ee ——— ee 
ARCHITECTURE IN ABERDEEN: A SURVEY 61 
There can be no doubt that to Thomas Franche the design and execution 
of the architectural work of his period in Aberdeen must be attributed : 
that is to say, Thomas Franche was what we now should call the ‘ archi- 
tect ’ of these works. 
The carved oak stalls of King’s College Chapel are its greatest treasure. 
Without doubt a large part of the stall work, including all the canopy 
work, is Flemish. The extraordinary number and variety of the traceried 
patterns is without a parallel in this country, while the craftsmanship is 
remarkable for vigour and freedom. It will be observed that in the 
repairs made last century a number of the traceried canopy units have 
been pieced together, one smaller and slightly mutilated traceried 
pattern above another of the same being required to fill a whole panel. 
Apparently these smaller traceried heads originally belonged to the 
panelled stall-backs which have all been renewed in plain panelling. 
The present loft for the organ and choir retains three high canopies, an 
ambo, and some other parts of the original rood loft, besides the screen 
and door. 
While the greater part of the carved-oak work was brought from 
Flanders, there is reason to believe that much of the heavier and simpler 
work may have been done by local wrights. The Council Register of the 
Burgh records some works on which a certain John Fendour was engaged ; 
in 1495 he was paid ‘ for the making of the ruff and tymmir of the queyr’ 
of St. Nicholas’; in 1507 he entered into an agreement to build thirty- 
four stalls, ‘with the spiris and the chanslar dur’ in the same choir. 
Some parts of Fendour’s canopies, and other pieces of his carving from 
St. Nicholas’, may be seen in the National Museum of Antiquities in 
Edinburgh ; and other pieces of his work are in St. Mary’s Chapel and 
elsewhere in Aberdeen. A study of these proves that while the stall 
canopies of St. Nicholas’ somewhat resembled those of King’s they were 
distinctly different, but that much of the simpler work at both churches 
was identical. It may safely be concluded that John Fendour was 
employed on the stalls of the College Chapel. And possibly he was 
responsible for the ceiling there ; for from what we know of Fendour’s 
ceiling of St. Nicholas’ choir it must have closely resembled the ceiling of 
the College Chapel, a very large part of which is ancient, including all the 
carved bosses and much of the traceried eaves-fringe. The effective 
black-line painted close to the ceiling ribs and foliaged cross-arms is a 
restoration of the original treatment. 
Another work by John Fendour for Bishop Elphinstone was the 
“tymmer werk’ of the great central steeple of St. Machar’s, a lead- 
covered spire that was destroyed during the Reformation troubles. The 
contract with ‘ Johnne Findour wrycht ’ is dated April 18, 1511. 
The latest Gothic ceiling in Aberdeen is that of St. Machar’s, done in 
Bishop Dunbar’s time. It is of oak, fixed to the underside of the level 
roof-ties which are placed at about 4 ft. above the eaves ; so that a deep 
frieze, leaning slightly inwards, runs round the church between the eaves 
and the level ceiling. The frieze is divided into panels—three to each 
ceiling compartment—by a series of crocketted pinnacles, and decorated 
_ with traceried fringes and a continuous black-letter inscription. The 
