The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and blue, and the vast majority have the legend Ave Maria inscribed on them; others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device. It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered—“Benedicite fontes Domino,”—“Ye fountains bless the Lord.” No doubt, here, too, some bore the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found.
A very pertinent question arises now: how could this small building give sitting accommodation, not only to one hundred and fifty monks, which this monastery is said to have had, but even to a third of that number? It seems impossible. It may be that, on becoming numerous, they used as Chapter-house some other building no longer standing. At Graignamanagh, the monks, finding their Chapter-house too small, converted the eastern window of it into a door, and built a large and spacious hall, as a new Chapter-house, the old one serving as an ante-chamber to it. No such addition had been made here; for the window remains intact.
What a change has come over this grand old Chapter-house since it saw its Abbot, who ranked as a peer of the realm, walk up its centre with solemn and stately tread, and mount the steps which led to his seat, on the east; and the grave assemblage of white-robed monks enter in silence, and take their places on either side, while one of them sang at the Lectern, the Martyrology, and a chapter of St. Benedict’s Rule! From this custom of having a chapter of the Rule sung there every morning, this apartment derives its name. In the interval, between the singing of the Martyrology and the chapter of St. Benedict’s Rule, one of the priests gave out certain prayers, to which all responded. These prayers were chiefly petitions to the Lord, that He would deign to bless and guard them during the coming day; for the hour of chapter, or of the assembling of the Brethren, was generally about 6 A.M.. The Abbot then explained the chapter which had been sung, dwelt on the obligations incumbent on his hearers, by their profession, to observe the teaching which St. Benedict inculcated by his Rule; then called for the public self-accusations of breaches of monastic discipline (external faults only), and imposed penances commensurate with each transgression. The Chapter-house was the hall wherein were held the deliberations or councils relative to the administration of temporalities, and here novices were elected or rejected by secret ballot.
On leaving the Chapter-house one finds himself again on the site of the eastern walk or alley of the Cloister, as it is called, and proceeding along it southward, one sees a wall some seven or eight feet high without door or window of any sort. It is doubtful that this was portion of the ancient building; for then Mellifont would not have followed the general plan of all the houses of the Order. That it was not one of the original buildings is probable, both because the masonry is more modern, and the remains of an old building running at right angles with it were found when the excavations were made a few years ago in the potato garden, at the rere of this wall. That old structure measured about fourteen feet wide. It is shown on the ground plan. In the plan of Clairvaux, of which Mellifont is said to have been a counterpart, a long narrow hall ran off the Cloister here, parallel with the Chapter-house. It was called the “Auditorium” or “Parlour.” It was there that each choir monk’s share in the manual labour was assigned him every day by the Prior. There, too, confessions were heard, and the monks might speak to the Prior or Abbot on necessary matters; for the adjoining Cloister was a place of strict silence. As at Clairvaux, the novitiate was placed further south where the novices were trained in their duties by a learned and experienced monk, who, according to St. Benedict, “would know how to gain souls to God.”
Over the buildings on the ground story, that is, over the Sacristy, Chapter-house, Parlour, and Novitiate, was the Dormitory, which was entered by a stair-case, in the south-eastern angle of the transept, on one side, and by another stairs at the junction of the east and south walks of the Cloister. When the monastery at Mellifont was changed and remodelled after Clairvaux (for this latter underwent a substantial change in 1175), the monks may have used the old Parlour as a passage leading to other buildings which covered that plot of ground beyond the Chapter-house, now a potato garden. In the plan of Clairvaux, all the space in that direction is covered with buildings. (See plan of Clairvaux.) In the general view of Mellifont, given in frontispiece, the plot whereon these buildings stood is that where the man is seen tilling the garden. But if one ascend the hill, keeping close to the ruins, it will be evident how suitable a place it was for building on, and the remains of walls peep up here and there over the surface. The level at that spot is, indeed, much higher than in the Cloister, or Chapter-house, but that is partially caused by the debris of ruined buildings which has accumulated there.
Doorway of Chapter-House. See p. [18].
A. Scott & Son, Architects, Drogheda.
At the extreme end of this eastern walk of the Cloister and at right angles with it, are the remains of what was once a spacious building. It had a fire-place at the eastern end, and a door which led out into another building that formerly adjoined it. It is 96 feet long by 36 feet wide. No idea can be formed now as to its original use. In some monasteries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, chiefly the more considerable ones, there was a spacious room or hall located as this was, and furnished with benches and writing-desks, where the monks studied and wrote. It was called the “Lectorium” or Reading room. It must not, however, be confounded with the Scriptorium, which was the official quarters of the copyist. It is well to remark here that the plot of ground lying north of this building was not dug up during the excavations, but only skimmed over in order to trace the course of some walls which at intervals appeared above the surface; but, even this slight investigation was sufficient to reveal the outlines of numerous buildings that once extended in that direction and covered that whole area. Again comparing the site with Clairvaux, we find that the Infirmary and its surroundings would lie in that direction.
At the extreme end of the eastern walk of the Cloister where it joins the southern one, are the remains of a stairs, which formerly led up to the Dormitory from this part of the monastery, as at Clairvaux. Near it is what is commonly called a vault, an arched chamber measuring sixteen feet by fourteen. It has a chimney, and it would seem to have had a narrow window also on the outer or southern end. Here is where the Calefactory stood in almost all the old Cistercian monasteries. This Calefactory was heated by a stove, at which the monks warmed themselves after their long vigils in winter; but their stay there was restricted to one quarter of an hour. Pope Eugenius III., when a monk at Clairvaux, under St. Bernard, had charge of the stove there, as was commemorated by an inscription over the door of the Calefactory. A son of the King of France discharged the same lowly office afterwards at Clairvaux, as the Annals of the Order testify.