Transactions. 33 



Sacristy appear to have beeu erected at the same time as the 

 Church, the hewing being similar to that of the Church ; the 

 vaulting also being of rag work. The workmanship exhibited in 

 the other portions of this part of the ruins is different and inferior, 

 and quantities of slates and other material, wliich have belonged 

 to some former building, are found embedded in the walls ; the 

 mouldings also are dissimilar to and of later date than those of 

 the Church. Grose states that William Stewart, wlio was Provost 

 about 1530, either rebuilt or greatly repaired the Lodging. 

 Stewart's arms, which have been recovered, appeared upon the 

 octagonal Tower, and a carved corbel, which was also upon the 

 Tower, has been found bearing the initials of his name, V. S. 



DEMOLITION. 



A few words will suffice in reference to the demolition of the 

 fabric. The after Reformation tombstones are proof, I think, 

 that the building had, as early as 1588, become open and waste, 

 and a place of common burial. 



When Penant visited the ruin in 1772 the upper vaulting of 

 the Chancel was standing ; it had nearly disappeared in 1805, 

 and now no part remains except the springings ; and a small 

 part of the vaulting spanned the Side Chapel in 1805, which 

 has long since fallen. With these exceptions, the Church is now 

 in much the same condition as it was in 1772 ; even the Tomb 

 appears to have been then broken and abrased as it is now. 



Considerable changes have, liowever, taken place on the 

 Provost's Lodging since 1772. The west wall, a great part of 

 the square Tower, and the octagonal Tower liave fallen, the latter 

 in 1851, as described in Mr M'Dowall's " History of Dumfries." 



It is worth notice, regarding the influences at work, in con- 

 nection with the dilapidation of the College, that the Heraldry, 

 the insignia of the ruling class, remains uninjured, while the 

 figure-sculpture, which at the Reformation was regarded as 

 tending to idolatry, is ruthlessly mutilated. 



This Collegiate Church — a little Cathedral in which the sump- 

 tuous service of the Cathedral, but on a smaller scale, was 

 wont to be celebrated — has been, as its remains testify, complete 

 in its structural parts, and in its accessories also ; and the tout 

 ensemble is one of remarkable magnificence. The architecture 

 exhibited is pure, no reverting to Early English, and nothing dis- 



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