CHAPTER XIV

EDINBURGH or MIDLOTHIAN: BERWICKSHIRE

HOLYROOD: DRYBURGH

HOLYROOD (_Augustine Canons_)

1128, Founded by David I. and dedicated to the Holy Rood--1322, Plundered by the English under Edward II.--1326, Robert Bruce holds a Parliament in the abbey--1333-4, A Parliament held, at which Edward Baliol renders homage to Edward III. as superior Lord of Scotland--1385, Burnt by the followers of Richard II.--_c._ 1460, Abbot Crawfurd restores the church--1469, James III. marries Margaret of Denmark in the abbey church--During the abbacy of Robert de Bellenden, successor of Abbot Crawfurd, the Papal Legate of Pope Julius II. presents James IV. with a crown and sword of state at Holyrood--1543, The Earl of Hertford’s army burn “the abbey called Holyrood House”--1547, During the English invasion, Sir William Bonham and Edward Chamberlayne assault the abbey and destroy the choir transept--This rebuilt soon afterwards and repaired--1565, Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Lord Darnley--1617, James VI. restores the church of Holyrood (which since 1559, after partial restoration, had been used as a place of worship of the Reformed Church)--1630, Charles I. crowned September 29th, Charles erected Edinburgh to a Bishopric--1636, Scottish Liturgy announced--1687-8, The chapel royal re-decorated and fitted up for Roman Catholic Ritual by James II.--1688, The church plundered by a Presbyterian mob and utterly desecrated--1758, A builder, employed by the Barons of the Exchequer, restores the roof of the nave badly, which consequently fell two years later--1816-57, The church repaired.

The imposing group of buildings which constitute Holyrood Palace lie on a piece of meadow land at the foot of an eminence known as Arthur’s Seat, on the outskirts of Scotland’s metropolis. Though the greater portion of it was the former home and dwelling-place of kings, and its walls connected with many domestic associations, there is a smaller and comparatively insignificant part, which not only has been the scene of several royal coronations and marriages, but before these ever took place was the abode of Augustine canons in the 12th century. This, the only remaining fragment of the monastery founded by David I., is now known as the chapel royal, the ruined shell of which it is pitiful to behold.

The abbey was founded by David I. Such a prince required no special intimation from heaven to prompt him to found a religious house under the shadow of a fortress where he himself resided. A miraculous interposition, however, on behalf of the king himself, when prostrate under the antlers of a “wild hart,” has been assigned as the immediate cause of the foundation of the abbey. Bellenden, the translator of Bone, relates that the event happened in the “vail that lyes to the Eist fra the said castell, quhare now lyes the Cannogait,” and which at that time was part of “Ane gred forest full of hartis, hyndis, toddis, and siclike manner of beistis.” As David was pursuing the hunt with ardour, a hart rushed at him, dashing both him and his horse to the ground with great violence. David threw both hands between the antlers of the stag to save himself from the blow when “the holy croce slaid incontinant in (into) his hands.” The wild deer fled in dismay at the sight of the sacred emblem to which it seemed about to do violence; and the king, being afterwards admonished in a dream, resolved to dedicate a house to the “Holy Rude,” the Virgin and All Saints on the very spot where “he gat the croce.” A far more likely reason for the founding of the abbey is that David built it as a repository for the fragment of the true cross brought by his mother, St Margaret, from Waltham Abbey. As in the case of many another foundation, kings and princes frequently claimed hospitality from their religious brothers; and though the monastic cellars and larders may not have boasted the delicacy and sumptuousness of a royal kitchen, their illustrious visitors would doubtless be quite content with the homely fare and good cheer offered them. This was repeatedly the case at the monastery at Holyrood, and the custom being that each visitor should present an oblation to the patron saint of the house, the monks had always the wherewithal to compensate themselves for the necessary outlay.

In the abbey church there were several chapels and altars dedicated to various saints. The Lady chapel was, as usual, in the choir at the back of the high altar, and we read of another called “the abbot’s chapel.” There were two altars, one dedicated to the Holy Cross, and another called the “Parish altar.” In the southern chapel adjoining the high altar, were those of St Andrew and St Catherine, founded by George Creichton, Bishop of Dunkeld; while there were altars dedicated to St Stephen, St Anne, St Crispin and St Crispinian. Royal patronage and favour continued to be shown, and in course of time the town became the acknowledged capital, while during the reign of James IV. the palace was begun. On its completion it became the favourite home of the Scottish royal house until James II. of England was driven from his throne at the time of the Revolution. Within the walls of the conventual church, renovated as the chapel royal by James VI., many high ceremonials took place. Several monarchs with their queens were crowned there, and it was also the place of interment of various royal and notable persons. Among these were David II., James II., James V., and the foolish Darnley, to whom Mary, Queen of Scots, plighted her troth, at the east end of the present church.

It is necessary to remember that the ruins only consist of the original nave, and though not of large proportions, they are well worthy of careful reverential inspection, for the decaying walls show workmanship of a very high architectural order, chiefly of the period of transition between the passing Romanesque and the coming Gothic Early English. The north wall of the north aisle, with two shattered piers, and the south aisle with all its columns still remain standing. The eastern ends of the two aisles--where they formerly communicated with the transepts--are filled up with windows, each resting on a wall. This is also the case with the east end of the wrecked building, for the present east window is modern, having taken the place of one which was blown in in the year 1816, and which had previously filled the arch of the great central tower, destroyed with the transepts and choir in the 16th century. Some considerable evidences are visible of earlier work at the east end of the south aisle beyond the mass of masonry which marks the royal vault. Here a walled-in doorway, which once communicated with the cloister, is of Norman work of not later than 1160, having a round headed arch with zig-zag and billet moulding. The masonry adjoining it is evidently of the same period. Again a more developed Early English style is shown in the exterior of the noble west façade which consists of a deeply recessed portal, having eight shafts on either side with elaborate mouldings and two peculiar windows above, in character somewhat allied to the Perpendicular. Over the doorway is the following inscription bearing the date of Charles I:--

He shall build ane house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his Kingdom for ever.

BASILICAM HANC SEMI RUTAM CAROLUS REX OPTIMUS INSTAURAVIT ANNO DONI CIↃ I^{Ↄ}XXXIII.

The seven buttresses which support the south wall from the outside were built by Abbot Crawfurd in the 15th century. Of the entire range of conventual buildings devoted to the domestic uses of the canons, not a vestige has been left. It is concluded, however, that the wall of the south aisle of the nave of the church, and the west wall of the adjoining transept formed, as was not uncommon in monastic edifices, two sides of the great cloister, leaving the others to the chapter house, refectory, and other principal apartments of the establishment. Doorways led into the cloister from the eastern and western extremities of the south aisle, one of these entrances being still in excellent preservation. The existing royal palace undoubtedly covers to a great extent the site of the domestic buildings of the abbey; but a large portion of these extended further towards the east than any part of the present great quadrangle. The choir and transepts of the abbey church have, as we have already seen, also disappeared, and the nave as it now stands, ruined and roofless, is itself almost the sole record of that which is gone--that sacred edifice which, when entire, was an august and magnificent building.

DRYBURGH (_Præmonstratensian Canons_)

_c._ 1150, Founded by David I., and granted many liberties and immunities--Colonised by monks from Alnwick--_c._ 1322, Burnt by the soldiers of Edward II.’s retreating army but rebuilt shortly after--Set on fire by Richard II. during one of his forays--1545, Burnt by Sir G. Bowes and Sir B. Layton; the church only saved--1832, Sir Walter Scott buried here.

In a sunny little glade, fringed around by great oaks, clothed in verdure and luxuriant foliage, and reposing midst an almost unnatural calm, all that is left of this Præmonstratensian abbey basks in the sun. Trees not only shade it from without but also from within,--actually growing out of the walls themselves. Dryburgh, signifying “oak growth,” is a town in Berwickshire delightfully situated amidst varied scenery, a few miles only from Kelso and Melrose. A convent was founded here in the 6th century, and, on its site, St Mary’s Abbey for White canons was built in the 12th century. The ruins are beautiful both in situation and construction. Flowing past them, the Tweed takes a crescent-like course and engirts the woods in which the red walls of the abbey stand. A suspension bridge spans the river and a sloping wooded lawn stretches away in front of the ruins.

Despite its terrible treatment in the 16th century by Bowes, Layton and the Earl of Hertford, the conventual church survived. The chapter-house is even yet practically entire, and the principal portions of the buildings can be traced. The plan of the church was cruciform, having a presbytery instead of a Lady chapel, a fragment of which is yet standing. There were aisles to nave and choir, while the transepts, which extended only one bay beyond the line of the nave, had each an eastern aisle. Early English work is evident in the choir and transepts, and that of the Early Decorated period in the nave. Connecting the south transept to the chapter-house, is the chapel of St Modanus--so called after an abbot of that name who lived in the 6th century--which still preserves its altar and sedilia, and is lighted by two round-headed windows. A double circle marks the founder’s grave in the chapter-house, above which is a large room. Other parts of the domestic buildings are still in existence--such as the kitchen, refectory and dormitories--all of the Norman Transitional period--besides remnants of the porter’s lodge, dungeon cells and cloisters.

With regard to the founding of this abbey, it is thought that the early work is probably a part of the original construction provided for by Hugo de Morville, Lord Lauderdale, and his wife, Beatrix de Beauchamp, in 1150. The new church is particularly interesting inasmuch as it shows how the Scots still held to the round arch long after the remainder of their architecture had become thoroughly Gothic in character, for not only is the 13th century door of the monks built with a round arch, though with purely Gothic mouldings and capitals, but the 14th century west door, built after the burning of the abbey by Richard II., is the same.

Dryburgh has been associated with many men eminent in their own walk of life: Abbot Oliver, Royal ambassador to England; Canon Patrick, poet and man of letters; Ralph of Strode, Chaucer’s friend and Wycliffe’s antagonist; Chaucer himself, and then a line of commendators, the last of whom was James Strail, who tried in vain to stem the tide of simony, sacrilege, and depredation that was engulfing the Scottish Church. In 1545 the great blow fell. Henry VIII. gave to Sir Ralph Eure, Sir George Bowes, and Sir Brian Layton a feudal grant of the land they had the year before devastated and laid waste. Thereupon these chivalrous and noble gentlemen, Eure and Layton, forthwith journeyed into Scotland at the head of a formidable host eager to seize on their “lawful lands.” They swept the south of Scotland with fire, burning anew Melrose, Kelso, Dryburgh and four other abbeys, sixteen castles, five great towers and 243 villages. Retribution awaited them, however, for on Ancrum Moor they were attacked by a brave body of patriotic Scotchmen under the Earl of Angus, Norman Lesly, and Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, all eager to avenge their wrongs. The battle ended in a complete victory for the Scots, the entire English force being utterly routed. Eight hundred were killed, more than a thousand captured, and the villains Eure and Layton left dead on the field of battle. Dryburgh Abbey was indeed lost, but its despoilers were vanquished, and to-day the remnants of this once stately pile tower rise towards the sky in mute protest against the frenzied outrage of the favourites of a dishonoured royal house.