Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys

by Dugald Butler

1. The Lily.	}
2. The Palm.	}
3. The Rose.	}
4. The Trefoil.
5. The Vine and Grapes.	}
6. The Olive.	}
7. The Wheat-ears."	}

At the eighth panel on the south side, under the Α and Ω of the cresting, stands the Pot of Lilies as a symbol of the Virgin.

We have given an account of the late learned Principal's paper as appropriate to this history. It shows how art can both express the spirit of the place and become a servant of religion. It illustrates Professor Flint's declaration:—"God as the perfectly good is not only Absolute Truth and Absolute Holiness, but also Absolute Beauty. He is the source, the author, the giver of all beautiful things and qualities. All the beauties of earth and sea and sky, of life and mind and spirit, are rays from His beauty. The powers by which they are perceived are conferred by Him. The light in which they are seen is His light."[239]

Roslin (Mid-Lothian).—The church was founded in 1450 by Sir William St. Clair, Baron of Roslin and third Earl of Orkney. It was dedicated to St. Matthew, and founded for a provost, six prebendaries, and two choristers. In the quaint language of Father Hay:—

"His adge creeping on him, to the end that he might not seem altogither unthankfull to God for the benefices he receaved from Him, it came in his mind to build a house for God's service, of most curious worke: the which that it might be done with greater glory and splendor, he caused artificers to be brought from other regions and forraigne kingdomes, and caused dayly to be abundance of all kinde of workmen present: as masons, carpenters, smiths, barrowmen, and quarriers, with others. The foundation of this rare worke he caused to be laid in the year of our Lord 1446: and to the end the worke might be the more rare: first he caused the draughts to be drawn upon Eastland boords, and made the carpenters to carve them according to the draughts thereon, and then gave them for patterns to the masons that they might thereby cut the like in stone."

He was probably himself the source of the design, and his enlightened liberality attracted to the place the best workmen in Scotland, as well as from parts of the Continent. It has been said by the most recent authorities:—

"The church, so far as erected, is in perfect preservation, and is a charming portion of an incomplete design. It is, in some respects, the most remarkable piece of architecture in Scotland; and had the church been finished in the same spirit as that in which it has been so far carried out, it would have gone far to have realised a poet's dream in stone. When looked at from a strictly architectural point of view, the design may be considered faulty in many respects, much of the detail being extremely rude and debased, while as regards construction many of the principles wrought out during the development of Gothic architecture are ignored. But notwithstanding these faults, the profusion of design so abundantly shown everywhere, and the exuberant fancy of the architect, strike the visitor who sees Rosslyn for the first time with an astonishment which no familiarity ever effaces."[240]

The original intention was to complete the building as a cross church, with choir, nave, and transepts, but the choir only has been completed. The transepts have been partly erected, the east wall being carried up to a considerable height, but the nave has not been erected. The church consists of a choir, with north and south aisles, connected by an aisle which runs across the east end, giving access to a series of four chapels beyond it to the east. Beyond the east end of the church, and on a lower level, to suit the slope of the ground, a chapel has been erected that is reached from the south aisle by a stair. It is barrel-vaulted and is lighted by an eastern window. There are ambries in the walls and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet on the north side. On the south a door leads to what has been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings having existed or being intended. In all probability there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as sacristy and private chapel. This chapel was probably built by the liberality of Lady Douglas, Sir William St. Clair's first wife.

The church is profusely adorned with sculpture which generally represents Scripture scenes, and one of the most curious examples in the remarkable decoration of the edifice is the ornamentation of the south pillar of the east aisle, known as the "Prentice Pillar"—named by Slezer (1693) as the "Prince's Pillar" and by Defoe (1723) the "Princess's Pillar." It consists of a series of wreaths twisted round the shaft, each wreath curving from base to capital round one quarter of the pillar. The ornamentation of the wreaths corresponds in character with the other carving of the church, and the grotesque animals on the base find a counterpart in those of the chapter-house pillar at Glasgow Cathedral.

At the Reformation the lands and revenue of the church were virtually taken away, and in 1572 they were relinquished by a formal deed of resignation. The chapel does not seem to have suffered much violence till 1688, when a mob did much mischief. It remained uncared for, and gradually became ruinous till the middle of the eighteenth century, when General St. Clair glazed the windows, relaid the floor, renewed the roof, and built the wall round about. Further repairs were executed by the first Earl of Rosslyn, and again by the third Earl, who spent £3000 principally in renewing and retouching the carvings of the Lady Chapel—a work said to have been suggested by the Queen, who visited the church in 1842. Since 1862, services in connection with the Scottish Episcopal Church have been held within it. At the west end a vestry and organ-chamber were erected a few years ago.