Part 22

The effigy is that of a knight in complete plate armour. The head rests on a tilting helmet, with a dog’s head for crest, which is attached to a cap put on over the helmet. The round hollow visible to the spectator represents the inside of the helmet. The feet rest upon a lion. The figure is considerably worn, but the plate armour and the gauntlets are still distinctly seen. The bottom of the shirt of mail worn under the cuirass and the jewelled sword belt and hilt of the sword are also clearly visible. A coat of arms, similar to that on the pedestal, is carved on the breast, being intended to represent the arms wrought in embroidery on the surcoat.

The lower part of the monument has been divided into panels, each containing a quatrefoil, and between the panels there were at one time small

figures of armed knights, each holding a spear. When Mr. Mackinlay wrote, one of these figures survived; now they are all gone, together with parts of the quatrefoils, and an irregular empty space is left where they once stood. Mr. Mackinlay mentions that some excavation was made, and an arched recess was found under the monument in which the coffins had been placed, and three skulls were discovered therein. In the upper part of the monument over the arch are two recesses, which probably at one time contained coats of arms.

The other monument (Fig. 1358) in the north wall of the chancel has been erected in memory of a lady and child, whose effigies it contains. The

figures of the lady and child are cut in a thin slab of stone, and have not the bold effect of the knight in armour. There are no arms or inscription on this monument, and the name of the person commemorated is unknown. The arch over the figures is of the same description as that of the opposite monument, but it is lower and not so effective. The mouldings are also similar, and there have been crockets over the arch, which are now greatly decayed. The width of the monument over all is fully 8 feet.

The lower part of the monument on which the effigies rest is divided into eight panels by shafts, and each panel contains a sculptured figure. Mr. Mackinlay says that they represent saints, and that amongst them is the Virgin and Child. In their decayed condition the latter is not now recognisable. The figures seem rather to resemble persons in the dress of the fifteenth century, and some of them appear to be kneeling.

At the east end of the chancel there is a pointed piscina in the south wall (see Fig. 1357) and an ambry in the east wall.

The style of the structure and of the monuments is undoubtedly late, probably sixteenth century.

THE PARISH CHURCH AND THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. MARY, DUMBARTON, DUMBARTONSHIRE.

The town of Dumbarton is situated on the left bank of the river Leven, near its junction with the Clyde, and not far from the detached rock on which stands the Castle of Dumbarton. A church existed here from a very early time, and the parish church appears to have been rebuilt at least three times, and is now a modern edifice of 1811. Previously the parish church was represented by the quaint structure shown in Fig. 1359, which has entirely disappeared, along with the hospital or bead-house adjacent, which was erected in 1636 by Buchanan of Auchmore, and endowed by him with £1021. This view is copied from a pencil sketch made by Paul Sandby in 1747, which forms part of a valuable collection of sketches relating to Scotland, preserved in the Library of the Royal Scottish Academy, to the Council of which we are indebted for permission to reproduce it.

The parish church (see Fig. 1359) was probably intended to consist of a choir and nave with a central tower, but only the choir and tower would seem to have been built. As frequently happened, a north aisle or transept appears from the view to have existed. This contained what was known in later times as Mr. Campbell of Stonefield’s gallery and the town council gallery, and it was entered by an outside stair. From the description of the interior in Glen’s _History of Dumbarton_, p. 74, the church was evidently a typical specimen of those picturesque, though plain, interiors which have now almost disappeared. The pulpit stood on the south side, and there were various galleries for the trades and for the

garrison, while an upper end gallery called the hen-bauk was occupied by single ladies. In 1622 Dame Jean Hamiltone, Lady of Luss, having no convenient seat, was granted liberty by the kirk-session “to build ane seat for hirsel, upon ye top of the east gavil.” The spire was of wood, and was presumably covered with lead. Shortly after this sketch was made the spire appears, from the Burgh Records, to have been ruinous, so that its leaning appearance may be quite correct. The tower was of the low squat form, with plain parapet, common at the time.

The hospital appears, from the view, to have been of considerable extent. It was evidently two stories in height, and was lighted by round-headed windows. This bead-house and the small chapel attached to it

were ultimately dismantled and lay in a ruinous state till, in the year 1758, they were entirely demolished by the magistrates, and the stones used to build the East Bridge and for other purposes. The church appears to have been used as the parish church till about 1810, when it was taken down and a new church built on the site.

The Collegiate Church and Hospital of St. Mary were founded in 1450 by Lady Isabella, Duchess of Albany and Countess of Lennox. She was the widow of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, who was beheaded at Stirling in 1425. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Earl of Lennox gifted the church, with the temporality, to the Abbey of Kilwinning. The chapter consisted of a provost and six canons, and was endowed with the parish churches of Bonhill, Fintry, and Strathblane, and also held considerable lands in the neighbourhood of Dumbarton, which yielded to Kilwinning at the Reformation an annual revenue of £66, 13s. 4d. sterling.

The founder erected the college for the repose of the souls of “her dearest husband, her father, and her sons,” who had been slain by their relative James I. of Scotland, under the belief that they had been to blame in connection with his long imprisonment in England.

After the Reformation the college was allowed to fall into ruin, and its materials were gradually carried off. In 1858, in order to make room for the railway station, the last remnants of the edifice, one of the pier arches and its piers (Fig. 1360) were removed from their position on a grassy knoll, from which a fine view of the Leven was visible, and re-erected as the gateway of a house.[167]

CHAPEL AT THE KIRKTON OF KILMAHEW,[168] DUMBARTONSHIRE.

This structure is an interesting example of a private ecclesiastical foundation. The remains of the chapel stand in an ancient churchyard, on a knoll close to a small stream, about one and a half miles north-west from Cardross Railway Station. The building has attached to it the piece of land with which it was endowed, and is surrounded by the estate of Kilmahew, the property of John William Burns, Esq., to whom we are indebted for bringing the structure under our notice.

This chapel is believed to have been erected for the convenience of the inhabitants of the locality, owing to the great distance of their parish church at Roseneath, and also of the church of the neighbouring parish of Cardross. The Napiers were proprietors of Kilmahew from about 1300. John Napier was one of the defenders of Stirling Castle in 1304, along with Sir William Olyfard. In 1406 William Napier obtained a charter of the half lands of Kilmahew, “where the chapel is situated.”[169]

A chapel existed here in 1370, when a charter was granted to Roger Cochran of the lands of Kilmahew, “with the chapel thereof.” In 1467 a new chapel was erected by Duncan Napier, then proprietor of Kilmahew, who endowed it with an annual rent of 40s. and 10d. out of tenements in Dumbarton. In the above year the new chapel, dedicated to St. Mahew, was consecrated by George, Bishop of Argyll, in mitre and full pontificals, with the permission of the Bishop of Glasgow, in whose diocese it was situated. Possibly the existing chancel is part of the structure then dedicated.

At the Reformation this chapel was used as a preaching station by a reader under the minister of Roseneath, but when the site of Cardross Church was altered so as to bring it into its present more convenient position as regards this locality, the chapel fell into disuse. The burying-ground attached to it, however, continued in use for interments till recent years. In 1640 a portion of the chapel was turned into a school, in terms of an agreement between Robert Napier of Kilmahew and the other heritors. Under this agreement Kilmahew bound himself--first, “to give the use of his chapel of Kilmahew bewest the quir thereof, for and in place of a school; second, to mortify to the schoolmaster annually five

bolls one firlot of tiend bear, and also a house and a piece of land layand thereto beside the chapel of Kilmahew, extending to about an acre or therby, together with ane piece of land for pasture, which was of old possest by the priest of Kilmahew, by order of the said Robert Napier of Kilmahew his predecessors in time of superstition and popery; and in case the annual value of these provisions should fall short of eighty merks to make it up to that sum; third, to entertain the school master present and to come, in meat, drink, and bedding, in household with himself within the house of Kilmahew, so long as he shall discharge the duty of family exercise and prayer within the said family.”[170]

The acre of ground above referred to is now in the possession of the School Board, together with two acres excambed in 1795 for the priest’s right of pasturing a cow on Kirkton farm.

The building is now unoccupied, but it is kept in good repair. It consists (Fig. 1361) of an eastern portion or choir, which is roofed, and of a western portion or nave, which is roofless. The former is ancient, but the latter appears to be comparatively modern. The choir is, internally, 13 feet 6 inches in length from west to east, by 16 feet 3 inches in width from north to south, and the walls are 3 feet in thickness. In the west wall there is a rounded and chamfered arch 9 feet 2 inches in width, now built up. The choir has two windows, one in the north

wall and one in the south wall (Fig. 1362), each of which is square-headed, and the outer jambs and lintel have a double splay. The doorway, which is in the south wall, has also a square lintel and a bold bead and hollow round the opening. In the interior of the north wall there is an arched recess 8 feet in length by 2 feet in depth, which may have contained a monument, or may have been an Easter sepulchre. The east wall has two recesses, one of which may have contained a piscina, while the other (Fig. 1363) is an ambry of an ornamental character, but evidently of very late date. There is also a window in this wall placed at a very high level, and out of the centre (see Fig. 1362). The gables are finished with crowsteps, and on the south skew putts there are shields

(Fig. 1364), that at the south-west end containing the sacred monogram I. H. S., and that at the south-east end the initials M. C. In the east gable, which has a set-off above the wall-head, there is a window placed so as to light an upper room in the roof, which probably formerly existed.

The nave measures 34 feet 7 inches in length by 19 feet 8 inches in width over the walls, which are thinner than those of the choir. There is a doorway in the west end, and the enclosure contains some flat monuments lying on the ground, which commemorate some of the Napiers of Kilmahew and Buchanans of Drum (1789-80). This enclosure probably occupies the

site of the original nave, but the wall appears to have been rebuilt. There was apparently a nave in existence in 1640, as it was the chapel “bewest the quir” which Robert Napier then agreed to give as a school.

CANONBY PRIORY, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

“Some remains of this canonry were, until recently, visible at Halgreen.... A portion of the ancient church (the sedilia) may be seen in the churchyard.”[171]

This priory was founded during the reign of David I. by Turgot de Rossendal, near the junction of the Esk and Liddel, and was destroyed by the English after the battle of Solway Moss in 1542. The annexed illustration (Fig. 1365) shows the only fragment that survives. It is probably of thirteenth century work (but was omitted in Vol. II.)

The priory, as the residence of the canons, became known as Canonbie.

KIRKBRYDE CHURCH, DUMFRIESSHIRE.[172]

A ruin situated five or six miles south-east from Sanquhar.

The church (Fig. 1366) measures 42 feet 4 inches in length by 14 feet 6 inches wide inside.

There is a north chapel, measuring about 10 feet by 9 feet 3 inches, opening into the church by a round arch.

The east wall (Fig. 1367), on which is the belfry, is almost entire, as is also the greater part of the west wall and the south wall (Fig. 1368). The north wall is pretty well preserved at the east end, as well as the chapel and north archway (Fig. 1369). At the west end the north wall is very fragmentary.

The doorway in the south wall has a pointed arch cut out of two stones (see Fig. 1368). There are three windows on the south side of

the church (see Fig. 1368). One of them is entire, and has a pointed arch cut out of two stones. A kind of shoulder is wrought on the

stone above the arch (Fig. 1370). The east window is square lintelled, and is provided with strong iron bars. There are no windows in the north wall.

The masonry of the north chapel is of a better kind than that of the main building. The opening arch is about 7 feet 2 inches wide, and is entirely plain, without even a splay on the edge.

ST. CUTHBERT’S, MOFFAT, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

On a hill on the opposite side of the River Annan from the town of Moffat stand the small remains of St. Cuthbert’s Church.

The building is believed to have been originally erected by the Knights Templars, who had considerable possessions in this locality. All that now remains of the structure is a portion of what appears to have been the west wall, containing parts of a pointed window (Fig. 1371), which has been divided into three lights by two mullions, one of which, and one arch and half of another, only remain. The three lights had sharply pointed openings, and the principal arch had two splays on its ingoing. The design might belong to almost any period of Gothic, but the form adopted was common in late work.

The east wall of the church appears to have been made available as part of a farmhouse, and its features are quite obliterated. Considerable foundations of other structures are observable in the grassy mounds scattered around.

SANQUHAR CHURCH, DUMFRIESSHIRE.

The old church of Sanquhar was demolished in 1827, and the present church was built partly on its site, as indicated by the dotted lines shown

on the Plan (Fig. 1372). In 1895 Lord Bute had excavations made, which partly revealed the Plan now submitted.[173]

The position of the east wall was thus determined, as likewise that of the east end of the north wall with one buttress, and considerable portions of the south wall throughout its whole length, with indications of three buttresses and the return of the west wall at the south-west

corner. The dimensions of the building were ascertained to be about 96 feet from east to west by about 30 feet 6 inches from north to south over the walls. The angle buttresses shown at the east end are conjectural, and are based on a tradition that the corners of the existing church were copied from the form of the east end of the old church.

Mr. Schultz states that an old burial list, of which the date is uncertain, but which may be of the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, alludes to certain graves which can still be recognised as so many feet from the “queer pillar” (buttress), _i.e._, the buttress opposite which the chancel arch is represented. Mr. Schultz assumes from this that the choir or “queer” extended as far as this buttress; and the fact that a splayed base was found all along the choir wall as far as this point, and that no such splay existed farther west, gives a certain sanction to the above view, as does also the circumstance that the nave or western part of the building had no buttresses. It is frequently found that the eastern end was treated in a different manner from the west end. A foundation was found inside the building, at a distance of about 6 feet from the east wall, and it is conjectured that this may represent the seat of an altar. The windows, of which several stones were found, appear to have had single mullions with simple pointed arches.

Although only demolished in this century, there does not appear to be any view of the old church known. It is described by Symson, in his _Large Description of Galloway_, “as a considerable and large fabrick, consisting of a spacious church and stately quire, where are the tombs of the Lord Crichtons of Sanquhar, wrought in freestone, and before them some Lords of the name of Ross.”[174]

The effigy of an ecclesiastic (Fig. 1373) was taken from Sanquhar to Friars Carse when the old church was demolished, but it has recently been brought back by Lord Bute.

CARNOCK CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

A ruinous structure comprising some fragments of the ancient parish church which was remodelled soon after the Reformation. The church (Fig. 1374) now measures, internally, about 42 feet in length by 17 feet 6 inches in width. The east end contains one narrow, but complete, pointed window, with a simple jamb moulding, and the remains of another similar window, both having wide internal splays. Another narrow

pointed window yet exists in the north wall, but in the south wall the windows have been enlarged. The west wall (Fig. 1375) has been rebuilt or heightened, and a belfry of Renaissance style erected upon it. A round-headed doorway has been inserted in each of the north and south walls, and the round arch of the south door now stands detached. A south porch has also been added (see Fig. 1375) with a stone seat on each side, and having a round-headed entrance with large bead on jambs and arch. Two small windows near the ground at the west end seem to indicate that there has been a gallery above them at that end. The church is now disused, but still stands in the old churchyard, and is greatly covered with ivy.

John Row, the ecclesiastical historian, was minister of this parish from 1592 to 1646. It is situated about three miles west from Dunfermline.

DYSART CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

This church has already been illustrated and described at length;[175] but as it is a building of considerable importance, it is introduced here in order to illustrate some points not formerly brought out. The edifice is a long parallelogram, with central avenue and north and south aisles, and is fairly entire along its whole length, except the outer wall of the north aisle. It has a lofty pele-like tower quite entire at the west end of the south aisle (Fig. 1376), which enters from the interior of the church by a doorway about 10 feet above the floor.

The tower is strong and quite capable of resisting a considerable attack. The main arcade is supported chiefly on round pillars, but at intervals the piers may be described as portions of the wall, as they

extend to five feet and even 9 feet in length, and have rounded ends corresponding to the intermediate pillars. The pillars at the east end are gone, but there were probably seven bays in the whole internal length of 135 feet. The tower occupies one bay at the west end of the surviving bays. Only the bay adjoining the tower on the south

side and the two bays opposite on the north side now remain (see Fig. 1376). The centre pillar on the north side is low, and supports lofty pointed arches. The second piers from the west are the large ones already described. Their caps are, as will be seen, at different levels, being higher on the east side than the west. The arcade to the eastwards may thus have been round arched, at all events the arches were not so acutely pointed as the western ones. The corbels for supporting the rafters of

the roof are visible along the north face of the tower, and those for supporting the roof of the north aisle, with the drip moulding above, will be observed over the two arches at the west end, there being no stone vaulting used in the building. Fig. 1377 shows the east and south sides

of the tower, and the large south porch with its stone covered roof and round arched doorway, over which is the canopied niche (Fig. 1378), and the bracket, ornamented with the pot of lilies, for supporting a statue. The figure was therefore probably one of the Virgin. The windows in the south aisle wall were (some of them at least) square headed.

Fig. 1379 shows the capital of the pillar in the north aisle as far as it can be seen, on account of the modern wall in which it is almost lost. It is formed to the shape of the double splayed arch moulding, and dies off into the round pillar below. The mouldings of the cap indicate very late work. Fig. 1380 is a still simpler cap from the south aisle and from the north-west respond.

KILCONQUHAR CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.

A small ruin consisting of three arches of an old church, which stood on the ancient site before the present modern structure was erected in the immediate vicinity. The village of Kilconquhar is situated on a large loch about one mile and a half north-west from Elie.

The name is derived from the ancient Saint Connacher. There is little of the history of the church preserved. It was granted in 1200 by Duncan, Earl of Fife, to the Convent of North Berwick, and in 1266, after a controversy between the Laird of Kilcomath and the prioress of North

Berwick regarding the right of patronage, it was resigned into the hands of the Convent.[176]