The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century; vol. 2/3

THE ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE

                              OF SCOTLAND

               FROM THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN TIMES TO THE
                         SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.


            _Edinburgh: Printed by George Waterston & Sons_

                                  FOR

                            DAVID DOUGLAS.

     LONDON,      SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO., LIMITED
     CAMBRIDGE,   MACMILLAN AND BOWES
     GLASGOW,     JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS




                                  THE

                            ECCLESIASTICAL

                             ARCHITECTURE

                              OF SCOTLAND

               FROM THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN TIMES TO THE
                          SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

                                  BY

                    DAVID MACGIBBON AND THOMAS ROSS

  AUTHORS OF “THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND”

                             _VOLUME TWO_


                            [Illustration]


                       EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS

                               MDCCCXCVI


                        _All rights reserved._




PREFACE.


As this Volume contains drawings and descriptions of the examples of the
First Pointed and Middle Pointed Periods in Scotland, and, therefore,
illustrates the finest of our mediæval edifices, it may be convenient at
this stage to consider the position these buildings occupy in relation
to the general system of Gothic architecture in other countries. There
can scarcely be any question as to the Gothic style having been imported
into, and not being native to, this country. We have already seen that
the Norman style was gradually introduced from England, and was
afterwards superseded by the transition style. The buildings of the
first pointed period also show unmistakable indications of their design
having been brought from England,[1] while those of the middle pointed
period, although clearly allied in style to English examples, exhibit in
their details a few signs of other influences. Although many of our
Scottish edifices contain much beautiful work, and all are full of
interest, it must be admitted that even the best examples of Gothic in
this country cannot claim to give full expression to the fundamental
principles of the Gothic style as developed in its native home, the
Royal Domain of France.

The style being here an exotic, and being carried out rather as
imitative than as original, it is naturally to be expected that it
should disclose symptoms of departure from the spirit which animated
those by whom it was wrought out and developed. And that is, in fact,
the case.

Notwithstanding the beauty of many of our larger and finer edifices,
such as Holyrood and Melrose Abbeys, and Glasgow, Dunblane, and Elgin
Cathedrals, evidence is wanting in the design of these edifices of a
full appreciation of the leading principles which inspired and guided
the architects of the Ile de France. The Scottish buildings represent
the echo rather than the original voice of the genius of Gothic
architecture.

The principal aim of the French architects of the latter half of the
twelfth century and during the thirteenth century was to produce
structures in which the arcuated or vaulted system of building should be
developed to its fullest extent. With these architects the vaulted
construction of the roof thus became the ruling element in the design,
all the other features being wrought out so as to be supplementary to,
and indicative of, the principles of the arcuated style. Every detail
was designed so as to fulfil its structural function in subordination to
that general idea. Thus the ribs of the vaults formed the framework on
which the vaulting panels rested, and conveyed the pressures created by
the weight of the roof to the points where these pressures were all
concentrated on the capitals of the wall shafts. From that point the
forces so concentrated were distributed, the vertical pressure being
conveyed downwards by the wall shafts to the foundations, and the
horizontal thrusts being counterbalanced by buttresses and flying
buttresses, which performed their share of the work by carrying these
forces obliquely to the ground. These primary features were the skeleton
which constituted the main elements of the building. They formed a
structure in stable equilibrium, which was independent of the filling in
of the walls, with windows, doors, and other details. The latter were
but the clothing and ornamentation of the main structural framework, and
in the completed style (as at Amiens Cathedral), all superfluous masonry
is abolished, and the spaces between the main structural elements are
enclosed with screens of tracery. The Gothic structure was thus a
composition in complete contrast with the Romanesque or Norman edifices
which preceded it. In the latter, although arching and even vaulting
were employed, the arched system of construction was in an elementary
state, and the inert mass of the walls was chiefly relied on as a
counterpoise to the thrusts of the arches.

It was not till the end of the twelfth and during the thirteenth century
that the Gothic system had been fully worked out by the French
architects.