity of the Poor's House, the Inspector, and the Parochial Board.

The monasteries were the seats of a general system of higher education. The burghs had their own independent seminaries; the "song schools" were more closely connected with the churches in town and in country; but the highest grade of education was found in the monasteries. Before the foundation of any of the universities they supplied the place both of secondary school and university, and trained the youth, especially of the higher ranks, until prepared to go out into the world, as they constantly did, speaking the "lingua-franca" of all scholars, and carrying Scottish energy, genius, and scholarship into the halls and cloisters of many a college and many a monastery, from Coimbra to Cracow, from Salerno to Upsala. These schools all perished with the downfall of the monasteries; and consequently we cannot, to this day, cope with the great public schools of England, or adequately supply the blank in our educational system created by their spoliation and abolition. Here, too, wise reform might have spared and remodelled what misguided zeal, allied with unprincipled greed, destroyed.

With the ruination and impoverishment of the cathedrals, an element in the Church's life inseparable from them, and most salutary and useful, ceased to be. The bishops' deprivation of an authority they had too often disgraced and misused, vested the government of the Church in the presbyterate; and the national sentiment approved of the change. But there was no necessity for upsetting the whole cathedral system, and rooting out the whole cathedral staff, because the bishop was turned adrift. Had the Canonries been spared, an immense boon would have been secured for the Reformed Church. Had the stipends attached to them not been alienated, the Church would have possessed, at all its most important centres, a staff of clergymen chosen for their ability and worth, for their learning and power of government and organisation, aiding the minister in his work, or enriching the theological literature of their time. With them might have been associated younger men, either under their supervision as candidates for the ministry, or as probationers acquiring practical knowledge of its duties and requirements. The cathedral would have stood out, in its city, great or small, as the Mother Church—holding forth the model of devout ritual, of earnest and learned teaching, of zealous work. How vastly superior its influence would have been, spiritually, intellectually, socially, to that of struggling quoad sacra churches, with their ill-paid clergy, or "missions" in charge of worse-paid probationers, it is, I think, needless to point out. But the possibility of such an institution passed away when the cathedrals were desecrated, and their revenues were "grippit"—to use Knox's phrase—by the ungodly robbers of the Church.

I have written these few pages to serve as an introduction to what follows, from the hand of my friend, Mr. Butler. The Committee of the Guild asked me to prepare a volume on the most notable of our ancient churches; and finding that other engagements stood in the way of my doing so, I recommended that the work should be entrusted to Mr. Butler, of whose ability to do it well I felt confident. Having read what he has written, I find my confidence was not misplaced, and that his treatment of the subject is most instructive, thorough, and exact. It will add to the reputation he has already gained by his history of his own parish of Abernethy on Tay, and his books on Wesley in Scotland, and on Henry Scougal; and will prove an invaluable guide to all students of our historic churches, cathedral, collegiate, and monastic.

R. H. S.

The period begun by the influence of Queen Margaret (1047-1093), continued by her sons and their successors on the Scottish throne, and culminating in the Scottish Reformation of 1560, is that with which this book deals.

The old Celtic Church of Scotland was brought to an end by two causes—internal decay and external change. Under the first head, notice must be taken of the encroachment upon the ecclesiastic element by the secular, and of the gradual absorption of the former by the latter. There was a vitality in the old ecclesiastical organisation, but it was weakened by the assimilation of the native Church to that of Rome in the seventh and eighth centuries, which introduced a secular element among the clergy; and the frequent Danish invasions, which may be described as the organised power of Paganism against Scottish Christianity, grievously undermined its native force. The Celtic churches and monasteries were repeatedly laid waste or destroyed, and the native clergy were compelled either to fly or take up arms in defence; the lands, unprotected by the strong arm of law, fell into the hands of laymen, who made them hereditary in their families, and ultimately nothing was left but the name of abbacy, applied to the lands, and that of abbot, borne by a secular lord. Under the second head—external change—may be noted the policy adopted towards the Celtic Church by the kings of the race of Queen Margaret. It consisted (1) in placing the Church upon a territorial in place of a tribal basis, in substituting the parochial system and a diocesan episcopacy for the old tribal churches with monastic jurisdiction and functional episcopacy; (2) in introducing the orders of the Church of Rome, and founding great monasteries as counter influences to the Celtic Church; (3) in absorbing the Culdees or Columban clergy into the Roman system, by first converting them from secular into regular canons, and afterwards by merging them in the latter order.[1] King David especially founded bishoprics and established cathedrals, equipped with the ordinary cathedral staff of deans, canons, and other functionaries, and monasteries equipped with representatives of the monastic orders. Thus the native Celtic Church, undermined by internal decay, was extinguished by external change and a course of aggression which rolled from St. Andrews until it reached the far-off shores of Iona. All that remained to speak of its vitality and beneficence to the people of Scotland consisted of the roofless walls of an early church, or an old churchyard with its Celtic cross; the names of the early pastors by whom the churches were founded, or the neighbouring wells at the old foundations, dedicated to their memory; the village fairs, stretching back to a remote antiquity, and held on the saint's day in the Scottish calendar; here and there a few lay families possessing the church lands as the custodiers of the pastoral staff or other relics of the founder of the church, and exercising a jurisdiction over the ancient "girth" or sanctuary boundary such as the early missionaries instituted in the days when might was right, and they nobly witnessed to the right against the might.

The new policy was connected with the introduction of the orders of the Roman Catholic Church, and with the building of cathedrals and abbeys. This movement commenced with the close of the eleventh century, and continued to the middle of the sixteenth; it embraced all the time when the Church of Scotland was guided by the regime of Rome, although it is to be recalled that the Scottish Church never ceased to maintain a native independence—its heirloom from the ancient Celtic Church. This independence, manifested on important historical occasions throughout mediæval times, at last found its national embodiment in the Reformed Church of 1560.

Scotland was divided into thirteen dioceses—St. Andrews, Glasgow, Dunkeld, Aberdeen, Moray, Brechin, Dunblane, Ross, Caithness, Galloway, Lismore or Argyll, the Isles, and Orkney; but before sketching the history and architecture of each of the thirteen cathedrals, it will be necessary to indicate the general features of the various periods of Scottish architecture itself, as it is of this movement the structures themselves are all an expression.

Architecture is a great stone book in which nations have recorded their annals, before the days of the printing-press: have written their thoughts, expressed their aspirations, and embodied their feelings as clearly and truly as by any other form of utterance. We know Egypt as vividly by its pyramids, the age of Pericles by the Parthenon of Athens, Imperial Rome by the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Baths of Caracalla, as from the pages of their respective literature. The mediæval cathedrals, monasteries, and churches are a living record of the faith and devotion of mediæval men, who have left besides them but little else whereby we can know their aspirations and civilisation; we find in them an expression of the deepest life that characterised the periods to which they belong, and a record which, though often mutilated, and sometimes nearly obliterated, never deceives. Wherever these architectural creations are found, there also a voice ought to be heard, telling what at that spot and at some previous time men thought and felt; what their civilisation enabled them to accomplish, and to what state they had attained in their conception of God. In a very true sense it can be said that the architecture of a country is the history of that country, and that the record of the architecture is the record of its civilisation.

"Mediæval architecture," said Sir Gilbert Scott, "is distinguished from all other styles as being the last link of the mighty chain which had stretched unbroken through nearly 4000 years—the glorious termination of the history of original and genuine architecture....[2] It has been more entirely developed under the influence of the Christian religion, and more thoroughly carried out its tone and sentiment, than any other style. It is par eminence Christian.... Its greatest glory is the solemnity of religious character which pervades the interior of its temples. To this all its other attributes must bend, as it is this which renders it so pre-eminently suited to the highest uses of the Christian Church. It was this, probably, which led Romney to exclaim, that if Grecian architecture was the work of glorious men, Gothic was the invention of gods."[3] This architecture was perfected by the mediæval builders—the round arch in the twelfth and the pointed arch in the two succeeding centuries. Its progress was the realisation of three great aims, towards which the Romanesque architects were ever striving—the perfecting of the arcuated and vaulted construction, the increase of the altitude of their proportion, and the general adding of refinement and delicacy to their details.[4]

Scotland, it has been maintained by those competent to judge, can show a continuous series of Christian structures, beginning with the primitive cells and oratories of the early anchorites, and extending through all the periods of mediæval art. It exemplifies two distinctive phases of artistic development—the first comprising the rise and decline of Celtic Art in early Christian times, and the second allied to the various stages of general European culture. The Celtic churches, round towers, and sculptured monuments similar to those found in Ireland, are followed by primitive examples of Norman work, pointing to the Saxon and Norman influence of the eleventh century, which produced a complete revolution in the artistic elements of the country and led to a full development of the Romanesque or Norman style of architecture—a style similar to the round arched architecture of other European countries in the twelfth century. This is manifested chiefly in small parish churches, but also in large, elaborate buildings, and one cathedral.[5]

The succeeding Gothic styles are also well represented in Scotland, and exhibit both certain local peculiarities and a general correspondence with the arts of the different periods in France and England. The First Pointed style is represented in Scotland during the thirteenth century, but owing to the disastrous situation of the country during the fourteenth century, the number of "decorated" buildings is pronounced to be comparatively small. On the other hand, it is maintained that during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the "Perpendicular" style prevailed in England and the "Flamboyant" in France, the architecture of Scotland was distinguished by a style peculiar to the country, in which many features derived from both the above styles may be detected.[6] "While the mediæval architecture of Scotland thus corresponds on the whole with that of the rest of Europe, there exists in the ecclesiology of the country an amount of native development sufficient to give it a special value as one of the exponents of the art of the Middle Ages. Its buildings further contribute largely to the illustration of the history of the country, by showing in their remains the condition and growth of its religious ideas and observances at different epochs, and the manner in which its civilisation advanced. We observe striking evidences of the Irish influence in the relics of the primitive Celtic Church. The Norman and English influences are clearly traceable up to the invasion of Edward I., and the political connection with France and the Netherlands is distinctly observable in the period of the Jameses."[7]

The Abernethy Round Tower, the Priory of Restennet, Forfarshire, and St. Regulus' or St. Rule's Church, St. Andrews, illustrate the transition from Celtic to Norman architecture.[8] The dates of the Irish round towers[9] extend from the ninth to the twelfth century, and the Abernethy Tower is regarded on historical grounds by Dr. Skene as belonging to the period about 870 A.D.; the upper windows and doorway are either additions of the twelfth century, or, as this was an early Irish house in Scotland, may illustrate what has been asserted, that in Ireland a form of Romanesque was introduced before the Anglo-Saxon Invasion.[10] At any rate, the tower is a combination of Celtic and Norman work. As to Restennet, the present choir is a First Pointed structure. David I. founded there an Augustinian Priory, which Malcolm IV. made a cell of the Abbey of Jedburgh. The tower is the only one of the square towers which has very marked features of a pre-Norman character.[11] The building above the second story is probably fifteenth-century work. St. Regulus' Church is treated pp. 17-19.

The twelfth century was in Scotland as elsewhere the great church-building period, and the number of churches in the south and east that reflect the Norman movement is very large. All the large ones were conventual. Parish churches of the period are generally small and aisleless—the most of them being single oblong chambers, with an eastern chancel, sometimes with an eastern apse, and occasionally with a western tower.[12] Towards the close of the period, the ornament became very elaborate, especially in the arched heads of doorways. A common feature was the arcade running round the walls below the windows, either in the exterior, interior, or both; the caps and arches are generally carved elaborately and richly with ornaments, the chevron or zig-zag enrichment being a characteristic feature. The windows are always single and simple in detail.[13]

Some of the towers connected with such churches are amongst the earliest instances of Norman work which survive; they are simple in design, square on plan, and are carried up, without break or buttress, to the parapet, where they are finished with a gable roof, forming the saddle-back arrangement still preserved in the Muthill Tower.[14] The break in the height is formed by string courses, which mark the unequal stories. A small wheel-stair usually leads to the top, and the doorway is occasionally several feet from the ground. Such are the leading features that can be traced in the buildings connected with the period.

The term "transition" is by general agreement reserved for the architecture of the end of the twelfth century, when the Norman style gradually gave place to the first pointed Gothic style. In England this period extends from about 1180 to 1200; in Scotland it extends considerably into the thirteenth century. The characteristics of the style are the gradual introduction of the pointed arch and its use along with some of the decorative features of the Norman style. "The pointed arch shows the advent of the new style, but the ornaments of the old style continue to linger for a time. The first pointed style was not complete till these old ornaments were abandoned, and the more vigorous enrichments of the new style were introduced. The other constructive features of the Norman style gradually changed at the same time as the arch. The buttresses by degrees assumed the projecting form of the first pointed style, and the pinnacles and spires of the latter style were in course of time introduced."[15]

"The pointed Gothic style which had its origin in the north of France about the middle of the twelfth century appeared in England about 1170, but can scarcely be said to have reached Scotland till after the close of the twelfth century.... The pointed arch, for example, although generally adopted, did not entirely displace, as it had done in the south, the round form of the Normans, a feature which, especially in doorways, continued to be employed not only in the thirteenth century, but throughout the whole course of Gothic art in Scotland. In other respects the thirteenth century style in this country corresponds very closely with that of England. Its features are however, generally speaking, plainer and the structures are smaller."[16]

"This new departure sprung from the necessity which arose for the invention of an elastic system of vaulting which should admit of all the arches, forming vaults over spaces of any form or plan, being carried to the same height at the ridge. This requirement led to the introduction of the pointed arch in the vaulting, and from that departure it soon spread to all the other arched features of the architecture."[17] Architecture, which had hitherto been confined to the monasteries, was now undertaken by laymen, and while the great monasteries were either rebuilt or founded, the cathedrals mostly belong to this period. To these attention was chiefly devoted, and the number of parish churches constructed was comparatively small. This partly arose from the large number of parish churches built during the Norman period. In Scotland the cathedrals of St. Andrews, Dunblane, Glasgow (the choir and crypt), Elgin, Brechin, Dunkeld, Caithness, the choir of St. Magnus in Orkney and Galloway belong in whole or in part to this epoch.[18]

The period from 1214 to 1286 comprised the first pointed work in Scotland. The country was during the time prosperous, and is believed to have been more wealthy than at any time till after the Union with England.[19] The disputed succession after the death of Alexander III. gave Edward I. the opportunity of asserting his claims to the Scottish throne; war followed, and with it poverty and barbarism. "The first note of contest," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "banished every English priest, monk, and friar from the northern realm. Its termination was followed by the departure of those great Anglo-Norman lords—the flower of the Scottish baronage—who, holding vast possessions in both countries, had so long maintained among the rude Scottish hills the generous example of English wealth and refinement. Then it was that De la Zouche and De Quincy, Ferrars and Talbot, Beaumont and Umfraville, Percy and Wake, Moubray and Fitz-Warine, Balliol and Cumyn, Hastings and De Coursi, ceased to be significant names beyond the Tweed—either perishing in that terrible revolution or withdrawing to their English domains, there to perpetuate in scutcheon and pedigree the memory of their rightful claims to many of the fairest lordships of Albany, and to much of the reddest blood of the north."[20] This had a twofold consequence to architecture. Comparatively few buildings arose in the north, and these were in a smaller scale. And England now becoming an hereditary enemy, no longer supplied models for the churches north of the Tweed, which received the impress of France. In England the First Pointed was succeeded about 1272 by the Middle Pointed or Decorated, which swayed for about a century, being succeeded by the Third Pointed or Perpendicular, whose reign, beginning about 1377, ended with the Reformation.[21] The Decorated style did not reach Scotland till it had passed away in England, and the Scottish representatives of the style are scanty in number and late in date.[22] When the country revived after the long struggle with England, and building began towards the close of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century, few new works were undertaken, energy and resources were concentrated on the rebuilding or completion of the edifices that had been destroyed or left unfinished. This period, along with the Third Pointed in Scotland, is regarded as the work of native architects.[23]

The Middle Pointed passed by a gentle gradation into the Late Pointed style, and it is difficult to say when the one ceased and the other began. Yet there are some characteristics of the Third Pointed which are peculiar to it and render it a distinct epoch. The large churches are nearly all restorations, and no new churches of great size were undertaken. The Scottish churches are usually smaller in size than the English ones, and consist of single compartments without aisles. The east end frequently terminates with a three-sided apse—a feature which owes its origin to the Scottish alliance and intercourse with France. The leading and distinguishing feature is, however, the vaulting—the pointed barrel vault being almost universally employed. The windows of these churches are necessarily low, so as to allow the point of the arch-head to come beneath the spring of the main vault. The buttresses are generally somewhat stunted. The windows are almost always pointed, and contain simple tracery derived from the earlier styles. The doorways are generally of the old round-headed form, with late foliage and enrichments. Porches are occasionally introduced, and coats of arms are commonly carved on shields of the period, and are useful in determining the dates of portions of the buildings. Towers were generally erected or intended, and are somewhat stunted, finished with short spires, having small dormer windows inserted in them. Monuments are of frequent occurrence, and are frequently placed in arched and canopied recesses. Richly carved sacrament-houses are occasionally introduced, and perhaps some of the good carving may be due to the French masons who were numerous in Scotland during the reigns of James IV. and James V. The structures of the period were either parish or collegiate churches.[24]

The connection between St. Andrews and the neighbouring Pictish Church at Abernethy was, during the early period, very close. Dr. Skene thinks that the first church at Abernethy was built during the visit of St. Ninian to the Southern Picts, or the people living between the Forth and the territory south of the Grampians; it was endowed with lands by King Nectan in 460 A.D., and dedicated to St. Bride;[25] and between 584 and 596, during St. Columba's visit, and as a result of his mission, a church was rebuilt by Gartnaidh, King of the Picts.[26] St. Columba is distinctly stated to have preached among the tribes on the banks of the Tay,[27] and to have been assisted in this work by St. Cainnech, who founded a church in the east end of the province of Fife, near where the Eden pours its waters into the German Ocean, at a place called Rig-Monadh, or the royal mount, which afterwards became famous as the site on which the church of St. Andrews was founded, and as giving to that place the name of Kilrimont.[28] The earliest Celtic church at St. Andrews was probably, like that of Iona, constructed with wattles and turf and roofed with thatch. It was customary to have caves or places of retirement for the hermits; they were used, too, as oratories or places of penance, and one such there is at St. Andrews, known as St. Rule's cave:—

The connection of the place with St. Andrew has no historical basis till between 736 and 761, when a cathedral was dedicated to St. Andrew, and a portion of his relics was brought by Acca, Bishop of Northumbria, who was banished from that country in 732, and founded a church among the Picts. Dr. Skene points to the similarity of the events which succeeded one another in Northumbria and Southern Pictland in the eighth century. In the former country the Columban clergy were expelled, secular clergy were introduced, dedications were made to St. Peter, and afterwards Hexham was dedicated to St. Andrew and received the relics of the Apostle, brought there by one of its bishops; in the latter country, sixty years later, the Picts expelled the Columban monks, introduced the secular clergy, placed the kingdom under the patronage of St. Peter, and then receiving from some unknown quarter the relics of St. Andrew, founded the church in honour of that Apostle, who became the national patron-saint.[30] This "cathedral," dedicated to St. Andrew, was probably of stone, and was the church intervening between the early Celtic Church and that of St. Regulus. Angus, King of the Picts, endowed it with lands.

On the destruction of Iona by the Danes, the bishopric was first transferred to Dunkeld (850-864); then to Abernethy (865-908), when the Round Tower was probably built;[31] and in 908 it was transferred to St. Andrews, which retained it until the Reformation. St. Adrian was probably one of the three bishops of Alban[32] at Abernethy, as chapels and crosses in the district are all connected with his name; and Cellach appears as the first Bishop at St. Andrews, and he was succeeded by eight Culdee bishops, the last of whom was Fothad, who officiated at the marriage of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. The next three bishops all died before consecration, and for about sixteen years after the death of Malcolm the bishopric would appear to have been vacant. Turgot, Queen Margaret's friend and confessor, was the thirteenth bishop, and ruled from 1107-1115—the first bishop not of native birth.

Prior to 1107 the Culdee community had split up into two sections, dividing the spiritualities and temporalities between them, and Bishop Robert (1121-1159), with the object of superseding the Culdees, founded in 1144 a priory for the regular monks of St. Augustine, granting to them the Hospital of St. Andrews, with portions of the altarage. In the same year King David granted a charter to the prior and canons of St. Andrews, in which he provided that they shall receive the Keledei of Kilrimont into the canonry, with all their possessions and revenues, if they were willing to become canons-regular; but, if they refused, those who are now alive are to retain the property during their lives, and, after their death, as many canons-regular are to be instituted in the church of St. Andrews as there are now Keledei, and all their possessions are to be appropriated to the use of the canons. There were thus two rival ecclesiastical bodies in St. Andrews—the old corporation of secular priests and the new order of Austin-canons; the former enjoyed the greater part of the old endowments, and the latter recovered a considerable portion of the secularised property that had passed into lay hands. Popes, bishops, and kings endeavoured to end this rivalry, but their efforts were not crowned with success; although influence was on the side of the canons-regular, the Keledei clung to their prescriptive right to take part in the election of a bishop down to 1273, when they were excluded by protest; in 1332 they were absolutely excluded, and the formula of their exclusion from taking part in the election was repeated;[33] we hear of them afterwards not as Keledei, but as "the provostry of the Church of St. Mary of the city of St. Andrews," of "the Church of the Blessed Mary of the Rock," and of "the provostry of Kirkheugh"—the society consisting of a provost and ten prebendaries.[34]

In the reign of Malcolm IV. the bishopric of St. Andrews included the counties of Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, the three Lothians, Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, parts of Perthshire, Forfarshire, and Kincardineshire; and, although the see was lessened by the creation of new bishoprics, the importance of St. Andrews was always great, for at the Reformation the primate's ecclesiastical jurisdiction included 2 archdeaconries, 9 rural deaneries, the patronage of 131 benefices, the administration of 245 parishes. In 1471 or 1472 the see was erected into an archbishopric by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. and at this time the Archbishop of York surrendered his claim to have the Bishop of St. Andrews as his suffragan—a claim repeatedly made since the time of Turgot and as frequently resented. The office of bishop or archbishop involved great spiritual and temporal power; the primates were lords of regality and ultimate heirs of all confiscated property within their domains; they levied customs and at times had the power of coining money; they presided at synods, controlled the appointment of abbots and priors, were included with the King in the oath of allegiance, and took precedence next to the royal family, and before all the Scottish nobility. There were in all thirty-one bishops and six archbishops, who held the see in succession from 908 to 1560, and among the more famous of them may be mentioned Turgot, the friend and biographer of Queen Margaret (1107-1115); Robert, prior of Scone, who founded the Priory of St. Andrews, received the gift of the Culdee Monastery of Lochleven, and built the church and tower of St. Rule (1124-1158); Arnold, Abbot of Kelso, who started the building of the great cathedral (1158-1159); William Wishart of Pitarrow, who was lord-chancellor and bishop (1273-1279), and rebuilt, between 1272 and 1279, the west front, which was blown down by a tempest of wind; William Lamberton (1298-1328), who consecrated the cathedral in 1318, in the presence of King Robert the Bruce; Henry Wardlaw (1404-1440), who founded in 1411 the University of St. Andrews; James Kennedy (1440-1466)—the greatest of all the bishops—who founded St. Salvador's College; James Stewart (1497-1503), second son of James III., Duke of Ross and Marquis of Ormond, who was made primate at twenty-one; Alexander Stewart (1506-1513), who was the natural son of James IV., and fell with his father at Flodden; James Beaton (1522-1539), who founded St. Mary's College and burnt Patrick Hamilton; David Beaton, nephew of James Beaton (1539-1546), who burnt Wishart and was murdered; John Hamilton (1549-1571), who was the author of the Catechism of 1552.[35]

As to the buildings, St. Regulus' or St. Rule's, standing in the ancient churchyard at a distance of about 120 feet south-east of the east end of the Cathedral of St. Andrews, was unquestionably the earlier Cathedral Church, and occupies probably the site of the earlier Celtic church.

Bishop Robert (1121-1159) introduced the canons-regular of St. Augustine in 1144, and these gradually absorbed many of the Culdees into their community. It was during this time also that St. Rule's was built. Dr. Joseph Robertson says of it:—"The little Romanesque church and square tower at St. Andrews, which bear the name of St. Rule, have, so far as we know, no prototype in the south.... No one acquainted with the progress of architecture will have much difficulty in identifying the building with the small 'basilica' reared by Bishop Robert, an English canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, between the years 1127 and 1144."[36] The Pictish Chronicle states that Robert was elected Bishop in the reign of Alexander I., but was not consecrated till the reign of David I. in 1138; that, after his consecration by Thurstan, Archbishop of York, he expended on this work one-seventh of the altar dues which fell to him, reserving them for his own use. "But inasmuch as the outlay was small, the building made correspondingly small progress, until, by the Divine favour, and the influence of the King, offerings flowed in, and the work went on apace. The basilica was thus founded and in great part constructed."[37]

What now remains of this building consists of a square tower, 112 feet high, and an oblong chamber. Discussion has arisen as to whether there ever was a nave, and in favour of the positive view it is urged that marks of three successive roofs may be seen on the tower-wall, and that the seals of the church, dated 1204 and 1214, show a nave and chancel. Eminent authorities take this view. Sir Gilbert Scott thinks that the large size of the western arch, and the mark of the roof on the tower, suggest a nave;[38] while later authorities, recalling that this church was once a cathedral, as well as the church of a monastery, and served the purpose of a parish church, hold it as more than probable that it must have been a larger building than the simple oblong chamber to the east of the tower which now survives.[39]

The architecture corresponds with the period of Bishop Robert,[40] so that there is more than probability in averring that St. Rule's was the cathedral built by this bishop, and took the place of an earlier Celtic church, founded by Bishop Acca. The square tower of St. Regulus was probably designed to fulfil the same purposes as the Round Towers of Abernethy and Brechin: (1) to serve as a belfry; (2) to be a keep or place of strength in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics could retire for security in case of sudden predatory attack; (3) when occasion required, to be a beacon or watch-tower.[41]

Besides the Church of St. Regulus, there are still to be seen the ruins of the great Cathedral of St. Andrews, which consisted of a short aisleless presbytery, and choir of five bays with side aisles, with an eastern chapel in each aisle; north and south transepts, each of three bays with eastern aisles; nave of twelve bays with north and south aisles, and a large central tower over the crossing. The interior dimensions were—total length, 355 feet; width of nave, 63 feet; length of transepts, 167 feet 6 inches; width, 43 feet 2 inches. The older parts of the Cathedral exhibit traces of the transition from the Norman architecture, but the principal parts of the structure have been carried out in the First Pointed style.[42]

The Cathedral Church was also the Conventual Church of the Austin-canons, and the Bishop was ex officio prior of the monastery. Of the conventual buildings erected by Bishop Robert nothing remains.

The Cathedral was erected from east to west in about 115 years.[43] The work was commenced by Bishop Arnold in 1161, was continued by eleven successive bishops, and was consecrated by Bishop Lamberton in 1318. During its progress in 1276, the eastern end was greatly injured by a violent tempest, and in 1378 the Cathedral suffered from fire, which according to Wyntoun destroyed the south half of the nave from the west end, and eastward to and including the ninth pillar. The restoration was begun at once by Bishop Landel (1341-1385), and completed in the time of Bishop Wardlaw (1404-1440), who in 1430 improved the interior by the introduction of fine pavements in the choir, transept, and nave, and by filling the nave with stained glass and building a large window in the eastern gable. The south wall of the nave extends considerably westwards beyond the present west end, and contains the remains of a vaulting shaft, leading to the inference that the Cathedral was originally of greater length than it now is by at least 34 feet. The north wall of nave also projects westwards about 7 feet. There is a difficulty in connection with the west front, and it is regarded by competent authorities that this wall was not part of a western porch, but "indicates that there has been a change in the design, and that the original intention of having a wide porch extending along the whole of the west end has been departed from after the first story was built up to the level of the above string course, all above that point being of later design and execution."[44]

The early chapter-house was 26 feet square, and was vaulted with four central pillars. It opened to the cloisters, and the doorway is pronounced to be in the purest style of early pointed architecture.[45] Bishop Lamberton (1298-1328) erected a new chapter-house, and the old one was made a vestibule to the new. South of the early chapter-house was probably the fratery; on the upper floor of this building and the chapter-house was the dormitory—a wheel-stair leading to it from the south transept. On the west side of the cloister was the sub-prior's house, known also as Senzie House; south-east of the fratery is the prior's house or Hospitium Vetus, which was sometimes the residence of the bishop. West of the cathedral are the remains of the entrance gateway, called the "Pends," and in continuation of the "Pends" was the enclosing wall of the priory grounds, containing sixteen towers. The Guest-House was within the precinct of St. Leonard's College, and was built about the middle of the thirteenth century.[46] Within the precincts of the Priory-grounds were the various offices connected with the great ecclesiastical establishment.

The conventual and other buildings attached to the Cathedral have been recently excavated at the expense of the late Marquis of Bute, and considerable remains of the foundations disclosed to view. The ruins of the castle stand on a rocky promontory, overhanging the sea, N.N.W. of the Cathedral; and between the Cathedral-wall on the N.E. and the sea are the foundations of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.

In 1559 the Cathedral was attacked by the mob and greatly destroyed. Time and weather helped to complete the work of destruction; the Protestant Archbishop Spottiswoode in 1635 strove to make provision for its restoration, but nothing appears to have been done to arrest the work of destruction. The Barons of Exchequer in 1826 took possession of the ruins, had the rubbish cleared away, and what remained of the great building strengthened. The pier-bases have been made visible, and the outline of the building marked on the turf. St. Andrews has been associated with most of the stirring events in Scottish Church history, and will always possess its two great voices of the Cathedral and the Sea.

Towards the end of the fourth century, St. Ninian, a Christian missionary trained at Rome in the doctrine and discipline of the Western Church, is said to have established a religious cell on the banks of the Molendinar. How long he remained there is uncertain, but his labours are chiefly centred around the Candida Casa at Whithorn and among the southern Picts, whose district, according to Bede, he evangelised. With St. Ninian's departure, the district around the Molendinar relapsed into barbarism, and the only remaining monument of his work was a cemetery which he was reputed to have consecrated. The next historical reference to Glasgow is in connection with St. Kentigern, or, as he was popularly known, St. Mungo, about the middle of the sixth century. He was of royal descent, and was born in 518 or 527. His biographer, Joceline, states that he was adopted and educated by St. Servanus or St. Serf, who lived at Culross, and by him was named "Munghu," i.e. dearest friend. But this must be a mistake, for Servanus lived two centuries after Kentigern's time;[47] if it is correct, there must have been an earlier and a later St. Serf. On attaining his twenty-fifth year, according to Joceline, he proceeded to Carnock, where lived a holy man named Fergus. After he reached the abode of Fergus, the good man said his "nunc dimittis" and died; and Kentigern, placing his body on a wain drawn by two bulls, took his departure, praying to be guided to the place which might be appointed for burial. The place where the wain stopped was Cathures, afterwards called Glasgow, where St. Ninian had consecrated a cemetery, and here Fergus was buried. Such is Joceline's account of Kentigern's first connection with Glasgow. The king and people of the district pressed him to remain as their bishop, and he consented, establishing his see at Cathures and founding a lay society of the servants of God, and fixing his own abode on the banks of the Molendinar. After some years of austerity and beneficence there, he was driven from his work by the persecutions of an apostate prince and settled in the vale of Clwyd, North Wales, where he founded a monastery. After a time he returned to Glasgow, at the solicitation of the King of Cumbria, and appointed St. Asaph as his successor in Wales. In a martyrology ascribed to the year 875 Kentigern appears as "bishop of Glasgow and confessor."[48] While resident at Glasgow, St. Kentigern was visited by St. Columba, his distinguished contemporary and the apostle of the Picts, who presented him with a crozier, which, Fordun says, was afterwards preserved in St. Wilfrid's Church at Ripon. Bishop Forbes describes the meeting of the two great men "as one of those incidents which we wish to be true, and which we have no certainty for believing not to be so."[49] St. Kentigern died in 603 or 614, and was buried in Glasgow, which is still known as the city of St. Mungo—Mungo being his name of honour or affection. Everything connected with St. Mungo's early church, of wood and wattles or of stone, on the banks of the Molendinar, is shrouded in the mists of antiquity until the first quarter of the twelfth century, when David, Prince and Earl of Cumbria, the youngest son of Queen Margaret, took measures to reconstruct the see and recover its property. Of Glasgow during the Culdee period nothing can be definitely known. The result of Prince David's inquest is contained in the Register of the Bishopric,[50] and it sets forth that Prince David, from love to God and by the exhortation of the Bishop, having caused inquiry to be made concerning the lands belonging to the church in Cumbria, had ascertained that they belonged to the church of Glasgow, and restored them. These lands extended from the Clyde on the north to the Solway and English March on the south, from the western boundary of Lothian on the east to the river Urr on the west, including Teviotdale, and comprehended what afterwards formed the site of the city of Glasgow.[51] The building of the cathedral would appear to have been begun before David succeeded to the throne in 1124, and he appointed his tutor John (called Achaius) to the bishopric. In 1136 the church, which was probably chiefly of wood, was dedicated, and King David endowed it further with lands, tithes, and churches. The church of Achaius was destroyed by fire, but through the exertions of Bishop Joceline a society was founded to collect funds for its restoration, and the work was sufficiently advanced for its consecration on 6th July 1197.[52] Although built at different dates, the building has a very homogeneous appearance, and might be mistaken for a building of one period. Under competent guidance,[53] we now propose to give a short sketch of the cathedral itself.

The first attempt to erect a cathedral was made by Bishop Achaius, whose episcopate extended from 1115 to 1147, and Mr. Honeyman regards the portion of the lower church at the south-west angle as the most ancient part of the structure. He holds that the church built by Achaius was restored by Bishop Joceline (1175-1199) at the end of the twelfth century, and that the above portion formed a chapel, and was part of that restoration. The strongest argument is its nearness to the tomb of the patron saint. If we assume that the old choir terminated in a semicircular apse, projecting eastward beyond the aisles, we shall find that the tomb would be enclosed in such a position as to admit of the high altar being placed immediately over it. Assuming that the choir was not apsidal but square, we get the same result. The probability is that the end of the church erected or altered by Joceline was square, and that it projected two bays beyond the aisles, as at St. Andrews and other churches of the same period.[54] The crypt, or, strictly speaking, "lower church," was evidently suggested by the sloping eastward character of the site, which would have placed St. Mungo's tomb at a depth below the level on which a large church could possibly be built; while Achaius, from his long residence in Italy, would be led to imitate some notable Italian examples.[55] Some similarities between Glasgow and Jedburgh (which was in the diocese of Glasgow) have suggested that there was in the olden times such a servant of the church as a diocesean architect.[56] "One thing is abundantly clear," says Mr. Honeyman, "to any one who intelligently studies the building, namely, that the whole design was carefully thought out and settled before a stone was laid. It is a skilful and homogeneous design, which could only be produced by a man of exceptional ability and great experience. Nothing has been left to chance, or to the sweet will of the co-operating craftsman, but the one master-mind has dictated every moulding and every combination, and has left the impress of his genius upon it all. The mark of the master may be discerned by the practised eye in every feature of the magnificent edifice; the marks of the craftsmen may be seen on the work they were told to do, and did so well."[57] To Bishop Joceline is due the credit of having formed a society to collect funds for the restoration of Bishop John's church, which was burnt by fire,[58] and he appears to have rebuilt the choir, and also to have designed, if he did not also partly build, the nave.[59] This part of his work was sufficiently advanced for consecration on 6th July 1197.[60] The work was probably continued by his successors, but the next great benefactor of the cathedral was Bishop William de Bondington (1233-1258), who perfected Joceline's work, and built both choir and lower church or "crypt," as they now are.[61] According to Mr. Honeyman, the foundations of the nave were laid and part of the walls was carried up before the building of the choir was begun.[62] Most of the nave appears, from its architecture, to have been erected at the end of the thirteenth, or the beginning of the fourteenth century, and is pronounced to form "one of the finest examples of the late First Pointed or Early Decorated style in Scotland."[63] "The spacing (of the piers) is that of the twelfth century (considerably less than that of the choir), while the height and the treatment, in other respects, is that of the latter portion of the thirteenth."[64]

Bishop Wishart during the war of Independence supported the Scottish party; he obtained permission from Edward I. to cut timber in Luss forest for erecting the spire of the cathedral, and it was one of the causes of accusation against him, which led to his imprisonment in England, that he had used the said timber not for building the spire but for making engines of war wherewith to attack Edward's army. In 1400 the wooden spire of the cathedral was destroyed by lightning, but a new tower of masonry was erected over the crossing by Bishop Lauder (1408-1425), who carried the work as high as the main parapet. "This bishop appears also to have begun the completion of the chapter-house, a detached structure lying to the north-east of the choir. The walls of this building were partly erected about the time of the construction of the choir, but were afterwards raised to two storeys in height, and vaulted by Bishop Cameron."[65] This latter prelate (1426-1446) was known as "the Magnificent," from the splendour of his retinue and court. He erected the stone spire above the tower of Bishop Lauder, and also completed the chapter-house wing containing the sacristy on the upper floor, and the chapter-house on the ground floor. His arms are still to be seen on the portions of the structure erected by him. The beautiful rood-screen was also probably constructed by him.[66] Bishop Cameron also increased the number of prebendaries from seven to thirty-two, and ordained that they should all have manses and reside near the cathedral. In his day the episcopal court was said to rival that of the King, and he built the great tower of the castle or episcopal palace, which was probably erected by Bishop Bondington and stood with the garden in the open space between the cathedral and the present Castle Street, now called Infirmary Square. The Bishop's palace was a Scottish baronial structure, and had an elaborate turreted gateway or port at the south-east angle of the wall nearly opposite the gate that now leads to the cathedral yard.[67] Bishop William Turnbull, who succeeded Bishop Cameron, held office from 1448 to 1454. He did not add much to the cathedral, but his memory ought to be gratefully remembered, for in response to his representation and that of the King, Pope Nicholas V. issued his bull, on 7th January 1450-1451, by which he erected the University, ordaining that it should flourish in all time to come, as well in theology and canon and civil law as in the arts and every lawful faculty, and that the doctors, masters, readers, and students might there enjoy all the liberties, honours, exemptions, and immunities granted by the Apostolic see to the doctors, masters, and students in the University of Bologna. He gave the power to confer degrees and make licentiates—an important recognition in those days, for it brought the influence of the Church on the side of schools of learning, and gave universal European validity to the degrees so conferred.[68] The Bishop of Glasgow was the patron and head of the University of Glasgow, which was thus founded forty years after that of St. Andrews, and forty years before that of Aberdeen. The next prelate, Bishop Andrew Muirhead (1455-1473) took an important part in the State affairs of the period, and as far as his work in the cathedral is concerned, built the hall of the choral vicars. It is situated between the two buttresses at the west end of the north aisle of the choir, and is a low building now roofed with flags. It was called the "aula vicariorum chori," and was built as an accommodation for the vicars choral, whose duties were to serve and sing in the choir. They were formed into a college by Bishop Muirhead, were originally twelve in number, but were afterwards increased to eighteen, and were aided by boy choristers. Archbishop Eyre thinks that this building on the north side of the cathedral was the early song-school of the church, which passed into the hands of the college of vicars choral, and was a hall for their business meetings and musical practice, the second storey being probably their reading-room, or the sleeping-place of the sacristan, who was required to sleep in the church.[69]

Robert Blacader (1484-1508) was high in favour with King James IV., and was one of the embassy sent to England to arrange the marriage of the Scottish monarch with the daughter of Henry VII. James had previously sought consolation under the Bishop's care, enrolled himself as a prebendary in the cathedral, and in person attended as a member of the cathedral-chapter. The King was always favourable to Glasgow, and did not desire the see to be subordinate to that of St. Andrews. He urged upon the Pope that the pallium should be granted to the Bishop of Glasgow, whose cathedral, he urged, "surpasses the other cathedral churches of my realm by its structure, its learned men, its foundation, its ornaments, and other very noble prerogatives." A bull was granted in 1491-1492 by Pope Innocent VIII. in which he declared the see to be metropolitan, and appointed the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway, and Argyll to be its suffragans.[70] Blacader was the first Archbishop of Glasgow, and beautified his cathedral by building or adorning the fine rood-screen which separates the nave from the choir[71] by founding altarages and erecting two altars in front of the rood-screen, on both of which his arms and initials are carved.[72] He built also the decorated flights of steps from the aisles of the nave to the choir, and partly erected the building in continuation of the south transept, called Blacader's aisle, but it was never carried higher than the ground storey or crypt.[73] It is also known as Fergus's aisle.[74] Archbishop Blacader was the last to add to the cathedral, and there is reason to believe that his addition occupies the site of the cemetery consecrated by St. Ninian, and thus the earliest consecration and the latest building effort are identified with the same spot.[75]

Glasgow, like Elgin, Aberdeen, and Brechin, possessed originally two western towers, but at Glasgow, grievously and unfortunately, the south-west tower was removed in 1845, and the north-west one in 1848 by the Restoration Committee. They were venerable in their antiquity, and were probably built after the completion of the nave and aisles, if not at the same time. Evidence showed "that probably the north-west tower was part of the original design, or if not, that its erection was resolved on before the north aisle was completed, and it was built before the west window of the north aisle required to be glazed. The south-west tower was probably of the same date."[76] The latter was best known as the consistory house, and was the place where the bishops held their ecclesiastical courts and the diocesan records were kept. The only comfort amid the demolition of the towers is that the proposed new ones were not erected in their place; and better counsel ought to have prevailed, since Mr. Billings described the removal as an act of barbarism. "All who now see the grand old building, shorn of its cathedral features, and made like a large parish church, mock and laugh at the action of the local committee, saying, "These men had two towers, and they went and pulled them both down.""[77]

The higher church had twenty-four altars or chapels;[78] the lower church, commonly but incorrectly called the crypt, had six altars;[79] the high altar occupied the usual place, was dedicated to St. Kentigern, had a wooden canopy or tabernacle work over it, and in front of it, on the right-hand side, was the bishop's throne.[80] When it is recalled that the cathedral possessed these thirty altars or chapels (most of them beautiful works of art), thirty-two canons, college of choral vicars, with other assistants, one can well understand the great, almost dangerous power which the "Spiritual Dukedom" possessed, and the dread, felt even by its own chapter, when it was first proposed to make the bishopric into an archbishopric, for they regarded the movement as conferring too much power on the bishop.[81] A conception of the archbishop's power may be formed by recalling that the archdeaconry of Glasgow contained the following deaneries—Nycht, Nith, or Dumfries, with 31 parishes, besides 2 in Annandale and 8 in Galloway; Annandale, 28 parishes, besides 8 in Eskdale; Kyle, 17 parishes; Cunningham, 15; Carrick, 9; Lennox, 17; Rutherglen, 34; Lanark or Clydesdale, 25; Peebles or Stobo, 19; the archdeaconry of Teviotdale, 36 parishes.[82] Besides the prelates already mentioned there were, as the direct successors of Blacader, James Beaton (1508-1522), afterwards Archbishop of St. Andrews; Gavin Dunbar (1524-1547); James Beaton, the last Roman Catholic archbishop, who at the Reformation retired to France with the writs of the see, which were deposited, by his directions, partly in the archives of the Scots College, and partly in the Chartreuse of Paris, and have been since published by the Maitland Club.[83] Among the Protestant archbishops space will only permit us recording the names of John Spottiswood (1612-1615) and Robert Leighton (1671-1674).[84]

Glasgow has passed through the various stages of burgh, burgh of barony, burgh of regality, city, royal burgh, and county of a city.[85] But it grew under the protection of the Church, for as David I. granted to Bishop John of St. Andrews the site of the burgh of that name, so William the Lion granted to Bishop Joceline of Glasgow the right to have a burgh in Glasgow, with all the freedoms and customs which any royal burgh in Scotland possessed.[86] Glasgow thus owed its existence to the Church, under whose fostering care it developed for centuries, and the ruling ecclesiastic elected the provost, magistrates, and councillors. Its motto still is "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Word," and its seal emblems have been thus interpreted: "The employment of these four emblems (fish, bird, tree, bell) in connection with St. Kentigern was meant to convey that he was sent as a fisher of men, that his work from small beginnings grew to very large dimensions, 'like to a grain of mustard-seed, ... which is the least indeed of all seeds, but when it is grown up ... becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof'; and that his name and fame became so great that he was heard of everywhere. 'Verily their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the whole world.'"[87]

The most beautiful features of the exterior are pronounced to be the doorways, especially those of the lower church,[88] the vaulting of which was said by Sir Gilbert Scott to contain nowhere two compartments in juxtaposition which are alike.[89] It has been suggested that the motive of the architect was to reproduce, as nearly as circumstances permitted, the plan of Solomon's Temple, and the arrangement corresponds exactly.[90] The beauty of the lower church is much obscured by the dark stained glass in the windows, and it is matter for regret that this masterpiece of design and wonderful variety of effect[91] are not more visible.

"The plan of the cathedral," says Mr. Honeyman, "is remarkably compact, and the exterior is symmetrical and harmonious. The best points of view are from the north-east and the south-east. From either of these points the full height of the structure is seen, and that is sufficiently great to give the building a dignified and impressive effect, the height from the ground-level to the apex of the choir gable being 115 feet. The well-proportioned short transept breaks the monotony of the long clerestory, without unduly hiding it, as transepts with more projections do. The gable of the choir, with its four lancets, rises picturesquely over the double eastern aisles, while the sombre keep-like mass of the chapter-house adds a romantic element to the effect of the whole composition, which culminates gracefully in the lofty spire. The pervading characteristic is simplicity, and the effect solemnising. Sir Walter Scott, with his usual quick perception of character in buildings, as well as in man, puts an admirable reference to these salient points into the mouth of Andrew Fairservice, who exclaims, 'Ah! it's a brave kirk; nane o' yer whigmaleeries an' curliwurlies, an' open-steek hems about it.' It may, indeed, be called severe, but not tame."[92] Internally the cathedral has a nave of eight bays, with side aisles; transepts, not projecting beyond the aisles; a choir of five bays, with side aisles and an aisle at the east end, with chapels beyond it. At the north-east corner of the choir is the sacristy or vestiarium; below it is the chapter-house, with an entrance from the lower church; on the south side of the church, as a continuation of the transept, is another low church or crypt, called "Blacader's Aisle"; on the north side are the foundations of a large chapel. Over the crossing rise the tower and spire, 217 feet high. The church within is 283 feet long by 61 feet broad.[93]

The history of the cathedral is closely connected with many of the stirring events in Scottish history. King Edward prostrated himself before its altar; Robert the Bruce within it received absolution, "while the Red Cumyn's blood was scarce yet dry upon his dagger"; and within its walls was held the Glasgow Assembly of 1638, when the Episcopate was abolished, and the Presbyterian government was restored. Robert Leighton has preached within its choir, in his low, sweet voice, and with those angelic strains of eloquence and devotion which lingered in the memory of his hearers to their dying day.

Dunkeld is situated amid lovely scenery, and was from the earliest times a religious centre. The name means fort of the Culdees. After the destruction of Iona by the Norsemen in the beginning of the ninth century, Dunkeld became the seat of the Columban authority in Scotland, and part of the relics of St. Columba were brought here by King Kenneth Macalpine in 850. Its abbot was named Bishop of Fortreum, but in 865 the primacy was transferred to Abernethy, and thence to St. Andrews in 908. One of the lay abbots at Dunkeld married a daughter of Malcolm II., and through the influence of their descendants the religious order in Scotland was changed. Emerging as great secular chiefs, these lay abbots weakened, if they did not destroy, the ecclesiastical foundation. The bishopric was revived by Alexander I. in 1107, and prior to the thirteenth century was not confined to Atholl, but extended to the western sea, and included the districts stretching along its shores from the Firth of Clyde to Lochbroom, and forming the province of Argyll.[94] The western part was separated about 1200, and formed into a new bishopric, termed first that of Argyll, and afterward that of Lismore.[95] Cormac, the Culdee abbot, was the first bishop under the new order, and among his successors may be mentioned Bishop Sinclair (1312-1338), the friend of Bruce, and a "man of courage, the champion of the Church, and the brave defender of the constitution of the kingdom";[96] Bishop Lauder (1452-1476), who filled the see "with unfading honour,"[97] and built a bridge across the Tay, as well as adorned the cathedral; George Brown (1485-1514), who divided the see into four deaneries, procured Gaelic preachers,[98] promoted clerical efficiency, enlarged the palace at Dunkeld, and built the castle of Cluny;[99] Gavin Douglas (1516-1522), "a noble, learned, worthy bishop,"[100] who translated the Æneid into Scots verse, and thus

The diocese had four deaneries: (1) Atholl and Drumalbane, with 47 parishes; (2) Angus, with 5; (3) Fife, Fotherick, and Stratherne, with 7; (4) South Forth, with 7.[101]

Canon Myln's quaint Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld professes to give an account of the building of the cathedral, and it appears that the existing structure is chiefly of the fifteenth century.[102] It consists of an aisleless choir, a nave with two aisles, a north-west tower, and a chapter-house to the north of the choir. It appears that the different parts of the structure were begun at the dates given by Abbot Myln, but were not completed until some time afterwards.[103] All are Third Pointed in style except the choir, which retains some scanty portions of First Pointed work. The following are given as the approximate dates of the original construction: choir (1318-1400); nave (1406-1465); chapter-house (1457-1465); tower (1469-1501).

The episcopal palace was a little south-west of the cathedral, which contained many valuable ornaments and vessels, a painted reredos, and in its great tower two large bells, named St. George and St. Colm (Columba). At the Reformation in 1560, the cathedral suffered the common fate of most of such structures, although Argyll and Ruthven, in requiring the lairds of Airntully and Kinvaid "to purge the kirk of all kinds of monuments of idolatry," requested them also "to tak good heid that neither the desks, windocks, nor doors be onyways hurt or broken, either glassin work or iron work." The closing injunction was not observed, and the roofs were also demolished. In 1600 the choir was re-roofed, and is the present parish church. But the ruins still speak of the former grandeur of this old church-town, and perhaps a like day may yet dawn for Dunkeld, as has been seen at Dunblane.

The earliest ecclesiastical history of Aberdeen is connected with St. Machar (a disciple of St. Columba), who preached the Gospel among the Northern Picts and settled on the banks of the Don, founding there both a Christian colony and a church, which, from its situation, was called the Church of Aberdon. Another band of Columban missionaries established themselves in the sequestered vale of the Fiddich, at Morthlac, and in the beginning of the twelfth century the "Monastery of Morthlach" possessed five dependent churches.[104] The tradition that there was a bishopric at Murthlack or Morthlach is not founded on reliable evidence, and is discredited by Dr. Cosmo Innes[105] and Dr. Skene.[106] What David I. did was to graft on the Culdee monastery of St. Machar the chapter of a new diocese, and in this manner the bishopric was founded before 1150, and endowed with old Culdee possessions, among others with the "Monastery of Morthlach" and its five churches.[107] The third bishop, Matthew de Kininmond, began to build a cathedral between 1183 and 1199 to supersede the primitive church then existing,[108] "which (new building), because it was not glorious enough, Bishop Cheyne threw down."[109] The second edifice was begun by Bishop Cheyne about 1282, and the work was interrupted by the Scottish war with Edward I. during the bishop's absence in temporary banishment. "The king (Bruce) seeing the new cathedral he had begun, made the church to be built with the revenues of the bishopric."[110] The cathedral thus built was thrown down in turn by Bishop Alexander Kininmond, who succeeded in 1355 and began the present cathedral about 1366. "Of his operations there remain two large piers for the support of the central tower, which form the earliest portion of the structure of St. Machar's now remaining."[111] The dean and chapter (of which Barbour, the father of Scottish poetry, was a member) taxed themselves for the fabric in sixty pounds annually for ten years; the bishop surrendered revenues worth about twice that sum; the Pope in 1380 made a grant of indulgences to all who should help the work. All these appliances but availed to raise the foundations of the nave a few feet above ground.[112] Forty years elapsed before Bishop Leighton (1422-1440) completed the wall of the nave, founded the northern transept, and reared the two western towers.[113] Bishop Lindsay (1441-1459) paved and roofed the cathedral; it was glazed by Bishop Spens (1459-1480). Bishop Elphinstone (1487-1514), who founded King's College in 1500, and who was "the most distinguished of all who ever filled the episcopal chair," ... and possessed "manners and temperance in his own person, befitting the primitive ages of Christianity,"[114] adorned the cathedral. He built the great central tower and wooden spire, provided the great bells, and covered the roofs of nave, aisles, and transept with lead.[115] This central tower was four storey high, and square, and had two battlements and fourteen bells; it was a noted landmark to mariners at sea.[116] Bishop Gavin Dunbar (1519-1531) built the southern transept, added spires to Leighton's towers, and constructed at his own "pains and expenses" the flat ceiling of oak, which still remains with the heraldries of the Pope, the Emperor, St. Margaret, the kings and princes of Christendom, the bishops and the earls of Scotland. Bishop Elphinstone began to rebuild the choir, but it never seems to have been finished. Alluding to 1560, Orme says, "The glorious structure of said cathedral church, being near nine score years in building, did not remain twenty entire, when it was almost ruined by a crew of sacrilegious church robbers."[117] The ruins of the choir have been entirely removed; of the transepts only the foundations now remain, the architecture being destroyed by the fall of the central tower in 1688. The nave is nearly perfect, and is used as the parish church. The west front, except the spires, is entirely built with granite, and is regarded as one of the most impressive and imposing structures in Scotland,[118] and as stately in the severe symmetry of its simple design.[119] There is a remarkable entrance doorway, the jambs being mere rounds and hollows, with a flat stone laid along at the springing of the round arch. Above the doorway are seven lofty narrow windows, crowned each with a round and cusped arch, and forming a striking feature of the whole. The clerestory windows are narrow and round arched, without any moulding, while the aisle windows are filled with the simplest tracery. East of the cathedral was the bishop's palace (1470), "a large and fair court, having a high tower at each of its four corners";[120] to the south stood the deanery. Aberdeen was created a city or bishop's see by King David,[121] and the diocese contained five deaneries, with 94 parishes.

Previously to Elgin, the see was successively at Birnay, Kinnedor, and Spyny, but without a proper cathedral.[122] Alexander I., shortly after his accession in 1107, founded the bishopric, but it was not till the time of Bricius, the sixth Bishop of Moray, who filled that position from 1203 to 1222, that the bishops had any fixed residence in the diocese.[123] When Bricius became bishop in 1203, he fixed his cathedral at Spyny, founded a chapter of eight secular canons, and gave to his church a constitution founded on the usage of Lincoln, which he ascertained by a mission to England.[124] Andrew de Moravia succeeded him in 1222, and in his time (1224) the transference of the episcopal see and the cathedral of the diocese to Elgin was effected, which had probably been designed and solicited by his predecessor.[125] This bishop probably built the cathedral church, munificently endowed it, increased the number of prebends to twenty-three, of which he held one, and sat as a canon in the chapter.[126] The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was founded in 1224, on the site of an older church with the same dedication, and the work proceeded under Bishop Andrew's supervision during the eighteen remaining years of his life.[127] The Register of the see shows us "Master Gregory the mason and Richard the glazier" at work in autumn 1237.[128] Of the building itself probably now little is left, for it is recorded by Fordun under the year 1270 that the Cathedral of Elgin and the houses of the canons were burnt, but whether by accident or design he does not add. The ruins now standing probably date from a subsequent period, when there was raised the stately building, of which Bishop Alexander Bur wrote to the king that it was "the pride of the land, the glory of the realm, the delight of wayfarers and strangers, a praise and boast among foreign nations, lofty in its towers without, splendid in its appointments within, its countless jewels and rich vestments, and the multitude of its priests, serving God in righteousness."[129] This description is taken from a letter addressed to King Robert III., complaining that on the feast of St. Botolph, in 1390, the king's own brother, the Earl of Buchan, popularly known as the "Wolf of Badenoch," had descended from the hills with a band of wild Scots, and burned a considerable part of the town of Elgin, St. Giles Church, the Maison Dieu, the manses of the clergy, and the cathedral itself. The bishop appealed for aid and reparation, and the "Wolf of Badenoch" was compelled to yield, but, on condition that he should make satisfaction to the bishop and church of Moray and obtain absolution from the Pope, he was absolved by the Bishop of St. Andrews in the Blackfriars Church at Perth. Notwithstanding his age and feebleness, Bishop Bur energetically pressed on the restoration of the cathedral, and it was continued by Bishops Spynie (1397-1406) and Innes (1406-1421), and even then it was not completed. It thus occupied many years, even though it was promoted by grants of the royal favour, by a third part of the whole revenues of the see being devoted to it for a time, and by yearly subsidies being levied on every benefice in a diocese stretching "from the Ness to the Deveron, from the sea to the passes of Lochaber and the central mountains that divide Badenoch and Athol."[130] Early in the sixteenth century the central tower showed signs of weakness, and had to be rebuilt in 1538. It fell in 1711, destroying the nave and transepts.[131]

The Cathedral of Elgin was complete in all arrangements, and had a large nave with double aisles, an extended choir and presbytery, north and south transepts, a lady chapel, and a detached octagonal chapter-house. It had a great tower and spire over the crossing, two beautiful turrets at the east end, and two noble towers at the west end. Most of the existing portions are pronounced to belong to the period when Scottish architecture was at its best.[132] The existing ruins testify to the former splendour of the completed structure, which was said to be a building of Gothic architecture inferior to few in Europe. "Elgin alone," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "among the Scottish cathedrals of the thirteenth century, had two western towers. They are now shorn of their just height, but still they may be seen from far, lifting their bulk above the pleasant plain of Murray, and suggesting what the pile must have been when the amiable and learned Florence Wilson loved to look upon its magnificence as he meditated his De Animi Tranquillitate on the banks of the Lossie, and when the great central spire soared to twice the altitude of the loftiest pinnacle of ruin that now grieves the eye."[133] The destruction of the cathedral was hastened by the alienation of Church lands by Bishop Patrick Hepburn, among the worst of the bishops; by the Privy Council in 1568 ordering the removal of lead from the roofs; by wind and weather; by Cromwell's troops; by an irrational zeal, which in 1630 broke down the carved screen and lovely wood-work; and lastly by the falling of the central tower, which destroyed the whole nave and part of the transepts. The passing away of such a colossal work of beauty is grievous, and not less so when it is recalled that the cathedral expressed the devoted labour of centuries. According to the latest authorities, the following are the probable dates. The transept was erected about 1224, and may possibly have formed part of the original Church of the Trinity. The western towers followed soon after; the western portal somewhat later. The west part of the north wall of the choir may have been part of the original church, but the general work of choir, nave, and early chapter-house would appear to have been carried out during the thirteenth century, and before the Scottish War of Independence. The cathedral, thus completed, remained for about a century, when the "Wolf of Badenoch" deformed or destroyed nave and chapter-house. The west front above the portal and the whole of the nave were reconstructed about the time of Bishop Dunbar (1422-1435), and the chapter-house by Bishop David Stewart (1482-1501). The architecture corresponds with their respective periods, and bears their coats of arms, engraved on each department.[134]

Dr. Thomas Chalmers considered the ruins of Elgin to be the finest remains of antiquity in Scotland, and as picturesque in their variety.[135]

The two bishoprics of Brechin and Dunblane were formed from the old Pictish bishopric of Abernethy, in so far as its churches were not yet absorbed by the growing bishopric of St. Andrews, which immediately succeeded it.[136] Abernethy was the last of the bishoprics which existed while the kingdom ruled over by the Scottish dynasty was called the kingdom of the Picts; St. Andrews was associated with that of the Scots.[137] Abernethy was from the earliest days dedicated to St. Bride, and Panbride in the diocese of Brechin, and Kilbride in that of Dunblane, indicate, in Dr. Skene's view, that the veneration of the patroness of Abernethy had extended to other churches included in these dioceses.[138] From this old Pictish diocese the bishopric of Brechin was formed, towards the end of King David's reign, about 1150.[139] The Church of Brechin has no claim to represent an old Columban monastery:[140] its origin as a church is clearly recorded in the Pictish Chronicle, which states that King Kenneth, son of Malcolm, who reigned from 971 to 995, gave "the great city of Brechin to the Lord," founding a church to the Holy Trinity, a monastery apparently after the Irish model, combined with a Culdee college. We hear of it next in two charters of David I. to the Church of Deer, and in the second of these the "abbot" of the first appears as "Bishop of Brechin" (about 1150). The abbacy passed to lay hereditary bishops, and the Culdees were first conjoined with, next distinguished from, and at last superseded by, the cathedral chapter.[141]

The early Church of Brechin emanated from the Irish Church, and was assimilated in its character to the Irish monastery. Of the early connection, there still survives at Brechin the famous Round Tower, which now occupies the place of a spire at the south-west angle of the present church. This, with the older one at Abernethy, and the ruined one at Egilshay in Orkney, are the only surviving types in Scotland. There were said to have been four others, which are no longer existing, viz. Deerness in Orkney; West Burray, Tingwall, and Ireland Head, in Shetland.[142] Dr. Skene gives the date of the Abernethy one as about 870, or between that year and the close of the century, and asserts that the date of the Brechin tower can be placed with some degree of certainty late in the succeeding century.[143] Probably it was erected in the reign of Kenneth (971-995), or about 1012, when Brechin was destroyed by the Danes.[144] Egilshay probably dates about 1098.[145] The Brechin tower is capped by a conical stone roof. Dr. Joseph Anderson shows that those round towers are outliers of a group of which Ireland is the home;[146] and they were erected during the time when the Celtic Church was much perplexed by the pillaging attacks of the Danes, that the ecclesiastics might protect their valuable illuminated manuscripts, and other costly possessions. The Brechin one corresponds with the Irish ones, and is built in sixty irregular courses, of blocks of reddish-grey sandstone, dressed to the curve, but squared at neither top nor bottom; within, string-courses divide it into seven storeys, the topmost lighted by four largish apertures facing the cardinal points. A western doorway, 6²/₃ feet from the ground, has inclined jambs and a semicircular head, all three hewn from single blocks, and the arch being rudely sculptured with a crucifix, each jamb with a bishop bearing a pastoral staff, and each corner of the sill with a nondescript crouching animal.[147] The sculpture on the graceful Tower of Brechin was, there as elsewhere, the repetition in stone of the illuminated page of the Celtic scribe, who in turn repeated many of the graceful and varied designs of the pre-Christian worker in bronze and gold,[148] adding to them Christian symbols. Dr. Joseph Anderson finds in the figures of the crouching beast and winged griffin at Brechin a close affinity to the figures of nondescript creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial stones.[149]

The cathedral, founded about 1150, and added to at various periods, was originally a cruciform structure, consisting of a five-bayed nave with two aisles, late First Pointed mixed with Second Pointed; a transept formed by an extension of these aisles to the north and south; an aisleless choir (with lancet windows), the ruins of which are a fine example of First Pointed work,[150] and which when complete must have been a very pure and beautiful piece of architecture. The north-west tower was being constructed in the time of Bishop Patrick (1351-1373), but must have been a long time in erection. The western doorway presents the oldest feature of the existing building,[151] and is simple and massive. The tower and spire are pronounced to be the completest and best remaining example of their kind in Scotland.[152]

By the alteration of 1806 the choir was reduced, the transepts demolished, new and wider aisles built on each side of the nave, while the outer walls of the aisles were carried to such a height that the whole nave could be covered with a roof of one span, "thus totally eclipsing the beautiful windows in the nave, and covering up the handsome carved cornice of the nail-head quatrefoil description which ran under the eaves of the nave."[153] The cathedral was thus sadly deformed, but plans of restoration have been recently adopted, funds are being raised, and the noble minster will before long be restored to its former grandeur.

The diocese contained thirty parishes, and the bishop sat in the chapter as Rector of Brechin, that being his prebend.[154]

The Maison Dieu formed part of a hospital, and is an interesting part of First Pointed work. The rector of the Grammar School is still "Praeceptor Domus Dei."

Dunblane was an early ecclesiastical centre. Its first church dates back to the seventh century, and seems to have been an offshoot of the Church of Kingarth in Bute, the founder of which was St. Blane, whose name is perpetuated in that of the cathedral town.[155] St. Blane was of the race of the Irish Picts, and "bishop" of the Church of Kingarth which Cathan his uncle had founded. The church at Dunblane seems to have had a chequered history, for the ancient town was burned (844-860) by the Britons of Strathclyde, and in 912 was again ravished by Danish pirates. Bishop Keith thinks there was a college of Culdees at Dunblane,[156] but we do not hear anything about it in history, and the important college was at Muthill, where the Dean of Dunblane afterwards had his seat. Centres of the Celtic Church were also at the neighbouring Blackford, Strageath, and Dunning, and they all served their day, until the new order, inaugurated by Queen Margaret and continued by her successors on the Scottish throne, was established in the district. About 1150, King David I. established the bishopric of Dunblane, and about 1198 Earl Gilbert and his countess introduced canons-regular by the foundation of the Priory of Inchaffray. Under the growing importance of these centres, the possession of the Keledei fell into lay hands, and after 1214 the prior and Keledei of Muthill disappear from the records.[157]

The square tower of Dunblane, which still survives, is a relic of the structure erected in the twelfth century,[158] and is one of the group, centred in early Pictavia, revealing characteristics of Norman work, and all connected with the sites of early Culdee establishments. Those north of the Tay are at Brechin and Restennet; those south of it, at St. Andrews (Regulus), Markinch, and Dunblane; Abernethy, Muthill, and Dunning.[159] The lower four storeys of the Dunblane tower form part of the original structure; the two highest are evidently of a late date;[160] the walls are not parallel with those of the nave, and the tower projects into the south aisle from 6 to 7 feet, and may have been associated with an earlier church.

The see seems to have fallen into a forlorn condition, for when the learned Dominican, Clement, was bishop (1233-1258), he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and represented to the Pope among other things that "its rents were barely sufficient to maintain him for six months; there was no place in the cathedral wherein he could lay his head; there was no collegiate establishment, and that in this unroofed church, the divine offices were celebrated by a certain rural chaplain."[161] Evidently the fourth part of the tithes of all the parishes within the diocese were given for the support of the bishop and the building of the cathedral, and he left it "a stately sanctuary, rich in land and heritage, served by prebendary and canon." Bishop Clement built the nave, the most beautiful part of the structure, but later in its architecture than the north aisle of the choir or lady chapel, which was originally separated from the choir by a solid wall, in which there never was any opening into the aisle except the small doorway near the east end, which is of First Pointed date.[162] Above the vault there is an upper storey with small two-lighted windows, which may possibly have been used as a scriptorium.[163] The cathedral consists of a nave of eight bays, with north and south aisles, an aisleless choir of six bays, an eastern aisle unconnected with the choir except by a doorway, and the tower attached to the south aisle of nave. The following is a narrative of the building of the cathedral as given by the most recent authorities. "The greater part of the structure is of First Pointed date. The lady chapel may be the oldest part (after the tower), and next to it is the east portion of the nave. The western half of the nave seems to have followed soon after the eastern portion, and is carried out nearly after the same design. The transition tracery in the arcade of the clerestory and west end is very interesting, as showing bar tracery in the act of being formed. This could scarcely have occurred in Scotland before the end of the thirteenth century. The style of the choir is further advanced than the nave, and exhibits some transitional features between First Pointed and Decorated work. The great east window and the large side windows of the choir probably contained tracery more advanced than that of the west end, and may probably date from the fourteenth century. The pinnacles and parapet are of about 1500."[164] The west end, with its doorway, deeply recessed with shafts and mouldings of First Pointed work, with an acutely pointed blind arch on each side with trefoiled head within it; with three lofty pointed windows, each divided into two lights by a central mullion, and with arch-heads filled with cinquefoil and quatrefoils; with north buttress so large as to contain a wheel stair—is the finest part of the cathedral. Above the western window is a vesica, set within a bevilled fringe of bay-leaves arranged zigzagwise, with their points in contact. Of this Ruskin said in his lecture,[165] "Do you recollect the west window of your own Dunblane Cathedral? It is acknowledged to be beautiful by the most careless observer. And why beautiful? Simply because in its great contours it has the form of a forest leaf, and because in its decoration it has used nothing but forest leaves. He was no common man who designed that cathedral of Dunblane. I know nothing so perfect in its simplicity, and so beautiful, so far as it reaches, in all the Gothic with which I am acquainted. And just in proportion to his power of mind, that man was content to work under Nature's teaching, and, instead of putting a merely formal dog-tooth, as everybody else did at that time, he went down to the woody bank of the sweet river beneath the rocks on which he was building, and he took up a few of the fallen leaves that lay by it, and he set them in his arch, side by side for ever."

Six of the stalls with, and several others without, canopies still survive, and on one of the misereres are the arms of the Chisholm family, surmounted by a mitre. Three bishops of this name presided in Dunblane,[166] and the stalls were probably provided by the first, Bishop James Chisholm, dating between 1486 and 1534. The stalls were probably brought from Flanders, and the carving is spirited and full of grotesque figures.[167] Other bishops, who ought gratefully to be remembered for building done, are Bishop Dermoch (1400-1419) and Bishop Ochiltree (1429-1447). Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray and Bishop of Dunblane (1320-1347), is described as a man of fervent spirit, who gave great encouragement at the battle of Bannockburn, and was chosen by King Robert the Bruce as his chaplain and confessor.[168] There are some vestiges of the bishop's palace still left to the south-west of the cathedral; and the Bishop's Walk, leading southward not far from the river, and overshadowed by venerable beech trees, will always be associated with Leighton, of whom Burnet wrote, "He had the most heavenly disposition that I ever yet saw in mortal ... and I never once saw him in any other temper but that which I wished to be in, in the last moments of my life."[169] Leighton was Bishop of Dunblane from 1661 to 1670, and chose it as the poorest and smallest of Scotland's sees. At his death he bequeathed to it his library, which is still preserved. Those who wish to understand his devotion and inner life may be directed to Dr. Walter Smith's beautiful poem The Bishop's Walk.

Until recently, only the choir was used as the parish church, but in 1893 the cathedral was reopened after a complete restoration costing £28,000. The restoration was largely due to the munificent generosity of Mrs. Wallace of Glassingall. The town bears witness to the influence of the cathedral—

David I. followed the foundation of the great bishoprics by dividing the country north of the great range of the Mounth into separate sees, and the first of such appears to have been the diocese of Rosemarky or Ross. Makbeth, the first Bishop of Ross, appears as the witness to a charter between 1128 and 1130.[171] The church was founded as a Columban monastery by Lugadius or Moluoc of Lismore before 577, and Bonifacius refounded it in the eighth century, and dedicated the church to St. Peter. The Culdees disappear in the course of history, and instead there emerges a regular cathedral body of canons under a dean.[172] The Bishop of Ross had this peculiarity, that he took his title from the province, and not from the town, where he held his see. When the see was founded by David I., Rosmarkie continued as the cathedral centre, but after the chapter was enlarged by Gregory IX. in 1235, the cathedral site was changed to Fortrose or Chanonry, and the church was dedicated to SS. Peter and Bonifacius. Chanonry is half a mile south-westward from Rosemarkie, and was united with it in 1455 by James II. as a free burgh under the common name of Fortrose. The presence of an educated clergy made the place a centre of culture, and famous schools of divinity and law flourished under the shadow of the cathedral.

The undercroft of the sacristy (afterwards enlarged) seems to indicate that the work must have been begun before 1250,[173] but the architecture of the aisle presents a beautiful specimen of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period, and dates before or about the beginning of the fifteenth century.[174] The cathedral, when entire, was a handsome red sandstone building, comprising a nave of four bays, with aisles 14 feet wide and round-headed windows; a choir, with aisles, lady chapel, west tower, quasi-transept, rood-turret, and to the north-east a vaulted chapter-house over a crypt. It stood on level ground, and commanded a fine view of the Moray Firth. When complete it must have been an architectural gem, and its mouldings have been said to show that in whatever other respects these remote parts of Scotland were barbarous, in ecclesiology at least they were on a par with any other branch of the mediæval Church.[175] All that now remains of the cathedral consists of the south aisle of the nave, and the sacristy or undercroft of the chapter-house. No vestige remains of the various manses of the chapter that were within the cathedral precincts. The cathedral suffered at the Reformation, but was repaired by Bishop Lindsay in 1615, and in 1649 was not very ruinous. It would appear that the tradition is correct which says that the masonry of the walls was removed by Cromwell, like that of Kinloss Abbey, to provide material for the construction of his fort at Inverness.

In the south wall there is a beautiful piscina, and in the north wall an ambry with a small stone penthouse; an octagonal baptismal font of remarkable design stands against the east wall of the aisle. There is a range of canopied monuments, which stand between the pillars on the north side. The east end had a large traceried window of five lights, and when complete it must have been very beautiful.

The most famous of the bishops was John Leslie (1527-1596), who studied at King's College, Aberdeen, at Paris, and at Poitiers. He held offices both in the Aberdeen University and in the State, and in 1566 Queen Mary bestowed on him the Abbey of Lindores in commendam, and subsequently appointed him Bishop of Ross. He was a zealous supporter of Queen Mary, and, after her flight to England, followed her, and never afterwards returned to reside in Scotland. He was imprisoned in the Tower,[176] where he wrote two small books for her spiritual profit, which Queen Mary liked and endeavoured to turn into French verse. After his release he retired to France, where he wrote his History of Scotland. On the day before her execution, Queen Mary wrote to Philip of Spain, beseeching him to show kindness to the Bishop of Ross for his faithful and devoted services to her. The request was complied with, and he was able to end his days tranquilly in a monastery near Brussels. It is said that the bishop persuaded the Queen in 1565 to grant to all men a liberty of conscience.[177]

The early history of the Church in Caithness points to a time before the Northmen had any footing there, and connects it with the missionaries of Ireland and Scotland. The legend of St. Finbar or St. Barr marks the settlement of some Irish colonists, who brought with them the veneration they had rendered in their old country to the patron saint of their tribe or province.[178] SS. Duthac and Fergus are also associated with the church of the district during the Celtic period, and during the time of the former Keledei they may have been introduced here. The early church of Dornoch was dedicated to St. Bar or Finbar, and before 1196 the Culdees had disappeared, and the clerical element was reduced to a single priest.[179] The deed establishing a cathedral chapter of ten canons, with dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and archdeacon, proceeds on the narrative "that in the times of his (Bishop Gilbert's) predecessors there was but a single priest ministering in the cathedral, both on account of the poverty of the place and by reason of frequent hostilities; and that he desired to extend the worship of God in that church, and resolved to build a cathedral church at his own expense, to dedicate it to the Virgin Mary, and, in proportion to his limited means, to make it conventual."[180] This benefactor of Dornoch was Bishop Gilbert de Moravia (1222-1245), who organised the chapter after the pattern of Elgin, which again had Lincoln for its model; and although the see of Caithness is first heard of about 1130, to him is due the credit of rebuilding the cathedral, which consisted of an aisled nave, transept, choir, and massive central tower, with dwarfish spire. The old cathedral town, with its society of learned churchmen, maintaining a high position by their influence and example, cultivating letters, preaching peace and practising it, must have been a centre of good in the north, and Bishop Gilbert's name deserves to be honourably remembered for his statesmanship, beneficence, and Christian character. "He rests," says the breviary of Aberdeen, "in the church which he built with his own hands"; even the glass was manufactured at Cyderhall under his personal supervision.[181]

The tower is all that remains of Bishop Gilbert's work, for the cathedral was burnt in 1570; the tower escaped with some fine Gothic arches which fell before the terrific gale of 5th November 1605—the day on which the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. In 1614 the 13th Earl of Sutherland partially repaired the cathedral, to make it available for the parish church, and in 1835-1837 it was rebuilt by the Duchess of Sutherland at a cost of £6000. It had thus the misfortune to be restored at a time when church restoration in Scotland was at its lowest ebb. "The blame really attaches to those whom she entrusted with the execution of her design."[182] The structure is now used as the parish church of Dornoch. The square tower of the bishop's palace still survives.

The name of Whithorn is a venerable one in Scottish Church history. It is mentioned by Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer, in the second century as Leukopibia, a town of the Novantae. The Greek name is synonymous with the Latin Candida Casa or "White House," under which designation it was latterly known. It is associated with the first known apostle of Christianity in Scotland, St. Ninian, who was probably born here about the middle of the fourth century. Of studious and ascetic habits, he visited Rome, and on his homeward journey visited St. Martin of Tours, who died in 397. After his arrival in Scotland, he founded the Candida Casa or Church of Whithorn, dedicated it to St. Martin, and, although Christianity was probably known in Scotland before his time, his work is the first distinct fact in the history of the Scottish Church. After preaching the Gospel among the Southern Picts, he died in 432, and was buried within his church at Whithorn. It is a matter of dispute, whether this first Christian oratory was built, after the custom of the early Scottish Church, on a small island or peninsula at the point of the promontory which lies between the bays of Luce and Wigtown, about three miles south from Whithorn, or on the spot where the monastery afterwards arose. There are the ruins of a small chapel on "The Isle," and although belonging to a later date, it is more than probable that it was the successor of St. Ninian's first church. Whithorn was famous also for its early schools and monastery, and exercised no small influence in Christianising both the surrounding district and Northumbria, or what is now known as the northerly parts of England. A bishopric of Whithorn was founded by the Angles in 727, was held by five successive bishops, and came to an end about 796, when the disorganisation of the Northumbrian kingdom enabled the native population to eject the strangers and assert their own independence. During the reign of David I. (1124-1153), Fergus, Lord of Galloway, re-established the see of Galloway, and founded at Whithorn a Premonstratensian priory, whose church became the cathedral, and contained the shrine of St. Ninian. The see included the whole of Wigtownshire and the greater part of Kirkcudbrightshire; the bishop remained under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York till at least the fourteenth century, and in 1472 became suffragan of St. Andrews. In 1491, when Glasgow became a metropolitan see, the Bishop of Galloway became a Vicar-General of it during vacancies. The canons of Whithorn Priory formed the chapter of the see of Galloway, and the prior ranked next to the bishop; the diocese was divided into three rural deaneries. The shrine of St. Ninian became a place of pilgrimage for people from all parts of Scotland, and was visited by Scottish queens and kings—James IV. visited it generally once and frequently twice a year throughout his whole reign. The priory became wealthy, and the church and other buildings were of great extent. Among its priors may be mentioned Gavin Dunbar (1514), who was tutor to James V. and afterwards Archbishop of Glasgow; and James Beaton, who was prior and afterwards Bishop of Galloway, was advanced to the archbishopric of Glasgow in 1509, and of St. Andrews in 1522.

The buildings of the priory are now reduced to the nave—an aisleless structure—and to some underground vaulted buildings, which no doubt formerly supported the choir and other erections above.[183] The west tower fell in the beginning of last century; the cloister lay to the north of the nave; the chapter-house, slype, and site of domestic buildings extended to the north of the transept. The north wall of the nave interior contains two pointed recesses for monuments, which are of excellent design. At the south-west angle of the nave is a doorway which is undoubtedly Norman,[184] and the sculptures on the right and left of the projecting wall point to a close affinity between the sculptured figures on the ancient stones and the architecture of the twelfth century in Scotland.[185] The ancient font, probably of Norman date, bowl-shaped, and of simple design, has been preserved in the church, and St. Ninian's Cave—probably a place of religious retirement—about three miles south-east of the village, contains some very old stone crosses, and on its east wall some very old inscriptions, a number of which are partly unintelligible by being covered with more recent ones.

The neighbourhood will always be associated with St. Ninian, the apostle of the Britons and of the Southern Picts, and may be called the historical fountain-head of the Scottish Church.

Lismore is an ancient settlement, and is the Epidium of Ptolemy, one of his five Ebudae.[186] The island lies near the south end of Loch Linnhe, and at a short distance from the mainland of Argyllshire.

The bishopric was formed about 1200 by the separation of the districts, belonging to the bishopric of Dunkeld, which lay to the west of the great range of Drumalban. Eraldus was the first Bishop of Argyll, and had his seat at Muckairn, while his church bore the name of Killespeckerill, or the church of Bishop Erailt.[187] It is possible that some of the Keledei from Dunkeld may have accompanied the new bishop and been established there. In 1236 the see was transferred from Muckairn, on the south side of Loch Etive, to Lismore, where, long before, a Columban monastery had been founded by St. Lughadh or Moluoc. The see was afterwards known as the bishopric of Lismore, and contained the following deaneries: Kintyre, with twelve parishes; Glassary or Glasrod, with thirteen; Lorn, with fourteen; and Morvern, with eight.[188] The cathedral was perhaps the humblest in Britain, and was probably erected soon after the transference of the see in the thirteenth century. It is said to have been a structure 137 feet long by 29¹/₃ wide, but of this there only now survives an aisleless choir, with traces of a chapter-house and sacristy; and, as re-roofed in 1749, this choir now serves as a parish church. It has four buttresses of simple form against the south wall, and two at each of the north and south angles of the east wall. In the south wall, and in the usual position near the east end, there are remains of a triple sedilia; there is a piscina in a pointed recess, having a trefoil-headed niche in the wall behind.[189]

One of the deans of Lismore, Sir James MacGregor, between 1512 and 1540, compiled a commonplace book, filled chiefly with Gaelic heroic ballads, several of which are ascribed to the authorship of Ossian.

The history of Iona is associated with St. Columba, and, although its church did not attain full cathedral status until 1506, the island was one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Scotland.

St. Columba (Columcille or Colm) was born at Gartan, County Donegal, 7th December 521, and was the son of a chief related to several of the princes then reigning in Ireland and the west of Scotland. He studied under St. Finnian at Moville, and under another of the same name at Clonard. In 546 he founded the monastery of Derry, and in 553 that of Durrow. The belief that he had caused the bloody battle of Culdremhne led to his excommunication and exile from his native land, and, accompanied by twelve disciples, he left Ireland and sailed for the Western Islands, settling ultimately at Iona, where he and his companions began their work among the heathen Picts. The legend of his perpetual exile seems to be a fable, and Dr. Skene adds, "His real motive for undertaking this mission seems therefore to have been partly religious and partly political. He was one of the twelve apostles of Ireland who had emerged from the school of Finnian of Clonard, and he no doubt shared the missionary spirit which so deeply characterised the monastic Church of Ireland at that period. He was also closely connected through his grandmother with the line of the Dalriadic kings, and, as an Irishman, must have been interested in the maintenance of the Irish colony in the west of Scotland. Separated from him by the Irish Channel was the great pagan nation of the Northern Picts, who, under a powerful king, had just inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Scots of Dalriada, and threatened their expulsion from the country; and, while his missionary zeal impelled him to attempt the conversion of the Picts, he must have felt that, if he succeeded in winning a pagan people to the religion of Christ, he would at the same time rescue the Irish colony of Dalriada from a great danger, and render them an important service by establishing peaceable relations between them and their greatly more numerous and powerful neighbours, and replacing them in the more secure possession of the western districts they had colonised."[190] It was in 563, and at the age of forty-two, that he settled at Iona and commenced his mission-work by founding his monastery[191] there. He met there "two bishops," who came to receive his submission from him, but "God now revealed to Columcille that they were not true bishops, whereupon they left the island to him, when he told of them their history." They were, thinks Dr. Skene, the remains of that anomalous church of seven bishops which here, as elsewhere, preceded the monastic church, while Columba appears to have refused to recognise them as such, and the island was abandoned to him. Possessed as he was with the soul of a poet, and susceptible to the impressive in nature, Columba could not have chosen a finer spot than Iona for his work, or one where he could better combine with missionary activity a life of purity and self-denial. Tradition says he landed at the bay now known as Port-a-churaich, and proceeded to found the monastery and establish the church which was ultimately to embrace in its jurisdiction the whole of Scotland north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, to be for a century and a half the national church of Scotland, and to give to the Angles of Northumbria the same form of Christianity for a period of thirty years. The buildings that now remain are of much later date, but it may be inferred that in its constitution, spirit, and work the Columban Church was not isolated, but was in reality a mission from the Irish Church, formed an integral part of it, and never lost its connection with it. The principal buildings were constructed of wood and wattles, and were originally (1) a monastery with a small court, on one side of which was the church, with a small side chamber, on a second side the guest-chamber, on the third a refectory, and on the fourth dwellings of the monks; a little way off on the highest part of the ground were (2) the cell of St. Columba, where he sat and read or wrote during the day, and slept at night on the bare ground with a stone for his pillow; and (3) various subsidiary buildings, including a kiln, a mill, a barn, all surrounded by a rampart or rath. Not far off was a sequestered hollow (Cabhan cuildeach) to which Columba retired for solitary prayer. The mill has left its traces in the small stream to the north of the present cathedral ruins, and remains of old causeways may be traced from the landing places of Port-na-martir, Port-Ronan, and Port-na-muintir. All the early buildings, except the kiln, were of wood; the guest-chamber was wattled, Columba's cell was made of planks, and the church was of oak. The members of the community were termed brethren, and were addressed by Columba as familia or chosen monks. They consisted of three classes: (1) the older brethren, who devoted themselves to the religious services of the church, and to reading and transcribing the Scriptures; (2) the younger and stronger working brothers, who devoted themselves to agriculture and the service of the monastery; (3) the alumni or youth, who were under instruction. The dress of the monks consisted of a white tunica or undergarment, over which they wore a camilla, consisting of a body and hood made of wool, and of the natural colour of the material. When working or travelling their feet were shod with sandals; they took a solemn monastic vow on bended knees in the oratorium, were tonsured from ear to ear—the fore part of the head being made bare, and the hair allowed to grow only on the back part of the head. The church of Iona was monastic, and in it we find neither a territorial episcopacy nor a presbyterian parity. The bishops were under the monastic rule, and were, in respect of jurisdiction, subject to the abbot, even though a presbyter, as the head of the monastery; the privilege of the episcopate was not interfered with.[192] The monastery was described as a "gloriosum caenobium."

Columba made Iona his centre of activity, but his labours were not confined to it. He travelled with his companions and preached the Gospel as far north as Inverness, where King Brude was converted. He also preached among the Southern Picts, and a church was built at Abernethy by King Gartnaidh, as an outcome of his mission and as a memorial of his labours. He was also a far-seeing statesman, and succeeded in reconciling the feuds of the Northern and Southern Picts, and in making the two kingdoms one. His life was spent in missionary activity and beneficent service, and he died at Iona. The day before his death he "ascended the hill that overlooketh the monastery, and stood for some little time on its summit, and as he stood there with both hands uplifted, he blessed his monastery, saying, 'Small and mean though this place is, yet it shall be held in great and unusual honour, not only by Scotic kings and people, but also by the rulers of foreign and barbarous nations, and by their subjects; the saints also, even of other churches, shall regard it with no common reverence.'" On the following day, at nocturnal vigils, he went into the church, and knelt down in prayer beside the altar, and "his attendant Diormit, who more slowly followed him, saw from a distance that the whole interior of the church was filled with a heavenly light in the direction of the saint," which, as he drew near, quickly disappeared. "Feeling his way in the darkness, as the brethren had not yet brought in the lights, he found the saint lying before the altar," and all the monks coming in, Columba moved his hand to give them his benediction, and died 9th June 597, while "the whole church resounded with loud lamentations of grief." He left behind him an imperishable memory in the hearts of the people converted by him to the Christian faith, and in the national church which he so splendidly helped to build up. He wrote an Altus, and is said to have copied 300 books with his own hand. He was buried at Iona.

After Columba's death, the monastery of Iona appears to have been the acknowledged head of all the monasteries and churches which his mission had founded in Scotland, as well as of those previously founded by him in Ireland. It was a centre of light and life, but the monks were not permitted to pursue their work unmolested. The monastery was burned and plundered by the sea-pirates in 795, 798, and 802; in 806 sixty-eight of the community were ruthlessly slain. The monks remaining were filled with fear, and before 807 the relics of St. Columba were carried away to Ireland, and enshrined at Kells. In 818 they were brought back, and the monastery at Iona was rebuilt with stone. The Danes, however, granted little respite, and in 878 the relics were again removed, and were probably placed first at Dunkeld and afterwards at Abernethy,[193] where the primacy was successively established, and a memorial of which exists in the Abernethy round tower. The plundering continued at intervals, and the buildings were more or less ruinous till about 1074, when Queen Margaret "restored the monastery, ... rebuilt it, and furnished it with monks, with an endowment for performing the Lord's work." "One of the present buildings," said the late Duke of Argyll—"the least and the most inconspicuous, but the most venerable of them all—St. Odhrain's Chapel, may possibly be the same building which Queen Margaret of Scotland is known to have erected in memory of the saint, and dedicated to one of the most famous of his companions. But Queen Margaret died in A.D. 1092, and therefore any building which she erected must date very nearly five hundred years after Columba's death; that is to say, the most ancient building which exists upon Iona must be separated in age from Columba's time by as many centuries as those which now separate us from Edward III. But St. Odhrain's Chapel has this great interest—that in all probability it marks the site of the still humbler church of wood and wattles in which Columba worshipped."[194] Shortly afterwards the island passed into the possession of Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, and in 1099 the old order culminated in the death of Abbot Duncan, the last of the old abbots. Under the bishopric of Man and the Isles, the monastery became subject to the Bishop of Drontheim till 1156, when Somerled won it, and once more restored the connection between Iona and Ireland by placing the monastery under the care of the Abbot of Derry. In 1164 the community was represented by the priest, the lector, the head of the Culdees, and the Disertach or the head of the disert for the reception of pilgrims.[195] Somerled appears to have rebuilt the ruined monastery on a larger scale, and about 1203 the Lord of the Isles (Reginald) adopted the policy of the Scottish kings, and founded at Iona a monastery of Benedictine monks (Tyronenses), and at the same time a nunnery for Benedictine nuns, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was first prioress. It is of this Benedictine monastery and nunnery that the present ruins are the remains, and they were formerly connected by a causeway which extended from the nunnery to the monastery. After a struggle, the Culdees seem to have conformed to the new order of Benedictines, and the head of the Culdees was represented by the Prior of Iona, whom we afterwards find in the monastery. Iona was suffragan to the Bishop of Man and the Isles till 1431, when the Abbot of Iona made obedience to the Bishop of Dunkeld. In 1498, the Isles were made suffragan to St. Andrews; in 1506 they passed back to the care of the Bishop of the Isles; and from that date till the Reformation the abbey church became the cathedral church of the diocese. In 1648 Charles I. granted the island to Archibald, Marquis of Argyll,[196] and it still belongs to his descendant, the Duke of Argyll. The diocese contained forty-four parishes.

Surrounding the Chapel of St. Oran is a very ancient churchyard, containing beautiful specimens of Highland carved tombstones, and near which reposes the dust of Scotch, Irish, and Norwegian kings and ecclesiastics. The late Duke of Argyll both preserved and restored, and the foundations of the chapels and cloisters have been plainly marked out, and give a clear idea of the original plan of the abbey. The abbey or cathedral, although begun in the twelfth century, took a long time in building, was altered and added to, and is classed with the buildings of the Third Pointed period, as the greater part of the work connected with it belongs to a late date.[197] It is cruciform in shape, consisting of nave, transepts, and choir, with sacristy on the north side of the choir, and aisle on the south. Near the west entrance was a small chamber called St. Columba's tomb. Over the crossing is a square tower, 70 feet high, and supported by arches resting on four pillars. It is lighted on one side by a window formed by a slab with quatrefoil openings, and on the other by a marigold or Catherine-wheel window with spiral mullions. The capitals of the pillars are carved with beautiful ornamentation and grotesque figures, which are still sharp and well defined.[198] There are three sedilia, and the high altar seems to have been of marble. North of the nave is the cloister-garth; to the north and east of the cloisters are the refectory and chapter-house; the building over the chapter-house was the library, which was large and valuable. There were said to be many crosses in Iona; the entire ones are St. Martin's Cross, opposite the west door of the abbey church, and Maclean's Cross, on the wayside between the nunnery and the cathedral. There are the ruins of a small detached chapel to the north-east of the chapter-house, and of another to the west of the cloister: to the north-east of the cloister lie the total ruins of what is called the abbot's house.[199] A short distance north-east of the abbey church, at Cladh-an-diseart, there was found in 1872 a heart-shaped stone, with an incised cross on it, which Dr. Skene is disposed to think was the stone used by St. Columba as a pillow.[200]

The ruins of the nunnery, of which Beatrice, sister of Reginald, was the first abbess, and which was apparently erected soon after 1203, consist of a quadrangle about 68 feet square, having the church on the north side, foundations of the chapter-house and other apartments on the east side, and the refectory on the south side. There may have been other buildings on the west side, as the walls are broken at the ends; but if so, they are now removed.[201] The church was an oblong structure, divided into nave and choir, and had a northern aisle extending along both. At a distance of about 30 feet north of the convent church stand the ruins of another building, said to have been the parish church. It was a simple oblong chamber, and was dedicated to St. Ronan.[202] Lovely carved work has been found around the buildings, and these are carefully preserved and have been reproduced in illustration.[203] These designs were probably carved on stone from the beautiful illuminated tracery which the Celtic monks executed in their scriptorium.

No ruthless destruction about the Reformation period could deprive Iona of its three great voices of the mountain, the sky, and the sea. That St. Columba's poetic nature and susceptible heart were impressed by them is beyond doubt, for they survive in his poem—

Thus Iona, the isle of the saints, the lamp lit amid the darkness of the western sea, impressed the founder as he heard its voices. May there soon be added another, the voice of the restored cathedral, connecting the present with a glorious past, carrying us away in thought by its architecture to earlier days, and by its situation to the hour when the great apostle of the Picts first landed on its shores. This may at no distant future be realised, since the late Duke of Argyll gifted the ruined cathedral to the Church of Scotland, which hopes to do for it what has already been done for Dunblane.

Christianity reached the Orkneys through the labours of the Columban clergy, and there are many traces in the islands that speak of their work. Under the rule of the Norse, in the ninth and tenth centuries any Christian influence that survived from the labours of such early pioneers of the Christian faith must have died out. The first actual Bishop of Orkney was William the Old, who was consecrated in 1102, held the bishopric for sixty-six years, and died in 1168. His see was first at Birsay, and was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the cathedral in 1137-1152. The Bishop of Orkney was one of the suffragans of the metropolitan see at Throndhjeim, erected in 1154. In 1472 the see of Orkney was placed under the metropolitan Bishop of St. Andrews.

The story of the foundation at Kirkwall is as follows. The possession of the Orkneys was divided between two relatives, and about the beginning of the twelfth century two cousins, Hacon and Magnus, shared the government. In 1115 Magnus was treacherously slain at Egilsay by Hacon, who thus obtained the whole earldom. Rognvald, son of Magnus' sister, became a claimant for Magnus' share of the earldom, and vowed that if he succeeded he would erect a "stone minster" in honour of his predecessor St. Magnus, who had been canonised. Rognvald was successful, and fulfilled his vow by founding at Kirkwall a cathedral dedicated to St. Magnus. The building was designed and superintended by the Norwegian Kol, the father of Rognvald; the relics of St. Magnus were brought from Christ's Kirk in Birsay, to be deposited in the cathedral as soon as it was prepared to receive them, and until the work was finished they rested in the Church of St. Olaf, an older edifice which then existed in Kirkwall.[205]

"The Cathedral of St. Magnus was thus designed and erected by a Norwegian earl, while the bishopric was under the authority of the Norwegian Metropolitan of Throndhjeim. It is thus practically a Norwegian edifice, and is by far the grandest monument of the rule of the Norsemen in Orkney. In these circumstances, it is not to be expected that the architecture should in every detail follow the contemporary styles which prevailed in Britain, but it is astonishing to find how closely the earlier parts correspond with the architecture of Normandy, which was developed by a kindred race,—the successors of Rollo and his rovers, who settled in that country at an earlier date. There can be little doubt that the Romanesque architecture which prevailed in the north of Europe found its way at a comparatively late date into Scandinavia. The Norman form of that style would naturally follow the same course amongst the kindred races in Norway and Denmark, just as it did in England and Scotland, and from Norway it would be transplanted into Scotland."[206] Kirkwall Cathedral, begun in 1137, was carried on with great expedition, unlike Glasgow Cathedral, which took so long in completion that it gave rise to a proverb, "Like St. Mungo's work, it will never be finished." The Orcadians did their work nobly, and when a difficulty arose as to funds, it was overcome by allowing the proprietors of land in Orkney to redeem their property by a single payment of a sum per acre, paid at once, instead of according to the usual practice, on each succession.[207] Help was received from far and wide, and the building was so liberally sped by the oblations of a past age, that all Christendom was popularly said to have paid tribute for its erection;[208] but the spirit of religion must have been fervid in the islands themselves. The earl who founded the cathedral died after a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem. "He had begun his High Church on no mean scale, and it was afterwards greatly enlarged in length. To this circumstance, together with its severe simplicity, its narrowness, its height, and the multiplicity of its parts, must be ascribed the most striking characteristic of the pile—its apparent vastness."[209] It has been doubted if either York or Lincoln gives the idea of greater internal length, though Kirkwall measures less by half than the smaller of these minsters. As pointed out by the latest authorities on the cathedral, its western doorways recall the portals of the cathedrals of France rather than those of England; its interior gives the impression of great size, arising from the height and length of the building as compared with its width; the exterior presents at a glance the changes which have taken place in it, and the layers and masses of different coloured stones tell their own tale; the oldest work (comprising several periods) is constructed with dark slaty stone, having red freestone dressings; the Norman work is observed in the transept and several bays of the nave and choir nearest the transept, while the pointed work is specially noticeable in the eastern half of the choir.[210] The first parts of the cathedral built were the three westmost or Norman bays of the choir, with their aisles, both the transepts, the crossing (afterwards altered) intended to receive a tower over it, and two bays of the nave, which served to form an abutment for the crossing. These portions, where unaltered, are said to be in the earliest style of Norman work in the edifice. The round piers and responds of the choir, the two south piers and one north pier of the nave (with their cushion caps), the main arches (with their label mouldings in the choir and transept), the round arched and labelled windows in choir, transept, and nave, and the interlaced arcades in the nave, all point to a somewhat advanced period of Norman work. The choir originally terminated with a central apse beyond the third pier. The Norman windows of the choir aisle have three external orders, with a label ornament in the outer order; the single shafts have cushion caps; the windows are largely splayed internally.[211] An interlacing arcade of round arches, with single shafts and cushion caps (some with volutes) runs round the north, south, and west sides of the transept. The large arches leading into the east chapels are part of the original structure, but the chapels were built later. The lower string-course of the transept is enriched with a four-leaved flower.[212]

After the completion of these portions, attention was given to the continuation of the nave westwards for several bays. The north aisle wall opposite the three bays, west from the crossing, would appear to have been built early.[213] The buttresses are of flat Norman form. The north aisle doorway is pronounced to be Norman in detail, but has been restored at a later date; the south aisle doorway retains its old Norman arch and shafts in the interior, but has been altered externally. The nave piers were probably continued as far as the above doors about this time, with the triforium, but the upper part of the nave walls and the vaulting are later.[214] The transition style is prominently seen in the piers and arches of the crossing, and the windows in the choir nearest the main arches of the crossing, and the triforium openings into the transept, appear to have been altered and rebuilt at the time of this operation. The upper part of the north transept was probably raised and its windows inserted at this time; the raising of the south transept and the introduction of the rose windows is of somewhat later date.[215] This circular window is very similar to that in the east window of the choir. The chapels on the east side of the transept are of the advanced transition period, which, in Orkney, was probably the middle of the thirteenth century.[216] The completion of the nave would be next undertaken.[217] The apse was taken down, and the choir, with its aisles, was extended by three bays eastwards,[218] the style having a resemblance to advanced First Pointed work, with some peculiarities of detail, exhibiting probable French influence from Upsala.[219] The triforium consists of plain, chamfered, semicircular arches and jambs in three orders; the clerestory has simple pointed windows, moulded on sconsion, but without cusps. A vaulting shaft is carried up between the piers.[220] The east end of the cathedral is of First Pointed period, and the great east window fills the whole space available.[221] The three western doorways and the pointed doorway in the south transept are later than the choir;[222] they present the finest examples in Great Britain of the use of coloured stones in the construction.[223] The north doorway and the central doorway of the west front have the colours arranged in concentric rings in the arches, red and yellow alternating. In the south doorway the same colours radiate and alternate, and in the doorway of the south transept the red and yellow stones are arranged chequerwise.[224] They are among the most charming portions of the edifice, and are unique in Scotland. The upper part of the gablet over the centre doorway is of the seventeenth century, and bears the shield of Sir George Hay of Kinfauns, who rented the lands of the bishopric about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the crozier being added to the shield in connection with the lands of the see.[225] The tower has been considerably operated upon in modern times; the old wooden spire was destroyed by lightning in 1671. The parapet and pinnacles are modern, as also the pointed and slated roof—the lower part being of considerable age. The part within the roof of the church is apparently of transition date; the upper part, with the large pointed windows, is probably of fifteenth-century work.[226] There were originally beautiful specimens of wood-work; the canopy over the bishop's throne has disappeared.[227] The tower contains four bells, three of which were given by Bishop Maxwell (1526-1540). The cathedral does not appear to have suffered during the Reformation period, but an attempt made by the Earl of Caithness to destroy it in 1606, during the rebellion of Earl Patrick Stewart and his son, was prevented by the intervention of Bishop Law (sacred be his memory!).

The bishop's palace was founded about the beginning of the thirteenth century. Twenty bishops held the see in succession. The diocese contained the archdeaconries of Orkney, with thirty-five parishes, and of Tingwall (Shetland) with thirteen. The church suffered from vandalism in 1701 and 1855, and the east end is used as the parish church. May the northern minster soon be restored and made worthy of its glorious past. Lord Tennyson's son's diary contains the following entry on the Cathedral of St. Magnus: "Gladstone and my father admired the noble simplicity of the church, and its massive stone pillars, but we all shuddered at the liberal whitewash and the high pews."[228]

A catalogue of the Bishops of Orkney, by Professor Munch of Christiania, will be found in the Bannatyne Miscellany.[229]

The creation of collegiate churches was a practical endeavour toward ecclesiastical reform in the fifteenth century, when the foundation of monastic establishments ceased. They had no parishes attached to them, and were regulated very much as the cathedrals. They arose with the purpose of counteracting the evils incidental to the monastic system, and were formed by grouping the clergy of neighbouring parishes into a college, or by consolidating independent chaplainries. They were called præposituræ, were presided over by a dean or provost, and the prebendaries were generally the clergy holding adjacent cures. In Scotland, during more recent times, the term "collegiate" was applied to a church where two ministers (as at St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh) served the cure as colleagues, but in the fifteenth century the term had a different and wider significance. Collegiate churches were then an expression of the zeal and munificence that were displayed in the enlargement and decoration of buildings, when all classes vied with each other in the endowment of chaplainries for the maintenance of daily stated service, always including prayers and singing of masses for the souls of their founders, their relations, and benefactors. The collegiate churches were also an evidence from within the Church itself of the need for reform in the great Benedictine and Augustinian abbeys that were then in the ascendant throughout the country.

Scotland possessed forty-one collegiate churches, but space will only permit us here to deal with nine of them: Biggar, Bothwell, St. Nicholas (Aberdeen), King's College (Aberdeen), Roslin, Stirling (Chapel Royal), St. Giles (Edinburgh), St. Mary's and St. Salvator's (St. Andrews).

Biggar (Lanarkshire).—The collegiate parish church of St. Mary was founded in 1545 by Malcolm, third Lord Fleming, for a provost, eight prebendaries, four singing boys, and six bedesmen. It is interesting as being among the latest, if not indeed the last, of the Scottish pre-Reformation churches. It belongs to the Late Pointed period, is cruciform in plan, consists of chancel with apsidal east end, transept, and nave, with square tower and north-east belfry turret over the crossing. There are no aisles. Formerly a chapter-house existed on the north side of the chancel, but it has been removed. The ancient roof was of oak, and the timbers in the chancel were gilt and emblazoned.

St. Bride's Collegiate Church, Bothwell, was founded by Archibald "the Grim," Earl of Douglas, in 1398, for a provost and eight prebendaries. He endowed and added a choir to the existing parish church. The present church is a fine Gothic building, erected in 1833, with a massive square tower to the height of 120 feet. East of this tower is the choir of the old collegiate church, of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period; it is a simple oblong chamber with a sacristy on the north side. The church, externally divided by buttresses, has four bays with a series of pointed windows in the south wall, and three windows in the north wall. The arch of the entrance doorway in the south wall is elliptic in form. The roof of the church is covered with overlapping stone slabs, which rest on a pointed barrel vault—one of the earliest examples met with. In the sacristy there are a piscina and a locker, and in the south wall of the choir the remains of a triple beautifully carved sedilia and a piscina. The sacristy is roofed with overlapping stone flags supported on a vault. Monuments to the two Archibald Douglases, Earls of Forfar, are in the church. In this church David, the hapless Earl of Rothesay, wedded Marjory, the founder's daughter, in 1400, and one of its provosts was Thomas Barry, who celebrated the victory of Otterburn in Latin verse. It has been recently restored and made worthy of its great past.

New Aberdeen.—The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, said to be the largest mediæval parish church in Scotland, was made collegiate about 1456 by Bishop Ingeram de Lyndesay (1441-1459), and is said to have possessed, besides the vicar, "chaplains to the number of thirty."[230] Its clergy were named the "College of the Chaplains" of St. Nicholas, and after, as before, the institution of this new order the church remained the parish church. Only two portions of the ancient building now remain—the transepts and the crypt at the east end below the choir.[231] The present nave was rebuilt about 1750; the choir was taken down in 1835 and rebuilt in the most tasteless fashion; the walls of the crypt and transepts were all refaced except the north front of the transept, which was altered considerably in the seventeenth century; the central tower was burned in 1874, and the existing central spire was thereafter erected. A carillon of thirty-seven bells has been placed within it.

After the Reformation the rood-screen gave place to a wall, and St. Nicholas was divided into two churches, the West consisting of the former nave, the East of the choir, and the Romanesque transept between (known as Drum's and Collison's aisles) serving as vestibule. For the early architecture attention must be confined to the interior of the transept and crypt. The transepts are of the transitional style of the end of the twelfth century; the piers which carry the central tower are of the usual transitional type, having graceful capitals and square abaci supporting round arches; on each side of the north transept there are two original clerestory windows, and one of them has angle shafts, with carved caps and mouldings. The present large north window has remains of its original features, but its tracery is of late work. There is a transition attached shaft with carved cap and square abacus in the low pointed recess. There is only a shaft on one side of the recess, and the pointed arch of this recess, as well as the tomb alongside, below the large window, are of later work.[232] On the west side of the north wall there has been a round arched doorway, and traces of it are yet visible. The crypt is at the east end of the choir, but is on a lower level, and was approached by two stairs, one from the north and another from the south aisle of the choir. Only their round arched openings remain as recesses in the walls of the crypt. The present stairs are modern. The crypt consists of one central and two side aisles, with an eastern apse; it is pronounced to be a very picturesque and interesting structure, and it fortunately escaped being rebuilt, like the rest of the church. It has a groined roof, and the three compartments in the length are separated by pointed arches that spring from moulded caps on octagonal responds. "The opening into the apse has a stunted round arch, and is a prominent example of the love of the Scottish builders for this form of arch all through the Gothic period."[233] Each compartment of the apse has a central boss, and there is a considerable amount of carved woodwork in the crypt—some of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and some later. The choir that was recently taken down superseded an older one, and it is probably to this former choir that references are contained in the Council Register for about a century from 1442.

Old Aberdeen, King's College.—Of Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen (1488-1514) it is said: "With no private fortune, and without dilapidating his benefice, he provided for the buildings requisite for his University and Collegiate Church, and for the suitable maintenance of its forty-two members; and the Cathedral Choir, the King's College, and the old gray bridge spanning the valley of the Dee are monuments to his memory that command the respect of those who have no sympathy with his Breviary, rich in legends of Scottish Saints, and who would scarcely approve of his reformed Gregorian chant."[234] The college was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and being placed under the immediate protection of the King, came to be known as King's College. King James IV. and Bishop Elphinstone endowed it with large revenues. It was a faithful copy of the University of Paris. The Collegiate Church of St. Mary, on the north side of the quadrangle, was consecrated by Edward, Bishop of Orkney, and had eight priests or vicars choral belonging to it, and six singing boys.[235] It was begun in 1500 and finished in 1506, and it was said that all its stones and beams proclaim Bishop Elphinstone their founder, who also presented the chapter with many valuable vestments, vessels, etc. The chapel is a long, narrow building, with a three-sided apsidal east end. It is divided into six bays by projecting buttresses, and has a large window filled with mullions and tracery in each bay on the north side, except the second one from the west, which contains a doorway. Similar large windows are continued in the apse, and there is also one in the east bay of the south side. Over the west doorway there is a large west window of four lights, with solid built mullions and loop tracery enclosed within a round arch.[236] The tower at the south-west corner has massive corner buttresses. It is finished with one of the few crown steeples remaining in Scotland, forming,

The chapel suffered both externally and internally in the course of the centuries, but, thanks to the enlightened liberality of Aberdeen citizens and alumni, it has been recently restored under the direction of Dr. Rowand Anderson. In 1823 the choir end was fitted up for worship on the Sundays, and the nave was occupied by the library, which was not removed and located in a building of its own until 1873. The choir screen was then shifted westward from its original position, where its west front formerly bisected the chapel.

We have given an account of the late learned Principal's paper as appropriate to this history. It shows how art can both express the spirit of the place and become a servant of religion. It illustrates Professor Flint's declaration:—"God as the perfectly good is not only Absolute Truth and Absolute Holiness, but also Absolute Beauty. He is the source, the author, the giver of all beautiful things and qualities. All the beauties of earth and sea and sky, of life and mind and spirit, are rays from His beauty. The powers by which they are perceived are conferred by Him. The light in which they are seen is His light."[239]

Roslin (Mid-Lothian).—The church was founded in 1450 by Sir William St. Clair, Baron of Roslin and third Earl of Orkney. It was dedicated to St. Matthew, and founded for a provost, six prebendaries, and two choristers. In the quaint language of Father Hay:—

He was probably himself the source of the design, and his enlightened liberality attracted to the place the best workmen in Scotland, as well as from parts of the Continent. It has been said by the most recent authorities:—

The original intention was to complete 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 church consists of a choir, with north and south aisles, connected by an aisle which runs across the east end, giving access to a series of four chapels beyond it to the east. Beyond the east end of the church, and on a lower level, to suit the slope of the ground, a chapel has been erected that is reached from the south aisle by a stair. It is barrel-vaulted and is lighted by an eastern window. There are ambries in the walls and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet on the north side. On the south a door leads to what has been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings having existed or being intended. In all probability there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as sacristy and private chapel. This chapel was probably built by the liberality of Lady Douglas, Sir William St. Clair's first wife.

The church is profusely adorned with sculpture which generally represents Scripture scenes, and one of the most curious examples in the remarkable decoration of the edifice is the ornamentation of the south pillar of the east aisle, known as the "Prentice Pillar"—named by Slezer (1693) as the "Prince's Pillar" and by Defoe (1723) the "Princess's Pillar." It consists of a series of wreaths twisted round the shaft, each wreath curving from base to capital round one quarter of the pillar. The ornamentation of the wreaths corresponds in character with the other carving of the church, and the grotesque animals on the base find a counterpart in those of the chapter-house pillar at Glasgow Cathedral.

At the Reformation the lands and revenue of the church were virtually taken away, and in 1572 they were relinquished by a formal deed of resignation. The chapel does not seem to have suffered much violence till 1688, when a mob did much mischief. It remained uncared for, and gradually became ruinous till the middle of the eighteenth century, when General St. Clair glazed the windows, relaid the floor, renewed the roof, and built the wall round about. Further repairs were executed by the first Earl of Rosslyn, and again by the third Earl, who spent £3000 principally in renewing and retouching the carvings of the Lady Chapel—a work said to have been suggested by the Queen, who visited the church in 1842. Since 1862, services in connection with the Scottish Episcopal Church have been held within it. At the west end a vestry and organ-chamber were erected a few years ago.

Stirling (Chapel Royal, St. Mary's, and St. Michael's).—On the north side of the Castle Square is the building erected by King James VI. as a chapel, and generally called now the armoury. There seems to have been a chapel in the castle founded by Alexander I., and it was connected with the monastery at Dunfermline. The original dedication is unknown, but in the fourteenth century there is mention of the chapel of St. Michael, which may possibly date from the time when an Irish ecclesiastic—St. Malachi or Michael—visited David I. at Stirling Castle, and healed his son, Prince Henry. The chapel was rebuilt in the early part of the fifteenth century, and in the time of James III. became an important church. It was constituted both as a royal chapel and as a musical college, and endowed with the rich temporalities of Coldingham Abbey. This chapel was the scene of the penitence of James IV., who, after the victory at Sauchie, "daily passed to the Chapel Royal, and heard matins and evening song: in the which every day the chaplains prayed for the King's grace, deploring and lamenting the death of his father: which moved the King, in Stirling, to repentance, that he happened to be counselled to come against his father in battle, wherethrough he was wounded and slain. To that effect he was moved to pass to the dean of the said Chapel Royal, and to have his counsel how he might be satisfied, in his own conscience, of the art and part of the cruel deed which was done to his father. The dean, being a godly man, gave the King a good comfort: and seeing him in repentance, was very glad thereof." James IV. endowed the chapel with large revenues, and in 1501 erected it into a collegiate church for dean, subdean, chanter, sacristan, treasurer, chancellor, archpriests, sixteen chaplains, six singing boys and a choir master. It was the richest of the provostries, and held many churches. The deans of the chapel, who were first the provosts of Kirkheugh at St. Andrews, afterwards the bishops of Galloway, and eventually the bishops of Dunblane, possessed in their capacity as deans an episcopal jurisdiction. The chapel, erected by James III., fell evidently into a ruinous condition, and in 1594 James VI. pulled the old structure down and erected on its site the present building. It was the scene of the baptism of Prince Henry.

Dr. David Laing thinks that a parish church of small dimensions may have existed nearly coeval with the castle and town,[242] and the present St. Giles occupies the site of the original parish church of Edinburgh. Symeon of Durham, who flourished in the early part of the thirteenth century, includes Edinburgh under the year 854 in reckoning the churches and towns belonging to the Bishopric of Lindisfarne or Holy Island, in the district of Northumbria, a see which, previous to the Scoto-Saxon period, extended over the range of Lothian and the more southern districts of North Britain.[243] The name "Edwinesburch" is taken as having a special reference to the castle and town.[244] When David I. founded the abbey in honour of the Holy Cross, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints, he conferred upon the canons (among other churches) the church of the castle, the Church of St. Cuthbert under the castle wall, and at the period there were lands lying to the south of Edinburgh which bore the name of St. Giles' Grange—so called from being the grange of the vicar of St. Giles' Church. These lands were gifted by King David I. to the English abbey of Holm Cultram or Harehope in Cumberland, and probably the church went along with them; at all events, it continued to belong to some monastery. In 1393 it belonged to the Crown, and King Robert III. granted it to the Abbey of Scone; to that house it belonged for some time, remaining still an humble vicarage.[245]

It is the most reasonable conjecture that the parish church, dedicated in honour of St. Ægidius or St. Giles, and which has ever since retained the name of that patron saint, was erected during the reign of Alexander I. (1107-1124), the founder also of the Abbey of Scone and other religious houses.[246] Some fragments of this church remained till the end of last century, the richly ornamented Norman porch, which had formed the entrance to the nave on the north side of the church, being removed about 1797.[247] Dr. Lees thinks that possibly some of the pillars of the choir, and also the door at the entry to the royal pew, belonged to the first church of St. Giles.[248] The edifice appears to have been rebuilt about the time of David II.[249]

In the frequent wars with England, Edinburgh suffered much, notably so in 1322 and 1335. This latter raid, having occurred in February, was afterwards known as the "burnt Candlemas." A reconstruction of the church was probably required after these repeated conflagrations, and this appears to have been carried out during the fourteenth century. But shortly afterwards a devastation of the town and its buildings was occasioned by Richard II. in 1385, when, during his occupation of five days, he left the town and parish church in ashes. The citizens, with the help of the Crown, made a great effort to repair the disaster to their church, and from this period the history of the present structure may be said to date.

The church, as restored and added to after 1387, is regarded as consisting of a choir of four bays, with side aisles; a nave of five bays, also with side aisles; a central crossing, north and south transepts, and the five chapels just added south of the nave.[251] An open porch, to the south of these chapels, was also erected along with them, with a finely groined vault in the roof, and over it a small chamber, lighted by a picturesque oriel window, supported on a corbel, carved with an angel displaying the city arms.[252] The whole of the main divisions of the structure were vaulted, and the massive octagonal piers of the crossing were probably raised about this period.[253] The vaulting of the crossing, with its central opening, was executed about 1400.[254] The ancient Norman porch, forming the north entrance to the nave, was the only part of the twelfth century structure then preserved. The restoration seems to have continued from 1385 to 1416.

Shortly after the erection of the five south chapels, another chapel, called the Albany Aisle, was built on the north side of the nave to the west of the old doorway. It opens from the nave with two arches, resting on a central pillar, and the roof is covered with groined vaulting in two bays.[255] On the pillar are sculptured the arms of the Duke of Albany and also those of the Earl of Douglas. Their names are often ominously found together in the history of the times, and both were accused of the murder of the Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne. They were justly accused, and, although acquitted of the deed, the stain continues to rest on their memory. The chapels were either built to expiate their crime, or more probably to get a reputation for piety and obtain the favour of the Church.[256]

Two other chapels were probably added to the north side of the nave about the same period; they were on the east side of the Norman doorway, and between it and the transept. One of them has disappeared, and the eastern one was dedicated to St. Eloi. The vaulting of the north aisle of the nave was necessarily rebuilt at the time when the north chapels were erected.[257]

About fifty years later, great extensions and improvements were carried out under the auspices of Queen Mary of Gueldres, by whom Trinity College Church was also founded in 1462. The Town Council and merchants of Edinburgh also endowed it. The extensions of St. Giles consisted of (1) the lengthening of the choir by one bay; (2) the heightening of the central aisle of the choir and vaulting it anew, together with the introduction of a new clerestory; and (3) the lengthening of the transepts.[258] The church is thus the work of many generations, and is the outcome of public and private contributions. That the choir was enlarged at this period is chiefly made evident by the heraldic devices and armorial bearings still existing. While the pillars nearest to the centre are plain octagons, with arches corresponding in simplicity, those at the east end have decorated capitals, supporting moulded arches. The King's pillar, as it is called, is the first from the window on the north side, and is near the spot where stood the High Altar. On the foliated capital are four coats of arms, and the first has the lion within the double tressure, and the armorial bearings are usually supposed to be those of King James II. (1436-1460); the second, impaled, of his Queen, Mary of Gueldres (1449-1463); the third has also the lion within the double tressure and a label of three points, which is held to denote a prince or heir, if not a younger son. The fourth shield has three fleurs-de-lys for France.[259] These shields clearly connect the pillar with Mary of Gueldres, and her husband, James II., and their son, James III., who was born in 1453. The work was probably executed between 1453 and 1463.[260] On the opposite pillar, on the south side of the high altar, are also four coats of arms, viz. those of the town of Edinburgh and of the families of Kennedy, Otterburn, and Preston. To commemorate other benefactors, on the demi-pillar, on the north side of the eastern window, we have the arms (three cranes gorged) of Thomas Cranstoun, chief magistrate of Edinburgh in 1439 and 1454; on the south side, those of Napier of Merchiston, Provost of Edinburgh in 1457—a saltier engrailed, cantoned with four rosettes.[261] (2) The heightening of the choir and the introduction of a new clerestory were also carried out shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century, the height of the former choir being shown by the vault of the crossing, which it doubtless resembled, and which was not altered at that time. The outline of the old roof may also be observed against the east and west walls of the tower—the raglet and a stepped string-course above it being yet preserved, and being specially visible on the east side next the choir. The beauty of the vaulting of the central choir aisle is noticeable when contrasted with that of the side aisles.[262] The central crossing, with its vault, was left unaltered, and still remains in the same position, with its vaulting at the level it was raised to about 1400. It forms a break between the nave and the choir, in both of which the vault has been raised.[263] (3) The transepts were extended, their original length being marked by breaks in the roof, where the vaulting terminates.

In a charter dated 11th January 1454-1455,[264] it is narrated that William Preston of Gourtoun, after much trouble and expense abroad, and aided by "a high and mighty prince, the King of France, and many other Lords of France," had succeeded in obtaining an arm bone of the patron saint, which he generously bequeathed to the church. The Town Council were so gratified with the gift that they resolved to add an aisle to the choir in commemoration of the event, and to place therein a tablet of brass recording the bounty of the donor. This aisle was to be built within six or seven years "furth frae our Lady isle, quhair the said William lyis." It thus appears that the south aisle of the nave was known as the lady chapel, and that Sir William was buried there. The resolution was carried into effect, and a new aisle called the Preston Aisle was constructed, south of the lady chapel. The Preston Aisle was afterwards known as the Assembly Aisle. In carrying out the work the south wall opposite the three westmost bays of the choir was removed, and three arches carried on two piers substituted. These piers and arches correspond with the work of the same period at the east end of the choir. One of the caps contains a shield bearing the three unicorns' heads of the Prestons. The structure extends into the choir the great width of the four aisles of the church previously formed in the nave, and adds greatly both to spaciousness and grandeur. The church was now complete in all its parts, as, internally, it still remains, with a few exceptions, to the present day.[265]

Several additional chapels were afterwards thrown out. In 1513 an aisle of two arches was formed by Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Provost of the city; in 1518 the altar of the Holy Blood was erected in this aisle, which lay on the south of the nave, and to the east of the south porch, immediately adjoining the south transept. It opened into the south chapels of the nave with two arches, and had two windows to the south. There was within it a handsome monument containing a recumbent statue, or forming, as some suppose, part of the altar canopy. The monument is still preserved, but one half of the chapel was obliterated in 1829.

In 1466 the parish church of St. Giles was erected by charter of James III. into a collegiate establishment, but it is not called collegiate till 1475. The chapter consisted of a provost or dean, sixteen prebendaries, a master of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan, and a beadle with chaplains. The revenues of the altars and chaplainries in the church were appropriated for the support of the several officers in the new establishment. The King reserved the nomination of the dean or provost, who enjoyed the tithes and other revenues of St. Giles' Church, with the adjacent manse; the provost had the right of choosing a curate, who had a yearly allowance of 25 marks with a house adjoining.[266] In subsequent charters the church is called the College Kirk of St. Geill of Edinburgh.

About this period a few additions were made. A small chapel, called the Chapman Aisle, was thrown out from the Preston Aisle close to the south transept. It was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist by Walter Chapman, called the Scottish Caxton, from his having introduced into Scotland in 1507 the art of printing. The chapel was dedicated within a month of King James' death at Flodden. The south transept seems to have been extended southward during the erection. The chapel to the east of the north transept contained several storeys and a staircase. It is said to have been erected after the Reformation. Used as the Town Clerk's office, and later as a vestry, it has been recently set apart to contain the monument of Dr. William Chambers, by whose liberality the cathedral has been recently restored.

In 1829 the church was entirely renewed as regards the exterior, and two chapels to the south of those built in 1389 and the south porch were removed. The round arched doorway of the south porch was again erected between the north pillars of the crossing as the entrance to the central division of the church. It has now been transferred to the entrance doorway to the royal pew at the east end of the Preston Aisle.[267] The only portions of the exterior which escaped the unfortunate renewal of 1829 were the tower and steeple. Fortunately the well-known crown of St. Giles was not interfered with. It was probably erected about 1500.[268]

In the tower was placed the great bell of St. Giles, which must have been heard far and near on special occasions, as when, after the news of the disastrous field of Flodden, the inhabitants were ordered at the tolling of the common bell to assemble in military array for the defence of the city. The bell was cast in Flanders.[270] About 1500 several of the guilds had chapels assigned to them, and for these they contributed to the church funds. Many famous Scotsmen were buried within St. Giles, and amongst them were the Napiers of Merchiston, although it is doubtful whether Baron Napier rests there or not.[271] The Regent Murray, assassinated at Linlithgow in 1569, was buried in the south aisle; his monument was destroyed, but the brass plate, with the inscription written in his honour by George Buchanan, was rescued, and is inserted in a new monument erected in the Murray Aisle. The scattered members of the body of the great Montrose were collected and buried in the Chapman Aisle, in the south part of St. Giles, in 1661, but all trace of his remains has now been lost, and no monument until recently indicated his grave.

The last day on which mass was said in St. Giles was probably the 31st of March 1560;[272] the disturbances connected with the Reformation broke out in Edinburgh at an early date, and St. Giles' Church was one of the first to suffer.

The images were stolen from the church; that of St. Giles was carried off by the mob, drowned in the North Loch, and then burned; his arm bone, so precious before, is supposed to have been thrown into the adjacent churchyard; the church was pillaged and the altars and images cast down; the valuables were taken by the authorities and sold, while the proceeds were spent in the repairs of the church.

The church suffered from the over-zeal of the early reformers and also from the effects of civil contention when Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange and Queen Mary's adherents retained possession of the castle. Kirkaldy took forcible possession of St. Giles' Church, and placed some of his men in the steeple to keep the citizens in awe.

In 1560 St. Giles' again became the parish church, with John Knox for its minister. It was afterwards considered too large for Protestant worship, and in Knox's time the Magistrates began to cut it up into sections and formed several churches. Other alterations were made at different times, so that besides the High Church in the choir and the Tolbooth Church in the nave there were under the same roof a grammar school, courts of justice, the Town Clerk's office, a weaver's workshop, and a place for the Maiden, or instruments of public executions! In 1633, on the introduction of Laud's form of worship, the church became the seat of a bishop, and the choir was used as a cathedral. Between 1637 and 1661 it was again Presbyterian; from 1661 to 1690 it was once more Episcopalian; at the Revolution the Presbyterian worship was again restored, and the cathedral was divided with walls and filled with galleries. The Tolbooth Church occupied the south-west angle, and Haddow's Hole Church the north-west angle. The Old Church comprised the south transept and portions adjoining; the Preston Aisle was used as a place of meeting for the General Assembly and other purposes. The dark portions under the crossing and north transept were occupied as the police office. The alterations and rebuilding of 1829 left the cathedral still divided into three separate churches, and "the ancient architecture of the exterior of St. Giles was entirely obliterated by the reconstruction."[275] As to this "restoration," Dr. Lees writes, "What ensued was deplorable, and can scarcely be conceived by those who have not themselves seen what was done."[276] On the other hand, advantage was obtained by the removal of the small houses and booths that had been built against the structure and between the buttresses. All must at least be grateful that the steeple "was left alone."

The position of affairs remained thus until Dr. William Chambers, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, conceived the idea of removing the partitions and opening up the whole building. By his exertions, and largely by his own personal munificence, the restoration was effected between 1870 and 1883.

St. Andrews—St. Mary's, or Kirkheugh.—A very old chapel, known as St. Mary's on the Rock, is said to have stood on the Lady's Craig, but no trace of it now remains. Another chapel, also dedicated to St. Mary, stood on the Kirk Heugh, and was known as the Chapel of the King of Scotland on the Hill. All traces of it were for a long time lost, but in 1860 the foundations were discovered, and they show it to have been a cruciform structure. It is between the cathedral wall on the north-east and the sea. It had a provost and ten prebendaries.[280]

St. Salvator's, St. Andrews.—The College of St. Salvator was founded and endowed by Bishop Kennedy in 1456 for a provost and prebendaries. This bishop was distinguished for his liberality to the Church. The Church of St. Salvator is the only portion of the college buildings which still survives. It is now attached to the united colleges of St. Leonard's and St. Salvator, which form the existing University of St. Andrews, and the other buildings of which are modern.

The church bears the mark of the period when it was erected, the latter half of the fifteenth century.[281] It consists of a single oblong chamber, with a three-sided apse at the east end, a tower, with octagonal spire, at the south-west angle of the church. In the interior of the north wall, close to the apse, there is the splendid monument erected to Bishop Kennedy, the founder of the college. The south wall is divided by buttresses into seven bays.

Dalmeny Church (Linlithgowshire).—"Two nearly perfect churches of the Romanesque age," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "survive at Dalmeny and Leuchars—the former apparently in the twelfth century a manor of the Anglo-Norman house of Avenel, the latter a Scottish fief of one of the Magna Charter barons, Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Neither building need fear comparison with the common standard of English examples. Both are late in style: Leuchars is the richer, Dalmeny the more entire of the two. Both have semicircular apses—a feature found also in the parish churches of St. Kentigern at Borthwick, and St. Andrew at Gulane, and in the chapel bearing the name of St. Margaret within the walls of Edinburgh Castle."[282]

Dalmeny Church is the most complete of Scottish Norman churches, and consists of a chancel with eastern apse, and a nave separated from the chancel by an elaborate chancel arch. The arch has three orders, decorated with elaborate chevron ornaments, enclosed with a hood moulding carved with an enrichment somewhat resembling the dog-tooth. The soffit contains a similar faceted enrichment. The arch is carried on three attached shafts on each side, built in ashlar, and provided with subdivided cushion caps and plain bases. The chancel has one small window on the south side, and is vaulted with bold diagonal groin-ribs, enriched with chevron ornaments and springing from grotesque corbels. The apse is semicircular, and is entered from the chancel by an enriched arch with shafts and caps similar to those of the chancel arch. It is lighted by three plain window openings, the central one being enlarged. In the exterior a string-course runs round the building immediately below the windows, of which it forms the sills, and is enriched with a carved floral pattern. The chief feature is the main entrance door in a porch, projecting to the south, the archway of which is supported on two plain pillars with Norman capitals. There are over this door the remains of a line, concentric with the arch, of sculptured figures and animals, very similar to those found on the ancient sculptured monuments of Scotland. Associated with the Agnus Dei, Leo, Sagittarius, serpents, birds, dragons, and human figures, we have one perhaps bearing a pastoral staff. From the rough nature of the masonry at the west end of the nave it is probable that a tower was intended to be built there.[283] On the north side projecting wings have been added to the church, but the south front and east end are almost untouched and show twelfth century work, uninjured save by weather and natural decay. The church is believed to have been dedicated to St. Adamnan, and this is rendered very probable by the fact that the neighbouring church of Cramond was dedicated to St. Columba.

Leuchars Church, Fifeshire.—We hear of a church here in 1187, and it was given to the canons of St. Andrews (1171-1199). The church now consists of a choir with a circular apse; there are traces of an arch at the west end of the choir which opened into the nave, that has been rebuilt. In the seventeenth century a turret was built, which is incongruous and out of place; and to support the belfry a plain arch has been introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. The exterior of the semicircular apse shows an arcade of two storeys,

St. Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow, was the scene of the apparition that is said to have warned King James IV. against the battle of Flodden, and is one of the largest parish churches in Scotland. A church dedicated to St. Michael existed here as early as the time of David I. A new church is said to have been erected in 1242, and probably some parts of this are incorporated in the present edifice. In 1384 Robert II. contributed to the erection or repair of the church tower, and in 1424 the church was injured and considerably destroyed by the fire that reduced the town to ashes. The reconstruction of the edifice probably progressed, under the Jameses, simultaneously with that of the palace adjoining.

St. Michael's consists of a choir, including two aisles and a three-sided apse at the east end; a nave, including two aisles; two chapels inserted, north and south, in the place usually occupied by the transept; a square tower at the west end, and a south porch giving access to the nave. The nave is the oldest part of the building, and appears to have been erected before the middle of the fifteenth century. The choir is of somewhat later date.[285] A broad stone bench or seat is carried round the nave, and the bases of the triple wall shafts of the vaulting rest upon it. Those of the choir, different in design, rest on the floor. In the nave there are triforium openings in each bay, and clerestory windows above them. The windows throughout the church are of large size, and filled with varied geometric tracery. The windows of the apse are large, and the tracery of two of the windows is perpendicular in character. The transepts (or north and south chapels) and the south porch have crow-stepped gables both on their outer walls and also over the inner or aisle wall which separates them from the church. Each of these contains an apartment over the vault, that over the south porch being probably a place for preserving documents. The buttresses of the nave have a simpler character than those of the apse and north transept. The canopies of the niches are ornamented somewhat similarly to those of Rosslyn. The buttress of the south-west angle of the nave, crowned with the sculptured figure of St. Michael, is a striking feature on approaching the church. The western tower was originally terminated with a crown of open stone-work, similar to that of St. Giles, Edinburgh. About 1821 it was found to be in a dangerous condition, and had to be taken down. The tower is of late design and contains a doorway, continental in style, which may possibly be the work of Thomas French, the King's master-mason, and above which there is a large perpendicular window. The upper part of the tower would contrast well with the crown on the top. The tower opens into the nave with a wide and lofty arch, carried up to the clerestory level, and the groined vault with large window below produces a good effect. In each side wall of the tower is a richly canopied recess, intended for monuments or sculpture. A portion of what seems to have been a carved altar-piece is preserved in the church and represents scenes in our Lord's Passion.[286] The steeple contains three bells with inscriptions.

The south transept contained an altar dedicated to St. Katherine, and was the place where James IV. is reported to have seen the apparition that warned him against the fatal expedition to England—an incident chronicled by Pitscottie, and forming the basis of Sir David Lyndsay's tale in Marmion. The church contained twenty-four altarages, which were removed in 1559 by the Lords of the Congregation in their march from Perth to Edinburgh; and probably still further damage was done by Cromwell's dragoons, who used it as a stable. The church belonged to St. Andrew's priory, and was long served by perpetual vicars. It has been recently restored, and made worthy of its great past.

The west doorway is pronounced to be a pleasing specimen of the half continental manner in which that feature was usually treated in Scotland.[287]

Haddington Parish Church (East Lothian) is one of the ecclesiastical structures belonging to the ancient royal burgh of Haddington. Besides it there were the monasteries of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the Cistercian nunnery, and the chapels of St. Martin, St. Ann, St. Katherine, St. John, and St. Ninian. Of these establishments the only two that now survive are St. Martin's (a very ancient chapel) and the parish church, which deserves the name now applied to it (although originally it seems to have been given to the vanished church of the Franciscan monastery) on account both of its beauty and the distance at which its lights were visible—Lucerna Laudoniæ, or Lamp of Lothian. The ancient church of Haddington was founded by David I., dedicated to the Virgin, and by him granted in 1134 to the priory of St. Andrew. The present structure is of later date, and from the style of the architecture, was probably rebuilt in the first half of the fifteenth century.[288] The church is cruciform, having choir and nave, both with side aisles, and north and south transepts without aisles. Over the crossing is the central tower. The choir and transepts are ruinous, and the restored nave is used as the parish church. The tower was originally crowned with a canopy or spire of open work similar to that of St. Giles, Edinburgh, and King's College, Aberdeen; and large picturesque gargoyles still break the line of the cornice on the top. Although the edifice has been so sadly damaged, it does not appear to have suffered at the Reformation. The town was under siege in 1548, when it was held by the English after the battle of Pinkie, and was attacked and taken by the Scots and their French allies. It is not unlikely that the church suffered at that time.

Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Perth.—The ancient city of Perth possessed many endowed religious establishments, but the only one that survives is the church of St. John the Baptist, from which the city derived its title of "St. John's Town." This church, divided by walls so as to form three separate places of worship, is still the parish church of the town. The first church of Perth was probably connected with the neighbouring Pictish monastery at Abernethy, and was erected by the monks there during the Celtic period. The register of Dunfermline contains the earliest historical mention of the church under the years 1124-1127, when it was granted by David I., with its property and tithes, to that abbey. The church was consecrated by David de Bernham, Bishop of St. Andrews, in 1242, and it is stated that the heart of Alexander III. was buried in the church of St. John.[289] The abbots of Dunfermline allowed the building to become ruinous, and tried to place upon the citizens of Perth the burden of upholding the fabric. The interest of the citizens seems to have been diverted from the church, and directed, probably at the beginning of the thirteenth century, to the building of the Dominican monastery, and about the middle of the century to the erection of the Carmelite or Whitefriars' monastery. It is probable that in connection with repairs necessary for the church, King Robert the Bruce in 1328 granted that stones might be taken from quarries belonging to the Abbey of Scone, "for the edification of the Church of Perth." Of the twelfth century church of St. John nothing now remains to indicate its architecture, although it may have been both magnificent and extensive. After the death of Robert the Bruce in 1329 the restoration begun by him probably ceased, and during the unrest of the fourteenth century the church probably suffered further damage. In 1335 King Edward III. was in Perth, and slew his brother, John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, before the high altar of the Church of St. John for his excesses and ravages in the western districts of Scotland. In 1393-1394, after a parliament at Scone, Walter Trail, Bishop of St. Andrews, conducted divine service in St. John's Church. From 1401 till 1553-1556 there is a continuous record of the foundation of altars in the church, and of endowment of already existing ones. The chapel in which St. James' altar was situated stood on the south side of the church, and the foundation charter of the altar of St. John the Evangelist, founded in 1448 by Sir John de Bute, states that the altar was situated "in the new choir of the Parish Church." The church consists of a choir and nave, with north and south aisles, and north and south transepts without aisles. The nave and choir are of almost equal length; there was a chapel on the west side of the north transept that no longer exists, but the wide arch of the opening into it is partly visible in the transept. It was two storeys in height.

It is pronounced[290] as evident from the style of the architecture that the choir and crossing beneath the central tower belong to the period about 1448. The transepts may be later, and both are of the same period. 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 cut an inscription containing the names of John Fullar and his wife.[291] It has been remarked that the tithes and fees received by the magistrates probably did not suffice for the work laid on them by the monks of Dunfermline, and that John Fullar and his wife volunteered to pay for a part, certainly for the pillar on which their names are inscribed. In the second bay of the choir from the east on the north side there is a round arched doorway, now built up, and it led to the sacristy, afterwards used as a session-house; it was taken down about 1800, and the meetings were held in a building on the south side of the nave near the west end, which has also been removed. The present north and south doorways in the choir are modern, although the south one is in the position of the old doorway. The choir has no triforium, but good plain masonry instead, undivided by wall shafts; the clerestory windows are small and round arched, are divided into two lights by a central mullion, and have plain tracery in the arch-head. The nave is divided, like the choir, into five bays, and has no triforium nor clerestory; 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 description 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."[292] Early in the nineteenth century it was contemplated to raise the nave wall and erect a clerestory; two of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side were actually built, and still remain with massive buttresses, surmounted by high finials; the work was never finished, and could not be carried farther west, as there is no proper support for such a massive building. Tradition says that at one time the church extended farther west, 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."[293] On the north side of the nave there is a large porch called Halkerston's Tower. It was a two-storied building, the upper storey being of great height and vaulted as well as the lower one. The erection of the west end of the church is referable to about 1489,[294] when payments were made "to the kirk werk of Pertht." The central tower was erected after the adjoining part of the nave, and has one window in each face. The parapet and corbelling were renewed about forty years ago.[295] The exterior of the church has been altered at various times, and an open parapet carried along the top of the choir wall over the clerestory windows as well as along the aisle walls and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows to light the galleries break in on this aisle-wall parapet, as well as on the roof of the nave.

It was in the Church of St. John, Perth, that John Knox denounced the Mass in 1559, and the multitude afterwards demolished the ornaments, images, and altarpieces as well as the monasteries and religious houses in Perth—an example quickly followed by others throughout the country. In Scott's novel, The Fair Maid of Perth, the church is the scene of the trial by bier-right to discover the slayer of Proudfute.

The East Church (or choir) has been recently restored, and many look forward to the day when, the present partition walls being removed, St. John's Church will once more reveal the full splendour of its striking and grand interior. Perth awaits a generous restorer, and St. John's affords a grand opportunity for patriotism and beneficence.

About 1198 the church of Dundee was bestowed on Lindores Abbey, and the church then existing is stated to have been erected by David, Earl of Huntingdon, as a thank-offering for his escape from a storm at sea. About 1442 an agreement was formed between the abbot of Lindores and the provost and burgesses of Dundee, by which the latter undertook the construction and maintenance of the choir of Dundee Church. The only part of the ancient church which now remains is the western tower, and it was erected about 1450.[296] Three parish churches in connection with the tower were developed from the original chapel—St. Mary's or the East Church, St. Paul's or the South Church, St. Clement's or the West Church. The church was damaged by the English before the Union, and St. Clement's had to be rebuilt in 1789. The three churches were almost totally destroyed by fire in 1841, and the choir and transepts were thereafter rebuilt. The church tower survived, and has resisted for over four centuries storm and tempest, fire and siege. Its massive strength and height are features that strike the eye from far. It is square, and 165 feet high. The western entrance consists of two round arched doorways, comprised within a larger circular or elliptical arch, which is again enclosed by a square moulding. The arch mouldings are enriched with foliage, while the jambs and central pillar are moulded with alternate rounds and hollows. In the spandril over the centre shaft there is a circular panel with a Virgin and Child; below are the arms of the diocese of Brechin on a shield. Above the doorway is a lofty traceried window, and above this window the tower is vaulted. The height from the floor to the groined ceiling is about 47 feet. At each of the four corners there is a large circular shaft, and each shaft is fitted into its position in a manner different from the others. The sedilia or stone seats still remain entire, and extend along the north, south, and west walls. The tower is divided into two principal stages by an enriched parapet and outside passage. The parapet is pierced with quatrefoils and ornamented with crocketed pinnacles. The roof is of the saddle-back kind, with gables towards the east and west. It was evidently meant to have an open crown termination, and the preparations exist for the springing of the angle arches.[297]

The tower was restored by the eminent Sir Gilbert Scott in 1871-1873.

Stirling Parish Church.—Two churches in Stirling are spoken of in the reign of David I. One of them was the chapel royal, which was dedicated by Alexander I.; and the "vicar" of the "Kirk of Stirling" is mentioned in 1315 and in the time of David II. There are also notices of it in the reigns of Robert II. and Robert III., when it is designated as the Church of the Holy Cross of Stirling. Of this earlier church, which was burnt, nothing now remains. The present edifice consists of two divisions, the nave and the choir, which were built at two different periods. The nave, which is the oldest part, is referred to in the Chamberlain's Accounts from July 1413 to June 1414, and the date of the choir is known to be between 1507 and 1520.

The church contains a central nave with north and south aisles (the aisles being vaulted in stone), an eastern apse, and a western tower. The nave has five bays, the choir three bays, and they are separated by a wide bay which may be termed the crossing. The crossing now serves as an entrance hall to the two churches, into which the building is now divided. Walls are built across each side of the crossing, so as to enclose the choir as one church and the nave as the other. The west tower, which is vaulted, opens into the nave through a lofty pointed arch, springing from moulded responds. The original entrance to the church was through the western tower, but the western doorway was destroyed in 1818, and part of a window now occupies its place. The tower is pronounced to be one of the best specimens of the Scottish architecture of the sixteenth century, as applied to ecclesiastical structures,[298] and the situation of the church on the Castle Hill gives it an imposing and picturesque effect.

The piers of the nave (with the exception of two) are round and massive cylinders, and the east and west responds are semi-cylinders. The general appearance of these pillars has been taken to illustrate what is so often found in Scotland (both in ecclesiastic and domestic work) during the fifteenth century and onwards—viz. a tendency to imitate Norman and Early Pointed details.

Over the crossing was an upper room, known as the King's room, from which the service could be seen, but it was destroyed about the middle of this century. At the north-west corner of the church was a chapel (now removed) with a wide opening into the church. It was called Queen Margaret's, and is supposed to have been built by James IV. in honour of his queen. Another chapel was dedicated to St. Andrew at the north-east end of the nave, and is still entire. It was erected by Duncan Forrester of Garden, Knight, who was a liberal benefactor of the church.

The church is associated with many historical events. It was here that the Regent Arran publicly renounced Protestantism in 1543, and here in the following year also the Convention met that appointed Mary of Guise regent. The church, although "purged" in 1559, was not injured, and was used in 1567 for the coronation of James VI., then but thirteen months old. When General Monk in 1651 was besieging the castle, the church tower was one of the points of vantage seized by his soldiers, and the little bullet pits all over it indicate how hot must have been the fire directed against them. It was held by the Highlanders in 1746, and its bells pealed in honour of the victory at Falkirk. John Knox has preached within its venerable walls.

It was divided into two buildings in 1656, and comprises still the east and west parish churches, the east being renovated in 1869. Since then a large number of stained-glass windows have been introduced.

Church of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews.—The Hospitium or Guest Hall of St. Leonard's was founded by Prior John White in the middle of the thirteenth century for the reception of pilgrims and visitors to St. Andrews. Some remains of the guest hall have been excavated, from which it seems to have been a hall with central nave and two side aisles. The building was afterwards used as a nunnery, and in 1512 was appropriated as a college. It was then founded by Prior John Hepburn in conjunction with Archbishop Alexander Stewart. As a college, it was under the superintendence of the prior and chapter, and was for the education of twenty-four poor students. It became famous, however, and was attended by sons of noblemen. George Buchanan was at one time principal, and the college helped to spread a knowledge of sacred music throughout the country. A long range of buildings on the south side of the church was used as the students' residence. The church was long used for public worship, but after the college of St. Leonard's was united to that of St. Salvator in 1747, St. Leonard's was abandoned in 1759. Within recent times several alterations have been made on it, the steeple being taken down and the west end "set back" to give more room for access to a private house.

The chapel is an oblong, and is without division between nave and chancel. The church appears to have been extended 24 feet at the east end, when it was converted into a college.[300] The design of windows and buttresses (perpendicular) is pronounced to accord well with the date of erection in the sixteenth century, and is similar to that of English colleges. On the north side is a room with a round barrel vault, probably the sacristy.[301] There is a piscina in the east window sill.

Church of The Holy Trinity, St. Andrews.—This church, usually named the Town Church, is of ancient foundation, but was almost entirely rebuilt at the end of the eighteenth century. An early church is said to have been built here in 1112 by Bishop Turgot, and subsequently dedicated by Bishop de Bernham to the Holy Trinity. It had in its palmy days thirty altarages, each with a separate priest and fifteen choristers, and it was from the pulpit here that John Knox preached his famous sermon on the purifying of the temple. The church demolished at the close of last century is believed to have been erected in 1412.[302] The north-west tower is the only part of the old structure which survives.[303]

The parapet is plain and rests on simple corbels. Above it rises a short and stunted octagonal spire with lucarnes, like most of the late Scottish examples. There is over the staircase a small turret with pointed roof. It is carried up within the parapet, and groups picturesquely with the main spire. The tower resembles the one at Wester Crail, and both are of fifteenth century date. It is of this tower or steeple[305] that we hear in John Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland. When a captive on a French galley lying between Dundee and St. Andrews the second time that the ship returned to Scotland (probably June 1548),

The old Celtic monastic system, with Iona as its centre, was superseded by the monastic system of the Roman Church in the eleventh century, and the old Culdee monks were either driven from their ancient settlements or compelled to become Augustinian canons or Benedictine monks. The life of Queen Margaret marks the period of transition in Scotland from the old system to that of the Church of Rome both in building and in every other department, and what Queen Margaret began, her sons, Edgar, Alexander and David completed. St. Margaret had a monk of Durham for her chaplain; Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, was her chosen counsellor. She introduced Benedictines from Canterbury into her foundation at Dunfermline. Edgar and Alexander took for their adviser St. Anselm—Lanfranc's successor, preferred English priests, and peopled the monasteries with English monks. David was even more earnest in the pursuit of this policy, and the kings who followed him found little to "Anglicise." Saxon refugees were followed into Scotland by Norman knights; these were received by David and presented with lands, and the extent of their possessions is apparent in the names of the proprietors settled in every part of the country. The policy is apparent: their settlement helped to keep the country in order, and defend it from the attacks of the unsubdued tribes in the north and west. It also helped to facilitate the spread of the Roman Catholic system throughout the country. "The new colonists," says Dr. Cosmo Innes, "were of the 'upper classes' of Anglican families long settled in Northumbria, and Normans of the highest blood and name. They were men of the sword, above all service and mechanical employment. They were fit for the society of court, and many became the chosen companions of our princes. The old native people gave way before them, or took service under the strong-handed strangers, who held lands by the written gift of the sovereign."[307] ... "The new settlers were of the progressive party, friends of civilisation and the Church. They had found churches on their manors, or if not already there, had founded them. To each of these manorial churches the lord of the manor now made a grant of the tithes of his estate; his right to do so does not seem to have been questioned, and forthwith the manor—tithed to its church—became what we now call a parish."[308] Examples of these parish churches have already been considered, and the two-fold movement of a cathedral system with parochial benefices was continued for a time. It was the most effective way of superseding the old Celtic church, and the policy was throughout inspired by the aim of substituting the parochial system with a diocesan episcopacy for the old tribal churches with monastic jurisdiction and functional episcopacy. But this was accompanied by a third movement, which to a very great extent paralysed it, and became a source of weakness to religion. The parochial system was shipwrecked when scarcely formed by the introduction of monasticism, which was then in the ascendant throughout Europe. "The new monks," says Dr. Cosmo Innes, "of the reformed rule of St. Benedict or canons of St. Augustine, pushing aside the poor lapsarian Culdees, won the veneration of the people by their zealous teaching and asceticism.... The church, too, with all its dues and pertinents, was bestowed on the monastery and its patron saint for ever, reserving only a pittance for a poor priest to serve the cure, or sometimes allowing the monks to serve it by one of their own brethren. William the Lion gave thirty-three parishes to the new monastery of Arbroath, dedicated to the latest and most fashionable High Church saint, Thomas à Becket."[309]

The Church thus became territorial instead of tribal; episcopal instead of abbatial, and the new abbeys began to acquire large territory in the country. By the end of the thirteenth century the old line of Celtic kings closed in Alexander, and the movement was complete; the Church had ceased to be Celtic in usage and character, and had become Roman. This stream of tendency came from the south, and cathedrals with abbeys were constituted after English models. "Of the Scottish sees, all," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "save three or four, were founded or restored by St. David, and their cathedral constitutions were formally copied from English models. Thus the chapter of Glasgow took that of Salisbury for its guide. Dunkeld copied from the same type, venerable in its associations with the name of St. Osmund, whose "Use of Sarum" obtained generally throughout Scotland. Elgin or Moray sent to Lincoln for its pattern, and transmitted it, with certain modifications, to Aberdeen and to Caithness. So it was also with the monasteries. Canterbury was the mother of Dunfermline; Durham, of Coldingham; St. Oswald's at Nosthill, near Pontefract, was the parent of Scone, and through that house, of St. Andrews and Holyrood. Melrose and Dundrennan were daughters of Rievaux, in the North Riding. Dryburgh was the offspring of Alnwick; Paisley, of Wenlock."[310]

Roman monasticism thus became an important factor in Scottish life, and it is true to say that for a very considerable period the history both of piety and civilisation in Scotland was the history of its monasticism. It was a stage in the national development, a movement in religious progress, and it was only abolished when the salt had lost its savour, when monasticism had ceased to be spiritual and had become worldly and corrupt. The system had served its day in helping to educate the nation, and when its purpose was achieved it passed away.

Mediæval architecture was, too, the outcome of the leisure in the cloister, and the men who designed and built those venerable temples must have been men to whom their work was their religion, and who regarded it as the way of honouring God. One cannot look at their architecture without realising how true are Ruskin's definitions of Art:—"Art has for its business to praise God."[311] "Great Art is the expression of a God-made great man."[312] "Art is the expression of delight in God's work."[313] "All great art is praise." "Art is the exponent of ethical life."[314] One cannot look at their ruins and not recall that by their destruction a beauty has passed away from the earth; one cannot read of the rude forces that destroyed them, and not see that the judgment on things is always on character, and that the last testing principle is, "See—not what manner of stones, but what manner of men." While we deplore the forces that destroyed, we have also to deplore the indefensible lives of the monks which at their last stage stirred such forces to their depths.

There were four principal rules, under which might be classed all the religious orders. (1) That of St. Basil, which prevailed by degrees over all the others in the East, and which is retained by all the Oriental monks; (2) That of St. Augustine, which was adopted by the regular canons, the order of Premontré, the order of the Preaching Brothers or Dominicans, and several military orders. (3) That of St. Benedict, which, adopted successively by all the monks of the West, still remained the common rule of the monastic order, properly so called, up to the thirteenth century; the orders of the Camaldules of Vallombrosa, of the Carthusians, and of Citeaux recognised this rule as the basis of their special constitutions, although the name of monk of St. Benedict or Benedictine monk may still be specially assigned to others. (4) The Rule of St. Francis signalised the advent of the Mendicant orders in the thirteenth century. It is to be noted that the denomination of monks is not generally attributed to the religious who follow the rule of St. Augustine, nor to the Mendicant orders.[315]

The canonical hours at which the monastic bell regularly summoned the monks were seven in number:—(1) Prime, about 6 A.M.; (2) Tierce, about 9 A.M.; (3) Sext, about noon; (4) Nones, from 2 to 3 P.M.; (5) Vespers, about 4 P.M. or later; (6) Compline, 7 P.M.; (7) Matins and Lauds, about midnight.

Scottish monasticism exhibited the expansion of the two main streams—the Augustinian and the Benedictine, and each subsequent order is to be regarded as an endeavour towards reform. Space will only permit us to deal with the Augustinian establishments at St. Andrews, Holyrood, and Jedburgh; with the Premonstratensian abbey of Dryburgh; with the Benedictine abbey of Dunfermline; with the Cluniacensian abbey of Paisley; with the Tyronensian abbeys of Kelso and Arbroath; with the Cistercian abbey of Melrose. The Premonstratensian order was a reform on the Augustinian, and the Cluniacensian, Tyronensian, and Cistercian orders, reforms on the Benedictine order. A study of their history and architecture in representative forms will introduce us to the piety and beauty of former days, as well as to an order of things very different from our own.[316]

St. Andrew's Priory.—The priory or Augustinian monastery was situated to the south of the cathedral (q.v.), and was founded by Bishop Robert in 1144. The structure has now almost disappeared. It comprised about twenty acres, and was enclosed about 1516 by Prior John Hepburn with a magnificent wall, which, starting at the north-east corner of the cathedral, passed round by the harbour and along behind the houses, till it joined the walls of St. Leonard's College on the south-west.

Holyrood Abbey (Midlothian).—The abbey of Holyrood was founded by King David I. in 1128 for the canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, and was dedicated in honour of the holy cross or rood brought to Scotland by his mother, Queen Margaret. This cross, called the Black Rood of Scotland, fell into the hands of the English at the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. The abbey was several times burned by the English, and the nave on the last of these occasions, 1547, was repaired with the ruins of the choir and transepts. This was used as the parish church till 1672, when it was converted into the chapel royal. In 1687 it was set apart by King James VII. for the service of the Roman Catholic Church, but was plundered and again burned at the Revolution in the following year. It remained neglected until 1758, when it was repaired and roofed; the new roof, proving too heavy for the walls, fell with a crash in 1768, destroying all the new work. It suffered neglect again till 1816, when it was repaired, and in 1857 it was still further improved.

The abbey early became the occasional abode of the kings of Scotland, and James II. was born, crowned, married, and buried in it. The foundations of a palace apart from the abbey were laid in the time of James IV., Edinburgh having then become the acknowledged capital of the country. Holyrood Palace was henceforth the chief seat of the Scottish sovereigns. In it the nuptials of James IV. were celebrated; here also Mary Queen of Scots took up her abode in 1561 on her return from France, and here James VI. dwelt much before his accession to the throne of England in 1603.

Jedburgh Abbey (Roxburghshire).—In 1118 David I., while Prince of Cumbria, founded a priory on the banks of the Jed, and placed it in possession of canons regular from the Abbey of St. Quentin at Beauvais in France. In 1147 the priory was raised to the dignity of an abbey and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, while the smaller buildings of the priory served as a nucleus for the larger buildings of the abbey. Its abbots were sometimes men of distinction, and in 1285, when John Morel was abbot, Alexander III. was married in the abbey with much ceremony to Iolanda, daughter of the Count de Dreux. In the wars between England and Scotland (1297-1300) the abbey suffered so severely that the monks were unable to inhabit it, and were billeted on other religious houses. Jedburgh had to bear the brunt of many English onslaughts, and in 1410, 1416, 1464 it was damaged by repeated attacks of the English. In 1523 both town and abbey fell before the forces of the Earl of Surrey. The abbey was stripped of everything valuable and set on fire. In 1544-1545 the process of destruction was twice repeated under Sir Ralph Eure and the Earl of Hertford respectively. In 1559 the abbey was suppressed, and its resources went to the Crown. For some years it was left a roofless ruin, and a building designed for the parish church was afterwards erected within the nave, roofed over at the level of the triforium, and used as a place of worship till 1875, when a new church built in excambion by the Earl of Lothian was opened for worship, and the abbey ruin can now be viewed "clear of that incubus upon its lovely proportions."

Like most ancient buildings that have been added to from time to time, the abbey shows different styles of architecture, and the choir, which is early Norman, is undoubtedly the oldest part. The church consists of a choir with side aisles extending eastward for two bays, beyond which was an aisleless presbytery, the east end of which is demolished; a nave of nine bays, which had vaulted side aisles; a central crossing with square tower above; a north transept well preserved, and a south transept, of which the south end is destroyed.[324]

The abbey thus completed was not permitted to remain unmolested. Described by Sir Ralph Eure as "the strength of Teviotdale," and by Hertford as "a house of some strength which might be made a good fortress," it was, as already mentioned, the frequent object of attacks by the English. It was pillaged and burnt in 1544 and 1545, and never recovered from the damage done. In 1559 the monastery was suppressed. In 1587 the bailery of the abbey was continued or restored by a grant of King James VI. to Sir Andrew Ker, and in 1622 the entire property of the lands and baronies which had belonged to the canons of Jedburgh was erected into a temporal lordship, and granted to him with the title of Lord Jedburgh. Sir Alexander Kerr of Fernieherst was ancestor to the Marquess of Lothian.[326]

Dryburgh Abbey (Berwickshire).—The name Dryburgh has been derived by some from the Celtic darach-bruach, "bank of the grove of oaks," and vestiges of pagan worship have been found in the Bass Hill, a neighbouring eminence. St. Modan, a champion of the Roman party, is said to have come hither from Ireland in the eighth century, and a monastery on very scanty evidence has been attributed to him. St. Mary's Abbey was founded by Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Constable of Scotland, in 1150. According to the Chronicle of Melrose, Beatrix de Beauchamp, wife of de Morville, obtained a charter of confirmation for the new foundation from David I.; the cemetery was said to have been consecrated on St. Martin's Day 1150, "that no demons might haunt it"; the community, however, did not come into residence till 13th December 1152.

The monks were Premonstratenses or White Friars; called by the latter name because their garb was a coarse black cassock, covered by a white woollen cape, "in imitation of the angels in heaven, who are clothed with white garments." The monks introduced were from Alnwick. "A large part of the domestic buildings seems to have been erected within fifty or sixty years of the date of the foundation, as they are built in the transition style of the beginning of the thirteenth century. The church appears to have been in progress during the thirteenth century, as in 1242 the Bishop of St. Andrews, owing to the debts incurred in building the monastery and other expenses, gave the canons permission to enjoy the revenues of the churches under their patronage, one of their number performing the office of vicar in each parish. The canons took the oath of fidelity to Edward I. in 1296, upon which their property was restored to them. Their possessions were widely spread, and extended into several counties, as appears from letters addressed by Edward regarding them to the sheriffs in the counties of Fife, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Edinburgh."[327]

Tradition states that the English under Edward II., in their retreat in 1322, provoked by the imprudent triumph of the monks in ringing the church bells at their departure, returned and burned the abbey in revenge. Dr. Hill Burton remarks that Bower cannot be quite correct in saying that Dryburgh was entirely reduced to powder, since part of the building yet remaining is of older date than the invasion. King Robert the Bruce contributed to its repair, but it has been doubted whether it ever was fully restored to its former magnificence. Certain disorders among the monks in the latter part of the fourteenth century brought the censure of Pope Gregory XI. upon its inmates. Being within twenty miles of the border, the abbey was frequently exposed to hostile English attacks, and we hear of its burning by Richard II. in 1385, by Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Bryan Latoun in 1544, and again by the Earl of Hertford in 1545—James Stewart, the abbot commendator, having with others crossed the Tweed into Northumberland and burned the village of Horncliffe. It was annexed to the Crown in 1587, and the lands were erected into a temporal barony, with the title of Lord Cardross, in favour of the Earl of Mar, from whom they have passed by purchase through the hands of several proprietors.

Chaucer was held to have visited the abbey, but the claim has been demolished by Dr. Hill Burton in Billings' Antiquities. Among the distinguished men, however, connected with the abbey was Ralph Strode, "the Philosophicall Strode," to whom and the "moral Gower" Chaucer inscribed his Troilus and Cresseide. He was a friend both of Chaucer and John Wiclif.[328] Andrew Forman was superior of Dryburgh, and was much occupied with affairs of Church and State under James IV. and James V. He was appointed in 1501 to the bishopric of Moray, holding at the same time the priories of Coldingham and Pittenweem, with the commendatorship of Dryburgh. He became afterwards Archbishop of Brouges, and finally Archbishop of St. Andrews. He is said to have written (1) Contra Lutherum, (2) De Stoica Philosophia, (3) Collectanea Decretalium.[329]

Dunfermline Abbey (Fife).—Dunfermline was from a very early period the residence of the kings of Scotland and here Malcolm Canmore had his tower; here he entertained the royal fugitives from England, and married the Princess Margaret in 1068. The Glen of Pittencrieff contains the remains of the Tower of Malcolm Canmore, and of a subsequent royal palace, and they were in 1871 pronounced by the House of Lords to be Crown property. Malcolm's Tower is believed to have been built between 1057 and 1070, and the royal palace may have been founded as early as 1100, although more likely it was not built till after the departure of Edward I. of England, in February 1304. The kings of Scotland, from Robert Bruce onward, appear to have frequently resided in the palace.

According to Turgot, Queen Margaret, after her marriage, founded a church "in that place where her nuptials were celebrated," and it was dedicated to the Holy Trinity in 1074. It became the place of royal sepulture, and Queen Margaret was buried within it. There are frequent references from this time onwards of grants to the church of the Holy Trinity, and to interments of royal personages therein. "The original church of Canmore," says Professor Innes, "perhaps not of stone, must have been replaced by a new edifice when it was dedicated in the reign of David I.,"[333] and Messrs. MacGibbon and Ross add

The same authorities think that the original church of Malcolm stood where the new choir was afterwards erected, and that David I. added the Norman nave to it.

Alexander I. seems to have contemplated its erection into an abbey, and in the year of his succession David I. remodelled it as a Benedictine Abbey, and placed in it an abbot and twelve brethren brought from Canterbury. By the close of the thirteenth century it had become one of the most magnificent institutions in Scotland.

David I., after introducing the Benedictine order, probably added the Norman nave to the then existing church erected by his royal parents, and it was evidently resolved at no distant time from this to rebuild the early church and form a new choir and transept worthy of the new settlement. This was done, and between 1216 and 1226 the choir, aisles, transept, and presbytery were erected, and Abbot Patrick, formerly Dean and Prior of Canterbury, presided at Dunfermline during the whole of the above time. Appeals were made to the Popes Honorius III. and Gregory IX. on account of the expenses incurred by church erection and the increase of the number of canons from thirty to fifty.

In the dispute of 1249 regarding the consecration of the new choir, Pope Honorious IV. decided that a new consecration was not necessary, as the consecrated walls of the oldest part (the nave) continued in use. In that year Queen Margaret was canonised, and in 1250 her body was transferred from the old church to the new lady chapel in presence of all the chief men of the kingdom. "The translation of the saintly foundress," says Professor Innes, "was probably arranged to give solemnity to the opening of the new church."[336] This is known in history as the "Translation of S. Margaret," and the "grate companie" of king, nobles, bishops, abbots, and dignitaries in procession kept time "to the sound of the organ and the melodious notes of the choir singing in parts." Soon after this, describing what it had become towards the close of the thirteenth century, Matthew of Westminster wrote: "Its boundaries were so ample, containing within its precincts three carrucates of land, and having so many princely buildings, that three potent sovereigns, with their retinues, might have been accommodated with lodgings here at the same time without incommoding one another." In 1244 it had become a mitred abbey, Pope Innocent IV. having, at the request of Alexander II., empowered and authorised the abbot to assume the mitre, the ring, and other pontifical ornaments; and in the same year, in consideration of the excessive coldness of the climate, he granted to the monks the privilege of wearing caps suitable to their order; but they were, notwithstanding, enjoined to show proper reverence at the Elevation of the Host and other ceremonies.[337]

"This sumptuous pile," says Professor Innes, "was destroyed and levelled with the ground by the soldiers of Edward in 1303, excepting only the church and a few dwellings for the monks[338]—Edward I. of England having occupied it from 6th November 1303 to 10th February 1304. It was restored, probably in much less than its former magnificence, after Bruce was settled on the Scottish throne, and it evidently remained in that condition until 28th March 1560, when the choir, transepts, and belfry were, with the monastic buildings, "cast down.""

It was a very wealthy abbey, and the greater part of the lands in the western, southern, and eastern districts of Fife, as well as in other counties, belonged to it. The abbey also possessed many rights, and the abbot was Superior of lands—the property of others—and received the resignation of his vassals sitting on their bended knees, and testifying all due humility. The abbot and convent were invested with the power of enforcing their rights by excommunication, and they exercised it on several occasions. The abbey possessed the right of a free regality, with civil jurisdiction equivalent to that of a sheriff over the occupiers of the lands belonging to it, and with a criminal jurisdiction equivalent to that of the Crown, wielding the power of life and death. A bailie of regality, appointed by the abbot, and officiating in his name, resided in an edifice called the Bailie House, near the Queen's House, and presided in the regality courts.

The abbey church succeeded Iona as a place of royal sepulture, and kings, queens, and princes were buried within it. Gordon gives the list of eight kings, five queens, seven princes, and two princesses, besides other notable persons,[339] so that it may well be called the "Scottish Westminster."

Paisley Abbey (Renfrewshire).—In his history of this great abbey, the Very Rev. Dr. Cameron Lees thus describes its situation:—

Paisley illustrates what was said by Dr. Cosmo Innes regarding the country as a whole.

The Church became the great factor in the development of civilisation throughout the district. Had not the monastic system been good, it would not have lasted so long; had it not had within it the elements of weakness, it would not have come to such an untimely end. And even while we criticise it is well to recall the words of Newman: "Not a man in Europe who talks bravely against the Church, but owes it to the Church that he can talk at all."[363]

The great abbey of Paisley was much to its neighbourhood, and its history is the history of its district. It is a memorial of the coming to Scotland of the great family of Stewart, which has left such a deep impress on Scottish history. Walter, son of Alan of Shropshire, joined David I. at the siege of Winchester, and the king showed to him great favour, taking him into his household, and conferring on him the title of Lord High Steward of Scotland. King Malcolm was even more generous, ratified the title to Walter and his heirs, and bestowed on him a wide territory, chiefly in Renfrewshire.[364] The Steward soon colonised after the fashion of the time, built a castle for himself in the neighbourhood of Renfrew, and gave holdings to his followers throughout the wide territory of Strathgyff, as his Renfrewshire property was called. But in those days no colonisation was complete without a monastery, and this the Lord High Steward proceeded to found, entering into an agreement with Humbold, Prior of Wenlock Abbey in the native county of his family, to establish at "Passelay" a house of the Cluniac Order of Benedictines, being the same order as the house at Wenlock. Humbold in 1169 brought thirteen monks from the parent house, and, having settled them at Renfrewshire in an island of the Clyde called the King's Inch, returned to Wenlock. There was at this time in Paisley an early church, dedicated to St. Mirinus, an Irish saint of the sixth century, and a disciple of the great school of St. Congal at Bangor. St. Mirin was a contemporary of St. Columba, and must have been a friend of the great apostle of Scotland. He was probably the founder of the early Celtic church at Paisley, and seems to have been an itinerant preacher round the district, regarding Paisley as his centre, where at last, "full of miracles and holiness, he slept in the Lord." It matters little whether these legends regarding miracles are historically correct, for the value lies in the moral of them. "The falsehood would not have been invented unless it had started in a truth, and in all these legends there is set forth the victory of a good and beneficent man over evil, whether it be of matter or of spirit."[365]

When the monks had founded their church at Paisley they dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, to St. James, St. Milburga, and St. Mirinus. St. James was the patron saint of the Stewarts, and to him the church on the Inch of Renfrew, where the monks first took up their abode, was dedicated. St. Milburga was the patron saint of Wenlock, and it was natural that the Shropshire monks should place their new home at Paisley under the patronage of a saint whom they held in reverence, and who was a link between Paisley and the scene of former days. St. Mirinus was the Celtic saint of the neighbourhood, and by calling the new monastery after his name they reconciled the sympathies of the people to themselves, and connected their church with the old historic church of Scotland. The monastery was at first in the second rank of religious houses, and was ruled by a prior. The abbey of Clugny was very jealous of raising any of its subordinate houses to the rank of an abbey, but it was very inconvenient for the monastery of Paisley to be in subjection to one so far away as the French abbot, and commissioners appointed by a papal bull in 1219 decreed that the monks of Paisley might proceed to the canonical election of an abbot, the patron of Paisley, the Lord High Stewart, also giving his permission. Twenty-six years later, the abbot of Clugny surrendered his rights, which had been reserved by the papal bull,—the monks, through the Bishop of Glasgow, promising prompt payment of the two marks for the future, and undertaking that the abbot of Paisley should personally or by proxy visit Clugny every seven years to make obeisance and render an account to his superior.[366]

William was probably the first abbot of Paisley, and he presided from 1225 to 1248. He established and consolidated the prosperity of the convent, and obtained from the Popes several bulls conferring privileges on the monastery.[367]

The following picture, drawn by a master-hand, has been applied by Dr. Lees to the monastic life at Paisley during the prosperous reigns of Alexander II. and III.

The abbey church was a parish church, within the territory of which the house of Elderslie was situated, and the connection of the family of Elderslie with the monks of Paisley would naturally be very close. Wallace himself was probably educated at the school of the Paisley Clunaics,[370] and the influence of the abbey may have helped to mould within him the character which Fordun thus describes:—

The monks of Paisley during the times of Wallace and Bruce were on the patriotic side. After Bruce had murdered the Red Comyn before the altar of the Franciscan friars at Dumfries, the deed lay heavy on his conscience, and the Steward used his influence with the Pope to procure absolution. A commission was issued to the abbot of Paisley by Berengarius, the penitentiary of the Pope, to absolve the Bruce and appoint him proper penance for his crime.

James, the Steward, died on 16th July 1309, and, like the earlier Stewarts, was probably buried in the ruined abbey. He was succeeded by his son Walter, who married Marjory, the daughter of Robert the Bruce. Their married life was short, and the untimely death of Marjory took place within a year. Walter died at Bathgate in 1326, and, like his wife, was buried in the abbey.

Robert, the son of Walter and Marjory, was but a boy of ten or eleven years of age at his father's death, but he was a boy with great expectations. Failing the death of the king's son without heirs, the Scottish Parliament had solemnly ratified his succession to the Scottish throne. King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, and his only son, David II., succeeded him. By neither of his marriages had he any issue, and he was succeeded by his sister's son, Robert II., who became the founder of the Stewart dynasty.

Under royal favour and patronage the abbey entered on a course of prosperity, unbroken till the time of the Reformation. Robert II. died in 1390, and was buried at Scone.

Robert III. had two sons, the elder of whom was David, Duke of Rothesay (1378-1402). He was under the guardianship of Albany, who after a short time starved him to death at Falkland. Robert, anxious for the safety of his younger son, James, resolved to send him to France, but on his way thither he was captured by an English vessel, and thereafter imprisoned in the Tower of London. There is good reason for believing that Albany and the Douglases had to do with the imprisonment of the Prince, and they did everything to prevent his release. When the news was brought to the king in the castle of Rothesay, he succumbed to paroxysms of grief, and died 4th April 1406.

He was buried in the abbey of Paisley before the high altar, and was the last of the Stewarts who was laid there.[375]

After the destruction of the abbey, caused by the wars with England, the edifice seems to have remained for long in a dismantled condition, but gifts having been received from the Bishops of Argyle and Glasgow to aid the restoration of the building, the work was begun. Besides, the abbey was from 1388 to 1408 under the ban of excommunication, and this must have powerfully added to the delay in the building operations. Part of this work was carried out under Abbot Lithgow (1384-1433), who was buried by his own desire in the north porch, where his memory is still preserved. The chief part of the rebuilding of the abbey church was carried out under Abbot Thomas de Tervas (1445-1459). The Chronicle of Auchinleck says of this abbot:—

Abbot Thomas is said to have obtained the privilege of having a tavern and selling wine within the gates of the monastery, and is believed to have raised money thereby for the reconstruction of his church.[377] The quaint language of the ancient Chronicle of Auchinleck, translated into ordinary English, means that besides journeying to Rome and procuring the articles mentioned, he carried up the triforium and clerestory, finished the roof, erected a great part of the steeple, and built a stately gate-house.

At the death of Abbot Tervas, Pope Pius II. decreed that the disposition of the office and of the whole revenues of the monastery should fall to the Pope, and he appointed Henry Crichton, a monk of Dunfermline, to be commendator of the abbey, and assigned a pension of 300 florins out of the revenues to Pietro Barlo, Cardinal of St. Mark's in Venice, to be paid to him by Henry and his successors at the Feast of St. John the Baptist, under pain of excommunication, in case of his failing to make payment within thirty days after the appointed term, and total deprivation if he persisted in his opposition six months after his excommunication. When he got himself fairly installed as abbot he declined to pay the stipulated pension to the Cardinal of St. Mark's, and made some legal quibble the ground of his neglect. Trouble followed, and since this, the appointment of its first commendator, the rights of the abbey began to be invaded. Abbot George Shaw (1472-1498) endeavoured to guard the monastery against encroachments; he built a refectory and other structures, reared a lofty tower over the principal gate, enclosed the church, the precincts of the convent, the gardens, and a little park for deer within a wall about a mile in circuit.[378] Of this once magnificent wall, with its four-sided beautiful stones and lofty statues, very few fragments now remain, but there are still two tablets that belonged to it. The central shield bears the royal arms, the shields to the right and left of it the Stewart arms and the abbot's own; and there is an inscription by the pious builder himself, which is as follows:—

It has been thought that this inscription was designed by John Morow, whose name appears on a tablet in Melrose Abbey.[379]

The fifth line is chiselled away, and was possibly deleted because it did not harmonise with the theology of the Reformed Church.

Abbot George Shaw was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Shaw, vicar of Munkton, and a son of the Governor of Stirling. He was canonically elected, and his election was approved by the Crown,—the Pope also gave his consent on condition that Robert Shaw should take the monastic habit within six months, and decreed that the old abbot should enjoy as his pension a third part of the fruits of the monastery, and might return to his former position when he thought proper. Robert Shaw took office in 1498, and his uncle lived for some years after, "the pensioner of the abbey" as he is called in charters. George Shaw died probably in 1505, and Dr. Lees says of him:—

This refers to the creation of Paisley as a burgh by Abbot Shaw, who obtained in 1488 a charter creating the village of Paisley into a free burgh of barony, and thereby raising the status of the people both socially and politically. The burgher was no longer in the condition of a serf or slave, who could be transferred from one master to another, and he escaped from all the severities and exactions of the feudal system. The burghs had power of self-government, and were able to develop commercial and industrial operations. The burgh of Paisley was endowed with the usual privileges, and a right to hold a market every Monday, and two yearly fairs—one on the day of St. Mirren, and the other on the day of St. Marnock. In 1490 the abbot and chapter granted to the magistrates of the burgh in feu-farm the ground on which the old town stands and certain other privileges.

After an examination of the Rental Book, Dr. Lees regards it as "corroborating all that historians tell us regarding the lands of those ecclesiastics being the best cultivated and the best managed in Scotland.... The neighbourhood of a convent was always recognisable by the well-cultivated land and the happy tenantry which surrounded it, and those of the Abbey of Paisley were no exception to the general rule prevailing throughout the rest of Scotland.[381]

During the fifteenth century many altars were erected and endowed by the burgesses, and the Chapel of St. Mirin, which occupies part of the site of the south transept, was erected in 1499, and endowed by James Crawford of Kylwynet, a burgess of Paisley, and his wife.

Abbot Robert (1498-1525) was received on 19th October 1525 as Bishop of Moray in the cathedral of his northern diocese, and the next abbot was John Hamilton, a natural son of the Earl of Arran, who had entered the church as a monk of Kilwinning, and whom Magnus speaks of with contempt as a "yonge thing." The earl was high in favour with the queen, who had at the time the disposal of the church benefices, and he wished the bishopric for his son. The queen, however, appointed Abbot Robert to the see of Moray, and Hamilton to the abbey of Paisley. It was one of the deeds of shame enacted in the Scottish Church which ultimately brought its severe judgment.

Abbot John Hamilton (1525-1547) rebuilt at immense cost the first tower that appears to have had insecure foundation, and fell. It seems to have had an untimely end, falling, according to one account, with its own weight, and with it the choir of the church, or, according to an another account, being struck with lightning. In 1559, with Kilwinning and Dunfermline, the abbey of Paisley was suppressed, and what that meant can best be expressed in the words of Sir Walter Scott:—

Although the monks were expelled, the people of Paisley still continued firm in adhering to the old faith, and the doors of the abbey were "steyked" against the reformed preachers. The abbot and his friends were accused as

It was a serious charge, and if proven was punishable by death. Hamilton had a powerful friend in Queen Mary, who interfered in his behalf, and he and his companions were committed to ward.

Besides retaining the office of abbot at Paisley, Hamilton was appointed Bishop of Dunkeld in 1543-44 by his brother, acting for the Queen, and after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, on 29th May 1546, was raised to the position of Archbishop of St. Andrews and Primate of Scotland. Probably he never returned to Paisley until, in the adversities of his later years, and the monastery being sacked and burnt by the Reformers, he was forced to take refuge at Dumbarton Castle, where he was made prisoner, and afterwards executed at Stirling. The Master of Sempill had been appointed bailie of the monastery, and, at the dissolution, the whole of the church property was handed over to Lord Sempill. The property finally came into the possession of Lord Claud Hamilton, nephew of the archbishop, and the monastic buildings were converted into the "Place of Paisley," the residence of the Abercorn family.

After the archbishop's execution his body was quartered, and afterwards buried, probably in Paisley. Dr. Lees says:—

Amid all that is said against the last archbishop of the old Church of Scotland, and the last abbot of Paisley, it is well to recall that the "Catechisme," which usually passes under his name, from having been printed at his expense at St. Andrews in 1552, exhibits a solitary instance of an attempt on the part of the old Roman Catholic clergy to convey spiritual instruction to the people, and is creditable to Archbishop Hamilton's memory.[384]

Referring to the disposal of the abbey property, Dr. Lees says:—

Prior to the Reformation the monastery consisted of a church, the cloister and conventual buildings. The church comprised a long aisleless choir, a nave with aisles, a north transept, a south transept, with St. Mirin's Chapel attached to the south of it, and a tower and spire over the crossing.[386]

The nave is still used as the parish church. About 1782 it was in a dreadful condition. The roof was full of holes, through which the birds obtained free access, "distracting the attention of the worshippers in time of sermon." They built their nests and reared their young under the arches of the clerestory. A few of the gentry had "lofts" or galleries, but the bulk of the worshippers brought their seats to church with them, while the poorest sat upon stones on the earthen floor.[406] Things had become so bad that the heritors thought of pulling down the abbey, and building a "commodious kirk" with the stones.[407] This insane proposal was averted from execution by the energy and wisdom of the Rev. Dr. Boog, minister of the First Charge in 1782, and to him the country owes the credit of preserving all that now remains. "He received much assistance from the Dowager Countess of Glasgow, who resided at Hawkhead, and through their joint exertions the Abbey was not only saved from destruction, but was repaired in a way which, considering the ignorance of that time on the subject of restoration, was highly creditable."[408] Dr. Lees describes the condition of the building at his induction in 1859 as dreadful: "The interior was like a vault in a churchyard."[409] But thanks to the exertions of the Rev. Mr. Wilson and Dr. Lees himself, several thousand pounds were collected and spent in remedying this state of affairs. The church was made seemly as a venerable temple for prayer ought to be. "The unsightly galleries were taken down, the floor cleared of the accumulated rubbish of centuries, the body of the church re-seated, the clerestory windows opened up, the transept walls and windows restored, and the turrets rebuilt. Men of all creeds contributed to the work, and when the Abbey, on the 27th April 1862, was re-opened for public worship, it could scarcely be recognised, so changed was it from its former condition."[410] In closing his splendid volume Dr. Lees adds, "We trust the time is not far distant when the Abbey of the first Stewart will stand forth again in all its pristine beauty—with transept, and choir, and tower, as in the days of the founder." That hope will soon pass into a reality, and Scotland will have a completely restored abbey church used as a parish church.

Kelso Abbey (Roxburghshire).—In 1113 David, Earl of Huntingdon, and heir-presumptive to the Scottish throne, introduced a colony of thirteen Reformed Benedictine monks from the newly founded abbey of Tiron in Picardy, and planted it near his forest castle of Selkirk. He endowed it with large possessions in Scotland, and a valuable territory in his southern earldom of Huntingdon, but the French monks were dissatisfied with their position on the banks of the Ettrick, and on David's accession to the throne of his brother he removed them from Selkirk—"a place unsuitable for an abbey"—and established the monastery "at the Church of the Blessed Virgin on the bank of the Tweed, beside Roxburgh, in the place called Calkow."[411] The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin and St. John the Baptist. Its first abbot was Ralph, one of the French monks, and the Scotch chronicles state that he succeeded St. Bernard, the reformer of the order, in his abbacy at Tiron, on his death in 1116, but Dr. Cosmo Innes thinks this can scarcely be reconciled with the succession of abbots as given by the French writers.[412] The monastery soon became the richest and most powerful in Scotland, and in 1165 the Pope granted permission to the abbot to wear the mitre, and the abbot claimed precedence of all the superiors of monasteries in Scotland. In 1420 this precedence was decided by James I. in favour of the prior of St. Andrews.[413] Many of the abbots were distinguished men, who were employed in the affairs of the kingdom, and several were promoted to bishoprics.[414] Foremost in rank and power, the monks of Kelso also vindicated their place by the practice of the monastic virtues, and a copy of Wyntoun's Chronicle is supposed to have been written at Kelso.[415] They seem to have recalled the saying, claustrum sine lîteratura vivi hominis est sepultura ("the cloister without literature is the grave of a living man"), and Dr. Cosmo Innes remarks

Situated as it was near the Border, the abbey suffered severely during the War of Independence. The monastery was laid waste and the monks were supported by contributions from the other houses of their own order. In 1344 the abbey buildings were destroyed by fire, and David II. granted permission to the monks to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart Forest to enable them to carry out the necessary repairs.

In 1511 the Bishop of Caithness was appointed commendator, and decline of the abbey soon followed. After the battle of Flodden in 1513, David Ker of Cessford took possession of the abbey, and his brother was appointed abbot. In 1522 and 1523 invasion and havoc spread over Teviotdale; Lords Ross and Dacre pillaged the town, sparing the abbey; but in 1523 Lord Dacre sacked and burned it. The abbot's house and buildings surrounding it, the chapel of the Virgin, and the cells of the dormitory were all reduced to ashes; the lead was stripped from the roof, and the abbey rendered uninhabitable. All religious services were stopped, and the monks had to retire in want and poverty to a village near. From 1536 to 1538 James Stewart, natural son of James V., was abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk, and in 1545 the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed the abbey. On the latter occasion the garrison of the abbey—numbering 100, of whom 12 were monks—refused the summons of the Herald to surrender, and succeeded in repulsing the Spanish mercenaries, who were the first to attack the building. It was then bombarded and the monastery captured; but the garrison still held out in the strong square tower of the church, whence some of them, though strictly watched, escaped by means of ropes during the night. The next day the assault was resumed, the tower carried, and the defenders were put to the sword. The buildings were then sacked and destroyed, the order being given to "breik them" and "thake of the leied, and outer myen the towres and strong places, and to owaier trowe all." By the following Sunday this had been strictly carried out; the abbey was razed, and "all put to royen, howsses, and towres, and stypeles." The removal of the lead to Wark alone occupied the carts of the army for several days. After this the abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh shared in the fate of Kelso,[417] but, unlike it, they did not resist. Kelso Abbey was still further reduced by Lord Eure in 1546; and finally in 1560, when a few monks still remained, the buildings were attacked by the mob, and all the remaining fittings and furnishings destroyed. In 1559 the revenues and property of the abbey were taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation in the name of the Crown. The temporalities were afterwards distributed amongst the favourites of James VI., and were finally conferred on Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, who was created Lord Roxburgh in 1599. The abbey still belongs to his successor, the Duke of Roxburgh, and the remains of the late duke are buried in the south transept.[418] In 1649 a vault was thrown over the transept so as to convert it into a parish church, and above this another vault served as a prison! This is seen in Grose's view, made about a century ago.

Referring to the modern town, Dr. Cosmo Innes says:—

Considering all the dangers and neglect of the centuries, it is astonishing that so many of the ruins still exist.

Arbroath Abbey (Forfarshire).—This abbey was founded in 1178 by William the Lion, and dedicated to S.S. Mary and Thomas à Becket. Becket had been martyred at the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral only seven years before, and William the Lion had recently suffered defeat and capture by the English at Alnwick. William had been personally acquainted with Becket, and is supposed to have regarded him as a private friend.

As showing the eagerness with which King William pushed on the buildings, Hollinshed mentions that

The abbey received great endowments from King William and from many subsequent princes and barons; acquired in 1204 a charter of privileges from King John of England and was one of the foremost and richest in Scotland. Its monks were Tyronenses, and the first were brought from Kelso Abbey.

The abbots had several special privileges; they were exempted from assisting at the yearly synods; they had the custody of the Brecbennach, or consecrated banner of St. Columba; they acquired from Pope Benedict, by Bull, dated at Avignon, the right to wear a mitre, and were in some instances the foremost churchmen of the Kingdom. The abbey was toll-free, i.e. protected against the local impositions which of old beset all merchandise.

The monks made a harbour and fixed a bell on the Inchcape Rock as a warning to sailors; the abbey was burnt in 1272 and 1380.

Referring to its chartulary as a record of the names of the old Scottish families Dr. Cosmo Innes says:—

In connection with the monks he has the following interesting note:—

The last abbot was Cardinal Beaton, at the same time Archbishop of St. Andrews. The abbey suffered after the Reformation from the revenues having become the property of the Hamiltons, and as they were appropriated to the private use of that family, there were no funds to keep up the buildings, which fell gradually into decay, and were freely used by the magistrates and townspeople as a quarry. The property was converted into a temporal lordship in favour of Lord Claude Hamilton, third son of the Duke of Chatelherault.

In sketching the history of this famous abbey, the "Aberbrothock Manifesto" of 1320 must be recalled, in which it becomes manifest that the Scottish Church was never a complaisant vassal of Rome.[437] There breathes in it a spirit of freedom and natural independence, and a refusal to accept the interference of Rome in the affairs of the State. The Scottish nobles protest against the papal countenance given to the English aggressions, and distinctly tell Pope John XXII. that "not for glory, riches, or honour we fight, but for liberty alone, which no good man loses but with his life."[438]

Melrose Abbey (Roxburghshire).—The editor of the Liber de Melros has said in reference to this abbey:—

This abbey has a charming site in the hill-girt hollow known as the vale of Melrose, occupying one of those peaceful situations near a river which the Cistercians delighted to choose and colonise. An ancient monastery of Melrose had existed since the seventh century, on a broad meadow nearly surrounded by a "loop" of the Tweed, about 2½ miles lower down the river. It was established about 650 by St. Aidan, the missionary from Iona, who preached in Northumbria, and founded the abbey of Lindisfarne. Eata was the first abbot we hear of, and he was a disciple of St. Aidan. St. Cuthbert spent much of his early life at this monastery of old Melrose, and afterwards chose as the scene of his labours Hexham and Lindisfarne. The monks of Lindisfarne, when expelled by the Danes, took refuge at Melrose, and brought with them St. Cuthbert's body, which afterwards found its resting-place at Durham. In the eleventh century this old monastery of Melrose had become a ruined and desolate place. It afterwards became the retreat of a few monks, amongst whom was the celebrated Turgot, the confessor of Queen Margaret. A chapel was erected and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, which at first belonged to Coldingham, but was gifted finally by David I. to the new abbey of Melrose.

This abbey was founded in 1136 at a place then called Fordell, and was endowed by David I. and his nobles with extensive lands. The monks were of the Cistercian order, and were brought from Rievalle in Yorkshire. The original buildings were not finished till 1146, and on the 28th of July in that year the church was solemnly consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is thought that such buildings with an oratory were probably the residence of the monks, and their period would suggest the Norman style, like that of the abbeys of Kelso, Jedburgh, and Dryburgh. Every trace of these early buildings has disappeared, and, situated as it was on the border-country, Melrose Abbey was exposed to danger, and frequently suffered in the wars between the two countries. It was in the chapter-house at Melrose that the Yorkshire barons united against King John and swore fealty to Alexander II. in 1215. In 1295 Edward I. gave formal protection to its monks, and in 1296 he issued a writ ordering a restitution to them of all the property they had lost in the preceding struggle. In 1321 or 1322 the original structure was destroyed by the English under Edward II., and the abbot, with a number of the monks, was killed. In 1326 Robert I. gave a grant of £2000 to be applied to the rebuilding of the church, and in 1329, a few months before his death, he wrote a letter to his son David, requesting that his heart should be buried at Melrose and commending the monastery and the church to his successor's favour. His wish was granted, and so late as 1369 we hear of King David II. renewing his father's gift, and it is to this grant we owe a considerable part of the present building. In 1328 Edward III. ordered the restoration to the abbey of pensions and lands which it had held in England, and which had been seized by Edward II. In 1334 the same king granted a protection to Melrose in common with the other Border abbeys, and in 1341 he came to Melrose to spend Christmas. In 1385 Richard II., exasperated by his fruitless expedition into Scotland, spent a night in the abbey and caused it to be burned. Notwithstanding these disasters, the abbey increased in wealth and architectural splendour, and it was not till more severe damage and dilapidations befell it during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI. and Elizabeth, that ruin began finally to impend. The approach of the Reformation influenced its downfall, and though donations for rebuilding were given by various individuals, the abbey never recovered the damage then suffered. In 1541 James V. obtained from the Pope the abbeys of Melrose and Kelso, to be held in commendam by his illegitimate son James, who died in 1558. In 1560 all the "abbacie" was annexed to the Crown, and in 1566 Mary granted the lands to James, Earl of Bothwell, with the title of Commendator. After passing through the hands of Douglas of Lochleven and Sir John Ramsay, the estates were ultimately acquired by the Scotts of Buccleuch. The abbey gradually fell into decay through neglect. The materials were used for the erection of other structures, and Douglas built from the ruins a house which still stands to the north of the cloisters and bears the date 1590. The masonry also formed a quarry for the neighbourhood, and in 1618 the remaining portion of the structure was fitted up as the parish church, "and in order to render it secure, a plain pointed barrel vault was thrown across the nave, and was supported by plain square piers built against the old piers on the north side. The original vaulting seems to have been previously demolished."[452] A great number of the stone images of saints which filled the numerous wall niches were left untouched till 1649, when they were almost all cast down and destroyed, but by whose order is unknown. Of the abbey there now only remain the ruins of the church, and of it the most competent authorities say:—

This difference may have arisen from the plan of the original abbey of the twelfth century being adhered to in the later construction.[456]

The transepts contain the usual eastern aisle only, in which are situated four chapels.

Mediæval architecture of Scotland arranged according to the periods stated in Chapter II.:[478]—

Transition from Celtic to Norman Architecture:—Abernethy Round Tower, Perthshire (p. 7). Restennet Priory, Forfarshire (p. 7). St. Regulus, St. Andrews, Fifeshire (p. 18).

Norman Architecture:—Markinch Tower (Fifeshire). Present church modern, early church consecrated 1243; the tower is an ancient Norman building. Muthill Church (Perthshire), has Norman tower at the west end, with nave having north and south aisles and an aisleless choir. The church is now in ruins, and was built by Michael Ochiltree, who was Dean of Dunblane (1425) and Bishop (1430). St. Serf's, Dunning (Perthshire), has Norman tower, with elaborately carved and pointed archway opening from the tower into the church, which has been greatly altered. The W. gable wall of the church and part of the N. and E. wall are original. There appears to have been a chancel; the ancient corbels at N. parapet survive, and the raggle of the original roof is seen against the E. side of the tower. Church mentioned here in 1219 (ecclesia sancti servani de Dunnyne). Cruggleton Church (Wigtownshire), in ruins; has early Norman chancel arch and north doorway recently restored; the plan shows a simple oblong with chancel arch. Monymusk Church (Aberdeenshire), founded by Malcolm Canmore; remains of ancient Norman church in lower part of the tower and chancel arch, incorporated in modern church on old site. Ancient Celtic centre. St. Brandon's, Birnie (Morayshire), has nave and chancel without aisles; chancel has no window in E. wall, but round-headed windows in N. and S. walls; chancel arch has semicircular attached shaft with moulded base and heavy Norman cap, with numerous sub-divisions. Advanced date. Stone font of Norman design, and Celtic bell. St. Oran's Chapel, Iona (p. 65). St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle, comprises a nave with chancel arch and chancel, which has a round apse, formed within the square E. end of the exterior. The genuine surviving Norman masonry begins below the line of the S. windows; rest later work. Chancel has locker and piscina, chancel arch decorated with chevron design, nave arched roof is later than the walls. Chapel is a fairly advanced example of Norman work in plan and decoration. Dunfermline Abbey (p. 139). Kirkwall Cathedral (p. 69). St. Blane's Church (Bute) has oblong nave and chancel separated by lofty wall with chancel arch. Norman masonry in nave and chancel arch. Dalmeny Church (p. 102). Leuchars Church (p. 104). Bunkle Church (Berwickshire) has Norman work in ruined semicircular apse, with arch leading into it, and may be earlier than 12th century. Edrom Church (Berwickshire) has still surviving a Norman doorway of beautiful design, now an entrance to a burial vault. An aisle is attached to the church, and was founded by Archbishop Blackadder in 1499; two angle buttresses are of interest. Legerwood (Berwickshire) has attached to the parish church (old, but frequently repaired), and cut off by a wall, the roofless ruins of the original Norman chancel. A Celtic interlaced stone is built into the S. wall near the W. end. Chirnside (Berwickshire) has Norman work in the doorway of the ruined church, and at the sides there are remains of a projection, probably a porch. A western tower, vaulted in stone, was removed in 1750. St. Helen's Church (Berwickshire), near Cockburnspath, now in ruins, was a Norman structure, with the exception of the W. gable wall (14th or 15th century). It was barrel-vaulted throughout, and the N. chancel wall is entire. There is a narrow E. window. Tyninghame Church (Haddingtonshire) was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred; the structural remains exhibit elaborate ornamental work of the Norman style. Stobo Church (Peeblesshire) is a Norman structure, to which alterations and additions have been made in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was the church of a plebania, with subordinate churches. Duddingston (Mid-Lothian) is a Norman edifice, used since 12th century as the parish church. It has been much altered, originally consisting of nave, chancel, and perhaps tower, and the chancel arch is the only Norman feature now remaining in the interior. St. Andrew's Church, Gullane (Haddingtonshire), is now a roofless ruin, and was made collegiate in 1446. The semicircular chancel arch is almost the only part of the 12th century work now surviving. Uphall Church and St. Nicholas Church (Linlithgowshire). Uphall Church, consisting of nave, chancel, western tower, is a Norman structure throughout, much altered. When this became the parish church in the 16th century, St. Nicholas (one mile east) was abandoned. Two relics of it remain—the font, of which the basin is old, and the bell, now used in Uphall Church, and dated 1441. Abercorn (Linlithgowshire). A church was founded here in 675 under St. Wilfrid, and became the see of the earliest bishopric in Scotland from 681 to 685. The monks were forced to retire to Whitby, but the site was occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure (the round-headed doorway in S. wall) is of Norman date. The tympanum is filled with stones arranged in zig-zag patterns. The church has been altered in modern times; there are good specimens in the churchyard of hog-backed tombstones, with figures of fish scale pattern arranged in rows, and scales of a squarer shape. Kelso Abbey (p. 169).

St. Martin's Church (Haddington) is a very ancient chapel; a simple oblong; portion of barrel vault still exists; choir formerly existed; the arch is late Norman in design. Kirkliston Church, Linlithgowshire, has ancient tower and Norman doorways (S. and N.E.), and belonged originally to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. St. Mary's, Ratho, Mid-Lothian, has Norman work preserved in doorway in S.W. wall. St. Peter's, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, has chancel of Norman period. St. Mary's, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, had a nave with side aisles and a chancel, but of the ancient church only a fragment now remains in the E. wall with eastern tower attached to it. The E. wall masonry indicates the Norman period, and the eastern tower, although built against, had no connection with the church, while it is of later erection by two or three centuries. Lamington Church (Lanarkshire) has the old N. doorway still preserved. St. Boswell's Church, Roxburghshire, has been entirely rebuilt, but has some relics of carved corbels and other fragments of Norman date. Smailholm Church, Roxburghshire, is distinctly a Norman structure throughout its entire length, although greatly altered in the 17th century. Linton Church, Roxburghshire, is old, but has been restored and renewed. There is a Norman font, and a sculpture in the tympanum of the ancient church doorway may possibly represent St. George and the Dragon, or Faith overcoming Evil. It was placed in 1858 over the entrance to a new porch then erected. Duns Church, Berwickshire, had the chancel of the ancient structure existing until 1874, when it was removed, and not a stone now remains. Its masonry, judged from a photograph, looks very like Norman work. St. Lawrence Church, Lundie, Forfarshire, was a Norman structure, of which little remains except the ashlar walls, a narrow window, and outside check for a shutter. The chancel arch was built up in 1786, when the apse appears to have been taken down; the top of a sacrament house of late date survives. Kirkmaiden Church, Wigtownshire, has a nave that appears to be of Norman date, and there is an apparent chancel at the east end, but its dimensions and origin are not distinct. Herdmanston Font, Haddingtonshire, is a relic of the Norman period, and stands in the burial vault of the Sinclairs of Herdmanston.

The Transition Style.—Dundrennan Abbey (Cistercian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by David I. about 1142. Portions of N. and S. transepts, choir, chapter-house, some cellar walls and other walls, with a few carved caps now remain. Queen Mary was welcomed at the abbey after her flight from Langside, and embarked for England from Port Mary, at the mouth of the Abbey Burn. Jedburgh Abbey (p. 129). Kinloss Abbey (Cistercian), Morayshire, was founded by David I. in 1150, and colonised from Melrose. The enlightened Robert Reid, founder of the College of Edinburgh, was its abbot in 1528. Till 1650 the buildings were tolerably entire, and were then used to construct Cromwell's citadel at Inverness. The remains are now mere fragments. The Nunnery, Iona (p. 68). St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen (p. 78). Coldingham Priory (Benedictine), Berwickshire, was founded or refounded in 1098 by Edgar, son of Queen Margaret, and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, S.S. Mary and Ebba. The canons of Durham controlled it until 1504, and in 1509 it was placed under the rule of Dunfermline. It suffered both from fire and its nearness to the Border; it was also damaged by Cromwell, and was afterwards used as a quarry. Little of the monastery now remains, and of the church only the N. and E. walls of the choir and fragments of the S. transept. In 1662 the W. and S. walls of the choir were rebuilt to make that part of the edifice suitable for worship, and in 1854-55 the choir was restored, its W. and S. walls being again partly rebuilt, S. porch added, and the corner turrets carried up to their present height. Stones are preserved of an earlier church than the existing one. Dryburgh Abbey (p. 134). Airth Church (Stirlingshire) dates from the period about the beginning of the 13th century, but only a small part of the early structure remains—a bay of what has been a nave arcade, opening into a north aisle. Lasswade Church, Mid-Lothian, had an old church, consisting of oblong chamber and tower. The S. wall doorway and tower reveal Transition work about first half of 13th century. Bathgate Church, Linlithgowshire, is now a ruin, being abandoned in 1739 for a new church. The doorway is almost the only feature of its architecture left, and its details are of transitional period. In the church is a recumbent statue.

First Pointed Period.—St. Andrews Cathedral and Priory (pp. 13, 123); St. Mary's, Kirkheugh, St. Andrews (p. 102); Arbroath Abbey (p. 177); Holyrood Abbey (p. 124). Kilwinning Abbey (Tironensian), Ayrshire, was erected on a site occupied in the 8th century by an Irish monk called St. Winnan, who is believed to be the same as St. Finnan of Moville. On the spot sanctified by his cell the monastery was erected in the 12th century by Richard or Hugh Moville, who came from England, was created by the Scottish king Great Constable of the Kingdom and presented with the lordships of Cuninghame, Largs, and Lauderdale. The church was erected early in 13th century. The buildings were destroyed shortly after the Reformation, and the parish church was erected on the site of the choir about 1775. The ruins consist of S. wall and gable of S. transept, one pier with respond and arch between S. transept and E. aisle; handsome door which led from nave to cloisters; entrance to the chapter-house from cloisters; long ancient wall which formed the wall of S. aisle of nave; some portions of W. end of nave and S.W. tower. The N. tower remained complete till this century, and a new tower has in recent times been erected on its site. Dunblane Cathedral (p. 47). Inchmahome Priory (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded and endowed by Walter Comyn, fourth Earl of Menteith, and the church, which has striking resemblances in detail to the neighbouring cathedral of Dunblane, evidently dates about 1250. Inchmahome means Isle of Rest, and the church is fairly well preserved. In 1543 Queen Mary, as a child, found refuge here along with her mother after the battle of Pinkie, and stayed for some months. Dr. John Brown has charmingly written about the young queen's miniature or child's garden—a small flower plot, the boxwood edging of which has grown up into a thick shrubbery. Elgin Cathedral (p. 40). Pluscarden Priory (Valliscaulian), Morayshire, was, along with Beauly and Ardchattan, founded by Alexander II. for the Order of Vallis Caulium. Pluscarden is situated in a long, well-sheltered valley. About 1460, when the monks had become corrupt, they were superseded by the Black Benedictine monks from Dunfermline, and the priory became dependent on that house. The last prior was Alexander Dunbar, and the first lay prior Lord Seton. The existing buildings consist chiefly of the remains of the church—an aisleless choir N. and S. transepts with eastern aisles, and square tower. There is no nave. The monastic buildings consist of the sacristy, or St. Mary's aisle, the chapter-house, the slype, and monks' hall—the whole forming the E. side of the cloisters. To the S.E. of cloister garth is probably the prior's house. The oldest parts are transepts with eastern aisles, built doubtless soon after the foundation. Glasgow Cathedral (p. 22). Brechin Cathedral (p. 44). Lindores Abbey (Tironensian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1178 by David, Earl of Huntingdon, grandson of David I., and brother of King William the Lion. The church of Dundee belonged to the monks of Lindores, and the name Lindores is believed to mean "church by the water." Alexander III., Wallace, Edward I., David II. visited the abbey, and the Duke of Rothesay was buried in the church. James, Earl of Douglas, passed the last years of his life here. Two small coffins, found buried in the choir, are believed to have contained the remains of two children of Earl David, the founder. The buildings, entering from the E. side of the cloister, are the best preserved, and of the church little but the foundations and some portions of the wall survive. Adjoining S. transept is the vaulted slype, and the room over it may have been the scriptorium or library. The night passage of the monks led through that apartment, as the stair was in S.W. angle of transept, and could only be thus reached. Cambuskenneth Abbey (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded by David I. about 1147. James III. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark, were interred before the high altar, and a stone altar monument has been erected over their remains by Queen Victoria. The detached tower at the W. is almost the only part remaining in a completed state; the W. doorway is nearly entire, as is also portion of gable wall and side walls at S.E. corner of the buildings. Culross Abbey (Cistercian) and Parish Church, Perthshire. The abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm, Earl of Fife, and considerable remains of that period, and some walls of what might be of earlier date, still survive, but principal parts of existing church are of later date. A few fragments of the monastic structure survive. The tower divides the E. from the W. church. The aisleless choir serves as parish church. The old parish church is a ruinous structure, about one mile N.W. from the abbey; plain oblong; in 1633 the abbey became the parish church. Beauly Priory (Valliscaulian), Inverness-shire, was founded in 1230 and endowed by Sir John Bisset of Lovat. The ruined church survives, but has been sadly abused. Monastic buildings have nearly disappeared. First Pointed was later here than elsewhere. Newbattle or Newbotle Abbey (Cistercian), Mid-Lothian, was founded by David I. in 1140 for monks brought from Melrose. It was a great house, and about 1350 its annual income could maintain eighty monks and seventy lay brethren, with the corresponding establishment. The last abbot was Mark Ker, and the lordship of Newbotle was conferred on his son. The abbey appears to have been almost abolished shortly after the Reformation, the only parts of the monastic buildings allowed to remain being the fratery and portions of the chapter-house, which were incorporated with the mansion-house. The nave of the church contained 10 bays; the choir and presbytery comprised 1½ bay. The piers supported a tower over the crossing, and the architecture of the transepts was massive. Lismore Cathedral (p. 59). St. Kentigern's, Lanark, was ancient parish church; abandoned for new one about 1777. It consisted of two six-bayed aisles, each with a chancel, but without a nave; there remain the lofty pointed arches dividing the two aisles, the wall of the S. one, and a fragment of the chancels. In the S. wall is a beautiful doorway. Burntisland Church, Fifeshire, Prestonkirk, Haddingtonshire, Cowie, Aberdeenshire, also illustrate in whole or part this period. Deer Abbey (Cistercian), Aberdeenshire, was founded in 1218, and succeeded a church founded in 580 by St. Columba and his nephew Drostan. The conventual buildings now existing are subsequent in date to the founding of the abbey church (completed first), and this may account for the abbot demitting office in 1267, "choosing rather to live in the sweet converse of his brethren at Melrose than to govern an unworthy flock under the lowly roofs of Deir." Luffness Monastery, Redfriars, Haddingtonshire, was founded by Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, in 1286. The church consisted of nave and choir, without aisles; the choir has arched recess and much-worn effigy. The remains consist mostly of foundations. Tungland Abbey (Premonstratensian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by Fergus, first lord of Galloway, in 12th century, and is now represented by only one doorway. Inchcolm Abbey (Augustinian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1123 by Alexander I., who had been driven ashore on the island by a storm, and was maintained with his followers for three days by a hermit who made Inchcolm his retreat. There is still a small cell covered with a pointed barrel vault, which may have been his abode. The island was the cradle of religion in E. Scotland, and may have been visited by St. Columba himself. Like Inchkeith, the Bass, Isle of May, and Fidra, it possesses early ecclesiastical remains. The island, like Iona, was celebrated as a place of burial. The monastic buildings date from 1216 chiefly; Walter Bower continued the Scotichronicon in the abbey. The ruins consist of the cloister court with church on N. side, and chapter-house beyond E. range. To the N. of the church was possibly the infirmary. The S.E. has cellars, stores, and offices. First Pointed work is also found at the churches of Deer; Auchindoir; St. Cuthbert's, Monkton; St. Nicholas, Prestwick; Altyre; St. Mary's, Rattray; Abdie; St. Ninian's on the Isle; St. Colmanel's, Buittle; Cockpen; Pencaitland; Gogar Font.

Middle Pointed or Decorated Architecture.—New Abbey or Sweetheart Abbey (Cistercian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was dedicated to the Virgin. It was called New Abbey because it was founded a considerable time after Dundrennan, which was regarded as the old abbey. The founder was Devorgilla, daughter of Allan, Lord of Galloway, wife of John Baliol of Castle Barnard in Yorkshire, and mother of King John Baliol. When her husband died in 1269, Devorgilla had his heart embalmed and placed in an ivory coffin, which she carried about with her; at her death it was buried with her in a grave in front of the abbey high altar, hence the touching name of Sweetheart Abbey. She endowed the abbey, founded Balliol College, Oxford, and built the bridge over the Nith at Dumfries, portions of which still survive. The abbey suffered much last century, but it has since been well cared for, and is in good preservation. Few of our ancient churches are so well preserved, and the ruins represent a period of Scottish Gothic of which not many examples survive. The conventual buildings have been almost entirely demolished, but the church is complete, although the roof is gone, and the walls are much damaged. It comprises a nave with two side aisles, a choir without aisles, N. and S. transepts (with eastern chapels opening off them), and a square tower over the crossing. The precinct—a level field of about 20 acres—surrounds the abbey, and is still partly enclosed with a strong wall, built with large blocks of granite. Melrose Abbey (p. 184). Lincluden College, Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded anew about the end of the 14th century by Archibald, the Grim, who expelled the nuns. It was a frequent residence of the Earls of Douglas, and consisted of choir separated from nave and transept by stone screen with wide doorway. The choir is aisleless, consisting of three bays; the nave had three bays with a window in each, and aisle on S. side. The architecture is of great beauty. Fortrose Cathedral (p. 52). Crossraguel Abbey (Cluniac), Ayrshire, was founded by the Earl of Carrick and dedicated to St. Mary. The last abbot, Quentin Kennedy, in 1562 held a famous dispute with John Knox at Maybole. The abbey was much associated with the Bruces. In 1570 occurred the cruel "roasting of the abbot." George Buchanan received a pension out of the abbey revenues, and King James intended to restore it as a residence for his son Henry. The abbey ruins comprise, with the remains of the church, cloisters, and usual buildings, an outer court to the S.W. with picturesque gate-house, pigeon-house, and domestic buildings. The church is a simple oblong with choir and nave, without aisles and transepts. St. Giles', Edinburgh (p. 89). St. Michael's, Linlithgow (p. 105). St. Monans, Fifeshire, derives its name from St. Monanus, a missionary of the 8th century, who suffered martyrdom by the Danes on the Isle of May. The original chapel was replaced about 1362 by the present edifice, which suffered much at the hands of the English, and has been altered. It consists of chancel, N. and S. transepts, with tower and spire over the crossing, and is still used as the parish church. It is picturesque and interesting. Whithorn Priory (p. 56). St. Mary's, Haddington (p. 107). Fearn Abbey (Premonstratensian), Ross-shire, was founded during the reign of Alexander II. Of it there now only remain a part of the church, and the ruins of some structures attached to it. The church is a simple oblong, and part of it is still used as the parish church. Balmerino Abbey (Cistercian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1229 by Ermengard, widow of William the Lion, and her son Alexander II. Ermengard was buried in the church before the high altar; she was a liberal benefactress, and her son was a frequent visitor at Balmerino. Bishop Leslie ascribes the demolition of the abbey in 1559 to "certain most worthless men of the common people," for the damage of 1547, when Admiral Wyndham "bornt the abbey with all thyngs that were in it," seems to have been much repaired. The abbey buildings are now in a ruinous state, only the chapter-house, with the erections adjoining it, being at all well preserved. To the E. of the chapter-house are the ruins of the abbot's house. The church is situated, as the mother church at Melrose, on the S. of the cloister, and consisted of nave with S. aisle, transepts with the usual eastern aisle, and short presbytery without aisles. St. Bride's College, Bothwell (p. 77). Temple Church, Mid-Lothian; the Chapel in Rothesay Castle; St. Bride's, Douglas, Lanarkshire; St. Duthus', Tain, Ross-shire; St. Peter's, Inverkeithing, Fife; St. Devenic's, Creich, Fife; Faslane Church, Argyleshire; the Monument of Sir W. Olifurd, Aberdalgie, Perthshire, also embody architecture of this period.

Third or Late Pointed Period.—Paisley Abbey (p. 148). Dunkeld Cathedral (p. 35). Iona Cathedral (p. 60). St. Machar's Cathedral (p. 37). Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, was situated on the W. side of Leith Wynd, and founded by Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James II., in 1462. It was a very fine specimen of Scottish Gothic architecture of the 15th century, and consisted of a choir with N. and S. aisles, a five-sided apse, N. and S. transepts, with the commencement of a tower over the crossing and N. sacristy. The nave was never erected—the arch having a circular window inserted in it. It was the church of Trinity College Parish till 1848, when it was removed to make way for the railway station. The new church is in many details an exact reproduction of the corresponding features of the original building. St. John's, Perth (p. 108). Dundee Church (p. 113). Glenluce Abbey (Cistercian), Wigtownshire, was founded in 1190 by Roland, Lord of Galloway; the chapter-house is the only portion of the abbey in good preservation. Torphichen Church, Linlithgowshire, represents the hospital or preceptory of Torphichen, from 1153 the principal Scottish residence of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Of the cruciform church, the chancel and nave are entirely gone, and there is only left a portion of the transept or "quier." The modern church is on the site of the nave. St. Anthony's Chapel, Edinburgh—"Sanct Antonis in the crag"—stands conspicuous from the Firth of Forth, and 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 tutelary saint. There is a fine spring of clear water close to the site, which may have led to the establishment of the hermitage there. Wall remains survive. Rosslyn Church (p. 85). Dunglass Collegiate Church, Haddingtonshire, is cruciform, and a deserted but complete edifice. The choir and tower may have been built in 1403, the nave after 1450. It was founded by Sir Alexander Home of Home. Foulis-Easter Church, Perthshire, is a simple, oblong structure without buttresses or projections of any kind; is well preserved and most interesting. It was built by Andrew, second Lord Gray. St. Salvador's, St. Andrews (p. 102). Dalkeith Church (Mid-Lothian) was constituted collegiate in the 15th century, and consists of a nave of three bays with aisles, N. and S. transepts, a W. tower, and aisleless choir of three bays with E. apse. Part is used as the parish church. St. Mungo's, Borthwick (Mid-Lothian) has been rebuilt, with the exception of the S. aisle or chapel, and the structure has originally been a Norman one, with aisleless nave, choir, and round E. apse. Ladykirk, Berwickshire, is very complete and almost unaltered. It is situated on the high N. bank of the Tweed, and is said to have been built in 1500, and dedicated to St. Mary by James IV. in gratitude for his delivery from drowning by a sudden flood of the Tweed. It is a triapsidal cross church, without aisles, with an apsidal termination at the E. end of the chancel and at the N. and S. ends of the transept. The body of the church and transepts are covered with pointed barrel vaults, with ribs at intervals springing from small corbels, and the whole is roofed with overlapping stone flags. The upper part of the tower has been rebuilt, the lower part being of the same date as the church, which is still the parish church. Seton Collegiate Church, Haddingtonshire, probably rebuilt about the close of the 15th century, was added to by the second Lord Seton when he made the church collegiate in 1493, and was completed by the third Lord Seton. The transepts, tower, and spire would appear to have been erected by the Dowager Lady Seton in the 16th century, after her husband's death at Flodden. Arbuthnott Church, Kincardineshire, is an interesting and picturesque structure, containing work of three distinct periods. The chancel was dedicated in 1242, and the nave may be in part of the same period. The S. wing or aisle was built by Sir Robert Arbuthnott in the end of the 15th century. The quaint W. end represents a combination of the ecclesiastical and domestic architecture of Scotland. The church has been well restored; the Arbuthnott Missal with the Psalter and office were written for the use of this church by the vicar, James Sybbald, about 1491. King's College, Aberdeen (p. 80). Church of the Holy Rood, Stirling (p. 114). St. Mary's Parish Church, Whitekirk, Haddingtonshire, was a great place of pilgrimage, and was visited among others by Pope Pius II. (Æneas Sylvius), who came to render thanks to the Virgin for his safe landing in Scotland. The church is on the plan of a cross without aisles; the choir is vaulted with a pointed barrel vault, and the roof is slated. Over the crossing is a square tower, finished with a plain parapet; the E. end is square, and there is a fine porch at the S.W. angle. The S.W. porch is one of the most striking features of the structure, and its interior is roofed with pointed barrel vaulting, having ribs springing from carved corbels. Third or late Pointed architecture is also found at Crichton Collegiate Church, Mid-Lothian; Corstorphine Collegiate Church, Mid-Lothian; Crail Collegiate Church, Fife; Mid-Calder Church, Mid-Lothian; St. Mary's Church of the Carmelite Friars, South Queensferry, Linlithgowshire; Yester Collegiate Church, Haddingtonshire; Tullibardine Collegiate Church, Perthshire; Maybole Collegiate Church, Ayrshire; Biggar Collegiate Church (p. 77); Carnwath Collegiate Church, Lanarkshire; St. Mary's Collegiate Church, Castle Semple, Renfrewshire; Church of the Franciscans or Greyfriars, Elgin, Morayshire, and at Aberdeen; Rowdil Priory (Augustinian), Harri, Inverness-shire; Oronsay Priory (Augustinian), Argyleshire.

Examples of Scottish mediæval architecture are also to be found in the following churches, arranged alphabetically by counties. Aberdeenshire:—Kinkell, Kintore, Leask. Argyleshire:—Ardchattan and St. Mund's Collegiate Church, Kilmun. Ayrshire:—Alloway, Old Dailly, and Straiton. Banffshire:—Cullen Collegiate Church, Deskford, and Mortlach. Berwickshire:—Church of Abbey St. Bathans (Cistercian Nuns), Bassendean, Cockburnspath (an ancient structure), Preston. Buteshire:—Church of St. Mary's Abbey, Rothesay. Dumbartonshire:—Dumbarton Collegiate Church and Chapel at Kirkton of Kilmahew. Dumfriesshire:—Canonby Priory (Augustinian), Kirkbryde, St. Cuthbert's, Moffat; Sanquhar. Fifeshire:—Carnock, Dysart, Kilconquhar, Kilrenny, Rosyth, Dominican Church, St. Leonard's (p. 116), Holy Trinity (p. 117), St. Andrews. Forfarshire:—Airlie, Invergowrie, Mains, Maryton, Pert, St. Vigean's. Haddingtonshire:—Church of Trinity Friars, Dunbar, and Keith. Kincardineshire:—St. Palladius' Church, Fordoun. Kirkcudbrightshire:—Old Girthon. Lanarkshire:—Blantyre Priory (Augustinian), and Covington. Linlithgowshire:—Auldcathie. Mid-Lothian:—St. Triduan's Collegiate Church, Restalrig. Peeblesshire:—Newlands, Churches of Holy Cross and St. Andrew, Peebles. Perthshire:—Aberuthven; St. Moloc, Alyth; St. Mechessoc, Auchterarder; Cambusmichael; Abbey of Coupar (Cistercian); Dron Church, Longforgan; Ecclesiamagirdle or Exmagirdle, Glenearn; Forgandenny; Abbey of Inchaffray (Augustinian); Innerpeffray (Collegiate); Kinfauns; Methven (Collegiate); Moncrieff Chapel; Wast-town (near Errol). Renfrewshire:—Houston, St. Fillan's, and Kilmalcolm. Selkirkshire:—Selkirk. Wigtownshire:—St. Machutus' Church, Wigtown.

Mediæval architecture terminated with the Reformation in 1560. In closing this necessarily brief record of our ancient Scottish churches, a word must be added on the Scottish Reformation. It was the aim of Knox to cleanse, not to destroy the temple, and the iconoclasm that followed was the work of the "rascal multitude," while many of the churches and abbeys were ruined by the attacks of the English before the Reformation, as the previous pages indicate. The old builders, too, did a great deal of what is now known as "scamped work," although it was partly counteracted by the excellence of their lime and the thickness of their walls. The real cause of the subsequent destruction was neglect, not violence, while the secularising of the old endowments alienated into other channels the means that were necessary to undo the effects of wind and weather. As Carlyle said, "Knox wanted no pulling down of stone edifices; he wanted leprosy and darkness to be thrown out of the lives of men," and it is known that he exerted himself to save the Abbey of Scone from destruction. In the case of Dunkeld Cathedral, the order makes it quite clear that neither desks, windows, nor doors, glass work nor iron work, was to be destroyed (pp. 36, 37). The aim of the reformers was at heart an endeavour to make the old temples fit symbols of the reformed faith, and the iconoclasm of the multitude is not to be attributed to them, but to the ignorance and savagery of the time, for which the Church of Rome was primarily to blame. It was this that lessened church feeling and separated the power of truth from the beauty of holiness. It is our privilege to-day to seek the unity of truth and goodness with beauty, to maintain the faith of the Reformation along with that beauty of church architecture which, in its brighter days, the old church witnessed to. It is a one-sided view which sees in Gothic nothing but the development of utility or the endeavour to attain greater height; it is the true view which beholds in it the ideality, piety, and faith that possessed the hearts of our forefathers. The architect's design could never have been realised apart from their offerings of devotion to the Christian religion. When Emerson visited Carlyle at Craigenputtock, the latter, pointing to the parish church, said to his American friend, "Christ's death built Dunscore Church yonder." It is a deep, true utterance, for Christ's death has built every church in Christendom, and these embodiments of beauty not least of all. In this light we see what is at the heart of these ancient Scottish churches, and what has created the affection that treasures them. The ruined walls of so many of them ought to have been the home of the reformed faith, life, and work, linking the present to the past by natural piety, and visibly reminding the worshippers of the church that endureth throughout all generations. The present revival of interest in them is like a new-discovered sense, and is undoing the spoliation and neglect of an age subsequent to the Reformation, and for which the Scottish Reformers are not to blame. Theirs was no easy work, and history has vindicated its results in the progressive genius of the Scottish people. The Reformation saved religion, but the alienation of the religious endowments to secular purposes, often by unworthy hands, is the chief cause of the ruins which tell of a beauty that has left the earth, and it has deprived the Church of so many of its venerable heirlooms. Otherwise there might have been said of the Scottish as was said of the English Reformation that but for it there would have been little Norman or Early English left in the cathedrals, for it just came at a time when the early styles were being pulled fast down to make room for the later.[479] It was the Scottish Reformers' aim to make all the churches parish churches, and each church the centre of the life and work of each parish. Their grievance against monasticism arose from the corrupt lives of the monks and from its intrusion on the parochial system with the alienation of the parish teinds to the use of the monastery. But the idea of a church in the centre of a residence, is one not without suggestiveness to the life of to-day, with its many activities, as a training home for workers; as a temporary retreat for rest, meditation, and prayer to the hard-wrought ministers in the city parishes; as a place for conference on the religious problems; as a theological hall and settlement for divinity students, like that at Loccum near Hanover, where a reformed mediæval monastery, free from vows, and in the full vigour of its life, is used as a college and residence for the students of the Reformed Church, and where the old monastic church is used as the parish church for the people around. To visit Loccum and see it presided over by the venerable Protestant theologian, Dr. Ullhorn, with its garden, grounds, and farm, its church and cloisters, its great library and residence for professors and students, is to be persuaded of the rich possibilities that lie within the reach of the Scottish Church in the restoration of some of its ruined abbeys. The saintly Leighton felt the need of this, and thought "the great and fatal error of the Reformation was, that more of these houses and of that course of life, free from the entanglements of vows and other mixtures, was not preserved; so that the Protestant churches had neither places of education nor retreat for men of mortified tempers."[480] The Reformed Church would thereby purify a great idea, and if it be true, as the late Master of Balliol asserted, that it is the great misfortune of Protestantism never to have had an art or architecture,[481] it can restore and adopt the old architecture that was the creation of the Christian spirit, amid the leisure of the cloister and in times more restful than our own.

Abacus—the flat member at the top of a capital. Apse—the semicircular space at the end of a building. Arcade—a series of arches; is usually applied to the small ornamental arches only. Barrel vault—resembling the inside of a barrel. Bead—a small round moulding. Boss—a projecting ornament in a vault at the intersection of the ribs. Canopy—the head of a niche over an image; also the ornamental moulding over a door or window or tomb. Capital, cap—the head of a column, pilaster, etc. Chamfer—a sloping surface forming the bevelled edge of a square pier, moulding, or buttress, when the angle is said to be chamfered off. Chevron—an inflected moulding, also called zigzag, characteristic of Norman architecture. Clere-story or clear-story—the upper story of a church, as distinguished from the triforium or blind story below it, in which the openings, though resembling windows, are usually blank or blind, not glazed. Corbel—a projecting stone to carry a weight, usually carved. Crocket—an ornament usually resembling a leaf half opened, and projecting from the upper edge of a canopy or pyramidal covering. The term is supposed to be derived from the resemblance to a shepherd's crook. Crypt—a vault beneath a church, generally beneath the chancel only, and sometimes used for the exhibition of relics. Cusp—an ornament used in the tracery of windows, screens, etc., to form foliation. Dormer—an upright window placed on a sloping roof, giving light to the chambers next the roof. Fillet—a small square band used on the face of mouldings. Finial—the ornament which finishes the top of a pinnacle, a canopy, or a spire, usually carved into a bunch of foliage. Flying buttress—an arch carried over the roof of an aisle from the external buttress to the wall of the clerestory, to support the vault. Gargoyle—a projected water-spout, often ornamented with grotesque figures. Jambs—the sides of a window opening or doorway. Mullion—the vertical bar dividing the lights of a window. Ogee—a moulding formed by the combination of a round and hollow. Pier arches—the main arches of the nave or choir resting on piers. Pinnacle—a sort of small spire usually terminating a buttress. Piscina—a water-drain in a church placed on the right-hand side of an altar for the use of the priest. Plinth—the projecting member forming the lower part of a base or of a wall. Shaft—a small, slender pillar usually attached to a larger one, or in the sides of a doorway or window. Slype—a passage leading from the transept to the chapter-house. String-course—a horizontal moulding or course of masonry, usually applied to the one carried under the windows of the chancel, both externally and internally. Tooth ornament—an ornament resembling a row of teeth, sometimes called dog's tooth and shark's tooth. Transept—the portion of a building crossing the nave and producing a cruciform plan. Transition—the period of a change of style, during which there is frequently an overlapping of the styles. Transom—the transverse horizontal piece across the mullions of a window. Triforium or blind story—the middle story of a large church, over the pier arches and under the clerestory windows; it is usually ornamented by an arcade, and fills the space formed by the necessary slope of the aisle roofs. Tympanum—the space between the flat lintel of a doorway and the arch over it, usually filled with sculpture.

THE END.

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh.

THE SCOTT COUNTRY

By W. S. CROCKETT

In One Volume. Large Crown 8vo, Cloth.
Containing about 200 Illustrations.

Probable price 3s. 6d. net.

Mr. W. S. Crockett's book on "The Scott Country" will tell the story of the famous Borderland and its undying associations with Sir Walter, its greatest son. His early years at Sandyknowe and Kelso will be sketched by one who is himself a native of that very district. Scott's first Border home at Ashestiel, and the making of Abbotsford, the Ettrick and Yarrow of Scott, the memories that cluster round Melrose, the district of Hawick, and the country of "Marmion," will all have a place in the work. Not a spot of historic and romantic interest but will be referred to all along the line of Tweedside and its tributaries from Berwick to the Beild. The Border country of Scotland has already been the subject of a very extensive literature, but the "Scott Country" being presented upon a more compact and comprehensive plan than has yet been attempted, will, we feel sure, be a source of satisfaction to every reader, whether Border-born or not. To the Scott abroad the volume will recall many a familiar memory, and at home it should take its place as a standard work of its kind, the author being, according to Dr. Robertson Nicoll and others, perhaps the most capable living student of the Border and its literature. The "Scott Country" will have close on 200 illustrations, many of them quite new; and the price is such as to bring it within the reach of all.

A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON.

NEW POCKET EDITION.

HORÆ SUBSECIVÆ

By JOHN BROWN, M.D., LL.D., Etc.

New Edition. In Three Volumes. 6¼ × 4¼ inches. Printed on thin Bible paper and bound uniform with Black's NEW POCKET EDITION WAVERLEY NOVELS. Volume I. contains a photogravure frontispiece of a portrait of Dr. John Brown, by Sir George Reid, P.R.S.A.

Some Appreciations of Dr. John Brown and his Books.

WILLIAM ARCHER.—"How came it that no one ever told me it was a thing unique in literature, the autobiography—yes, that is the word—of one of the most wonderful children, and quite the most adorable, that ever lived?... Never has so brief a piece of printed matter affected me so profoundly." (This refers to the story of "Pet Marjorie.")

W. E. GLADSTONE.—"My estimate of Dr. John Brown was particularly high. It is easy and obvious to say he was a clever man and a good man, but this is only part of the truth, and he stood, I think, both in the intellectual and the moral order, much higher than these words of themselves convey."

ANDREW LANG.—"Three volumes of essays are all that Dr. Brown has left us in the way of compositions; a light but imperishable literature.... No man of letters could be more widely regretted, for he was the friend of all who read his books, as even to people who only met him once or twice in life he seemed to become dear and familiar."

Professor DAVID MASSON.—"Yes, many long years hence, when all of us are gone, I can imagine that a little volume will be in circulation, containing 'Rab and his Friends,' etc.; and that then readers now unborn, thrilled by that peculiar touch which only things of heart and genius can give, will confess to the same charm that now fascinates us, and will think with interest of Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh."

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.—"Marjorie Fleming I have known, as you surmise, for long. She was possibly—no, I take back possibly—she was one of the greatest works of God."

A. & C. BLACK, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON.