GENERAL SURVEY OF SCOTTISH MEDIAEVAL ARCHITECTURE
Mediaeval architecture of Scotland arranged according to the periods stated
in Chapter II
Transition from Celtic to Norman
Architecture: Abernethy Round Tower,
Perthshire. Restennet Priory, Forfarshire. St. Regulus, St. Andrews, Fifeshire.
Norman Architecture: Markinch
Tower (Fifeshire). Present church modern,
early church consecrated 1243; the tower is an ancient
Norman building. Muthill Church (Perthshire),
has Norman tower at the west end, with nave having
north and south aisles and an aisleless choir.
The church is now in ruins, and was built by Michael
Ochiltree, who was Dean of Dunblane (1425) and Bishop
(1430). St. Serf’s, Dunning (Perthshire),
has Norman tower, with elaborately carved and pointed
archway opening from the tower into the church, which
has been greatly altered. The W. gable wall of
the church and part of the N. and E. wall are original.
There appears to have been a chancel; the ancient corbels
at N. parapet survive, and the raggle of the original
roof is seen against the E. side of the tower.
Church mentioned here in 1219 (ecclesia sancti
servani de Dunnyne). Cruggleton Church (Wigtownshire),
in ruins; has early Norman chancel arch and north
doorway recently restored; the plan shows a simple
oblong with chancel arch. Monymusk Church (Aberdeenshire),
founded by Malcolm Canmore; remains of ancient Norman
church in lower part of the tower and chancel arch,
incorporated in modern church on old site. Ancient
Celtic centre. St. Brandon’s, Birnie
(Morayshire), has nave and chancel without aisles;
chancel has no window in E. wall, but round-headed
windows in N. and S. walls; chancel arch has semicircular
attached shaft with moulded base and heavy Norman
cap, with numerous sub-divisions. Advanced date.
Stone font of Norman design, and Celtic bell. St.
Oran’s Chapel, Iona . St. Margaret’s
Chapel, Edinburgh Castle, comprises a nave with
chancel arch and chancel, which has a round apse, formed
within the square E. end of the exterior. The
genuine surviving Norman masonry begins below the
line of the S. windows; rest later work. Chancel
has locker and piscina, chancel arch decorated with
chevron design, nave arched roof is later than the
walls. Chapel is a fairly advanced example of
Norman work in plan and decoration. Dunfermline
Abbey . Kirkwall Cathedral . St. Blane’s Church (Bute) has oblong
nave and chancel separated by lofty wall with chancel
arch. Norman masonry in nave and chancel arch.
Dalmeny Church . Leuchars Church
. Bunkle Church (Berwickshire) has Norman
work in ruined semicircular apse, with arch leading
into it, and may be earlier than 12th century. Edrom
Church (Berwickshire) has still surviving a Norman
doorway of beautiful design, now an entrance to a burial
vault. An aisle is attached to the church, and
was founded by Archbishop Blackadder in 1499; two
angle buttresses are of interest. Legerwood
(Berwickshire) has attached to the parish church (old,
but frequently repaired), and cut off by a wall, the
roofless ruins of the original Norman chancel.
A Celtic interlaced stone is built into the S. wall
near the W. end. Chirnside (Berwickshire) has
Norman work in the doorway of the ruined church, and
at the sides there are remains of a projection, probably
a porch. A western tower, vaulted in stone, was
removed in 1750. St. Helen’s Church (Berwickshire),
near Cockburnspath, now in ruins, was a Norman structure,
with the exception of the W. gable wall (14th or 15th
century). It was barrel-vaulted throughout, and
the N. chancel wall is entire. There is a narrow
E. window. Tyninghame Church (Haddingtonshire)
was one of the churches dedicated to St. Baldred; the
structural remains exhibit elaborate ornamental work
of the Norman style. Stobo Church (Peeblesshire)
is a Norman structure, to which alterations and additions
have been made in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It was the church of a plebania, with subordinate churches.
Duddingston (Mid-Lothian) is a Norman edifice,
used since 12th century as the parish church.
It has been much altered, originally consisting of
nave, chancel, and perhaps tower, and the chancel arch
is the only Norman feature now remaining in the interior.
St. Andrew’s Church, Gullane (Haddingtonshire),
is now a roofless ruin, and was made collegiate in
1446. The semicircular chancel arch is almost
the only part of the 12th century work now surviving.
Uphall Church and St. Nicholas Church
(Linlithgowshire). Uphall Church, consisting of
nave, chancel, western tower, is a Norman structure
throughout, much altered. When this became the
parish church in the 16th century, St. Nicholas (one
mile east) was abandoned. Two relics of it remain the
font, of which the basin is old, and the bell, now
used in Uphall Church, and dated 1441. Abercorn
(Linlithgowshire). A church was founded here in
675 under St. Wilfrid, and became the see of the earliest
bishopric in Scotland from 681 to 685. The monks
were forced to retire to Whitby, but the site was
occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure
(the round-headed doorway in S. wall) is of Norman
date. The tympanum is filled with stones arranged
in zig-zag patterns. The church has been altered
in modern times; there are good specimens in the churchyard
of hog-backed tombstones, with figures of fish scale
pattern arranged in rows, and scales of a squarer
shape. Kelso Abbey .
St. Martin’s Church (Haddington)
is a very ancient chapel; a simple oblong; portion
of barrel vault still exists; choir formerly existed;
the arch is late Norman in design. Kirkliston Church,
Linlithgowshire, has ancient tower and Norman doorways
(S. and N.E.), and belonged originally to the Knights
Hospitallers of St. John. St. Mary’s, Ratho,
Mid-Lothian, has Norman work preserved in doorway in
S.W. wall. St. Peter’s, Peterhead, Aberdeenshire,
has chancel of Norman period. St. Mary’s,
Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, had a nave with side aisles
and a chancel, but of the ancient church only a fragment
now remains in the E. wall with eastern tower attached
to it. The E. wall masonry indicates the Norman
period, and the eastern tower, although built against,
had no connection with the church, while it is of
later erection by two or three centuries. Lamington
Church (Lanarkshire) has the old N. doorway still
preserved. St. Boswell’s Church, Roxburghshire,
has been entirely rebuilt, but has some relics of
carved corbels and other fragments of Norman date.
Smailholm Church, Roxburghshire, is distinctly
a Norman structure throughout its entire length, although
greatly altered in the 17th century. Linton Church,
Roxburghshire, is old, but has been restored and renewed.
There is a Norman font, and a sculpture in the tympanum
of the ancient church doorway may possibly represent
St. George and the Dragon, or Faith overcoming Evil.
It was placed in 1858 over the entrance to a new porch
then erected. Duns Church, Berwickshire, had
the chancel of the ancient structure existing until
1874, when it was removed, and not a stone now remains.
Its masonry, judged from a photograph, looks very
like Norman work. St. Lawrence Church, Lundie,
Forfarshire, was a Norman structure, of which little
remains except the ashlar walls, a narrow window, and
outside check for a shutter. The chancel arch
was built up in 1786, when the apse appears to have
been taken down; the top of a sacrament house of late
date survives. Kirkmaiden Church, Wigtownshire,
has a nave that appears to be of Norman date, and
there is an apparent chancel at the east end, but
its dimensions and origin are not distinct. Herdmanston
Font, Haddingtonshire, is a relic of the Norman
period, and stands in the burial vault of the Sinclairs
of Herdmanston.
The Transition Style. Dundrennan
Abbey (Cistercian), Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded
by David I. about 1142. Portions of N. and S.
transepts, choir, chapter-house, some cellar walls
and other walls, with a few carved caps now remain.
Queen Mary was welcomed at the abbey after her flight
from Langside, and embarked for England from Port
Mary, at the mouth of the Abbey Burn. Jedburgh Abbey
. Kinloss Abbey (Cistercian), Morayshire,
was founded by David I. in 1150, and colonised from
Melrose. The enlightened Robert Reid, founder
of the College of Edinburgh, was its abbot in 1528.
Till 1650 the buildings were tolerably entire, and
were then used to construct Cromwell’s citadel
at Inverness. The remains are now mere fragments.
The Nunnery, Iona . St. Nicholas Church,
Aberdeen . Coldingham Priory (Benedictine),
Berwickshire, was founded or refounded in 1098 by
Edgar, son of Queen Margaret, and dedicated to St.
Cuthbert, S.S. Mary and Ebba. The canons
of Durham controlled it until 1504, and in 1509 it
was placed under the rule of Dunfermline. It
suffered both from fire and its nearness to the Border;
it was also damaged by Cromwell, and was afterwards
used as a quarry. Little of the monastery now
remains, and of the church only the N. and E. walls
of the choir and fragments of the S. transept.
In 1662 the W. and S. walls of the choir were rebuilt
to make that part of the edifice suitable for worship,
and in 1854-55 the choir was restored, its W. and S.
walls being again partly rebuilt, S. porch added,
and the corner turrets carried up to their present
height. Stones are preserved of an earlier church
than the existing one. Dryburgh Abbey .
Airth Church (Stirlingshire) dates from the
period about the beginning of the 13th century, but
only a small part of the early structure remains a
bay of what has been a nave arcade, opening into a
north aisle. Lasswade Church, Mid-Lothian,
had an old church, consisting of oblong chamber and
tower. The S. wall doorway and tower reveal Transition
work about first half of 13th century. Bathgate
Church, Linlithgowshire, is now a ruin, being
abandoned in 1739 for a new church. The doorway
is almost the only feature of its architecture left,
and its details are of transitional period. In
the church is a recumbent statue.
First Pointed Period. St.
Andrews Cathedral and Priory ;
St. Mary’s, Kirkheugh, St. Andrews ; Arbroath Abbey ; Holyrood
Abbey . Kilwinning Abbey (Tironensian),
Ayrshire, was erected on a site occupied in the 8th
century by an Irish monk called St. Winnan, who is
believed to be the same as St. Finnan of Moville.
On the spot sanctified by his cell the monastery was
erected in the 12th century by Richard or Hugh Moville,
who came from England, was created by the Scottish
king Great Constable of the Kingdom and presented
with the lordships of Cuninghame, Largs, and Lauderdale.
The church was erected early in 13th century.
The buildings were destroyed shortly after the Reformation,
and the parish church was erected on the site of the
choir about 1775. The ruins consist of S. wall
and gable of S. transept, one pier with respond and
arch between S. transept and E. aisle; handsome door
which led from nave to cloisters; entrance to the
chapter-house from cloisters; long ancient wall which
formed the wall of S. aisle of nave; some portions
of W. end of nave and S.W. tower. The N. tower
remained complete till this century, and a new tower
has in recent times been erected on its site. Dunblane
Cathedral . Inchmahome Priory (Augustinian),
Stirlingshire, was founded and endowed by Walter Comyn,
fourth Earl of Menteith, and the church, which has
striking resemblances in detail to the neighbouring
cathedral of Dunblane, evidently dates about 1250.
Inchmahome means Isle of Rest, and the church is fairly
well preserved. In 1543 Queen Mary, as a child,
found refuge here along with her mother after the battle
of Pinkie, and stayed for some months. Dr. John
Brown has charmingly written about the young queen’s
miniature or child’s garden a small
flower plot, the boxwood edging of which has grown
up into a thick shrubbery. Elgin Cathedral
. Pluscarden Priory (Valliscaulian),
Morayshire, was, along with Beauly and Ardchattan,
founded by Alexander II. for the Order of Vallis
Caulium. Pluscarden is situated in a long, well-sheltered
valley. About 1460, when the monks had become
corrupt, they were superseded by the Black Benedictine
monks from Dunfermline, and the priory became dependent
on that house. The last prior was Alexander Dunbar,
and the first lay prior Lord Seton. The existing
buildings consist chiefly of the remains of the church an
aisleless choir N. and S. transepts with eastern aisles,
and square tower. There is no nave. The
monastic buildings consist of the sacristy, or St.
Mary’s aisle, the chapter-house, the slype, and
monks’ hall the whole forming the
E. side of the cloisters. To the S.E. of cloister
garth is probably the prior’s house. The
oldest parts are transepts with eastern aisles, built
doubtless soon after the foundation. Glasgow Cathedral
. Brechin Cathedral . Lindores
Abbey (Tironensian), Fifeshire, was founded in
1178 by David, Earl of Huntingdon, grandson of David
I., and brother of King William the Lion. The
church of Dundee belonged to the monks of Lindores,
and the name Lindores is believed to mean “church
by the water.” Alexander III., Wallace,
Edward I., David II. visited the abbey, and the Duke
of Rothesay was buried in the church. James,
Earl of Douglas, passed the last years of his life
here. Two small coffins, found buried in the
choir, are believed to have contained the remains of
two children of Earl David, the founder. The
buildings, entering from the E. side of the cloister,
are the best preserved, and of the church little but
the foundations and some portions of the wall survive.
Adjoining S. transept is the vaulted slype, and the
room over it may have been the scriptorium or library.
The night passage of the monks led through that apartment,
as the stair was in S.W. angle of transept, and could
only be thus reached. Cambuskenneth Abbey (Augustinian),
Stirlingshire, was founded by David I. about 1147.
James III. and his queen, Margaret of Denmark, were
interred before the high altar, and a stone altar monument
has been erected over their remains by Queen Victoria.
The detached tower at the W. is almost the only part
remaining in a completed state; the W. doorway is
nearly entire, as is also portion of gable wall and
side walls at S.E. corner of the buildings. Culross
Abbey (Cistercian) and Parish Church, Perthshire.
The abbey was founded in 1217 by Malcolm, Earl of
Fife, and considerable remains of that period, and
some walls of what might be of earlier date, still
survive, but principal parts of existing church are
of later date. A few fragments of the monastic
structure survive. The tower divides the E. from
the W. church. The aisleless choir serves as
parish church. The old parish church is a ruinous
structure, about one mile N.W. from the abbey; plain
oblong; in 1633 the abbey became the parish church.
Beauly Priory (Valliscaulian), Inverness-shire,
was founded in 1230 and endowed by Sir John Bisset
of Lovat. The ruined church survives, but has
been sadly abused. Monastic buildings have nearly
disappeared. First Pointed was later here than
elsewhere. Newbattle or Newbotle Abbey (Cistercian),
Mid-Lothian, was founded by David I. in 1140 for monks
brought from Melrose. It was a great house, and
about 1350 its annual income could maintain eighty
monks and seventy lay brethren, with the corresponding
establishment. The last abbot was Mark Ker, and
the lordship of Newbotle was conferred on his son.
The abbey appears to have been almost abolished shortly
after the Reformation, the only parts of the monastic
buildings allowed to remain being the fratery and portions
of the chapter-house, which were incorporated with
the mansion-house. The nave of the church contained
10 bays; the choir and presbytery comprised 1-1/2
bay. The piers supported a tower over the crossing,
and the architecture of the transepts was massive.
Lismore Cathedral . St. Kentigern’s,
Lanark, was ancient parish church; abandoned for new
one about 1777. It consisted of two six-bayed
aisles, each with a chancel, but without a nave; there
remain the lofty pointed arches dividing the two aisles,
the wall of the S. one, and a fragment of the chancels.
In the S. wall is a beautiful doorway. Burntisland
Church, Fifeshire, Prestonkirk, Haddingtonshire,
Cowie, Aberdeenshire, also illustrate in whole
or part this period. Deer Abbey (Cistercian),
Aberdeenshire, was founded in 1218, and succeeded a
church founded in 580 by St. Columba and his nephew
Drostan. The conventual buildings now existing
are subsequent in date to the founding of the abbey
church (completed first), and this may account for
the abbot demitting office in 1267, “choosing
rather to live in the sweet converse of his brethren
at Melrose than to govern an unworthy flock under the
lowly roofs of Deir.” Luffness Monastery,
Redfriars, Haddingtonshire, was founded by Patrick,
Earl of Dunbar, in 1286. The church consisted
of nave and choir, without aisles; the choir has arched
recess and much-worn effigy. The remains consist
mostly of foundations. Tungland Abbey (Premonstratensian),
Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded by Fergus, first lord
of Galloway, in 12th century, and is now represented
by only one doorway. Inchcolm Abbey (Augustinian),
Fifeshire, was founded in 1123 by Alexander I., who
had been driven ashore on the island by a storm, and
was maintained with his followers for three days by
a hermit who made Inchcolm his retreat. There
is still a small cell covered with a pointed barrel
vault, which may have been his abode. The island
was the cradle of religion in E. Scotland, and may
have been visited by St. Columba himself. Like
Inchkeith, the Bass, Isle of May, and Fidra, it possesses
early ecclesiastical remains. The island, like
Iona, was celebrated as a place of burial. The
monastic buildings date from 1216 chiefly; Walter
Bower continued the Scotichronicon in the abbey.
The ruins consist of the cloister court with church
on N. side, and chapter-house beyond E. range.
To the N. of the church was possibly the infirmary.
The S.E. has cellars, stores, and offices. First
Pointed work is also found at the churches of Deer;
Auchindoir; St. Cuthbert’s, Monkton;
St. Nicholas, Prestwick; Altyre; St.
Mary’s, Rattray; Abdie; St. Ninian’s
on the Isle; St. Colmanel’s, Buittle;
Cockpen; Pencaitland; Gogar Font.
Middle Pointed or Decorated Architecture. New
Abbey or Sweetheart Abbey (Cistercian),
Kirkcudbrightshire, was dedicated to the Virgin.
It was called New Abbey because it was founded a considerable
time after Dundrennan, which was regarded as the old
abbey. The founder was Devorgilla, daughter of
Allan, Lord of Galloway, wife of John Baliol of Castle
Barnard in Yorkshire, and mother of King John Baliol.
When her husband died in 1269, Devorgilla had his
heart embalmed and placed in an ivory coffin, which
she carried about with her; at her death it was buried
with her in a grave in front of the abbey high altar,
hence the touching name of Sweetheart Abbey.
She endowed the abbey, founded Balliol College, Oxford,
and built the bridge over the Nith at Dumfries, portions
of which still survive. The abbey suffered much
last century, but it has since been well cared for,
and is in good preservation. Few of our ancient
churches are so well preserved, and the ruins represent
a period of Scottish Gothic of which not many examples
survive. The conventual buildings have been almost
entirely demolished, but the church is complete, although
the roof is gone, and the walls are much damaged.
It comprises a nave with two side aisles, a choir without
aisles, N. and S. transepts (with eastern chapels opening
off them), and a square tower over the crossing.
The precinct a level field of about 20
acres surrounds the abbey, and is still
partly enclosed with a strong wall, built with large
blocks of granite. Melrose Abbey .
Lincluden College, Kirkcudbrightshire, was founded
anew about the end of the 14th century by Archibald,
the Grim, who expelled the nuns. It was a frequent
residence of the Earls of Douglas, and consisted of
choir separated from nave and transept by stone screen
with wide doorway. The choir is aisleless, consisting
of three bays; the nave had three bays with a window
in each, and aisle on S. side. The architecture
is of great beauty. Fortrose Cathedral .
Crossraguel Abbey (Cluniac), Ayrshire, was
founded by the Earl of Carrick and dedicated to St.
Mary. The last abbot, Quentin Kennedy, in 1562
held a famous dispute with John Knox at Maybole.
The abbey was much associated with the Bruces.
In 1570 occurred the cruel “roasting of the abbot.”
George Buchanan received a pension out of the abbey
revenues, and King James intended to restore it as
a residence for his son Henry. The abbey ruins
comprise, with the remains of the church, cloisters,
and usual buildings, an outer court to the S.W. with
picturesque gate-house, pigeon-house, and domestic
buildings. The church is a simple oblong with
choir and nave, without aisles and transepts. St.
Giles’, Edinburgh . St. Michael’s,
Linlithgow . St. Monans, Fifeshire,
derives its name from St. Monanus, a missionary of
the 8th century, who suffered martyrdom by the Danes
on the Isle of May. The original chapel was replaced
about 1362 by the present edifice, which suffered much
at the hands of the English, and has been altered.
It consists of chancel, N. and S. transepts, with
tower and spire over the crossing, and is still used
as the parish church. It is picturesque and interesting.
Whithorn Priory . St. Mary’s,
Haddington . Fearn Abbey (Premonstratensian),
Ross-shire, was founded during the reign of Alexander
II. Of it there now only remain a part of the
church, and the ruins of some structures attached
to it. The church is a simple oblong, and part
of it is still used as the parish church. Balmerino
Abbey (Cistercian), Fifeshire, was founded in
1229 by Ermengard, widow of William the Lion, and
her son Alexander II. Ermengard was buried in
the church before the high altar; she was a liberal
benefactress, and her son was a frequent visitor at
Balmerino. Bishop Leslie ascribes the demolition
of the abbey in 1559 to “certain most worthless
men of the common people,” for the damage of
1547, when Admiral Wyndham “bornt the abbey
with all thyngs that were in it,” seems to have
been much repaired. The abbey buildings are now
in a ruinous state, only the chapter-house, with the
erections adjoining it, being at all well preserved.
To the E. of the chapter-house are the ruins of the
abbot’s house. The church is situated,
as the mother church at Melrose, on the S. of the
cloister, and consisted of nave with S. aisle, transepts
with the usual eastern aisle, and short presbytery
without aisles. St. Bride’s College,
Bothwell . Temple Church, Mid-Lothian;
the Chapel in Rothesay Castle; St. Bride’s,
Douglas, Lanarkshire; St. Duthus’, Tain,
Ross-shire; St. Peter’s, Inverkeithing,
Fife; St. Devenic’s, Creich, Fife; Faslane
Church, Argyleshire; the Monument of Sir W.
Olifurd, Aberdalgie, Perthshire, also embody architecture
of this period.
Third or Late Pointed Period. Paisley
Abbey . Dunkeld Cathedral .
Iona Cathedral . St. Machar’s
Cathedral . Trinity College Church,
Edinburgh, was situated on the W. side of Leith Wynd,
and founded by Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James II.,
in 1462. It was a very fine specimen of Scottish
Gothic architecture of the 15th century, and consisted
of a choir with N. and S. aisles, a five-sided apse,
N. and S. transepts, with the commencement of a tower
over the crossing and N. sacristy. The nave was
never erected the arch having a circular
window inserted in it. It was the church of Trinity
College Parish till 1848, when it was removed to make
way for the railway station. The new church is
in many details an exact reproduction of the corresponding
features of the original building. St. John’s,
Perth . Dundee Church .
Glenluce Abbey (Cistercian), Wigtownshire,
was founded in 1190 by Roland, Lord of Galloway; the
chapter-house is the only portion of the abbey in good
preservation. Torphichen Church, Linlithgowshire,
represents the hospital or preceptory of Torphichen,
from 1153 the principal Scottish residence of the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Of the cruciform
church, the chancel and nave are entirely gone, and
there is only left a portion of the transept or “quier.”
The modern church is on the site of the nave. St.
Anthony’s Chapel, Edinburgh “Sanct
Antonis in the crag” stands conspicuous
from the Firth of Forth, and was perhaps chosen with
the intention of attracting the notice of seamen coming
up the Firth, who, in cases of danger, might be induced
to make vows to its tutelary saint. There is
a fine spring of clear water close to the site, which
may have led to the establishment of the hermitage
there. Wall remains survive. Rosslyn Church
. Dunglass Collegiate Church, Haddingtonshire,
is cruciform, and a deserted but complete edifice.
The choir and tower may have been built in 1403, the
nave after 1450. It was founded by Sir Alexander
Home of Home. Foulis-Easter Church, Perthshire,
is a simple, oblong structure without buttresses or
projections of any kind; is well preserved and most
interesting. It was built by Andrew, second Lord
Gray. St. Salvador’s, St. Andrews . Dalkeith Church (Mid-Lothian) was constituted
collegiate in the 15th century, and consists of a
nave of three bays with aisles, N. and S. transepts,
a W. tower, and aisleless choir of three bays with
E. apse. Part is used as the parish church. St.
Mungo’s, Borthwick (Mid-Lothian) has been
rebuilt, with the exception of the S. aisle or chapel,
and the structure has originally been a Norman one,
with aisleless nave, choir, and round E. apse. Ladykirk,
Berwickshire, is very complete and almost unaltered.
It is situated on the high N. bank of the Tweed, and
is said to have been built in 1500, and dedicated to
St. Mary by James IV. in gratitude for his delivery
from drowning by a sudden flood of the Tweed.
It is a triapsidal cross church, without aisles, with
an apsidal termination at the E. end of the chancel
and at the N. and S. ends of the transept. The
body of the church and transepts are covered with
pointed barrel vaults, with ribs at intervals springing
from small corbels, and the whole is roofed with overlapping
stone flags. The upper part of the tower has
been rebuilt, the lower part being of the same date
as the church, which is still the parish church. Seton
Collegiate Church, Haddingtonshire, probably rebuilt
about the close of the 15th century, was added to
by the second Lord Seton when he made the church collegiate
in 1493, and was completed by the third Lord Seton.
The transepts, tower, and spire would appear to have
been erected by the Dowager Lady Seton in the 16th
century, after her husband’s death at Flodden.
Arbuthnott Church, Kincardineshire, is an interesting
and picturesque structure, containing work of three
distinct periods. The chancel was dedicated in
1242, and the nave may be in part of the same period.
The S. wing or aisle was built by Sir Robert Arbuthnott
in the end of the 15th century. The quaint W.
end represents a combination of the ecclesiastical
and domestic architecture of Scotland. The church
has been well restored; the Arbuthnott Missal with
the Psalter and office were written for the use of
this church by the vicar, James Sybbald, about 1491.
King’s College, Aberdeen . Church
of the Holy Rood, Stirling . St. Mary’s
Parish Church, Whitekirk, Haddingtonshire, was
a great place of pilgrimage, and was visited among
others by Pope Pius II. (AEneas Sylvius), who came
to render thanks to the Virgin for his safe landing
in Scotland. The church is on the plan of a cross
without aisles; the choir is vaulted with a pointed
barrel vault, and the roof is slated. Over the
crossing is a square tower, finished with a plain
parapet; the E. end is square, and there is a fine
porch at the S.W. angle. The S.W. porch is one
of the most striking features of the structure, and
its interior is roofed with pointed barrel vaulting,
having ribs springing from carved corbels. Third
or late Pointed architecture is also found at Crichton
Collegiate Church, Mid-Lothian; Corstorphine
Collegiate Church, Mid-Lothian; Crail Collegiate
Church, Fife; Mid-Calder Church, Mid-Lothian;
St. Mary’s Church of the Carmelite Friars,
South Queensferry, Linlithgowshire; Yester Collegiate
Church, Haddingtonshire; Tullibardine Collegiate
Church, Perthshire; Maybole Collegiate Church,
Ayrshire; Biggar Collegiate Church ;
Carnwath Collegiate Church, Lanarkshire; St.
Mary’s Collegiate Church, Castle Semple,
Renfrewshire; Church of the Franciscans or Greyfriars,
Elgin, Morayshire, and at Aberdeen; Rowdil
Priory (Augustinian), Harri, Inverness-shire; Oronsay
Priory (Augustinian), Argyleshire.
Examples of Scottish mediaeval architecture
are also to be found in the following churches, arranged
alphabetically by counties. Aberdeenshire: Kinkell,
Kintore, Leask. Argyleshire: Ardchattan
and St. Mund’s Collegiate Church, Kilmun. Ayrshire: Alloway,
Old Dailly, and Straiton. Banffshire: Cullen
Collegiate Church, Deskford, and Mortlach. Berwickshire: Church
of Abbey St. Bathans (Cistercian Nuns), Bassendean,
Cockburnspath (an ancient structure), Preston. Buteshire: Church
of St. Mary’s Abbey, Rothesay. Dumbartonshire: Dumbarton
Collegiate Church and Chapel at Kirkton of Kilmahew.
Dumfriesshire: Canonby Priory (Augustinian),
Kirkbryde, St. Cuthbert’s, Moffat; Sanquhar.
Fifeshire: Carnock, Dysart, Kilconquhar,
Kilrenny, Rosyth, Dominican Church, St. Leonard’s
, Holy Trinity , St. Andrews. Forfarshire: Airlie,
Invergowrie, Mains, Maryton, Pert, St. Vigean’s.
Haddingtonshire: Church of Trinity
Friars, Dunbar, and Keith. Kincardineshire: St.
Palladius’ Church, Fordoun. Kirkcudbrightshire: Old
Girthon. Lanarkshire: Blantyre Priory
(Augustinian), and Covington. Linlithgowshire: Auldcathie.
Mid-Lothian: St. Triduan’s
Collegiate Church, Restalrig. Peeblesshire: Newlands,
Churches of Holy Cross and St. Andrew, Peebles. Perthshire: Aberuthven;
St. Moloc, Alyth; St. Mechessoc, Auchterarder; Cambusmichael;
Abbey of Coupar (Cistercian); Dron Church, Longforgan;
Ecclesiamagirdle or Exmagirdle, Glenearn; Forgandenny;
Abbey of Inchaffray (Augustinian); Innerpeffray (Collegiate);
Kinfauns; Methven (Collegiate); Moncrieff Chapel;
Wast-town (near Errol). Renfrewshire: Houston,
St. Fillan’s, and Kilmalcolm. Selkirkshire: Selkirk.
Wigtownshire: St. Machutus’
Church, Wigtown.
Mediaeval architecture terminated
with the Reformation in 1560. In closing this
necessarily brief record of our ancient Scottish churches,
a word must be added on the Scottish Reformation.
It was the aim of Knox to cleanse, not to destroy
the temple, and the iconoclasm that followed was the
work of the “rascal multitude,” while many
of the churches and abbeys were ruined by the attacks
of the English before the Reformation, as the previous
pages indicate. The old builders, too, did a great
deal of what is now known as “scamped work,”
although it was partly counteracted by the excellence
of their lime and the thickness of their walls.
The real cause of the subsequent destruction was neglect,
not violence, while the secularising of the old endowments
alienated into other channels the means that were
necessary to undo the effects of wind and weather.
As Carlyle said, “Knox wanted no pulling down
of stone edifices; he wanted leprosy and darkness
to be thrown out of the lives of men,” and it
is known that he exerted himself to save the Abbey
of Scone from destruction. In the case of Dunkeld Cathedral, the order makes it
quite clear that neither desks, windows, nor doors, glass work nor iron work,
was to be destroyed. The aim
of the reformers was at heart an endeavour to make
the old temples fit symbols of the reformed faith,
and the iconoclasm of the multitude is not to be attributed
to them, but to the ignorance and savagery of the time,
for which the Church of Rome was primarily to blame.
It was this that lessened church feeling and separated
the power of truth from the beauty of holiness.
It is our privilege to-day to seek the unity of truth
and goodness with beauty, to maintain the faith of
the Reformation along with that beauty of church architecture
which, in its brighter days, the old church witnessed
to. It is a one-sided view which sees in Gothic
nothing but the development of utility or the endeavour
to attain greater height; it is the true view which
beholds in it the ideality, piety, and faith that
possessed the hearts of our forefathers. The
architect’s design could never have been realised
apart from their offerings of devotion to the Christian
religion. When Emerson visited Carlyle at Craigenputtock,
the latter, pointing to the parish church, said to
his American friend, “Christ’s death built
Dunscore Church yonder.” It is a deep,
true utterance, for Christ’s death has built
every church in Christendom, and these embodiments
of beauty not least of all. In this light we
see what is at the heart of these ancient Scottish
churches, and what has created the affection that treasures
them. The ruined walls of so many of them ought
to have been the home of the reformed faith, life,
and work, linking the present to the past by natural
piety, and visibly reminding the worshippers of the
church that endureth throughout all generations.
The present revival of interest in them is like a
new-discovered sense, and is undoing the spoliation
and neglect of an age subsequent to the Reformation,
and for which the Scottish Reformers are not to blame.
Theirs was no easy work, and history has vindicated
its results in the progressive genius of the Scottish
people. The Reformation saved religion, but the
alienation of the religious endowments to secular
purposes, often by unworthy hands, is the chief cause
of the ruins which tell of a beauty that has left the
earth, and it has deprived the Church of so many of
its venerable heirlooms. Otherwise there might
have been said of the Scottish as was said of the
English Reformation that but for it there would have
been little Norman or Early English left in the cathedrals,
for it just came at a time when the early styles were
being pulled fast down to make room for the later.
It was the Scottish Reformers’ aim to make all
the churches parish churches, and each church the
centre of the life and work of each parish. Their
grievance against monasticism arose from the corrupt
lives of the monks and from its intrusion on the parochial
system with the alienation of the parish teinds to
the use of the monastery. But the idea of a
church in the centre of a residence, is one not
without suggestiveness to the life of to-day, with
its many activities, as a training home for workers;
as a temporary retreat for rest, meditation, and prayer
to the hard-wrought ministers in the city parishes;
as a place for conference on the religious problems;
as a theological hall and settlement for divinity
students, like that at Loccum near Hanover, where
a reformed mediaeval monastery, free from vows, and
in the full vigour of its life, is used as a college
and residence for the students of the Reformed Church,
and where the old monastic church is used as the parish
church for the people around. To visit Loccum
and see it presided over by the venerable Protestant
theologian, Dr. Ullhorn, with its garden, grounds,
and farm, its church and cloisters, its great library
and residence for professors and students, is to be
persuaded of the rich possibilities that lie within
the reach of the Scottish Church in the restoration
of some of its ruined abbeys. The saintly Leighton
felt the need of this, and thought “the great
and fatal error of the Reformation was, that more of
these houses and of that course of life, free from
the entanglements of vows and other mixtures,
was not preserved; so that the Protestant churches
had neither places of education nor retreat for men
of mortified tempers." The Reformed Church would
thereby purify a great idea, and if it be true, as
the late Master of Balliol asserted, that it is the
great misfortune of Protestantism never to have had
an art or architecture, it can restore and adopt
the old architecture that was the creation of the
Christian spirit, amid the leisure of the cloister
and in times more restful than our own.