MILTON ABBEY MEETING. Ixvii. 



Cleeves) is worthy of notice on account of the two skulls and hour-glass carved 

 thereon. Dr. Christison, of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, an authority on 

 monumental carvings, states that these skulls rival in rudeness anything of the 

 kind which he has seen in Scotland or elsewhere. And this is saying a good deal. 

 The bosses in this aisle are very fine. The first is of King Athelstan, who is 

 holding in his hands a wreath of leaves above his head. The second is of St. 

 Michael, winged, holding a shield in his left hand and spear in his right (this 

 boss shows traces of red and blue colouring). The third is of a bishop in the act 

 of blessing, with a crosier in his left hand. The fourth is a head with open 

 mouth, out of each side of which issues foHage. The sixth is like the one in the 

 presbytery — containing the two sei"pents. The other two bosses are of leaves. 



South Aisle. — In the vestry are two oil paintings supposed to represent 

 Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin. The remains of the alabaster marble altar are 

 preserved in this aisle. There are several large marble grave slabs forming part 

 of the flooring. Some of these have inscriptions on them and some have not. 

 Those slabs which have none have possibly beeu reversed, and the inscriptions 

 may be on the other side. One slab shows the matrix of a small brass. In the 

 north walls of this aisle there are two recesses which Hutchins does not mention 

 — an elaborately coloured canopied niche under the rebus of Abbot Middleton, 

 and a small segmental headed opening, the use of which is unknown. A semi- 

 octagonal coloured bracket at the rear of the middle seat of the sediha is also 

 unmeutioned. 



North Teansept. — This is shorter than the south transept. The buildings on 

 the north of it (the chapter-house and surroundings) prevented it being longer. 

 In this transept are collected various fragments of cof&ns and grave slabs, also 

 fragments of the Norman Abbey and other early work. (It may be mentioned 

 that on several of the Norman fragments are incised crosses of different design.) 

 A conjectural translation of the imperfect Norman-French inscription on the 

 portion of the incised slab of Abbot " Walter de Sydelinge " is :— " You who pass 

 tliis way, pray for the soul of him who rests here : you who seek for mercy, read 

 your pardon here." This translation was found in a manuscript account of the 

 Abbey, and it is certainly ingenious. The next slab to Sydelinge's has an iascrip- 

 tion which is indecipherable ; and there is another slab here with the brass ripped 

 off. The monogram " L. T." appears twice in the roofing, but the owner of the 

 initials is not known. Against the north wall of the transept can be seen outside 

 (I now quote from a recent article on the Abbey by Mr. Eoland Paul) " the 

 remains of a vaulted slype of four bays, and on the west side are the foundations 

 of a large staircase turret which was e\'idently connected with the doorway still 

 visible in the north face of the western buttress. This buttress has been repaired 

 in later times, and on its west face are the names of the churchwardens and the 

 date 1683. The greater part of the adjacent buttress facing north is probably of 

 the same date. The whole points to the probable existence of a staircase leading 

 to the dormitory on the upper level over the slype, chapter-house, and other 

 buildings which must have existed here." 



