Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys

by Dugald Butler

Two other chapels were probably added to the north side of the nave about the same period; they were on the east side of the Norman doorway, and between it and the transept. One of them has disappeared, and the eastern one was dedicated to St. Eloi. The vaulting of the north aisle of the nave was necessarily rebuilt at the time when the north chapels were erected.[257]

About fifty years later, great extensions and improvements were carried out under the auspices of Queen Mary of Gueldres, by whom Trinity College Church was also founded in 1462. The Town Council and merchants of Edinburgh also endowed it. The extensions of St. Giles consisted of (1) the lengthening of the choir by one bay; (2) the heightening of the central aisle of the choir and vaulting it anew, together with the introduction of a new clerestory; and (3) the lengthening of the transepts.[258] The church is thus the work of many generations, and is the outcome of public and private contributions. That the choir was enlarged at this period is chiefly made evident by the heraldic devices and armorial bearings still existing. While the pillars nearest to the centre are plain octagons, with arches corresponding in simplicity, those at the east end have decorated capitals, supporting moulded arches. The King's pillar, as it is called, is the first from the window on the north side, and is near the spot where stood the High Altar. On the foliated capital are four coats of arms, and the first has the lion within the double tressure, and the armorial bearings are usually supposed to be those of King James II. (1436-1460); the second, impaled, of his Queen, Mary of Gueldres (1449-1463); the third has also the lion within the double tressure and a label of three points, which is held to denote a prince or heir, if not a younger son. The fourth shield has three fleurs-de-lys for France.[259] These shields clearly connect the pillar with Mary of Gueldres, and her husband, James II., and their son, James III., who was born in 1453. The work was probably executed between 1453 and 1463.[260] On the opposite pillar, on the south side of the high altar, are also four coats of arms, viz. those of the town of Edinburgh and of the families of Kennedy, Otterburn, and Preston. To commemorate other benefactors, on the demi-pillar, on the north side of the eastern window, we have the arms (three cranes gorged) of Thomas Cranstoun, chief magistrate of Edinburgh in 1439 and 1454; on the south side, those of Napier of Merchiston, Provost of Edinburgh in 1457—a saltier engrailed, cantoned with four rosettes.[261] (2) The heightening of the choir and the introduction of a new clerestory were also carried out shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century, the height of the former choir being shown by the vault of the crossing, which it doubtless resembled, and which was not altered at that time. The outline of the old roof may also be observed against the east and west walls of the tower—the raglet and a stepped string-course above it being yet preserved, and being specially visible on the east side next the choir. The beauty of the vaulting of the central choir aisle is noticeable when contrasted with that of the side aisles.[262] The central crossing, with its vault, was left unaltered, and still remains in the same position, with its vaulting at the level it was raised to about 1400. It forms a break between the nave and the choir, in both of which the vault has been raised.[263] (3) The transepts were extended, their original length being marked by breaks in the roof, where the vaulting terminates.

In a charter dated 11th January 1454-1455,[264] it is narrated that William Preston of Gourtoun, after much trouble and expense abroad, and aided by "a high and mighty prince, the King of France, and many other Lords of France," had succeeded in obtaining an arm bone of the patron saint, which he generously bequeathed to the church. The Town Council were so gratified with the gift that they resolved to add an aisle to the choir in commemoration of the event, and to place therein a tablet of brass recording the bounty of the donor. This aisle was to be built within six or seven years "furth frae our Lady isle, quhair the said William lyis." It thus appears that the south aisle of the nave was known as the lady chapel, and that Sir William was buried there. The resolution was carried into effect, and a new aisle called the Preston Aisle was constructed, south of the lady chapel. The Preston Aisle was afterwards known as the Assembly Aisle. In carrying out the work the south wall opposite the three westmost bays of the choir was removed, and three arches carried on two piers substituted. These piers and arches correspond with the work of the same period at the east end of the choir. One of the caps contains a shield bearing the three unicorns' heads of the Prestons. The structure extends into the choir the great width of the four aisles of the church previously formed in the nave, and adds greatly both to spaciousness and grandeur. The church was now complete in all its parts, as, internally, it still remains, with a few exceptions, to the present day.[265]

Several additional chapels were afterwards thrown out. In 1513 an aisle of two arches was formed by Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Provost of the city; in 1518 the altar of the Holy Blood was erected in this aisle, which lay on the south of the nave, and to the east of the south porch, immediately adjoining the south transept. It opened into the south chapels of the nave with two arches, and had two windows to the south. There was within it a handsome monument containing a recumbent statue, or forming, as some suppose, part of the altar canopy. The monument is still preserved, but one half of the chapel was obliterated in 1829.

In 1466 the parish church of St. Giles was erected by charter of James III. into a collegiate establishment, but it is not called collegiate till 1475. The chapter consisted of a provost or dean, sixteen prebendaries, a master of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan, and a beadle with chaplains. The revenues of the altars and chaplainries in the church were appropriated for the support of the several officers in the new establishment. The King reserved the nomination of the dean or provost, who enjoyed the tithes and other revenues of St. Giles' Church, with the adjacent manse; the provost had the right of choosing a curate, who had a yearly allowance of 25 marks with a house adjoining.[266] In subsequent charters the church is called the College Kirk of St. Geill of Edinburgh.

About this period a few additions were made. A small chapel, called the Chapman Aisle, was thrown out from the Preston Aisle close to the south transept. It was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist by Walter Chapman, called the Scottish Caxton, from his having introduced into Scotland in 1507 the art of printing. The chapel was dedicated within a month of King James' death at Flodden. The south transept seems to have been extended southward during the erection. The chapel to the east of the north transept contained several storeys and a staircase. It is said to have been erected after the Reformation. Used as the Town Clerk's office, and later as a vestry, it has been recently set apart to contain the monument of Dr. William Chambers, by whose liberality the cathedral has been recently restored.

In 1829 the church was entirely renewed as regards the exterior, and two chapels to the south of those built in 1389 and the south porch were removed. The round arched doorway of the south porch was again erected between the north pillars of the crossing as the entrance to the central division of the church. It has now been transferred to the entrance doorway to the royal pew at the east end of the Preston Aisle.[267] The only portions of the exterior which escaped the unfortunate renewal of 1829 were the tower and steeple. Fortunately the well-known crown of St. Giles was not interfered with. It was probably erected about 1500.[268]

"This crown," say the same authorities, "seems to have been a favourite feature with Scottish architects. The crown of the tower of King's College, Aberdeen, was built after 1505, and similar crowns formerly existed on the towers of Linlithgow and Haddington churches. The crown of St. Nicholas' Church, Newcastle, which is probably the only other steeple of this kind in Great Britain, is also of a late date. There is a crown of the same description on the tower of the Town Hall at Oudenarde, in Belgium, which is also of late Gothic work.... Some of the above crown steeples have an arch thrown from each angle to a central pinnacle, an arrangement which renders them rather thin and empty looking; but that of St. Giles' has, in addition to the arches from the angles, another arch cast from the centre of each side to the centre pinnacle. This produces an octagonal appearance, which, together with the numerous crocketed pinnacles with which the arches are ornamented, gives a richness and fulness of effect which is wanting in some of the other steeples of this description. The steeple of St. Giles' was partly rebuilt in 1648."[269]

In the tower was placed the great bell of St. Giles, which must have been heard far and near on special occasions, as when, after the news of the disastrous field of Flodden, the inhabitants were ordered at the tolling of the common bell to assemble in military array for the defence of the city. The bell was cast in Flanders.[270] About 1500 several of the guilds had chapels assigned to them, and for these they contributed to the church funds. Many famous Scotsmen were buried within St. Giles, and amongst them were the Napiers of Merchiston, although it is doubtful whether Baron Napier rests there or not.[271] The Regent Murray, assassinated at Linlithgow in 1569, was buried in the south aisle; his monument was destroyed, but the brass plate, with the inscription written in his honour by George Buchanan, was rescued, and is inserted in a new monument erected in the Murray Aisle. The scattered members of the body of the great Montrose were collected and buried in the Chapman Aisle, in the south part of St. Giles, in 1661, but all trace of his remains has now been lost, and no monument until recently indicated his grave.

The last day on which mass was said in St. Giles was probably the 31st of March 1560;[272] the disturbances connected with the Reformation broke out in Edinburgh at an early date, and St. Giles' Church was one of the first to suffer.