Notwithstanding the very numerous small churches and chapels found in
the Western Isles,[143] there are comparatively few remains of
monasteries. The original Celtic religious establishments were,
doubtless, monastic in their form and structure, but of convents in the
later sense, corresponding with those so common on the mainland, few
traces are now to be seen. Next to the great Abbey of the Isles at Iona
and the nunnery on the same island, the largest monastic establishment
in the Western Isles of which the structures survive is the Priory of
Oronsay.
This island lies about ten miles west from Jura, and can be most
conveniently reached from Portaskaig, in Islay. The isle is about two
and three-quarter miles broad from east to west by about two miles from
north to south. It stands at the south end of the larger island of
Colonsay, from which it is separated by a narrow channel, dry at low
tide.
It is traditionally narrated that St. Columba and his companion, St.
Oran, landed on Oronsay after leaving Ireland; but finding that the
latter country could still be seen from the highest point of the island,
they forsook it and sailed to Iona. St. Oran, however, gave his name to
the island, and, together with Colonsay, it seems, from the numerous
remains of churches which once existed on these islands, to have been a
sacred locality, the remains of nine old churches and the sites of three
more--ten in Colonsay and two in Oronsay--being still traceable. The
most important appears to have been the Monastery of Kiloran, in
Colonsay, of which no remains now exist. Next to it was the Priory of
Oronsay. This priory of Canons Regular of St. Augustine appears to have
been founded in the fourteenth century by the Lord of the Isles as a
cell of the Abbey of Holyrood at Edinburgh.
The priory is situated at the extreme west end of the island, on the
lowermost slope of the _Beinn Oronsay_, just short of the point where
its rugged cliffs front the Atlantic.
The general arrangement of the buildings (Fig. 1309) is peculiar. The
ground slopes rapidly from north to south, necessarily carrying the
drainage with it; yet, contrary to the usual custom, the cloisters and
residential buildings were placed to the north of the church. Exclusive
of projections at the north-east and south-west angles, and a mortuary
chapel on the south, the structures occupy a parallelogram about 87 feet
from north to south, by 65 feet from east to west. The latter length is
also that of the church proper, which occupies the south side of the
square, but has at the west end a narthex about 15 feet square
internally, which projects beyond the general range of the buildings.
The walls of the narthex are now level with those of the church, but as
there are roughly hewn corbel stones for carrying a floor overhead, it
is probable this is only the lower stage of a bell-tower, of which the
upper part has been long since demolished. The greater thickness of the
walls and two sadly injured freestone buttresses on its south face (Fig.
1310) favour this idea. Entrance is obtained by a doorway with a plain
pointed freestone arch, having a hood moulding close to the westmost
buttress (see Fig 1310). The church is, internally, nearly 18 feet in
width; and at the right hand, on entering, there remains the solid
foundation of a stone stair leading to a tribune or organ gallery,
recesses for the ends of massive beams to carry it being still visible,
together with rough rubble corbelling on either side.
On the left is a narrow doorway, neatly formed with thin schist stones,
leading to the cloisters. Internally the church is entirely devoid of
architectural decoration, but an extensive range of stalls, of which
traces still exist, and other wood-work, including an open roof, must
have redeemed an otherwise bald interior, into which very little light
can have been admitted. The principal source of light was a 5 feet wide
window at the east end (Fig. 1311), divided by mullions into three
lanciform lights,
[Illustration: FIG. 1309.--Oronsay Priory. Plan.]
the pointed arch-heads of which run up to the main arch. The other
gable, seen on the right in Fig. 1311, is modern, and forms the entrance
porch to what may have formerly been the chapter house, but which has
been appropriated, in recent times, as a burial-place by the proprietor
of the island. Apart from this there were only three windows in the
nave, two very small, and another rather longer with a cusped head, all
formed in freestone, and on the extreme east end of the south wall near
the altar a square-headed window with slab lintel and sill. Between
these windows a
[Illustration: FIG. 1310.--Oronsay Priory. Cross and South Side of
Narthex and Church.]
plain schist doorway gives access to the mortuary chapel of the
M‘Duffies or M‘Fies, which is about 25 feet long by 12 feet wide over
the walls. These are unbonded into the south wall of the church, and
were covered with a plain lean-to roof, in which there was evidently a
priest’s apartment. The chapel is lit from the south by two small
windows, and in a recess on the north side is the burial-place of Abbot
M‘Duffie, covered with a carved slab representing the abbot fully
vested, with his right hand raised in benediction, and a pastoral staff
in his left. Pennant says:--“In the same place is a stone enriched with
foliage, a stag surrounded with dogs, and a ship with full sail; round
which is inscribed ‘Hic jacet
[Illustration: FIG. 1311.--Oronsay Priory. East End of Church.]
Murchardus Macdufie de Collonsa An. Do. 1539 Meuse Mart Ora me ille,
Ammen.’”[144] Beyond this chapel, at the south-east angle of the church,
is a singularly massive buttress, at the bottom of which, on the level
of the floor and accessible by a narrow opening from the interior of the
church, is a curious ambry about 3 feet cube, strongly lintelled
overhead, and designed, no doubt, for the safe keeping of the church
treasure, but is now desecrated as a “bone-hole.” The altar still
remains built of freestone, evidently reused from some previous
building.
On the north side of the chancel the arrangement is very peculiar. An
opening about 8 feet wide, with a plain pointed freestone arch (Fig.
1312) resting on schist impost caps, gives access to a kind of trance or
passage, having an ambry at the ground level on the left and a blocked
up window on the right. It is formed between the north wall of the
church and the south end of the chapter house, which is gabled
independently of the church. Its only apparent use may have been as a
sacristy. It is roofed in by large flat stones, with a rapid slope to
the east. The east range of buildings is pretty complete, except on the
north, where the gable fell some years ago. On the ground floor a large
apartment, 19 feet 6 inches long by 15 feet 4 inches wide, with a
doorway entering on the east cloister walk, was no doubt the chapter
house.
The range of domestic buildings on the north has been sadly ruined, this
having been the point where entry was obtained, in recent times, for the
removal of materials, and thus of the north and south walls only
fragments remain. A massive wall, still happily intact, encloses the
cloister on the west. The internal area is rather over 41 feet square,
with cloister walks about 7 feet broad, and the arcading presents some
very singular features. The south arcade (Fig. 1313), which is evidently
the most ancient, is composed of five low narrow arches with circular
heads, very neatly turned with thin schist slabs, without any freestone
or architectural dressing of any kind. The other three arcades were
evidently part of a later restoration, and the peculiar form in which
they were constructed is evidently due to the nature of the materials
employed, viz., schist slabs of the same quality as that used for the
sculptured slabs.
When Martin visited the island in the latter part of the seventeenth
century, the three arcades and the enclosing walls were quite complete.
A century later, in 1772, Pennant found the north arcade demolished with
the exception of the end arches, while the east and west arcades
remained intact. These subsequently disappeared also, and it was not
until 1883 that Mr. Galloway found, scattered throughout the church and
churchyard, sufficient materials to complete the restoration of one
arcade. This was accordingly done on the west side (see Fig. 1313) in
that year. Amongst the shafts and “pillars” found there were happily
both of those mentioned by Martin as bearing inscriptions. The hewn work
of these arcades was formed entirely of the peculiar kind of schist used
in the sculptured crosses and memorial stones in the Western Highlands,
and it may have been the facility of obtaining this material in the
slab, rather than the cube form, which determined the special character
of the arcading. Each arcade had openings or arches nearly 30 inches
from centre to centre, there being seven in the east and west arcades,
and probably one or two more in the north arcade. They were built with
slab shafts, averaging 2 feet 10 inches high by 1 foot broad, and 2 or 3
inches thick, with neatly moulded and socketed caps and bases. On these
[Illustration: FIG. 1312.--Oronsay Priory. Arch on West Side of
Church.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1313.--Oronsay Priory. South and West Arcades of
Cloister.]
there rested the slabs, shaped at each end so as to meet exactly in the
middle, thus forming a straight lined arch, and the haunches were filled
up with rubble. With this both Martin’s and Pennant’s descriptions
exactly agree.
The north range of the buildings, which no doubt contained the refectory
and dormitories, has been too much dilapidated to admit of any
intelligible description. In a line with it, however, and extending
eastward beyond the priory square (see Plan), there is a small chapel of
very early character, built entirely in rubble, without any freestone
dressings. It is 17 feet over the walls and 33 feet in breadth; but for
no apparent reason the west gable is slewed round to the south, making
an inequality of 2 feet in the length of the sides. There has been a
wide window in the east gable, but owing to the demolition of the wall
its character cannot be judged. There are two small windows in the north
side and one in the south, mere slits with no provisions for frames or
glazing. There is an entrance doorway on the south side at the west end
and a priest’s door at the east. On the north side there is a very small
door nearly opposite that of the entrance on the south.
The foundations of the altar still remain, and a line of stones still
indicates the position of the chancel rail. The base of the pulpit
remains on the north side, and at the west end there has been a tribune
or organ gallery, which has been accessible by a door in the east gable
of the priory buildings. In this gable, on the ground floor, an archway
has been formed 6 feet 8 inches in width, with a plain pointed rubble
arch, which seems to have been subsequently filled in, and a
square-headed doorway of much smaller size substituted.
Immediately to the north of this chapel, and separated from it by an 8
foot wide passage, is a most interesting example of a monastic barn and
byre, 39 feet in length by 22 feet in breadth. It is an excellent
specimen of rubble building with freestone dressings to the windows,
&c., in the same style as the church, and may be coeval with the later
restoration. The windows are small, and on the north side close to the
ground are openings for the discharge of refuse from the byre. In the
south-east angle a small chamber has been formed for the herd, with a
little eyelet and ambry, and it would no doubt be cut off by
partitioning from the other occupants. At the south-west angle there is
a small door opening inwards, and some indications that a chamber had
been formed between the building itself and the north wall of the
priory. At the south wall head (internally) there has been inserted a 4
or 5 foot long schist slab, with a quaint human head carved in the
centre. It serves no purpose where it is, and must evidently have been a
relic of some older structure. There can be no doubt there was a doorway
to the west, but, if so, the present entrance shows no traces of it. The
building is still roofed, and in use.
Pennant states that the church “contains the tombs of numbers of the
ancient islanders, two of warriors recumbent (7 feet long), a flattery
perhaps of the sculptor to give to future ages exalted notions of their
prowess. Besides, there are scattered over the floor lesser figures of
heroes, priests, and females, the last seemingly of some order, and near
them is a figure cut in stone of full size, apparently an abbess.”[145]
These figures, as illustrated by Pennant, strongly recall the
corresponding monuments at Iona and elsewhere throughout the West
Highlands and Islands.
The slabs have now been set up against the walls of the church (see Fig.
1311), while others still exist in the burying-ground outside.
Close to the south-west angle of the narthex stands the celebrated
Oronsay cross[146] (see Fig. 1310). It stands on mason work covered by a
slab 3 feet by 3 feet 3 inches, perforated with a hole in which the
cross is fixed. The shaft is 12 feet in height. On the west face there
is a Crucifixion on the disc, and the shaft is carved on both sides with
the usual Celtic ornament in round panels. The inscription near the base
is now illegible.