PARISH CHURCHES ILLUSTRATING THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE NORMAN PERIOD
_Dalmeny Church (Linlithgowshire)._--"Two nearly perfect churches of the
Romanesque age," says Dr. Joseph Robertson, "survive at Dalmeny and
Leuchars--the former apparently in the twelfth century a manor of the
Anglo-Norman house of Avenel, the latter a Scottish fief of one of the
Magna Charter barons, Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. Neither
building need fear comparison with the common standard of English
examples. Both are late in style: Leuchars is the richer, Dalmeny the
more entire of the two. Both have semicircular apses--a feature found
also in the parish churches of St. Kentigern at Borthwick, and St.
Andrew at Gulane, and in the chapel bearing the name of St. Margaret
within the walls of Edinburgh Castle."[282]
Dalmeny Church is the most complete of Scottish Norman churches, and
consists of a chancel with eastern apse, and a nave separated from the
chancel by an elaborate chancel arch. The arch has three orders,
decorated with elaborate chevron ornaments, enclosed with a hood
moulding carved with an enrichment somewhat resembling the dog-tooth.
The soffit contains a similar faceted enrichment. The arch is carried on
three attached shafts on each side, built in ashlar, and provided with
subdivided cushion caps and plain bases. The chancel has one small
window on the south side, and is vaulted with bold diagonal groin-ribs,
enriched with chevron ornaments and springing from grotesque corbels.
The apse is semicircular, and is entered from the chancel by an enriched
arch with shafts and caps similar to those of the chancel arch. It is
lighted by three plain window openings, the central one being enlarged.
In the exterior a string-course runs round the building immediately
below the windows, of which it forms the sills, and is enriched with a
carved floral pattern. The chief feature is the main entrance door in a
porch, projecting to the south, the archway of which is supported on two
plain pillars with Norman capitals. There are over this door the
remains of a line, concentric with the arch, of sculptured figures and
animals, very similar to those found on the ancient sculptured monuments
of Scotland. Associated with the Agnus Dei, Leo, Sagittarius, serpents,
birds, dragons, and human figures, we have one perhaps bearing a
pastoral staff. From the rough nature of the masonry at the west end of
the nave it is probable that a tower was intended to be built
there.[283] On the north side projecting wings have been added to the
church, but the south front and east end are almost untouched and show
twelfth century work, uninjured save by weather and natural decay. The
church is believed to have been dedicated to St. Adamnan, and this is
rendered very probable by the fact that the neighbouring church of
Cramond was dedicated to St. Columba.
_Leuchars Church, Fifeshire._--We hear of a church here in 1187, and it
was given to the canons of St. Andrews (1171-1199). The church now
consists of a choir with a circular apse; there are traces of an arch at
the west end of the choir which opened into the nave, that has been
rebuilt. In the seventeenth century a turret was built, which is
incongruous and out of place; and to support the belfry a plain arch has
been introduced in the interior amongst the Norman work of the apse. The
exterior of the semicircular apse shows an arcade of two storeys,
"the shafts of the upper tier resting on the arches of the lower
one, and all the shafts bearing cushion caps. Those of the lower
story are double shafts, and those of the upper story are double
shafts, with a broad fillet between them. All the arches are
enriched with chevron and billet mouldings, and the upper tier has
an extra order of elaborate billet-work. The string-course between
the two arcades is carved with zigzags. The cornice is supported on
a series of boldly-carved grotesque heads, all varying in
design.... The design of the exterior of the choir is similar to
that of the apse, there being two arcades, one above the other,
surmounted by a cornice, with corbels carved as grotesque heads. The
lower arcade, however, has interlacing arches, which indicate a late
period of the style. The two arcades are separated by a
string-course, enriched with scroll floral ornament. In the interior
... the chancel arch (which has elaborate carving) is carried on a
central attached shaft and two plain nook shafts, built in courses,
with simple cushion caps and plain bases. The chancel is vaulted
with heavy moulded groins, springing from the cushion caps of short
single shafts resting on grotesque heads. A small window is
introduced in each of the divisions formed by the shafts, and each
window has a pair of nook shafts in the interior and enriched arch
above. The lower part of the apse is plain, and is separated from
the upper part by a string-course, enriched with faceted
ornaments."[284]
PARISH CHURCHES ILLUSTRATING MIDDLE POINTED OR DECORATED PERIOD
_St. Michael's Parish Church, Linlithgow_, was the scene of the
apparition that is said to have warned King James IV. against the battle
of Flodden, and is one of the largest parish churches in Scotland. A
church dedicated to St. Michael existed here as early as the time of
David I. A new church is said to have been erected in 1242, and probably
some parts of this are incorporated in the present edifice. In 1384
Robert II. contributed to the erection or repair of the church tower,
and in 1424 the church was injured and considerably destroyed by the
fire that reduced the town to ashes. The reconstruction of the edifice
probably progressed, under the Jameses, simultaneously with that of the
palace adjoining.
St. Michael's consists of a choir, including two aisles and a
three-sided apse at the east end; a nave, including two aisles; two
chapels inserted, north and south, in the place usually occupied by the
transept; a square tower at the west end, and a south porch giving
access to the nave. The nave is the oldest part of the building, and
appears to have been erected before the middle of the fifteenth century.
The choir is of somewhat later date.[285] A broad stone bench or seat is
carried round the nave, and the bases of the triple wall shafts of the
vaulting rest upon it. Those of the choir, different in design, rest on
the floor. In the nave there are triforium openings in each bay, and
clerestory windows above them. The windows throughout the church are of
large size, and filled with varied geometric tracery. The windows of the
apse are large, and the tracery of two of the windows is perpendicular
in character. The transepts (or north and south chapels) and the south
porch have crow-stepped gables both on their outer walls and also over
the inner or aisle wall which separates them from the church. Each of
these contains an apartment over the vault, that over the south porch
being probably a place for preserving documents. The buttresses of the
nave have a simpler character than those of the apse and north transept.
The canopies of the niches are ornamented somewhat similarly to those of
Rosslyn. The buttress of the south-west angle of the nave, crowned with
the sculptured figure of St. Michael, is a striking feature on
approaching the church. The western tower was originally terminated with
a crown of open stone-work, similar to that of St. Giles, Edinburgh.
About 1821 it was found to be in a dangerous condition, and had to be
taken down. The tower is of late design and contains a doorway,
continental in style, which may possibly be the work of Thomas French,
the King's master-mason, and above which there is a large perpendicular
window. The upper part of the tower would contrast well with the crown
on the top. The tower opens into the nave with a wide and lofty arch,
carried up to the clerestory level, and the groined vault with large
window below produces a good effect. In each side wall of the tower is a
richly canopied recess, intended for monuments or sculpture. A portion
of what seems to have been a carved altar-piece is preserved in the
church and represents scenes in our Lord's Passion.[286] The steeple
contains three bells with inscriptions.
The south transept contained an altar dedicated to St. Katherine, and
was the place where James IV. is reported to have seen the apparition
that warned him against the fatal expedition to England--an incident
chronicled by Pitscottie, and forming the basis of Sir David Lyndsay's
tale in _Marmion_. The church contained twenty-four altarages, which
were removed in 1559 by the Lords of the Congregation in their march
from Perth to Edinburgh; and probably still further damage was done by
Cromwell's dragoons, who used it as a stable. The church belonged to St.
Andrew's priory, and was long served by perpetual vicars. It has been
recently restored, and made worthy of its great past.
The west doorway is pronounced to be a pleasing specimen of the half
continental manner in which that feature was usually treated in
Scotland.[287]
_Haddington Parish Church (East Lothian)_ is one of the ecclesiastical
structures belonging to the ancient royal burgh of Haddington. Besides
it there were the monasteries of the Franciscans and Dominicans, the
Cistercian nunnery, and the chapels of St. Martin, St. Ann, St.
Katherine, St. John, and St. Ninian. Of these establishments the only
two that now survive are St. Martin's (a very ancient chapel) and the
parish church, which deserves the name now applied to it (although
originally it seems to have been given to the vanished church of the
Franciscan monastery) on account both of its beauty and the distance at
which its lights were visible--Lucerna Laudoniæ, or Lamp of Lothian. The
ancient church of Haddington was founded by David I., dedicated to the
Virgin, and by him granted in 1134 to the priory of St. Andrew. The
present structure is of later date, and from the style of the
architecture, was probably rebuilt in the first half of the fifteenth
century.[288] The church is cruciform, having choir and nave, both with
side aisles, and north and south transepts without aisles. Over the
crossing is the central tower. The choir and transepts are ruinous, and
the restored nave is used as the parish church. The tower was originally
crowned with a canopy or spire of open work similar to that of St.
Giles, Edinburgh, and King's College, Aberdeen; and large picturesque
gargoyles still break the line of the cornice on the top. Although the
edifice has been so sadly damaged, it does not appear to have suffered
at the Reformation. The town was under siege in 1548, when it was held
by the English after the battle of Pinkie, and was attacked and taken by
the Scots and their French allies. It is not unlikely that the church
suffered at that time.
PARISH CHURCHES OF THIRD OR LATE POINTED PERIOD
_Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Perth._--The ancient city of
Perth possessed many endowed religious establishments, but the only one
that survives is the church of St. John the Baptist, from which the city
derived its title of "St. John's Town." This church, divided by walls so
as to form three separate places of worship, is still the parish church
of the town. The first church of Perth was probably connected with the
neighbouring Pictish monastery at Abernethy, and was erected by the
monks there during the Celtic period. The register of Dunfermline
contains the earliest historical mention of the church under the years
1124-1127, when it was granted by David I., with its property and
tithes, to that abbey. The church was consecrated by David de Bernham,
Bishop of St. Andrews, in 1242, and it is stated that the heart of
Alexander III. was buried in the church of St. John.[289] The abbots of
Dunfermline allowed the building to become ruinous, and tried to place
upon the citizens of Perth the burden of upholding the fabric. The
interest of the citizens seems to have been diverted from the church,
and directed, probably at the beginning of the thirteenth century, to
the building of the Dominican monastery, and about the middle of the
century to the erection of the Carmelite or Whitefriars' monastery. It
is probable that in connection with repairs necessary for the church,
King Robert the Bruce in 1328 granted that stones might be taken from
quarries belonging to the Abbey of Scone, "for the edification of the
Church of Perth." Of the twelfth century church of St. John nothing now
remains to indicate its architecture, although it may have been both
magnificent and extensive. After the death of Robert the Bruce in 1329
the restoration begun by him probably ceased, and during the unrest of
the fourteenth century the church probably suffered further damage. In
1335 King Edward III. was in Perth, and slew his brother, John of
Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, before the high altar of the Church of St.
John for his excesses and ravages in the western districts of Scotland.
In 1393-1394, after a parliament at Scone, Walter Trail, Bishop of St.
Andrews, conducted divine service in St. John's Church. From 1401 till
1553-1556 there is a continuous record of the foundation of altars in
the church, and of endowment of already existing ones. The chapel in
which St. James' altar was situated stood on the south side of the
church, and the foundation charter of the altar of St. John the
Evangelist, founded in 1448 by Sir John de Bute, states that the altar
was situated "in the new choir of the Parish Church." The church
consists of a choir and nave, with north and south aisles, and north and
south transepts without aisles. The nave and choir are of almost equal
length; there was a chapel on the west side of the north transept that
no longer exists, but the wide arch of the opening into it is partly
visible in the transept. It was two storeys in height.
It is pronounced[290] as evident from the style of the architecture that
the choir and crossing beneath the central tower belong to the period
about 1448. The transepts may be later, and both are of the same period.
The two eastern bays of the main arcade of the choir are more
elaborately moulded than the others, and round the eastmost pillar on
the south side there is cut an inscription containing the names of John
Fullar and his wife.[291] It has been remarked that the tithes and fees
received by the magistrates probably did not suffice for the work laid
on them by the monks of Dunfermline, and that John Fullar and his wife
volunteered to pay for a part, certainly for the pillar on which their
names are inscribed. In the second bay of the choir from the east on the
north side there is a round arched doorway, now built up, and it led to
the sacristy, afterwards used as a session-house; it was taken down
about 1800, and the meetings were held in a building on the south side
of the nave near the west end, which has also been removed. The present
north and south doorways in the choir are modern, although the south one
is in the position of the old doorway. The choir has no triforium, but
good plain masonry instead, undivided by wall shafts; the clerestory
windows are small and round arched, are divided into two lights by a
central mullion, and have plain tracery in the arch-head. The nave is
divided, like the choir, into five bays, and has no triforium nor
clerestory; there is a deep blank wall above the arcade arches. "This
wall is of rough masonry compared to that in the choir, and the whole of
this part of the church is of a much coarser and ruder description,
betokening a later age. The capitals of the piers are of the very rudest
kind, and are a perfect contrast to the delicate work of the choir. In
the meagre description of St. John's to be found in the books on Perth,
this rudeness is pointed to as a sign of great antiquity, but the
reverse is unquestionably the case. This nave is undoubtedly 'the New
Kirk of Perth' referred to in the Chronicle, in which 'ane Synodall
assemblie' was held in April 1606."[292] Early in the nineteenth century
it was contemplated to raise the nave wall and erect a clerestory; two
of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side were actually
built, and still remain with massive buttresses, surmounted by high
finials; the work was never finished, and could not be carried farther
west, as there is no proper support for such a massive building.
Tradition says that at one time the church extended farther west, and it
seems not improbable that a western tower in the centre of the front may
have been contemplated, and even begun. "This tower, like those at
Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may have been intended to open towards
the church with a wide arch, of which the jambs still remain; but this
idea having been abandoned, and any part of the tower which then had
been built having been taken down, the present makeshift gable was put
up instead to fill up the gap, which, in these circumstances, would be
left for the supposed opening into the church."[293] On the north side
of the nave there is a large porch called Halkerston's Tower. It was a
two-storied building, the upper storey being of great height and vaulted
as well as the lower one. The erection of the west end of the church is
referable to about 1489,[294] when payments were made "to the kirk werk
of Pertht." The central tower was erected after the adjoining part of
the nave, and has one window in each face. The parapet and corbelling
were renewed about forty years ago.[295] The exterior of the church has
been altered at various times, and an open parapet carried along the top
of the choir wall over the clerestory windows as well as along the aisle
walls and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows to light
the galleries break in on this aisle-wall parapet, as well as on the
roof of the nave.
It was in the Church of St. John, Perth, that John Knox denounced the
Mass in 1559, and the multitude afterwards demolished the ornaments,
images, and altarpieces as well as the monasteries and religious houses
in Perth--an example quickly followed by others throughout the country.
In Scott's novel, _The Fair Maid of Perth_, the church is the scene of
the trial by bier-right to discover the slayer of Proudfute.
The East Church (or choir) has been recently restored, and many look
forward to the day when, the present partition walls being removed, St.
John's Church will once more reveal the full splendour of its striking
and grand interior. Perth awaits a generous restorer, and St. John's
affords a grand opportunity for patriotism and beneficence.
DUNDEE CHURCH TOWER
About 1198 the church of Dundee was bestowed on Lindores Abbey, and the
church then existing is stated to have been erected by David, Earl of
Huntingdon, as a thank-offering for his escape from a storm at sea.
About 1442 an agreement was formed between the abbot of Lindores and the
provost and burgesses of Dundee, by which the latter undertook the
construction and maintenance of the choir of Dundee Church. The only
part of the ancient church which now remains is the western tower, and
it was erected about 1450.[296] Three parish churches in connection with
the tower were developed from the original chapel--St. Mary's or the
East Church, St. Paul's or the South Church, St. Clement's or the West
Church. The church was damaged by the English before the Union, and St.
Clement's had to be rebuilt in 1789. The three churches were almost
totally destroyed by fire in 1841, and the choir and transepts were
thereafter rebuilt. The church tower survived, and has resisted for over
four centuries storm and tempest, fire and siege. Its massive strength
and height are features that strike the eye from far. It is square, and
165 feet high. The western entrance consists of two round arched
doorways, comprised within a larger circular or elliptical arch, which
is again enclosed by a square moulding. The arch mouldings are enriched
with foliage, while the jambs and central pillar are moulded with
alternate rounds and hollows. In the spandril over the centre shaft
there is a circular panel with a Virgin and Child; below are the arms of
the diocese of Brechin on a shield. Above the doorway is a lofty
traceried window, and above this window the tower is vaulted. The height
from the floor to the groined ceiling is about 47 feet. At each of the
four corners there is a large circular shaft, and each shaft is fitted
into its position in a manner different from the others. The sedilia or
stone seats still remain entire, and extend along the north, south, and
west walls. The tower is divided into two principal stages by an
enriched parapet and outside passage. The parapet is pierced with
quatrefoils and ornamented with crocketed pinnacles. The roof is of the
saddle-back kind, with gables towards the east and west. It was
evidently meant to have an open crown termination, and the preparations
exist for the springing of the angle arches.[297]
The tower was restored by the eminent Sir Gilbert Scott in 1871-1873.
_Stirling Parish Church._--Two churches in Stirling are spoken of in the
reign of David I. One of them was the chapel royal, which was dedicated
by Alexander I.; and the "vicar" of the "Kirk of Stirling" is mentioned
in 1315 and in the time of David II. There are also notices of it in the
reigns of Robert II. and Robert III., when it is designated as the
Church of the Holy Cross of Stirling. Of this earlier church, which was
burnt, nothing now remains. The present edifice consists of two
divisions, the nave and the choir, which were built at two different
periods. The nave, which is the oldest part, is referred to in the
Chamberlain's Accounts from July 1413 to June 1414, and the date of the
choir is known to be between 1507 and 1520.
The church contains a central nave with north and south aisles (the
aisles being vaulted in stone), an eastern apse, and a western tower.
The nave has five bays, the choir three bays, and they are separated by
a wide bay which may be termed the crossing. The crossing now serves as
an entrance hall to the two churches, into which the building is now
divided. Walls are built across each side of the crossing, so as to
enclose the choir as one church and the nave as the other. The west
tower, which is vaulted, opens into the nave through a lofty pointed
arch, springing from moulded responds. The original entrance to the
church was through the western tower, but the western doorway was
destroyed in 1818, and part of a window now occupies its place. The
tower is pronounced to be one of the best specimens of the Scottish
architecture of the sixteenth century, as applied to ecclesiastical
structures,[298] and the situation of the church on the Castle Hill
gives it an imposing and picturesque effect.
The piers of the nave (with the exception of two) are round and massive
cylinders, and the east and west responds are semi-cylinders. The
general appearance of these pillars has been taken to illustrate what is
so often found in Scotland (both in ecclesiastic and domestic work)
during the fifteenth century and onwards--viz. a tendency to imitate
Norman and Early Pointed details.
"This tendency is also seen in the nave piers of Dunkeld Cathedral,
in the piers and arches of the naves of Aberdour Church and Dysart
Church, in the imitation of First Pointed work in the late cloisters
of Melrose, and many other examples which might be cited. But the
later counterfeit is never perfect, there being always some touch of
contemporary design which reveals the imitation.[299]"
Over the crossing was an upper room, known as the King's room, from
which the service could be seen, but it was destroyed about the middle
of this century. At the north-west corner of the church was a chapel
(now removed) with a wide opening into the church. It was called Queen
Margaret's, and is supposed to have been built by James IV. in honour of
his queen. Another chapel was dedicated to St. Andrew at the north-east
end of the nave, and is still entire. It was erected by Duncan Forrester
of Garden, Knight, who was a liberal benefactor of the church.
The church is associated with many historical events. It was here that
the Regent Arran publicly renounced Protestantism in 1543, and here in
the following year also the Convention met that appointed Mary of Guise
regent. The church, although "purged" in 1559, was not injured, and was
used in 1567 for the coronation of James VI., then but thirteen months
old. When General Monk in 1651 was besieging the castle, the church
tower was one of the points of vantage seized by his soldiers, and the
little bullet pits all over it indicate how hot must have been the fire
directed against them. It was held by the Highlanders in 1746, and its
bells pealed in honour of the victory at Falkirk. John Knox has preached
within its venerable walls.
It was divided into two buildings in 1656, and comprises still the east
and west parish churches, the east being renovated in 1869. Since then a
large number of stained-glass windows have been introduced.
_Church of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews._--The Hospitium or Guest
Hall of St. Leonard's was founded by Prior John White in the middle of
the thirteenth century for the reception of pilgrims and visitors to St.
Andrews. Some remains of the guest hall have been excavated, from which
it seems to have been a hall with central nave and two side aisles. The
building was afterwards used as a nunnery, and in 1512 was appropriated
as a college. It was then founded by Prior John Hepburn in conjunction
with Archbishop Alexander Stewart. As a college, it was under the
superintendence of the prior and chapter, and was for the education of
twenty-four poor students. It became famous, however, and was attended
by sons of noblemen. George Buchanan was at one time principal, and the
college helped to spread a knowledge of sacred music throughout the
country. A long range of buildings on the south side of the church was
used as the students' residence. The church was long used for public
worship, but after the college of St. Leonard's was united to that of
St. Salvator in 1747, St. Leonard's was abandoned in 1759. Within recent
times several alterations have been made on it, the steeple being taken
down and the west end "set back" to give more room for access to a
private house.
The chapel is an oblong, and is without division between nave and
chancel. The church appears to have been extended 24 feet at the east
end, when it was converted into a college.[300] The design of windows
and buttresses (perpendicular) is pronounced to accord well with the
date of erection in the sixteenth century, and is similar to that of
English colleges. On the north side is a room with a round barrel vault,
probably the sacristy.[301] There is a piscina in the east window sill.
_Church of The Holy Trinity, St. Andrews._--This church, usually named
the Town Church, is of ancient foundation, but was almost entirely
rebuilt at the end of the eighteenth century. An early church is said to
have been built here in 1112 by Bishop Turgot, and subsequently
dedicated by Bishop de Bernham to the Holy Trinity. It had in its palmy
days thirty altarages, each with a separate priest and fifteen
choristers, and it was from the pulpit here that John Knox preached his
famous sermon on the purifying of the temple. The church demolished at
the close of last century is believed to have been erected in 1412.[302]
The north-west tower is the only part of the old structure which
survives.[303]
"Like the north-west tower at Cupar, it rises from the north and
west walls of the north aisle, without buttresses to mark its
outline or break the upright form of the walls. The square outline,
however, is partly relieved by a square projection at north-west
angle, which contains the staircase. The east and south walls are
carried by arches, which formerly allowed the lower story of the
tower to be included within the church, and the round pier at the
south-east angle is made of extra thickness, so as to bear the
weight of the tower."[304]
The parapet is plain and rests on simple corbels. Above it rises a short
and stunted octagonal spire with lucarnes, like most of the late
Scottish examples. There is over the staircase a small turret with
pointed roof. It is carried up within the parapet, and groups
picturesquely with the main spire. The tower resembles the one at Wester
Crail, and both are of fifteenth century date. It is of this tower or
steeple[305] that we hear in John Knox's _History of the Reformation in
Scotland_. When a captive on a French galley lying between Dundee and
St. Andrews the second time that the ship returned to Scotland (probably
June 1548),
"The said Johne (Knox), being so extreamlye seak that few hoped his
lyeff, the said Maister James (Balfour) willed him to look to the
land, and asked if he knew it? Who answered, "Yes, I know it weall:
for I see the stepill of that place whare God first in publict
opened my mouth to His glorie, and I am fullie persuaded, how weak
that ever I now appear, that I shall nott departe this lyif till
that my toung shall glorifie his godlie name in the same
place."[306] His hope, as we have just seen, was not disappointed."