346 Theory as to the Origin of the Crosses 



easternmost column in the south aisle ; the design is a naturalistic treat- 

 ment of the domestic Scotch kale ; so humble and so crude in nature, 

 it becomes most rich and dehcate in the sphere of art.^ 



Of the abbeys proceeding from Melrose, it is only Holmcultram ^ 

 that concerns us here, and that because of its proximity to Ruthwell, 

 though on the EngHsh side of the Border. As it was not founded 

 till 1150, it is interesting, not so much because of any influence it 

 could have had upon our crosses, as because it shows the prevalence 

 of the Cistercian spirit in the region to the south and westward of 

 Ruthwell and Bewcastle, just as Melrose exhibits it to the northeast. ^ 



A French influence directly from Rievaulx manifested itself at the 

 founding of Dundrennan ^ in 1142, only eleven years after Rievaulx 

 itself was established.^ 



1 Butler, pp. 111-2. Butler adds (p. 113) : ' The ponderous keystones 

 of the fallen high vaults have been preserved by themselves. They represent 

 human heads with masses of flowing hair. The boss of the great central 

 tower represents the head of David I. ; another is that of his queen, Matilda.' 



2 See above, pp. 102-3. 



2 The approximate distances of some of the abbeys mentioned from Ruth- 

 well and Bewcastle respectively are as follows : 



Ruthwell to Holmcultram, 12 miles ; to Dundrennan, 25 miles ; to Carlisle, 

 20 miles. 



Bewcastle to Holmcultram, 28 miles ; to Carlisle, 16 miles ; to Wetheral 

 (Benedictine, before 1112), 14 miles ; to Lanercost (Austin Canons, 1169), 

 7 miles ; to Kelso, 37 miles ; to Jedburgh, 29 miles ; to Melrose, 36 miles ; 

 to Hexham, 24 miles ; to Ruthwell, 29 miles ; all as the bird fUes. 



There is an ecclesiastical map of Cumberland facing 2. 126 of the Victoria 

 Hist. Climb. ; see also that in Victor, Die North. Runensteme.. 



4 See New Statistical Account of Scotland 4. 357-8, 362 ; Butler, p. 246 ; 

 Keith- Spottiswoode, Hist. Cat. of the Scottish Bishops, p. 417. Spottiswoode 

 mentions the following abbeys as founded by Cistercians after 1150, thus 

 indicating the influence of that order in Scotland in the latter half of the 

 12th and early part of the 13th century : Saundle (before 1164), Coupar 

 (1164), Glenluce (1190), Culross (1217), Deer (1218), Balmerinach (1229), 

 Sweetheart or New Abbey (13th century ; founded by Devorgilla, a great- 

 great-granddaughter of David I), ten miles from RuthweU, across the Nith, 

 and Machhne. For New Abbey see also New Stat. Ace. 4. 248. Of other 

 orders than the Cistercian there were founded in Galloway, soon after 1150, 

 the abbeys of Soulseat, Tungland, St. Mary's Isle, and Whithorn (Keith- 

 Spottiswoode, pp. 389, 398, 399 ; cf. New Stat. Ace. 4. 22, 54, 87, 88). 



^ Sylvanus, first abbot of Dundrennan, was transferred to Rievaulx in 

 1167 (Neiv Stat. Ace. 4. 362). 

 (134) 



