caithness-1911/05_065

Transcription

[Page] 8 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF CANISBAY.

There is no stair, access being obtained to the bell chamber by a door
within the church roof, after the manner of some of the early towers
in Scotland. The entrance doorway was in the S. wall and, as
usual, towards the W. end, as will be seen on plan,* but has been
obliterated, along with other features, in the course of the last altera-
tions effected some twenty years ago. Most of the windows and door
openings in the side walls are square-lintelled, a common feature in
small pre-Reformation churches, reserving openings of a pointed form
for the gables. The church was apparently dedicated to St Drostan.
See Origines, ii., pt. ii. p. 792.

Sepulchral Monuments.
24. In the S. transept there are the remains of a good monument
in the Renaissance style of the late 17th century. It consists of four
fluted Corinthian pillars resting on a base, of which two pillars are
arranged at the ends, leaving a space for the inscription. All this,
with the carving, is much defaced, and the inscription is gone, as also
all of the monument that originally existed above the pillars. The
remaining portion measures 7' 6" in width by 6' 6" in height. It is
difficult to account for the condition of the monument, seeing that it
is within the church and under cover.
25. Set into the S. wall of the S. transept of the church, on the
outside, is a slab commemorating various members of the Groat
family. The slab (pl. III.) is of red sandstone, and measures 6' 4" in
length, 2' 7" in breadth, and 4" in thickness. On its surface is carved
a plain Latin cross set on a stepped base, with a shield bearing a
merchant's mark higher up on the stone. Around the slab runs an
inscription in quaint lettering carved in relief, and in part difficult
to decipher. It commences near the base of the cross on the left,
and may be read as follows:-

DONALD GROT SONE TO JHONE GROT LAID ME
HEIR APRLL XIII DAY 1568 M D.L. LCWYS+ AND
DONOLALD GROT JOHNE GROT AND HIS DONAIELD
LAD AND THAAR FAORBARS OF DONALD WHOUSE
GOD CALD ME YE XIII DAY OF APRLL ANNO DOMINY
M.D.L. 1568.

The lettering on the base of the cross seems to read AMIORALE,
possibly intended for A MEMORIAL. The slab was found under the
floor of the church in 1894, and has probably been recut.
See Scottish Antiquary, viii. pp. 52 (illus.), 162; ibid., p. 35.

A number of interesting old tombstones are exposed in the
surrounding graveyard.
26. Some 50' S. of the E. end of the church is a flat slab bearing
a plain Latin cross on a stepped base. The cross measures in
extreme length 3' 9 1/2", and in breadth 1' 8". Above the cross is a

* The Commissioners are indebted to Mr Hippolyte J. Blanc, R.S.A.,
F.R.I.B.A., for the sketch of this church, made before the last alterations in
1891.
+ ? likewise.

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