Fig. 1063 is a general view of the transept looking towards the south, and shows the recess for a tomb under the south window. Fig. 1064 is
an enlarged view of this tomb recess; the centre stone of the ogee arch has dropped slightly, owing to a failure in the walls at the south-east corner. The piscina alongside has a neatly constructed square basin.
Fig. 1065 shows the outside of an angular headed doorway near the north-west corner of the transept. The doorway with the projecting hood, seen alongside, leads into the staircase giving access to the house.
Measured drawings of these two last subjects were given in the account already referred to.
This edifice occupies a very picturesque situation on the summit of a crag in the bosom of Arthur’s Seat, not far above the base of the hill. Immediately to the north and west of the walls the ground descends in an abrupt and precipitous manner, and to the south the surface, which gradually rises, is rough and rocky (Fig. 1066); while on the east a huge wall of rock towers high above the building, completely hemming it in on that side.
Only the north wall of the chapel and the returns of the west and east walls remain, together with the foundations of the south wall, enough, however, to enable it to be determined fairly well what the completed building was like. In the drawings (Fig. 1067) the indications existing are completed and restored, so as to give a better idea of what the structure was like than can be done by description alone. The present condition of the edifice is shown in the ground Plan, section from east to west and north elevation (Fig. 1068), and in the general view from south-east (Fig. 1069). The building measures on the outside 43 feet in length by 18 feet 3 inches in width, but the internal dimensions of the chapel proper (see Plan) are only 32 feet 9 inches by 12 feet.
The chapel (see Fig. 1068) was divided into three bays by a vaulted and groined ceiling, portions of the ribs of which, with their corbel supports, still exist in the north wall. The height of the vaulting at the wall is about 14 feet.
There was a window in the central and eastern bay of the north wall, and a doorway in the west bay, and, according to Maitland,[79] the same arrangement existed on the south side. There is a locker in the usual place at the east end of the north wall. Maitland further says that in the “southern wall near the altar is a small arched niche, wherein was put the holy water.” This, however, does not now exist. There was a priest’s house over the western bay, the size of which can still be determined by the existing return of its east wall, as seen in the north elevation, and the longitudinal section. Part of the building, at the west end, on the ground floor, was screened off from the chapel by a partition wall, of which the indications exist. On the ground floor this was vaulted, as shown by
section at tower, and contained a locker. Within this space at the south-west corner there was, doubtless, a wheel stair, which by the first revolution led to an entresol over the arched space just referred to. This entresol was probably a garderobe, and was lighted by a small window, shown on the Plans and Section. The stair, continuing upwards, would land at the first floor over the chapel, which consisted of a room about 15 feet by 13 feet, lighted by a north window. Adjoining this window a portion of the north wall is thinned by about 15 inches at the floor level so as to form a recess, which contains a window. Over this the wall is carried at its usual thickness by a half arch, as shown by the longitudinal section. Probably this recess was screened off from the room to form a small closet. There was a fireplace in the west gable; part of its flue still remains, with one of its corbels for supporting the lintel and chimney breast. In the restored drawing (see Fig. 1067) it is supposed that there was an upper room. Assuming that the
first floor room was 10 feet high in the ceiling—and it is not likely to have been higher—the height of the existing wall at the north-west corner warrants this assumption, as above the 10 feet level it rises 3 feet more in its present broken down condition. That it rose to a higher level than it does now is almost certain, in which case an upper room would be obtained, as shown by section at tower (see Fig. 1067). This corresponds with Maitland, who says that the tower was perhaps upwards of 40 feet in height. The second floor room would, of course, be reached by a continuation of the stair. At the staircase landing a small outside bartizan is introduced in the restored drawing, such as is frequently found in the pele towers. This arrangement of the two upper rooms is similar to what is found in the church of the Carmelite Friars at South Queensferry and at Torphichen, both of the same period as St. Anthony’s. There is also, but on a more elaborate scale, something of the same arrangement at Stobhall in Perthshire, already illustrated.[80]
To the south and west of the chapel there are remains of walls, and particularly of what is called the hermitage (see Fig. 1066); but these are very fragmentary, and so intermixed with the natural rock, which crops up everywhere, that not much can be made out in connection with them.
Of the origin of the chapel nothing appears to be known, and almost the same may be said of its history. One of the earliest notices of it—if not the earliest—occurs in the Treasurer’s Accounts of 1473, as follows—“Item, vjto Februarij, to offir in Sanct Antonis in the crag, to the King, xijs.” In the same accounts it is again referred to in 1491 and 1496—“Item,
at he laid down for the King, on Sanct Anthonis day in Sanct Anthonis chapel, besid Edinburgh, to the Kings offerand ixs.” Again in 1498, the King (James IV.) made an offering in “Sanct Anthonis of the crag of xjs. viijd.”
An exhaustive review of the present condition of the chapel and hermitage, and an account of the various references to them by different writers, has been prepared by Mr. Fred. R. Coles.[81] Mr Coles gives reproductions of various old views, with notes on all the earlier known drawings, as also observations on St. Anthony and churches dedicated to him, and for further information on this subject we beg to refer readers to this valuable paper.
Grose states that hermitages were frequently erected on the sea coast, and at dangerous places, and that the patron or tutelary saint of these hermitages was St. Anthony the hermit, and suggests that the situation of St. Anthony’s on the crag which stands conspicuous from the Firth of Forth
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 tutelar saint. There is a fine spring of clear water close to the site, which may have led to the establishment of the hermitage there. The building contains almost no features by which its date can be ascertained, but it is here classed along with the buildings of the third period, to some of which it bears in certain respects an analogy.
The village of Rosslyn is picturesquely situated on the high north bank of the river North Esk, about seven miles south from Edinburgh; and the ancient castle of the St. Clairs[82] stands on an isolated promontory called the College Hill, which, adjoining the village of Rosslyn, juts out
into the deep valley of the Esk. The celebrated Church of Rosslyn, erected by the proprietors of the castle, stands on the brow of the steep bank of the river above the castle, and commands a splendid view of the valley. 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 principal authority regarding the history of the church and the family of the St. Clairs of Rosslyn is Father Richard Augustin Hay, prior of St. Pieremont, whose mother, by a second marriage, became wife of Sir James St. Clair of Rosslyn. About the year 1700, Father Hay made copious extracts from the family documents, which have been since lost, and these extracts, together with his comments, have been published under the title of the Genealogie of the Sainteclaires of Rosslyn, including the chartulary of Rosslyn.
The edifice was erected by Sir William St. Clair, third Earl of Orkney, who succeeded to the estates about 1417. About thirty years afterwards he founded the Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Certain letters which occur on shields along the cornice of the north wall have been ingeniously deciphered by Dr. Thomas Dickson, of the Register House, Edinburgh, as the initial letters of the following words,[83] viz.:—Wilzame · Lorde · Sinclare · Fundit · Yis · College · Ye · Zeir · of · God · MJJJJL. The structure appears, however, to have been begun a few years earlier, about 1446, as in the year 1447 the continuator of the Scotichronicon says, “Dominus Willelmus de Sancto Claro Comes Orcadiæ est in fabricando sumptuosam structuram apud Roslyn;”[84] and probably the foregoing inscription refers to some ceremonial event connected with the building. Sir William died in 1484, and he appears to have left the building very much in the condition in which we now find it. In that case its erection would be the labour of about forty years.
The church was a collegiate foundation, for a provost, six prebendaries, and two singing boys or choristers, and was dedicated to St. Matthew. It consists (Fig. 1070) of a choir with north and south aisles, connected
by an aisle which runs across the east end, and gives access to a series of four chapels beyond it to the east. The dimensions of the building are as follow, viz.:—interior—length of choir, 48 feet 4 inches; width of central aisle, 17 feet 10½ inches; width over aisles, 35 feet; total exterior length, 69 feet 8 inches; height to the apex of the roof, 41 feet 9 inches. The original intention was to have completed 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 length across the transepts, as founded, is about 72 feet. Mr Thomson, the custodier of the chapel, who saw the west walls of the transept exposed, states that the transepts were intended to be 18 feet wide, as drawn on Plan. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, Rosslyn, in his guide to the chapel, says that the foundations for the entire building had been laid, and that those of the nave, which extended to about 91 feet to the west, were dug up and exposed at the beginning of the present century. This exactly corresponds with the length which the nature of the ground would permit.
The choir, both internally and externally, is remarkably symmetrical, the bays being all of the same dimensions, with only slight differences in the carving, which do not affect the general design. Thus (Fig. 1071) all the buttresses rise unbroken by set-offs to the wall head of the aisles, where the cornice continues round them, and they have all on the face canopies of the same size and style. Above the cornice on the ten buttresses on the north and south sides of the choir there rise on each two massive pinnacles, connected by a small flying buttress between them (Fig. 1072). The outer pinnacles, which are flush with the face of the buttresses, are square on Plan, and are decorated according to two alternate patterns (Fig. 1073), viz., canopied niches in the one, and large rosettes set in hollows in the other. The inner pinnacles (Fig. 1074), which rest on the thickness of the wall, are all practically alike. They are oblong on Plan, and are so placed as to offer most resistance to the flying buttresses, which are thrown across the aisles and rest upon them. The pinnacles are ornamented with rosettes on the angles, and crockets on the sloping top. The back of these pinnacles and the lower parts, where not seen from below, are left plain, without any ornament. The flying arches abutting against the pinnacles are carved with a revived Norman-like chevron.
The pinnacles (Fig. 1075) on the buttresses of the east chapels are naturally somewhat different, as they have no thrusts from flying buttresses to counteract. There is only one pinnacle on each of these buttresses, and although they are all of different design, their effect corresponds with that of the outer pinnacles of the aisles of the choir. The back of these pinnacles is left unfinished (Fig. 1076), like those at the sides, but the portions visible are very elaborately carved.
The windows of the aisles (see Fig. 1072) are all of two lights, and
have the same mouldings and orders of decoration both in the inside and outside of the wall, each jamb having two beaded shafts with carved caps. These beads are continued round the arches, and a large hollow
moulding connects them, which in the arches is always filled with carving. In the jambs there are two different patterns in the alternate windows, the one being a simple niche with canopy and bracket for a figure, and the other the same, but with a moulded block instead of the figure. There is very little variety in the tracery. The windows on each side correspond with those on the opposite side. In the eastern chapels four of the windows have the engrailed cross of the St. Clairs wrought into the tracery.
The clerestory windows (see Fig. 1072) are all after one design, the shafts, mouldings, and arches on the outside being repeated in the interior (Fig. 1078). These are similar to those of the aisle windows just described. Their decoration consists of large rosettes, occurring at regular intervals in the hollow moulding between the shafts of the jambs. All the clerestory windows are single lights. The tracery of the large window in the east end (Fig. 1077) is modern. Its design is probably founded on ancient remains, but whether or not it accords well with the rest of the building.
The north and south doorways, which are opposite each other, are recessed in quasi porches (see Figs. 1072 and 1073)), formed by round arches thrown between the buttresses, and the minor differences of the doorways are shown in the sketches. The upper part of a window appears over each, as in the south doorway of Glasgow Cathedral. The aisle roofs being flat, there is no triforium or blind story, and the clerestory windows are carried down to the string course over the main arches (see Fig. 1078).
Turning now to the interior, it will be observed that the main piers are composed of a series of round mouldings, separated by slight square fillets, and that the corresponding wall shafts or responds (Fig. 1079) are of trefoil form, with good caps and carved bases, which rest on the side bench. The arch mouldings of the main arcade (see Fig. 1078) are shallow, with regularly recurring orders of decoration, each arch having an enriched hood moulding. The upper part of the wall slightly overhangs on a bold carved and moulded string course. The wall space between the clerestory windows is ornamented with two canopies and massive brackets placed one over the other.
The choir roof, which consists of a pointed barrel vault (see Fig. 1080), is divided by strengthening ribs into compartments corresponding with the bays, and each compartment is decorated differently (see Fig. 1078). The dividing ribs are moulded, and have large projecting cusps in the form of fleurs-de-lys, &c., on the soffit. The compartments of the roof are entirely “powdered with stars” or rosettes, set square or diagonally. The construction of the aisle roofs is peculiar, although something similar is frequent in castles, as will be afterwards alluded to. A regularly constructed straight arch with proper radiating joints, concealed behind upright joints, spans each aisle (see Fig. 1079) from pillar to wall shaft. These horizontal arches or lintels have flat relieving arches over them, which in some instances are visible. The aisles are roofed with a series of
pointed barrel vaults thrown between the above straight arches, and running at right angles to the axis of the building (Fig. 1081). This is
one of the most unusual features of construction in the edifice. The straight arches or lintels, as they may be called, are all most profusely
carved with foliage or figure carving (Fig. 1082), the amount of decoration on each being, as usual, of corresponding artistic value.
On the arched roofs of the north and south aisles, to the east of the
doorways and of the east aisle, there is carved in each bay an engrailed cross, the one limb running along the crown of each arch, and the other downwards from this on each side. But in the north and south aisles, in the three bays west from the doorways, the engrailed band is only continued along the crown of the arch, the other limb being omitted, which may possibly be meant to distinguish the more sacred part of the edifice.
The eastern chapels are the only part of the building in which there is groined vaulting. The compartments are oblong, and have pointed cross arches (Fig. 1083), the diagonals meeting at the apex. Elaborately carved pendants, about 4 feet long, occupy the place of the usual boss; while at the springing of the arches, against the east wall, great projecting horns, resting on curved corbellings or cones above the caps of the wall shafts, radiate outwards and downwards, one horn to each rib, so that they are in groups of three.
The object of these curved cones, with their projecting horns, may be explained as follows:—It will be seen on referring to the Plan (see Fig. 1070) that the centre line of the east chapels is not in the centre of the space between the two eastmost buttresses, and consequently not in line with the centre of the north and south windows between those buttresses. In order to make the centre line of the vaulting coincide with the centre of the windows, it was necessary to introduce some kind of support for the foot of the east arches, at a distance of about 2 or 3 feet from the east wall. The above cones and horns were introduced for this purpose, and from them the vaulting on the east side springs. In connection with this arrangement, the late David Roberts, R.A., contended that the “east wall of Rosslyn had been pulled down and set further back, to give 3 feet more room.”[85] But this supposition finds no warrant whatever from an examination of the building. A more likely explanation is that the above cones may have been introduced as a kind of imitation of the springing of
the fan vaulting common in England in the fifteenth century. The heavy pendants were also probably derived from the same source.
Against the east wall of the choir were the remains of four altars, which have been restored (see Fig. 1083), one of them being situated over the stair leading to the lower chapel. Beside it there is a square headed piscina, and on the south side of the other altars there are ogee headed recesses in the wall. On the east side of the south doorway there is a richly carved stoup.
In the transepts (Fig. 1084) there are remains of three canopied piscinas, two in the south transept and one in the north transept. They bear a general resemblance in their details to the sacrament houses in some of the churches in the north, and to the piscinas in Melrose Abbey. Between the two in the south transept there is a recess in the wall, showing where an altar has been intended, and a similar indication in the north transept on the north side of the piscina shows the same intention. Over each of these altars there are three moulded and carved brackets, probably meant for statues. On the south side of the centre opening into the choir there is a recess for another altar, and on the north side there is an arched piscina; both have carved brackets above them. A bracket in a similar position, relative to the altar and piscina, exists at Dunglass Church.
A singular feature of the church, which would have been more apparent had it been finished, is that the choir is almost cut off by a solid wall from what would have been the other divisions of the structure. Fig. 1084 shows the wall as seen from the outside. The openings into the side aisles are about 4 feet 3 inches wide and about 11 feet high, and the opening on the ground level into the central aisle is about 7 feet wide. These three openings are all covered with straight arches. Above the central opening there is a lofty aperture like a window covered with a pointed arch, probably meant to contain the rood. Above the caps of the jambs of the side openings there are two carved figures (Fig. 1085), that on the north being St. Sebastian, and that on the south St. Christopher.
Beyond the east end of the church and on a lower level, so as to suit the slope of the ground (Fig. 1086), a chapel has been erected, which is reached from the south aisle by a straight stair of twenty-five steps. This chapel measures 36 feet in length from east to west by 14 feet wide. It is barrel vaulted (Fig. 1087), and is lighted by one window only, at the east end. The window is a simple pointed one, without tracery. There are several ambries in the walls, and an eastern altar with a piscina. There are also a fireplace and a small closet about 11 feet square on the north side. A door leads out on the south to what has been an open court, where there are indications of other buildings having existed or been intended. It would thus appear that in all probability
there was a residence here, and the chapel may have served both as sacristy and private chapel.
This chapel or sacristy is supposed to have been built in the lifetime of Sir William St. Clair’s first wife, Lady Elizabeth or Margaret Douglas, daughter of Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglass, and first Duke of Touraine, from the circumstance that her arms (Fig. 1088) are sculptured on the east wall. The shield has two coats impaled: Dexter, a coat quarterly, dimidiated, viz.—First a galley within a double tressure, flory counter
flory, for Orkney; 3rd a cross engrailed for St. Clair, being the 1st and 3rd quarters of the arms of the Earl of Orkney; Sinister, in base a heart, and on a chief three mullets, for Douglas, the shield being surmounted of a fess charged with three fleurs-de-lys (2 and 1) for Touraine. Lady Elizabeth died in 1452.
The barrel vault of the sacristy (see Fig. 1087) is semicircular, and supports a flat roof formed with overlapping stones. The vault is strengthened with transverse ribs carved with the engrailed cross, which spring from corbels sculptured with figures of angels and saints (Fig. 1089).
In considering the history of Rosslyn Church many of the statements of Father Hay regarding the St. Clairs and Rosslyn require to be received with considerable caution. He was a hero worshipper, and Sir William was his hero. The latter is represented by the Father as living in more than royal magnificence at Rosslyn, with many of the nobles of Scotland waiting upon him as servants. That is a very incredible statement, as is also the assertion that under the fostering care of Sir William, Rosslyn became the “chiefest town in all Lothian, except
Edinburgh and Haddington.” But few who visit this chapel will be inclined seriously to quarrel with the Father on account of his enthusiasm for the Rosslyn family. To the purest in Gothic architecture Rosslyn may seem barbarous and debased, but it must be allowed to be splendid barbarism, meted out with the most liberal hand. Sir William is further represented by Father Hay as bringing artificers from foreign lands, and setting them to work on Rosslyn College, and on this unsupported statement many writers have found the prototype of this building abroad, some in France and some in Spain, and even Rome is hinted at in the well known story of the ’Prentice Pillar. The unusual richness of the ornamentation of the edifice, so different from most of the structures
erected in this country at the time, has doubtless led to these attempts to attribute the design to a foreign architect or a foreign country, where richly decorated structures exist.
But this amount of decoration, being so exceptional in Scottish edifices, seems to have proved misleading. No parallel to Rosslyn has, so far as we know, been discovered abroad, and it is unnecessary to go so far afield in search of a model. The leading principles of the design are really Scottish, and it will be found, on careful analysis, that Rosslyn Church presents a rich and finished epitome, both as regards constructive and decorative elements, of the Scottish ecclesiastical architecture of the third or late pointed period. The plan of the east end of Rosslyn Church so closely resembles that of the choir of Glasgow Cathedral, that there is hardly room to doubt that the latter was the model after which the former was designed. The disposition of the pillars in the two buildings agrees exactly, the side aisles in both being connected by an eastern
aisle, which in each case has a central pillar in the east arcade, and in each edifice a series of chapels beyond this aisle forms the east end. The details are, as is natural, seeing that the buildings are about two centuries apart in date, entirely different, but it is curious to observe how in both cases even the minute parts of the design are remarkably alike. Thus the triple niche over the central pillar of the east arcade at Glasgow finds a counterpart in the same position at Rosslyn (see Fig. 1078). The east wall and gable of both choirs occupy the same relative position, rising above the eastern aisle and chapels. Churches with an eastern aisle are not unknown in England, such as Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, and Romsey Abbey, Hampshire; but the former has three openings in the east end, thus showing an arch in the centre; while Romsey Church, Glasgow Cathedral, and Rosslyn Church have the peculiarity of having a pillar in the centre of the east arcade.
Much has been made of the resemblance between the barrel vaults of Rosslyn and those of the south of France, but there does not appear to be any connection between them. The pointed barrel vault was the form commonly practised in Scotland in the fifteenth century, both in churches and castles. Mr Fergusson says that this kind of vault is “foreign and unlike the usual form of vaults found in Scotland,” but the examples given in this book show that he is mistaken. Pointed barrel vaults are to be found in the churches at Seton, Queensferry, Ladykirk, Whitekirk, Borthwick, Crichton, Corstorphine, Dunglass, and many others, and numerous examples might be given from the castles. There can, therefore, be no doubt that the masons of Scotland were at this period quite familiar with that system of vaulting, some of which, such as the vaults of Borthwick Castle, in the same district and built a little earlier than Rosslyn, are of considerably larger dimensions. The pointed barrel vaults of castle halls and churches are generally covered with sloping stone roofs, as at Bothwell, Borthwick, &c., but at Rosslyn the curved form of the roof has been adhered to, externally as well as internally. The coping of the east gable has been finished to this curve (see Fig. 1077), and there is no indication of any straight roof having been intended. It is possible, however, that it had been originally contemplated to cover the extrados of the choir vault, which still remains unprotected, with an outer stone roof, in accordance with the usual practice; but, owing to the slightness of the clerestory walls, the outer stone roof was omitted in consequence of its great additional weight, which, it may have been believed, would be too great for the side walls to sustain. The roofs of the aisles and east chapels, which are almost flat, are covered with overlapping flags. Until the building was restored some thirty years ago, these parts of the building were covered with a temporary slated roof, which cut off one half of the clerestory windows. The mark of this roof is still visible in the walls.
When we examine smaller details, we find the same methods adopted by the Rosslyn builders as were familiar to the other builders of the country, thus all the lintels or straight arches connecting the main pillars with the side walls, which are such striking features at Rosslyn, are composed of small stones, having radiating joints in the same manner as is frequent in the lintels of the wide fireplaces in the halls of the castles. It may also be noted that the jambs of these fireplaces often terminate in curious moulded caps, often very clumsy, and not unlike the caps of the responds at the east wall of Rosslyn. The plans of the castles sometimes show a series of small parallel apartments, with barrel vaults abutting at right angles upon a passage or wider hall, which may have suggested the parallel barrel vaults of the aisles of Rosslyn. But, indeed, the form of the main arcade itself suggests such an arrangement. The carved canopies and corbels placed on the face of the buttresses and window jambs (see Fig. 1090) are thoroughly characteristic of the Scottish churches of this period, and when their general design is considered, these features at Rosslyn will be found not to differ materially from those of the churches of Melrose, Linlithgow, Seton, Trinity College, and other buildings. Compare the disposition of small canopied niches round some central feature, such as the buttress niche (Fig. 778) at Melrose, and the pinnacles (see Figs. 1075 and 1076)) at Rosslyn.
On the sides of each buttress at Rosslyn (see Figs. 1072, 1073, and 1091) there is a splayed moulding, a kind of set-off which runs from the front of the buttress back to the wall, on the top of the base string course. A somewhat similar set-off occurs on some of the buttresses of the chapter house of Glasgow Cathedral, built a few years before Rosslyn.
A large number of details from Melrose have a very decided resemblance to those found at Rosslyn. Thus the staircase turret (Fig. 773)