SCOTTISH COLLEGIATE CHURCHES

The creation of collegiate churches was a practical endeavour toward ecclesiastical reform in the fifteenth century, when the foundation of monastic establishments ceased. They had no parishes attached to them, and were regulated very much as the cathedrals. They arose with the purpose of counteracting the evils incidental to the monastic system, and were formed by grouping the clergy of neighbouring parishes into a college, or by consolidating independent chaplainries. They were called praepositurae, were presided over by a dean or provost, and the prebendaries were generally the clergy holding adjacent cures. In Scotland, during more recent times, the term “collegiate” was applied to a church where two ministers (as at St. Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh) served the cure as colleagues, but in the fifteenth century the term had a different and wider significance. Collegiate churches were then an expression of the zeal and munificence that were displayed in the enlargement and decoration of buildings, when all classes vied with each other in the endowment of chaplainries for the maintenance of daily stated service, always including prayers and singing of masses for the souls of their founders, their relations, and benefactors. The collegiate churches were also an evidence from within the Church itself of the need for reform in the great Benedictine and Augustinian abbeys that were then in the ascendant throughout the country.

Scotland possessed forty-one collegiate churches, but space will only permit us here to deal with nine of them: Biggar, Bothwell, St. Nicholas (Aberdeen), King’s College (Aberdeen), Roslin, Stirling (Chapel Royal), St. Giles (Edinburgh), St. Mary’s and St. Salvator’s (St. Andrews).

Biggar (Lanarkshire). The collegiate parish church of St. Mary was founded in 1545 by Malcolm, third Lord Fleming, for a provost, eight prebendaries, four singing boys, and six bedesmen. It is interesting as being among the latest, if not indeed the last, of the Scottish pre-Reformation churches. It belongs to the Late Pointed period, is cruciform in plan, consists of chancel with apsidal east end, transept, and nave, with square tower and north-east belfry turret over the crossing. There are no aisles. Formerly a chapter-house existed on the north side of the chancel, but it has been removed. The ancient roof was of oak, and the timbers in the chancel were gilt and emblazoned.

St. Bride’s Collegiate Church, Bothwell, was founded by Archibald “the Grim,” Earl of Douglas, in 1398, for a provost and eight prebendaries. He endowed and added a choir to the existing parish church. The present church is a fine Gothic building, erected in 1833, with a massive square tower to the height of 120 feet. East of this tower is the choir of the old collegiate church, of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period; it is a simple oblong chamber with a sacristy on the north side. The church, externally divided by buttresses, has four bays with a series of pointed windows in the south wall, and three windows in the north wall. The arch of the entrance doorway in the south wall is elliptic in form. The roof of the church is covered with overlapping stone slabs, which rest on a pointed barrel vault one of the earliest examples met with. In the sacristy there are a piscina and a locker, and in the south wall of the choir the remains of a triple beautifully carved sedilia and a piscina. The sacristy is roofed with overlapping stone flags supported on a vault. Monuments to the two Archibald Douglases, Earls of Forfar, are in the church. In this church David, the hapless Earl of Rothesay, wedded Marjory, the founder’s daughter, in 1400, and one of its provosts was Thomas Barry, who celebrated the victory of Otterburn in Latin verse. It has been recently restored and made worthy of its great past.

New Aberdeen. The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, said to be the largest mediaeval parish church in Scotland, was made collegiate about 1456 by Bishop Ingeram de Lyndesay (1441-1459), and is said to have possessed, besides the vicar, “chaplains to the number of thirty." Its clergy were named the “College of the Chaplains” of St. Nicholas, and after, as before, the institution of this new order the church remained the parish church. Only two portions of the ancient building now remain the transepts and the crypt at the east end below the choir. The present nave was rebuilt about 1750; the choir was taken down in 1835 and rebuilt in the most tasteless fashion; the walls of the crypt and transepts were all refaced except the north front of the transept, which was altered considerably in the seventeenth century; the central tower was burned in 1874, and the existing central spire was thereafter erected. A carillon of thirty-seven bells has been placed within it.

After the Reformation the rood-screen gave place to a wall, and St. Nicholas was divided into two churches, the West consisting of the former nave, the East of the choir, and the Romanesque transept between (known as Drum’s and Collison’s aisles) serving as vestibule. For the early architecture attention must be confined to the interior of the transept and crypt. The transepts are of the transitional style of the end of the twelfth century; the piers which carry the central tower are of the usual transitional type, having graceful capitals and square abaci supporting round arches; on each side of the north transept there are two original clerestory windows, and one of them has angle shafts, with carved caps and mouldings. The present large north window has remains of its original features, but its tracery is of late work. There is a transition attached shaft with carved cap and square abacus in the low pointed recess. There is only a shaft on one side of the recess, and the pointed arch of this recess, as well as the tomb alongside, below the large window, are of later work. On the west side of the north wall there has been a round arched doorway, and traces of it are yet visible. The crypt is at the east end of the choir, but is on a lower level, and was approached by two stairs, one from the north and another from the south aisle of the choir. Only their round arched openings remain as recesses in the walls of the crypt. The present stairs are modern. The crypt consists of one central and two side aisles, with an eastern apse; it is pronounced to be a very picturesque and interesting structure, and it fortunately escaped being rebuilt, like the rest of the church. It has a groined roof, and the three compartments in the length are separated by pointed arches that spring from moulded caps on octagonal responds. “The opening into the apse has a stunted round arch, and is a prominent example of the love of the Scottish builders for this form of arch all through the Gothic period." Each compartment of the apse has a central boss, and there is a considerable amount of carved woodwork in the crypt some of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and some later. The choir that was recently taken down superseded an older one, and it is probably to this former choir that references are contained in the Council Register for about a century from 1442.

Old Aberdeen, King’s College. Of Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen (1488-1514) it is said: “With no private fortune, and without dilapidating his benefice, he provided for the buildings requisite for his University and Collegiate Church, and for the suitable maintenance of its forty-two members; and the Cathedral Choir, the King’s College, and the old gray bridge spanning the valley of the Dee are monuments to his memory that command the respect of those who have no sympathy with his Breviary, rich in legends of Scottish Saints, and who would scarcely approve of his reformed Gregorian chant." The college was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and being placed under the immediate protection of the King, came to be known as King’s College. King James IV. and Bishop Elphinstone endowed it with large revenues. It was a faithful copy of the University of Paris. The Collegiate Church of St. Mary, on the north side of the quadrangle, was consecrated by Edward, Bishop of Orkney, and had eight priests or vicars choral belonging to it, and six singing boys. It was begun in 1500 and finished in 1506, and it was said that all its stones and beams proclaim Bishop Elphinstone their founder, who also presented the chapter with many valuable vestments, vessels, etc. The chapel is a long, narrow building, with a three-sided apsidal east end. It is divided into six bays by projecting buttresses, and has a large window filled with mullions and tracery in each bay on the north side, except the second one from the west, which contains a doorway. Similar large windows are continued in the apse, and there is also one in the east bay of the south side. Over the west doorway there is a large west window of four lights, with solid built mullions and loop tracery enclosed within a round arch. The tower at the south-west corner has massive corner buttresses. It is finished with one of the few crown steeples remaining in Scotland, forming,

“with that of St. Giles, Edinburgh, and the Tolbooth, Glasgow, the only three surviving of those which we could at one time boast. The general style of the structure is very similar to that of St. Giles, but in this case there are only four arches thrown from the angles of the tower to the central lantern, while in the case of St. Giles there are eight, which produce a fuller and richer effect.... The part blown down (by a violent storm in 1633) was probably only the lantern on the top of the four arches, the details of this part having a decidedly Renaissance character, and being different from the other parts of the tower. Doubtless the arches themselves would suffer in the crash, and would require repairing and rebuilding in part, which was evidently done, as the date 1634 is carved on the soffit of the crossing. This difference of detail is interesting as showing how persistently these old designers wrought in the style of their time. Although it is evident that the present lantern is not quite the same as the original one, it must be admitted to be an extremely happy and picturesque composition."

The chapel suffered both externally and internally in the course of the centuries, but, thanks to the enlightened liberality of Aberdeen citizens and alumni, it has been recently restored under the direction of Dr. Rowand Anderson. In 1823 the choir end was fitted up for worship on the Sundays, and the nave was occupied by the library, which was not removed and located in a building of its own until 1873. The choir screen was then shifted westward from its original position, where its west front formerly bisected the chapel.

“In the ideas of Bishop Elphinstone,” said the late Principal Sir William Geddes, “and his age, the choir-screen was intended to partition off the sacred clerus from the non-clerus or laity, and, by the predominance of anthems and songs in the choir-service, to image forth the conception of the blest society in heaven, where there is only praise; but the Collegium which he constituted has, through historical causes, given way to the wider society of the Congregation, in which preaching is as prominent as praise, and hence came the removal of the choir-screen westward, so as to accommodate a larger audience than the Collegium proper. This removal the Restoration Committee of 1891 acquiesced in and accepted, but the change is one for which they are not responsible." It will be interesting to give here a brief resume of what has been stated by the Principal regarding shields and symbolism in the restored chapel. (1) As to the treatment of the floor: no shield has been admitted into the floor but such as represent persons in close relation to the Kings College, of a date antecedent to the Scottish Reformation of 1560. When the series is completed, they will be found to represent:

Royal Shields

1. James IV., the Royal Founder.                       Motto,  Leo Magnanimus.
2. Margaret Tudor, his Queen.                             "    Rosa sine spina.
3. St. Margaret, Queen of Malcolm III. (Canmore).         "    Crux columbis lex.

Episcopal

4.	Bishop	Elphinston.	     Motto,	Non confunda.	"	Gavin Dunbar.	       "	Sub sp.	"	William Stewart.       "	Virescit vulnere virtu.	"	John Leslie.	       "	Memento.

Literary

In Ante-Chapel

1. (North side) Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae (Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy House), Psalm xxv.

2. (East side) Initium sapientiae timor Domini (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom), Motto of the University.

3. (South side) Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur (We praise Thee, O Lord, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord).

4. (West side) In te Domine speravi: non confundar (In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted: let me never be confounded).

The roof has a continuous system of decoration in colour and floral ornament, except in the four compartments at the extreme east end over the apse, where structural necessities imposed a variation. The central space of the roof is filled with scrolls containing the words, Laus, Potestas, Honor, Gloria, in ecclesiastical letter, varied by insertions of the monogram of the Saviour, I.H.S., at intervals recurring. “Below these, and towards the junction of the roof with walls, appears what may be called a flying scroll of inscriptions, being a series of Latin texts and chants, chiefly from the Vulgate, capable of being read continuously, round the roof, and interrupted only by the apse, which, as explained, has a separate treatment.” “In the apse, which, like Scottish apses of that period, is not semicircular, but has three facets, being semi-hexagonal, the frieze inscriptions are the University motto in its two clauses, with Sursum Corda in the centre. These occupy severally the three divisions into which the apse frieze falls, while in the compartments above are the symbolical figures in gold usually associated with the four Evangelists, viz. the Angel of S. Matthew, the Lion of S. Mark, the Ox of S. Luke, and the Eagle of S. John. The flying scroll attached to these figures is the text in Revelation (i. The band at the springing of the arched roof is variegated by a series of shields or disks, in which the sacred monogram alternates with the emblems of the Passion. The order in which the emblems have been placed is as follows:

West End

South side ends.	 North side begin. Moon.	            1. Su. Ladder.	            2. Bag of Juda. Spear and Sponge.	    3. Lanter. Dice.	            4. Coc. Seamless Coat.	    5. Scourge. Hammer and Pincers.     6. Pillar and Cord. Three Nails.	            7. Crown of Thorn. Cross, I.N.R.I.

“The figures of the sun or moon, which are usually represented in the Crucifixion scene, on either side of, and close to, the cross, have here by a certain liberty been made to commence and close the series.” ... “Fortunately the fretwork, when reversed, was found, though fragile, to be fairly sound; and, although not all entirely on a uniform pattern, a large section of it, when turned upward, presented the appearance of a series of Pots of Lilies, side by side, a discovery which largely reconciled one to the alteration, inasmuch as this emblem of the Virgin is known to have been not only familiar to, but also a favourite with, the Founder of the College. The King’s College, besides, was originally the College of S. Mary.”

Chancel and Apse

The Professorial stalls have for the cresting the emblems of the Seven Virtues, viz. the four cardinal virtues of the Philosophers, and the three celestial virtues, or Graces of the Theologians. The sequence is:

{1. Justice,       symbolised by the Scales and Balance. 
{2. Courage              "       "      Thistle. 
{3. Temperance           "       "      Bridle. 
{4. Prudence             "       "      Compasses (Mariner’s and Carpenter’s).
{5. Faith                "       "      Pillar with Wreath of Victory.
{6. Hope                 "       "      Anchor.
{7. Love                 "       "      Flaming Heart.

They are repeated in such order on both sides, and the four Cardinal Virtues are towards the west or exterior; the three Theological Virtues toward the east or interior of the apse. On the stall forming the eighth on the south side, there is the monogram of the Alpha and Omega. On the panels of the stalls, “the leading idea sought to be maintained was the representation in sequence of the various emblems of Christ and the Christian life, as drawn from the cornu copiae of Nature, in the fruits and flowers of the vegetable world, that unfallen portion of creation which the Divine Teacher honoured by drawing from it, and from it alone, His similes and parables. They are severally as follows, commencing from the west:

1. The Lily.} 
2. The Palm.} 
3. The Rose.} 
4. The Trefoi. The Vine and Grapes.}
6. The Olive.          }
7. The Wheat-ears.”    }

At the eighth panel on the south side, under the [Greek: Alpha] and
[Greek: Omega] of the cresting, stands the Pot of Lilies as a symbol
of the Virgin.

We have given an account of the late learned Principal’s paper as appropriate to this history. It shows how art can both express the spirit of the place and become a servant of religion. It illustrates Professor Flint’s declaration: “God as the perfectly good is not only Absolute Truth and Absolute Holiness, but also Absolute Beauty. He is the source, the author, the giver of all beautiful things and qualities. All the beauties of earth and sea and sky, of life and mind and spirit, are rays from His beauty. The powers by which they are perceived are conferred by Him. The light in which they are seen is His light."

Roslin (Mid-Lothian). The church was founded in 1450 by Sir William St. Clair, Baron of Roslin and third Earl of Orkney. It was dedicated to St. Matthew, and founded for a provost, six prebendaries, and two choristers. In the quaint language of Father Hay:

“His adge creeping on him, to the end that he might not seem altogither unthankfull to God for the bénéfices he receaved from Him, it came in his mind to build a house for God’s service, of most curious worke: the which that it might be done with greater glory and splendor, he caused artificers to be brought from other regions and forraigne kingdomes, and caused dayly to be abundance of all kinde of workmen present: as masons, carpenters, smiths, barrowmen, and quarriers, with others. The foundation of this rare worke he caused to be laid in the year of our Lord 1446: and to the end the worke might be the more rare: first he caused the draughts to be drawn upon Eastland boords, and made the carpenters to carve them according to the draughts thereon, and then gave them for patterns to the masons that they might thereby cut the like in stone.”

He was probably himself the source of the design, and his enlightened liberality attracted to the place the best workmen in Scotland, as well as from parts of the Continent. It has been said by the most recent authorities:

“The church, so far as erected, is in perfect preservation, and is a charming portion of an incomplete design. It is, in some respects, the most remarkable piece of architecture in Scotland; and had the church been finished in the same spirit as that in which it has been so far carried out, it would have gone far to have realised a poet’s dream in stone. When looked at from a strictly architectural point of view, the design may be considered faulty in many respects, much of the detail being extremely rude and debased, while as regards construction many of the principles wrought out during the development of Gothic architecture are ignored. But notwithstanding these faults, the profusion of design so abundantly shown everywhere, and the exuberant fancy of the architect, strike the visitor who sees Rosslyn for the first time with an astonishment which no familiarity ever effaces."

The original intention was to complete the building as a cross church, with choir, nave, and transepts, but the choir only has been completed. The transepts have been partly erected, the east wall being carried up to a considerable height, but the nave has not been erected. The church consists of a choir, with north and south aisles, connected by an aisle which runs across the east end, giving access to a series of four chapels beyond it to the east. Beyond the east end of the church, and on a lower level, to suit the slope of the ground, a chapel has been erected that is reached from the south aisle by a stair. It is barrel-vaulted and is lighted by an eastern window. There are ambries in the walls and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet on the north side. On the south a door leads to what has been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings having existed or being intended. In all probability there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as sacristy and private chapel. This chapel was probably built by the liberality of Lady Douglas, Sir William St. Clair’s first wife.

The church is profusely adorned with sculpture which generally represents Scripture scenes, and one of the most curious examples in the remarkable decoration of the edifice is the ornamentation of the south pillar of the east aisle, known as the “Prentice Pillar” named by Slezer (1693) as the “Prince’s Pillar” and by Defoe (1723) the “Princess’s Pillar.” It consists of a series of wreaths twisted round the shaft, each wreath curving from base to capital round one quarter of the pillar. The ornamentation of the wreaths corresponds in character with the other carving of the church, and the grotesque animals on the base find a counterpart in those of the chapter-house pillar at Glasgow Cathedral.

At the Reformation the lands and revenue of the church were virtually taken away, and in 1572 they were relinquished by a formal deed of resignation. The chapel does not seem to have suffered much violence till 1688, when a mob did much mischief. It remained uncared for, and gradually became ruinous till the middle of the eighteenth century, when General St. Clair glazed the windows, relaid the floor, renewed the roof, and built the wall round about. Further repairs were executed by the first Earl of Rosslyn, and again by the third Earl, who spent L3000 principally in renewing and retouching the carvings of the Lady Chapel a work said to have been suggested by the Queen, who visited the church in 1842. Since 1862, services in connection with the Scottish Episcopal Church have been held within it. At the west end a vestry and organ-chamber were erected a few years ago.

Stirling (Chapel Royal, St. Mary’s, and St. Michael’s). On the north side of the Castle Square is the building erected by King James VI. as a chapel, and generally called now the armoury. There seems to have been a chapel in the castle founded by Alexander I., and it was connected with the monastery at Dunfermline. The original dedication is unknown, but in the fourteenth century there is mention of the chapel of St. Michael, which may possibly date from the time when an Irish ecclesiastic St. Malachi or Michael visited David I. at Stirling Castle, and healed his son, Prince Henry. The chapel was rebuilt in the early part of the fifteenth century, and in the time of James III. became an important church. It was constituted both as a royal chapel and as a musical college, and endowed with the rich temporalities of Coldingham Abbey. This chapel was the scene of the penitence of James IV., who, after the victory at Sauchie, “daily passed to the Chapel Royal, and heard matins and evening song: in the which every day the chaplains prayed for the King’s grace, deploring and lamenting the death of his father: which moved the King, in Stirling, to repentance, that he happened to be counselled to come against his father in battle, wherethrough he was wounded and slain. To that effect he was moved to pass to the dean of the said Chapel Royal, and to have his counsel how he might be satisfied, in his own conscience, of the art and part of the cruel deed which was done to his father. The dean, being a godly man, gave the King a good comfort: and seeing him in repentance, was very glad thereof.” James IV. endowed the chapel with large revenues, and in 1501 erected it into a collegiate church for dean, subdean, chanter, sacristan, treasurer, chancellor, archpriests, sixteen chaplains, six singing boys and a choir master. It was the richest of the provostries, and held many churches. The deans of the chapel, who were first the provosts of Kirkheugh at St. Andrews, afterwards the bishops of Galloway, and eventually the bishops of Dunblane, possessed in their capacity as deans an episcopal jurisdiction. The chapel, erected by James III., fell evidently into a ruinous condition, and in 1594 James VI. pulled the old structure down and erected on its site the present building. It was the scene of the baptism of Prince Henry.

ST. GILES, EDINBURGH

“In the centre of the old town of Edinburgh,” writes Dr. Cameron Lees, “stands the great church of St. Giles. From whatever point of view the city is looked at, the picturesque crown of the steeple is seen sharply outlined against the sky. Soaring aloft unlike every other spire in its neighbourhood, it seems like the spirit of old Scottish history, keeping watch over the city that has grown up through the long years beneath its shadow. Edinburgh would not be Edinburgh without it. The exterior of the church itself is plain and unadorned, and it is evident that unsympathetic hands have been laid upon it and modernised it; but when one enters the building, a vast and venerable interior is presented to him, and every stone seems to speak of the past. St. Giles is a church whose history is closely interwoven with the history of Scotland from the very earliest ages, and it has been the scene of many remarkable events which have left their impress upon our national character."

Dr. David Laing thinks that a parish church of small dimensions may have existed nearly coeval with the castle and town, and the present St. Giles occupies the site of the original parish church of Edinburgh. Symeon of Durham, who flourished in the early part of the thirteenth century, includes Edinburgh under the year 854 in reckoning the churches and towns belonging to the Bishopric of Lindisfarne or Holy Island, in the district of Northumbria, a see which, previous to the Scoto-Saxon period, extended over the range of Lothian and the more southern districts of North Britain. The name “Edwinesburch” is taken as having a special reference to the castle and town. When David I. founded the abbey in honour of the Holy Cross, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints, he conferred upon the canons (among other churches) the church of the castle, the Church of St. Cuthbert under the castle wall, and at the period there were lands lying to the south of Edinburgh which bore the name of St. Giles’ Grange so called from being the grange of the vicar of St. Giles’ Church. These lands were gifted by King David I. to the English abbey of Holm Cultram or Harehope in Cumberland, and probably the church went along with them; at all events, it continued to belong to some monastery. In 1393 it belonged to the Crown, and King Robert III. granted it to the Abbey of Scone; to that house it belonged for some time, remaining still an humble vicarage.

It is the most reasonable conjecture that the parish church, dedicated in honour of St. AEgidius or St. Giles, and which has ever since retained the name of that patron saint, was erected during the reign of Alexander I. (1107-1124), the founder also of the Abbey of Scone and other religious houses. Some fragments of this church remained till the end of last century, the richly ornamented Norman porch, which had formed the entrance to the nave on the north side of the church, being removed about 1797. Dr. Lees thinks that possibly some of the pillars of the choir, and also the door at the entry to the royal pew, belonged to the first church of St. Giles. The edifice appears to have been rebuilt about the time of David II.

In the frequent wars with England, Edinburgh suffered much, notably so in 1322 and 1335. This latter raid, having occurred in February, was afterwards known as the “burnt Candlemas.” A reconstruction of the church was probably required after these repeated conflagrations, and this appears to have been carried out during the fourteenth century. But shortly afterwards a devastation of the town and its buildings was occasioned by Richard II. in 1385, when, during his occupation of five days, he left the town and parish church in ashes. The citizens, with the help of the Crown, made a great effort to repair the disaster to their church, and from this period the history of the present structure may be said to date.

“It is said that during the restoration, which took place in 1870-80, traces of fire were observed on the pillars of the choir, and it is inferred that these pillars must have existed before the burning caused by Richard II. This view is confirmed by the fact that, after 1387, when, doubtless, the town authorities were doing all they could to complete the restoration of St. Giles’, they entered into a contract with certain masons to erect five chapels along the south side of the nave, having pillars and vaulted roofs, covered with dressed stone slabs. These chapels still exist, and the wall rib of the vaulting is yet visible on the south side of the arcade, next the south aisle; but the vault and stone roof have been removed, and a plaster ceiling of imitation vaulting substituted. The above contract indicates that the walls of the nave then existed. We must, therefore, assume that the church had been rebuilt previous to the destruction of 1385, and that the above contract was an addition to the building connected with its restoration two years after the fire. Although, doubtless, much injured by the conflagration, the walls and pillars of the church seem to have escaped total destruction. The style of the architecture would lead to the same view; the octagonal pillars of the choir, with their moulded caps, being most probably of the fourteenth century."

The church, as restored and added to after 1387, is regarded as consisting of a choir of four bays, with side aisles; a nave of five bays, also with side aisles; a central crossing, north and south transepts, and the five chapels just added south of the nave. An open porch, to the south of these chapels, was also erected along with them, with a finely groined vault in the roof, and over it a small chamber, lighted by a picturesque oriel window, supported on a corbel, carved with an angel displaying the city arms. The whole of the main divisions of the structure were vaulted, and the massive octagonal piers of the crossing were probably raised about this period. The vaulting of the crossing, with its central opening, was executed about 1400. The ancient Norman porch, forming the north entrance to the nave, was the only part of the twelfth century structure then preserved. The restoration seems to have continued from 1385 to 1416.

Shortly after the erection of the five south chapels, another chapel, called the Albany Aisle, was built on the north side of the nave to the west of the old doorway. It opens from the nave with two arches, resting on a central pillar, and the roof is covered with groined vaulting in two bays. On the pillar are sculptured the arms of the Duke of Albany and also those of the Earl of Douglas. Their names are often ominously found together in the history of the times, and both were accused of the murder of the Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne. They were justly accused, and, although acquitted of the deed, the stain continues to rest on their memory. The chapels were either built to expiate their crime, or more probably to get a reputation for piety and obtain the favour of the Church.

Two other chapels were probably added to the north side of the nave about the same period; they were on the east side of the Norman doorway, and between it and the transept. One of them has disappeared, and the eastern one was dedicated to St. Eloi. The vaulting of the north aisle of the nave was necessarily rebuilt at the time when the north chapels were erected.

About fifty years later, great extensions and improvements were carried out under the auspices of Queen Mary of Gueldres, by whom Trinity College Church was also founded in 1462. The Town Council and merchants of Edinburgh also endowed it. The extensions of St. Giles consisted of (1) the lengthening of the choir by one bay; (2) the heightening of the central aisle of the choir and vaulting it anew, together with the introduction of a new clerestory; and (3) the lengthening of the transepts. The church is thus the work of many generations, and is the outcome of public and private contributions. That the choir was enlarged at this period is chiefly made evident by the heraldic devices and armorial bearings still existing. While the pillars nearest to the centre are plain octagons, with arches corresponding in simplicity, those at the east end have decorated capitals, supporting moulded arches. The King’s pillar, as it is called, is the first from the window on the north side, and is near the spot where stood the High Altar. On the foliated capital are four coats of arms, and the first has the lion within the double tressure, and the armorial bearings are usually supposed to be those of King James II. (1436-1460); the second, impaled, of his Queen, Mary of Gueldres (1449-1463); the third has also the lion within the double tressure and a label of three points, which is held to denote a prince or heir, if not a younger son. The fourth shield has three fleurs-de-lys for France. These shields clearly connect the pillar with Mary of Gueldres, and her husband, James II., and their son, James III., who was born in 1453. The work was probably executed between 1453 and 1463. On the opposite pillar, on the south side of the high altar, are also four coats of arms, viz. those of the town of Edinburgh and of the families of Kennedy, Otterburn, and Preston. To commemorate other benefactors, on the demi-pillar, on the north side of the eastern window, we have the arms (three cranes gorged) of Thomas Cranstoun, chief magistrate of Edinburgh in 1439 and 1454; on the south side, those of Napier of Merchiston, Provost of Edinburgh in 1457 a saltier engrailed, cantoned with four rosettes. (2) The heightening of the choir and the introduction of a new clerestory were also carried out shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century, the height of the former choir being shown by the vault of the crossing, which it doubtless resembled, and which was not altered at that time. The outline of the old roof may also be observed against the east and west walls of the tower the raglet and a stepped string-course above it being yet preserved, and being specially visible on the east side next the choir. The beauty of the vaulting of the central choir aisle is noticeable when contrasted with that of the side aisles. The central crossing, with its vault, was left unaltered, and still remains in the same position, with its vaulting at the level it was raised to about 1400. It forms a break between the nave and the choir, in both of which the vault has been raised. (3) The transepts were extended, their original length being marked by breaks in the roof, where the vaulting terminates.

In a charter dated 11th January 1454-1455, it is narrated that William Preston of Gourtoun, after much trouble and expense abroad, and aided by “a high and mighty prince, the King of France, and many other Lords of France,” had succeeded in obtaining an arm bone of the patron saint, which he generously bequeathed to the church. The Town Council were so gratified with the gift that they resolved to add an aisle to the choir in commemoration of the event, and to place therein a tablet of brass recording the bounty of the donor. This aisle was to be built within six or seven years “furth frae our Lady isle, quhair the said William lyis.” It thus appears that the south aisle of the nave was known as the lady chapel, and that Sir William was buried there. The resolution was carried into effect, and a new aisle called the Preston Aisle was constructed, south of the lady chapel. The Preston Aisle was afterwards known as the Assembly Aisle. In carrying out the work the south wall opposite the three westmost bays of the choir was removed, and three arches carried on two piers substituted. These piers and arches correspond with the work of the same period at the east end of the choir. One of the caps contains a shield bearing the three unicorns’ heads of the Prestons. The structure extends into the choir the great width of the four aisles of the church previously formed in the nave, and adds greatly both to spaciousness and grandeur. The church was now complete in all its parts, as, internally, it still remains, with a few exceptions, to the present day.

Several additional chapels were afterwards thrown out. In 1513 an aisle of two arches was formed by Alexander Lauder of Blyth, Provost of the city; in 1518 the altar of the Holy Blood was erected in this aisle, which lay on the south of the nave, and to the east of the south porch, immediately adjoining the south transept. It opened into the south chapels of the nave with two arches, and had two windows to the south. There was within it a handsome monument containing a recumbent statue, or forming, as some suppose, part of the altar canopy. The monument is still preserved, but one half of the chapel was obliterated in 1829.

In 1466 the parish church of St. Giles was erected by charter of James III. into a collegiate establishment, but it is not called collegiate till 1475. The chapter consisted of a provost or dean, sixteen prebendaries, a master of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan, and a beadle with chaplains. The revenues of the altars and chaplainries in the church were appropriated for the support of the several officers in the new establishment. The King reserved the nomination of the dean or provost, who enjoyed the tithes and other revenues of St. Giles’ Church, with the adjacent manse; the provost had the right of choosing a curate, who had a yearly allowance of 25 marks with a house adjoining. In subsequent charters the church is called the College Kirk of St. Geill of Edinburgh.

About this period a few additions were made. A small chapel, called the Chapman Aisle, was thrown out from the Preston Aisle close to the south transept. It was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist by Walter Chapman, called the Scottish Caxton, from his having introduced into Scotland in 1507 the art of printing. The chapel was dedicated within a month of King James’ death at Flodden. The south transept seems to have been extended southward during the erection. The chapel to the east of the north transept contained several storeys and a staircase. It is said to have been erected after the Reformation. Used as the Town Clerk’s office, and later as a vestry, it has been recently set apart to contain the monument of Dr. William Chambers, by whose liberality the cathedral has been recently restored.

In 1829 the church was entirely renewed as regards the exterior, and two chapels to the south of those built in 1389 and the south porch were removed. The round arched doorway of the south porch was again erected between the north pillars of the crossing as the entrance to the central division of the church. It has now been transferred to the entrance doorway to the royal pew at the east end of the Preston Aisle. The only portions of the exterior which escaped the unfortunate renewal of 1829 were the tower and steeple. Fortunately the well-known crown of St. Giles was not interfered with. It was probably erected about 1500.

“This crown,” say the same authorities, “seems to have been a favourite feature with Scottish architects. The crown of the tower of King’s College, Aberdeen, was built after 1505, and similar crowns formerly existed on the towers of Linlithgow and Haddington churches. The crown of St. Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle, which is probably the only other steeple of this kind in Great Britain, is also of a late date. There is a crown of the same description on the tower of the Town Hall at Oudenarde, in Belgium, which is also of late Gothic work.... Some of the above crown steeples have an arch thrown from each angle to a central pinnacle, an arrangement which renders them rather thin and empty looking; but that of St. Giles’ has, in addition to the arches from the angles, another arch cast from the centre of each side to the centre pinnacle. This produces an octagonal appearance, which, together with the numerous crocketed pinnacles with which the arches are ornamented, gives a richness and fulness of effect which is wanting in some of the other steeples of this description. The steeple of St. Giles’ was partly rebuilt in 1648."

In the tower was placed the great bell of St. Giles, which must have been heard far and near on special occasions, as when, after the news of the disastrous field of Flodden, the inhabitants were ordered at the tolling of the common bell to assemble in military array for the defence of the city. The bell was cast in Flanders. About 1500 several of the guilds had chapels assigned to them, and for these they contributed to the church funds. Many famous Scotsmen were buried within St. Giles, and amongst them were the Napiers of Merchiston, although it is doubtful whether Baron Napier rests there or not. The Regent Murray, assassinated at Linlithgow in 1569, was buried in the south aisle; his monument was destroyed, but the brass plate, with the inscription written in his honour by George Buchanan, was rescued, and is inserted in a new monument erected in the Murray Aisle. The scattered members of the body of the great Montrose were collected and buried in the Chapman Aisle, in the south part of St. Giles, in 1661, but all trace of his remains has now been lost, and no monument until recently indicated his grave.

The last day on which mass was said in St. Giles was probably the 31st of March 1560; the disturbances connected with the Reformation broke out in Edinburgh at an early date, and St. Giles’ Church was one of the first to suffer.

All things have their end.
Churches and cities, which have diseases like to men,
Must have like death that we have.

The images were stolen from the church; that of St. Giles was carried off by the mob, drowned in the North Loch, and then burned; his arm bone, so precious before, is supposed to have been thrown into the adjacent churchyard; the church was pillaged and the altars and images cast down; the valuables were taken by the authorities and sold, while the proceeds were spent in the repairs of the church.

“Irreverence,” writes Dr. Lees, “had long been common. It was not to be expected that with the change of religion would come any additional reverence for the things and places which the old religion had proclaimed sacred. We read without much surprise, therefore, of weavers being allowed to set up their looms and exercise their craft ’in ane volt prepared for them in the rufe of Sanct Gellis Kirk,’ of the vestry of the church being turned into an office for the town clerk.... It is almost inconceivable that old associations should so thoroughly and quickly have died out."

The church suffered from the over-zeal of the early reformers and also from the effects of civil contention when Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange and Queen Mary’s adherents retained possession of the castle. Kirkaldy took forcible possession of St. Giles’ Church, and placed some of his men in the steeple to keep the citizens in awe.

They made “holes in the vaute of the Great Kirk of Edinburgh, which they made like a riddell, to shoot thorough at súche as they pleased within the kirk, or at such as would prease to breake down the pillars."

In 1560 St. Giles’ again became the parish church, with John Knox for its minister. It was afterwards considered too large for Protestant worship, and in Knox’s time the Magistrates began to cut it up into sections and formed several churches. Other alterations were made at different times, so that besides the High Church in the choir and the Tolbooth Church in the nave there were under the same roof a grammar school, courts of justice, the Town Clerk’s office, a weaver’s workshop, and a place for the Maiden, or instruments of public executions! In 1633, on the introduction of Laud’s form of worship, the church became the seat of a bishop, and the choir was used as a cathedral. Between 1637 and 1661 it was again Presbyterian; from 1661 to 1690 it was once more Episcopalian; at the Revolution the Presbyterian worship was again restored, and the cathedral was divided with walls and filled with galleries. The Tolbooth Church occupied the south-west angle, and Haddow’s Hole Church the north-west angle. The Old Church comprised the south transept and portions adjoining; the Preston Aisle was used as a place of meeting for the General Assembly and other purposes. The dark portions under the crossing and north transept were occupied as the police office. The alterations and rebuilding of 1829 left the cathedral still divided into three separate churches, and “the ancient architecture of the exterior of St. Giles was entirely obliterated by the reconstruction." As to this “restoration,” Dr. Lees writes, “What ensued was deplorable, and can scarcely be conceived by those who have not themselves seen what was done." On the other hand, advantage was obtained by the removal of the small houses and booths that had been built against the structure and between the buttresses. All must at least be grateful that the steeple “was left alone.”

The position of affairs remained thus until Dr. William Chambers, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, conceived the idea of removing the partitions and opening up the whole building. By his exertions, and largely by his own personal munificence, the restoration was effected between 1870 and 1883.

“The Cathedral,” says Dr. Cameron Lees, “restored from end to end, was opened with a public service on the 23rd May 1883. Her Majesty the Queen was represented by a Scottish nobleman (the Earl of Aberdeen), and representatives of all the chief corporations in Scotland attended. The ceremonial was fitting the occasion, and three thousand persons filled the immense building. The whole scene recalled the brilliant pageants of an earlier day. But there was sadness in the hearts of all present, for three days previous to the ceremonial Dr. William Chambers had passed away. The words of the preacher received, and still receive a response from many. ’So long as these stones remain one upon another, will men remember the deed which William Chambers hath done, and tell of it to their children.’ Two days after the reopening of the church, the funeral service of the restorer was conducted within the building his patriotism had beautified and adorned, and amid a vast and solemn crowd his body was borne forth from the place he loved so well, and for which he had done so much, to his burial." “What a strange story its old gray crown, as it towers high above the city, tells out day by day to all who have ears to hear. It is the story of Scotland’s poetry, romance, religion the story of her progress through cloud and sunshine, the story of her advance from barbarism to the culture and civilisation of the present day."

St. Andrews St. Mary’s, or Kirkheugh. A very old chapel, known as St. Mary’s on the Rock, is said to have stood on the Lady’s Craig, but no trace of it now remains. Another chapel, also dedicated to St. Mary, stood on the Kirk Heugh, and was known as the Chapel of the King of Scotland on the Hill. All traces of it were for a long time lost, but in 1860 the foundations were discovered, and they show it to have been a cruciform structure. It is between the cathedral wall on the north-east and the sea. It had a provost and ten prebendaries.

St. Salvator’s, St. Andrews. The College of St. Salvator was founded and endowed by Bishop Kennedy in 1456 for a provost and prebendaries. This bishop was distinguished for his liberality to the Church. The Church of St. Salvator is the only portion of the college buildings which still survives. It is now attached to the united colleges of St. Leonard’s and St. Salvator, which form the existing University of St. Andrews, and the other buildings of which are modern.

The church bears the mark of the period when it was erected, the latter half of the fifteenth century. It consists of a single oblong chamber, with a three-sided apse at the east end, a tower, with octagonal spire, at the south-west angle of the church. In the interior of the north wall, close to the apse, there is the splendid monument erected to Bishop Kennedy, the founder of the college. The south wall is divided by buttresses into seven bays.