The central pillar is octagonal, and consists of alternate rounds and hollows, the former having distinct bases and foliaged caps, and each of the hollows having a shield with armorial bearings inserted in the cavetto between the caps of the shafts.
The shields on the capital of the central pillar of the chapter house are as follow:—
1. On the south side facing the entrance doorway, a shield with the royal arms.
2. On the north side, immediately opposite the 1st, a sculptured figure of St. Andrew (see [Fig. 553]).
3 and 4. On each of the east and west sides, a shield having arms quartered thereon, viz.:—1st and 4th, a lymphad; and 2nd and 3rd, a fesse chequé, being the arms of Stewart of Lorn or Innermeth[52] reversed—i.e., the 1st and 4th quarters should occupy the position of the 2nd and 3rd, and vice versa (a mistake not unusual in Scottish heraldry).
5, 6, 7, and 8 occupy the diagonal faces of the octagon, and have shields bearing the cross, crown of thorns, hands and feet, spear, and other emblems of the Passion.
The above heraldic blazons are of some importance, as they enable us to fix approximately the name and date of the bishop under whom the restoration of the chapter house was carried out. The royal arms occupy, as is natural, the most prominent position. The east and west sides both bear the same arms, and are, doubtless, those of the bishop who presided at the time of the restoration.
There were several bishops of the name of Stewart during the fifteenth century, when the author of the restoration would naturally be looked for. These were James Stewart (1459), David Stewart (1462), and Andrew Stewart, who was elect of Moray in 1482. These bishops all belonged to branches of the family of Lorn. Bishop James Stewart lived for only two years. Bishop David Stewart was brother of the last bishop, and was parson of Spynie. “He built the great tower of Spynie Castle[53] (the Bishop’s Seat), a mighty strong house; it is called to this day David’s Tower.”[54] “This good prelate made several wise regulations; and after he had governed the see of Moray fourteen years, he died, and was buried in the same aisle with his brother,”[55] viz., that of St. Peter and St. Paul on the north side of the cathedral.
In 1482, Andrew Stewart, third son of Sir James Stewart, surnamed the Black Knight of Lorn, by Joan, Queen Dowager of Scotland, the widow of King James I., was promoted to the bishopric. He had previously been Lord Privy Seal, sub-Dean of Glasgow, and Rector of Monkland. In 1477 he was Provost of Lincluden. He died in 1501, and was buried in the choir of the cathedral. Bishop Andrew Stewart thus held the see for nineteen years. It is quite possible that the restoration of the chapter house was begun by Bishop David Stewart, but it seems more likely that the arms on the pillar are those of Bishop Andrew Stewart. The figure of St. Andrew, carved on the capital on the north side, being that opposite the royal arms, seems to favour that view; and the style of a good deal of the ornament connected with the restored stone lining of the interior, such as the enrichments of the corbels, &c., agrees rather with the end than the earlier parts of the fifteenth century. The windows, with their tracery, may, however, be of a somewhat earlier date.
A stone reading desk forms part of the central pillar, being attached to the north-west side at a suitable level. A stone bench runs, as usual, round the chapter house, and the bases of the shafts in the angle rest upon it.