Page:Scottishartrevie01unse.djvu/153

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GLASGOW CATHEDRAL
123


addition of the Chapel of the Nine Altars was an afterthought and — exquisite as it is in itself — a mani- fest blunder. In Glasgow the peculiar character of the

site has prevented any interference with the original design, which is symmetrical,admirably proportioned, and in due subordination to the choir itself. It is thus a peculiarly interesting feature, being almost, if not absolutely, unique in this country. The facts connected with the history of Glasgow Cathedral which the recent Congress has been instru- mental in elucidating are briefly these : Near the south-west corner of the crypt, a few square yards of masonry remain which formed part of a church erected by Bishop Jocelin about 1180. This church had a crypt and a choir, and the high altar in the choir stood immediately over the grave of the patron saint in the crypt beneath, a spot still indicated by a group of four piers, of richer character than any others in the crypt, at the angles of a raised platform, under the second bay of the choir. Jocelin's Church did not extend much to the east of this. He appears to have completed the crypt and choir, which was consecrated with great pomp in 1197, and also to have commenced the nave, the building of which was continued fitfuUy by his successors till the episco- pate of Bondington, 1233. If this supposition be correct, it is quite clear that Jocelin's choir must have been a very short one, and therefore it is the less surprising that Bondington, who wished one about three times the length, should have decided to take the old one down altogether. This he did (except the small fragment already referred to), and in its place he erected the crypt and choir as they stand. We can easily understand that this magnificent work taxed all his energies, and that he found it quite impossible to complete it within the comparatively short period of fifteen years, and at the same time do anything to the nave. He therefore left the nave alone, to be completed by his successors. The chapter-house was part of Bondington's design, and was probably built by him to about the top of the base course, but nothing above that was built till 1425, in the episcopate of Bishop Cameron, when the central tower was also built, the early-looking windows of which find their counterpart in the sacristy. The unfinished building south from the transept was erected by Archbishop Blackader in 1480-1500, and is a remarkable illustration of the development of that divergence from English models which began in Scotland about the close of the thirteenth century. It has been assumed that this building was intended as an extension of the transept, but this is exceedingly improbable. It is much too long, and if intended for such an addition would almost certainly have had either one or two aisles. The Bishop's intention must, we fear, remain a matter of conjecture. The old consistory-house and the bell tower, at the west end of the nave, were integral