pointed out above that the arrangements of that original church and cloister probably influenced the position of the north wall of the nave, and thus caused the narrowness of the north aisle. It seems not improbable that some of the original north wall may be preserved as the core of the present wall, having been faced up with newer work on each side.
Fig. 775.—Melrose Abbey. Interior of Choir.
But, speaking generally, the building, as it now stands, is all of a date subsequent to Bruce’s time, and much of it is later than the destruction which occurred under Richard II. in 1385. The nave, from the crossing to the rood loft, and part of the transepts are, undoubtedly, the oldest
Fig. 776.—Melrose Abbey. South-East Angle of Transept and Choir.
portions of the existing edifice. The work in these is, for the most part, of the Scottish decorated period. The nave piers, with their beautifully-carved caps, and the mouldings of the arches are distinctly decorated work; and the flying buttresses and pinnacles on the south side of the nave are, without doubt, of the same period (see [Figs. 766] and [773]). So also is the south wall of the transept, with its magnificent window and tracery and its buttresses, enriched with fine canopies and quaint figures carved as corbels (see [Fig. 772]).