The ancient City of Perth, one of the favourite residences of the kings
of Scotland, formerly possessed, as might be expected, many well endowed
religious establishments. The principal of these was the Dominican or
Blackfriars’ Monastery, founded by Alexander II. in 1231. The buildings
were extensive, and formed the residence of the Scottish kings when in
the Fair City. It was here that James I. was staying at the time of his
assassination. The Carmelites or Whitefriars had also a convent close to
Perth, founded in the reign of Alexander III. The Charter House or
Carthusian Monastery in Perth was the only house of that order in
Scotland. It was founded by James I. and his queen in 1429. The
Franciscans’ or Greyfriars’ Monastery was founded by Lord Oliphant in
1460. There were also numerous nunneries and chapels, some of very
ancient date; but all these religious establishments have now entirely
disappeared, the only ancient ecclesiastical structure still remaining
(and it has been greatly changed) being the Parish Church of St. John
the Baptist, from which the city derived the title of “St. John’s
Town.” This edifice still serves its original purpose of the parish
church of the town, but it has in modern times been divided by walls so
as to form three places of worship.
So far as we have been able to discover, no complete history of this
church has ever been written, and the circumstances connected with its
original erection and subsequent reconstruction do not appear to have
been definitely ascertained and described. It is certain that a church
existed here in the twelfth century, and it is obvious, from an
inspection of the structure, that not a single stone of that early
building remains to enable its size and appearance to be determined. All
knowledge in regard to the existing fabric must, therefore, be derived
from the internal evidence of the building itself, with such slight aid
as can be got from written records. The following are some scattered
notices of St. John’s Church gathered from various sources.
The earliest mention of the church occurs in the _Registrum de
Dunfermelyn_[56] under the years 1124-1127, when it was granted by David
I., with its property and tithes, to the Abbey of Dunfermline.
Between the years 1189 and 1199 William the Lion granted a charter to
Henry Bald of “that land which is in the front of the street, which
leads from the Church of St. John Baptist to the Castle of Perth, on the
east side opposite to the house of Andrew, the son of Simon.” The same
Henry Bald granted, about the year 1225, to the Abbey of Scone “these
two booths which are in the front of the street which leads from the
Church of St. John Baptist towards the Castle of Perth, on the east side
opposite to the house of Andrew, the son of Simon; those two booths, to
wit, which are towards the north.”[57]
The Church of St. John the Baptist was consecrated by David de Bernham,
Bishop of St. Andrews, in 1242.[58] In Hay’s _Sacra Scotia_ (p. 323) it
is stated that the heart of Alexander III. was buried in the Church of
St. John.
In course of time the abbots of Dunfermline allowed the building to
become ruinous, and endeavoured to lay on the citizens of Perth the
burden of upholding the fabric. It is probable that early in the
thirteenth century the Dominican Monastery was built in Perth, and about
the middle of the century the Carmelite or Whitefriars’ Monastery was
erected, and the interests of the citizens may thereby have been
diverted somewhat from the parish church. It was perhaps in connection
with the repairs required at the time that Robert the Bruce, in 1328,
granted that stones might be taken from the quarries of Kyncarachi and
Balcormac, belonging to the Abbey of Scone, “for the edification of the
Church of Perth.”[59]
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 1379 the tomb of Robert II. was brought from Leith to Perth, and
temporarily deposited in St. John’s Church before being taken to the
Abbey of Scone and set up in it.[60]
In 1393-4, after the holding of a Parliament at Scone, Walter Trail,
Bishop of St. Andrews, performed divine service in St. John’s
Church.[61]
From 1401 till 1553-6 there is a continuous record[62] of the founding
of altars in the parish church, and of endowments to already existing
altars. In one of these, founded in 1402, it is stipulated that if the
stipend of the chaplain of St. James the Apostle should exceed a certain
sum, the excess of the endowment meant for that altar should be applied
by the Provost and Town Council “for the maintenance and reparation of
the windows and ornaments of the parish church.”
The chapel in which St. James’s altar was situated stood on the south
side of the church, and having fallen into a state of ruin, it had been
rebuilt about the year 1400, chiefly with the assistance which the
magistrates received from William Whitson, a wealthy burgess of Perth.
By a notarial instrument made in 1410, containing certain obligations
and confirmations, Euphame, Countess of Stratherne, “gave her bodily
oath on the gospels to observe the same. Done in the Parish Church of
the Burgh of Perth on St. Martin’s altar.”[63]
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 accounts of the Lord High Treasurer contain a payment under the year
1489--“To the Kirk werk of Pertht, xviijs.”[64] And again in
1496--“Item, the xij day of March, in Sanct Johnstoun, giffin to the
kirk werk on the bred (altar) xjs. vjd.”[65] Along with other offerings
at this time in St. John’s there occurs the following--“Item, that samyn
day giffin to Walter Merlioune, masoune, for his fee quhill Witsonday
nixt tocum, quhilk is the Mertymes fee bipast, xxlib.”
This church has the unenviable notoriety of having been the centre
whence issued, in 1559, the unruly mob who in a short time demolished
the splendid monasteries and other numerous religious houses of Perth
and the neighbourhood, and whose example was only too readily followed
by other communities throughout the whole country. Such was the effect
of a sermon preached here by John Knox. The fabric of St. John’s was
spared after being purged of all monuments of idolatry. Nothing was left
but the bare walls and roofs, which were retained for use as the Parish
Church. Before the end of the century, the building was fitted up with
galleries, and in course of time it was divided into three separate
places of worship by thick walls, which still exist.
In 1585 the kirk-session declared the church to be in a “ruinous,
pitiful, and lamentable state,” and the minister was requested to preach
a sermon and obtain a collection for the repair of the fabric,[66] but
apparently not till 1598 did “the town begin to repair the new kirk in
wallis and wandows.”[67] The next item in the _Chronicle_ regarding St.
John’s shows that the existing lead-covered spire on the central tower
is of a considerable age, for in March 1607, “Thair rais ane great
extaordinarire winde, that blew the lead of the steipill, to Mr John
Malcolme’s back yett.”[68] This was evidently a formidable mishap, as
ten years elapsed before the session, in 1617, “appointed David Sibbald
to be master of work to the reparation of the decayed parts of the
steeple, and to recieve furth of an chest, containing the Hospital’s
writts, the sum of £20 (Scots), left over the last collection lifted for
reparation of the kirk, and help to repair the said seeple with.”[69]
As already mentioned, nothing now remains of the church of the twelfth
century, referred to in the earlier of the above notes, no part of the
present structure being older than the beginning of the fifteenth
century. The rebuilding of the Chapel of St. James in 1400 is spoken of
above, but that chapel no longer exists. In 1448 the east end of the
church is referred to as the “New Choir,” and we shall see as we proceed
that the other portions of the edifice are of still more recent origin.
The church (Fig. 1032)[70] consists of a choir and nave, with north and
south aisles, and a north and south transept without aisles. The total
length of the main building within the walls is about 191 feet by about
58 feet 9 inches wide. The nave and choir are of almost equal length.
The transept measures about 91 feet in length from north to south, by
about 23 feet 6 inches in width. There was a chapel on the west side of
the north transept, which no longer exists, but the wide arch of the
opening into it is partly visible in the transept. A view of this chapel
is given in the _Memorabilia of Perth_, of which Fig. 1033 is a copy. It
is represented as a lean-to of two stories in height, adjoining the
north transept, the upper story being evidently reached by a stair in
the erection on the west side.
It will be remembered that, in 1448, the east end of the church is
referred to as the “New Choir,” and it is quite evident from its style
[Illustration: FIG. 1032.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. Plan.]
that the choir and crossing beneath the central tower are of about that
period. The transepts may be later, and, judging from the details of the
wide arch which exists in the west wall of the north transept, that arch
[Illustration: FIG. 1033.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. View from
North-west, from the _Memorabilia_.]
must undoubtedly be later, one of the arch-jambs being patched on to the
great pillar of the tower. The north gable of this transept was rebuilt
in 1823.
The south transept is probably of the same period as the north
transept.
[Illustration: FIG. 1034.--St John the Baptist’s, Perth. View from the
south.]
A view of the church dated 1775, given in the _Chronicle of Perth_,[71]
and of which Fig. 1034 is a copy, shows the south side of the whole
church, and the transept is drawn very much as it still remains. Another
view of the south transept, made in 1765, and published in the papers
referring to the Blackfriars’ Monastery (where it is by mistake called
the “north” front), shows the south transept nearly the same as the
above.
A curious row of corbels is partly seen in the interior, projecting
through the plaster along the top of the east wall of this transept.
They were probably meant for supporting the upright pieces of timber
which secured the feet of the rafters.
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 finely cut the following inscription (Fig.
1035), which is carved on a band running round the shafts of the pier,
as shown in Fig. 1036:--
[Illustration: FIG. 1035.--St. John the Baptist’s, Perth. Inscription on
East Pillar of Choir.