the arch (apparently firing guns at it), and threw down the top of the
monument. The existing cornice, with its two rows of corbels, was
erected afterwards; and it must be allowed that it harmonises well with
the earlier work, although it has more of the spirit of domestic than of
ecclesiastical architecture. A similar kind of battlement is introduced
over the centre panel of the Amond Monument, at Ellon, in the same
county (see
[Illustration: FIG. 1013.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. Tomb of Bishop Dunbar
in South Transept.]
Fig. 1014), erected just about the time that this monument was repaired.
In the spandrils of the arch of the bishop’s tomb are the royal arms of
Scotland and those of Dunbar (three cushions pendant at the corners in a
bordure). The label terminals near the head and feet of the effigy are
designed as angels bearing shields. Orme states that, in 1640, under the
direction of the Earl of Seaforth and others, “A mason struck out
[Illustration: FIG. 1014.--Monument at Ellon, Aberdeenshire.]
Christ’s arms in hewn work, on each end of Bishop Dunbar’s tomb,” “and
likewise chesel’d out the name of Jesus” from another part of the
building.[48] Both of the above tombs are of freestone.
A very interesting monument, also in freestone, is built into the south
wall of the nave (Fig. 1015). It is in bas relief, the depth of the
recess above the effigy being only two inches from the projection of the
arch moulding, yet within this slight recess the sculptor has obtained
a wonderful effect in the beautiful figure, supposed to represent
Archdeacon Barbour, the poet, who died in 1396. If this is Barbour’s
monument, it must have been erected a considerable time after his death,
as the nave was not built till after that event. There is a long
inscription beneath the monument, which, so far as we know, has never
been decyphered. The length of the recess in which the figure lies is 3
feet 11½ inches.
[Illustration: FIG. 1015.--St. Machar’s Cathedral. Monument in South
Wall of Nave.]
The whole breadth of the monument is 4 feet 4 inches, and the height,
including the inscription and base course (exclusive of the lower
inscription), to the top of the horizontal cornice is 2 feet 6 inches.
It stands at a height of 6 feet 6 inches from the floor to the bed of
the figure.
At the west end of the south aisle is the monument (see Fig. 1010) of
Bishop Patrick Scougal, who, as his epitaph says, “enriched the
Cathedral of St. Machar,” and other places in Aberdeen, “with
considerable tokens of his great bounty.” The monument was erected in
1685, the year of his death.