It is highly probable that the church was completed before the monks
erected any permanent dwelling for themselves, and this may partly
account for the resignation of the tenth abbot, Dene Adam of Smalham, a
monk of Melrose, who demitted office in 1267, “choosing rather to live
in the sweet converse of his brethren of Melrose, than to Govern an
unworthy flock, under the lowly roofs of Deir.”[105]
All the conventual buildings now existing are of a date subsequent to
the founding of the abbey, but under the circumstances already narrated,
and from the absence of mouldings, it is somewhat difficult to fix their
period. The openings are all round arched and simply splayed. The
doorway into the passage adjoining the kitchen has a carved keystone
(Fig. 690), a rather unusual feature in Gothic work. The carving, which
is cut in granite, is decidedly Gothic in feeling, although in all
probability late. There exists a view of the abbey as it existed in
1770.[106] The view appears to have been taken from the south, although
it is rather difficult to fix the point of view; but, assuming that it
is from the south, it shows the north wall of the building just
described as in a much better state of preservation than it is now, and
the south wall as rather more ruinous. We understand that the north wall
was repaired sometime in this century. Judging from the view and from
the remains, the south elevation seems to have been finished with a
series of gables, having round-arched and splayed windows. Only a few
fragments of the church remain, and there can be no doubt as to their
period. They are genuine relics of the original church founded in the
thirteenth century. The principal fragment consists of two cusped arches
(Fig. 691), probably forming the top of a sedilia. They measure in width
1 foot 10½ inches each by 2 feet 3½ inches high inside, and are recessed
about 12 inches.
Three or four corbels of the characteristic first pointed kind are
preserved; one of these is shown in Fig. 692.
[Illustration: FIG. 692. The Abbey of Deer. Corbel.]
The only other wrought stone belonging to the church is a very peculiar
one. It lies loose, and appears to have contained a double piscina--one
having its basin supported by a projecting corbel in the ordinary
manner, and the other with its basin and corbel turned upside down. Its
construction will be understood from the sketch (Fig. 693). In the one
basin, which may be called the upper, the aperture proceeds from a
sprout at the back, and emerges in the centre of the lower basin. The
upper basin is 7 inches deep and the lower 3½ inches. The other
dimensions will be seen on the drawings, with sections of the respective
corbels.
Adjoining the ruins is the Abbey Bridge, spanning the Ugie. It is a
quaint structure, and may be partly as old as the remains of the
conventual buildings; but it appears to have been repaired or partly
rebuilt, as it contains the arms of James Keith of Bruxie, with the date
1718.
[Illustration: FIG. 693.--The Abbey of Deer. Piscina.]