Part 3

When the Columban Church had existed in Northumbria for about thirty years, new influences arose, before which that monastic form gradually declined. The principal of these influences came from the South, and was part of that steady pressure from Rome which by degrees brought all Churches into uniformity of doctrine and observance. England was to a great extent the spiritual child of Rome, having been reconverted to the faith by the direct intervention of the Pope after the desolation caused by the heathen Danes. This was accomplished by the mission of St. Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory to England in 596 for the reformation of religion. The ecclesiastics from Rome brought with them the Roman forms and observances and the Roman mode of building. Thus St. Augustine, so soon as he was established in Kent, set about the erection, at Canterbury, of a cathedral, with two towers attached to the nave and a circular baptistry, in imitation of St. Peter’s at Rome. Other instances occur of the introduction of building with stone after the Roman manner. Bede describes how Benedict Biscop, in 676, brought masons from Gaul to carry out buildings in stone, and how the churches of St. Peter at Monkwearmouth, and St. Paul at Jarrow, were erected by Benedict Biscop (670-80) with stone, “according to the manner of the Romans.” Bede further mentions that Nectan, King of the Northern Picts, sought, in 710, for masons to be sent to him from Monkwearmouth, who should build churches for him according to the fashion of the Romans.

St. Winifred, Bishop of York, the great opponent of the Columbans in Northumbria, had also erected stone churches in the seventh century after the Roman manner at Hexham, York, and Ripon.

Northumbria was at this period (during the seventh and part of the eighth centuries) the most powerful and advanced portion of England. It was the nursery of learning and poetry, the home of Bede and Caedmon. Religion also flourished, as is proved by the remains of the pre-Conquest churches which still survive.[29] Many of these show traces of the works of the ancient Romans in the country, being built, partly at least, with Roman wrought stones from the ruins in the district. The influence of the Columban period is observable in the numerous crosses carved with Celtic work which still survive in Northumbria.

The pre-Norman churches have some peculiarities. They are remarkable for the height of the walls, as compared with the width of the building. Thus at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow (erected by Benedict Biscop in the seventh century), the width of the nave is 18 feet, while the height of the walls is 30 feet. The carved lacertine figures of the porch at Monkwearmouth have likewise a Celtic character. Square towers at the west end of the nave form common features of these churches, and the jambs of the doors and windows are often inclining, like those of Ireland. Some of these features may be observed in one or two of our Scottish churches, such as that of St. Regulus at St. Andrews and Restenot Priory.

As the Roman influence prevailed, that of the Columbans waned, till, finally, that of Rome was, after the Synod of Whitby in 664, definitely adopted, and the Columbans were driven off. After the expulsion of the Columbans from Northumbria, the Roman forms and observances were gradually extended over the southern parts of Scotland, then included in the dominions of Oswy, King of Northumbria. Various circumstances tended to aid this process. When the victory of the Picts at Dunichen, in 685, terminated the rule of the Angles in Scotland, Nectan, king of the Celtic kingdom, was brought into contact with the Roman missionaries, whom he found in his extended southern provinces, and became, in 710, a convert to their ideas. He seems to have warmly espoused their cause, and desired that their rules and forms should be universally adopted throughout his kingdom. But the Columbans still clinging to their own observances, King Nectan at length, in 717, issued a decree, expelling from his dominions all ecclesiastics who refused to conform to the Roman practices.

Up to this period there had been an increasing tendency to asceticism in the Columban Church, leading the monks to forsake the cœnobitical or monastic life in common, and to adopt that of the hermit or Anchorite. This had the effect of breaking up the monastic system which had hitherto succeeded so well amongst the Celtic tribes of Ireland and Scotland, and also tended to encourage the introduction of the secular hierarchy of the Roman system.[30]

The hermits were known on the Continent as Deicolæ, or Worshippers of God, and in this country by the title of Keledei or Culdees. The similar order which arose in the Celtic Church afterwards played an important part in Scottish ecclesiastical matters. They first appear in Scotland after the expulsion of the Columbans--the establishment of St. Serf on an island in Lochleven being of this school.

The Deicolæ were organised in 747 as an order of Secular Canons with the object of bringing the secular clergy into a cœnobitical life, so as to help to counteract the then prevailing tendency to the eremitical mode of living. The nature of the structures erected under the latter form of religious observance is well illustrated in the cells and oratories already alluded to, which were erected in such numbers on the lonely and deserted islands on the West Coasts of Ireland and Scotland.

The advent of the Roman emissaries in Scotland is embodied in several mythical legends. Such is the story of the arrival of St. Boniface with a complete following of persons representing all the offices of the Roman service, and his favourable reception by King Nectan indicates the goodwill with which they were welcomed.[31] The dedications of churches to St. Peter, superseding the dedication to the ancient native Saints, further mark the change from Iona to Rome.

The assimilation of the Church to the Roman system, and the introduction of the secular clergy, led in Scotland, as it had done in Northumbria, to the secularisation of the monasteries. Through the operation of the Celtic rules of succession they fell into the hands of laymen, who retained the title of abbot, and with it the possession of the monastic lands, but without any pretence to clerical office.[32] The old Celtic system of monasticism thus perished, first, from internal decay and change to the eremitical system; and, second, from its being gradually superseded by the introduction of the secular clergy on the Roman system.

Meanwhile at Iona, and in all the Western Islands and coasts, a new enemy to the Columban establishments sprung up. In 794 the Northern Rovers made their first appearance, and during many succeeding years the monastery of Iona was frequently attacked and pillaged, the monks being slain or driven to seek safety in Ireland. The connection between Ireland and Scotland was thus almost entirely severed during the ninth century, and the Columbans having (as above stated) been expelled from the Pictish kingdom, the previous active relations between the Church in the two countries was for the time entirely brought to a close.

In Alban or Pictland a revolution seems to have occurred about the year 850, and Kenneth M‘Alpine, a king of the Scotic race, ascended the throne of the Picts. By him an effort was made to re-establish the Columban Church. For this purpose he erected a chief religious centre at Dunkeld, and brought to it some of the relics of St. Columba, with the view of making it an inland Iona. However, in the latter half of the ninth century, the see of the primacy was removed to Abernethy, in Perthshire. Here, Cellach, Abbot of Kildare and also of Iona, had sought refuge from the persecution of the Norsemen in Ireland, and there he died in 865. Irish clergy who had returned to Scotland are thus found at this period at Abernethy, and Dr. Skene supposes that the round tower which still stands there was probably erected about this date.[33] The increasing strength of the Roman influence may be gathered from the fact that in 878-89 King Giric is said to have “given liberty to the Scottish Church;” the meaning of which is, that he decreed that all church lands should be free from secular exactions.[34] In 908 the primacy was transferred to St. Andrews, and Cellach was appointed first Bishop of Alban.[35] A church was founded at Brechin about the year 1000, and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was probably a monastery after the Irish model, with a College of Culdees. The round tower there is a mark of its early association with Ireland.

The Culdees long continued to assert their position and maintain their rights, but they became gradually absorbed into the cathedral chapters established in the country. We thus finally arrive at the period when, in the eleventh century, the adoption of the Roman system in Scotland, under Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret, was completed.

We have now followed the history of the Church in Scotland up to the point where the two streams of influence we have been observing, one from Ireland and the other from Rome through England, meet. We have noticed the powerful influence of the former in imparting to Scotland, under the Columban system, its early rudiments of education, religion, and art. Although this phase of culture did not display itself prominently in architectural results, yet there are other departments in which it excelled. It is to it we are indebted for the beautiful examples of caligraphy and decorated metal work of which the relics are preserved in the MSS., shrines, croziers, and ornaments of the Celtic race.[36]

The marvellous sculptured ornaments and crosses in which Scotland still abounds are also relics of the culture and artistic elements introduced by the missionaries from Ireland. These features of Celtic art form one of the most remarkable series of monuments in any country.

In Ireland, as we have already seen, this monumental art is chiefly exhibited in the recumbent cross-bearing slabs at Clonmacnoise and other ecclesiastical sites, while its later development assumes the form of free standing crosses of the Celtic pattern carved with the interlacing ornaments characteristic of the style, or with figure sculptures enclosed in panels, each panel representing a Scriptural or symbolic subject.

The Scottish sculptured monuments, although bearing a general resemblance to the Irish, have several peculiarities. The earliest form of sculptured monuments in Scotland, as in the other Celtic divisions of Britain, consists of rude upright stones, engraved with an equal-armed cross enclosed in a circle, accompanied with an inscription in debased Roman capital letters, generally comprising the formula “hic jacet” and the chi-rho symbol. The carving is invariably incised in the stone. We have already met with examples of this class of monument, probably of the fifth century, in the South-West of Scotland, in connection with the _Candida Casa_ of St. Ninian. (See Fig. 1.)

Certain peculiar forms of sculptured symbols, carved on undressed upright stones, seem to have originated amongst the Northern Picts. These symbols (Fig. 3) consist of the well-known symbol of (_a_) the “crescent and sceptre,” (_b_) the “double disc” or “spectacles,” (_c_) the above with sceptre, (_d_) the oblong with sceptre, (_e_) the “elephant,” and other forms which are very common in the East of Scotland north of the Forth, but are unknown anywhere else. The meaning of these symbols has never been satisfactorily explained. In the earliest monuments the symbols and occasional figures are the only ornaments found on the stones. They are invariably incised and plain, containing no interlaced or other ornament. It has been pointed out by Dr. J. Anderson that these simple incised symbols probably belong to the period before the beginning of the eighth century, when the Columbans were expelled from Pictland by King Nectan, while the later form of decorated monuments which succeeded them possibly dates from the return of the Columban clergy from Ireland in the middle of the ninth century, when they were re-established in the land by King Kenneth.

That period probably marks the later style of ornamentation which is found on the monuments. The original idea of an upright stone with sculptured symbols is retained, but the monument is no longer a rough unhewn block. It is now a shaped slab, dressed on both sides and on the edges, and the ornamental work is no longer incised, but carved

in relief (Fig. 4). The oblong slabs are always upright, and ornamented on both sides, not recumbent like the Irish slabs. They generally bear on the obverse a cross of the Celtic form occupying the full size of the stone. This form of cross has the four angles at the junction of the arms with the upright shaft hollowed out with a circular or square recess, and the junction surrounded with a circular band. The oblong form of the slab is preserved entire, and the portions of the surface on each side of the cross are usually covered with sculptures representing symbols or interlaced patterns arranged in panels (Fig. 5). The cross itself and the other figures are carved with elaborate designs of interlaced work, or with frets or divergent spirals. The reverse of the slabs is also covered with sculpture representing symbols and conventional or symbolic figures (Fig. 6). The sculpture on these stones bears a close resemblance to the designs of the Celtic MSS., so close, indeed, that each sculptured monument might be a page of MS. carved in stone. This indicates, as pointed out by Dr. J. Anderson, that the designs were first wrought out and brought to perfection on the pages of the MSS., and reproduced at a subsequent

period on the stone monuments. The earliest Celtic MSS. date from the end of the seventh century, while the decorated slabs are probably of the ninth to the twelfth centuries.[37]

A distinct change or progressive development is observable in the forms of the sculptures and ornaments of the above monuments. The Celtic design gradually gives place to new features which bring it into conformity with the decorations of the MSS. and metal work and the general progress of the country. It thus at length becomes merged in the general design of the twelfth century, as introduced from the South along with the other effects of the Roman influence. The interlaced work, spirlets, and fret work give place in course of time to scrolls and leaf ornaments (Fig. 7). The crosses, formerly enriched with divergent spirals, become carved with leaf or flower patterns, the peculiar Pictish symbols disappear, and the Celtic cross gives place to the more ordinary Norman form. Upright cross slabs are abandoned and recumbent slabs take their place.

Amongst the later examples, Scripture scenes similar to those on the Irish crosses are introduced in the panels, together with numerous hunting pieces and figures of men and animals. Dr Anderson[38] shows distinctly that the Scriptural scenes are debased and barely intelligible representations of symbolic subjects from the Bible, such as Adam and Eve, the Sacrifice of Isaac, David Slaying the Lion, &c. Similar subjects are common in the Catacombs of Rome, where they are painted so as to be easily recognised; but in course of time, and after many imperfect efforts to copy them, they became reduced to the conventional forms seen in the Celtic sculptures, the meaning of which can only be explained by following the designs back to the originals. Dr. Anderson also shows that the hunting scenes, with men on horseback, dogs, &c., and the grotesque

animals represented, often with much spirit in the sculptures, are derived from the symbolic mediæval bestiaries. These figures, which at first sight might be regarded as secular or grotesque, are thus proved to be symbolic of Christian doctrine and moral teaching, like many of the later and more naturalistic carvings in the Gothic churches. In the hunting scenes the hart panting after the waterbrooks represents the soul pursued by its worldly enemies; the shooting of the wild boar with arrows symbolises the conversion of heathen savages to Christianity; the pelican, with its young, is a symbol of the Resurrection; the lion, the eagle, the phœnix are types of Christ; the fox and hyena of the devil.[39]

The above monuments of the East of Scotland are, as we have seen, almost all of the upright slab form, bearing the cross on the obverse. Only a very few free standing crosses exist in that region. Some examples of transition character are, however, found which form a connecting link between the upright slabs and the free standing crosses. These consist of cross bearing slabs having the circles, at the junction of the arms with the shaft, cut through the stone. It then only remained to cut away the remainder of the slab and leave the cross free.

In the West of Scotland, on the other hand, the principal form of cross is the free standing one. In consequence of the invasions of the Northmen, this part of the country was in a great state of disturbance for a long period after the expulsion of the Columbans from the East, and little monumental work seems to have been done.[40] There are, however, a few fragments of free standing crosses at Iona, and one fine specimen at Kildalton, in Islay, which exhibit the same characteristics in their sculpture as the pure Celtic upright slabs of the East. (Fig. 8.) When monumental sculpture was revived in the West, at a considerably later date, its style indicates connection with Ireland rather than with the East of Scotland. Free standing crosses abound, and the upright slabs carved on both sides are rare; the grave slabs being recumbent, like those of Ireland. The symbols peculiar to the East are also entirely wanting. It seems also that the monuments of Argyllshire and the Western Islands (as at Iona, &c.) were influenced by a style of sculpture imported from the Continent, of which examples exist at Durham and Hexham. These “are not Celtic, but a debased local survival of Romanesque forms.”[41]

The late Western crosses have, further, this peculiarity, that the circular band round the head of the cross is not cut free, so as to present an independent ring of stone, but forms a solid disc, from which the ends of the arms and top project. (Figs. 9 and 9A.) These crosses generally contain a representation of the Crucifixion, which is almost unknown in pure Celtic work. The carving also ceases by degrees to be distinctively Celtic, and consists generally of scroll work and foliage. (Fig. 10.) These features were adhered to in this region for centuries after the Celtic work of the East had entirely given place to the general Gothic art of the rest of Europe. (Fig. 11.) The monuments of the West thus retain a very special character, the foliage of the designs being unique and original, and in many cases of much beauty. This peculiar design continued as late as the sixteenth century, several good dated examples of that period being still preserved, mixed with debased Gothic features. The architecture of the locality is naturally much influenced by this style, as will be pointed out when Iona is described.

It can scarcely be doubted that many of the Scottish sculptured stones are of about twelfth century date. The sculptures on them represent the

same scenes, and are derived from the same source, as many of those carved on the tympana and fonts of Norman churches. Such sculptures are found on churches dating from 1135 to 1190, and almost no figure sculpture is found on churches of an earlier date. The subjects carved on the churches are similar to those on the crosses, such as Adam and Eve, David and the lion, Daniel and the lions, hunting scenes, animals, monsters, and symbolic figures derived from the bestiaries. (See Dalmeny below.) The latter figures continued to be used on Gothic structures till a comparatively late date.

The sculptured crosses of the East of Scotland thus naturally connect themselves with the current design of the period in other countries. They are no longer the mysterious and unintelligible monuments they

were once supposed to be. By the able investigations and expositions of the writers above referred to, they are brought into harmony with the general art of Europe prior to the twelfth century, and are shown to hold a prominent place in the artistic history of the country.

It is remarkable, notwithstanding the abundance of sculpture on the early monuments, that, until the advent of the Norman influence, scarcely any indication of architectural details or sculpture occurs on the churches of either Ireland or Scotland.

The earliest sign of decoration on buildings in Ireland is seen in the form of a cross, composed of five white pebbles, inserted over the doorway, in the dark stone of which the beehive cells of Ardoilean are built. Some of the round towers contain very early instances of symbolism in the Celtic cross carved on the lintel, while late examples (such as Brechin) show a further advance in the introduction of a Crucifixion on the lintel, and other figures on other parts of the doorway. The carving of the cross on the above and other lintels is probably symbolic of the blood of the lamb which was struck on the doorposts of the Israelites in Egypt at the Passover.[42]

EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES IN SCOTLAND.

The ecclesiastical structures of the early centuries which still survive in Scotland are of the type of the stone erections above described in the monasteries of Ireland. The beehive huts and oratories of the parent eremitical establishments in the latter country are represented by a few similar collections of structures which yet remain in the remote islands and distant parts of Scotland.

Groups of dry-built beehive huts (or the remains of them), surrounding one or more primitive churches, can still be pointed to in several localities. These are surrounded with the wall or cashel which was always present around the Irish monasteries.

Diminutive dry-built stone cells or oratories, with sloping or curved walls, having the roof closed in with overlapping stones, converging towards the centre, and covered with flag-stones, are still found in the remote islands. One oratory also exists at Inchcolm where the stone roof is supported by a true arch, as in some of the latest Irish examples. It should, however, be pointed out that huts of similar construction to the above are known to have been erected and inhabited in recent times in the Outer Hebrides.[43] The hermitages above referred to, although belonging to this oldest type of structure, may thus possibly not be the oldest buildings in the country.