[Illustration: FIG. 1080.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Transverse
Section.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1081.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. East Aisle
and ’Prentice Pillar.]
doorways and of the east aisle, there is carved in each bay an engrailed
cross, the one limb running along the crown of each arch, and the other
downwards from this on each side. But in the north and south aisles, in
the three bays west from the doorways, the engrailed band is only
continued along the crown of the arch, the other limb being omitted,
which may possibly be meant to distinguish the more sacred part of the
edifice.
The eastern chapels are the only part of the building in which there is
groined vaulting. The compartments are oblong, and have pointed cross
arches (Fig. 1083), the diagonals meeting at the apex. Elaborately
carved pendants, about 4 feet long, occupy the place of the usual boss;
while at the springing of the arches, against the east wall, great
projecting horns, resting on curved corbellings or cones above the caps
of the wall shafts, radiate outwards and downwards, one horn to each
rib, so that they are in groups of three.
[Illustration: FIG. 1082.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Details of
Carving of Straight Arches.]
The object of these curved cones, with their projecting horns, may be
explained as follows:--It will be seen on referring to the Plan (see
Fig. 1070) that the centre line of the east chapels is not in the centre
of the space between the two eastmost buttresses, and consequently not
in line with the centre of the north and south windows between those
buttresses. In order to make the centre line of the vaulting coincide
with the centre of the windows, it was necessary to introduce some kind
of support for the foot of the east arches, at a distance of about 2 or
3 feet from the east wall. The above cones and horns were introduced for
this purpose, and from them the vaulting on the east side springs. In
connection with this arrangement, the late David Roberts, R.A.,
contended that the “east wall of Rosslyn had been pulled down and set
further back, to give 3 feet more room.”[85] But this supposition finds
no warrant whatever from an examination of the building. A more likely
explanation is that the above cones may have been introduced as a kind
of imitation of the springing of
[Illustration: FIG. 1083.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Eastern
Chapels.]
the fan vaulting common in England in the fifteenth century. The heavy
pendants were also probably derived from the same source.
Against the east wall of the choir were the remains of four altars,
which have been restored (see Fig. 1083), one of them being situated
over the stair leading to the lower chapel. Beside it there is a square
headed piscina, and on the south side of the other altars there are ogee
headed recesses in the wall. On the east side of the south doorway there
is a richly carved stoup.
In the transepts (Fig. 1084) there are remains of three canopied
piscinas, two in the south transept and one in the north transept. They
bear a general resemblance in their details to the sacrament houses in
some of the churches in the north, and to the piscinas in Melrose Abbey.
Between the two in the south transept there is a recess in the wall,
showing where an altar has been intended, and a similar indication in
the north transept on the north side of the piscina shows the same
intention. Over each of these altars there are three moulded and carved
brackets, probably meant for statues. On the south side of the centre
opening into the choir there is a recess for another altar, and on the
north side there is an arched piscina; both have carved brackets above
them. A bracket in a similar position, relative to the altar and
piscina, exists at Dunglass Church.
A singular feature of the church, which would have been more apparent
had it been finished, is that the choir is almost cut off by a solid
wall from what would have been the other divisions of the structure.
Fig. 1084 shows the wall as seen from the outside. The openings into the
side aisles are about 4 feet 3 inches wide and about 11 feet high, and
the opening on the ground level into the central aisle is about 7 feet
wide. These three openings are all covered with straight arches. Above
the central opening there is a lofty aperture like a window covered with
a pointed arch, probably meant to contain the rood. Above the caps of
the jambs of the side openings there are two carved figures (Fig. 1085),
that on the north being St. Sebastian, and that on the south St.
Christopher.
Beyond the east end of the church and on a lower level, so as to suit
the slope of the ground (Fig. 1086), a chapel has been erected, which is
reached from the south aisle by a straight stair of twenty-five steps.
This chapel measures 36 feet in length from east to west by 14 feet
wide. It is barrel vaulted (Fig. 1087), and is lighted by one window
only, at the east end. The window is a simple pointed one, without
tracery. There are several ambries in the walls, and an eastern altar
with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet about 11
feet square on the north side. A door leads out on the south to what has
been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings
having existed or been intended. It would thus appear that in all
probability
[Illustration: FIG. 1084.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. West End of
Choir and East Wall of Transepts.]
there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as
sacristy and private chapel.
This chapel or sacristy is supposed to have been built in the lifetime
of Sir William St. Clair’s first wife, Lady Elizabeth or Margaret
Douglas, daughter of Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglass, and first Duke
of Touraine, from the circumstance that her arms (Fig. 1088) are
sculptured on the east wall. The shield has two coats impaled: _Dexter_,
a coat quarterly, dimidiated, viz.--First a galley within a double
tressure, flory counter
[Illustration: FIG. 1085.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Caps of
Openings to Choir.]
flory, for Orkney; 3rd a cross engrailed for St. Clair, being the 1st
and 3rd quarters of the arms of the Earl of Orkney; _Sinister_, in base
a heart, and on a chief three mullets, for Douglas, the shield being
surmounted of a fess charged with three fleurs-de-lys (2 and 1) for
Touraine. Lady Elizabeth died in 1452.
The barrel vault of the sacristy (see Fig. 1087) is semicircular, and
supports a flat roof formed with overlapping stones. The vault is
strengthened with transverse ribs carved with the engrailed cross, which
spring from corbels sculptured with figures of angels and saints (Fig.
1089).
In considering the history of Rosslyn Church many of the statements of
Father Hay regarding the St. Clairs and Rosslyn require to be received
with considerable caution. He was a hero worshipper, and Sir William was
his hero. The latter is represented by the Father as living in more than
royal magnificence at Rosslyn, with many of the nobles of Scotland
waiting upon him as servants. That is a very incredible statement, as is
also the assertion that under the fostering care of Sir William, Rosslyn
became the “chiefest town in all Lothian, except
[Illustration: FIG. 1086.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Section
through East End of Church and Lower Chapel.]
Edinburgh and Haddington.” But few who visit this chapel will be
inclined seriously to quarrel with the Father on account of his
enthusiasm for the Rosslyn family. To the purest in Gothic architecture
Rosslyn may seem barbarous and debased, but it must be allowed to be
splendid barbarism, meted out with the most liberal hand. Sir William is
further represented by Father Hay as bringing artificers from foreign
lands, and setting them to work on Rosslyn College, and on this
unsupported statement many writers have found the prototype of this
building abroad, some in France and some in Spain, and even Rome is
hinted at in the well known story of the ’Prentice Pillar. The unusual
richness of the ornamentation of the edifice, so different from most of
the structures
[Illustration: FIG. 1087.--The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Lower
Chapel or Sacristy, looking West.]
erected in this country at the time, has doubtless led to these attempts
to attribute the design to a foreign architect or a foreign country,
where richly decorated structures exist.
[Illustration: FIG. 1088.