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TRANSACTIONS. 
Ill. Buittle Old Church. By Mr JAMES MATTHEWSON, 
Dalbeattie. 
The brief notes here contributed are intended as a small aid 
to the solution of the question, “Is Buittle Church of the time of 
Devorgilla?” In ground plan the church measures 80 ft. 10 in. 
in length by 25 ft. 4 in. in greatest width. The nave measures 
46 ft. in length by 21 ft. 8 in. wide; the chancel, 34 ft. 10 in. 
long by 25 ft. 4 in. wide. The west door is circular-headed, 3 ft. 
22 in. wide, a plain 2 in. chamfer running round the outside, 
checked at 8? inches inwardly, and thereafter slightly splayed. 
Over this door is a small round-headed window measuring 3 ft. 
8 in. by 1 ft. 8in. Two windows remain in the nave, one in the 
north, the other in the south wall. Between the nave and chancel 
a pointed chancel arch still stands. The clear width of passage 
measures 9 ft. 6 inches. The plan of the pier below the caps and 
profile of caps are here given full size ; but an evident filling up 
of the floor prevents a proper examination of the bases. In the 
chancel one window appears in the north wall and two in the 
south. The north window measures 3 ft. 11} in. high by 113 in. 
wide. It is round-headed, and the interior elevation, as shown in 
the sketch, is worthy of notice. In the east gable is a door 3 ft. 
21 in. wide, covered by a thin lintel, which forms the sill of a centre 
window. This window measures 8 ft. high by 14} im. wide. At 
a distance of 3 ft. 11 in. on either side stand windows 6 ft. 8 in. 
high by 11} wide. The three east windows are all round-headed, 
and finished externally by a plain chamfer. In the north wall, at 
the junction of the nave and chancel, and near the present floor 
level, I some time ago found, bedded in the old mortar, a portion 
of roofing slate. The slate had a pin hole, and had been well 
dressed. It had apparently been used by some of the builders as 
a levelling for the bed of the stone immediately above. Some of 
the stone dressings are a reddish freestone, others resemble mill- 
stone grit. In some parts of the building both kinds appear 
indiscriminately mixed. The perfect condition of the present 
pointed arch between nave and chancel, the jumble of materials in 
some places, the broken slate, and other features, seem to suggest 
that a much older church may have existed on or near the site of 
the present one, and that the present building is much later than 
Devorgilla. 
