KINFAUNS CHURCH,Perthshire.

Fig. 1468.—Innerpeffray Church. Plan.

The church (Fig.1468) is divided, by modern walls, into three parts. It is a long narrow building, measuring, internally, about 76 feet in length by about 21 feet 4 inches in width. There was a sacristy on the north side near the east end, its width and position being indicated by the

Fig. 1469.—Innerpeffray Church. View from South-West.

absence of the moulded wall-head plinth (Fig.1469), which runs round the whole side walls except at this part. The door between the church and sacristy still remains, but is built up. On the sacristy side it has a roughflat arch. To the east of this door there is, on the exterior, a splayed aperture about 2 feet 9 inches wide (see Plan) by about 2 feet high, and about the same height above the ground. There is no trace of it inside, the walls being plastered. This may have been what is called a squint,

Fig. 1470.—Innerpeffray Church. Arch near West End.

being situated in the same relative position as those at Seton and other churches.

The Church of Innerpeffray is peculiar, from having what resembles a chancel arch, situated at a distance of about 7 feet 6 inches from the west end. This arch (Fig.1470) is round and about 14 feet 2 incheswide. It has a splayed squint about 2 feet wide on the south side, as shown on the sketch. It is difficult to give a satisfactory explanation of this arch, but it seems to have formed a vestibule in connection with the stair leading to an apartment on the upper floor. The archway appears to have been fitted with some kind of timber screen, which, if it was a close one, would help to explain the object of the squint.

There is a room on the first floor reached by the wheel stair in the

Fig. 1471.—Innerpeffray Church.Lintel of Eastmost Window.

Fig. 1471.—Innerpeffray Church.

Lintel of Eastmost Window.

north-west angle. This room, as it now exists, is of later construction than the church, and is not older than the seventeenth century. The stair, however, is part of the original construction, and is believed to have given access to a belfry on the west wall, as well as to the room which doubtless existed from the first over the vestibule, and which (see Fig.1469) was provided with a fireplace and a window in the west gable.

The ceiling of the existing room (see Fig.1470) cuts across the archway in an awkward manner. Doubtless the original room was at a slightly higher level, so as not to interfere with the arch. The ceiling and floor of the room are in a very ruinous state, the greater part having fallen. The ceiling is painted in bright colours. It has a figure of the sun in the centre with rolling clouds around, and till lately there was a complete figure of an angel on one side, of which only slight indications now remain. On

Fig. 1472.Innerpeffray Church.Jamb Moulding of South Door.

Fig. 1472.

Innerpeffray Church.

Jamb Moulding of South Door.

the south side the ceiling has entirely fallen, and with it the figure of an angel corresponding to the one on the north side, and soon the whole thing will come to the ground.

The church, in its original state, had three doorways, one in the centre of the west end and one in the south wall, the latter being secured (see Plan) by a sliding bar. Both these doors have bead and hollow mouldings. The third door was in the north wall and is now built up. There are six windows in the south wall, the two westmost ones adjoining the great arch being markedly narrower than the others, and having evidently some connection with the west arch. These windows have all double splays on the exterior, except the eastmost one (Fig.1471), which has a large quarter hollow moulding continued round the lintel, on which occurs a shield with the Drummond arms.

All the windows and doors have square lintels, with the mouldings or splays of the jambs continued round the lintels. The mode of securingthe side door has already been referred to; all the windows are likewise strongly secured with iron interlacing bars.

Fig. 1473.—Innerpeffray Church. South Doorway.

Fig.1472shows the jamb moulding of the south doorway. Over this doorway there is a small pointed opening (see Fig.1469), probably intended to throw light on the rood screen which stood near it, as is evident from the corbels for carrying it, three of which still exist on thesouth side (see Plan) and one on the opposite side, the others having been removed to admit a monument. On the north side two of these corbels are placed (Fig.1473), one on each side of one of the windows, which, as will be seen, has been converted into a doorway to give access to the central burial vault. Alongside the south door there is the stoup (see Figs.1473and1474)). It is of plain design, with a slightly projecting bracket. The piscina or small recess at the east end is quite plain, not even having a splay.

A very interesting feature of this church is the altar, which is still standing against the east wall (see Plan). It has been rough cast over, so that it cannot be examined thoroughly. It is needless to say that few ancient altars remain in Scotland, one of the best preserved ones being at

Fig. 1474.Innerpeffray Church.Stoup.

Fig. 1474.

Innerpeffray Church.

Stoup.

the Church of Stobhall, about twenty miles distant, a view of the exterior of which church is subjoined (Fig.1475).[208]Stobhall and Innerpeffray churches were both built by the same family of the Drummonds, who adhered to the ancient faith, and successfully defied the power of the reformed Church to cast down their monuments of idolatry, as altars and other appendages of the ancient Church were termed.

The east gable at Innerpeffray is quite plain, with the exception of a small niche, which probably held a figure. Besides the painted ceiling already referred to, there are considerable traces of painting throughout the interior, particularly on the east wall. Several consecration crosses are also painted on various parts of the church.

From what has been said, it will be seen that this is a church of very considerable interest and some almost unique peculiarities, and it is unfortunate that it should be divided up with unseemly walls, and that no effort should be made to preserve the painted work, of which so little remains in Scotland. Were it put in the same condition as the Church of Stobhall and as well cared for, it would be a circumstance for which all who are interested in Scottish church architecture would be grateful.

This church, which was a Collegiate one, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and was founded by Sir John Drummond, the first of Innerpeffray, in 1508. In the account which follows (kindly supplied by Mrs. Birnie, keeper of the Library) it appears that a church existed here in the previouscentury, and indeed it is stated[209]that it is mentioned as early as 1342. The existing building, however, was doubtless erected at the period above mentioned.

“In 1483 the Church of Innerpeffray must have been in existence, as the patronage is then conveyed by the Mercers to Lord Oliphant.

Fig. 1475.—Stobhall Church, from Courtyard.

“One reason for considering the foundation of considerable antiquity is the fact that the market held on the day of dedication (Lady-day) was one of the great marts and one of the great holidays of Strathearn. (The market was removed to Crieff about eighty years ago.) Institutions so popular as this are generally found to have their origin in a remote antiquity.... Its proximity also to the meeting point of the fourRoman roads, from Ardoch and the south, from Comrie and Loch Earn on the west, from the Sma’ Glen on the north, and from Perth on the east, made it a suitable centre.... Convenience of access and the popularity of Lady Fair appear to confirm the remote date of the church, &c.

“John Freebairn, minister and preacher of the Gospel at Madderty (1620-1657), who was connected with the Drummonds by marriage, in a genealogical history of the House of Drummond, leaves on record the following:—‘John, first Lord Drummond, having re-edified the Chapel of Innerpeffray from the ground and erected it into a college for some few prebendaries to pray for requiems for him and his house, ordained it to be their burying-place for all time coming, and being near 80 years of age he framed one of the most material and perfyte testaments that ever I saw and syne closed his eyes and time togidder and was most honourably interred at Innerpeffray, in the year 1519.’

“On 4th June 1507 the King confirmed in Mortmain the charter of John, Lord Drummond, by which (for the souls of the King and Queen, for his own soul and that of Elizabeth Lindesay, his wife, and the umquhile Margaret Drummond, his daughter, &c.) he granted as a pure free almsgift to four chaplains, to celebrate the divine offices for ever at the four altars in the church, dedicated in honour of the Blessed Virgin, of Innerpeffray, an annual income of forty marks from his lands of Innerpeffray and Dunfallys, with houses, residences, and gardens to be marked off and built for each, with the right to each of them of obtaining necessary fuel in the Common Mure of Innerpeffray with four sums for grasses and for one horse. In 1508 occurs the name of Walter Drummond, the first Provost of Innerpeffray. Here was buried the second Master of Drummond, who died before his grandfather, and left an infant son, David, afterwards second Lord Drummond....

“The King, on 20th October 1581, confirmed the charter of William Lindesay, provost or principal perpetual chaplain of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Innerpeffray, in which with consent of Patrick, Lord Drummond, patron of the said provostry, he demised to James Drummond of Innerpeffray six acres of land, the Smithlands, &c. &c., reserving to the said provost one chamber (camera) only when he should stay there.[210]... Four roundles or towers stood one at each corner of the churchyard, and tradition says that these formed the residences of the four chaplains.”

This edifice is situated about four miles east from Perth, and continued to be the parish church till about forty years ago, when it was abandonedand allowed to fall into ruin. It is now roofless and the walls are very much reduced, except the south aisle, which contained the seats of the family of the Greys of Kinfauns and their burial-place. When the church was dismantled a painting was found on the plaster inside the west wall, but unfortunately no drawing was made of it, and it has now entirely disappeared.

The church (Fig.1476) measures about 65 feet long by 18 feet 2 inches wide within the walls, and is probably a structure of the fifteenth century. It has been considerably altered during Presbyterian times, new windows and doors having been broken through the walls. The south doorway is original, and is round arched with a bead moulding towards the outside,

Fig. 1476.—Kinfauns Church. Plan.

and lintelled on the inside with a stone slab having a cross carved on it, evidently a companion stone to the one shown in Fig.1477. This cross, which wants part of its length, measures 5 feet 11 inches long by 1 foot 7 inches in width at top, tapering to 1 foot 4 inches at lower end by 10 inches thick. It is well wrought with sloping sides, having the form of the cross completed, as seen by the rounded disc rising out of the slope on each side. There was probably a south doorway opposite the north doorway, adjoining the stoup shown in the south wall. The eastmost window on the south side is also original; it is square lintelled and has the usual wide splay all round.

The most interesting feature in the church is the arched recess in the north wall (see Fig.1477), which was probably an Easter sepulchre. Itwas only discovered after the church became a ruin, having previously been covered over. It has thus been well preserved, except that the projecting crockets along the top of the hood moulding, as well as most of the hood itself, have been chipped away, so as to make an even surface at the wall. It measures about 6 feet 6 inches long by 3 feet in depth, and about 4 feet high. It has well wrought mouldings, which die against

Fig. 1477.—Kinfauns Church. Recess in North Wall.

a rounded jamb, supported on a short shaft having a very simple cap and base. The floor of the recess was slightly raised above the floor of the church. The details of the mouldings show that this is a late design, probably sixteenth century.

The “Gray Aisle” on the south side of the church is roofed with a late example of groined vaulting (Fig.1478), and it is curious to observe howthe tradition of this kind of work survived to a period when the style of art practised throughout the country was of the kind represented by the panels on the east and west walls. There are three panels on these

Fig. 1478.—Kinfauns Church. The “Grey Aisle,” looking West.

walls. The central one on the west side (see Fig.1478) contains the Lindsay arms, as shown. On the east side there are two coats (Fig.1479) containing the Charteris arms. On one of the panels of that side is the following inscription, which gives the name of the founder of the aisle:—

Fig. 1479.—Kinfauns Church. Panels in East Side.[211]

“John Chartrvs and Jannat Chisolim In ovr tym buildit this,” and on the other is the inscription, “George Chartus sonn and har to the sad John and deppartit. Bot suecs/nuvn” (without succession). The date over the entrance door is 1598.

The old country town of Meigle is situated in the middle of Strathmore, not far from Alyth Junction on the railway between Perth and Forfar.

The church stood in the middle of the village, and was rebuilt aboutthe beginning of this century. When the old building was demolished, a font was dug out of the rubbish and erected on a pedestal in the minister’s garden. It remained there for a time, but when an Episcopal chapel was built, the font was removed into it, and is now in use there. It is one of the best specimens of an old font now remaining in Scotland,

Fig. 1480.—Meigle Church Font.

and it evidently belongs to a late period, probably sixteenth century.

The font is octagonal and made of one stone. It is 2 feet 3 inches in diameter, and the basin measures 1 foot 9 inches across. Each of the sides of the octagon contains an arch with carved crockets, and the angles are marked by small buttresses and pinnacles. The carved work has been very spirited, but is now much damaged. In each arch is a bas-relief containing emblems and scenes connected with the Passion.

Fig. 1481.—Meigle Church Font.

Fig.1480shows three sides, which represent—(1) the Crucifixion, (2) the seamless coat and the scourges and dice, (3) the Resurrection. Fig.1481shows—(4) the Cross and crown of thorns, (5) the pierced hands, feet, and heart (showing the five wounds of the Passion), (6) the pillar with the rope twisted round it, and the cock on the top. The seventh side contains the ladder and the spear, reed, and sponge arranged saltierwise, and the eighth the three nails and the hammer.

These sculptures are all well preserved and well executed, but whether of native workmanship or not it is impossible to say.

Of the Church of Methven, consecrated by Bishop David de Bernham of St. Andrews on 25th August 1247, nothing now remains.

The Collegiate Church or Provostry of Methven, as it is generally called, was founded in 1433 by Walter Stewart, the aged Earl of Athole. Before this time, King James i. had conferred the liferent of the Earldom of Strathearn upon the Earl of Athole, so that he was the great lord of the district, and was, besides, a son of Robert ii. Three years after the founding of this church he suffered a terrible death, for his supposed connivance in the assassination of James i. in Perth.

What now remains of the church is the north transept, the north wall and gable of which are shown in Fig.1482. In theEdinburgh Architectural Association Sketch Book[213]a plan of the church is given without any information as to how it was ascertained. Assuming it to be correct, it shows a cross church, having a chancel 40 feet long by 24 feet wide over the walls, with north and south transepts, and a nave of the same width as the chancel, extending for an indefinite length. The north transept extended from the north wall of the church 22 feet, and has a width over the walls of 21 feet, with walls 3 feet thick. The end window, which is the principal feature of the structure, is 6 feet 3 inches wide in the daylight; it has three lights, and the tracery, which is of a flowing pattern, is placed, as usual at this period, in the centre of the thickness of the wall. The mouldings of the jambs, which consist of a double splay, are stopped at the springing of the arch by a continuous impost moulding, and the arch mouldings are of a different section. On the east side of the window there is a bracket with a canopy over for a statue, possibly that of St. Marnoch, the patron saint of Methven.

In a panel on the west side of the window there are traceable the lion rampant of the royal arms, surmounted by a crown.

The gabled crowsteps with which the gable is coped form one of the best examples of that feature, which, however, is a rare one in the churches of this period. The cross on the apex is modern.

The collegiate church was in use as the parish church till 1783, and for long after the Reformation the Presbyterian minister was called “Provest of Methven, and Chaplin of Auldbar,” the Church of Auldbar having been granted to Methven on its foundation in 1433.

Fig. 1482.—Methven Collegiate Church. North Transept.

A ruined chapel situated in the grounds adjoining the mansion house of Moncrieff, about three miles south-east of Perth. It is closely hemmed in with trees and is completely ivy clad, and measures in the inside about 34 feet 6 inches long by 13 feet wide. The building (Fig.1483) is a pre-Reformation

Fig. 1483.—Moncrieff Chapel. Plan.

church, but has evidently been used and altered in Presbyterian times, and within the last few years it has been enlarged with an apse and transepts, so as to form a burial-place. Most of the stones for this purpose were taken from the ruins of the splendid old bridge which

Fig. 1484.—Moncrieff Chapel.Stoup.

Fig. 1484.—Moncrieff Chapel.

Stoup.

crossed the Earn about a mile distant at Bridge of Earn.

There is a north aisle about 7 feet 8 inches wide by 7 feet 3 inches long, which is entered by a round arch, and is lighted by a window 14 inches wide,

Fig. 1485.—Moncrieff Chapel.Apex Stone.

Fig. 1485.—Moncrieff Chapel.

Apex Stone.

which has grooves for glass. The gable of this aisle has crowsteps. The doorway is in the south wall, and adjoining it on the westis a stoup (Fig.1484) with a pointed arch cut out of a single stone, and in the north wall there is the usual ambry. There are two windows in the south wall and one in the west gable. This gable has the usual set-off at about 5 feet above the ground, and at the ground level in this wall there is a wide relieving arch, apparently intended to give scope for a tree root. The skews of this gable are finely wrought, and the apex stone, now lying inside (Fig.1485), has the edge fillet continued as a saltier on the face of the ridge roll.

The belfry, entirely concealed by ivy, occupies an unusual position on the east gable. All the openings are lintelled, and appear to have been altered in Presbyterian times.

A ruined structure situated in the centre of its churchyard, in the decayed hamlet of Wast-Town, at a distance of about two miles northwards from Errol Railway Station, and not far from the old Castle of Kinnaird. The church (Fig.1486) has consisted of a nave and chancel, the former about 43 feet long by 15 feet 2 inches wide inside, having walls from 3 to 4 feet thick. The chancel was apparently of the same width as the nave,

Fig. 1486.—Wast-Town Church. Plan.

but it has been entirely demolished, and the chancel arch has been built up. This was doubtless done to make the church suitable as a preaching station after the Reformation. There are a north and a south doorway, the former square-headed with a splay, the latter (Fig.1488) round arched with a bead on edge all round. In the south side there are two windows with square tops and a bead moulding, and one window in the north side having a cusped and pointed top, as shown in Fig.1487. This window has a moulding on the outside consisting of a hollow, wrought on a broad splay. All the windows are finished on the inside in a manner similar to the one shown, the width of their daylight being about 13 inches. There are three openings through the walls at the west end (see Fig.1486) about 7 inches square and about 4 feet above the ground, the object of which is not very clear, and they are now considerably ruined. Possibly they are putlog holes.

Fig. 1487.—Wast-Town Church. Window in North Side.

Fig. 1488.—Wast-Town Church. View from South-East.

The chancel arch, which is 9 feet 9 inches wide, is in two orders (Fig.1489), each splayed on edge. The wall is 2 feet 4 inches thick, and the

Fig. 1490.—Wast-Town Church.Belfry.

Fig. 1490.—Wast-Town Church.

Belfry.

arch springs from wide spreading caps, which either rested on shafts, now removed, or only on corbels. This cannot at present be determined,

Fig. 1489.Wast-Town Church.Chancel Arch.

Fig. 1489.

Wast-Town Church.

Chancel Arch.

owing to the building up of the archway. The detail of this cap or corbel is somewhat novel and peculiar in design.

There is a plain belfry (Fig.1490) on the west gable.

The date of this church is probably in the sixteenth century.

This monument is placed in the modern parish church of Renfrew. It consists of a recumbent effigy resting on a sculptured tomb, and enclosed within an arched canopy. The inscription round the arch in Gothic raised letters is as follows:—“Hic iacet Johēs Ros miles quo(n)dam dominus de Hawkehede et Marioria uxor sua orate pro ipsis qui obit.”

Crawford mentions in hisHistory of Renfrewshire, p. 66, that Sir Josias (he means Sir John) Ross of Halkhead married “Marjory Mure, a daughter of Caldwel,” and that their statues “as big as the life, with their coats of arms over them,” are carved on the monument. The arms of the lady are not there now. Crawford states that this was “the first of the family who laid the foundation of that hereditary honour, which his successors have ever since enjoyed, who, being a favourite of King JamesIV., was by that prince created a baron of this realm, with the title of Lord Ross of Hawkhead and Melvil, about the year 1492.”[214]It is to be observed, however, that the arms on the tomb are simply those of Ross, whereas the arms of Melville were quartered with those of Ross after the marriage of Sir John Ross with the heiress of Melville in the time of RobertII.

The monument (Fig.1491) has been partly restored, the shafts at the sides with their bases and caps are modern, but they probably follow the original design. The mouldings of the arch, which are thickly coated with paint, appear to be original. The effigies, of which there are two, husband and wife, with the table on which they rest, remain untouched.

The tomb is 8 feet 6½ inches long by 2 feet 6 inches high, but the base is probably buried beneath the floor. The front is richly sculptured in a somewhat rude but vigorous manner, and is divided into eleven compartments. Each of the end compartments contains an angel playing on a musical instrument, namely, a violin and a viol. The other nine compartments contain shields supported by angels, with the following armorial bearings, as described by Mr. W. R. Macdonald:—

1. A chevron chequé between three hunting horns, for Semple.2. A pale, for Erskine.3. A griffin segreant, for Lauder of Hatton.4. Quarterly, 1st and 4th—A lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory, for Scotland, as on No. 5; 2nd and 3rd—A fesse chequé (with four rows of panes), for Stewart, as on No. 6.5. A lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory, for Scotland.6. A fesse chequé (also with four rows of panes), for Stewart.7. A bend, for——.

1. A chevron chequé between three hunting horns, for Semple.

2. A pale, for Erskine.

3. A griffin segreant, for Lauder of Hatton.

4. Quarterly, 1st and 4th—A lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory, for Scotland, as on No. 5; 2nd and 3rd—A fesse chequé (with four rows of panes), for Stewart, as on No. 6.

5. A lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory, for Scotland.

6. A fesse chequé (also with four rows of panes), for Stewart.

7. A bend, for——.

Fig. 1491.—Monument of Sir John Ross and Spouse in Renfrew Church.

8. A chevron chequé between three water budgets, for Ross of Halket.9. A chevron chequé between a hunting horn in dexter chief, a water budget in sinister chief, and a demi hunting horn combined with a demi water budget in base, being the shields 1 and 8 dimidiated, but showing no dividing line.

8. A chevron chequé between three water budgets, for Ross of Halket.

9. A chevron chequé between a hunting horn in dexter chief, a water budget in sinister chief, and a demi hunting horn combined with a demi water budget in base, being the shields 1 and 8 dimidiated, but showing no dividing line.

On the knight’s breast a chevron between three water budgets, for Ross of Halket, as in No. 8.

The Church of Renfrew was granted by DavidI.as a prebend of Glasgow, and is believed to have stood on the present site.

In 1557 mention is made of the chaplainry of St. Christopher in the Lord Ross’s Aisle on the south side of the Church of Renfrew. The monument is situated on the south side of the present church. The Chapel of St. Christopher was probably connected with the ferry across the Clyde.

These three churches lie to the north-west of Paisley, in a straight line, about four miles apart. The Church of Houston is modern, and the only thing belonging to the ancient church which formerly stood there is shown in Fig.1492, being the recumbent figures of one of the Houston family and his wife. The monument which contained these statues is entirely gone, and they now lie in a lighted closet, built for their reception, beside the new church. The Houston arms are carved on the knight’s armour (a fesse chequé between three martlets). The figures probably date from the fifteenth century, and are believed to represent Sir Patrick Houston of that Ilk, who died in 1450, and his wife, Agnes Campbell, who died in 1456. Crawford states[215]that Sir Patrick, departing this life 1450, was buried in the Chapel of Houston, where there is a fair monument erected to the memory of him and his wife, with this inscription:—“Hic jacet Patricius Houstoun, de Eodem, miles, qui obiit annoMCCCCL; et D. Maria Colquhoun sponsa dicti Domini Johannis quae obiitMCCCCLVI.”

The parish ofKilfillanorKillallanwas incorporated with Houston in 1760, and the church dedicated to St. Fillan has probably been in a state of ruin since about that time. It stands in a beautiful hollow in an elevated situation overlooking the valley of Strathgryfe, midway between Houston and Kilmalcolm. The walls are fairly entire, but without the gables, and are densely covered with ivy. The masonry shows that they are of considerable age, if indeed they are not of the Norman period. While this may be so, all the openings are of seventeenth century work, and the doorway at the west end of the south wall is dated 1635. About thattime the openings were probably changed into their present forms, and the pre-Reformation character of the building was altered to suit Presbyterian

Fig. 1492.—Houston Church. Effigies of Sir Patrick Houston and his Wife.

ideas. The old plan (Fig.1493), however, resembles many of the ancient churches in its long proportions, and in having the north and south doors

Fig. 1493.—St. Fillan’s Church, Killallan, Renfrewshire. Plan.

opposite each other. Adjoining the church and churchyard there still exists a quaint old Scottish mansion house of seventeenth century style, which may probably have been the residence of the clergymen.

Kilmalcolm.—The church here was dedicated to King MalcolmIII., who along with his wife, Queen Margaret, were commemorated as saints. A fragment of the east wall of a pre-Reformation church remains, with three plain lancet windows, which may possibly belong to the thirteenth century. It forms a part of the parish church. The above three churches, along with all the others in Strathgryfe (except Inchinnon), were comprehended in the grant which Walter, the son of Alan, made to the Abbey of Paisley in 1164.

Of the important churches which existed here in the twelfth century no trace now remains. The parish church was in a state of ruin at the beginning of the sixteenth century, when a new one was built, which in turn followed its predecessors, and in the year 1747 another church was erected, the ruins of which still exist.

The following description of the church taken down in 1747 occurs inOur Journall into Scotland, p. 15.[216]“They have a very pretty church where the hammermen and other tradesmen have several seats mounted above the rest, the gentlemen below the tradesmen in the ground seats; the women sit in the high end of the church, with us the choir, there is one neat vaulted porch in it, my Lord Bucplewgh’s (Buccleuch) seat is the highest in the church, and he hath a proper (private) passage into it in at the outside of the vaulted porch. On a corner of the outside of the choir is fastened an iron chain with a thing they call the Jogges,” &c. “The form of it is a cross house, the steeple fair, handsomely tiled as the Royal Exchange at London, it having at each corner four pyramidal turrets, they call them pricks; my Lord Maxfield’s house at Langham being of the form of the steeple. The church was tiled upon close joined boards and not lats” (laths).

Fig. 1494.—Selkirk Parish Church. Slab in Wall of Church.

The grave slab shown in Fig.1494is built into one of the walls of the existing ruins. It is of red sandstone, and measures 6 feet 4 inches high by 2 feet 5 inches wide. It is very much mutilated, and from its exposed situation and the friableness of the stone, it is rapidly decaying, and unless some proper means are taken to preserve it, will at no distant date be obliterated. The figure represents that of a stout yeoman with hands folded on the breast, having a belt round his waist. On a shield at his feet is a bend, any other charges which may have been on it being obliterated. The inscription in raised letters is more than half gone, but from the first syllable of the place of Aikwood being still legible, and in

Fig. 1495.—Selkirk Parish Church. Stoup.

conjunction with the arms, it is supposed by Mr. T. Craig Brown[217]to commemorate one of the Scots of Harden, who lived at Aikwood or Oakwood, a tower still standing not far from Selkirk. The stone probably dates from about the early part of the sixteenth century.

The following figures represent three stoups in the possession of Mr. Craig Brown, Selkirk. Fig.1495shows the five sides of one of these. On one face is a lion rampant, and on the adjoining space to the right is a human face, the mouth of which forms an opening for emptying the basin. On the space to the left is carved the figure of a buck or hart. The other two faces are broken. On one is the hind quarters of an oxhaving a long tail and cloven feet, and on the other the forequarters and head of a hare in full flight.

The lion may be heraldic or it may have a symbolic meaning. The hart is probably an allusion to the beginning of the xlii. psalm—“As the hart panteth after the water brooks.” This verse is inscribed on a font of the eleventh century, at Potterne, Wilts,[218]and the figure of a hart is of frequent occurrence on Celtic and Norman work, where, as is now generally

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