fife-kinross-clackmannan-1933/03-296

Transcription

INVERKEITHING.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN FIFE. [INVERKEITHING

complete but for its inner member, and gives
access to a modern session-house built against
the tower, while the second, which lies in the
south wall opposite, is filled in. The present
entrance is on the ground floor and like the spire
is modern. The two storeys immediately above
it are lit by lancets, some of which have been
restored, while the third storey, which is the
bell-chamber, has a two-light decorated window
with later transoms in each wall, but the
window facing east is now covered by the nave
roof. The parapet is low and it is borne on
separate corbels, each of two members. The
masonry is rubble.

BELL. - In the bell-chamber hangs a bell
measuring 2 feet 4 inches in diameter and 1 foot
10 1/2 inches in height ; the canons are complete.
A floral crestwork beneath the crown surmounts
the inscription : MICHAEL BVRGHERHVYS ME
FECIT ANNO 1641 SOLI DEO GLORIA.

FONT. - A fine font (Figs. 293-4) stands in the
church. It was found in two portions - the sup-
port within the churchyard, the bowl within the
tower. The bowl, which dates from the 16th cen-
tury, is hexagonal on plan and measures 3 feet 7
inches in greatest breadth. On the six sides are six
panels each containing a shield held by an angel,
which bears arms thus : (1) A lion rampant within
a double tressure flory-counter-flory, the Royal
arms. (2) The same as (1), impaling five bars
wavy, for Robert III and his wife Annabella
Drummond (cf. No. 285). (3) A fess checky
between three crescents, for Stewart. ¹ (4)
Quarterly, 1st and 4th, three bay leaves, for
Foulis of Colinton (?), 2nd and 3rd, a saltire and
chief, wavy, for Bruce of Balcaskie (?).* (5) A
fess between three crescents, for Melville of
Glenbervie. ² (6) An eagle displayed sur-
mounted by a bend charged with three crescents,
for Ramsay of Denoune, Forfarshire. ³ The font
has a total height of 4 feet 2 inches. The sup-
port for the bowl dates from the late 14th
century and consists of clustered shafts with
fillets. The capitals, now much destroyed, have
been enriched with foliage, while the bases are
moulded.
* These are uncertain as no connection with the
burgh can be traced to either family.

TOMBSTONE. - In a burial enclosure, erected
on the foundation of the old choir at the east
end of the modern church, is a recumbent slab
measuring 6 feet by 2 feet 7 1/2 inches. An
inscription running round the margin and
terminating in the upper part of the slab reads :
HIC IACET / IOHANNES HALIDAY DE TVLLIBOLL /
ADVOCATVS / QVI SVMMO OMNIVM CVM MOERORE
/ OBIIT 19 SEPT / 1606 AETATIS / SVAE 57.
("Here lies John Halliday of Tullibole who, to
the great grief of all, died 19 Sept. 1606, aged
57 years.") In the middle of the slab, between
the initials I.H. and E.H., for John Halliday
and Elizabeth Hay, is a shield parted per pale :
dexter, a chevron between three cinquefoils,
sinister, three escutcheons. Beneath the shield
is the inscription : QVI IN CHR/ISTO MORIT/VR
MINIME MORITVR ("He does not die at all who
dies in Christ").

1 Robert Stewart of Innermeath and his heirs
had in 1386 a grant of 20 merks sterling from
the great customs of Inverkeithing. Reg. Mag.
Sig., i, No. 773. 2 In the late 14th century
Melville held the Pittadro lands, part of the
local barony. Information from Rev. W.
Stephen, B.D., Inverkeithing. 3 The Ramsays
were burgesses of Inverkeithing. Ibid.
Cf. also Cast. and Dom. Arch., ii, p. 547.

xxxix S.W. 12 June 1928.

276. "The Palace" or Hospitium of the Grey
Friars. - This building (Figs. 298, 301), on the
east side of Queen Street has the appearance of
a late 17th-century tenement but, on examina-
tion, its walls were found to represent part of
the western range of the cloister buildings of the
Grey Friars and to date mainly from the 14th
century. The range had originally extended
farther to the south, while at the opposite end
it ran as far as the north gable of the house now
standing on the north of "the Palace." What
is left is three storeys in height and is L-shaped
on plan, with the wing projecting eastward in
alignment with the south gable. In the 17th
century the main block was remodelled, while
the western half of the wing from the first floor
upwards was entirely rebuilt. To suit the
rearrangement, two forestairs were added facing
the street, while a newel-stair was built at the
back within the re-entrant angle.
The newel-stair covers the inner end of a
vaulted transe passing through the ground
floor of the main block. Of the outer archway
of the transe only the rear-arch remains, but
the inner archway, with its rear-arch, is com-

[Page] 153

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