The chancel was also the burial-place of the Douglases. The Douglas tombs were all defaced by Sir Ralph Evers in 1544. At the northern end of the north transept a small doorway leads into the sacristy, in which is the tombstone of Johanna, Queen of Alexander II., with the inscription "Hic jacet Johanna d. Ross." Melrose is the Kennaquhair of the Abbot and the Monastery.
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL SURVEY OF SCOTTISH MEDIÆVAL ARCHITECTURE
Mediæval architecture of Scotland arranged according to the periods stated in Chapter II.:[478]—
Transition from Celtic to Norman Architecture:—Abernethy Round Tower, Perthshire (p. [7]). Restennet Priory, Forfarshire (p. [7]). St. Regulus, St. Andrews, Fifeshire (p. [18]).
Norman Architecture:—Markinch Tower (Fifeshire). Present church modern, early church consecrated 1243; the tower is an ancient Norman building. Muthill Church (Perthshire), has Norman tower at the west end, with nave having north and south aisles and an aisleless choir. The church is now in ruins, and was built by Michael Ochiltree, who was Dean of Dunblane (1425) and Bishop (1430). St. Serf's, Dunning (Perthshire), has Norman tower, with elaborately carved and pointed archway opening from the tower into the church, which has been greatly altered. The W. gable wall of the church and part of the N. and E. wall are original. There appears to have been a chancel; the ancient corbels at N. parapet survive, and the raggle of the original roof is seen against the E. side of the tower. Church mentioned here in 1219 (ecclesia sancti servani de Dunnyne). Cruggleton Church (Wigtownshire), in ruins; has early Norman chancel arch and north doorway recently restored; the plan shows a simple oblong with chancel arch. Monymusk Church (Aberdeenshire), founded by Malcolm Canmore; remains of ancient Norman church in lower part of the tower and chancel arch, incorporated in modern church on old site. Ancient Celtic centre. St. Brandon's, Birnie (Morayshire), has nave and chancel without aisles; chancel has no window in E. wall, but round-headed windows in N. and S. walls; chancel arch has semicircular attached shaft with moulded base and heavy Norman cap, with numerous sub-divisions. Advanced date. Stone font of Norman design, and Celtic bell. St. Oran's Chapel, Iona (p. [65]). St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle, comprises a nave with chancel arch and chancel, which has a round apse, formed within the square E. end of the exterior. The genuine surviving Norman masonry begins below the line of the S. windows; rest later work. Chancel has locker and piscina, chancel arch decorated with chevron design, nave arched roof is later than the walls. Chapel is a fairly advanced example of Norman work in plan and decoration. Dunfermline Abbey (p. [139]). Kirkwall Cathedral (p. [69]). St. Blane's Church (Bute) has oblong nave and chancel separated by lofty wall with chancel arch. Norman masonry in nave and chancel arch. Dalmeny Church (p. [102]). Leuchars Church (p. [104]). Bunkle Church (Berwickshire) has Norman work in ruined semicircular apse, with arch leading into it, and may be earlier than 12th century. Edrom Church (Berwickshire) has still surviving a Norman doorway of beautiful design, now an entrance to a burial vault. An aisle is attached to the church, and was founded by Archbishop Blackadder in 1499; two angle buttresses are of interest. Legerwood (Berwickshire) has attached to the parish church (old, but frequently repaired), and cut off by a wall, the roofless ruins of the original Norman chancel. A Celtic interlaced stone is built into the S. wall near the W. end. Chirnside (Berwickshire) has Norman work in the doorway of the ruined church, and at the sides there are remains of a projection, probably a porch. A western tower, vaulted in stone, was removed in 1750. St. Helen's Church (Berwickshire), near Cockburnspath, now in ruins, was a Norman structure, with the exception of the W. gable wall (14th or 15th century). It was barrel-vaulted throughout, and the N. chancel wall is entire. There is a narrow E. window. Tyninghame Church (Haddingtonshire) was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred; the structural remains exhibit elaborate ornamental work of the Norman style. Stobo Church (Peeblesshire) is a Norman structure, to which alterations and additions have been made in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was the church of a plebania, with subordinate churches. Duddingston (Mid-Lothian) is a Norman edifice, used since 12th century as the parish church. It has been much altered, originally consisting of nave, chancel, and perhaps tower, and the chancel arch is the only Norman feature now remaining in the interior. St. Andrew's Church, Gullane (Haddingtonshire), is now a roofless ruin, and was made collegiate in 1446. The semicircular chancel arch is almost the only part of the 12th century work now surviving. Uphall Church and St. Nicholas Church (Linlithgowshire). Uphall Church, consisting of nave, chancel, western tower, is a Norman structure throughout, much altered. When this became the parish church in the 16th century, St. Nicholas (one mile east) was abandoned. Two relics of it remain—the font, of which the basin is old, and the bell, now used in Uphall Church, and dated 1441. Abercorn (Linlithgowshire). A church was founded here in 675 under St. Wilfrid, and became the see of the earliest bishopric in Scotland from 681 to 685. The monks were forced to retire to Whitby, but the site was occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure (the round-headed doorway in S. wall) is of Norman date. The tympanum is filled with stones arranged in zig-zag patterns. The church has been altered in modern times; there are good specimens in the churchyard of hog-backed tombstones, with figures of fish scale pattern arranged in rows, and scales of a squarer shape. Kelso Abbey (p. [169]).
St. Martin's Church (Haddington) is a very ancient chapel; a simple oblong; portion of barrel vault still exists; choir formerly existed; the arch is late Norman in design. Kirkliston Church, Linlithgowshire, has ancient tower and Norman doorways (S. and N.E.), and belonged originally to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. St. Mary's, Ratho, Mid-Lothian, has Norman work preserved in doorway in S.W. wall. St. Peter's, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, has chancel of Norman period. St. Mary's, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, had a nave with side aisles and a chancel, but of the ancient church only a fragment now remains in the E. wall with eastern tower attached to it. The E. wall masonry indicates the Norman period, and the eastern tower, although built against, had no connection with the church, while it is of later erection by two or three centuries. Lamington Church (Lanarkshire) has the old N. doorway still preserved. St. Boswell's Church, Roxburghshire, has been entirely rebuilt, but has some relics of carved corbels and other fragments of Norman date. Smailholm Church, Roxburghshire, is distinctly a Norman structure throughout its entire length, although greatly altered in the 17th century. Linton Church, Roxburghshire, is old, but has been restored and renewed. There is a Norman font, and a sculpture in the tympanum of the ancient church doorway may possibly represent St. George and the Dragon, or Faith overcoming Evil. It was placed in 1858 over the entrance to a new porch then erected. Duns Church, Berwickshire, had the chancel of the ancient structure existing until 1874, when it was removed, and not a stone now remains. Its masonry, judged from a photograph, looks very like Norman work. St. Lawrence Church, Lundie, Forfarshire, was a Norman structure, of which little remains except the ashlar walls, a narrow window, and outside check for a shutter. The chancel arch was built up in 1786, when the apse appears to have been taken down; the top of a sacrament house of late date survives. Kirkmaiden Church, Wigtownshire, has a nave that appears to be of Norman date, and there is an apparent chancel at the east end, but its dimensions and origin are not distinct. Herdmanston Font, Haddingtonshire, is a relic of the Norman period, and stands in the burial vault of the Sinclairs of Herdmanston.
The Transition Style.—Dundrennan Abbey (Cistercian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by David I. about 1142. Portions of N. and S. transepts, choir, chapter-house, some cellar walls and other walls, with a few carved caps now remain. Queen Mary was welcomed at the abbey after her flight from Langside, and embarked for England from Port Mary, at the mouth of the Abbey Burn. Jedburgh Abbey (p. [129]). Kinloss Abbey (Cistercian), Morayshire, was founded by David I. in 1150, and colonised from Melrose. The enlightened Robert Reid, founder of the College of Edinburgh, was its abbot in 1528. Till 1650 the buildings were tolerably entire, and were then used to construct Cromwell's citadel at Inverness. The remains are now mere fragments. The Nunnery, Iona (p. [68]). St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen (p. [78]). Coldingham Priory (Benedictine), Berwickshire, was founded or refounded in 1098 by Edgar, son of Queen Margaret, and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, S.S. Mary and Ebba. The canons of Durham controlled it until 1504, and in 1509 it was placed under the rule of Dunfermline. It suffered both from fire and its nearness to the Border; it was also damaged by Cromwell, and was afterwards used as a quarry. Little of the monastery now remains, and of the church only the N. and E. walls of the choir and fragments of the S. transept. In 1662 the W. and S. walls of the choir were rebuilt to make that part of the edifice suitable for worship, and in 1854-55 the choir was restored, its W. and S. walls being again partly rebuilt, S. porch added, and the corner turrets carried up to their present height. Stones are preserved of an earlier church than the existing one. Dryburgh Abbey (p. [134]). Airth Church (Stirlingshire) dates from the period about the beginning of the 13th century, but only a small part of the early structure remains—a bay of what has been a nave arcade, opening into a north aisle. Lasswade Church, Mid-Lothian, had an old church, consisting of oblong chamber and tower. The S. wall doorway and tower reveal Transition work about first half of 13th century. Bathgate Church, Linlithgowshire, is now a ruin, being abandoned in 1739 for a new church. The doorway is almost the only feature of its architecture left, and its details are of transitional period. In the church is a recumbent statue.
First Pointed Period.—St. Andrews Cathedral and Priory (pp. [13], [123]); St. Mary's, Kirkheugh, St. Andrews (p. [102]); Arbroath Abbey (p. [177]); Holyrood Abbey (p. [124]). Kilwinning Abbey (Tironensian), Ayrshire, was erected on a site occupied in the 8th century by an Irish monk called St. Winnan, who is believed to be the same as St. Finnan of Moville. On the spot sanctified by his cell the monastery was erected in the 12th century by Richard or Hugh Moville, who came from England, was created by the Scottish king Great Constable of the Kingdom and presented with the lordships of Cuninghame, Largs, and Lauderdale. The church was erected early in 13th century. The buildings were destroyed shortly after the Reformation, and the parish church was erected on the site of the choir about 1775. The ruins consist of S. wall and gable of S. transept, one pier with respond and arch between S. transept and E. aisle; handsome door which led from nave to cloisters; entrance to the chapter-house from cloisters; long ancient wall which formed the wall of S. aisle of nave; some portions of W. end of nave and S.W. tower. The N. tower remained complete till this century, and a new tower has in recent times been erected on its site. Dunblane Cathedral (p. [47]). Inchmahome Priory (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded and endowed by Walter Comyn, fourth Earl of Menteith, and the church, which has striking resemblances in detail to the neighbouring cathedral of Dunblane, evidently dates about 1250. Inchmahome means Isle of Rest, and the church is fairly well preserved. In 1543 Queen Mary, as a child, found refuge here along with her mother after the battle of Pinkie, and stayed for some months. Dr. John Brown has charmingly written about the young queen's miniature or child's garden—a small flower plot, the boxwood edging of which has grown up into a thick shrubbery. Elgin Cathedral (p. [40]). Pluscarden Priory (Valliscaulian), Morayshire, was, along with Beauly and Ardchattan, founded by Alexander II. for the Order of Vallis Caulium. Pluscarden is situated in a long, well-sheltered valley. About 1460, when the monks had become corrupt, they were superseded by the Black Benedictine monks from Dunfermline, and the priory became dependent on that house. The last prior was Alexander Dunbar, and the first lay prior Lord Seton. The existing buildings consist chiefly of the remains of the church—an aisleless choir N. and S. transepts with eastern aisles, and square tower. There is no nave. The monastic buildings consist of the sacristy, or St. Mary's aisle, the chapter-house, the slype, and monks' hall—the whole forming the E. side of the cloisters. To the S.E. of cloister garth is probably the prior's house. The oldest parts are transepts with eastern aisles, built doubtless soon after the foundation. Glasgow Cathedral (p. [22]). Brechin Cathedral (p. [44]). Lindores Abbey (Tironensian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1178 by David, Earl of Huntingdon, grandson of David I., and brother of King William the Lion. The church of Dundee belonged to the monks of Lindores, and the name Lindores is believed to mean "church by the water." Alexander III., Wallace, Edward I., David II. visited the abbey, and the Duke of Rothesay was buried in the church. James, Earl of Douglas, passed the last years of his life here. Two small coffins, found buried in the choir, are believed to have contained the remains of two children of Earl David, the founder. The buildings, entering from the E. side of the cloister, are the best preserved, and of the church little but the foundations and some portions of the wall survive. Adjoining S. transept is the vaulted slype, and the room over it may have been the scriptorium or library. The night passage of the monks led through that apartment, as the stair was in S.W. angle of transept, and could only be thus reached. Cambuskenneth Abbey (Augustinian), Stirlingshire, was founded by David I. about 1147. James III. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark, were interred before the high altar, and a stone altar monument has been erected over their remains by Queen Victoria. The detached tower at the W. is almost the only part remaining in a completed state; the W. doorway is nearly entire, as is also portion of gable wall and side walls at S.E. corner of the buildings. Culross Abbey (Cistercian) and Parish Church, Perthshire. The abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm, Earl of Fife, and considerable remains of that period, and some walls of what might be of earlier date, still survive, but principal parts of existing church are of later date. A few fragments of the monastic structure survive. The tower divides the E. from the W. church. The aisleless choir serves as parish church. The old parish church is a ruinous structure, about one mile N.W. from the abbey; plain oblong; in 1633 the abbey became the parish church. Beauly Priory (Valliscaulian), Inverness-shire, was founded in 1230 and endowed by Sir John Bisset of Lovat. The ruined church survives, but has been sadly abused. Monastic buildings have nearly disappeared. First Pointed was later here than elsewhere. Newbattle or Newbotle Abbey (Cistercian), Mid-Lothian, was founded by David I. in 1140 for monks brought from Melrose. It was a great house, and about 1350 its annual income could maintain eighty monks and seventy lay brethren, with the corresponding establishment. The last abbot was Mark Ker, and the lordship of Newbotle was conferred on his son. The abbey appears to have been almost abolished shortly after the Reformation, the only parts of the monastic buildings allowed to remain being the fratery and portions of the chapter-house, which were incorporated with the mansion-house. The nave of the church contained 10 bays; the choir and presbytery comprised 1½ bay. The piers supported a tower over the crossing, and the architecture of the transepts was massive. Lismore Cathedral (p. [59]). St. Kentigern's, Lanark, was ancient parish church; abandoned for new one about 1777. It consisted of two six-bayed aisles, each with a chancel, but without a nave; there remain the lofty pointed arches dividing the two aisles, the wall of the S. one, and a fragment of the chancels. In the S. wall is a beautiful doorway. Burntisland Church, Fifeshire, Prestonkirk, Haddingtonshire, Cowie, Aberdeenshire, also illustrate in whole or part this period. Deer Abbey (Cistercian), Aberdeenshire, was founded in 1218, and succeeded a church founded in 580 by St. Columba and his nephew Drostan. The conventual buildings now existing are subsequent in date to the founding of the abbey church (completed first), and this may account for the abbot demitting office in 1267, "choosing rather to live in the sweet converse of his brethren at Melrose than to govern an unworthy flock under the lowly roofs of Deir." Luffness Monastery, Redfriars, Haddingtonshire, was founded by Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, in 1286. The church consisted of nave and choir, without aisles; the choir has arched recess and much-worn effigy. The remains consist mostly of foundations. Tungland Abbey (Premonstratensian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by Fergus, first lord of Galloway, in 12th century, and is now represented by only one doorway. Inchcolm Abbey (Augustinian), Fifeshire, was founded in 1123 by Alexander I., who had been driven ashore on the island by a storm, and was maintained with his followers for three days by a hermit who made Inchcolm his retreat. There is still a small cell covered with a pointed barrel vault, which may have been his abode. The island was the cradle of religion in E. Scotland, and may have been visited by St. Columba himself. Like Inchkeith, the Bass, Isle of May, and Fidra, it possesses early ecclesiastical remains. The island, like Iona, was celebrated as a place of burial. The monastic buildings date from 1216 chiefly; Walter Bower continued the Scotichronicon in the abbey. The ruins consist of the cloister court with church on N. side, and chapter-house beyond E. range. To the N. of the church was possibly the infirmary. The S.E. has cellars, stores, and offices. First Pointed work is also found at the churches of Deer; Auchindoir; St. Cuthbert's, Monkton; St. Nicholas, Prestwick; Altyre; St. Mary's, Rattray; Abdie; St. Ninian's on the Isle; St. Colmanel's, Buittle; Cockpen; Pencaitland; Gogar Font.