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Fig. 833.—St. Giles’ Collegiate Church. Shield bearing Arms of Bishop Kennedy. |
Fig. 834.—St. Giles’ Collegiate Church. Shield bearing Arms of Nicholas de Otterburn. |
facing the north contains the arms of Mary of Gueldres, impaled with the royal arms. This also is unfinished on the top. The shield facing the south has the three fleurs-de-lys for France, the old ally of Scotland. These shields clearly connect the pillar with Mary of Gueldres and her husband, James II., and their son, James III. The marriage of the king and queen took place in 1449, and James III. was born in 1453. His father was killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460, and Mary of Gueldres died in 1463. The work was, therefore, probably executed between 1453 and 1463. The unfinished condition of the west and north shields may, perhaps, point to a date shortly after the king’s death and before that of Mary of Gueldres. The heraldic devices on the other pillars and responds are those of distinguished men of the time. On the pillar on the south side of the choir, the shield facing the east bears three unicorns’ heads (see [Fig. 831]), the arms of William Preston of Gorton, who bestowed (as we shall see) a great gift on the church. The shield on the west bears the arms of Bishop Kennedy ([Fig. 833]), a chevron between three crosses crossleted, surrounded by a double tressure. This prelate, who
Fig. 835.—St. Giles’ Collegiate Church. East Pillar of Choir.
