Part 29

Mid-Calder, which lies about one mile west of it, on the opposite side of the river Almond. The church, which is now a ruin, stands in its old churchyard. It is a simple oblong (Fig. 1533), internally 56 feet in length by 17 feet in width. The north wall has been removed, and the interior divided into burial-places, separated by walls and railings. The doorways and windows have been built up, and few of the wall openings can now be seen. One window is still partly preserved in the east end (Fig. 1534). It has evidently been divided into two lights by a mullion, which is removed, and each light has had a round-arched head. Another window in the south wall, near the east end, is of similar form. The mullion and round heads of the opening have been preserved by being built up. A doorway, also built up, adjoins the window in the south wall on the west.

There may be other built up openings, but the wall is so thickly covered with ivy that they cannot be identified. The belfry on the west gable is plain, and evidently late in date. The few details which survive indicate a post-Reformation style, probably of about 1600.

EASSIE AND NEVAY, FORFARSHIRE.

Two ruined parish churches, each in its churchyard, situated within two miles of each other and about nine miles south-west of Forfar. They are small buildings, measuring respectively 56 feet 6 inches by 15 feet 6 inches, and 53 feet 6 inches by 18 feet 6 inches within the walls (Fig. 1535). Neither church has any openings in the north wall. At Eassie (Fig. 1536) all the doors and windows are square-headed, and at Nevay they are the same, except that the west doorway is round-headed, but not arched, being cut out of one stone. At Eassie the westmost doorway on the south side is of eighteenth century work, but the eastmost one is original. An ivy-mantled belfry crowns the west end of each edifice.

On the lintel of the south door at Nevay there is the date 1695, with the initials D. N. between the first two and last two figures. These are

doubtless the initials of David of Nevay, whose father, a Senator of the College of Justice, died shortly before this date. The church, however,

appears to be of earlier date, as a tombstone of 1597 is built into its walls.

These churches were in the diocese of St. Andrews, and in 1309 “Robert I. gave the advocation and donation of the Kirk of Eassie to the Monks of Newbottle.[231]”

St. Neveth, martyr, to whom the church was dedicated, and from whom it received its name, was a bishop “in the north,” who was slain by the Saxons and the Picts, and Bishop Forbes[232] suggests that the martyr was buried at Nevay.

Eassie was dedicated to St. Brandon.

At Eassie Church there is one of the finest of the Scottish sculptured stones.

PULPIT FROM ST. CUTHBERT’S CHURCH, EDINBURGH.

The annexed sketch (Fig. 1537) shows the old pulpit of St. Cuthbert’s Church as it stood in St. Cuthbert’s Poorhouse, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, before that building was removed in 1868. It appears[233] that when St. Cuthbert’s Church was demolished in 1773, the pulpit was transferred to the Poorhouse. Its date can be pretty well ascertained. From a minute of the kirk-session of 15th August 1651, we find that Cromwell’s soldiers had so completely sacked the church that there was “nayther pulpit, loft, nor seat left therein,” all doors and windows having been broken, and the roof by cannon shot completely ruined. Steps were immediately taken to repair the damage, and in April 1652 the church was reopened for public worship. This pulpit was doubtless made between the above dates, and its style is characteristic of the time. It is of oak, and probably in the old church it stood on a loftier base than is shown in the sketch.

FETTERESSO CHURCH, KINCARDINESHIRE.

The parish of Fetteresso included a considerable part of the town of Stonehaven on the east coast of Kincardineshire. The old church, the ruins of which stand in a large churchyard, is situated near the Carron Water, about one mile and a half south-west from Stonehaven. The structure probably occupies the site of a very ancient church, dedicated to St. Cavan, which stood at the Hamlet of Fetteresso. It is beautifully situated amongst fine old trees.

The existing edifice, which is roofless, appears, from the style of its architecture, to be chiefly post-Reformation. The walls and gables are well preserved and much covered with ivy.

The church (Fig. 1538) is, internally, 81 feet in length from east to west by 17 feet 6 inches in width from north to south. It has a wing

thrown out to the north, which is about 17 feet square, and bears the date of 1720. A small adjunct to the west of the wing carries the date of 1857. The wall openings are almost entirely in the south wall, in which there are three doorways and six windows. There is one window in the east end and one pointed doorway in the north wall. The north wing contains a north doorway and two windows in the east wall. This wing, doubtless, contained a gallery. The openings in the south wall are all built up, and the interior is converted into a private burial-ground. The details have all the character of eighteenth century work. The belfry (Fig. 1539) stands on the top of the west gable and still retains its bell, which is used on the occasion of funerals. The church and its surroundings are very picturesque.

FORDEL CHAPEL, FIFESHIRE.

This is a private chapel in the beautiful grounds of Fordel Castle,[234] about two miles north from Inverkeithing. It bears the date of 1650, and tradition has it that the works were interrupted by Cromwell’s soldiers.

The edifice is now used as a mortuary chapel by the proprietors of Fordel House.

The structure bears the mark of the period when it was erected in the mixed style of its architecture, being partly an imitation of Gothic and partly Renaissance. It measures (Fig. 1540) about 40 feet in length by 16 feet in width internally, and is a simple oblong in plan, with a doorway in the centre of the south side. It is lighted (Fig. 1541) by four symmetrically arranged windows in the south side, one in the centre of the north side, and a large three-light window at each end. The windows are divided by mullions, and have a species of tracery in the round arch-heads.

The west gable is crowned with a belfry having a small spire. The stone cresting on the ridge has the small ornaments common at the period.

Over the doorway (Fig. 1542) are the quaintly carved arms of J. Henderson and his wife, M. Monteath (the Hendersons being the ancient

proprietors of the domain), with their initials and the date 1650. The same initials are repeated on tablets both on the exterior and interior of the chapel.

GARVALD CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

Situated about five miles south-east from Haddington, in the secluded valley of the Papana Water, stands the rebuilt Church of Garvald. Only a very few fragments remain (Fig. 1543) of the ornament of the ancient

Norman structure which formerly existed. These are built into the walls of the church, which was restored and enlarged in 1829.

GAMRIE CHURCH, BANFFSHIRE.

This church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, has a splendid situation, standing high above the cliffs overlooking the sea, and having a small fishing village on the beach immediately below. The building is now a ruin, only the walls remaining. It is a curious looking structure and

has been built at two periods. The east end is the earliest part. The total length of the church internally (Fig. 1544) is about 94 feet 4 inches by 15 feet 6 inches wide. The later part of the structure is about 10 inches wider than the earlier, the walls being thinner. The external dimensions are 96 feet long by 21 feet 8 inches wide. The chancel or east end was probably heightened at the time when the west end was built. The east gable has a sett-off at the level of what was apparently the original height (Fig. 1545). There are two doors on the south side, that in the chancel being lintelled and having a hole for a sliding bar, while the other in the nave is round arched, as is also a door in the opposite wall. These doors have all beaded mouldings. There is only one window on the north side. On the south side the windows are of various sizes, and are scattered about in an irregular way. Two of them, which are placed high in the wall, are checked for outside shutters; the others have all simple splays.

There is a plain ambry in the east wall at a high level, and adjoining it in the north wall there is a recess, probably a _credence_, as suggested by the Rev. Dr. Pratt.[235] This part of the building is in a neglected condition, being fitted up as a toolhouse for the gravedigger’s implements. There is built into the interior of the east gable a memorial tablet, with very quaintly carved letters and mouldings, to the memory of Patricius Barclay dominus de Tolly, and his wife, Joneta Ogilvy, who died in 1547.[236] There were other interesting memorials connected with the church which are referred to by Dr. Pratt, but of these only mutilated fragments remain. The indignant remonstrance of the Rev. Dr. against the condition of the building, written thirty years ago, backed up by a poem by Principal Geddes, has not availed to secure any respect for the old walls.

The Church of Gamrie is frequently referred to in the twelfth and following centuries. It was granted by William the Lion to Arbroath between 1189 and 1198,[237] and in 1513 Mr. Henry Preston was presented to the Church of Gamrie by the Abbot of Arbroath. Probably the existing walls were erected about the latter date, but the details indicate that great alterations have been made on the building, which convert it into a seventeenth century structure.

GLADSMUIR CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

A ruin near the village of Longniddry.

The parish of Gladsmuir was formed out of several other parishes in 1695, at which time this church (Fig. 1546), now in ruins, was erected.

It was an oblong structure, and measures about 71 feet long by 25 feet

6 inches wide outside. There was, as frequently happens, an aisle on the north side about 24 feet square, opening into the church by the wide and lofty arch seen in the view. This arch, which is simply splayed on both faces, has two of its voussoirs projected about 6 inches beyond the others. These may have been rests for diagonal pieces to carry the continuation of the roof at the arch. A sundial (Fig. 1547), bearing the date 1700, stands in the usual place at the south-west corner.

The district was formerly served by a chapel which stood a mile or so to the south of Gladsmuir, of which all traces having been recently removed, only its site can be pointed out.

THE TRON STEEPLE, GLASGOW.

This tower, with its spire, stands in the Trongate, the most crowded thoroughfare of the city of Glasgow, and, as will be seen (Fig. 1548), it projects on to the street. It is believed that it is in contemplation to remove it; and as the old college buildings were got rid of a few years ago without much regret being expressed, the removal of a small steeple like this will, doubtless, be regarded as a very simple matter. Yet its destruction will deprive us of a very interesting example of a genuine seventeenth century spire, of which few were erected or now survive in Scotland. This steeple was erected in 1637. It has clearly been built in imitation of that of the cathedral, having similar features translated into the style of its time, and with rather a happy effect.

The steeple was attached to a church of older date, which was burned down in 1793. This was the Collegiate Church of St. Thenaw, which was erected in 1525, with the consent of the archbishop, Gavin Dunbar.

From the proximity of the public weighing machine or Tron to the church, it gradually came to be known as the Tron Church, and latterly the instrument itself stood in the ground floor of the steeple, which was then enclosed with solid walls. About forty years ago the Tron was removed, and the ground floor of the building was opened up to form an open passage along the street pavement. The wide arches on the street floor are thus modern.

GRANDTULLY CHAPEL, PERTHSHIRE.[238]

This chapel stands a little to the east of Grandtully Castle at a place called Pitcairn (anciently Petquharne), about three miles from Aberfeldy. It is situated at a considerable height above the valley of Strathtay, and commands an extensive view of mountain scenery. Any one seeing the chapel for the first time, and unacquainted with its existence, might easily mistake it for part of the adjoining farm buildings, it is so plain and humble in appearance. Only the presence of the churchyard surrounding it, and a very small cross on the east gable, serve to call attention to the fact that it is a sacred edifice, which on inspection is found to possess features of considerable interest.

The building (Fig. 1549) may be said to be entire in walls and roof. It measures on the outside about 79 feet long by about 23 feet 3 inches wide, and is at present divided into two parts by a stone partition.

There are two doors and several small windows on the south side. These openings are all straight lintelled and quite unadorned. A door on the north side is probably modern. There is a small locker, 14 or 15 inches square, in the usual position in the north wall near the east end. This ambry, which is about four feet from the floor, is of great interest, as it is quite entire, having a wooden door and hinges, an almost unknown condition in Scotland. There is another small recess about 17 inches square and about 3 feet from the ground in the east wall. But the principal feature of the chapel, and what renders it almost unique, is the

painted ceiling at the east end. This ceiling is constructed, as shown on the sketch (Fig. 1550), at the west end of the eastern division. The roof consists of rafters and ties, on which, at the east end, boards are fixed so as to present a circular form, in the same way as in several of the other painted ceilings of Scottish castles and mansions, such as Pinkie, Culross, and Earl’s Hall. It is not known whether this painted roof extended the whole length of the chapel or was confined, as it now is, to the east end. The painting presents four rows of circular discs, each containing six circles, which are variously ornamented. Four of them are occupied with the four Evangelists, and others with coats of arms, including the royal arms--1st and 4th, Scotland; 2nd, England; 3rd, Ireland, with an inner-escutcheon. The arms of England and Scotland also occur on separate shields, as well as those of the Earls of Athole and of the Laird of Grandtully and his wife, Dame Agnes Moncrieff. The paintings were rather exposed for some years to damp, and in many places the subjects and inscriptions, which are numerous, are considerably effaced; but further decay is arrested by the roof having recently been put in good order. Amongst the paintings there are complicated monograms, and a large panel in the centre contains an elaborate composition showing buildings with quaint figures.

This chapel is first noticed in a “Notarial instrument, recording sasine given by Alexander Steuart of Garntulye, from devotion and with the view of promoting divine worship” of certain lands, “in terms of a charter to be made, to Alexander Young, sub-prior of St. Andrews, as representing the curate who is to officiate at the chapel built near the manor-place of Petquharne, and to be consecrated to God, the Virgin Mary, St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Adamnanus and St. Beanus. Dated 9th May 1533.”

Following this, in the 3rd June of the same year, is the charter referred to conveying the land and privileges to the church and to a chaplain, “who was to be a suitable curate, personally residing and celebrating divine worship and the sacraments irreproachably in the Church of St. Mary of Grantulye.” The church was “to be held for prayers to be made by the

said chaplain for the universal church, the prosperity of King James V. and his kingdom, the granter’s own soul, and the souls of certain of his relatives,” &c.

This gives us the period of the erection of the church, but the painting is later, being shown by the style and by the arms to have been done by Sir William Steuart about the year 1636. Sir William was an intimate friend from childhood of King James VI., and was by him greatly beloved. He married Agnes Moncrieff, daughter of Sir John of that Ilk, and, as already mentioned, their arms are on the ceiling, and their initials are also carved over a small window in the east gable.

GREENLAW CHURCH, BERWICKSHIRE.

This church, with its venerable tower, overlooks, in a very prominent manner, the small county town of Greenlaw. The present building occupies the site of an early church, and probably dates from the

beginning of last century. It is a very simple structure, and harmonises well with the ancient tower. The latter (Fig. 1551), which is a part of an earlier church, is an interesting example of a Scottish church tower. It is quite plain in its lower stages, and has a corbelled out parapet at the top, which is reached by a stair in the projecting turret, seen in the sketch. The tower is a place of considerable strength, being vaulted on the ground floor, and is probably a building of the fifteenth century.

The manor of Greenlaw belonged to the Earls of Dunbar and Gospatrick, and the third Earl granted the church, in 1159, to the Abbey of Kelso. Greenlaw was one of the churches dedicated by Bishop David de Bernham.

INSCH CHURCH, ABERDEENSHIRE.

The town of Insch is a station on the Great North of Scotland Railway between Aberdeen and Huntly. The old parish church, which is

abandoned, stands in the churchyard. The west wall, crowned with its belfry, is almost all that now survives. The belfry (Fig. 1552) is ornate, and is a good specimen of the Scottish Renaissance designs erected in the beginning of the seventeenth century. It bears the date of 1613, when it is believed the church was erected. On the south side the tympanum carries a shield with the Leslie arms and the initials M. I. L.

KEMBACK CHURCH, FIFESHIRE.[239]

Situated at the entrance to Duraden, near Dairsie Railway Station, are the ivy-covered ruins of the sixteenth century church of Kemback, surrounded with its ancient burial-ground. The building (Fig. 1553)

retains the Gothic feeling in the external splays on the square-headed doors and windows, but the Renaissance influence is apparent in the east window. Contrary to the usual practice, the door and windows are in the north wall.

About half a mile distant the site of an older church is pointed out, but all that remains of it is the late headless effigy of a lady.

THE GLENCAIRN MONUMENT, KILMAURS, AYRSHIRE.

The Church of Kilmaurs, situated near the village of that name about two and a half miles north-west from Kilmarnock, was formerly collegiate, having a provost and six prebendaries. It has been rebuilt, and the

burial aisle of the Earls of Glencairn, which no doubt was formerly attached to it, now stands apart. The aisle was erected by the seventh Earl in 1600, and contains the fine monument (Fig. 1554) of William, ninth Earl, who was Lord High Chancellor of Scotland. He died in 1664, and was buried in St. Giles’, Edinburgh.

The monument is of a classic design, somewhat resembling some others in the south of Scotland, such as that of the Kennedies at Ballantrae and M‘Lellan at Kirkcudbright,[240] having shafts at each side, and an entablature crowned with a panel containing the family arms.

Within the frame formed by the pillars and entablature are half-length figures of the Earl and his lady, with open books in front of them, and a panel between which contained a long inscription, now illegible. A row of small figures beneath doubtless represents the family of the deceased.

KINNEIL CHURCH, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

The ruins of this old parish church are situated a few yards to the west of the ancient mansion house of Kinneil, near Bo’ness. The church

was abandoned about 1636, at which time a new one was built at Bo’ness, about one mile distant. What remains of the old church is the west wall, crowned with a double belfry (Fig. 1555), and the returns of the side walls. The end wall measures 26 feet wide outside, and is 3 feet 9 inches thick. The length of the church cannot now be traced, but there are indications of buildings at a distance eastwards of about 64 feet.[241] From indications on the north side of the church, there appear to have been some attached buildings. The ruins are quite overgrown with ivy, and nothing definite can be said further regarding them.

ST. BEAN’S CHURCH, KINKELL, PERTHSHIRE.

Situated on the right bank of the Earn about two miles south from Auchterarder, this church, which is a post-Reformation one, stands in the centre of a small churchyard on a hillock overlooking the river, and

is entire, but roofless (Fig. 1556). It is now divided by cross walls into three burial-places. The building (Fig. 1557) measures about 65 feet 2 inches in length by 23 feet wide externally. Like most of the early Presbyterian churches it has a considerable resemblance, in plan, to those of the Gothic period, being long and narrow, with a south door near the west end, south windows, and an end window high up in each gable. All the openings are lintelled and splayed. There was a belfry on the west gable.

The church was probably built about the end of the sixteenth century. It was repaired about the year 1680 at the instigation of the Bishop and Synod of Dunblane, and shortly afterwards the parish of Kinkell was absorbed into that of Trinity Gask, when the building was allowed to fall into ruin.

The Church of Kinkell was dedicated to St. Bean, and was a cell of Inchaffray.

MONUMENT IN KINNOULL CHURCH, PERTHSHIRE.