Page:The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland ( Volume 3).djvu/136

 roof throughout is kept at about the same level as in the choir, there is a deep blank wall above the arcade arches. This wall is of rough masonry compared to that in the choir, and the whole of this part of the church is of a much coarser and ruder description, betokening a later age. The capitals of the piers are of the very rudest kind, and are a perfect contrast to the delicate work of the choir. In the meagre descriptions of St. John's to be found in the books on Perth, this rudeness is pointed to as a sign of great antiquity, but the reverse is unquestionably the case. This nave is undoubtedly "the New Kirk of Perth" referred to in the Chronicle, in which "ane Synodall assemblie" was held in April 1606.

It will be seen from the views (Figs. 1043 and 1044) that the top of the wall over the piers of the nave just shows itself and no more on the

1041.

St. John the Baptist's, Perth.

Section of Arch Mouldings in Choir and Nave.

outside, rising above the lean-to roof of the aisles. It has been contemplated, early in this century, to raise this wall and erect a clerestory, and two of the windows adjoining the tower on the north side (see Fig. 1043) have actually been built as part of a pretentious design, with massive buttresses surmounted by high finials, but the work has never been carried further, and indeed could not be carried further to the west, as there is no proper support for such massive building. Below the new clerestory (but not shown on the Plan) a new wall has been brought up to support it.

Fig. 1044 shows a peculiarity in the west wall, which seems to indicate that there has been some change of design here, the gable being thinned above the western doorway. There is a tradition that the church extended further west at one time, and it seems not improbable that a western tower in the centre of the front may have been contemplated and even begun. This tower, like those at Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may have been intended to open towards the church, with a wide arch, of which the jambs still remain; but this idea having been abandoned, and any part of the tower which then had been built having been taken down, the present makeshift gable was put up instead to fill up the gap, which, in these circumstances, would be left for the supposed opening into the church.

There is a large porch on the north side of the nave (see Fig. 1043), called Halkerston's Tower, the structure having been at one time much higher than it is now. It was a two storied building, the upper story having evidently been of great height and vaulted, as well as the