Chapter 8

"If this be true, he was the first of the Stewarts who were laid elsewhere than in the precincts of the abbey, and the circumstance is all the more strange because Elizabeth More, the much-loved wife of his youth, and Euphan Ross, his queen, are buried there."[374]

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.

"Touched by grief," says Fordun, "his bodily strength vanished, his countenance paled, and, borne down by sorrow, he refused all food, until at last he breathed forth his spirit to his Creator."

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 powerfullyadded 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). TheChronicle of Auchinlecksays of this abbot:—

"The quhilk wes ane richt gud man, and helplyk to the place of ony that ever wes, for he did mony notabil thingis, and held ane nobil hous, and wes ay wele purvait. He fand the place al out of gud reule, and destitute of leving, and al the kirkis in lordis handis, and the kirk unbiggit. The bodie of the kirk fra the bucht stair up he biggit, and put on the ruf, and theekit it with sclats and riggit it with stane, and biggit ane great porcioun of the steple, and ane staitlie yet-hous: and brocht hame mony gude jowellis, and clathis of gold, silver, and silk, and mony gud bukis, and made statelie stallis, and glassynnit mekle of al the kirk, and brocht hame the staitliest tabernakle that wes in al Skotland, and the maist costlie: and schortlie he brocht al the place to fredome and fra nocht till ane michty place, and left it out of al kind of det, and al fredome, till dispone as them lykit, and left ane of the best myteris that wes in Skotland, and chandillaris of silver, and ane lettren of brass, with mony uther gud jowellis."[376]

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 ancientChronicle 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 wholerevenues 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:—

Ye call it ye Abbot Georg of SchaweAbout yis Abbey gart make yis wawA thousande four hundereth zheyrAuchty ande fywe the date but veir[Pray for his saulis salvacioun]That made thys nobil fundacioun.

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

"The character of the lettering in design and workmanship is the same as at Melrose. The references to the building operations, the poetical form of the composition, the manner in which the names are introduced, 'Callit was I,' and 'Ye callit,' and the devout expressions with which they close, make it clear that the inscriptions are the work of the same author."

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:—

"He filled his place well, and the visitor to Paisley who sees his shield of three covered cups with the pastoral crook behind them upon the wall of one of the outhouses, which has been ruthlessly transformed by modern iconoclasts, or reads the defaced inscription which tells of the 'nobil fundacioun' he reared, will do well to remember that they are the memorials of a good man, one of the best of his time, to whose wisdom and benevolence the town of Paisley owes its existence."[380]

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]

"The monks were kind masters. No cases of eviction or deprivation are recorded. The same lands descended without rise of rent from father to son. Children are held bound to maintain their parents in their old age, and widows are specially cared for, and are occasionally provided with another husband!"[382]

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 southtransept, 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:—

"They fumigated the church with burnt wool and feathers instead of incense, put foul water into the holy-water basins; they sung ludicrous and indecent parodies to the tunes of church hymns; they violated whatever vestments belonging to the abbey they could lay their hands upon; and playing every freak which the whim of the moment could suggest to their wild caprice. At length they fell to more lasting deeds of demolition, pulled down and destroyed carved woodwork, dashed out the painted windows, and in their vigorous search after sculpture dedicated to idolatry, began to destroy what ornaments yet remained entire upon the tombs and around the cornices of the pillars."

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

"in the toun of Paslay, Kirkyard and Abbey place thereof, openlie, publicklie, and plainlie taking auricular confession in the said kirk, toun, kirkyaird, chalmeris, barns, middens, and killogies thereof, and thus makand an alteration and innovation in the state of religion, which our Soverane Lady found publicklie standing and professit within this realm, ministrand, and alswa irreverently and indecentlie the Sacramentis of Holy Kirk, namely, the Sacramentis of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

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:—

"There is in the church a tablet, which looks as if it had marked his grave. It has upon it the archbishop's coat of arms, the letters J. H., the initials of his name, and the motto he assumed, and which contrasts strangely with his troubled life and tragic end—'Misericordia et Pax.'"[383]

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:—

"The manner in which the Church property was gifted away forms a scandalous episode in the history of Scotland. Men like Claud Hamilton, who never had done anything for their country, became enriched and ennobled through the spoliation. It is vain to picture regretfully what might have been; but any one can see how much better it would have been for Scotland if the whole community, instead of a few unworthy individuals, had got the benefit of the Church's wealth. Those who did get it have in too many instances made a very miserable use of their ill-gotten gain."[385]

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 choir walls, containing an elegant sedilia and piscina, remain standing to the height of 9 feet, and it is questioned whether the choir was ever finished during the restoration. There is a string-course all round; the building is of fifteenth century work, and occupies the place of an earlier choir, which has been demolished. The wall at the east end of the nave, which separates it from the transept, may have been erected during the restoration of the fifteenth century, with the intention of rendering the nave a complete church until the transept and choir were restored. This seems to have been in progress when the Reformation interrupted the work. The design of the sedilia resembles that at St. Monans, Fife, and adjoining the sedilia is the piscina, the aperture of which is still visible.The north transept is in ruins, but the north wall, with the remains of a fine traceried window, still exists, as well as a traceried window in the west wall. The south transept is also in ruins, while the tower and spire have disappeared. St. Mirin's Chapel is well preserved, but the openings connecting it with the south transept are built up.The nave survives as a whole, and contains six bays, divided by massive piers, and surmounted by a triforium and clerestory. There is a north porch, and two doorways from the cloister on the south side.The oldest portion of the building is pronounced to be the eastern part of the south wall of the south aisle of the nave, where it adjoins the transept. This portion of the wall consists of three bays, containing the S.E. doorway from the cloister to the nave, and three pointed windows in the upper part. The doorway is of the transition style, and the windows above are simple in style, and are early pointed work—this part of the building probably dating from the first half of the thirteenth century.[387]The western portion of the south aisle of the nave and the whole of the south clerestory are evidently portions of the restored church of the fifteenth century.[388]The south aisle wall contains the S.W. and S.E. doors from the nave to the cloister.The west end of the nave is in part amongst the ancientportions of the structure, and the western entrance doorway is thirteenth century work.[389]The aisle windows of the west front belong to the first pointed period. The upper portion of the west front above the two large windows is of considerably later date.[390]"The design of the west front, which contains above the door-piece two large windows, with pointed niches and small circles inserted between the arch-heads, is probably original, but the upper portion and gable, including the large traceried window, are doubtless part of the restoration of the fifteenth century. The tracery of the two central windows is peculiar, and may possibly be of the fourteenth century, but that of the large upper window is later, probably of the same period as the restoration of the interior of the nave. The tracery of the large upper window is a specimen of the late kind of design employed in Scotland in the fifteenth century."[391]The interior of the west end of the nave exhibits the change of style caused by the restoration of the fifteenth century. The first or western bay of the main arcade is original, including the first arches (one on each side), the first pillars, and the arches between them, and the aisle responds. "These pillars and arches are of large dimensions and first pointed section, and appear to have been designed to carry western towers, but a part of their thickness has been cut off next the choir. A portion of the triforium wall, a piece of the string-course over the main arcade, and the corbelled vaulting shaft in the angle as high as the top of the triforium, are also parts of the original structure. The later work has been joined to the above old parts in a very awkward manner."[392]The cap of the west pier on the north side belongs to the first pointed work, while the corresponding cap on the south side and all the other caps belong to the fifteenth century restoration.[393]Except the west piers, the piers of the nave are of the clustered form, common in late Scottish work, and might be about the same date as the restoration of St. Giles, Edinburgh (which they resemble), in the early part of the fifteenth century.[394]The triforium design consists of large segmental arches, the same width as the main arches, springing from short clustered piers introduced between them. It somewhat resembles the triforium of the nave at Dunkeld Cathedral. The clerestory is probably designed in imitation of that of Glasgow Cathedral, and isdivided into two pointed arches in each bay. They spring from a series of clustered shafts with round moulded caps that are late imitations of early work.[395]The earlier part of the nave restoration, including the main piers and arches, and perhaps the tracery of the two lower windows of the west front, were possibly executed by Bishop Lithgow, who built the north porch, and the completion of the nave (the upper portions) was carried out in the time of Abbot Tervas—the middle of the fifteenth century. A peculiarity of the nave interior is a series of large corbels, which project from the spandrils of the triforium arcade, and the object of which was to enable a passage to be carried round the solid piers introduced between the windows. Each of the large corbels springs at its lowest point from the sculptured grotesque figure of a man or animal. They were mostly the work of Thomas Hector, a sculptor, who lived at Crossflat,[396]and whom the abbot retained for his skill in the art.[397]The employment of such grotesque figures was very much affected by the monks of Clugny, and was the occasion of a rebuke from St. Bernard. "What business had these devils and monstrosities in Christian churches, taking off the attention of the monks from their prayers." One of these figures near the west gable represents a man in a kilt, and Dr. Lees thinks that many worshippers in the Abbey in more modern times have in the midst of long sermons found relief in the contemplation of those curious carvings which the saint thus vigorously denounced.[398]St. Mirin's Aisle was erected in 1499, and there is a large pointed window in the east end, having jambs with single shafts. It is divided into four lights, and the arch-head is filled with good simple tracery. Beneath the eastern window is a frieze of one foot eight inches deep between two cornices of eight inches deep, which were intended for sculpture. Three compartments, measuring four feet, at the north or right side, and seven compartments, measuring ten feet, at the south or left side, are carved and filled with sculpture. Dr. Lees says the reference of them to Mirin is clear beyond all doubt: "In the one on the extreme left we see Mirin's mother bringing him to St. Congal. In the next St. Congal putting the religious habit on Mirin. In the next Mirin taking oversight of the monastery of Banchor. There is after this a blank, and then we have certain sculptures relating to Mirin's encounter with the Irish king, who wears a crown on his head. In the firstwe have the servant of the King driving Mirin away from the door of the palace. In the next the King roaring with pain and held by his servants. In the next the Queen lying in bed with a picture of the Virgin on the wall, it being the custom to hang such before women during confinement. Then we have the King on his knees before Mirin, and afterwards Mirin received by him with joy. The next two sculptures represent the last two acts of the Saint—the brother looking through the keyhole and seeing Mirin illuminated by a celestial light, and the Saint restoring to life the dead man in the Valley of Colpdasch.... As they are evidently earlier than the date of the erection of the chapel, they have probably been transferred with the relics of the Saint from an older shrine. They look like twelfth-century work, but it is possible they may be even earlier."[399]The ceiling of the chapel is beautifully groined, and the east end, where the altar stood, is raised four steps above the western part. The west wall contains an outer doorway from the cloister court, and there is a traceried window above it. A large ambry adjoins the door in the outer wall. The chapel was connected with the south transept by two wide archways, now built up, and near the east end is a piscina, with three-sided head, like that in the choir.There is a dormitory above the chapel, arched by stone, and the entrance is by a doorway in the middle of the south side of the arch. The apartment is lighted by two windows—one in the east gable, and the other in the west. In the west gable there is a private stair leading from the dormitory to the chapel, and the priest, who was bound by the charter to live at the chapel, doubtless occupied the sleeping-place above it.[400]The chapel at the Reformation was converted into a family burying-place by Claud Hamilton, the commendator, and various members of the Abercorn family lie buried in the vault below, the chapel belonging to the present Duke, and being under his control.On the floor of this chapel there now stands an ornamental altar tomb, which was found lying in fragments near the Abbey by the Rev. Dr. Boog, one of the Abbey ministers, and who in 1817 had it brought within the chapel and erected again. It supports a recumbent figure, believed to be the effigy of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of Robert I. and the mother of Robert II. "The head of the figure is surmounted by a large cusped canopy, placed in a horizontal position, on the end of which is carved a crucifixion. The pedestal is carved with a series of Gothiccompartments, in each of which there is carved a shield, enriched with heraldic blazons and figures of ecclesiastics. The panels at the west end contain—the first thefess chequéof the Stewarts between three roses; the third thefess chequé, surmounted of a lion rampant, and the central one, two keys saltierwise, between two crosiers in pale."[401]The chapel is famed for an echo, described by Pennant in hisTour Through Scotland,[402]but Dr. Lees regards the description of the far-famed traveller as either much exaggerated, or the strength of the echo has become diminished since his time. "When any number of persons are within the building, an echo is scarcely audible at all. It is amusing sometimes to see a group of people expending the strength of their lungs in vain by attempting to evoke it."[403]Crosses seem to have been placed at intervals on the roads leading to the church. One of the south piers of the nave is called the Cathcart pillar, and has carved upon it a shield bearing the Cathcart arms. This is believed to be a memorial of Sir Allan Cathcart, who has thus been described by Barbour:—A knycht, that their wis in hys rout,Worthy and wycht, stalwart and stout,Curtaiss and fayr, and off gud fame,Schyr Allane of Catkert by name.King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, and Sir Allan of Cathcart and Sir James of Douglass sailed in 1330 for the Holy Land with the King's heart. Sir James was killed in Spain in conflict with the Moors, and Sir Allan came back with the heart of the King, which was buried in Melrose Abbey. The pillar commemorates his safe return.On the west buttress of the north transept, at 21 feet in height, is the shield of the Stewarts, with a pastoral staff, and the word "Stewart."The first central tower erected over the crossing seems to have been of inferior workmanship and to have given way. Another is believed to have been erected by Abbot Tervas, which probably fell during the siege by Lennox and Glencairn, and may have destroyed much of the choir and transept in its fall. Western towers appear to have been contemplated."We are only able," says Dr. Cameron Lees, "to conjecture what was the position of the conventual buildings. But aftercomparing the plan of Wenlock, from which the monks originally came, with that of Crosraguel, which they afterwards erected, we think it is probable that the chapter-house, with Saint Mirin's Chapel, occupied the east side of the cloister court, the refectory the south side, and the dormitory the west. The Abbot's house probably stood at the south end of what is called Cotton Street. There were buildings also between the Abbey and the river Cart attached to the monastery, portions of the foundations of which are occasionally uncovered."[404]"The shape of the cloister court has been partially retained. The conventual buildings were almost all converted after the Reformation into dwelling-houses, and though fragments of the old houses, such as an occasional pillar or arch, are to be found, there is little to remind one of dormitory, parlour, or refectory."[405]

The north transept is in ruins, but the north wall, with the remains of a fine traceried window, still exists, as well as a traceried window in the west wall. The south transept is also in ruins, while the tower and spire have disappeared. St. Mirin's Chapel is well preserved, but the openings connecting it with the south transept are built up.

The nave survives as a whole, and contains six bays, divided by massive piers, and surmounted by a triforium and clerestory. There is a north porch, and two doorways from the cloister on the south side.

The oldest portion of the building is pronounced to be the eastern part of the south wall of the south aisle of the nave, where it adjoins the transept. This portion of the wall consists of three bays, containing the S.E. doorway from the cloister to the nave, and three pointed windows in the upper part. The doorway is of the transition style, and the windows above are simple in style, and are early pointed work—this part of the building probably dating from the first half of the thirteenth century.[387]The western portion of the south aisle of the nave and the whole of the south clerestory are evidently portions of the restored church of the fifteenth century.[388]The south aisle wall contains the S.W. and S.E. doors from the nave to the cloister.

The west end of the nave is in part amongst the ancientportions of the structure, and the western entrance doorway is thirteenth century work.[389]The aisle windows of the west front belong to the first pointed period. The upper portion of the west front above the two large windows is of considerably later date.[390]"The design of the west front, which contains above the door-piece two large windows, with pointed niches and small circles inserted between the arch-heads, is probably original, but the upper portion and gable, including the large traceried window, are doubtless part of the restoration of the fifteenth century. The tracery of the two central windows is peculiar, and may possibly be of the fourteenth century, but that of the large upper window is later, probably of the same period as the restoration of the interior of the nave. The tracery of the large upper window is a specimen of the late kind of design employed in Scotland in the fifteenth century."[391]

The interior of the west end of the nave exhibits the change of style caused by the restoration of the fifteenth century. The first or western bay of the main arcade is original, including the first arches (one on each side), the first pillars, and the arches between them, and the aisle responds. "These pillars and arches are of large dimensions and first pointed section, and appear to have been designed to carry western towers, but a part of their thickness has been cut off next the choir. A portion of the triforium wall, a piece of the string-course over the main arcade, and the corbelled vaulting shaft in the angle as high as the top of the triforium, are also parts of the original structure. The later work has been joined to the above old parts in a very awkward manner."[392]The cap of the west pier on the north side belongs to the first pointed work, while the corresponding cap on the south side and all the other caps belong to the fifteenth century restoration.[393]Except the west piers, the piers of the nave are of the clustered form, common in late Scottish work, and might be about the same date as the restoration of St. Giles, Edinburgh (which they resemble), in the early part of the fifteenth century.[394]

The triforium design consists of large segmental arches, the same width as the main arches, springing from short clustered piers introduced between them. It somewhat resembles the triforium of the nave at Dunkeld Cathedral. The clerestory is probably designed in imitation of that of Glasgow Cathedral, and isdivided into two pointed arches in each bay. They spring from a series of clustered shafts with round moulded caps that are late imitations of early work.[395]The earlier part of the nave restoration, including the main piers and arches, and perhaps the tracery of the two lower windows of the west front, were possibly executed by Bishop Lithgow, who built the north porch, and the completion of the nave (the upper portions) was carried out in the time of Abbot Tervas—the middle of the fifteenth century. A peculiarity of the nave interior is a series of large corbels, which project from the spandrils of the triforium arcade, and the object of which was to enable a passage to be carried round the solid piers introduced between the windows. Each of the large corbels springs at its lowest point from the sculptured grotesque figure of a man or animal. They were mostly the work of Thomas Hector, a sculptor, who lived at Crossflat,[396]and whom the abbot retained for his skill in the art.[397]The employment of such grotesque figures was very much affected by the monks of Clugny, and was the occasion of a rebuke from St. Bernard. "What business had these devils and monstrosities in Christian churches, taking off the attention of the monks from their prayers." One of these figures near the west gable represents a man in a kilt, and Dr. Lees thinks that many worshippers in the Abbey in more modern times have in the midst of long sermons found relief in the contemplation of those curious carvings which the saint thus vigorously denounced.[398]

St. Mirin's Aisle was erected in 1499, and there is a large pointed window in the east end, having jambs with single shafts. It is divided into four lights, and the arch-head is filled with good simple tracery. Beneath the eastern window is a frieze of one foot eight inches deep between two cornices of eight inches deep, which were intended for sculpture. Three compartments, measuring four feet, at the north or right side, and seven compartments, measuring ten feet, at the south or left side, are carved and filled with sculpture. Dr. Lees says the reference of them to Mirin is clear beyond all doubt: "In the one on the extreme left we see Mirin's mother bringing him to St. Congal. In the next St. Congal putting the religious habit on Mirin. In the next Mirin taking oversight of the monastery of Banchor. There is after this a blank, and then we have certain sculptures relating to Mirin's encounter with the Irish king, who wears a crown on his head. In the firstwe have the servant of the King driving Mirin away from the door of the palace. In the next the King roaring with pain and held by his servants. In the next the Queen lying in bed with a picture of the Virgin on the wall, it being the custom to hang such before women during confinement. Then we have the King on his knees before Mirin, and afterwards Mirin received by him with joy. The next two sculptures represent the last two acts of the Saint—the brother looking through the keyhole and seeing Mirin illuminated by a celestial light, and the Saint restoring to life the dead man in the Valley of Colpdasch.... As they are evidently earlier than the date of the erection of the chapel, they have probably been transferred with the relics of the Saint from an older shrine. They look like twelfth-century work, but it is possible they may be even earlier."[399]The ceiling of the chapel is beautifully groined, and the east end, where the altar stood, is raised four steps above the western part. The west wall contains an outer doorway from the cloister court, and there is a traceried window above it. A large ambry adjoins the door in the outer wall. The chapel was connected with the south transept by two wide archways, now built up, and near the east end is a piscina, with three-sided head, like that in the choir.

There is a dormitory above the chapel, arched by stone, and the entrance is by a doorway in the middle of the south side of the arch. The apartment is lighted by two windows—one in the east gable, and the other in the west. In the west gable there is a private stair leading from the dormitory to the chapel, and the priest, who was bound by the charter to live at the chapel, doubtless occupied the sleeping-place above it.[400]The chapel at the Reformation was converted into a family burying-place by Claud Hamilton, the commendator, and various members of the Abercorn family lie buried in the vault below, the chapel belonging to the present Duke, and being under his control.

On the floor of this chapel there now stands an ornamental altar tomb, which was found lying in fragments near the Abbey by the Rev. Dr. Boog, one of the Abbey ministers, and who in 1817 had it brought within the chapel and erected again. It supports a recumbent figure, believed to be the effigy of Marjory Bruce, the daughter of Robert I. and the mother of Robert II. "The head of the figure is surmounted by a large cusped canopy, placed in a horizontal position, on the end of which is carved a crucifixion. The pedestal is carved with a series of Gothiccompartments, in each of which there is carved a shield, enriched with heraldic blazons and figures of ecclesiastics. The panels at the west end contain—the first thefess chequéof the Stewarts between three roses; the third thefess chequé, surmounted of a lion rampant, and the central one, two keys saltierwise, between two crosiers in pale."[401]The chapel is famed for an echo, described by Pennant in hisTour Through Scotland,[402]but Dr. Lees regards the description of the far-famed traveller as either much exaggerated, or the strength of the echo has become diminished since his time. "When any number of persons are within the building, an echo is scarcely audible at all. It is amusing sometimes to see a group of people expending the strength of their lungs in vain by attempting to evoke it."[403]

Crosses seem to have been placed at intervals on the roads leading to the church. One of the south piers of the nave is called the Cathcart pillar, and has carved upon it a shield bearing the Cathcart arms. This is believed to be a memorial of Sir Allan Cathcart, who has thus been described by Barbour:—

A knycht, that their wis in hys rout,Worthy and wycht, stalwart and stout,Curtaiss and fayr, and off gud fame,Schyr Allane of Catkert by name.

King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, and Sir Allan of Cathcart and Sir James of Douglass sailed in 1330 for the Holy Land with the King's heart. Sir James was killed in Spain in conflict with the Moors, and Sir Allan came back with the heart of the King, which was buried in Melrose Abbey. The pillar commemorates his safe return.

On the west buttress of the north transept, at 21 feet in height, is the shield of the Stewarts, with a pastoral staff, and the word "Stewart."

The first central tower erected over the crossing seems to have been of inferior workmanship and to have given way. Another is believed to have been erected by Abbot Tervas, which probably fell during the siege by Lennox and Glencairn, and may have destroyed much of the choir and transept in its fall. Western towers appear to have been contemplated.

"We are only able," says Dr. Cameron Lees, "to conjecture what was the position of the conventual buildings. But aftercomparing the plan of Wenlock, from which the monks originally came, with that of Crosraguel, which they afterwards erected, we think it is probable that the chapter-house, with Saint Mirin's Chapel, occupied the east side of the cloister court, the refectory the south side, and the dormitory the west. The Abbot's house probably stood at the south end of what is called Cotton Street. There were buildings also between the Abbey and the river Cart attached to the monastery, portions of the foundations of which are occasionally uncovered."[404]"The shape of the cloister court has been partially retained. The conventual buildings were almost all converted after the Reformation into dwelling-houses, and though fragments of the old houses, such as an occasional pillar or arch, are to be found, there is little to remind one of dormitory, parlour, or refectory."[405]

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 describesthe 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 onthe 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'sChronicleis 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

"That the arts were cultivated within the Abbey walls we may conclude without much extrinsic evidence. The beautiful and somewhat singular architecture of the ruined church itself still gives proof of taste and skill and some science in the builders, at a period which the confidence of modern times has proclaimed dark and degraded; and if we could call up to the fancy the magnificent Abbey and its interior decorations, to correspond with what remains of that ruined pile, we should find works of art that might well exercise the talents of high masters. The erection of such a structure often extended over several hundred years. Kelso bearsmark of having been a full century in building; and during all that time at least, perhaps for long afterwards, the carver of wood, the sculptor in stone and marble, the tile-maker and the lead and iron-worker, the painter, whether of scripture stories or of heraldic blazonings, the designer and the worker in stained glass for those gorgeous windows which we now vainly try to imitate—must each have been in requisition, and each, in the exercise of his art, contributed to raise the taste and cultivate the minds of the inmates of the cloister. Of many of these works the monks themselves were the artists and artisans, and it would be a grievous mistake to suppose that the effect was merely that of living and working in an artist's shop. The interest and honour of the convent, the honest rivalry with neighbouring houses and other orders; above all, the zeal for religion which was honoured by their efforts, the strong desire to render its rites magnificent, and to set forth in a worthy manner the worship of the Deity—all these gave to the works of the old monks a principle and a feeling above what modern art must ever hope to reach."[416]

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.

"During service on a Sunday in 1771 a panic was caused by the fall of a fragment of cement, and the church was thereafter abandoned. The ruins were partly disencumbered by the Duke of Roxburgh, 1805-16, and in 1823 the buildings were repaired by the noblemen and gentlemen of the county."[419]

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

"Reposing on the sunny bank of its own beautiful river, the modern town of Kelso looks a fitting rural capital for 'pleasant Teviotdale.' It has little of the air of an old monastic burgh, and still less calls up any recollection of the heaps of ruins that impeded the plans of the English engineers. There is not much knowledge or tradition of its former state, and but few memorials of its old inhabitants. Last year (1845) a worthy burgher, who had dug up in his garden under the abbey walls what seemed to him a rare coin of a Scotch king, was scarcely well pleased to learn that it was a leadenbullaof Pope Alexander III., bronzed with the oxidising of seven centuries.In the midst of the modern town the abbey church stands alone, like some antique Titan predominating over the dwarfs of a later world."[420]

In the midst of the modern town the abbey church stands alone, like some antique Titan predominating over the dwarfs of a later world."[420]

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

The building has consisted of choir or chancel of considerable length, with north and south aisles, and of a transept and nave without aisles. The north and south divisions of the transept and nave form three arms of equal length round the three sides of thecrossing, above which rises the massive square tower.[421]The church was originally constructed in the late Norman style of about the end of the twelfth century, passing into the transition style—the upper part of the tower having been rebuilt at a later period.[422]Of the chancel only a fragment remains—two of the south main piers with arches and two stories of arcades above, which represent the triforium and clerestory. The chancel only had aisles.The main piers consist of a circular column, five feet in diameter, with smaller attached half-columns on three sides to carry the moulded arches between the main piers and the arches between the latter and the aisles.[423]"The piers have caps of the usual Norman modified cushion pattern, and the arches were moulded and arranged in several orders. The arcade immediately over the main arches has a row of single round shafts, with spreading Norman caps, which carry a series of moulded arches, occupying the position of the triforium. The upper arcade, which takes the place of the clerestory, has shafts of triple form, with wide spreading bases and caps of Norman and transition design. On the latter rest the round boldly-moulded arches. The arches opposite the windows in the outer wall are slightly larger than the others. It will be observed that there is no main vaulting shaft carried up over the main piers, as is almost invariably the case, for the purpose of strengthening the wall. On the contrary, the triforium arcade is continuous, and no provision is made to support the side wall, except the single shafts of the running arcade, which have a very weak effect. In the usual arrangement, the triforium arches are separated by a substantial piece of wall, including a vaulting shaft, and the triforium arch, which is generally subdivided into several subordinate arches, is introduced between the vaulting shafts. That is a much more substantial form of construction, and also more satisfactory to the eye, than the plan adopted here of a simple continuous arcade." In the exterior of this portion of the choir the outside of the clerestory windows is visible, being simple round-headed openings, with flat buttresses between them. The remainder of the wall is plain, but, judging from the level of the triforium window, the vaulting of the aisle, which was very high and partly covered the windows, seems to have been added at a later date. The crossing is square; the piers are about nine feet square—that at the south-east angle standing detached in consequence of the opening into the south aisle, while those at the north-west and south-west angles are incorporated with the walls. The piers are designed as a series of shafts, set in square nooks (four on each of the complete sides), with a large semicircular shaft at each angle. The shafts are all built in courses with the piers, and have transition bases and caps. From the latter spring large pointed arches, with plain chamfered orders. The pointed arch indicates the transitional character of this part of the building, and was probably introduced in this position to give strength to sustain the tower. The three arms of the cross branching to the north, south, and west from the crossing are of equal size—an unusual arrangement, as the nave is generally the longest division of the church. This was part of the original design, as the western doorway is one of the most prominently Norman portions of the edifice, and no satisfactory explanation has yet been given of the shortness of the Kelso nave. The upper portion of the west front has been in the transitional style, and the Norman arcading, which runs round the interior of the nave, was continued across the west end.The nave, north and south transepts, contain each four stories in height, consisting of an interlacing arcade of Norman work in the interior of the ground level, and three stories of windows above. The upper arcades of the choir do not extend round the nave and transepts, except in a portion of the south transept. The windows in the different stories have all round arches, both inside and outside, and the exterior is marked at each angle by broad and shallow Norman buttresses, with nook shafts in the angles, and an interlacing arcade round the lower story, both internally and externally. In the façades of the west end and north transept the windows of the different stories have been grouped so as to form distinct designs. "In the west end, over the great west doorway, there has been an arrangement of tall windows of apparently lancet form, having on either side an interlacing arcade of round arches, supported on tall, bended shafts. This is now, unfortunately, greatly destroyed. Above the arcade there runs a horizontal flat cornice, enriched with several rows of carved ornaments, and this was surmounted by a large opening of quatrefoil shape, surrounded with numerous mouldings and enrichments. The angle buttresses have been crowned with octagonal turrets."[424]The north wall of the north transept has a fine transitionaldoor-piece, occupying the two lower stories. The next two stories have each two windows, separated by a small buttress, and the upper story has three arches in the interior. "Above these stories is a small circular window with a curious saving arch over it, and the whole is crowned with a top story, containing three round-headed openings, and a gable with a small circular aperture. The buttresses at the angles are crowned with circular turrets, which have been finished with a projecting parapet, the corbels for carrying which still survive. The upper part of the gable shows signs of having been altered."[425]The west doorway and the north door-piece are interesting; the former, the south half of which has perished, and which was finished with a sloping gable and stone roof, is regarded as a rich specimen of the elaborate carved work that characterised the late Norman period. "The jambs contained five detached shafts set in nooks, and having Norman bases and carved caps. Over each of these shafts there springs a circular order, carved with rich Norman ornament, now, however, very much decayed. The jambs of the doorway also formed moulded shafts, supporting their order in the arch."[426]The door-piece of the north transept wall is a prominent feature, projects 4 feet 6 inches from the main wall, has two stories, and is roofed with a sloping stone roof. The shafts have the usual Norman caps and bases, and the mouldings of the arch are pronounced to be peculiar in their profile. The outer one is enriched with small medallions, the central with the billet, and the inner one with rosettes. Above the archway there is an arcade of interlacing round shafts—the shafts, which were destroyed, having Norman caps. "The tympanum of the gable is covered with a reticulation of round beads or rolls."[427]The south and west sides and a small portion of the north and east sides of the tower remain. It is 35 feet square over the walls, and "is carried up with plain masonry externally, but the interior has immediately over the great arches of the crossing an arcade of round moulded arches, supported on triple shafts similar to those of the choir. Above this arcade is another story containing simple round arched openings, which are lighted on the exterior by circular windows containing quatrefoils. Over this tier is the upper story, which contains three pointed and deeply-recessed windows on each side of the tower.Broad, flat buttresses are placed at each angle of the tower, similar to those of the main building, and these were, no doubt, originally finished with turrets like those of the transepts.... The upper part of the tower is later than the lower part. This is apparent from the pointed windows of the top story and the quatrefoiled circular windows of the story beneath. The lower story immediately over the great arches is, without doubt, of about the same date as the choir."[428]There were probably similar staircases in other parts of the structure now removed, but the approach to the upper floors is now by one staircase in the N.W. angle of the transept. Passages between the arcades and the outer walls went round the building on every floor, and in the angles of the tower there are small wheel stairs leading to every floor, and passages running round the tower on every story. These arcades and passages have tended to weaken the structure, and it has been found necessary to strengthen it with numerous iron tie-rods, iron beams, etc.[429]There was an outer door in the S.W. angle of the transept, and another in the north wall of the nave adjoining the crossing. A tomb recess is in the south transept wall, and in the recess beneath are two ambries or lockers and a piscina, the only one remaining in the building. To the south of the transept there is a vaulted chamber that may have been the sacristy.[430]

The main piers consist of a circular column, five feet in diameter, with smaller attached half-columns on three sides to carry the moulded arches between the main piers and the arches between the latter and the aisles.[423]"The piers have caps of the usual Norman modified cushion pattern, and the arches were moulded and arranged in several orders. The arcade immediately over the main arches has a row of single round shafts, with spreading Norman caps, which carry a series of moulded arches, occupying the position of the triforium. The upper arcade, which takes the place of the clerestory, has shafts of triple form, with wide spreading bases and caps of Norman and transition design. On the latter rest the round boldly-moulded arches. The arches opposite the windows in the outer wall are slightly larger than the others. It will be observed that there is no main vaulting shaft carried up over the main piers, as is almost invariably the case, for the purpose of strengthening the wall. On the contrary, the triforium arcade is continuous, and no provision is made to support the side wall, except the single shafts of the running arcade, which have a very weak effect. In the usual arrangement, the triforium arches are separated by a substantial piece of wall, including a vaulting shaft, and the triforium arch, which is generally subdivided into several subordinate arches, is introduced between the vaulting shafts. That is a much more substantial form of construction, and also more satisfactory to the eye, than the plan adopted here of a simple continuous arcade." In the exterior of this portion of the choir the outside of the clerestory windows is visible, being simple round-headed openings, with flat buttresses between them. The remainder of the wall is plain, but, judging from the level of the triforium window, the vaulting of the aisle, which was very high and partly covered the windows, seems to have been added at a later date. The crossing is square; the piers are about nine feet square—that at the south-east angle standing detached in consequence of the opening into the south aisle, while those at the north-west and south-west angles are incorporated with the walls. The piers are designed as a series of shafts, set in square nooks (four on each of the complete sides), with a large semicircular shaft at each angle. The shafts are all built in courses with the piers, and have transition bases and caps. From the latter spring large pointed arches, with plain chamfered orders. The pointed arch indicates the transitional character of this part of the building, and was probably introduced in this position to give strength to sustain the tower. The three arms of the cross branching to the north, south, and west from the crossing are of equal size—an unusual arrangement, as the nave is generally the longest division of the church. This was part of the original design, as the western doorway is one of the most prominently Norman portions of the edifice, and no satisfactory explanation has yet been given of the shortness of the Kelso nave. The upper portion of the west front has been in the transitional style, and the Norman arcading, which runs round the interior of the nave, was continued across the west end.

The nave, north and south transepts, contain each four stories in height, consisting of an interlacing arcade of Norman work in the interior of the ground level, and three stories of windows above. The upper arcades of the choir do not extend round the nave and transepts, except in a portion of the south transept. The windows in the different stories have all round arches, both inside and outside, and the exterior is marked at each angle by broad and shallow Norman buttresses, with nook shafts in the angles, and an interlacing arcade round the lower story, both internally and externally. In the façades of the west end and north transept the windows of the different stories have been grouped so as to form distinct designs. "In the west end, over the great west doorway, there has been an arrangement of tall windows of apparently lancet form, having on either side an interlacing arcade of round arches, supported on tall, bended shafts. This is now, unfortunately, greatly destroyed. Above the arcade there runs a horizontal flat cornice, enriched with several rows of carved ornaments, and this was surmounted by a large opening of quatrefoil shape, surrounded with numerous mouldings and enrichments. The angle buttresses have been crowned with octagonal turrets."[424]

The north wall of the north transept has a fine transitionaldoor-piece, occupying the two lower stories. The next two stories have each two windows, separated by a small buttress, and the upper story has three arches in the interior. "Above these stories is a small circular window with a curious saving arch over it, and the whole is crowned with a top story, containing three round-headed openings, and a gable with a small circular aperture. The buttresses at the angles are crowned with circular turrets, which have been finished with a projecting parapet, the corbels for carrying which still survive. The upper part of the gable shows signs of having been altered."[425]

The west doorway and the north door-piece are interesting; the former, the south half of which has perished, and which was finished with a sloping gable and stone roof, is regarded as a rich specimen of the elaborate carved work that characterised the late Norman period. "The jambs contained five detached shafts set in nooks, and having Norman bases and carved caps. Over each of these shafts there springs a circular order, carved with rich Norman ornament, now, however, very much decayed. The jambs of the doorway also formed moulded shafts, supporting their order in the arch."[426]The door-piece of the north transept wall is a prominent feature, projects 4 feet 6 inches from the main wall, has two stories, and is roofed with a sloping stone roof. The shafts have the usual Norman caps and bases, and the mouldings of the arch are pronounced to be peculiar in their profile. The outer one is enriched with small medallions, the central with the billet, and the inner one with rosettes. Above the archway there is an arcade of interlacing round shafts—the shafts, which were destroyed, having Norman caps. "The tympanum of the gable is covered with a reticulation of round beads or rolls."[427]The south and west sides and a small portion of the north and east sides of the tower remain. It is 35 feet square over the walls, and "is carried up with plain masonry externally, but the interior has immediately over the great arches of the crossing an arcade of round moulded arches, supported on triple shafts similar to those of the choir. Above this arcade is another story containing simple round arched openings, which are lighted on the exterior by circular windows containing quatrefoils. Over this tier is the upper story, which contains three pointed and deeply-recessed windows on each side of the tower.Broad, flat buttresses are placed at each angle of the tower, similar to those of the main building, and these were, no doubt, originally finished with turrets like those of the transepts.... The upper part of the tower is later than the lower part. This is apparent from the pointed windows of the top story and the quatrefoiled circular windows of the story beneath. The lower story immediately over the great arches is, without doubt, of about the same date as the choir."[428]There were probably similar staircases in other parts of the structure now removed, but the approach to the upper floors is now by one staircase in the N.W. angle of the transept. Passages between the arcades and the outer walls went round the building on every floor, and in the angles of the tower there are small wheel stairs leading to every floor, and passages running round the tower on every story. These arcades and passages have tended to weaken the structure, and it has been found necessary to strengthen it with numerous iron tie-rods, iron beams, etc.[429]

There was an outer door in the S.W. angle of the transept, and another in the north wall of the nave adjoining the crossing. A tomb recess is in the south transept wall, and in the recess beneath are two ambries or lockers and a piscina, the only one remaining in the building. To the south of the transept there is a vaulted chamber that may have been the sacristy.[430]

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.

Back to Index Next