The square tower of Dunblane, which still survives, is a relic of the structure erected in the twelfth century,[158] and is one of the group, centred in early Pictavia, revealing characteristics of Norman work, and all connected with the sites of early Culdee establishments. Those north of the Tay are at Brechin and Restennet; those south of it, at St. Andrews (Regulus), Markinch, and Dunblane; Abernethy, Muthill, and Dunning.[159] The lower four storeys of the Dunblane tower form part of the original structure; the two highest are evidently of a late date;[160] the walls are not parallel with those of the nave, and the tower projects into the south aisle from 6 to 7 feet, and may have been associated with an earlier church.
The see seems to have fallen into a forlorn condition, for when the learned Dominican, Clement, was bishop (1233-1258), he made a pilgrimage to Rome, and represented to the Pope among other things that "its rents were barely sufficient to maintain him for six months; there was no place in the cathedral wherein he could lay his head; there was no collegiate establishment, and that in this unroofed church, the divine offices were celebrated by a certain rural chaplain."[161] Evidently the fourth part of the tithes of all the parishes within the diocese were given for the support of the bishop and the building of the cathedral, and he left it "a stately sanctuary, rich in land and heritage, served by prebendary and canon." Bishop Clement built the nave, the most beautiful part of the structure, but later in its architecture than the north aisle of the choir or lady chapel, which was originally separated from the choir by a solid wall, in which there never was any opening into the aisle except the small doorway near the east end, which is of First Pointed date.[162] Above the vault there is an upper storey with small two-lighted windows, which may possibly have been used as a scriptorium.[163] The cathedral consists of a nave of eight bays, with north and south aisles, an aisleless choir of six bays, an eastern aisle unconnected with the choir except by a doorway, and the tower attached to the south aisle of nave. The following is a narrative of the building of the cathedral as given by the most recent authorities. "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 of about 1500."[164] The west end, with its doorway, deeply recessed with shafts and mouldings of First Pointed work, with an acutely pointed blind arch on each side with trefoiled head within it; with three lofty pointed windows, each divided into two lights by a central mullion, and with arch-heads filled with cinquefoil and quatrefoils; with north buttress so large as to contain a wheel stair—is the finest part of the cathedral. Above the western window is a vesica, set within a bevilled fringe of bay-leaves arranged zigzagwise, with their points in contact. Of this Ruskin said in his lecture,[165] "Do you recollect the west window of your own Dunblane Cathedral? It is acknowledged to be beautiful by the most careless observer. And why beautiful? Simply because in its great contours it has the form of a forest leaf, and because in its decoration it has used nothing but forest leaves. He was no common man who designed that cathedral of Dunblane. I know nothing so perfect in its simplicity, and so beautiful, so far as it reaches, in all the Gothic with which I am acquainted. And just in proportion to his power of mind, that man was content to work under Nature's teaching, and, instead of putting a merely formal dog-tooth, as everybody else did at that time, he went down to the woody bank of the sweet river beneath the rocks on which he was building, and he took up a few of the fallen leaves that lay by it, and he set them in his arch, side by side for ever."
Six of the stalls with, and several others without, canopies still survive, and on one of the misereres are the arms of the Chisholm family, surmounted by a mitre. Three bishops of this name presided in Dunblane,[166] and the stalls were probably provided by the first, Bishop James Chisholm, dating between 1486 and 1534. The stalls were probably brought from Flanders, and the carving is spirited and full of grotesque figures.[167] Other bishops, who ought gratefully to be remembered for building done, are Bishop Dermoch (1400-1419) and Bishop Ochiltree (1429-1447). Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray and Bishop of Dunblane (1320-1347), is described as a man of fervent spirit, who gave great encouragement at the battle of Bannockburn, and was chosen by King Robert the Bruce as his chaplain and confessor.[168] There are some vestiges of the bishop's palace still left to the south-west of the cathedral; and the Bishop's Walk, leading southward not far from the river, and overshadowed by venerable beech trees, will always be associated with Leighton, of whom Burnet wrote, "He had the most heavenly disposition that I ever yet saw in mortal ... and I never once saw him in any other temper but that which I wished to be in, in the last moments of my life."[169] Leighton was Bishop of Dunblane from 1661 to 1670, and chose it as the poorest and smallest of Scotland's sees. At his death he bequeathed to it his library, which is still preserved. Those who wish to understand his devotion and inner life may be directed to Dr. Walter Smith's beautiful poem The Bishop's Walk.
Until recently, only the choir was used as the parish church, but in 1893 the cathedral was reopened after a complete restoration costing £28,000. The restoration was largely due to the munificent generosity of Mrs. Wallace of Glassingall. The town bears witness to the influence of the cathedral—
A quaint old place—a minster grey,
And grey old town that winds away
Through gardens, down the sloping ridge
To river's brim and ancient bridge,
Where the still waters flow
To the deep pool below.[170]
8. Diocese of Ross
David I. followed the foundation of the great bishoprics by dividing the country north of the great range of the Mounth into separate sees, and the first of such appears to have been the diocese of Rosemarky or Ross. Makbeth, the first Bishop of Ross, appears as the witness to a charter between 1128 and 1130.[171] The church was founded as a Columban monastery by Lugadius or Moluoc of Lismore before 577, and Bonifacius refounded it in the eighth century, and dedicated the church to St. Peter. The Culdees disappear in the course of history, and instead there emerges a regular cathedral body of canons under a dean.[172] The Bishop of Ross had this peculiarity, that he took his title from the province, and not from the town, where he held his see. When the see was founded by David I., Rosmarkie continued as the cathedral centre, but after the chapter was enlarged by Gregory IX. in 1235, the cathedral site was changed to Fortrose or Chanonry, and the church was dedicated to SS. Peter and Bonifacius. Chanonry is half a mile south-westward from Rosemarkie, and was united with it in 1455 by James II. as a free burgh under the common name of Fortrose. The presence of an educated clergy made the place a centre of culture, and famous schools of divinity and law flourished under the shadow of the cathedral.
The undercroft of the sacristy (afterwards enlarged) seems to indicate that the work must have been begun before 1250,[173] but the architecture of the aisle presents a beautiful specimen of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period, and dates before or about the beginning of the fifteenth century.[174] The cathedral, when entire, was a handsome red sandstone building, comprising a nave of four bays, with aisles 14 feet wide and round-headed windows; a choir, with aisles, lady chapel, west tower, quasi-transept, rood-turret, and to the north-east a vaulted chapter-house over a crypt. It stood on level ground, and commanded a fine view of the Moray Firth. When complete it must have been an architectural gem, and its mouldings have been said to show that in whatever other respects these remote parts of Scotland were barbarous, in ecclesiology at least they were on a par with any other branch of the mediæval Church.[175] All that now remains of the cathedral consists of the south aisle of the nave, and the sacristy or undercroft of the chapter-house. No vestige remains of the various manses of the chapter that were within the cathedral precincts. The cathedral suffered at the Reformation, but was repaired by Bishop Lindsay in 1615, and in 1649 was not very ruinous. It would appear that the tradition is correct which says that the masonry of the walls was removed by Cromwell, like that of Kinloss Abbey, to provide material for the construction of his fort at Inverness.
In the south wall there is a beautiful piscina, and in the north wall an ambry with a small stone penthouse; an octagonal baptismal font of remarkable design stands against the east wall of the aisle. There is a range of canopied monuments, which stand between the pillars on the north side. The east end had a large traceried window of five lights, and when complete it must have been very beautiful.