and south transepts, and chancel, and lies about west by north and east
by south. (Fig. 127.) There remain now only the lower portion of the
north transept, lower portions of the chancel, and a small fragment of
the east wall of the south transept. It is built of the grey stone of
the locality in rude courses of moderate-sized stones. On the north side
of the nave, and at the west end, is a modern wall about 3 feet high,
but as this is on the foundation of the original north wall, it is
probable that it marks the extent westward of the old nave. Assuming
this, the nave was 21 feet 6 inches by 10 feet inside. The walls were
probably 2 feet 3 inches thick. The position of the doorway is not
evident, but probably was in the west end. Traces of the south wall
remain. The north transept is 12 feet north and south by 8 feet 6 inches
east and west inside. The north wall is 2 feet 3 inches thick, and the
east and west walls 2 feet thick. The north end is 9 feet high, and
retains the window, which is square-headed (Fig. 128), 1 foot 9 inches
high, and 1 foot 3 inches
[Illustration: FIG. 128.--Church at Culbinsbrough. East and North
Elevations.]
wide outside. It is slightly splayed inwards. The sill is 5 feet above
the present ground, but the original level of the floor has not been
ascertained.
The height of the eaves and of the original apex of gable cannot be
ascertained, but it is probable that the eaves of the whole church were
not more than about 7 feet high, and the ridges of roofs about 12 feet
high.
The chancel is 6 feet east and west and 10 feet north and south inside.
The walls 2 feet 7 inches to 3 feet thick. About 5 feet 6 inches in
height of the east gable remains. The sill of the east window appears to
have been 4 feet 7 inches above the ground outside--about the same level
as the window in the north transept. The width and height of the east
window cannot be ascertained as the gable is gone. Probably there were
no arches at the cross. The proportion on which it was formed is not
evident; but these proportions may be observed in it. The interior of
the chancel is in the proportion of the vesica piscis. The length of the
north transept is twice that of the chancel, and half that of the nave.
The interior has been used as a burial-place since the disuse of the
church, and two altar tombs remain in the nave. One is without
inscription, but the other is of a Dutch captain who died in 1636. The
inscription is in Dutch. This is the only cross church in Orkney or
Shetland of which any remains exist, and on that account is of
importance. In this churchyard was found, about 1850, a very interesting
tombstone, which has been presented to the Museum of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland by the Rev. Dr. Hamilton of Bressay. This stone
stood erect. It is 4 feet high, 1 foot 4½ inches wide at top, and 11
inches wide at bottom, and 1¾ inch thick. Both faces are ornamented with
carving in low relief. On one face the upper portion contains a square
of interlaced work, within which is a circle containing an interlaced
cross. Below are two dogs, head to head, with their mouths open, and
tails curled over their backs. Below them are two bishops, face to face,
with low mitres, and holding pastoral staves. They resemble the bishops
of the Norse chessmen. On the other face, in the upper part, is a circle
of interlaced work. In the spandrils above it are two nondescript
animals, with their mouths open, apparently eating a man--one the feet,
the other the head. Below the circle are two bishops as on the other
face, between them a man on horseback. Below there is a nondescript
four-legged animal with its tail over its back--possibly a lion or dog.
Other small spaces are filled with interlaced work. On the two edges is
an inscription in Ogham characters, which has been the source of much
discussion; but the stone is somewhat chipped, and the decipherers have
not had a good chance. Amongst many translations is this--on one edge,
“The cross of Natdods daughter here;” on the other edge, “Benres of the
sons of the Druid here.” Probably this stone is of the ninth or
beginning of the tenth century.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
There is no cross church in Orkney, and only one in Shetland.
In Ireland there is no circular, octagon, or cross church, except, of
course, the cathedrals and some monastic churches.
There is no aisle in Orkney or Shetland.
There are no plinths or basements to any of these churches.
The doors are chiefly in the west ends. Both square and round heads
occur. Several have no rebates. (See Birsay.) St. Ola, Deerness, and
perhaps Uya have no chancels, but all the rest have decided chancels.
There is no instance of a chancel door. Orphir, Egilsey, The Ness,
Culbinsbrough, Norwick, Kirkaby, and Colvidale have or had chancel
arches equal in width to the chancels. In England this fashion rarely
occurs; where it does it is late. It is constructively weak.
Enhallow has a chancel arch with projecting jambs of about the English
proportion.
Birsay, Wyre, Linton, perhaps Uya, and probably Noss have or had very
narrow chancel arches.
In our early churches the chancels were small in comparison with the
naves, and in cathedrals the ritual choir was under the cross or west of
it.
They elongated the choirs in the thirteenth century, and soon placed the
ritual choir east of the cross.
Orphir and Egilsey had windows with circular heads. Birsay, Wyre,
Enhallow, and Culbinsbrough had at least some windows with flat heads.
The Ness has all flat. No instance remains of a double light, or of a
transom, or of a triangular head, which is not unfrequent in Ireland.
At Egilsey, Enhallow, and the Ness are no grooves for glass or rebates,
or external chamfers. At Orphir and Birsay are grooves and chamfers.
(See account of Egilsey.) Of the six churches which retain the east
ends--St. Ola, Orphir, Deerness, Wyre, Egilsey, and the Ness--four have
no east window, except that in the latter there is a small opening high
up in the east gable. In the early Irish churches it is very unusual not
to have an east window. Probably no apse was without an east window.
As far as can be made out at present, there was no step to the chancel
and no platform for the altar, except the inserted step and altar at
Birsay. In some the chancel windows are singularly low, as at Wyre and
Egilsey. No piscina remains, and only one sedile, but several ambries.
There are only four cases where we can judge of the pitch of the roofs.
The Ness had a roof including about 85 degrees, Egilsey about 88
degrees, Enhallow the same, and Wyre about 95 degrees. Probably all had
rude stepped coping on the gables.
MONUMENTS.
The grave stones found in connection with these churches are of four
kinds.
1. Keel-shaped slabs placed horizontally on graves, as at Sandwick in
Unst, sketched by Mr. Irvine.
2. Upright stones nearly rectangular, with crosses engraved on them, as
at Sandwick, etched by Mr. Irvine, and at Norwick and some other places.
This class includes the elaborate monument from Culbinsbrough.
3. The same shaped stones, without any ornamentation, found at many of
the old burial-grounds.
4. Upright stones cut into the form of crosses, as at Uya.
Mr. Irvine has sent the following information:--“I believe from the
earliest times in Scotland the foot-stone of the grave was the chief
stone, and not as now the head-stone, and that the east face of the
foot-stone was the principal face to be attended to, from the idea that
the dead rose at the resurrection to an upright position facing east.
Compare the stone with the ancient incised markings from St. Peter’s
Church, Orkney, now in the Edinburgh Museum, with the one I have etched
from Sandwick, Unst, and I believe it will be seen that the keel stone
existed to both. Therefore, I believe that the interment belonging to
many of the standing stones will be found on the west side and not on
the east.” The coffins were often formed of six or more slabs of stone.
PROPORTIONS.
The designs for churches in the ages of architecture were not made at
random. Doubtless there existed certain rules of proportion; but
doubtless they varied with times, places, and persons.
Various attempts have been made in modern times to discover these rules,
and in some instances with apparent success. It unfortunately happens
that we have not often an intact ground plan, and if the original plan
was simple, the additions render it complex. In many cases these
additions were made without any regard to the proportion of the
original. It appears probable that these proportions were geometric
rather than arithmetical--that is to say, made by simple operations of
the compasses and rulers, rather than by any proportions of numbers. The
small churches of the North are valuable from not having been altered by
additions.
Though in the foregoing notes the proportions on which the churches were
built may not have been ascertained in all cases, yet in some the
coincidences are too remarkable to be chance. Although, no doubt, a
system of proportions was extended to the elevations and certain
details, yet as to most of these in the churches here enumerated we are
in ignorance, because most of the superstructure is gone. It appears
that there were, in fact, only two figures on which the proportions were
founded--a circle, a square, and an equilateral triangle. For most
purposes of proportion the circle and square are identical. The vesica
piscis is two equilateral triangles on opposite sides of a common base,
and hence equal in proportion to the half of one such triangle.
There is, however, one proportion in which a square is not equivalent to
a circle--the diagonal of the square the proportion of which to the side
is nearly as 10 to 7. The height or length of an equilateral triangle is
to half its base nearly as 7 to 4.
All these proportions are somewhat flexible, inasmuch as they may
include the side walls and exclude the end walls, or the reverse; or
they may include both, or they may exclude both; or they may be applied
in one way to the nave, and in another to the chancel, and in another
to the tower. But the proportion must not be deemed as ascertained
unless the figure really fits within 2 or 3 inches.
DATES.
As to the dates of these buildings we have but little to guide us. Only
fragments of the buildings are left, and those of the plainest
description.
Scotch architecture has some mystifying peculiarities. Dates have been
suggested from architectural and historical evidence for Orphir, Birsay,
and Egilsey. Orphir, 1090-1160; Birsay, 1100; Egilsey, 1000. Wyre has
been assigned to the twelfth or thirteenth, the Ness to the fourteenth,
and St. Ola to the sixteenth century.
It may be fairly observed that there must have been churches erected in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Where are the remains of them?
Possibly some of the ruins described are of those centuries.
It does not appear impossible that from evidence yet to be collected, a
nearer approximation to the dates of these buildings may be got.
* * * * *
As a supplement to the foregoing drawings and descriptions of the ruined
churches of Orkney and Shetland by Sir Henry Dryden, we add an account,
also kindly supplied by Sir Henry, of the chapel at Lybster, in
Caithness, which has a strong affinity to the churches of the Orkneys,
and drawings and description of the chapel on the island of Inch
Kenneth, lying on the south-west of Mull.
CHAPEL AT LYBSTER, PARISH OF REAY, CAITHNESS.
This is not the Lybster on the east coast.
This chapel (Fig. 129) was stated, in 1726, to be dedicated to St.
Peter. It is described and illustrated by Muir in his _Ecclesiastical
Sketch of Caithness and Orkney_, 1861. He states that it was dedicated
to St. Mary.[135]
It consists of nave and chancel, both unroofed. (Fig. 130.) Muir, in his
plan, places the chancel to the north of the nave, but it is in the
usual position.
The nave is 17 feet 10 inches east and west, by 10 feet 11 inches north
and south inside. The north wall of the nave is 3 degrees south of true
west and north of true east, supposing the variation to be 24 degrees
west of north. The walls of the west end and the east end of the nave
are 4 feet 2 inches thick; the north and south walls of the nave are 3
feet 11 inches thick. The walls are of the whinstone of the district, in
irregular courses, from 3 to 10 inches deep, and “spawled”--that is,
made into courses by smaller stones. The north wall of the nave is 8
feet high above the present ground level, and is apparently about its
original height. The south wall is partly broken. The west wall is 11
feet 8
[Illustration: FIG. 129.--Chapel at Lybster. View from South-West.]
[Illustration: FIG. 130.--Chapel at Lybster. Plan, South Elevation and
Section.]
inches, and the east wall 15 feet 2 inches above the present ground. The
latter gable was about 1 foot 6 inches higher than at present, and the
west gable, of course, level with it. I did not ascertain the original
level of the floor, but it must have been at least a foot below the
present ground, so that the total height of the gables was about 16 feet
2 inches.
[Illustration: FIG. 131.--Chapel at Lybster. West End, Doorway, and
Chancel Entrance.]
In the west end (Fig. 131) is an entrance 2 feet 3 inches wide at bottom
and 1 foot 9 inches at top. The head is horizontal; the jambs are
parallel, and there is no sign of hinges for a door. The jambs are now 3
feet 11 inches high. The soffit of the head is flush between the outside
and the inside. Another entrance has been made in the south wall near
the west end, but the wall is broken here, and the form of the head is
uncertain. There is now no trace of a window, but one may have existed
in the place of this doorway.
The entrance to the chancel is 2 feet 9 inches wide at the bottom and 2
feet 1 inch at the head, which is flat, like the west entrance. The
chancel is 11 feet 3 inches east and west, by 10 feet 9 inches north and
south inside. The walls are 2 feet 4½ inches on the north and south and
2 feet 7 inches on the east. The walls are about 1 foot lower than the
north wall of the nave. This chancel has been rebuilt, probably on the
old foundation, and is used as a family burying-place.
There is no trace of an entrance or a window, but I think the wall has
been rebuilt since the disuse of the chapel, so that the original
chancel may have had a window. There is no stoup or ambry.
Planned 1871.
CHAPEL, EFFIGY, AND CROSS ON INCH KENNETH, MULL, ARGYLESHIRE.
Inch Kenneth is about half a mile across at the mouth of Loch na Keal,
on the west side of Mull.
The chapel (Fig. 132) adjoins the burial-ground, which is on the
south-east part of the island, and at 50 or 60 feet above the water.
[Illustration: FIG. 132.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. View from North-East.]
The ground falls sharply from the north-east to the south-west. The
burial-ground is on the west of the chapel, and on higher ground. There
is an enclosed burial-place adjoining the south side of the chapel for
the Macleans of Brolas.
The chapel (Fig. 133) is a plain parallelogram, 40 feet 9 inches east
and west by 19 feet 8 inches north and south inside. It is deflected 10
[Illustration: FIG. 133.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 134.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. Section and North
Elevation.]
degrees 30 minutes to the north of true east, assuming the magnetic
meridian to be 21 degrees west of true north.
It is of a light-coloured hard sandstone. It has long been unroofed, and
is mutilated in other parts.
[Illustration: FIG. 135.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. Details of Doorway.]
The doorway (Fig. 134) is in the north wall, near the west end, on the
side sheltered by the hill; but all the freestone has been taken out,
except two stones of the inner order of the east jamb.
The jambs (Fig. 135) and arch were of two orders. Judging by the remains
of wall it had no hood and no cap. I did not make out whether it had
been a pointed or a half-circular arch, as there is only a small portion
of the masonry fitting the back of the outer order above the west impost
remaining to judge by. Probably pointed.
The sill of the doorway is covered by rubbish, and the whole of the
interior is covered to about 2 feet depth. I had not opportunity for
excavation.
The east end (Fig. 136) remains to 15 feet high, a little above the
eaves. The side walls (Fig. 137) are about 12 feet high, and the west
wall remains to a little way up the gable.
[Illustration: FIG. 136.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. East End--Exterior and
Interior.]
The facing of the south wall and the south-west angle have disappeared.
The weakness of foundation and the position of the east end on a steep
slope caused, at some period, the east end to lean outwards
[Illustration: FIG. 137.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. South Elevation.]
considerably; and to obviate further decay, large clasping buttresses
(see Fig. 132) were made at north-east and south-east angles, at some
period much after the building of the chapel, but long ago.
In the east end are two plain lancets (Fig. 138), 4 feet 8 inches high
and 8¾ inches wide, with wide splays to the inside.
There is no groove for glass, and so it probably was fixed in a wooden
frame.
[Illustration: FIG. 138.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. East Windows.]
On the north is, near the east end, a square-headed light (Figs. 139,
140), 4 feet 8 inches by 1 foot. It has no glass groove. The internal
head is not now arched, but probably was so at first.
On the south, and nearly opposite the last, is a light, 4 feet 8 inches
by 9 inches, with a square head and internal arch. (See Fig. 140.)
Between this and the east wall is a projecting stone with hollow in it,
but no drain. (See Fig. 139.) It is difficult to assign a date to this,
but I think, probably, it is of fourteenth or fifteenth century.
In the centre of the chapel is a flat tombstone, with floriated
decoration. In the burial-ground is a cross of slate, now prostrate. It
appears of very late date, but has traditional form and ornaments.
In the burial-place on the south side of chapel is a floriated tombstone
(Fig. 141), also an effigy in relief (Fig. 142). This is 6 feet 7½
inches long from the top of the cap to the heels. The figure is in
relief of about 4 inches average, flattened on the upper surface, like
many others in that
[Illustration: FIG. 139.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. North and South
Windows--Interior.]
[Illustration: FIG. 140.--Chapel on Inch Kenneth. South-East and North
Windows--Exterior.]
district, and is in the same stone as the slab, as usual. The slab is 7
feet 2¼ inches by 2 feet 8 inches, of hard freestone. He has no metal
armour except his skull-cap or morion, which has a raised longitudinal
rib and a narrow brim. The head rests on a simple pillow of 3 inches
relief. He wears a quilted dress reaching to the knees, and over that,
apparently a
[Illustration: FIG. 141.]
surcoat. The face has no protection; the hair is long and curly, falling
over the shoulders; he has no beard and no moustache. Below the chin
falls the broad end of a tie (?) of some kind. The right arm, in a
quilted sleeve, is extended by the side, and in the hand is a cannon (?)
ball. Lying over the waist is a circular target, 1 foot in diameter and
2 inches thick, and on this is a shield (presumably to receive the arms
either in sculpture or paint) of 10½ inches width and 1¼ inch
thickness.
The legs are in close-fitting hose, or perhaps bare, and the junction of
the boots is not shown. The feet rest against a lion or dog. He has a
waist-belt, from which depends a long, broad, straight sword, of equal
width to the end. The upper part of the scabbard and the guard are
[Illustration: FIG. 142.]
concealed by the target. The left arm holds the target, and is therefore
partly concealed by it. Dependent from the belt at the right hip is the
dirk. On each side of the head is a figure 10¼ inches high, much worn,
in a loose cloak, and in the attitude of prayer. These may represent
children or professional mourners.
It is possible that the shield which is in relief on the target is to
represent a metal or a wooden plate fastened to the target.
It is likely that the cannon ball is a memorial of some incident.
* * * * *
Sir Henry Dryden, in reading over the foregoing description of the
Orkney and Shetland churches after they were arranged in type, has
requested the following note to be inserted:--
_Note by Sir Henry Dryden._
All the plans and sections are much reduced from the originals;
therefore, the _statements_ of the scales are not true, but the scales
given are correct, having been reduced with the plans.
Of the original drawings, some general plans are to the scale of ½ an
inch to 40 feet, and ½ an inch to 10 feet. All the chapels are to the
scale of ⅜ of an inch to 2 feet, doors and windows ⅜ to 6 inches, and
mouldings ⅜ to 3 inches.
The elevations in the originals are tinted with sepia, and have no
masonry indicated. The artist who has prepared these reductions has
indicated the masonry, but has made it much too regular, both in courses
and size of stones.
The drawing here shown is a more accurate representation of the general
style of the masonry.
[Illustration]
The degrees and minutes prefixed to arrows are the readings of a
prismatic compass, with 360 degrees at south, 90 degrees at west, and so
on. All were taken west to east and east to west.
[Illustration]
TRANSITION FROM CELTIC TO NORMAN ARCHITECTURE.
Having in the preceding chapters dealt with the churches in Scotland
which may be regarded as of Celtic descent, we now turn to those in
which the Roman or Norman influence begins to make itself apparent.
A few structures exist in Scotland in which both the Celtic and Norman
influences can be traced, and which are interesting as examples of the
transition from the one style to the other. We have noted in the
foregoing descriptions the gradual introduction in the later Celtic
churches of features characteristic of Norman work, such as round arched
openings and upright jambs, not to mention the pointed and more advanced
details of later examples. But the gradual approach of Norman
architecture, and its encroachment on the Celtic forms, is more
particularly noticeable in some of the early towers in the East of
Scotland. In that part of the country of which the Frith of Tay forms
the centre, and which was then the central region of Pictavia, there
exists a series of early ecclesiastical towers, eight in number. Six of
these towers are situated south of the Tay--three of them being on the
south side of the Ochil Hills, and three on the north side. Those on the
south side are the tower of St. Regulus at St. Andrews and the towers at
Markinch and Dunblane; while the towers on the north side of the Ochils
are at Abernethy, Muthill, and Dunning. The towers on the north side of
the Tay are those at Brechin and Restennet. These places are all known
to have been the sites of Culdee establishments, which were ultimately
absorbed into the Roman system.
The towers of Abernethy and Brechin are round towers, similar in design
to the round towers of Ireland.[136] These two towers contain many
features which indicate their Irish derivation, while one of them--that
at Abernethy--shows the impress of the Norman influence in its details.
The other towers above mentioned (which are described under their
respective heads) are all square in plan; but that of Restennet shows
considerable affinity with Celtic modes of construction. The Church of
St. Regulus probably marks the next step in the Norman advance, while
the remaining towers, although simple in details, are quite distinctly
Norman in their features.
The Round Tower of Brechin is the one which approaches most nearly to
the Celtic or Irish forms. Its masonry is built with large stones, but
they are not laid in regular courses. The doorway is some feet above the
ground, and is ornamented with details quite Irish in character. This
tower will be more fully described under the head of Brechin Cathedral.
ABERNETHY ROUND TOWER, PERTHSHIRE.