stirling-1963-vol-1/05_169

Transcription

No. 131 -- ECCLESIASTICAL MONUMENTS -- No. 131
while in the centre of the E. wall is the filled-up opening
to the nave roof (p. 133). The ceiling, like those of the
rooms above, is joisted on corbels; trap-doors are pro-
vided for the raising of bells to the third floor, which is
the bell-chamber. From the second-floor room doorways
give N. and S. on to the lower gallery.

THE NAVE. The nave and its aisles are contemporary
with the lower part of the tower, belonging, apart from
alterations, to the first building-period. Their main
external features appear in Pls. 18 A and 19 D, which show
the equilateral, traceried aisle-windows, with label
mouldings, separated by buttresses with sloping heads
which finish below cavetto string-courses; above these
are low parapets with a row of water-spouts at their
bases (Pl. 19 D), and, above the low-pitched aisle-roofs,
the upper parts of the nave-walls, again with string-
courses, gargoyles and parapets. At the W. end of each
aisle there is a further window, pointed and traceried
like the rest. An original angle-buttress at the SW. corner
bears a crocketed finial; on the NW. corner there stands
another of which mention will be made shortly. The S.
nave-wall alone has a clearstorey; it consists of small,
round-headed windows finished with label mouldings
outside and inside, but the external labels have been cut
away and the tops of the windows have been encroached
on by the parapet in a manner which suggests that this
latter was originally intended to be set at a higher level.
The aisle roofs were originally flat and were probably
covered with lead, but they were subsequently raised to
accommodate the present slated roof, which conceals
the water-table of the earlier roof. ¹ During the alterations
of 1911-4 there was found, immediately below this water-
table on the S. side of the church and 38 ft. E. of the
outer face of the W. wall of the S. aisle, a crudely incised
shield bearing a saltire. Above the shield is incised in
Gothic characters: WIL JOHNSON. As Dr. Ross suggests, ²
this is probably the work of one of the masons employed
on the fabric; the saltire forms part of the heraldic
achievement of the Johnstons.
The original arrangement has been altered on both
sides of the church. On the S. side the second bay from
the W. originally contained a doorway, which was
covered by a porch; but in 1818 the porch was removed
and the doorway was converted into a window. ³ During
the alterations of 1936-40 the original arrangement was
restored and the present porch and doorway are of this
date; traces of the earlier window-sill are visible on either
door-jamb. There is record evidence for the former
existence of a chapel, known as Bowye's Aisle, in the E.
bay on the S. side, but no structural remains are now
visible apart from what may be footings at and around
the E. buttress. The origin of the name "Bowye's Aisle"
is not known, but the structure was probably built as a
chantry chapel in pre-Reformation times; its external
appearance. as evidenced by an old print reproduced by
Ronald, ⁴ suggests that it was about the same size as the
former St. Mary's Aisle (p. 135) on the N. side of the
nave. In 1632 the aisle was acquired as a burial-place
by the Earl of Stirling, the owner of the nearby mansion
that is known today as Argyll's Lodging (No. 227).
During the alterations of 1818 it was largely demolished,
the walls being reduced to a height of about 3 ft. ⁵, while at
a later period these fragments were themselves removed.
The window that now occupies the bay probably dates
from 1818. On the N., the alterations have been more
far-reaching. Before 1483, a small chapel known as St.
Andrew;s Aisle (16 ft. by 12 ft.) was thrown out in front
of the easternmost bay (Pl. 22 C). Its E. wall now coalesces
with the W. wall of the 20th-century N. transept, but
appears in part to be older than the N. and W. walls of
the chapel. So much at least is suggested by the portion
of splayed plinth that may be seen at the N. end of the
wall. It seems likely, therefore, that this wall is con-
temporary with the main body of the nave and may
originally have been intended to form part of a N. tran-
sept. In the event this transept was not completed until
1936-40. At some time during the intervening period a
doorway was inserted ⁶ in the centre of the wall to give
external access to the chapel; but this doorway is now
blocked up. In the N. wall of the chapel there is an
original three-light window with basket tracery and a
hood-moulding (Pl. 22 B), and in its W. wall a heavily
splayed window with a straight arch on the inside, the
external lintel of which bears the initials D F in relief.
This latter window shows traces of alteration and it may
have been partially rebuilt during the reconstruction of
1911-4, before which it is known to have been blocked
up. ⁷ In a description of the chapel written about 1900
it is stated ⁸ that the window is an insertion, and certainly
the character of the lettering of the inscription suggests
a date in the late 16th or early 17th rather than in the
15th century. The initials are evidently those of a member
of the Forestar family, perhaps David Forestar of
Denovan, or Duncan, son of Sir Alexander Forestar of
Garden, on whom see below (pp. 138 f.). A very small
ogival-headed recess (Pl. 22 D) in the E. wall may be a
credence; a consecration cross is cut on the N. wall, and
along the W. wall there runs a bench. The four tomb-
slabs in the floor are described later along with other
carved details in the chapel. The roof is a tierceron vault
(Pl. 22 A), the ribs rising from moulded corbels. There
are no wall-ribs, and the stonework of the webbing is
French in character. The central boss bears, within
foliaceous ornamentation, a shield, charged presumably
for Forestar ⁹ (supra): A saltire; in base a hunting horn.
Of the other bosses one bears a petalled flower, deeply

1 Dr. Ross in T.S.N.H.A.S. (1913-4), 119 f.
2 Ibid.
3 Ronald, J., in T.S.N.H.A.S. (1889-90), 11.
4 The Story of the Argyll Lodging. 162.
5 Ibid., 165.
6 Stirling Antiquary, ii, 104.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., but cf. Fleming, J. S., The Old Castle Vennel of
Stirling, 47.
9 But the late Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon King of
Arms, considered that this charge "must have a reference to
the dedication of the Chapel to St. Andrew, as it is not a coat
of arms of any known family of Forrester" (Stirling Antiquary,
ii, 105).

-- 134

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