SKETCH OF SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE
Architecture is a great stone book in which nations have recorded their
annals, before the days of the printing-press: have written their
thoughts, expressed their aspirations, and embodied their feelings as
clearly and truly as by any other form of utterance. We know Egypt as
vividly by its pyramids, the age of Pericles by the Parthenon of Athens,
Imperial Rome by the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Baths of Caracalla, as
from the pages of their respective literature. The mediæval cathedrals,
monasteries, and churches are a living record of the faith and devotion
of mediæval men, who have left besides them but little else whereby we
can know their aspirations and civilisation; we find in them an
expression of the deepest life that characterised the periods to which
they belong, and a record which, though often mutilated, and sometimes
nearly obliterated, never deceives. Wherever these architectural
creations are found, there also a voice ought to be heard, telling what
at that spot and at some previous time men thought and felt; what their
civilisation enabled them to accomplish, and to what state they had
attained in their conception of God. In a very true sense it can be said
that the architecture of a country is the history of that country, and
that the record of the architecture is the record of its civilisation.
"Mediæval architecture," said Sir Gilbert Scott, "is distinguished from
all other styles as being the last link of the mighty chain which had
stretched unbroken through nearly 4000 years--the glorious termination
of the history of original and genuine architecture....[2] It has been
more entirely developed under the influence of the Christian religion,
and more thoroughly carried out its tone and sentiment, than any other
style. It is _par eminence_ Christian.... Its greatest glory is the
solemnity of religious character which pervades the interior of its
temples. To this all its other attributes must bend, as it is this which
renders it so pre-eminently suited to the highest uses of the Christian
Church. It was this, probably, which led Romney to exclaim, that if
Grecian architecture was the work of glorious men, Gothic was the
invention of gods."[3] This architecture was perfected by the mediæval
builders--the round arch in the twelfth and the pointed arch in the two
succeeding centuries. Its progress was the realisation of three great
aims, towards which the Romanesque architects were ever striving--the
perfecting of the arcuated and vaulted construction, the increase of the
altitude of their proportion, and the general adding of refinement and
delicacy to their details.[4]
Scotland, it has been maintained by those competent to judge, can show a
continuous series of Christian structures, beginning with the primitive
cells and oratories of the early anchorites, and extending through all
the periods of mediæval art. It exemplifies two distinctive phases of
artistic development--the first comprising the rise and decline of
Celtic Art in early Christian times, and the second allied to the
various stages of general European culture. The Celtic churches, round
towers, and sculptured monuments similar to those found in Ireland, are
followed by primitive examples of Norman work, pointing to the Saxon and
Norman influence of the eleventh century, which produced a complete
revolution in the artistic elements of the country and led to a full
development of the Romanesque or Norman style of architecture--a style
similar to the round arched architecture of other European countries in
the twelfth century. This is manifested chiefly in small parish
churches, but also in large, elaborate buildings, and one cathedral.[5]
The succeeding Gothic styles are also well represented in Scotland, and
exhibit both certain local peculiarities and a general correspondence
with the arts of the different periods in France and England. The First
Pointed style is represented in Scotland during the thirteenth century,
but owing to the disastrous situation of the country during the
fourteenth century, the number of "decorated" buildings is pronounced to
be comparatively small. On the other hand, it is maintained that during
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the "Perpendicular" style
prevailed in England and the "Flamboyant" in France, the architecture of
Scotland was distinguished by a style peculiar to the country, in which
many features derived from both the above styles may be detected.[6]
"While the mediæval architecture of Scotland thus corresponds on the
whole with that of the rest of Europe, there exists in the ecclesiology
of the country an amount of native development sufficient to give it a
special value as one of the exponents of the art of the Middle Ages. Its
buildings further contribute largely to the illustration of the history
of the country, by showing in their remains the condition and growth of
its religious ideas and observances at different epochs, and the manner
in which its civilisation advanced. We observe striking evidences of the
Irish influence in the relics of the primitive Celtic Church. The Norman
and English influences are clearly traceable up to the invasion of
Edward I., and the political connection with France and the Netherlands
is distinctly observable in the period of the Jameses."[7]
1. NORMAN ARCHITECTURE
The Abernethy Round Tower, the Priory of Restennet, Forfarshire, and St.
Regulus' or St. Rule's Church, St. Andrews, illustrate the transition
from Celtic to Norman architecture.[8] The dates of the Irish round
towers[9] extend from the ninth to the twelfth century, and the
Abernethy Tower is regarded on historical grounds by Dr. Skene as
belonging to the period about 870 A.D.; the upper windows and doorway
are either additions of the twelfth century, or, as this was an early
Irish house in Scotland, may illustrate what has been asserted, that in
Ireland a form of Romanesque was introduced before the Anglo-Saxon
Invasion.[10] At any rate, the tower is a combination of Celtic and
Norman work. As to Restennet, the present choir is a First Pointed
structure. David I. founded there an Augustinian Priory, which Malcolm
IV. made a cell of the Abbey of Jedburgh. The tower is the only one of
the square towers which has very marked features of a pre-Norman
character.[11] The building above the second story is probably
fifteenth-century work. St. Regulus' Church is treated pp. 17-19.
The twelfth century was in Scotland as elsewhere the great
church-building period, and the number of churches in the south and east
that reflect the Norman movement is very large. All the large ones were
conventual. Parish churches of the period are generally small and
aisleless--the most of them being single oblong chambers, with an
eastern chancel, sometimes with an eastern apse, and occasionally with a
western tower.[12] Towards the close of the period, the ornament became
very elaborate, especially in the arched heads of doorways. A common
feature was the arcade running round the walls below the windows, either
in the exterior, interior, or both; the caps and arches are generally
carved elaborately and richly with ornaments, the chevron or zig-zag
enrichment being a characteristic feature. The windows are always single
and simple in detail.[13]
Some of the towers connected with such churches are amongst the earliest
instances of Norman work which survive; they are simple in design,
square on plan, and are carried up, without break or buttress, to the
parapet, where they are finished with a gable roof, forming the
saddle-back arrangement still preserved in the Muthill Tower.[14] The
break in the height is formed by string courses, which mark the unequal
stories. A small wheel-stair usually leads to the top, and the doorway
is occasionally several feet from the ground. Such are the leading
features that can be traced in the buildings connected with the period.
2. SCOTTISH TRANSITION STYLE
The term "transition" is by general agreement reserved for the
architecture of the end of the twelfth century, when the Norman style
gradually gave place to the first pointed Gothic style. In England this
period extends from about 1180 to 1200; in Scotland it extends
considerably into the thirteenth century. The characteristics of the
style are the gradual introduction of the pointed arch and its use
along with some of the decorative features of the Norman style. "The
pointed arch shows the advent of the new style, but the ornaments of the
old style continue to linger for a time. The first pointed style was not
complete till these old ornaments were abandoned, and the more vigorous
enrichments of the new style were introduced. The other constructive
features of the Norman style gradually changed at the same time as the
arch. The buttresses by degrees assumed the projecting form of the first
pointed style, and the pinnacles and spires of the latter style were in
course of time introduced."[15]
3. SCOTTISH FIRST POINTED PERIOD
"The pointed Gothic style which had its origin in the north of France
about the middle of the twelfth century appeared in England about 1170,
but can scarcely be said to have reached Scotland till after the close
of the twelfth century.... The pointed arch, for example, although
generally adopted, did not entirely displace, as it had done in the
south, the round form of the Normans, a feature which, especially in
doorways, continued to be employed not only in the thirteenth century,
but throughout the whole course of Gothic art in Scotland. In other
respects the thirteenth century style in this country corresponds very
closely with that of England. Its features are however, generally
speaking, plainer and the structures are smaller."[16]
"This new departure sprung from the necessity which arose for the
invention of an elastic system of vaulting which should admit of all the
arches, forming vaults over spaces of any form or plan, being carried to
the same height at the ridge. This requirement led to the introduction
of the pointed arch in the vaulting, and from that departure it soon
spread to all the other arched features of the architecture."[17]
Architecture, which had hitherto been confined to the monasteries, was
now undertaken by laymen, and while the great monasteries were either
rebuilt or founded, the cathedrals mostly belong to this period. To
these attention was chiefly devoted, and the number of parish churches
constructed was comparatively small. This partly arose from the large
number of parish churches built during the Norman period. In Scotland
the cathedrals of St. Andrews, Dunblane, Glasgow (the choir and crypt),
Elgin, Brechin, Dunkeld, Caithness, the choir of St. Magnus in Orkney
and Galloway belong in whole or in part to this epoch.[18]
4. SCOTTISH MIDDLE POINTED OR DECORATED PERIOD
The period from 1214 to 1286 comprised the first pointed work in
Scotland. The country was during the time prosperous, and is believed to
have been more wealthy than at any time till after the Union with
England.[19] The disputed succession after the death of Alexander III.
gave Edward I. the opportunity of asserting his claims to the Scottish
throne; war followed, and with it poverty and barbarism. "The first note
of contest," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "banished every English priest,
monk, and friar from the northern realm. Its termination was followed by
the departure of those great Anglo-Norman lords--the flower of the
Scottish baronage--who, holding vast possessions in both countries, had
so long maintained among the rude Scottish hills the generous example of
English wealth and refinement. Then it was that De la Zouche and De
Quincy, Ferrars and Talbot, Beaumont and Umfraville, Percy and Wake,
Moubray and Fitz-Warine, Balliol and Cumyn, Hastings and De Coursi,
ceased to be significant names beyond the Tweed--either perishing in
that terrible revolution or withdrawing to their English domains, there
to perpetuate in scutcheon and pedigree the memory of their rightful
claims to many of the fairest lordships of Albany, and to much of the
reddest blood of the north."[20] This had a twofold consequence to
architecture. Comparatively few buildings arose in the north, and these
were in a smaller scale. And England now becoming an hereditary enemy,
no longer supplied models for the churches north of the Tweed, which
received the impress of France. In England the First Pointed was
succeeded about 1272 by the Middle Pointed or Decorated, which swayed
for about a century, being succeeded by the Third Pointed or
Perpendicular, whose reign, beginning about 1377, ended with the
Reformation.[21] The Decorated style did not reach Scotland till it had
passed away in England, and the Scottish representatives of the style
are scanty in number and late in date.[22] When the country revived
after the long struggle with England, and building began towards the
close of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century, few
new works were undertaken, energy and resources were concentrated on the
rebuilding or completion of the edifices that had been destroyed or left
unfinished. This period, along with the Third Pointed in Scotland, is
regarded as the work of native architects.[23]
5. SCOTTISH THIRD OR LATE POINTED PERIOD
The Middle Pointed passed by a gentle gradation into the Late Pointed
style, and it is difficult to say when the one ceased and the other
began. Yet there are some characteristics of the Third Pointed which are
peculiar to it and render it a distinct epoch. The large churches are
nearly all restorations, and no new churches of great size were
undertaken. The Scottish churches are usually smaller in size than the
English ones, and consist of single compartments without aisles. The
east end frequently terminates with a three-sided apse--a feature which
owes its origin to the Scottish alliance and intercourse with France.
The leading and distinguishing feature is, however, the vaulting--the
pointed barrel vault being almost universally employed. The windows of
these churches are necessarily low, so as to allow the point of the
arch-head to come beneath the spring of the main vault. The buttresses
are generally somewhat stunted. The windows are almost always pointed,
and contain simple tracery derived from the earlier styles. The doorways
are generally of the old round-headed form, with late foliage and
enrichments. Porches are occasionally introduced, and coats of arms are
commonly carved on shields of the period, and are useful in determining
the dates of portions of the buildings. Towers were generally erected or
intended, and are somewhat stunted, finished with short spires, having
small dormer windows inserted in them. Monuments are of frequent
occurrence, and are frequently placed in arched and canopied recesses.
Richly carved sacrament-houses are occasionally introduced, and perhaps
some of the good carving may be due to the French masons who were
numerous in Scotland during the reigns of James IV. and James V. The
structures of the period were either parish or collegiate churches.[24]