John Patrick, Third Marquess of Bute, K.T. (1847-1900) Part 23

[12] "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory."--Prov. iii. 16. Bute's Presbyterian friends and neighbours knew and respected his familiarity with, and veneration for, the Scriptures. "He was a Bible-loving man, and very religious-minded,"

one of them said of him: "I have heard that he always opened the meetings [of the Town Council] with a prayer he wrote himself." See as to this, Appendix IV.

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CHAPTER XII

PLUSCARDEN--BUTE AS ARCHITECT--PSYCHICAL INTERESTS--CONCLUSION

1898-1900

The latest addition made by Bute to his large landed possessions in Scotland was one which on several accounts was the source of much interest to him during the last years of his life. Just as the chief attraction of Falkland, which he purchased in 1887, had been the fact that it included the ancient royal palace and its hereditary Keepership, so the princ.i.p.al inducement to him to acquire, as he did in 1897 from the Earl of Fife, the Morayshire estate of Pluscarden, was that he thereby came into possession also of one of the most beautiful and interesting ecclesiastical relics in Scotland.[1] This was the roofless church, as well as considerable remains of the domestic buildings, of Pluscarden Priory, founded by King Alexander III. seven centuries before for monks of the little-known Order of the Cabbage-valley.[2] In {216} the middle of the fifteenth century Pluscarden had pa.s.sed into Benedictine possession; and connected with this change of ownership were several architectural problems of the kind which it always interested Bute to attempt to solve. He had a dislike of the word "restoration," as applied to ancient edifices which were, and still are, so often spoiled in the process; but he expended much time and care, and not inconsiderable sums of money, in putting the different portions of the venerable buildings--choir, chapter-house, dormitory, and calefactory--into such repair as was possible. He was deeply moved and gratified at being able to arrange, in the summer of 1898, for the celebration of Ma.s.s (the first for fully three hundred years) by a Scottish Benedictine monk, in the perfectly-preserved oratory of the prior's lodgings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLUSCARDEN PRIORY.]

It was characteristic of Bute's scrupulous regard for tradition and order, that before taking possession of Pluscarden he applied to Rome, through the Bishop of Aberdeen, for a _sanatio_, in other words, a sanction of his acquisition of the property of the Church, and asked if he should, as a preliminary step, give the refusal of the buildings to the Benedictines of Fort Augustus. A reply was received in September, 1897, from Cardinal Ledochowski, Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda, to the effect that such an offer was not necessary, and that the great benefactions already made by Lord Bute to the Catholic Church were to be considered as ample compensation.

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[Sidenote: Building achievements]

Pluscarden Priory was the last, and to himself not the least interesting, of the many ancient and historic buildings to the maintenance of which Bute was in a position to apply his profound archaeological knowledge as well as the architectural skill and taste which made him, as it was expressed by one well qualified to p.r.o.nounce an opinion, "the best unprofessional architect of his generation." It will be appropriate in this place to give a brief _conspectus_ of the princ.i.p.al building operations which he undertook in the course of the thirty-two years between his coming of age and his too early death.

The restoration and partial rebuilding of Cardiff Castle was the earliest work of the kind undertaken by Bute. The lofty tower conspicuous on the southwest of the castle enclosure, the restoration of the great southern curtain wall, with its covered way, and the erection of the n.o.ble staircase were among the most important of his building operations at Cardiff, which included also the discovery and partial restoration of the old Roman walls and gateway, the re-excavation of the moat, and the clearing and re-marking the sites of the mediaeval friaries of the Dominicans and Franciscans. Most of the work at Cardiff was carried out under the direction of the distinguished architect William Burges, who was responsible for the whole of the fanciful and elaborate interior decoration both of the castle and of Castell Coch, the thirteenth-century fortress some five miles north of Cardiff. This castle, which was in a completely ruined condition, was restored by Bute, under Burges's direction, to its original state; and experts in such works have p.r.o.nounced it one of the most perfect restorations ever carried out.

Two anecdotes of Burges, whose personality and {218} genius were both somewhat of the eccentric order, may be here related on the authority of a distinguished and venerable member of his own profession, who knew him well. Bute invited him to come and see his new house at Mountstuart, then nearly complete, and took him into the great drawing-room, where he called his attention to the ceiling with its lining of panelled mirrors, on which were painted cl.u.s.ters of grapes and vine-leaves. Burges looked up, shrugged his shoulders, muttered "I call that d.a.m.nable," and walked on.

Burges was accustomed to keep with him in his office a favourite terrier, which made itself occasionally disagreeable to visitors who called. When it was pointed out that the effect of this might be to keep away possible clients, Burges only grumbled out, "A good thing too! I have far too many as it is." Once a sporting friend came in to see him, bringing his own terrier, which he boasted was the best ratter in the country. Burges would not hear of this, and the matter was at once put to the test. The office-boy was sent out to some neighbouring purlieu for a sack of rats: a rat-pit was extemporised out of drawing-boards, architectural folios, and other paraphernalia of the office; and an elderly and distinguished client who chanced to call, intent on business, found the rat-hunt in full cry, and the eminent architect and his friend in their shirt-sleeves, hallooing on their respective champions to the slaughter.

[Sidenote: Restorations in Bute]

Bute contributed handsomely to the restoration funds of such historic edifices as St. John's Church at Cardiff and others on his Glamorgan estate; and he re-roofed and put in complete repair the small twelfth-century church of Cogan, near Cardiff, which {219} had fallen into decay. It may be of interest, in this connection, to quote a letter which he addressed to his brother-in-law and fellow-Catholic, Lord Merries, who had consulted him as to the propriety of his subscribing to the restoration fund of Selby Abbey, which had been in great part destroyed by fire:

The question is one of some delicacy; but its solution is facilitated by the circular which you have sent me, which specifies various objects for which subscriptions are invited. I can only advise you in accordance with my own practice in such matters. You may reasonably decline to provide such adjuncts or accessories to Anglican worship as pulpits and litany-desks, service-books and altar-cloths, lecterns and candlesticks. But to give a donation towards the actual rebuilding of a most venerable monument of Christian piety (which your ancestors probably helped originally to erect) is a thing which, I conceive, you may very properly do--and all the more so in view of your official connection with the county.[3]

Bute's native and t.i.tular island, which within its comparatively small area contains perhaps as many interesting remains of feudal and ecclesiastical antiquity as any district in the kingdom, afforded him, of course, many opportunities of applying his archaeological and architectural knowledge to the congenial task of repairing and preserving these venerable fragments of the past. Prominent among them is the ruined eleventh-century castle in the middle of Rothesay, of which Bute was hereditary keeper, and of which he restored the gateway, drawbridge, and moat, clearing away the mean modern {220} tenements ab.u.t.ting on the castle, and also re-building and re-roofing the great hall. The ruined church of St. Blane, also of the eleventh century, was likewise partially restored by Bute four years before his death, when a large number of interesting objects were discovered among the foundations of the early Celtic buildings.[4] Bute also restored the ancient castle of Wester Kames, and rebuilt the wall round the venerable chapel of St. Michael in North Bute, to preserve it from further depredations.

The greatest architectural enterprise undertaken by Bute in his native island, or, indeed, anywhere else, was the erection, from the designs of Mr. (afterwards Sir Robert) Rowand Anderson, of the palatial house of Mountstuart, which replaced the plain old mansion burned down in 1877. This great pile of pink sandstone, with its curious upper storey of brick and oak, vast marble hall and staircase, high-pitched roofs, corbelled oriel windows, and beautiful private chapel with vaulted crypt, was begun in 1879, and at Bute's death twenty-one years later was still unfinished. His characteristic slowness in completing any architectural work which absorbed him is treated of, with much else of interest in the same connection, by Sir R. Rowand Anderson in his valuable appreciation of Bute in his relation to architecture and architects.[5]

[Sidenote: Work at Falkland Palace]

Bute's acquisition in 1887 of the estate of Falkland, carrying with it the hereditary keepership of the ancient royal palace, gave him even more scope {221} than Mountstuart for indulging what some one once designated his "pa.s.sion for stone and lime," or, as the phrase would run in England, for bricks and mortar. Falkland appealed to him not only as an architect, but as an antiquarian. The varied beauty of its sadly-dilapidated buildings, and the long and romantic story of the palace and its occupants, were to him of equally absorbing interest.

He spared neither time nor money in his work of restoring the historic pile to something of its ancient grandeur; and it was said that for a number of years he devoted the whole available income of the estate to his building operations at the palace. The corridors and floors were laid with oak and teak; many of the rooms were elaborately panelled in oak, and their ceilings emblazoned with heraldic and other devices; while in the Chapel Royal, the royal pew and ancient pulpit, and the magnificent oaken screen, were completely and carefully restored.[6]

Besides the costly interior work, mostly in the main or southern block, Bute executed much judicious excavation in and about the palace; and it was a great satisfaction to him to discover in the garden the foundations of the great twelfth-century round tower, dating from the time when Falkland was in the possession of the Earls of Fife. Another interesting work was the restoration of the old royal tennis-court, which Bute was accustomed to say had been, he believed, last used for play in the reign of James V., the father of Mary Queen of Scots.

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Mention has already been made of Bute's purchase of the site and remains of the Augustinian priory of St. Andrews, where he did a great deal of careful excavation and made many valuable discoveries. At Elgin, too, as has been seen, he was able to acquire the interesting old monastery and church of the Greyfriars; and it was a particular happiness to him, as it has been also to his youngest son, who inherited his property in the county of Elgin, that this unpretending sanctuary--now a convent of Sisters of Mercy--should have been once again, after more than three centuries, made available for the religious worship to which it was originally dedicated.

[Sidenote: 1899, Catholicity of taste]

It is unnecessary, even were it possible, to give anything like a _catalogue raisonne_ of Bute's less important architectural achievements. For more than thirty years, in the graphic phrase cited by one of the most distinguished members of the profession, "his hands were never out of the mortar-tub." No one familiar with the mult.i.tudinous and varied work executed under his immediate supervision during those years could fail to be struck by the catholicity of his taste, as well as by his curious and detailed knowledge of all architectural styles and periods. The feudal ma.s.siveness of Cardiff and Castell Coch, of Rothesay Castle and Mochrum, the graceful Gothic of Pluscarden, the Franciscan austerity of Elgin, the rich Renaissance and Jacobean details of Falkland, the Byzantine perfection of Sancta Sophia (copied by him in miniature at Galston)--all these appealed to him, each in its degree, with equal interest and force; and this catholicity of taste was reflected not only in the new buildings which he raised, but in the ancient buildings which he {223} repaired, re-roofed, or restored with such careful reverence. Every detail of such work was personally supervised by himself; and he would be equally at home, and equally absorbed, in working out an heraldic design for the roof of an abbey church,[7] excavating among the almost shapeless ruins of a mediaeval cathedral,[8] elaborating a purely Greek scheme of decoration for the oratory of his house in London,[9] or studying the details of the Sainte Chapelle at Paris, the upper basilica of a.s.sisi, and the Gothic dome of Zaragoza,[10] in order to reproduce something of their varied beauties in his exquisite private chapel at Mountstuart.

The transparent honesty which was part of his character was manifested in such restorations as he undertook at Cardiff, Rothesay, and St.

Andrews, where at the cost of some aesthetic sacrifice, and often at much added expense (for the materials had sometimes to be brought from afar), he carried out the work in a stone different in colour from the ancient building, so that there should be no possible future confusion between the old and the new. Altogether it must be said that to Bute's other t.i.tles of honour is to be added that of a n.o.ble patron of a n.o.ble art. He enriched his native land with many splendid edifices, and he probably did more than any man of his generation to preserve and secure for posterity the venerable and priceless relics of his country's'

past. _Cor suum dabat in consummationem operum, et vigilia sua ornabat in perfectionem_.[11]

One of the last publications issued by Bute (it {224} appeared in 1899) was a book ent.i.tled "The Alleged Haunting of B---- House," a curious, if not altogether convincing, account of certain phenomena said to have occurred at a country residence in Perthshire, which Bute had leased for the purpose of psychical investigation. He had always, and more especially in the later years of his life, been attracted by such questions, and was at the time of his death a vice-president of the Society for Psychical Research. He was particularly interested in the subject of second sight, of which he endeavoured to obtain first-hand evidence by inst.i.tuting inquiries among the Catholic Highlanders of north-west Scotland; but the person whom he commissioned to conduct the inquiry was to a great extent baffled by the insuperable reluctance of the Highlanders to communicate on such matters with a stranger. Bute himself maintained a very open mind as to all such phenomena, although he did not of course dispute their objective possibility. He had a profound distrust of paid and professional mediums, and was fully alive to the physical, moral, and spiritual risks attendant on all such researches unless conducted with due precaution and under proper guidance.

One of the chief ornaments of the judicial bench, who knew Bute well, once observed of him that if his vocation had been to the law, he might have reasonably looked to attain the highest honours of that profession:

Industry, learning, patience, impartiality, capacity for work, a remarkable power of grasping facts and weighing evidence, clearness of expression, and a single-minded desire for truth--if these, combined with a n.o.ble presence and a lofty integrity {225} of character, are qualifications for judicial office, Bute possessed them all, and in a high degree.

[Sidenote: 1899, Effect of psychical study]

Such qualities, or most of them, were no doubt equally serviceable when brought to bear on the obscure phenomena of psychical research, which Bute approached with the same unprejudiced detachment as he did the study of astrology, or the problems from the nooks and corners of history with which he loved to grapple. A friend ventured to ask him, not very long before his death, if he grudged the many hours he had devoted to these recondite investigations. He replied emphatically in the negative, adding after a pause: "I cannot conceive any Christian, or, indeed, any believer in life after death, _not_ being painfully and deeply interested in such questions. For my own part, I have never doubted that there is permitted at times a real communication between the dead and the living, but I am bound to say that I have never personally had any first-hand evidence of such communication which I could call absolutely convincing." The last words were spoken with a certain melancholy earnestness which made a deep impression on the hearer. That Bute's interest in these matters had no frightening or depressing effect on himself is shown clearly enough from a note in his diary in which, after referring to his own rapidly-declining health, he adds: "My study of things connected with the S.P.R. has had the effect of very largely robbing death of its terrors."[12]

With the resignation of his Lord Rectorship of St. Andrews at the end of his second term of office, {226} Bute's public work may be said to have come to an end. He had, as has been seen, conditionally accepted his re-election as Provost of Rothesay, but as the time drew near his resumption of the office was seen to be impossible. It was, in fact, in August, 1899, three months before the time due for the election, that he was struck down with what proved to be the beginning of his fatal illness. He rallied for a time, and his mind remained as unclouded, and his interest in many things as keen, as they had ever been; but it became before long increasingly evident that there was no prospect of any return to the activities of the past. 1900 was the year of the Pa.s.sion-play at Ober-Ammergau; and he had always hoped to go thither once again with his family, and to renew in their company the well-remembered impressions made by his three previous visits.

When this could not be, he rejoiced that his children were able to make the pilgrimage under the escort of an old friend, and he interested himself in every detail of their journey.

As time pa.s.sed on, and his weakness increased, reading and writing, which had been the chief solace of his life, were of course no longer possible to him. He suffered little bodily pain during his last illness, but much weariness and depression, which he bore with his usual quiet fort.i.tude and patience; and the gradual declension of his remarkable mental faculties, his keen intellect, vivid imagination, and retentive memory, was (it is a consolation to believe) far less distressing to himself than it was to the devoted watchers at his sick-bed. In the summer of 1900 he was removed to Dumfries House, in the hope that its more bracing air might be beneficial to him. He had always, as has been already remarked, loved {227} the beautiful old home of his Crichton ancestors, which both within and without was one of the most notable works of the brothers Adam, although the amenity of its surroundings had been to some extent spoiled by the numerous coalpits. "Falkland is probably, the most luxurious of my houses," he had once remarked, "but I think Dumfries House is, perhaps, the homeliest of them all." The improvement to his health wrought by this change was unhappily only transient: he grew gradually weaker, and on October 9, 1900, a few hours after being attacked by a second stroke, he quietly breathed his last, being then in the fifty-fourth year of his age.

[Sidenote: 1900, Death and funeral]

Bute was buried, according to his own wish, in the chapel close to the sea, within the grounds of Mountstuart, which he had fitted up some twenty years previously for Catholic worship. The funeral service was all the more impressive because of hired pomp and grandeur there was absolutely none. His coffin, made by his own carpenters, was borne by his own workmen from Dumfries House to the little wayside station, whence it was conveyed to the sea, and thence across the Firth of Clyde to Kilchattan Bay, in Bute, where a great a.s.semblage awaited its arrival, and followed it for nearly five miles on foot, the only carriage being that of the widow. One who was present thus describes the sad procession:

Through the russet and gold of the October woods it pa.s.sed, preceded by the cross and a long array of bishops and clergy, and followed by the young sons, the Duke of Norfolk, Lords Loudoun, Glasgow, and Herries, and many other notable people. Night was falling as our _cortege_ reached the little chapel on {228} the sh.o.r.e where the remains were to rest; and the pine torches carried by the a.s.sistants threw a sombre glare on the coffin, on which were laid a black and gold pall, and the dead peer's coronet and the chain and green velvet mantle of the Thistle. Vespers of the dead were sung: black-robed sisters watched by the bier all night; and next morning the dirge was chanted, the requiem ma.s.s celebrated, the five absolutions reserved for prelates and great n.o.bles solemnly p.r.o.nounced. The single bell tolled from the little turret as the mourners silently dispersed, leaving John Lord Bute to rest in peace within the ivy-covered walls washed by the waves which encircled his island home.

A few days after the last sad rites, Bute's widow, with her daughter and three sons, left England for the Holy Land, in order to carry out his long-cherished desire that his heart should be interred in the sacred soil of Olivet. It was reverently laid in the tiny garden of the Franciscans, outside the humble chapel known as _Dominus Flevit_--"The Lord wept"--the traditional spot, half-way up the holy mountain, where the Saviour shed tears over the approaching fate of the beloved city. An oleander tree alone marks the place of sepulture; but at the entrance of the little sanctuary is affixed a marble tablet bearing the following inscription:[13]

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PAX ESTO AETERNA

ANIMAE PIENTISSIMAE

JOANNIS PATRICII MARCHIONIS III DE BUTE

IN SCOTIA

VII ID OCTOBR