REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1903 45 



monasteries was made Commendator of the lands, and thus 

 became the founder of the House of Lothian. The church 

 was removed and rebuilt first in one site and then, in 1727, 

 in its present position outside the " Monkland Wall." The 

 cloister-garth measured 125 feet 10 inches square, and a 

 refectory and kitchen were on the South side. These became 

 the nucleus of the present mansion, which, with its pillared 

 crypt, has a fine ecclesiastical air. Patterns of the old tiles 

 employed in the flooring of the Abbey are reproduced in 

 wood on the floor of a crypt recently restored, and now used 

 as a private chapel. This floor, as well as much of the carved 

 work in the house, is the work of Mr Ramsay. 



Under the guidance of the Clerk of works and the caretaker, 



the members were shown through the public 

 Newbattle rooms of the Abbey, and greatly admired the 

 Abbey. magnificent collection of family portraits and 



other examples of the great masters. Con- 

 spicuous among these were "A boy's head," by Murillo, 

 in the upper hall; portraits of Henry VIII., James IV., and 

 his wife, Margaret Tudor, by Holbein, in the dining room; 

 Vandyke's famous "Three Heads"; and a splendid equestrian 

 portrait of Charles I., filling the South wall of the drawing-room. 

 Newbattle Abbey is probably the richest treasure-house of 

 Vandykes in Britain, after Warwick Castle. This room, 

 crowded with exquisite works of art of every description, has 

 recently been elaborately decorated, the work on the lofty 

 domed ceiling harmonizing well with the general features of 

 a grand reception-room. Among interesting pieces of modern 

 furniture were several occasional tables, constructed out ,of 

 timber grown on the estate by local oflicials, one of which, 

 designed in Burr-oak, and inlaid with material fashioned 

 out of a burnt beam of the Abbey, calls for special notice. 

 In the South crypt, on the right of the entrance hall, were 

 noted an original copy of the National Covenant of 1638, 

 signed by a number of Noblemen and Commons, among 

 whom is included William, 3rd Earl of Lothian, whose 

 signature appears in a bold round hand, as well as the ancient 

 Baptismal Font, from which it is said Mary, Queen of Scots, 

 was baptized. It is octagonal in shape, and enriched with 

 carved shields on every side, bearing the arms of royal and 



