David MacGibbon

“ So far as we have been able to discover, no complete history of this church has ever been written, and the circumstances connected with its original erection and subsequent reconstruction do not appear to have been definitely ascertained and described. It is certain that a church existed here in the twelfth century, and it is obvious, from an inspection of the structure, that not a single stone of that early building remains to enable its size and appearance to be determined. ”

“ They are all three light windows, and have square heads at Perth and Dunkeld, while at Dunblane the head is practically square, having a very flat segmental arch. The south aisle wall of the nave (Fig. 1046) is a curious medley (which we hope will not be restored) . The round arched doorway near the east end is, we presume, original; but it is not easy to tell the new work from the old, as the mouldings of all windows and doors on the outside have received a great amount of patching with cement and paint, owing to the crumbling nature of the stone. ”

“ The details of the crossing (Fig. 1042) are simple and effective, even as seen under the very unfavourable circumstances that a partition wall blocks up the east arch, and that there are galleries beneath the others. There is a west gallery, but it is omitted in the sketch. The massive piers, with their rounded shafts and very broad fillets, have a striking effect. The groining is of the usual kind found in this position in Scotland. It will be observed that in the ridge ribs, holes for bell ropes are most carefully wrought through the ribs, which are strengthened at those parts. ”

“ The main portion of this church, although its walls may in part be old, is not of much architectural merit, but the chancel (Fig. 1578) is not without interest as a specimen of late Gothic work. It is now used as a burial vault, and is completely ivy clad. It measures about 18 or 20 feet square, and is of modest height, being some 10 or 12 feet to the eaves.
The chief feature is the east window, with its rude tracery. The latter, which is of a different stone from the jambs and sills, is probably a restoration of late in the sixteenth century, while the chancel itself may be a little earlier. ”

“ There the south cloister arcade, the door to the church adjoining it, with the chapel projecting at the north-east angle (and to these may be added the Teampul na ghlinne, on the Colonsay side of the strand) , are examples of rubble building, in the local schist, where arches are turned and openings formed without a trace of freestone or any material that could be hewn. The portion of a mullion of transitional date found in the ruins proves that freestone had been imported to the island by the close of the twelfth century, and was in constant use thereafter. ”

“ Most of the new edifices of the late pointed style in Scotland differ from those in England in many particulars. The Scottish churches are, as already stated, usually smaller in size, and consist of single compartments without aisles. Although frequently designed as cross churches, with choir, nave, and transepts, they are rarely finished, the choir or the choir and transepts being often the only portions carried out. The east end frequently terminates with a three-sided apse. ”

“ On the north side of the church is a room with a round barrel vault, probably the sacristy. From the door of the sacristy a narrow passage runs along the east end of the church in the thickness of the wall, and from it there are two loops into the church. Above this passage, and also in the thickness of the wall, another narrow passage is constructed in the east wall, which is continued round in the north wall as far as the vault of the sacristy extends. There is a shallow piscina in the east window sill. The west end has a door in the centre, and three remarkable niches above it. ”

“ The castle was much enlarged by Robert, fourth Lord Sempill, ambassador to the Court of Spain in 1596; but some of the existing remains have the appearance of being still more modern. The old mansion was dismantled towards the end of last century, and the materials used in the erection of farm-buildings and dykes. “What remains are chiefly the outer walls to the left (north) of the courtyard and some more ancient-looking remnants at the back (east) , attached to which are remains of what may have been the chapel of the saint.” ”

“ Most of the churches of the seventeenth century are either very poor imitations of Gothic work or tasteless examples of plain walls, while a few contain the germs of what might have been wrought into a picturesque style, founded on the domestic architecture of the period. ”

“ The present west wall is modern, probably of this century. The choir measures, internally, 13 feet from east to west by 18 feet 6 inches wide. The total length across the transepts is about 53 feet 6 inches from north to south by 13 feet in width, all inside dimensions. It will be observed that the nave and choir are not quite in the same line.
The crossing (Fig. 1233) is covered with a pointed barrel vault in continuation of that of the choir, and is supported at the springing by very massive low round arches, which span the entrance to each transept. ”

“ THE CHURCH OF THE DOMINICANS OR BLACKFRIARS, St. Andrews, Fifeshire.
Amongst the many remains of religious establishments still visible in this old ecclesiastical centre, the ruins of a small part of the Church of the Blackfriars are prominent from their situation, being an ivy clad fragment of the church which stands detached in the grounds of the Madras College, and forms a conspicuous object close to South Street, one of the leading thoroughfares of the town. ”

“ The introduction of numerous small figures of men and animals is a peculiarity of the period generally, and is found both at home and abroad. Much of the carving of Rosslyn Church is of this description, and similar carving may be seen at Melrose Abbey and Stirling Castle, and on the rood screens in Glasgow Cathedral and Lincluden College. Elaborate figure carving is common in other countries at this period, as at Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster, and in the churches of France and Spain. ”

“ Each arch is filled in with two pointed arches resting on a smaller central shaft. These arches and the spandril between them are treated with bold cusping.
The triforium of the nave of Dunkeld Cathedral somewhat resembles that at Paisley Abbey. It contains a series of semicircular openings filled with similar pointed arches and cusping, but the work at Paisley is superior, and would appear to be the earlier of the two. In neither church is there any vaulting shaft to divide the bays.
The clerestory is probably designed in imitation of that of Glasgow Cathedral. ”

“ The chapter house (Fig. 1055) is the only portion of the abbey in good preservation. It consists of an apartment about 24 feet square, with a central pillar, from which spring the ribs of the groined vaulting. At the side walls the ribs rest on corbels. The apartment is lighted with two traceried windows (Fig. 1056) , the tracery of which has been renewed within recent years, after the pattern of the old tracery. The door enters from the cloister on the west. It is of semicircular form (Fig. 1057) , and exhibits in its capitals some peculiar and striking sculpture. ”

“ In the case of the apse of Linlithgow Church the difficulty of the intersection of the apse with the choir vault was avoided by sticking on the apse against the east end wall, like a large bow window. This{4} enabled the apse windows to be carried to a good height. Generally speaking the windows in the apse are very low, being kept down below the main arch, and admit little light, thus rendering the vault extremely dark, as, for instance, at Seton Church. ”