Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys Part 4

SCOTTISH COLLEGIATE CHURCHES

The creation of collegiate churches was a practical endeavour toward ecclesiastical reform in the fifteenth century, when the foundation of monastic establishments ceased. They had no parishes attached to them, and were regulated very much as the cathedrals. They arose with the purpose of counteracting the evils incidental to the monastic system, and were formed by grouping the clergy of neighbouring parishes into a college, or by consolidating independent chaplainries. They were called praepositurae, were presided over by a dean or provost, and the prebendaries were generally the clergy holding adjacent cures. In Scotland, during more recent times, the term "collegiate" was applied to a church where two ministers (as at St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh) served the cure as colleagues, but in the fifteenth century the term had a different and wider significance. Collegiate churches were then an expression of the zeal and munificence that were displayed in the enlargement and decoration of buildings, when all cla.s.ses vied with each other in the endowment of chaplainries for the maintenance of daily stated service, always including prayers and singing of ma.s.ses for the souls of their founders, their relations, and benefactors. The collegiate churches were also an evidence from within the Church itself of the need for reform in the great Benedictine and Augustinian abbeys that were then in the ascendant throughout the country.

Scotland possessed forty-one collegiate churches, but s.p.a.ce will only permit us here to deal with nine of them: Biggar, Bothwell, St. Nicholas (Aberdeen), King's College (Aberdeen), Roslin, Stirling (Chapel Royal), St. Giles (Edinburgh), St. Mary's and St. Salvator's (St. Andrews).

_Biggar (Lanarkshire)._--The collegiate parish church of St. Mary was founded in 1545 by Malcolm, third Lord Fleming, for a provost, eight prebendaries, four singing boys, and six bedesmen. It is interesting as being among the latest, if not indeed the last, of the Scottish pre-Reformation churches. It belongs to the Late Pointed period, is cruciform in plan, consists of chancel with apsidal east end, transept, and nave, with square tower and north-east belfry turret over the crossing. There are no aisles. Formerly a chapter-house existed on the north side of the chancel, but it has been removed. The ancient roof was of oak, and the timbers in the chancel were gilt and emblazoned.

_St. Bride's Collegiate Church, Bothwell_, was founded by Archibald "the Grim," Earl of Douglas, in 1398, for a provost and eight prebendaries.

He endowed and added a choir to the existing parish church. The present church is a fine Gothic building, erected in 1833, with a ma.s.sive square tower to the height of 120 feet. East of this tower is the choir of the old collegiate church, of the Middle Pointed or Decorated period; it is a simple oblong chamber with a sacristy on the north side. The church, externally divided by b.u.t.tresses, has four bays with a series of pointed windows in the south wall, and three windows in the north wall. The arch of the entrance doorway in the south wall is elliptic in form. The roof of the church is covered with overlapping stone slabs, which rest on a pointed barrel vault--one of the earliest examples met with. In the sacristy there are a piscina and a locker, and in the south wall of the choir the remains of a triple beautifully carved sedilia and a piscina.

The sacristy is roofed with overlapping stone flags supported on a vault. Monuments to the two Archibald Douglases, Earls of Forfar, are in the church. In this church David, the hapless Earl of Rothesay, wedded Marjory, the founder's daughter, in 1400, and one of its provosts was Thomas Barry, who celebrated the victory of Otterburn in Latin verse. It has been recently restored and made worthy of its great past.

_New Aberdeen._--The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, said to be the largest mediaeval parish church in Scotland, was made collegiate about 1456 by Bishop Ingeram de Lyndesay (1441-1459), and is said to have possessed, besides the vicar, "chaplains to the number of thirty."[230]

Its clergy were named the "College of the Chaplains" of St. Nicholas, and after, as before, the inst.i.tution of this new order the church remained the parish church. Only two portions of the ancient building now remain--the transepts and the crypt at the east end below the choir.[231] The present nave was rebuilt about 1750; the choir was taken down in 1835 and rebuilt in the most tasteless fashion; the walls of the crypt and transepts were all refaced except the north front of the transept, which was altered considerably in the seventeenth century; the central tower was burned in 1874, and the existing central spire was thereafter erected. A carillon of thirty-seven bells has been placed within it.

After the Reformation the rood-screen gave place to a wall, and St.

Nicholas was divided into two churches, the West consisting of the former nave, the East of the choir, and the Romanesque transept between (known as Drum's and Collison's aisles) serving as vestibule. For the early architecture attention must be confined to the interior of the transept and crypt. The transepts are of the transitional style of the end of the twelfth century; the piers which carry the central tower are of the usual transitional type, having graceful capitals and square abaci supporting round arches; on each side of the north transept there are two original clerestory windows, and one of them has angle shafts, with carved caps and mouldings. The present large north window has remains of its original features, but its tracery is of late work. There is a transition attached shaft with carved cap and square abacus in the low pointed recess. There is only a shaft on one side of the recess, and the pointed arch of this recess, as well as the tomb alongside, below the large window, are of later work.[232] On the west side of the north wall there has been a round arched doorway, and traces of it are yet visible. The crypt is at the east end of the choir, but is on a lower level, and was approached by two stairs, one from the north and another from the south aisle of the choir. Only their round arched openings remain as recesses in the walls of the crypt. The present stairs are modern. The crypt consists of one central and two side aisles, with an eastern apse; it is p.r.o.nounced to be a very picturesque and interesting structure, and it fortunately escaped being rebuilt, like the rest of the church. It has a groined roof, and the three compartments in the length are separated by pointed arches that spring from moulded caps on octagonal responds. "The opening into the apse has a stunted round arch, and is a prominent example of the love of the Scottish builders for this form of arch all through the Gothic period."[233] Each compartment of the apse has a central boss, and there is a considerable amount of carved woodwork in the crypt--some of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and some later. The choir that was recently taken down superseded an older one, and it is probably to this former choir that references are contained in the _Council Register_ for about a century from 1442.

_Old Aberdeen, King's College._--Of Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen (1488-1514) it is said: "With no private fortune, and without dilapidating his benefice, he provided for the buildings requisite for his University and Collegiate Church, and for the suitable maintenance of its forty-two members; and the Cathedral Choir, the King's College, and the old gray bridge spanning the valley of the Dee are monuments to his memory that command the respect of those who have no sympathy with his Breviary, rich in legends of Scottish Saints, and who would scarcely approve of his reformed Gregorian chant."[234] The college was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and being placed under the immediate protection of the King, came to be known as King's College.

King James IV. and Bishop Elphinstone endowed it with large revenues. It was a faithful copy of the University of Paris. The Collegiate Church of St. Mary, on the north side of the quadrangle, was consecrated by Edward, Bishop of Orkney, and had eight priests or vicars choral belonging to it, and six singing boys.[235] It was begun in 1500 and finished in 1506, and it was said that all its stones and beams proclaim Bishop Elphinstone their founder, who also presented the chapter with many valuable vestments, vessels, etc. The chapel is a long, narrow building, with a three-sided apsidal east end. It is divided into six bays by projecting b.u.t.tresses, and has a large window filled with mullions and tracery in each bay on the north side, except the second one from the west, which contains a doorway. Similar large windows are continued in the apse, and there is also one in the east bay of the south side. Over the west doorway there is a large west window of four lights, with solid built mullions and loop tracery enclosed within a round arch.[236] The tower at the south-west corner has ma.s.sive corner b.u.t.tresses. It is finished with one of the few crown steeples remaining in Scotland, forming,

"with that of St. Giles, Edinburgh, and the Tolbooth, Glasgow, the only three surviving of those which we could at one time boast. The general style of the structure is very similar to that of St. Giles, but in this case there are only four arches thrown from the angles of the tower to the central lantern, while in the case of St. Giles there are eight, which produce a fuller and richer effect.... The part blown down (by a violent storm in 1633) was probably only the lantern on the top of the four arches, the details of this part having a decidedly Renaissance character, and being different from the other parts of the tower. Doubtless the arches themselves would suffer in the crash, and would require repairing and rebuilding in part, which was evidently done, as the date 1634 is carved on the soffit of the crossing. This difference of detail is interesting as showing how persistently these old designers wrought in the style of their time. Although it is evident that the present lantern is not quite the same as the original one, it must be admitted to be an extremely happy and picturesque composition."[237]

The chapel suffered both externally and internally in the course of the centuries, but, thanks to the enlightened liberality of Aberdeen citizens and alumni, it has been recently restored under the direction of Dr. Rowand Anderson. In 1823 the choir end was fitted up for worship on the Sundays, and the nave was occupied by the library, which was not removed and located in a building of its own until 1873. The choir screen was then shifted westward from its original position, where its west front formerly bisected the chapel.

"In the ideas of Bishop Elphinstone," said the late Princ.i.p.al Sir William Geddes, "and his age, the choir-screen was intended to part.i.tion off the sacred _clerus_ from the _non-clerus_ or laity, and, by the predominance of anthems and songs in the choir-service, to image forth the conception of the blest society in heaven, where there is only praise; but the 'Collegium' which he const.i.tuted has, through historical causes, given way to the wider society of the 'Congregation,' in which preaching is as prominent as praise, and hence came the removal of the choir-screen westward, so as to accommodate a larger audience than the Collegium proper. This removal the Restoration Committee of 1891 acquiesced in and accepted, but the change is one for which they are not responsible."[238] It will be interesting to give here a brief resume of what has been stated by the Princ.i.p.al regarding shields and symbolism in the restored chapel. (1) As to the treatment of the floor: no shield has been admitted into the floor but such as represent persons in close relation to the King's College, of a date antecedent to the Scottish Reformation of 1560. When the series is completed, they will be found to represent:--

_Royal Shields_

1. James IV., the Royal Founder. Motto, _Leo Magnanimus_.

2. Margaret Tudor, his Queen. " _Rosa sine spina_.

3. St. Margaret, Queen of Malcolm " _Crux columbis lex_.

III. (Canmore).

_Episcopal_

4. Bishop Elphinston. Motto, _Non confundar_.

5. " Gavin Dunbar. " _Sub spe_.

6. " William Stewart. " _Virescit vulnere virtus_.

7. " John Leslie. " _Memento_.

_Literary_

8. Princ.i.p.al Hector Boece. Motto, _Silva frequens trabibus_.

9. Dean Robert Maitland. " _Consilio et animis._

_In Ante-Chapel_

1. (North side) _Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae_ (Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy House), Psalm xxvi. 8.

2. (East side) _Initium sapientiae timor Domini_ (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom), Motto of the University.

3. (South side) _Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur_ (We praise Thee, O Lord, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord).

4. (West side) _In te Domine speravi: non confundar_ (In Thee, O Lord, have I trusted: let me never be confounded).

The roof has a continuous system of decoration in colour and floral ornament, except in the four compartments at the extreme east end over the apse, where structural necessities imposed a variation. The central s.p.a.ce of the roof is filled with scrolls containing the words, Laus, Potestas, Honor, Gloria, in ecclesiastical letter, varied by insertions of the monogram of the Saviour, I.H.S., at intervals recurring. "Below these, and towards the junction of the roof with walls, appears what may be called a flying scroll of inscriptions, being a series of Latin texts and chants, chiefly from the Vulgate, capable of being read continuously, round the roof, and interrupted only by the apse, which, as explained, has a separate treatment." "In the apse, which, like Scottish apses of that period, is not semicircular, but has three facets, being semi-hexagonal, the frieze inscriptions are the University motto in its two clauses, with Sursum Corda in the centre. These occupy severally the three divisions into which the apse frieze falls, while in the compartments above are the symbolical figures in gold usually a.s.sociated with the four Evangelists, viz. the Angel of S. Matthew, the Lion of S. Mark, the Ox of S. Luke, and the Eagle of S. John.

The flying scroll attached to these figures is the text in Revelation (iv. 8). The band at the springing of the arched roof is variegated by a series of shields or disks, in which the sacred monogram alternates with the emblems of the Pa.s.sion. The order in which the emblems have been placed is as follows:

_West End_

South side ends. North side begins.

15. Moon. 1. Sun.

14. Ladder. 2. Bag of Judas.

13. Spear and Sponge. 3. Lantern.

12. Dice. 4. c.o.c.k.

11. Seamless Coat. 5. Scourges.

10. Hammer and Pincers. 6. Pillar and Cords.

9. Three Nails. 7. Crown of Thorns.

8. Cross, I.N.R.I.

_East or Apse End_

"The figures of the sun or moon, which are usually represented in the Crucifixion scene, on either side of, and close to, the cross, have here by a certain liberty been made to commence and close the series." ... "Fortunately the fretwork, when reversed, was found, though fragile, to be fairly sound; and, although not all entirely on a uniform pattern, a large section of it, when turned upward, presented the appearance of a series of Pots of Lilies, side by side, a discovery which largely reconciled one to the alteration, inasmuch as this emblem of the Virgin is known to have been not only familiar to, but also a favourite with, the Founder of the College.

The King's College, besides, was originally the College of S. Mary."

_Chancel and Apse_

The Professorial stalls have for the cresting the emblems of the Seven Virtues, viz. the four cardinal virtues of the Philosophers, and the three celestial virtues, or Graces of the Theologians. The sequence is:--

{1. Justice, symbolised by the Scales and Balance.

{2. Courage " " Thistle.

{3. Temperance " " Bridle.

{4. Prudence " " Compa.s.ses (Mariner's and Carpenter's).

{5. Faith " " Pillar with Wreath of Victory.

{6. Hope " " Anchor.

{7. Love " " Flaming Heart.

They are repeated in such order on both sides, and the four Cardinal Virtues are towards the west or exterior; the three Theological Virtues toward the east or interior of the apse. On the stall forming the eighth on the south side, there is the monogram of the Alpha and Omega. On the panels of the stalls, "the leading idea sought to be maintained was the representation in sequence of the various emblems of Christ and the Christian life, as drawn from the cornu copiae of Nature, in the fruits and flowers of the vegetable world, that unfallen portion of creation which the Divine Teacher honoured by drawing from it, and from it alone, His similes and parables. They are severally as follows, commencing from the west:--

1. The Lily.} 2. The Palm.} 3. The Rose.} 4. The Trefoil.