Work in the nave and in the south chapels was apparently in progress during the reign of James IV., as the royal arms (Fig. 794), with the letters I. Q. (Jacobus Quartus), and the date 1505 on the westmost buttress testify.

On the south side of the cloister is the very charming doorway (Fig. 795) which leads into the church. It is, as is very usual, circular headed, and enriched with a deep bay containing bold mouldings, which in England would, from the square arrangement of their orders, be regarded as of early date. But the style of the richly carved and undercut caps and the foliaged hood mould clearly points to a later period than would at first sight be supposed, certainly not earlier than the nave. To the right of this, and along the east wall of the cloister (see Fig. 795), are arched recesses of a late style; and in the south wall is an arcade of trefoil form, with nail-head enrichments. The latter might also at first sight be regarded as early work, but closer inspection shows that it is an example of the late revival of early forms which prevailed towards the close of the Gothic epoch.

Not a fragment remains to show how the cloister walk was enclosed. The roof has evidently been of wood, from the corbels for the wall plate and the holes cut in the wall to receive the timbers (see Fig. 795). These probably rested on a series of pillars and arches running round the outer side of the cloister walk, but whether of stone or timber cannot now be determined. It seems not unlikely, from its entire disappearance, that the outer arcade may have been of timber.

It is stated in Wade’s History of Melrose Abbey[135] that the arcade of the cloister formerly extended 150 feet each way. The wall of the cloister is now reduced to the portions which abut against the nave and transept, being 50 feet on the east side and 80 feet on the south side. The former side contains a wall arcade of seven arches (see Fig. 795). These are of the form called drop arches, with crocketed ogee hood moulding, and have plain spandrils above, over which there runs a straight cornice, enriched with flowers and shells of all descriptions, very beautifully carved. It is of these Sir Walter truly says—

Of the tower (see Fig. 766) over the crossing, which is 84 feet high, only the western wall, with small portions of the north and south walls, now exists. It rises one story in height above the nave roof, and is

crowned with a parapet filled in with quatrefoils, and resting on an enriched and corbelled cornice. At each angle is a shaft rising from a corbel. The three windows are simple, with pointed arch and cusped trefoil, similar to those of the clerestory of the nave and north transept. The tower has, doubtless, been erected about the same time as the transept.

The above description of the various portions of the abbey suffices to show how full of interest it is to the student of architecture as well as to the artist.

We have drawn attention to the more prominent features, but it is impossible for us here to enter fully into all the multiplicity of details which such an elaborate structure offers for observation and study.

No building in Scotland affords such an extensive and almost inexhaustible field for minute investigation and enjoyment of detail as this. Whether we consider the great variety of the beautifully sculptured figures of monks and angels playing on musical instruments (Fig. 796), or displaying “the scrolls which teach us to live and die,” or turn to the elaborate canopies and beautiful pinnacles of the buttresses (see Figs. 769 and 778), or examine the rich variety of foliage and other sculptures on the capitals of the nave and the doorway and arches of the cloisters; or if, again, we take a more general view of the different parts of the edifice from the numerous fine standpoints from which it can be so advantageously contemplated, we know of no Scottish building which surpasses Melrose either in the picturesqueness of its general aspect, or in the profusion or value of its details.

It occupies an important position also historically, as it in part supplies an admirable example of that decorated architecture the existence of which in this country has been so often denied, but of which, we trust, a sufficient number of examples are now provided to render that reproach to Scottish architecture no longer justifiable.

We have to thank the fine red sandstone of the district, of which the church is built, for the perfect preservation of all the details of the structure. These remain, even in the minutest carving, as perfect and complete as the day they were executed.

In the south transept (see Fig. 784) are two remarkable inscriptions, which have given rise to much speculation. One of these is carved over the doorway in the west wall which gives access to the wheel stair, and part of the inscription is carried down one side for want of room. It runs as follows:—

The other inscription is carved on a tablet in the wall on the south side of the same door, viz.:—

In the centre of the former inscription is a sunk panel containing a shield with two masons’ compasses, arranged somewhat like a saltier, and beneath a figure resembling a fleur-de-lys.

The late Dr. John Smith, in the Proceedings of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, considers these inscriptions as applying to one man, who may have been the master mason of the building. But Mr. Pinches, in his account of the abbey, mentions that John Murdo, or Morow, was engaged in building a church in Galloway in 1508. It thus seems likely that these inscriptions are not earlier than that date, and have been added to the building after its completion.

Since the foregoing description of Melrose Abbey was written, we have had the pleasure of reading the very interesting work by Mr. Peter M‘Gregor Chalmers, called A Scots Mediæval Architect, in which an attempt is made to identify the John Morow of the inscription in the south transept, and to trace his work in the various localities where he is stated to have “all mason work in keeping.”

This book shows a great amount of careful investigation and intelligent observation in connection with a number of our ecclesiastical structures, especially Melrose Abbey; and we have to acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. Chalmers for some valuable hints, which are duly noted in their places as they occur.

The inscription on John Morow’s tablet states that he “had in keeping all mason work of St. Andrews, the High Kirk of Glasgow, Melrose and Paisley, of Niddisdale and of Galloway.”

From this statement it is generally assumed by Mr. Chalmers and other writers on the subject that John Morow was the architect engaged to carry out all the architectural work required at the above places during the term of his official appointment.

Mr. Chalmers conducts the reader to the various places which John Morow “had in keeping;” and wherever he finds a fine specimen of somewhat late work, he confidently attributes its design to that “Scots Mediæval Architect.”

At Paisley he thinks he can trace his handiwork in a panel which formerly stood in the abbey wall, built by Abbot Shaw in 1485, from a certain resemblance in the form of the letters and phraseology employed to those of the Melrose tablet.

At Glasgow Cathedral and Lincluden College the design of the rood screen at each and the chief part of “Blackadder’s Aisle,” and of other details in the former, is assigned to John Morow.

At St. Andrews he believes him to be traceable in the carving of certain coats of arms; and at Melrose Abbey a great part of the later work is attributed to him.

At Whithorn Priory and Glenluce Abbey, which are within John Morow’s province, some work is pointed out which might be of his date; but as it is somewhat poor in character, that “Mediæval Architect” is presumed to have been busy elsewhere, and to have left the job to inferior hands.

It is admitted by Mr. Chalmers that the work at Melrose Abbey must have, undoubtedly, extended over more than half a century, and would, in all likelihood, exceed the compass of one man’s lifetime. But as there are two inscriptions at Melrose to “John Morow,” or Morvo, Mr. Chalmers has no difficulty in deciding that they are to two members of the same family, both architects, who, he believes, carried on the works at the abbey from before the middle of the fifteenth century till some time in the sixteenth century.

The inscription on the lintel of the doorway is, therefore, supposed to be in memory of John Morvo, the assumed grandfather of the John Morow whose tablet is inserted in the west wall adjoining—the earlier parts of the work having been carried out by the former, and the later parts by the latter.

But Mr. Chalmers’ fancy is not limited to the invention of these great architects as illustrious members of the family of the Morows. He would also fain attribute to them other honours and distinctions.

He therefore assumes that John Morow the younger was identical with John Murray, of Faulohill, a favourite at the Court of James IV., from whom he received many gifts, which favours he requited by rebellion, and by finally appearing on the scene as the chief actor in the ballad of the outlaw Murray; of which ballad he is further believed to have been the author! And, to crown this strange eventful history, we are told that the success of this architect so excited the jealousy of the nobles that he was waylaid and assassinated by them.

Here we have disclosed, if not a history, at least a fiction of the most thrilling interest in the life and death of the “Mediæval Architect,” John Morow; and so full of invention is this flight of fancy, that we trust its introduction here will be excused as a relief to the dry details of prosaic architectural descriptions.

We have no desire to disturb this touching romance; but we feel called upon to indicate some points which may be regarded as worthy of consideration before it is accepted as historically or architecturally consistent with fact.

However beautiful this dream may be, and much as the author is entitled to praise for his careful study of the buildings he describes (which, we gladly acknowledge, is considerable), we fear that his theory will be found, on examination, to rest on a very weak and unreliable foundation.

The following are some objections which at once present themselves:—

1. Without entering into the question as between the “master of the work” and the “master mason,” or attempting to prove by whom mediæval buildings were designed, we believe it has been distinctly shown that there was in Scotland, about A.D. 1500, no one recognised as “the architect” apart from the builder. The “master of the works” was a fully recognised and salaried officer, and would, we believe, be more likely to receive a tablet such as this than the master mason.[136]

2. But supposing that John Morow, to whom the tablet was erected, was a master mason. It is assumed that John Morow was a Scot. The inscription emphasises the statement that he was “born in Paris certainly,” from which it may be fairly inferred that his French birth and, probably, education had to do with his appointment. This might indicate that he was a French master mason; and it is known that many French master masons were employed under James IV. and V.

3. It is assumed that the name Morow is identical with Murray (an idea which was suggested, in 1854, by the late Dr. John Smith[137]), but this is entirely hypothetical. Besides, there is absolutely no evidence produced to show any connection between John Morow and John Murray of Faulohill.

4. Nor can it be shown that the latter had any connection with building or architecture.

Let us now glance at the descriptions of the various portions of Melrose Abbey which are assumed by Mr. Chalmers to be the work of John Morow.

There seems to be nothing in Mr. Chalmers’ views antagonistic to the general divisions of Scottish mediæval architecture adopted in this book; indeed, his observations seem to confirm these divisions, which assign to the decorated work in Scotland the period before 1460, and to the late or third pointed work the subsequent period.

Supposing this to be correct, we suspect that some of the work which Mr Chalmers attributes to John Morow, and of the date of about 1490 to 1510, is in the earlier category. At Melrose, as we have seen, the decorated work is before 1460, and the later work is quite inferior. Hence the necessity for the introduction of the earlier John Morvo, to whom we have no objections, if his existence could be proved. At all events, it must be conceded that the earlier or decorated work was not executed by the “Scots Mediæval Architect,” John Morow.

The same remark will, we think, be found to apply to the rood screen at Lincluden,[138] and to that at Glasgow,[139] the work at both of which is very superior to the sixteenth century work at Melrose, and therefore, in all probability, considerably earlier than John Morow’s time.

We observe that Mr. Chalmers considers the choir and presbytery of Melrose, in which a strong similarity to perpendicular work is perceptible, to be of the time of James IV., and sarcastically remarks on what he considers the unworthy exaltation of the king and his queen to the place of honour on the apex of the east gable of a building dedicated to God. But this is an entire assumption. There is no proof that these figures represent James IV. and Queen Margaret Tudor. The figures in the east gable appear to us to represent the coronation of the Blessed Virgin, a frequent subject in similar positions.

We have already remarked on the similarity of much of the work at Melrose to that of York Minster, and there occurs in one of the bosses of the latter a representation of the coronation of the Blessed Virgin (Fig. 797), in which the figures are almost identical in every respect with those in the east gable of Melrose choir. The attitude is precisely the same in both. At York, the Saviour is represented as having a beard and long flowing hair. He is crowned, and holds up the right hand in benediction, while in the left hand he supports the globe. The Virgin holds her hands palm to palm, in the attitude of adoration, while an angel places the crown on her head, and on the other side an angel throws the censer. Another similar example from Dore Abbey is shown in Fig. 798.[141]

The figures at Melrose are somewhat wasted by exposure, but a comparison of the above sketches with that of the east gable (Fig. 774) will show that, while there is no ground for the assumption that the latter represents James IV. and Queen Margaret, there is every reason to believe that it personifies the more appropriate subject of the coronation of the Blessed Virgin. In the series of niches on each side there still remain kneeling figures of adoring angels, which, while most appropriate to the latter subject, would be quite out of place in the former.

Mr Chalmers gives some interesting details and observations regarding the chapels in the east aisle of the transept. He points out that these were probably dedicated to the saints whose statues stand, or stood, on the west side of the transept, opposite each chapel. Thus, in the north transept, the chapels would be those of St. Peter and St. Paul, whose statues still survive in the west wall; while those in the south transept would be dedicated to St. Andrew and St. John. Mr. Chalmers suggests that the statue of St. Andrew (see Fig. 769), which previously stood opposite his chapel in the south transept, was removed and placed in a niche in one of the south buttresses, the pedestal being heightened to receive it, as the statue was too short for the niche. The south chapel of the transept he believed to be that of St. John. John Morow’s tablet is opposite this chapel, and his prayer to “Sweet St. John” is, therefore, most appropriate. Mr. Chalmers points out that the chapels at the east end of Glasgow Cathedral are dedicated to the same saints and in the above order.

LINCLUDEN COLLEGE, Kirkcudbrightshire.

This small, but valuable, example of Scottish decorated architecture is pleasantly situated on a quiet level holm at the junction of the water of Cluden with the river Nith, about one mile north from Dumfries. Although the surviving portions of the church are fragmentary, they exhibit many beautiful details of the Scottish decorated style.

Originally the site was occupied by a convent of Black or Benedictine nuns, which was founded in the twelfth century by Uchtred, son of Fergus, Lord of Galloway, who endowed the convent with lands.[142] Of this establishment only trifling remains can be traced. The edifice whose ruins now exist was founded anew, about the end of the fourteenth century, by Archibald the Grim, Earl of Douglas and Lord of Galloway. He is said to have expelled the nuns on account of their “insolence;” but it is also recorded that he acquired considerable possessions by the transaction. Be this as it may, the earl showed his devotion by rebuilding the church and endowing a new establishment. The new foundation consisted of a collegiate church, with the necessary domestic structures. It comprised at first a provost and twelve canons, Elise, or Elias, being appointed the first provost in 1404. The second provost was named Cairns, and under him the college consisted of eight canons, twenty-four bedesmen, and a chaplain.[143] The surviving remains of the domestic buildings for the accommodation of the inmates extend in the form of a long wing to the north of the church (Fig. 799). These now consist of a series of vaulted cellars, dimly lighted with one small loophole in each, and entered by a few steps down from the ground level. On the floor above the cellars there was probably a large hall; and at the north end a portion rose into a keep or tower, which probably formed the residence of the provost (Fig. 800). In Grose’s Views, drawn in 1789, the tower is shown much more complete than it now is, a large part having tumbled down a good many years ago. The staircase turret on the west side was also much higher at the end of last century, having fallen so recently as 1851. It bore the royal arms and the arms of Provost William Stewart. These out-buildings would thus appear to have been built about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Foundations of other structures are observable, which probably formed a courtyard to the west; while, on the eastern side, the outline of a wall which enclosed a considerable space of ground can be traced in the grass-grown mounds. There is a high mound adjoining to the south-east, which had a winding path leading to the summit, and from which an extensive view can be obtained over the level country around.

It is believed that Lincluden was a frequent residence of the Earls of Douglas. They were the Wardens of the Western Marches; and a parliament of the Border chiefs was held here in 1468 by Earl William, in order to revise the laws of Border warfare.

Many of the Provosts of Lincluden were men of distinction. For instance, John Cameron (who died in 1446), besides holding important offices under the Crown, was afterwards made Bishop of Glasgow; John Winchester, who died in 1458, became Bishop of Moray; Andrew Stewart, who died in 1501, was appointed to the Bishopric of Moray; and William Stewart (1545) became Bishop of Aberdeen. Robert Douglas, the last Provost, enjoyed the benefice for forty years after the Reformation. Like other incumbents about that period, he endeavoured to dispose of the property for his own benefit, but was opposed by the prebendaries. Some of the latter continued to occupy the college till 1567;[144] and mass was sung in the church so late as 1586, under sanction of Lord Maxwell. The reversion of the provostry fell to William Douglas of Drumlanrig, grand-nephew of the last Provost. Lincluden was erected into a temporal barony in 1565, and subsequently passed into the hands of the Earl of Nithsdale, whose descendant, Captain Maxwell of Terregles, has done much for the repair and preservation of what remains of this charming old building.

A few traces of the original Norman masonry have been discovered. The church seems to have occupied the same site as the existing building, and to have consisted of a nave, 56 feet by 20 feet, and a choir of the same width. There was a north aisle, 9 feet wide, with cylindrical pillars and a depressed arcade. A south aisle probably also existed. The western door (4½ feet wide) can be traced, which had a semicircular arch of several orders. These facts were all ascertained during recent excavations.[145]

The Plan (see Fig. 799) shows the arrangements of the church of the fifteenth century and the other buildings, so far as preserved. The church consisted of a choir, which is in a fair state of preservation, except the roof and vaulting, the former of which has disappeared since Grose’s time. It is separated by a stone screen, with a wide doorway, from the nave and transept, which are greatly demolished, only the walls of the south transept and part of that of the south aisle of the nave now remaining. The choir is without aisles, and consists of three bays. It is 44 feet in length by 19 feet 6 inches in breadth internally. The nave and transept measured about 56 feet in length from the choir screen, and the nave appears to have contained three bays, with a window in each. It had an aisle on the south side. The responds of the piers still partly exist at the east and west ends. The nave and transept were about the same size as the original nave—viz., 56 feet long, the former being 20 feet and the aisle 12 feet broad.

The transept was without aisles, and was 14 feet in width, and projected 12 feet 6 inches beyond the nave aisle. There are foundations traceable on the north side of the nave, but it is not clear to what buildings these belonged. It is not improbable, however, that there may have

been a north aisle. The sacristy is entered from the north side of the choir. The door is very ornate, and contained, on two shields, the arms of Archibald the Grim and his lady (Fig. 801). The sacristy was covered with groined vaulting, and had an entrance from the court of the domestic apartments.

The details of the architecture of the choir are of great beauty (Fig. 802). It has often been remarked that they are unusually large and massive, as if intended for a larger structure, which gives them great picturesqueness of effect. The corbels which carry the vaulting shafts are carved in the form of angels, some playing musical instruments. The caps of the shafts are richly ornamented with foliage and armorial bearings; and as these are well preserved in the durable red stone of the district, the heraldic decorations tell the story of the intimate connection of the Douglas family with the structure (Fig. 803).

Large pointed windows, originally filled with fine geometric tracery (Figs. 800 and 804), are inserted in all the bays of the south side of the nave and choir and in the gable walls of the choir and transept. The design of the tracery may be easily restored from the surviving fragments (see Billings). The windows of the north wall of the choir are placed high in the wall and are of small dimensions, owing to the large monument in that wall, and also because part of the wall was covered by the roof of the sacristy. The mullions and tracery are all very massive and of purer geometric form than is generally met with in Scotland. The somewhat debased tracery common in later Scottish structures is here entirely absent.

The exterior of the structure (see Fig. 800) is simple, but chaste, in design, and accords well with that of the interior. The base mouldings and the beautifully-carved cornice are decorated in character.

The splendid monument in the north wall of the choir (see Fig. 801) was erected in memory of Margaret, daughter of Robert III. and wife of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, son of Archibald the Grim. He went to France in 1423, with a large retinue, to the aid of Charles VII., by whom he was created Duke of Touraine. He was killed at the battle of Verneuil, in 1424. The countess survived till about 1440. She made grants to the college in 1429, which were confirmed by her brother, James I. She also founded a chapel, and increased the number of inmates from thirteen to thirty-four. The monument is evidently part of the original design. The choir would, therefore, appear to have been in

progress during the countess’s lifetime, and may thus not have been completed till the first half of the fifteenth century was well advanced. In confirmation of this, we find that the arms of Provost Haliburton (see Fig. 803) are carved on the south wall, and he was superior of the college about 1430. The architecture of the church corresponds in style with the decorated work usual in Scotland in the first half of the fifteenth century, of which it forms an important example.

The monument to the Countess of Douglas is amongst the finest specimens of that kind of structure in Scotland. It is, like the other features of the church, of large size for the small building in which it is erected. The principal arch is semicircular in form, a peculiarity of common occurrence at all periods in this country. It is very richly ornamented with running foliage and small shafts and mouldings, and the inner arch is enriched with a large traceried border, elaborately foiled and cusped, while the outer label is decorated with carved crockets, and is carried up with an ogee curve to a large foliaged finial on top. The sides are bounded by buttresses of light and simple form, finished with crocketed finials, and a bold cornice, enriched with leaf ornaments, runs along the top. The base which enclosed the sarcophagus displays an arcade of nine trefoiled arches, each containing a shield, on which the arms of the family were formerly blazoned, but they are now much decayed by the weather.

“The Lordship of Annandale is represented by its saltier and chief; a lion rampant, the cognisance of the M‘Dowalls, typifies Galloway; three stars show the Moray arms, which the founder of Lincluden acquired by marriage; three stars of the first, with a man’s heart below, indicate the escutcheon of the Douglases when rising nearer the political zenith. * * * One of the shields displays a fess chequé, surmounted by a band ingrailed; another, the same emblem, without the band, these telling, in heraldic language, of the Royal Stewarts’ connection with the Douglases, the chequered fess illustrating the old tally method by which stewards kept their accounts.”[146]

Within the triangle formed by the label over the main arch there occurs a very remarkable design, consisting of three cups or chalices (Fig. 805), each accompanied with a star following one another round the triangle. As Grose suggests, these probably represent the insignia of the earl’s office as “panitarius” or cupbearer to the king. Some letters are engraved at the angles, but they are difficult to decipher. At the back of the monument are carved the following inscriptions, “A l’aide de Dieu,” and, lower down, “Hic jacet Dña Margareta Regis Scotiæ filia quondam Comitessa de Douglas Dña Gallovidiæ et Vallis Annandiæ.”

The tomb has been rifled, and is now empty, and the effigy of the countess, which still reposed on the monument in Pennant’s time (1772), has now disappeared.[147]

On the opposite side of the choir are the triple sedilia and piscina (see Fig. 802), both fine works, but sadly mutilated. They are of the usual style of the period, and are adorned with much carving of a similar description to that of the tomb.

Behind the place of the high altar, three large plain corbels are inserted in the wall (see Fig. 802). These seem to have carried a reredos of carved stone, and some fragments of a sculptured stone, such as would have suited for this purpose, still survive (Fig. 806).

As in other churches, the choir was reserved for the ecclesiastics, being separated from the nave by a stone screen (see Fig. 804), in which, however, there is a large doorway, six feet wide, which was furnished with an iron grating, through which the interior could be seen from the nave. The upper part of this screen formed a loft, approached by a turnpike stair. The loft, no doubt, carried the rood. It is wider than the screen wall, and is supported by three corbelled courses, decorated with carved work of a large and massive character. The two upper rows represent angels, with wings, and having their hands crossed in front of the breast. The lower row shows a number of groups of figures, much damaged, but apparently representing scenes from the life of Christ. The large arch over the screen formed the western termination of the choir.[148]

It will be observed that the springing of the groined vaulting of the choir (which is now demolished, or, possibly, was never completed) is still visible, rising from the caps of the vaulting shafts (see Fig. 802). The groining, like the other features of the structure, was of a complete character, corresponding to the perfected style of the architecture. It comprised the usual transverse, diagonal, and wall ribs, and had also, as is common in English examples, intermediate ribs, or tiercerons and ridge ribs. These can all be traced in the remaining fragments. But what is more remarkable is that the remains of another and independent tier of vaulting can be observed above the groined roof. This is evident from the Sketch (see Fig. 802), which shows the springing of an upper plain pointed barrel vault, strengthened at intervals with transverse ribs. Grose compares this with the vaulting of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge; but he has mistaken the purpose of the different vaults. That of Cambridge was introduced in order to carry the pendants of the fan-vaulting below, whereas that of Lincluden has evidently been built to support a stone roof above. Plain pointed barrel vaults are very common in Scottish churches, and are invariably introduced for the purpose of supporting a roof of overlapping stone slabs. Numerous examples occur in this work, and roofs of that description were also very usual in the castles—as at Borthwick, &c. Generally, the barrel vault is visible from the interior; but in the present instance, the building being a decorated one, a roof of groined vaulting has been intended under the plain vault.

Grose speaks of a third roof of timber over the barrel vault, and both his drawing and Pennant’s indicate a turf or straw covering. But that could hardly be original. The building was, in their time, almost as ruinous as now, and it is very likely that the stone slabs of the roof had been removed, and a temporary wooden roof substituted, or a covering of turf laid over the barrel vault, which, perhaps, at that time still remained.

The space between the two vaults would form a chamber, which may have been used as a sleeping apartment. The window in the gable is still visible. A similar apartment, with a window, seems to have existed over the vaulting of the south transept, and both appear to have entered from the turret stair in the wall between the nave and choir.

A similar roof to the above occurs at St. Mirren’s Aisle, Paisley Abbey, where the two vaults, with a small chamber between them, still exist.

The ornamental work of the nave (see Fig. 804) is similar to that of the choir, and of the same date. The vaulting shafts are carried on brackets carved with the figures of angels, and the caps are of similar massive design to those of the choir. The tracery of the windows was of the same geometric or decorated style as that of the choir. The foundations of the west end of the church are quite distinct, but the foundations on the north side of the nave seem to have belonged to later buildings, as they do not harmonise with the design of the church.

The domestic wing has already been noticed. The cellars of the basement enter from the courtyard. Some of these have ambries in the walls. An octagonal turret, about the centre, contained the entrance doorway and a wheel stair to the upper floor. It was also provided with the shotholes usual in the sixteenth century.

Another turret, in the angle next the sacristy, contained a private door to the latter, and, probably, another stair to the upper floor. The provost’s tower has evidently, from Pennant’s view, contained at least four stories; but it is now much decayed and demolished. These buildings present very much the appearance of a secular dwelling or castle of the sixteenth century.

The whole edifice being now surrounded with an iron railing, and properly looked after, it is hoped that this interesting specimen of Scottish ecclesiastical architecture will be long preserved from further ruin.

FORTROSE CATHEDRAL, Ross-shire.

According to tradition, the origin of the Church of Rosemarkie, the first cathedral of Ross, is ascribed to St. Boniface, otherwise known as Albanus Kiritinus or Cuiritan. This saint is now supposed to have been an Irish monk named Cuiritan, who, in the seventh century, adopted the Roman ecclesiastical forms, and, coming to Scotland, endeavoured to introduce them there. The legend of Bonifacius is evidently connected with the revolution by which King Nectan and the Picts conformed to Rome. After visiting various places in Pictland, and being well received by King Nectan, St. Boniface founded churches at Restennet[149] and Invergowrie, which were dedicated to St. Peter. Finally, he landed at Rosemarkie, on the north side of the Moray Frith, the site of an old Columban monastery founded by Lugadius or Moluog of Lismore, where, also, he built a church, and named it after St. Peter and Bonifacius.[150]

On this site, which is just opposite the long spit of land which runs far across the Frith from the south side at Fort George, there arose in later times a small town, while a larger ecclesiastical establishment, called the Chanonry, was afterwards founded about one mile further west. These two places were united under one charter by James II., in 1444, with the name of Fortrose, and the two small towns still remain in the same relative position.

The Culdee College continued at Rosemarkie till the Romanising influences of Queen Margaret’s sons were brought to bear upon it. In 1126 there occurs the first mention of the Bishop of Rosemarkie in a charter of David I. It seems probable that here, as at other places, King David converted the existing Culdee College into a chapter, and appointed the abbot, or prior, as the bishop of the diocese. The Bishop of Ross has this peculiarity, that he takes his title from the province, and not from the town, where he holds his see.

When Argyle had been brought under the royal power, the whole of North Argyle was, in 1221, added to the Earldom of Ross, and the diocese was largely increased by the addition to it of the churches in that county.

Up to 1227 the Chapter of Rosemarkie was small, consisting of the dean, the treasurer, the archdeacon, and four canons; but in 1235 Pope Gregory IX. gave leave to the bishop to found and endow new canonries, and increase the endowment of the other four.[151]

It seems probable that at the period of the enlargement of the chapter the cathedral was moved from Rosemarkie to Chanonry, or Fortrose. Although most of the buildings which would have fixed the date of this change are now removed, there still remains one structure which, from its style, seems to be of the first half of the thirteenth century. This is the undercroft of the sacristy, an erection the enlargement of which would be called for by the increased size of the chapter.

The cathedral then constructed was a large and important building. It stood on level ground not far from the Moray Frith, over which it commanded a fine prospect. The ruins still occupy the central position in the town of Fortrose, and stand in a large open plot of grassy ground, where they can be well seen, and where they are well cared for.

The existing portions of the cathedral are very fragmentary. The greater part of the church and the houses of the bishop and chapter have entirely disappeared. All that now remains consists of the south aisle of the nave and the sacristy or undercroft of the chapter house. So completely have the nave and choir of the church been swept away, that Mr. Muir was led to imagine that the existing south transept was the main body of the cathedral, and that it had only had an aisle on the north side.[152] But the excavations undertaken, about twenty-five years ago, by the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods and Forests, laid bare the foundations of the choir and nave, and showed that the cathedral had been a complete structure, with a choir 85 feet in length, and a nave 100 feet in length, the width of both being 25 feet.

What the style of the edifice was we have now no means of knowing; but it may be assumed that, like the sacristy, it was built in the first pointed style, which prevailed in the thirteenth century, when the see is believed to have been removed from Rosemarkie to Fortrose.

Mr. Muir may well have been deceived with regard to the existing south aisle, for it is a structure of unusual size and splendour, and, in its present solitary condition, presents rather the appearance of a complete church, with distinct choir and nave, than that of a nave aisle. It is composed of two parts (Fig. 807), an eastern portion, which measures 41 feet 6 inches in length by 21 feet broad, and a western portion, 56 feet 6 inches long by 14 feet 9 inches broad, with a bell turret projecting at the angle where the two parts meet.