Fig. 869.—St. Michael’s Parish Church. Carved Altar-piece.
The Church of St. Michael’s is one of the largest of the ancient parish churches of Scotland. The wall which separated the nave and choir has recently been removed, and the whole thrown into one church. In 1559 the building was taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation, in their march from Perth to Edinburgh, when the altars and images were destroyed, the figure of St. Michael (see [Fig. 866]) only escaping demolition.
The steeple contains three old bells—one dated 1490, and the other two recast during the eighteenth century.
ST. MONANS CHURCH, Fifeshire.
St. Monans is the name of one of the numerous fishing villages on the Fifeshire coast of the Frith of Forth, and lies about three miles west from Anstruther. The village derives its name from St. Monan, who, by tradition, is believed to have been a missionary to the Picts in the eighth century, and to have suffered martyrdom by the Danes on the Isle of May. His body is said to have been buried on the mainland; and over it a small chapel was subsequently erected, which had a reputation for cures. Dr. Skene, however, thinks that St. Monan was Bishop of Clonfert, and that his relics were brought from Ireland to Fife about 845, and deposited in a church erected in his honour.[162] This original chapel was replaced with a larger edifice by David II. in 1362, in gratitude for his miraculous escape, through St. Monan’s influence, from the fatal effects of the barb of an arrow with which he was wounded at Durham. Sir William Dishington, of the adjoining estate of Ardross, was appointed master of the works;[163] and between 1362 and 1370 the sum of £613, 7s. was paid to him in connection with the fabric, besides £6, 13s. 4d. for the carpenter work. Dishington hired a ship from a burgess of Inverness to convey timber from there for the building; and there appear to have been three freights, which cost for transit £20, £10, and £7, 17s. 8d. In 1364 and 1366, before the church was finished, there are payments to at least three chaplains celebrating at St. Monans, two of whom had £10 and the other 20 merks yearly.[164]
About a century after the founding of the church, it was bestowed by James III. on the Dominicans. In 1544 it is said to have suffered a good deal at the hands of the English. The structure, however, still survives, and has long been used as the parish church. It is most picturesquely situated on the rocks, at the junction of a small stream with the sea; and, although exposed to the violence of the tempests and the waves for several centuries, it still retains more of its original architecture than most of our more favourably situated churches.
The building ([Fig. 870]) consists of a chancel, north and south transepts, and a tower and spire over the crossing. Although a nave has evidently been intended, it has never been built. The chancel is 50 feet long by 23 feet wide internally. It is divided into four bays, marked externally by buttresses, with traceried windows between them ([Fig. 871]); and, internally, by groined vaults, springing from wall shafts between the bays ([Fig. 872]). The east end (see [Fig. 871]) has two traceried windows, with a buttress between, surmounted by a small oblong light, filled with tracery. The north and south transepts are each 17 feet in length by 18 feet in width. The north transept ([Fig. 873]) has a three-light window to the north and a two-light window to the west; and the ceiling is covered with a groined vault, having numerous ribs. The south transept ([Fig. 874]) has two windows to the south and one to the west. The crossing has large clustered piers supporting the arches (see [Fig. 872]), which carry the tower and spire. The western end is built up with a solid wall (see [Fig. 874]), without any indication of an arch to the nave. It contains a tall traceried window of two lights, with a transom in the centre of the height. A turret stair at the north-west angle leads to the top of the tower.
Fig. 870.—St. Monans Church. Plan.