Page:The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland ( Volume 3).djvu/192

 erected in this country at the time, has doubtless led to these attempts to attribute the design to a foreign architect or a foreign country, where richly decorated structures exist.

The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Arms of Sir W. Sinclair's First Wife.

But this amount of decoration, being so exceptional in Scottish edifices, seems to have proved misleading. No parallel to Rosslyn has, so far as we know, been discovered abroad, and it is unnecessary to go so far afield in search of a model. The leading principles of the design are really Scottish, and it will be found, on careful analysis, that Rosslyn Church presents a rich and finished epitome, both as regards constructive and decorative elements, of the Scottish ecclesiastical architecture of the third or late pointed period. The plan of the east end of Rosslyn Church so closely resembles that of the choir of Glasgow Cathedral, that there is hardly room to doubt that the latter was the model after which the former was designed. The disposition of the pillars in the two buildings agrees exactly, the side aisles in both being connected by an eastern

The Collegiate Church of Rosslyn. Corbels in Lower Chapel.

aisle, which in each case has a central pillar in the east arcade, and in each edifice a series of chapels beyond this aisle forms the east end. The details are, as is natural, seeing that the buildings are about two centuries apart in date, entirely different, but it is curious to observe how in both cases even the minute parts of the design are remarkably alike. Thus the triple niche over the central pillar of the east arcade at Glasgow finds a counterpart in the same position at Rosslyn (see Fig. 1078). The east wall and gable of both choirs occupy the same relative position, rising above the eastern aisle and chapels. Churches with an eastern aisle are not unknown in England, such as Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, and Romsey Abbey, Hampshire; but the former has three openings in the east end, thus showing an arch in the centre; while Romsey Church, Glasgow Cathedral, and Rosslyn Church have the peculiarity of having a pillar in the centre of the east arcade.

Much has been made of the resemblance between the barrel vaults of