It seems strange that the House of God the Peacemaker and the shrine of St. Cuthbert the "incorruptible" should have been used as a prison-house of corruptible beings and peace-breakers,—legitimised murderers,—for here were interned the Scotch prisoners to the number of forty-five hundred, after the battle of Dunbar, and ample scope of amusement was given for their empty brains, as their ruthless exercise of the privilege records.
The Chapel of the Nine Altars still contains the remains of St. Cuthbert. When the tomb was opened in 1827 a number of curious and interesting books and MSS., the portable altar, vestments, and other relics were found. These are now placed in the Cathedral Library. The Cathedral Library was formerly the dormitory and refectories of the abbey, as it was originally styled.
In this connection one is led to speculate upon the possible early evolution of religious thought of early Christianity, and to half suspect that the "Nine Altars" in the Galilee Chapel and the "Woman's Bar" were the remnants of symbols of pre-Christian era, retained for the obvious purpose of satisfying converts to the faith still young.
There is a strong flavour of the worship of the Nine Muses of pagan times, and of the Judaical laws with regard to women either within or without the places of worship.
Tradition has it that St. Cuthbert was a misogynist, and so strong was it that the precincts of St. Cuthbert were strictly guarded against the encroachment of women. To enforce this "The Boundary Cross" or "Woman's Bar" was constructed to limit their approach, in the south of the nave.
By this attitude towards women St. Cuthbert, as a priest, only foreshadowed the present régime of the Church of Rome as regards matrimonial obligations on the part of its servants. For so saintly a man must not be taken as a hater of women, or his beatification as the son of a woman would have no sense, and would call his incorruptibility into question, and his saintliness of character in grave doubt.
The chief entrance to the Cathedral was originally in the west end, but when Bishop Pudsey built the Galilee Chapel, a doorway was constructed in the north end, framed in a rich and deeply recessed Norman arch, doing away with the necessity of the great entrance. Fixed to the door is the famous Norman knocker, suspended from the mouth of a grotesque monster, by which offenders seeking sanctuary made their presence known.