roxburgh-1956-vol-2/-05_060

Transcription

No. 567 -- MELROSE PARISH -- No. 567

two circular and two rectangular cressets ; specimens
of tiles.
First Floor, Central Room. A 15th-century corbel
carved with the head of a laughing monk ; a 13th-
century floriated disc-head of a free-standing cross ;
a fragment of a 13th-century grave-slab bearing
traces of a floriated cross-head ; 13th-century roofing-
tiles ; a miniature 13th-century grave-slab from the
churchyard bearing a cross with a calvary and a
floriated head and having on the right of the shaft
a sword with depressed quillons and a fan-shaped
pommel ; 14th-century vaulting bosses carved as
follows : a rose (two), a cowled head held to represent
Sir Michael Scot of Balwearie, the Scottish wizard
who flourished towards the close of the 13th-century,
the head of a king and the head of a queen ; frag-
ments of the choir-monks' cloister arcade, dating
from the late 12th century, having capitals carved
with scallops and water-leaf foliage, double shafts,
one of them circular and the other one octagonal, and
bases with an early form of water-holding section,
similar in character to those still in situ in the conversi
cloister (p. 287) ; a mutilated 15th-century figure of
St. John the Baptist ; a fragment of a 15th-century
figure of a saint ; sections of vaulting-ribs ; pieces
of an archway enriched with 13th-century dog-tooth
ornament ; a collection of 13th-century floor-tiles
from the chapter-house ; a fragment of a 15th-
century figure showing apparelled vestments ; a
15th-century crocket ; a mutilated head from a tomb ;
a 15th-century carving of a Cistercian rose ; a 15th-
century head of a saint ; a 15th-century carving of a
hand ; a fragment of another hand, early 15th cen-
tury ; a piece of 13th-century sculpture, considerably
mutilated, representing a seated king with a youth
resting against either knee, one of them supporting
a lap-dog, while another dog is seen in the back-
ground ; a fragment of a cornice bearing traces of
colour ; a fragment of a mid 15th-century retable
representing St. Jerome in the guise of a master
sculptor ; an apex stone of the late 12th century
carved with a triquetra knot ; part of a carved shield
bearing the arms of Abbot Andrew Hunter (1444-71),
presumably from the mid-buttress immediately W.
of the S. transept and E. of the figure of St. Andrew
(cf. p. 276) ; a mutilated miniature sculpture of the
Virgin and Child ; fragments of St. Waltheof's
shrine or feretory dating from 1240 (cf. p. 283 n.) ;
parts of 13th-century trilobed colonnettes ; parts of
the base of a late-mediaeval tomb bearing quatre-
foiled panels containing small uncarved shields ; a
portion of a tomb-cover of Frosterely marble ;
keystone of a 15th-century window-arch carved with
the figure of a prophet and having a vaulting-shaft
attached ; a 15th-century crocketed finial from a
niche canopy ; a 15th-century vaulting-boss carved
with a rose-and-leaf design ; seven other 15th-
century vaulting-bosses carved respectively with a
Christ head within a foliaceous wreath, a shield with
the Royal Arms, probably of the early 16th century,
foliage (two), a " Green Man " i.e. a human mask
with foliage at the eyes and mouth, a flower-head, and
a Cistercian rose ; a rampart lion and foliaceous
spray from a 14th-century tomb ; a piece of late
12th-century arcading enriched with a bold leaf-
pattern ; a vaulting-boss representing St. Columba
and his dove ; a 15th-century boss ornamented with
the clam-shells of St. James the Greater ; a lintel
from the demolished Black Bull Inn,1 probably hewn
from one of the abbey stones, having a love-knot
carved at the left-hand side and beside it a panel,
divided in two and containing the initials I N in the
upper half and I D in the lower one, while a mono-
gram of the sacred initials I H S occupies the centre
of the stone with a pelta-shaped panel to its left
containing the date 1573 and above it YE 2 DAY OF
MAY ; a 13th-century boss carved with fighting
dragons ; a 15th-century stop carved with foliage ;
a fragment of a 9th-century cross bearing a panel
filled with interlaced work ; an early 15th-century
head of a moor from the N. transept clearstorey ; a
mutilated 15th-century tarasque, or fabulous beast ;
a collection of roofing-tiles.
First Floor, N. Room. A late mediaeval vat of
bell-metal ; two late mediaeval cooking-pots of bell-
metal ; the works of the clock erected in 1762 on the
gable of the S. transept.

TOMBSTONES IN THE ABBEY CHURCH.
(1) N. aisle of nave. This 17th-century memorial
includes a shield charged : On a chevron, three
mullets, in base a stag's head erased for Ker. On
the dexter side the shield is flanked by an angel and
on the sinister side by a " deid bell " surmounting a
skull. Below the shield runs an inscription HEIR
LYIS THE RACE OF YE HOUS OF ZAIR.2
(2) Third S. chapel. A Renaissance memorial
with a strap-worked pediment containing an armorial
panel. The shield is charged : A cross-flory between
four escallops, for Fletcher. On the dexter side there
is a monogram of the initials M D F, for David
Fletcher M(agister Artium), who became minister of
Melrose in 1641 and bishop of Argyll in 1662. The
year in which he died, 1665, is carved on the sinister
side of the shield. In the centre of the memorial
there is a panel inscribed

SANCTORVM TVMVLVM SI FAS VIO/LARE QVERELIS /
HVNC QVICVNQVE VIDENT FLE/TIBVS ORA LAVENT /
NAMQVE EST ABREPTVS PRAESVL / PIVS ATQVE FIDELIS /
PASTOR CVI VIGILANS DE GRE/GE CVRA FVIT /
MVNERE SIC FVNCT[VS] GE[NERE PRAE]/CLARVS
VT[R]OQVE /
ECCLESIAE ET PO[P]VLO [COMMODA] / MAGNA
T[VLI]T /
ET NVNC CVM CH[RIS]T[O FRVITVR] / MERCEDE
[LABORVM] /
IN TERRIS EIVS FAMA [COLENDA MANET.]
(" If the graves of holy men may be disturbed by

1 This inn formerly stood near the SE. corner of Abbey Street, facing the cross of Melrose. 2. I.e. Yair.

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