The transepts contain the usual eastern aisle only, in which are situated four chapels.
The superstructure of the church has severely suffered and the western part is greatly demolished. The portion eastwards from the rood screen is in better preservation. The vaulting of the aisles is well-preserved, but that of the centre aisle is demolished—a pointed tunnel vault having been constructed in 1618. The eight chapels are well preserved, but some parts of the three furthest west ones are damaged and have lost their vaulting. The tracery in the chapel windows is lovely; the vaulting of the nave, south aisle and chapels, is supported by a series of flying buttresses, "which form one of the most prominent and beautiful elements of the building. No church in Scotland retains such a striking example of that important feature of Gothic architecture."[457]
The eastern piers of the crossing were demolished probably in Henry VIII.'s time, and their destruction entailed that of the central tower, of which the western wall only remains. The transepts have suffered by the fall of the tower, but fortunately the south wall of the transept with its finely decorated window is still preserved. From the south transept access is obtained to the roof of the nave aisle and to the uppermost parts of the structure by a turnpike stair, which also forms the only mode of approach to the tower.[458] "The choir, so far as the east is concerned, is well preserved, the buttresses and gable, the celebrated eastern window, and the remarkable vaulting of the presbytery being all in good order. The remainder of the choir, however, has been greatly wrecked by the fall of the central tower; but many of the windows of the choir and transept with their perpendicular tracery have escaped destruction, and afford the best example in Scotland of that form of design."[459]
The building, as it now stands, is, generally speaking,[460] of a date subsequent to Bruce's time, and much of it is later than the destruction which occurred under Richard II. in 1385.[461] "The nave, from the crossing to the rood loft, and part of the transepts are, undoubtedly, the oldest portions of the existing edifice. The work in these is, for the most part, of the Scottish decorated period. The nave piers, with their beautifully carved caps, and the mouldings of the arches are distinctly decorated work; and the flying buttresses and pinnacles on the south side of the nave are, without doubt, of the same period. So also is the south wall of the transept, with its magnificent window and tracery and its buttresses, enriched with fine canopies and quaint figures carved as corbels.
"All these features bear a close affinity to the decorated work of the nave of York Minster, erected about 1400. The flying buttresses, with pinnacles enriched with crockets and foliaged finials; the niches, with their elaborate canopies and corbels composed of figures of monks and angels; the statues which formerly filled the niches, of which very few now remain; the decorated tracery of the south transept window, and the whole character of the work, both in its general scope and in its details, is of fine decorated design, and vividly recalls that of York, Beverley, and other English examples. It is not improbable that some parts of the nave and transept were erected during the period between the death of King Robert Bruce and the invasion of Richard II. It should be mentioned that Bruce's bequest was not all received till 1399, and the operations also probably proceeded slowly. The doorway in the south wall of the south transept is apparently an insertion in older work."[462] The south chapels of the nave have apparently been added during the repairs in the earlier part of the fifteenth century; the buttresses were probably executed towards the middle of that century, and the east one contains the arms of Abbot Hunter.[463] There is a distinct change in the transept's design from that of the nave, as if the former had been added to the latter at a later period.[464] The east wall and the other eastern parts of the choir are more recent than the nave, and probably this portion of the church had been more damaged by Richard II. than the nave, and required to be almost wholly rebuilt. The style here corresponds closely with the "perpendicular" of England which prevailed in the fifteenth century.[465] The great eastern window is exceptional and unique, and has more of the character of perpendicular than any other style. Scott, referring to it, has described the moon as shining
Through slender shafts of shapely stone,
By foliaged tracery combined;
Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand,
Twixt poplars straight, the osier wand,
In many a freakish knot, had twined;
Then framed a spell, when the work was done,
And changed the willow-wreaths to stone.
The design of the west wall of the north transept is different from that of the other parts of the building, but the clerestory windows are of the same design as the rest of the older church. "The wall ribs of the vaulting include two windows in each; and the space between the windows is occupied by two niches, each carried up from a shaft—with late canopies, containing statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, the former having the keys and the latter holding his sword. These are the best preserved statues in the church, but they are not of very remarkable workmanship."[466] The building or restoration of the eastern part of the edifice is regarded as indicating, from its style, work of the middle of the fifteenth century, and the vaulting of the south transept appears to have been erected by Abbot Hunter about the same time,[467] probably from 1450 to 1460. More of the vaulting in the eastern part of the nave may have been carried out at that epoch. The vaults all contain, besides the main and ridge ribs, subsidiary ribs, or tiercerons, indicating a similarity to English examples.[468]
The vaulting of the presbytery is peculiar, and points to a somewhat later time; examples of vaulting similar to that of the presbytery of Melrose may be seen at Winchester Cathedral, and other English examples of the fifteenth century.[469]
The south chapels to the west of the fifth buttress west from the transept, on which buttress another specimen of Abbot Hunter's arms is engraved, are of comparatively late date.[470] "This buttress belongs to the earlier part of the nave, and the chapel seems to have been repaired when the additional chapels to the west were erected. Besides the three hunting horns in the shield of Abbot Hunter in the examples above mentioned, the arms engraved on the fifth buttress contain two crosiers, saltierwise, and the initials A. H. on the right and left; also, in chief a rose, and in base a mason's mell for Melrose. The work in the chapels to the west is inferior to that of those to the eastward, although copied from them. The chapels each contain an enriched piscina, and these are so inferior in style of workmanship as to lead to the belief that they were inserted after the chapels were built. One of them contains the initials of Abbot William Turnbull, whose date is the beginning of the sixteenth century. A late piscina has also been inserted in the south transept.
"Work in the nave and in the south chapels was apparently in progress during the reign of James IV., as the royal arms, with the letters I. Q. (Jacobus Quartus) and the date 1505 on the westmost buttress testify."[471] On the south side of the cloister is a very lovely doorway that leads into the church. To the right of this and along the east wall of the cloister, are arched recesses of a late style, and in the south wall is an arcade of trefoil form, with nail-head enrichments. The latter is an example of the late revival of early forms which prevailed towards the close of the Gothic epoch.[472]