ROSLIN CHAPEL REOPENED. 383 Bishop of Brechin, from Psalm xxvi. 8: 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth;' and his discourse was mainly a defence of the application of the highest art to the uses of religion. CHAPTER XXXVIII. LEGENDARY AND ARCHITECTURAL. The 'Prentice Pillar and its Legend-Other Derivations-The HE chief and most notable example of high art in Roslin Chapel is the end pillar in the south-east corner of the Lady Chapel, commonly known as 'the 'Prentice Pillar.' Mr. N. P. Willis did not very accurately describe it, when he called it a singular column. of twisted marble, most curiously carved, standing under the choir;' for the column is not under the choir, neither is it marble, nor twisted. Its material, in fact, is red and white sandstone; and around its straight shaft are twisted four spiral wreaths or bands of flowers, separated eighteen inches from each other, and each wreath sculptured with its own peculiar flower. The pillar, like all the others in the chapel, is only eight feet high, so that the sculpture on its capital can be plainly seen. It represents the angel with the bagpipe and another In nearly all the published views of the interior of the chapel, the human figures, therein introduced, are drawn so disproportionately small, that the pillars, &c., are made to look far loftier than they really are. LEGEND OF THE PRENTICE PILLAR. 385 figure at its feet; Isaac lying on the altar, with the ram caught in the thicket, and Abraham with uplifted hands. The patriarch's figure is on the architrave connecting the Prentice Pillar with the one to the west; and on the architrave connecting it with the pilaster on the wall of the south aisle, is the Latin sentence from Esdras, before mentioned. Around the base of the pillar are dragons entwined and chained. The sculpture throughout is equally bold and delicate; the flowers and figures stand out in full relief, and the guide thrusts straws through them to point out the basso relievo to those feeble minds that might otherwise overlook it. He also duly tells the wonderful tale of the origin of the pillar-how the model was sent from Rome; how the master-mason couldn't at all accomplish the work without going to Rome to look at the original; how, in his absence, an apprentice set to work at the pillar, and plied his chisel with such skill and dexterity, that, when his master returned, he beheld the completed work; and finally, and to conclude, how the master, being thereupon enraged, smote the 'prentice on the head with a hammer. Indeed, to corroborate his legend, the guide points out three stony heads in the south-west part of the Chapel which represent the master-mason, the weeping mother, and the 'prentice with the wound upon his head, denoted by a dab of red paint. It was Grose who pointed out that the head which is passed off for that of the apprentice represents a bearded old man. The truth is, that such legends are as common as blackberries; and similar stories have been told of other buildings. The legend of the famous Rose window at Rouen is that of the Roslin pillar, totidem verbis. On visiting this Chapel,' said Dr. A. Campbell, C C in 1802, one is obliged to submit to hear the ridiculous nonsense of its traditionary history; but a freemason will be able to divine the main drift of the legendary tale.' The legend of the Pillar is a portion of the tale; for, according to tradition, all the designs for the chapel were executed at Rome, and the founder, by bestowing great rewards to the workmen, attracted to the spot the best artificers in the island, as well as from the continent; and in 1446 the building was commenced as a collegiate church, but was never completed, in consequence of the death of the founder in 1484; by which time only the choir and the east wall of the transept had been built, in which state it remains to the present day, the western apertures being merely closed in with a blank wall. This founder of the Chapel was William St. Clair, Prince of Orkney; and, according to Slezer, the chief pillar in the building was called after him the Prince's Pillar.' Perhaps those who handed down this tradition improved it by grafting, upon it the popular story of the murdered workman, and changing 'Prince' into 'Prentice.' Others have imagined that it was called the Prince's (or Prince) Pillar merely because it was the chief pillar. It may be asked, Why should this column be made so superior to the others, when it has not a central situation-for it is the end pillar out of three? The reason probably is this, that it is the nearest pillar to the high altar of the Virgin. This altar is raised two steps above the floor; and underneath it is the flight of twenty-two steps leading down to a building erected eastward of the Chapel, and on the slope of the hill, which descends so See a few pages in advance for the last Laird and Freemasonry. DIRGE OF ROSABELLE. 387 abruptly, that the eastern window of this building is some few feet above the exterior soil. ; This building is variously called by the names of chapel, crypt, sacristy, or vestry, according to the fancy or theory of the writer; and its probable use, says Mr. Burn, has been a subject of sad puzzling to antiquarian brains. Was it a chapel, as generally asserted? Under the eastern window there was the stone altar there is the piscina and the aumbry for the sacramental plate-but what else? a fire-place (which has its chimney), a goodly array of closets, a doorway once communicating with the outside, and a second door leading to an inner room or rooms. Its domestic appurtenances clearly show it to have been the house of the priestly custodier of the chapel, and the ecclesiastical types first named were for his private meditations; and thus the puzzle ceases.' In the dirge of Rosabelle, Sir Walter Scott has preserved the popular tradition that Roslin Chapel was supernaturally illuminated on the death of any member of the Rosslyn family.* Seem'd all on fire that Chapel proud, Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffined lie, Each Baron, for a sable shroud, Seem'd all on fire, within, around, Shone every pillar foliage-bound, And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail. Blazed battlement and pinnet high, Blazed every rose-carved buttress fair- The lordly line of high St. Clair. It happened to the present writer, one clear evening, to be walking in the neighbourhood of Roslin, when he was startled from thinking |