As this Volume contains drawings and descriptions of the examples of the
First Pointed and Middle Pointed Periods in Scotland, and, therefore,
illustrates the finest of our mediæval edifices, it may be convenient at
this stage to consider the position these buildings occupy in relation
to the general system of Gothic architecture in other countries. There
can scarcely be any question as to the Gothic style having been imported
into, and not being native to, this country. We have already seen that
the Norman style was gradually introduced from England, and was
afterwards superseded by the transition style. The buildings of the
first pointed period also show unmistakable indications of their design
having been brought from England,[1] while those of the middle pointed
period, although clearly allied in style to English examples, exhibit in
their details a few signs of other influences. Although many of our
Scottish edifices contain much beautiful work, and all are full of
interest, it must be admitted that even the best examples of Gothic in
this country cannot claim to give full expression to the fundamental
principles of the Gothic style as developed in its native home, the
Royal Domain of France.
The style being here an exotic, and being carried out rather as
imitative than as original, it is naturally to be expected that it
should disclose symptoms of departure from the spirit which animated
those by whom it was wrought out and developed. And that is, in fact,
the case.
Notwithstanding the beauty of many of our larger and finer edifices,
such as Holyrood and Melrose Abbeys, and Glasgow, Dunblane, and Elgin
Cathedrals, evidence is wanting in the design of these edifices of a
full appreciation of the leading principles which inspired and guided
the architects of the Ile de France. The Scottish buildings represent
the echo rather than the original voice of the genius of Gothic
architecture.
The principal aim of the French architects of the latter half of the
twelfth century and during the thirteenth century was to produce
structures in which the arcuated or vaulted system of building should be
developed to its fullest extent. With these architects the vaulted
construction of the roof thus became the ruling element in the design,
all the other features being wrought out so as to be supplementary to,
and indicative of, the principles of the arcuated style. Every detail
was designed so as to fulfil its structural function in subordination to
that general idea. Thus the ribs of the vaults formed the framework on
which the vaulting panels rested, and conveyed the pressures created by
the weight of the roof to the points where these pressures were all
concentrated on the capitals of the wall shafts. From that point the
forces so concentrated were distributed, the vertical pressure being
conveyed downwards by the wall shafts to the foundations, and the
horizontal thrusts being counterbalanced by buttresses and flying
buttresses, which performed their share of the work by carrying these
forces obliquely to the ground. These primary features were the skeleton
which constituted the main elements of the building. They formed a
structure in stable equilibrium, which was independent of the filling in
of the walls, with windows, doors, and other details. The latter were
but the clothing and ornamentation of the main structural framework, and
in the completed style (as at Amiens Cathedral), all superfluous masonry
is abolished, and the spaces between the main structural elements are
enclosed with screens of tracery. The Gothic structure was thus a
composition in complete contrast with the Romanesque or Norman edifices
which preceded it. In the latter, although arching and even vaulting
were employed, the arched system of construction was in an elementary
state, and the inert mass of the walls was chiefly relied on as a
counterpoise to the thrusts of the arches.
It was not till the end of the twelfth and during the thirteenth century
that the Gothic system had been fully worked out by the French
architects. The arcuated principle had then been developed in a complete
and logical manner, and had entirely freed itself from the heavy and
unnecessary mass of the earlier Romanesque. Nothing was preserved except
the lightest framework required for stability, enclosed with screens of
tracery filled with stained glass. Every detail of the fully developed
Gothic style was designed on the same logical principles as the leading
structural features, and gave expression in its design to the function
it was required to fulfil,[2] while the whole building was so ornamented
as to be in complete harmony with the general idea.[3]
In England the details of the perfected Gothic, especially as regards
decorative features, were carried out somewhat in the same spirit as in
France, but the leading elements in the general design do not seem to
have been so fully understood or carried out. The adherence to wooden
roofs--a common and general practice in England--alone shows the
difference in the guiding principles which operated in the two
countries. The wooden roof is a complete departure from the leading
element of the arcuated style. It shows an inclination to fall back on
the ancient trabeate or horizontal beam system, from which it had been
the great object of the earlier mediæval architects to free their
designs. The wooden roof ignores the leading idea of a vaulted fireproof
covering, and abandons the principle of the concentration of the roof
pressures on particular points, as is the case in groined vaulting. No
doubt a wooden roof may be designed so as to throw a greater amount of
its pressure on some points than on others, but the principle of the
wooden roof is that of the tie beam and the distribution of the weight
over the side walls.
The actuating motive of Gothic design in the main feature of the
vaulting being thus lost sight of in England, it is not surprising to
find it inactive in other directions. The Romanesque element of massive
walls, with small windows, is likewise partially adhered to, and in
details also the guiding principle of French design is in some respects
abandoned. The round form of the abacus--so universally employed in
England--may be cited as a characteristic example of departure from the
Gothic principle.
In France the abacus of the columns is invariably shaped so as to
receive each shaft or rib which it is its function to carry; whereas the
round abacus adopted in England receives indiscriminately all the
members which descend upon it, and their loads are often carried by
shafts not having any distinct or structural relation to the members
which rest on the abacus above them.
Notwithstanding these and similar defections from the leading principles
of Gothic, the architecture of England is (as has already been pointed
out)[4] in many respects very charming, and, in point of variety and
picturesqueness, possibly sometimes surpasses French examples.
What is here attempted to be pointed out is not so much that English
Gothic is defective in the above respects, as that certain logical
principles, inseparable from a genuine arcuated system, are less weakly
developed in England than in the Ile de France. If between the
architecture of the two countries there is not much to choose as regards
picturesque details and ornamental features, there can be little
question but that the logical spirit which apprehended and followed out
the principles of the arcuated style to their full limits is more
clearly apparent in the one than in the other.
The position of Gothic in England being as described, it is only natural
to find in the structures of the leading periods of the style in
Scotland, which shine by a light borrowed from England, a similar and
even greater departure from the main ideas which actuated the architects
of France. The same defects occur here as in England--the frequent use
of the wooden roof for wide spans being common to both countries, and
producing similar results in each. The wooden roof led, from the
principles of its structure, to changes and peculiarities in the design
throughout. In some cases the wall shafts which divide the bays are
entirely omitted, and give place to a large expanse of plain wall over
the main arcade. Instances of this occur at Sweetheart Abbey and
Dunblane Cathedral (see Figs. 758, 510). In other examples a continuous
arcade is carried along at the triforium level, without any
strengthening of the walls over the main piers, thus carrying out the
principle of the wooden roof, which implies an equal pressure all along
the side walls. This is a very marked feature at Kelso Abbey and
Dunblane Cathedral.
In some buildings, although vaulted, the wall shafts are of such slight
dimensions as to be scarcely of any value (even to the eye) in conveying
the weight of the vaults to the ground, and these shafts frequently do
not descend to the base, or even to the caps of the main piers, but are
carried on corbels inserted in the side walls at a considerable height
above the caps of the piers. The functional use of the wall shafts is
thus disregarded, and they become mere ornaments.
Slight wall shafts of this description, carried on corbels, occur in the
nave of Glasgow Cathedral, in the choir of St. Giles’, Edinburgh; in St.
Michael’s, Linlithgow; Crosraguel Abbey, &c.; while in the choir of
Glasgow Cathedral and in Haddington Church the small wall shafts spring
from the caps of the main piers.
In Elgin Cathedral the vaulting shafts, which are mere beads, descend
to the ground, and the clerestory arcade is almost continuous.
In Lincluden College the vaulting shafts, which are heavier than usual,
all rest on corbels in the side walls, not far above the floor, so that
none of their loads are conveyed to the foundation.
Vaulting is very generally adopted in the side aisles, but in these,
too, the Gothic idea is often lost sight of, the wall responds having
frequently their bases supported on side benches or seats, instead of
being carried to the ground.
Externally, as well as internally, our Scottish Gothic is somewhat
defective in its mode of carrying out the arcuated principles. The
wooden roofs so frequently employed really require no buttresses, and,
therefore, our buildings are in so far right where in such cases only
very slight pilaster-buttresses are used in the triforium, as is the
case in Glasgow, Elgin, and Dunblane Cathedrals. In the side aisles,
which are vaulted, the buttresses are sometimes heavier, but these
features are insignificant as compared with the great flying buttresses
and piers of the genuine arcuated or Gothic style of Northern France.
In many other respects there may be traced in Scotland a certain absence
of the Gothic spirit, which discarded every element not essential to the
carrying out of the arcuated principle. Even in our finest structures
the Romanesque or Norman influence continues to prevail. A large expanse
of heavy walling, with small openings, is not unusual. In almost no
building are the solid side walls omitted and light tracery substituted
between the main supporting piers, as is the case in the best Gothic in
France. The broad masses of masonry in the triforium and clerestory of
the churches at Linlithgow and Haddington may be cited as examples of
the absence of the Gothic spirit. The continued adherence to solid walls
with narrow lancet-formed windows is a marked feature of both English
and Scottish architecture.
Moulded caps, with round abaci, are usual here, as in England, and have
the same defects, both in principle and practice. In the later examples
the relation between the shafts or mouldings, which carry the caps, and
the arch-mouldings above them is abandoned, and that genuine Gothic
principle is entirely ignored.
Many of the above defections from pure Gothic arise from, or owe their
origin (as we have seen) to, the use of wooden roofs.
It may be argued that there is no necessity for the above principles
being adhered to, and that English and Scottish architects were quite at
liberty, when required, either from want of skill or absence of funds,
to cover their naves with wooden roofs.
That argument is at once conceded; but, then, they should have frankly
acknowledged that they departed from the arcuate and adopted the
trabeate system. That, however, was never done; hence the imperfect
carrying out of the arcuate system, as practised in France, which we
find in most of our churches, and which shows that the style was here
not original, but imitative.
What we desire to insist on is not that good architecture is
incompatible with structures roofed with timber, or any other material,
but that the fundamental principles of Gothic spring from the
development of an arcuated style, and that that principle has been only
fully and logically carried out in Northern France. In other countries
in which Gothic architecture was adopted, much of its spirit was caught
and developed; but when the vaulting or dominating feature of the style
was absent, the manifestations of the Gothic spirit were comparatively
weak and imperfect. These weaknesses and imperfections appear to prove
the derivative nature of the architecture in those countries, and
especially in Scotland.
But the fact of the Gothic of Scotland being of borrowed origin does not
prevent much of it here, as in England, from being beautiful and
instructive, as, it is hoped, the following pages will show.
Probably one of the Scottish edifices in which Gothic principles are
best exemplified is Melrose Abbey. The whole building was vaulted with
stone, and the vaulting was chiefly groined. The ribs (see Fig. 767)
descend on the caps of vaulting shafts of trefoil section, the central
division of which rests on a corbel at the level of the main pier caps,
while the other two divisions of the trefoil shaft descend without
interruption to the base of the piers. That at least was the design,
although it was in some of the piers interfered with by the introduction
of a screen. In the south aisle also the vaulting ribs are carried on
wall shafts or responds, which descend to the bases; but there is an
unnecessary amount of wall on each side of these shafts and over the
longitudinal arches, which lead into the outer chapels.
The vaults are counterpoised with suitable flying arches (see Fig. 766)
abutting on solid buttresses, loaded with lofty pinnacles, which give
them due resistance to the thrusts brought to bear on them. The windows
in the south chapel walls (and clerestory of choir) are larger than
usual, and are filled with tracery; but there is here also an
unnecessary amount of plain wall between the bays, especially in the
nave clerestory.
There is, however, at Melrose an entire absence of the heavy blank wall
so often introduced over the main arcade, although the absence of any
triforium makes the building seem somewhat low and squat. The large
amount of solid masonry over the exterior of the great east window of
the choir and south window of the transept is likewise a defect. The
round abacus is almost always used at Melrose, but the shafts of the
piers are simple and distinct, and each member carries a clearly defined
series of mouldings.
The authors beg again to tender their acknowledgment of the assistance
they have received from many quarters. They have especially to thank Mr.
T. S. ROBERTSON, Architect, Dundee; Mr. WILLIAM GALLOWAY, Architect,
Wigton; and Mr. R. BRUCE ARMSTRONG, for the drawings and descriptions
they have kindly contributed, and which are referred to in the text. To
Mr. JOHN HONEYMAN and Mr. T. L. WATSON, Architects, Glasgow, they are
also indebted for assistance in connection with Glasgow Cathedral.
* * * * *
Since the description of St. Andrews Cathedral in this Volume was
written, considerable progress has been made with the works referred to
in the text, as being carried on for Lord Bute by Mr. Kinross,
Architect, and several new points have been disclosed.
The west doorway from the cloister into the nave (which is in a modern
vinery) has been opened up on the south side, and its massive first
pointed architecture has been shown. The arch is pointed, and the
details (including dog-tooth enrichments) correspond in style with the
entrance to the chapter house (see Fig. 452).
The whole of the crypt of the refectory (see Fig. 454) has been
excavated and the pillars uncovered, showing that there were two rows of
pillars and three vaults in the width of the building. The pillars,
which are round, have been restored so far as they were incomplete, and
so have the groined arches, the new work being executed in red
sandstone, so that it may be easily distinguishable from the old work,
which is of a light coloured freestone. The masonry of the old pillars
being considerably shattered, it has been found necessary, in restoring
the crypt, to insert an iron column in the heart of each pillar, in
order to give them sufficient strength to carry the weight of the vault.
It is not known to what use this crypt was applied.
In the east range of buildings running south from the chapter house, the
excavations have been continued, and the pillars of a vaulted chamber
below the dormitory have been revealed. As this chamber contains a
fireplace, it may possibly have been the day room or calefactory of the
canons, as only one fireplace (and that in the calefactory) was allowed
in the monasteries. There is, however, some doubt as to whether this
fireplace is original. At the south end of this chamber a deep drain or
water channel, carefully built with ashlar, has been found. This was,
doubtless, the main sewer of the monastery, through which there flowed a
constant stream of water. The stream which fed the mill race (see Fig.
457) is not far distant. The latrines were, without doubt, situated
above this sewer.
In the grounds of the existing school of St. Leonard’s, which lie on the
south side of the road leading from the “pends” to the harbour, was
formerly situated St. Leonard’s Hospitium, or Guests’ Hall, for the
reception of pilgrims and strangers visiting St. Andrews. This Hospitium
was an ancient foundation, but according to Martine it was rebuilt by
Prior John White in the middle of the thirteenth century. Of this
structure there still survive the ruins of the east wall, and by recent
excavations made to the westwards, it has been discovered that the
building consisted of a large hall, having a central nave and two side
aisles. The foundations disclosed show that there were four bays in the
length of the hall.
The following translations from Bower’s continuation of Fordun’s
_Scotichronicon_,[5] which Lord Bute has been good enough to send us,
together with his own valuable notes, throw some light on the dates of
parts of the cathedral and other matters connected with it, especially
the work done by Prior Halderston, 1418-1443, viz.:--
“This Lord [prior] James Halderston [inducted in 1418], master in
Divinity, was extremely eloquent and of a good presence, and very
careful and neat in his person and dress. After he had ruled his
house well for twenty-four years, he died at his monastery on July
18, and was honourably buried in the north wall of the Chapel of
our Lady, in the cathedral church, A.D. 1443.
In connection with above, Lord Bute mentions that Bower (p. 366) states
that Bishop Henry Wardlaw, who died April 6th, 1440, “was buried in the
Church of St. Andrew, with greater pomp than his predecessors, in the
wall between the choir and the Chapel of our Lady,” thus making it
evident that the Chapel of our Lady was the chapel on the north side of
the choir.
“He [Prior Halderston] adorned the church of his monastery with
wonderful and remarkable beauty, both in the carving of the stalls
and in the painting of figures. The nave of this church had been
erected by his predecessor, the Lord [prior] James Bisset, of
worthy memory [who sat from 1393 to 1416], in a sumptuous manner,
with rafters and ceilings [_tignis et tecturis_], but inside it was
an empty, vast, and deserted synagogue. He [Halderston] fitted it
throughout in becoming manner with glass windows, along with the
erection of altars, figures, and decorations and polished
pavements.” Lord Bute asks--“Did he add the altar against the
screen which crosses the south aisle just west of the eastmost door
into the cloister?”
“He [Halderston] built the eastern gable from the foundations,
along with its arch [_arcuali voltâ_].” As Lord Bute remarks--“This
must mean only the east window, the greater part of the east wall
being of transition work” (see Figs. 443-444.) “He adorned
pleasingly the hinder vestry [_revestiarium_] with the reliques and
other restorations and cases [_clausaris_] at considerable
expense.”
Lord Bute thinks that “the revestiarium is evidently the east end of the
church behind the high altar, sometimes wrongly called the Lady Chapel,”
and refers for the use of this term to the contemporary accounts of the
death of the Red Comyn, in which he is sometimes stated to have been
dragged by the friars into the vestry, and sometimes behind the altar,
thus showing the space behind the altar to have been the vestry.
“He laid with a pleasing pavement the whole space not only of the
choir, but also of the transept [_transversarum capellarum_] of the
church, along with both sides [_lateribus sive panis_] of the
cloister, and also the outer chapter house [_inferius capitulum_].
He rebuilt, as it were, from the foundations the fair and
remarkable palace within the court of the prior’s lodging, along
with the handsome [_decentoribus_] oratory and chamber which are
there situated; and likewise domestic manor-houses in their [or
his ‘_suis_’] ‘_locaperhendinalia_’ [places where he might
occasionally have to stay, _perendie_ = the day after to-morrow],
such as Ballon, Segy, and Kynmoth.”