Part 31

This panel, which is one of the very few early coloured decorations which survive in Scotland, is now in the possession of General Sir William Stirling Hamilton of Preston.

RATHAN CHURCH, ABERDEENSHIRE.

A ruinous building situated about three miles south from Fraserburgh, and standing in an old churchyard. The east end has entirely disappeared, and only a small part of the north wall remains (Fig. 1586). What

survives of the south wall of the nave is 49 feet long, but it doubtless considerably exceeded that length; the interior width is 21 feet. A south aisle is entire, but roofless. It enters from the nave by a plain round-arched opening (Fig. 1587) 8 feet 8 inches wide, and the outside dimensions of the aisle are 35 feet long by 20 feet 8 inches wide.

The nave (see Fig. 1587) has a door in the west end, with a window

above and a belfry on the apex of the gable, dated 1782, which probably superseded an earlier one.

The aisle has a round-arched doorway (Fig. 1588) with a bar hole in the west wall, and over it a panel with an inscription in raised letters, “ALEXANDER FRASER OF PHILORTH, PATRON,” a coat of arms, and part of a broken stone with an inscription. It is possible that these stones are not original, but have been inserted; they are so covered with ivy that it is not easy to determine. In the south gable (Fig. 1589), which is crow-stepped, there is a well-moulded window with a straight lintel, and a sundial over. In the east wall there is an ambry (Fig. 1590) with an ogee arch, and alongside it what was probably a piscina is now filled with an old memorial inscription.

The Church of Rathan was dedicated to St. Ethernan or Eddran, from whom the place is said to take its name. This saint lived towards the end of the sixth century. “He consecrated several churches, and particularly Rethin, which was afterwards dedicated to his own memory.”[256]

Richard, parson of Rathen, is a witness to charters by Adam, Bishop of Aberdeen, between 1207 and 1228, and the benefice of Rathyn was given to the Chapter and College of Canons of St. Machar’s Cathedral by Robert i. in 1328; and in 1520 Rathyne was let in lease for the yearly rent of £212.[257]

Of the early church nothing remains. On the south aisle of the existing structure, according to the Rev. Mr. Pratt, there is the date

1646. It may be that part of the church is somewhat older than this date. Ten years earlier there appear to have been building and repairs going on; and an action was brought before the Privy Council to restrain Alexander Fraser of Philorth from putting up his arms on the newly built kirk stile.[258] What was the result of the case we do not know, but Fraser evidently succeeded in getting his name carved on the church, as we see, together with his arms and his title of patron.

SOUTHANNAN CHAPEL AND CASTLE, WEST KILBRIDE, AYRSHIRE.

About one mile south from the railway station of Fairlie, on the level ground facing the sea, and with its back close to the railway, stands the ruin of Southannan Castle. It has been an extensive structure (Fig. 1591), having had a high enclosing wall, with a courtyard and an arched entrance porch to the west, defended with shot-holes (Fig. 1592). There

has been a considerable range of dwelling-house accommodation, two stories in height, along the north side, and smaller buildings on the east side, leaving a large courtyard in the centre, now forming the garden of the adjoining farmhouse (Fig. 1593). The situation is fine, and the edifice is backed by the high range of thickly wooded hills which extends between Largs and Kilbride.

The lands of Southannan were granted to Lord Semple in 1504. Chalmers says[259] that John, Lord Semple, in the reign of James IV., built a chapel, which was dedicated to St. Annan or St. Ennan, and granted for the support of the chaplain in it an annual rent of 10 merks from certain lands, “with two sowmes of pasture grass in the mains of Southennan,

and an acre of land on the north side of the cemetery belonging to the said chapel for the chaplain’s manse. This grant was confirmed by the king in June 1509. The ruins of the chapel are still extant in the

front of the fine mansion of Southennan, which is also in ruins.” “Saint Inan or Innan is said to have been a confessor at Irvine, and to have died in 839.”

The castle was much enlarged by Robert, fourth Lord Sempill, ambassador to the Court of Spain in 1596; but some of the existing remains have the appearance of being still more modern. The old mansion was dismantled towards the end of last century, and the materials used in the erection of farm-buildings and dykes. “What remains are chiefly the outer walls to the left (north) of the courtyard and some more ancient-looking remnants at the back (east), attached to which are remains of what may have been the chapel of the saint.”[260] This may be the case, as some of the walls are old and have been altered; but the vaulted chamber to the east has the appearance of being much more modern.

On the whole, we fear that the chapel has entirely disappeared, and that this account of Southannan should rather have appeared amongst the castles than the churches of Scotland.

STENTON CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

The village of Stenton is situated about three and a half miles south-east from East Linton Railway Station. The church (Fig. 1594), which, with the exception of the tower and the entrance doorway, is a total ruin (Fig. 1595), extends for a length of about 65 feet, but as the east end is

entirely gone, it is impossible to say how much longer it was. The width of the building within the walls is about 18 feet. The doorway (Fig. 1596), which is on the south side near the west end, is arched with a flat segment of a circle, with the mouldings of the jambs (Fig. 1597) continued round the arch, and with a splayed impost separating the arch and jambs. The arch is finished with a hood moulding. The small flat-headed window seen alongside the doorway (see Fig. 1595) is an insertion probably of the seventeenth century, and no other feature of the church is now in existence, except indications of a north door (see Plan).

The tower, however, stands complete and entire at the south-west corner of the structure. It measures about 16 feet 6 inches by 15 feet

9 inches over the walls, and is two stories in height. It is entered by a narrow flat lintelled door on the south side. The space inside is about 10 feet by 7 feet, but it has been narrowed by masonry at the ground level, as shown on the Plan, to a width of about 5 feet. The tower communicated with the church by a doorway, now built up.

The upper story, which has a timber floor, has been reached by a ladder. It is lighted by a window on each face, round arched

and widely splayed, and the arches are cut out of single stones. The tower finishes with a saddle-backed roof and crow-stepped gables, the whole being of the original construction.

From indications remaining against the north wall of the tower, there has doubtless been a high window in the west gable of the church.

The whole structure appears to be of the sixteenth century. The top stone of the east gable and a simple circular font (Fig. 1598) are lying near the ruin.

STOW CHURCH, MID-LOTHIAN.

The village of Stow is situated on the Gala Water, in the southern part of Mid-Lothian, near the borders of Roxburghshire and Peeblesshire.

The parish was originally called Wedale, and the church belonged to the Bishop of St. Andrews, who had a residence there. Hence the village was known as the Stow of Wedale.

The original Church of St. Mary was at a distance from the village, but the existing ruin, which is partly of some antiquity, stands in the ancient churchyard close to the village.

The structure is for the most part of seventeenth century date, but a portion at the south-west angle is much older, and has been incorporated with the newer building. The plan of the church, as it now stands (Fig. 1599), consists of an oblong 67 feet in length by 21 feet in width internally, with a wing on the south side 14 feet long by 11 feet wide within the walls.

The principal oblong chamber appears to have been constructed at two different times, there being a break in the interior of the wall at 20 feet from the east end. There is also a slight exterior projection on the outside of the north wall at the same point. The eastern addition has evidently been made so as to provide a gallery, probably a private one, at this end. The gallery was entered by a long slope or ramp on the exterior of the east wall, beneath which was a door giving access to the space below the gallery. The gallery and space below were lighted by square-headed windows in the south wall. On the jamb of the east doorway is carved the date 1799.

The arrangements at the west end have been similar to those at the east end. There was a gallery, lighted by a large traceried window (Fig. 1600) in the west wall of seventeenth century design, and the space below the gallery had two square-headed windows in the same wall, divided with mullions. A round-headed doorway in the south wall gave

access to the space under the gallery, the mouldings of which (Fig. 1601) clearly indicate a late date. Adjoining this doorway is the portion of the structure above alluded to as being of ancient date. This consists of a plain buttress built with freestone ashlar, and a small part of the south and west walls connected with it, including a base splay on the south side. These walls are built with the same kind of materials as the buttress, while the greater part of the walls are constructed with rubble work. The buttress has the broad form with small projection, and the simple water table of Norman or transition work.

The projection or “aisle” on the south side of the church has also contained a private gallery, with a fireplace in the south wall. The mouldings of the doorway indicate seventeenth or eighteenth century work.

There are no windows in the north wall, but some portions of the masonry are of ashlar work and may be of the period of the south-west angle.

The belfry, the vane of which bears the date of 1794, is a comparatively late addition. It is supported on corbels projecting from the inside of the wall.

TERREGLES CHURCH, KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.

This curious structure (Fig. 1602) is situated about two and a-half miles north-west from Dumfries. It was erected by the fourth Lord Herries shortly before his death in 1583.

A few years ago this “queir” or choir was completely restored, and the buttresses were then added. Omitting these it may be regarded as a fair example of the quaint architecture of James VI.’s time, when the revival of Gothic was attempted, along with the revival of Episcopacy.

We are fortunate in being able to show a drawing (Fig. 1603) of the church made by the late Mr. W. F. Lyon, architect, in 1872, before it was restored. Fig. 1604 shows details of the finials and the arms of Agnes, Lady Herries, which are carved on the church. The date 1585 is cut in the cornice over the east window.

Before the Reformation this church belonged to the nunnery of Lincluden, and the collegiate church which succeeded it.

TURRIFF CHURCH, ABERDEENSHIRE.

This ancient church, which was dedicated to St. Congan, is a very old foundation, having probably been established, in the seventh century, by a follower of St. Columba. It received donations at various early dates, amongst others one by King Robert the Bruce. In 1272 it was attached by the Earl of Buchan to an almshouse for thirteen poor husbandmen. The church was 120 feet long by 18 feet wide, but is now reduced to the fragment of the choir, crowned with the picturesque belfry shown by the sketches. The belfry (Fig. 1605) is interesting as an example of the application to an ecclesiastical edifice of the Scottish style so general in

the domestic architecture of the seventeenth century. There is a strong dash of Renaissance taste in the design; but the cornice with its small corbels, and the string course with its moulded supports, might be details from any old Scottish castle. The bell bears the date 1557. A curious relic of the older structure has, however, been discovered in the choir in the form of an antique wall-painting of St. Ninian.

The interior of the choir contains

a very interesting and remarkably picturesque series of monumental slabs, with a quantity of well-executed lettering. One of these tablets is to the memory of a member of the family of Barclay of Towie, of date 1636, with a Latin inscription still legible.

The churchyard contains a number of interesting monuments of the same date as the belfry.

The gateway to the churchyard (Fig. 1606) is a simple but pleasing specimen of the early Scottish Renaissance, similar in style to the belfry.

WALSTON CHURCH, LANARKSHIRE.

The parish church of Walston stands on a height overlooking the vale of the river Medwin, about two miles west from Dolphinton. Till near the end of the thirteenth century the Church of Walston was a lay rectory in the gift of the Lord of the Manor. It is specially referred to in an award of 1293.[261] The edifice stands in an ancient churchyard, and not far from what was formerly a mansion known as the “Place of Walston.”

The existing church (Fig. 1607) stands north and south, and is a long single chamber 64 feet 6 inches in length and 16 feet in width internally. A portion has been cut off the north end to form a vestry. The original church is believed to have stood east and west. At the south end a portion of the existing structure is evidently, from its workmanship, of a different period from the remainder. The ashlar work of which it is built is seen to stop beyond the first window from the south (Fig. 1608). This was doubtless the wing or transept erected by Robert Baillie of Walston, in 1650, as a burial-place for his family. The remainder of the church was rebuilt in its new position in continuation of the south wing by the Rev. Patrick Molleson, minister (born 1746, died 1825), who has placed the letters M. P. M. and the date 1789 on the north gable.

The south wing is the only part worthy of notice. The window shows the feeling for the Gothic revival of the seventeenth century. In the panel over it is the inscription “Give God the onlie honour and glory.

Anno 1656.” The entrance doorway to the wing, which contained a tomb below and a gallery above, is in the east side. Over the flat lintelled door is the quotation, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the House of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools.--Ecclesiastes, chapter V., verse 1.” The tomb and gallery are now removed, and the space thrown into the church. In the pavement on the site is inscribed “In memory of John Allain, Esq., of Elsrickle.” The quaint dormer window, shown in Fig. 1609, was taken down during the repairs made on the church a few years ago.

WEEM CHURCH, PERTHSHIRE.[262]

The ruined church of Weem stands in the village of that name, near the entrance to Castle Menzies, at a short distance from Aberfeldy. It is still in a fair state of preservation, the walls being entire, although greatly overgrown with ivy, and the roof being still intact, with the belfry on the west gable. The building has been abandoned for many years. According to Mr. A. H. Millar[262] the Church of Weem is mentioned about 1296 in the oldest charter at Castle Menzies, and references in charters are continuous till, in 1510, the Barony of Menzies was erected by charter from James IV., when “the patronage of the Kirk of Weem was specially included in the gift.”

The existing building, however, appears to be of a later date, since over the eastmost doorway there are the impaled arms of Sir Alexander Menzies and his wife, Margaret Campbell, with their initials, and the date 1600, together with the inscription shown in Fig. 1610.[263]

The church (Fig. 1611) is an oblong building, measuring internally about 62 feet 5 inches from east to west by about 19 feet wide, and has a north transept projecting 21 feet by 17 feet in width. It is ceiled and plastered at the roof ties. There are two doors and three windows on the south side, all of which are square headed. In each gable, high up near the ceiling, there is a window of a pointed form. All the windows and doors have large bead mouldings. In the inside of the south wall there are two ambries, one of which contains the initials of Duncan Menzies and his wife, Jean Leslie, sister of the Earl of Rothes, who were married in 1623. And on the other occur the initials D. M.

There are several interesting grave slabs in the church, but the most remarkable feature is the monument shown in Fig. 1612, which stands against the north wall near the east end, as indicated on the Plan. It is an important example of Scottish Renaissance work, and contains a great amount of detail, much of it very elaborate.

The sixteenth or seventeenth century monuments in Scotland may be divided into two classes, viz.:--First, the class represented by the Montgomery monument at Largs,[264] and the seventeenth century monument in Seton Church, which are almost pure Italian, with very little of the previous Gothic manner, and almost nothing of local or Scottish feeling. Monuments of this class may probably be the design, if not the work, of foreign hands. In the second class are the monuments which seem to

owe their design and execution to native skill, and amongst these may be included this monument at Weem. The structure measures about 13 feet in length at the base, and has a projection from the wall of about 2 feet.

The general scheme of the design is of an ordinary form, consisting of an arched recess above a dado or pedestal, which is divided into three panels separated from each other by delicate tapering shafts. At each side rises a half round engaged shaft to carry the moulded arch above. These shafts have capitals, rudely carved with oak leaves, supporting square abaci. Above the arch there is a level cornice slightly broken at intervals over figures beneath. At each side of the monument a large figure stands on a finely designed pedestal, the one representing Faith and the other Charity. The former holds a book with the inscription, _Quidquid fit sine Fide est peccatum_, while the figure of Charity is represented in the usual typical manner. The figures are surmounted with very beautiful canopies reaching nearly up to the cornice. Above the cornice a rudimentary pediment contains the Menzies and Campbell arms and monograms, over which, and leaning forward, is a panel having a figure with

outstretched arms, supposed to symbolise the Creator. At each end of the cornice is a kneeling figure placed before a small pedestal shaped like a prie-dieu.

This monument having been erected not to the memory of one individual, but of several, was probably not intended to contain any recumbent figure, although the space for one is provided. Such a figure would have in a great measure concealed the descriptive tablet and its accompanying heraldry, which occupy the background of the recess. The monument bears the date of the 24th January 1616, and was erected by the Sir Alexander Menzies already referred to, to perpetuate the memory of his two wives and of his maternal ancestors, beginning with his great-great-grandmother. The names of all these ladies, with the arms of their respective houses, adorn the monument, and need not be repeated here, as full information regarding them will be found in Mr. Millar’s work, already cited.

YESTER CHURCH, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

The parish church of Yester stands at the north end of the village of Gifford, about four and a half miles south of Haddington. The

ancient church of Yester has already been described. It was superseded last century by the present structure, which is a plain oblong chamber of the usual style of the period, but with a tower on the south side (Fig. 1613), which is a good example of that class of erection at the period.

NOTE.

The illustration or tailpiece on the following page shows a remarkable specimen of early Scottish sculpture, preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The stone, which is about 6 feet in length, was found in the River May, Perthshire, and is supposed to have come from an ancient church which formerly occupied a site within a rath or stronghold which stood on the Holy Hill, on the bank of the river, near Forteviot, about two miles from Forgandenny.[265] The last traces of the rath and church were swept away by a flood which occurred in the beginning of this century.

This early church is probably that referred to in the legend of St. Andrew given in the _Pictish Chronicle_ as the church built at Forteviot by Hungus, the Pictish king (731-761), in the last year of his reign, after the arrival of the relics of St. Andrew in Scotland.[266] Although the character of the sculpture seems rather to suggest a date not quite so early, it may, nevertheless, be surmised that the figures depicted on the stone are those of King Hungus and his three sons, seated in the usual royal attitude, with the sword across the knees.

From the arched form of the stone it seems most likely to have been a chancel arch, a feature which would scarcely be expected in Scotland in the eighth century. The primitive church may, however, have been rebuilt, possibly in the tenth century, when a church with a chancel would more probably be erected, having the stone in question for its chancel arch. The small upright animal in the centre of the arch, having a cross in front of it, seems to represent the Paschal lamb; while the other nondescript animal at the feet of the king may be an early example of the practice usual in mediæval monuments of resting the feet of the effigy on an animal.[267] On the Ruthwell Cross the figure of the Saviour appears standing on the heads of two animals.

APPENDIX.