roff and tymmir of the queyr” (p. 56), and in 1500 a contribution of
“salmond and money” was made for lead for the church. This offering was
not sufficient, and we find other negotiations had to be gone into to
raise funds, and it was not till 1510 that they were able to order the
master of the kirk work, George Bisset (a new master), to “cause the
plumbar to pass and ende his werk, and theik the body of thar kirk with
leide” (p. 80), and at last, in 1513, a gilded “weddercok” is set up on
“Sanct Nicholace stepill.”
COLDINGHAM PRIORY, BERWICKSHIRE.
The picturesque village of Coldingham, with the remains of its ancient
priory, lies in a small valley about 3½ miles eastward from Reston
Railway Station, and within a mile of the sea.
The great precipice of St. Abb’s Head, overlooking the German Ocean, is
only a few miles off. It is believed that Ebba, daughter of the
Northumbrian King Ethelfrid, and sister of King Oswy, in the bright days
of that kingdom, about the middle of the seventh century, founded the
monastery of _Urbs Coludi_, or Coldingham. There Ethelrida, Queen of
Egfrid, took the veil, and she afterwards founded the church and
monastery of Ely, of which she became abbess.[194]
The Convent of Coldingham was several times sacked by the Danes, and
after its destruction by them in 870, it remained desolate till it was
restored in 1098 for a colony of Benedictines.
[Illustration: FIG. 397.--Coldingham Priory. Plan.]
The foundations of an early church with an eastern apse were found in
excavations made in 1854. The outlines of this early church, as shown on
a plan prepared by Mr. Hunter, in 1858, for his history of the priory,
are drawn in outline on Fig. 397. These were, doubtless, the remains of
the church erected in 1089. It had the circular apse of the early Norman
churches.
The Priory of Coldingham was refounded at the above date by Edgar, son
of Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. His charter is still preserved at
Durham. The church was dedicated to St. Cuthbert and St. Ebba, and
granted by Edgar to St. Cuthbert’s Canons Regular of Durham, in
acknowledgment of assistance he had received from England. It was
colonised by Benedictine monks, sent to it by the abbot of Durham.
The priory thus remained long subordinate to the English Church,
although upon Scottish soil. The Canons of Durham controlled it, and
drew its revenues till 1504, when it was annexed to the Scottish Crown.
In 1509, the priory was at length detached from Durham, and placed under
the rule of the Abbey of Dunfermline, in which position it remained till
the Reformation.
In the unsettled period of Robert III., and the regency of the Duke of
Albany, the monks found it desirable to place the convent and its
revenues under the protection of Archibald, Earl of Douglas, who
appointed the Laird of Home as his under-keeper, and the Homes continued
to be the bailiffs of the priory till the Reformation, when it fell
entirely into their hands.
In order to provide support for the Chapel-Royal in Stirling, which
James III. had founded, he attempted to suppress the Priory of
Coldingham and annex its revenues, and this was approved by the
Parliament of 1485. However, the proposal was opposed most strenuously
by the Homes and Hepburns, and tended to bring about the rebellion by
which King James lost his life.[195]
The buildings of the convent are said to have suffered severely from
fire on three different occasions--viz., in 1216, in 1430, and in 1544.
The structure was also greatly damaged by Cromwell, and since his time
has served as a convenient quarry to the villagers. The result of the
dilapidations thus caused has been that but little of the monastery now
remains. The church is said to have consisted (see Plan) of nave and
choir, each 90 feet by 25 feet, and transept, 41 feet by 34 feet. At the
north-west angle of the latter rose a massive square tower 90 feet in
height.
Of these once extensive structures there now only remain the north and
east walls of the choir, and some fragments of the south transept. The
nave has been entirely removed, and the great tower fell rather more
than a century ago. In 1662, the west and south walls of the choir were
[Illustration: FIG. 398.--Coldingham Priory. View from North-East.]
rebuilt to render that portion of the edifice suitable for a place of
worship, and in 1854-55 the choir was restored, its west and south walls
being again partly rebuilt, a south porch added, and the corner turrets
carried up to their present height. The whitewash was also removed from
the beautiful work of the interior.
[Illustration: FIG. 399.--Coldingham Priory. North and East Sides of
Interior.]
The church thus restored is 84 feet in length by 23 feet in width
internally, and comprises the ancient north and east walls of the priory
choir. The choir never had aisles, the walls having evidently been
designed to form the exterior of the building. They are two stories in
height (Fig. 398), the ground floor consisting of a series of double
round arches, inserted in the intervals between flat Norman-like
buttresses. The arches are carved with chevron ornaments, and they
spring from slender shafts, each having a square abacus and refined
cushion cap. The bases rest on flat corbels, round which a string course
breaks. All this Norman-like work is exceedingly fine, and very unlike
genuine Norman design.
[Illustration: FIG. 400.--Coldingham Priory. Caps of Lower Arcade.]
Its refined character shows that it is of transition style. On the upper
story the spaces between the buttresses contain in each a single lancet
window, with a nook shaft on each side, and bold first pointed mouldings
in two orders in the arches. The shafts have strongly marked early
first pointed features in the foliaged caps, with square abaci, central
band, and beaded base resting on a string course stepped up to receive
it.
The above design extends round the east end, and the whole of the north
side, except the two bays at the west end of the latter, where the
design is interrupted so as to admit of a porch which seems formerly to
have existed there, but is now removed. The angle turrets have a nook
shaft at each projecting corner like Norman work. They have now been
restored on top with modern masonry.
The design of the interior of the north and east walls (Fig. 399) is
very beautiful. It is carried out, like the exterior, in two stories.
The lower story consists of a continuous pointed arcade, placed close to
the wall, with single detached shafts and bold first pointed arch
mouldings. The bases of the shafts rest on a stone bench 1 foot 6 inches
high, and the caps are varied with rich transition and first pointed
carving (Fig. 400). Curious trefoil and vesica openings are inserted in
the spandrils. (Fig. 403.)
[Illustration: FIG. 401.--Coldingham Priory. Plan of Upper Gallery.]
The upper story consists of a detached arcade, having a passage behind
it in the thickness of the wall (Fig. 401). The arcade comprises an
alternation of high and low pointed arches, two of the latter occurring
between every two of the former. The shafts are alternately cinquefoil
and double in section, as shown in the geometrical drawing (Fig. 402).
All these details are prominently first pointed in style, the caps being
elaborately carved with foliage of that period, and the mouldings being
bold and distinct (Fig. 403). The little bits of foliage introduced at
the points of the arches and ends of the labels and strings are also
characteristic of early first pointed work.
That the design is late transition or very early pointed work is
apparent from all the details. The lower story of the exterior having
refined Norman ornaments, and the early date of the first pointed work
being emphasised by the whole of the abaci of the caps being square in
form, possibly this portion of the edifice may be due to restorations
executed after the fire of 1216.
The portions of the south transept still left are very fragmentary, and
there are now no traces of a north transept, although in Mr. Hunter’s
plan some indications of such a structure are shown. At the north-west
angle of the south transept there is an arch, which has been rebuilt,
being partly made up of old fragments, but the lower part seems to be
ancient. The lower portions of two piers on the east side of the
transept still survive (Fig. 404), and exhibit good mouldings. These
seem to have formed the piers between the transept and an eastern aisle.
When
[Illustration: FIG. 402.--Coldingham Priory. Elevation of part of West
Side.]
Grose’s views were drawn in 1789, one of the pier arches still stood,
and a corresponding arch of the north transept is also shown as then
existing. Part of the west and south walls of the transept, with the
shafts (or at least the bases of the shafts) of an arcade, similar to
that of the choir, is also still preserved. This building shows a
doorway in the south-west angle.
Lying at a distance of 76 feet south from the church, and at a somewhat
lower level, are the walls of a great hall (see Fig. 397). The wall,
which runs east and west, is fully 100 feet in length, and has attached
to it pilasters of segmental form, measuring 1 foot 10 inches across, at
[Illustration: FIG. 403.--Coldingham Priory. Interior of North-East
Angle.]
intervals of about 12 feet. From excavations recently made, the width of
this building has been ascertained to be 28 feet. The south wall has
been 5 feet in thickness, and seems to have been buttressed.
There are three doorways in the north wall, with steps leading down into
the building. Part of the east wall also remains, in which is a recess 4
feet 6 inches wide, with splayed jambs, and having an ambry in the back
of it. The structure has been vaulted, as is apparent from the remains
of ribs and corbels. Part of it may have been the refectory. Unless
steps are taken shortly to preserve this building, it will probably very
soon disappear.
There seem to have been buildings along the east, extending from this
hall to the church. These may have formed the eastern side of a court or
cloister, of which the hall formed the southern side and the church the
north side.
[Illustration: FIG. 404.--Pier in South Transept.]
The east wall of the cloister, which partly remains, has traces of an
old doorway (see Plan) about 4 feet 6 inches wide, now built up. It was
secured by a sliding bar, the channel for which is still in existence.
This doorway is shown in Cardonnell’s _Picturesque Antiquities of
Scotland_ as a round arched door. Above it is shown a pointed arched
window, and at about 20 feet to the south a great pointed archway, not
unlike the arching of the “Pends” at Arbroath. This great archway is
also shown by Grose, but the above-mentioned doorway with the sliding
bar is not seen in Grose’s view owing to a wall hiding it from his point
of view; however, he shows the pointed arched window above. Both the
above authors indicate that a wall ran eastward at right angles.
There are several grave-slabs at Coldingham, of which four are
illustrated. Three of these are small in size, and the fourth is
considerably larger. That shown in Fig. 405 has bevelled edges, with a
foliaged cross containing thirteenth century carving. At the top of the
cross there is a wasted bust, and at the foot there are Calvary steps.
The slab measures 2 feet 2 inches high by 11½ inches wide at the top,
tapering to 8 inches at foot. The other three crosses are apparently of
a later date.
Figs. 406 and 407 are, like Fig. 405, of small size, the first measuring
32 inches high by 10⅜ inches at the top of the slab, and tapering to 8⅛
inches at the base, and the latter 27 inches high by 10 inches without
taper.
Fig. 406 is of an elaborate and peculiar design. On the flat slab a
shallow bead with a circular head encloses the design. This consists of
two stars at the top, and then of three upright flat-beaded figures
about 6 inches high, with corded lines across them; then a Greek cross,
a star, and, finally, a double row of three stars. The arrangement of
the stars somewhat resembles the similar features at the chancel arch of
Legerwood, Berwickshire. The small slab (Fig. 407), which may be
[Illustration: FIG. 405.]
[Illustration: FIG. 406.
FIG. 407.
FIG. 408.
Coldingham Priory. Grave Slabs.]
supposed to have covered the grave of a child, appears also to have had
an incised sword.
Fig. 408 is 5 feet 2 inches by 16½ inches at the head, tapering to 14
inches at the base, and has bevelled edges, with a flat bead at the
sides only. It bears the incised outline of a sword, with a large carved
knob for the pommel.
[Illustration: FIG. 409.--Cushion Capital.]
There are several stones at Coldingham preserved from an earlier church
than the existing one. Fig. 409 represents one of these, being a Norman
cushion capital from a respond. The fragment is 14¾ inches wide by 11
inches high.
DRYBURGH ABBEY, BERWICKSHIRE.
Situated on the north bank of the Tweed (and, consequently, in
Berwickshire), this once important abbey belonged to the series of
monastic establishments founded in the twelfth century in the valley of
the Tweed. It occupies a beautiful position amongst fine woods on an
elevated peninsula, surrounded on three sides by a loop of the river
Tweed, about five miles below Melrose.
It is said that a religious establishment existed here under the
presidency of St. Modan, in the eighth century, but the evidence is
scanty.
The monastery, of which the fragmentary remains are still visible, was
founded, in 1150, by Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and
received a charter from David I. The canons introduced into it were of
the Premonstratensian order, from Alnwick, and, from their dress, were
called White Friars.
A large part of the domestic buildings seems to have been erected within
fifty or sixty years of the date of the foundation, as they are built in
the transition style of the beginning of the thirteenth century. The
church appears to have been in progress during the thirteenth century,
as in 1242 the Bishop of St. Andrews, owing to the debts incurred in
building the monastery, and other expenses, gave the canons permission
to enjoy the revenues of the churches under their patronage--one of
their number performing the office of vicar in each parish.
The canons took the oath of fidelity to Edward I. in 1296, upon which
their property was restored to them. Their possessions were widely
spread, and extended into several counties, as appears from letters
addressed by Edward regarding them to the sheriffs in the counties of
Fife, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Edinburgh.
Amongst the distinguished men connected with the abbey was Ralph Strode,
a friend of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Wiclif. He devoted himself
[Illustration: FIG. 410.--Dryburgh Abbey. Plan.]
to philosophic studies, and was the author of several works. In the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Andrew Forman was superior of
Dryburgh, a man much occupied with affairs of Church and State under
James IV. and V. He was appointed, in 1501, to the Bishopric of Moray,
and held at the same time the priories of Coldingham and Pittenweem, and
the Commendatorship of Dryburgh. Afterwards he became Archbishop of
Brouges, and finally Archbishop of St. Andrews.
Lying, as the abbey did, in the path of the invaders from the South, it
received many unfriendly visits, and suffered much at the hands of
[Illustration: FIG. 411.--Dryburgh Abbey. East Side of Monastic
Buildings.]
the English. In 1322 the monastery received a destructive visit from
Edward II. on his return from an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland. His
army camped in the grounds of the abbey, and next morning set it on
fire, when great damage was done. Large contributions were received from
Robert I. for the repairs of the damage thus caused.
The buildings were again destroyed, in 1385, by Richard II. on his
retreat from Scotland, on which occasion he likewise burnt the abbeys of
Melrose and Newbotle. In 1544 the edifice once more suffered at the
hands of Lord Eure, when the fittings were carried off.
The abbacy was held _in commendam_ from the beginning of the sixteenth
century, and, in 1587, it was annexed to the Crown. Finally, it was
erected into a temporal barony, with the title of Lord Cardross, in
favour of the Earl of Mar, from whom it has passed, by purchase, through
the hands of several proprietors.[196]
The monastery (Fig. 410) has consisted of the usual buildings
surrounding the cloister, having the church on the north side, standing
about ten steps above the level of the cloister garth. The sacristy,
chapter house, fratery, and other apartments stretch from the transept
southwards along the east side; and above these, on the upper floor,
were the dormitories, entering by an open staircase from the south
transept, in a similar manner to the dormitories at Pluscardine,
Melrose, &c. Along the south side of the cloisters lay the refectory,
which, owing to the slope of the ground, was raised on a basement floor
of vaulted cellars. On the west side of the cloister garth there are now
only a few vaulted cellars. A small stream runs along on the south-west
side of the monastic buildings, and beyond the stream are the remains of
what seems to have been a detached chapel.
The oldest portions of the structure are those forming the eastern range
(Fig. 411), which, from their style of architecture, are evidently of
transition date, or about the beginning of the thirteenth century. The
sacristy is 28 feet long by 13 feet wide. It has a stone bench round the
walls and three steps in the floor. There is a door from the transept
and an outer semicircular-headed doorway of transition character from
the cloister (Fig. 412.) Access is also obtained by a small door in the
north side to a wheel-stair leading to the upper floors, and visible as
a projecting turret at the south-east angle of the transept (see Fig.
412).
The east window of the sacristy is remarkable, having two round-headed
windows, surmounted by a visica-formed aperture (see Fig. 411).
The sacristy has a piscina in the south wall near the east end.
The apartment next the sacristy is 28 feet long by 11 feet wide. It has
now been appropriated as a mausoleum, but may have originally been a
parlour. There is an ambry in the south wall near the east end. The
doorway is semicircular, and of Norman character (see Fig. 412).
The east window is plain, and consists of two round-headed openings
enclosed in a large semicircle (see Fig. 411). The above two apartments
are on the level of the cloisters; but the floor of the chapter house,
which is next in order, is several feet below the level of the cloister
walk.
The ordinary central doorway and side windows opening from the cloister
(see Fig. 412) are, however, placed in their usual position on the level
of the cloister walk. The door is thus some five feet above the floor,
and if the doorway was used for access to the chapter house, it must
have been provided with a stair down, of which there is now no trace.
The
[Illustration: FIG. 412.--Dryburgh Abbey. Transept and East Side of
Cloisters.]
[Illustration: FIG. 413.--Dryburgh Abbey. Doorway of Chapter House.]
[Illustration: FIG. 414.--Dryburgh Abbey. Interior of Chapter House.]
side openings were unglazed, and were used for seeing and listening to
what was proceeding in the chapter house below.
The doorway (Fig. 413) is large and deeply recessed, having three shafts
on the sloping ingoing, and plain mouldings above in the round arch,
divided into several orders. The jambs and arch over them are enriched
with a bold dog-tooth moulding. The outer arches of the windows on each
side of the doorway are plain semicircles, filled in with two pointed
lights, having a central shaft.
[Illustration: FIG. 415.--Dryburgh Abbey. Carved Figure in Chapter
House.]
The chapter house is 48 feet in length by 23 feet in width, and retains
its round barrel vault (Fig. 414), which is about 20 feet in height. It
has three pointed windows in the east end (see Fig. 411) and two similar
windows in the side walls, where the chapter house projects beyond the
general line of the buildings. In the interior a round arched arcade
runs along the east side, supported on single shafts, and there are
traces of a similar arcade having run round the side walls. There is an
entrance doorway in the south wall, which is probably not original, and
the approach to it has been modernised. The east gable wall over the
chapter house still exists (see Fig. 411.) It has simple flat
buttresses of a Norman type at the angles and between the windows, but
the pointed arches indicate transition work.
Amongst the fragments of carved work preserved in the chapter house is
that shown in Fig. 415. It represents the pascal lamb slain,
[Illustration: FIG. 416.--Dryburgh Abbey. South-West Angle of
Cloisters.]
and is surrounded by a wreath of foliage, above which are the letters I
H S. The vine leaves flowing from the lamb may represent the branches
springing from the true vine.
To the south of the chapter house is a large apartment, 50 feet in
length by 23 feet wide. It has been vaulted at a late period, and the
vaulting shafts still remain attached to the east, west, and south
walls. Their details are of the third pointed period. There is a
fireplace in the centre of the west wall, and an outer doorway at the
south end of the same wall. The apartment was lighted by three plain
round arched windows in the east wall, one of which has had tracery
inserted in after times. At the north-west angle, opening from the level
of the cloister, there is a round-headed doorway, and traces of a
staircase, which doubtless served as the day access to the dormitory.
The large apartment just described was probably the fratery or monks’
day room. This is the more likely from its having a fireplace, where the
monks might warm themselves
[Illustration: FIG. 417.--Dryburgh Abbey. Arms of John Stewart, 1555.]
in cold weather. At the south-east angle of the room, and in the
thickness of the wall, a narrow staircase leads up to where the
dormitories were situated. South of the fratery is the slype or passage
10 feet in width, with arched openings to the east and west. It has also
a doorway to the fratery, and another to the apartment on the south
side. The latter now only exists in part, the south end of the range
having been destroyed.
The range of buildings above described still retains its eastern wall to
the full height of two stories (see Fig. 411), the upper story being,
doubtless, the dormitory. The wall is all built in a simple early style,
with flat buttresses between the windows, and the latter are plain
round-headed openings, with a single recessed order. The hood mould is
in some cases carved with a notch ornament.
On the south side of the cloister, where the refectory once stood, there
[Illustration: FIG. 418.--Dryburgh Abbey. West End of Nave--Interior.]
are now only the ruins of the vaulted basement on which it stood. At the
east end of this range there is a doorway from the cloister giving
access to a staircase, which led down to the lower level of the fratery,
&c. The remainder of the south side was probably all occupied by the
refectory,
[Illustration: FIG. 419.--Dryburgh Abbey. Western Doorway.]
which would thus be about 77 feet in length by 27 feet in width. The
west wall is almost all that survives. It is ivy clad, and contains a
picturesque circular window, with radiating tracery (Fig. 416).
Adjoining
[Illustration: FIG. 420.--Dryburgh Abbey. North and South Ends of
Transept.]
this wall in the south-west angle of the cloister there is an arched
recess in the west wall, apparently intended for a tomb and monument;
but it is empty. Over the doorway in this angle is a large shield (Fig.
417),
[Illustration: FIG. 421.--Dryburgh Abbey. North Transept and Choir.]
which contains the arms of John Stewart, who was commendator in 1555. On
the shield are the initials “J. S.,” with the crozier in the centre. He
was brother of the Earl of Lennox, and uncle to Lord Darnley, who
married Queen Mary. The arms are those of the Stewarts of Lennox.