gablets. The cornice is supported on a corbel table of pure first pointed design. There is no transept, but an attempt has been made to supply its place by the insertion of large traceried windows in the first bay of the nave next the choir (see [Fig. 508]). The east window of the south aisle of the nave (see [Fig. 511]) has the shield over the central mullion carved with a quatrefoil sinking on the inside, but it is not pierced through to the outside, which is left quite plain. The aisles are of very plain design, the windows being somewhat similar to those of the lady chapel, and the buttresses being very plain. Two windows at the west end of the north aisle ([Fig. 525]) are of peculiar form, having a flat segmental arch and being divided by two mullions. These appear to be a comparatively late alteration. There has been a north porch (see [Fig. 525]) to the nave, of which only the ruined doorway, with first pointed shafts and arch mouldings, now remains. There is also a plain south doorway in the nave aisle (see [Fig. 511]).
Fig. 522.—Dunblane Cathedral. Plan of West Window.
The north buttress of the west end has been made large so as to contain a wheel stair to the upper galleries (see Plan) of the edifice (see [Fig. 517]), and in the buttress on the south side of the west doorway a small vaulted chamber has been formed, in which some interesting relics of Celtic times have been preserved, amongst others a stone carved with a Celtic cross, ornamented with a figure like a Greek fret.
As already mentioned, the greater part of the structure is of first pointed date. The lady chapel may be the oldest part (after the tower), and next to it is the east portion of the nave. The western half of the nave seems to have followed soon after the eastern portion, and is carried out nearly after the same design. The transition tracery in the arcade of the clerestory and west end is very interesting, as showing bar tracery in the act of being formed. This could scarcely have occurred in Scotland before the end of the thirteenth century.
The style of the choir is further advanced than the nave, and exhibits some transitional features between first pointed and decorated work. The great east window and the large side windows of the choir probably contained tracery more advanced than that of the west end, and may probably date from the fourteenth century. The pinnacles and parapet are, as already pointed out, of about 1500.
Fig. 523.—Dunblane Cathedral. Interior of West Window.