Oa GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 25 



teO. of genius, in the habit of borrowing all his ideas from a 

 houfe of this kind, and eager to feize upon whatever con- 

 tributed to add beauty or novelty to his work, it is natural to 

 believe, that he would take advantage of the circumftance, by 

 imitating, in ftone, the curling bark ; and this being executed 

 with that regular fymmetry, which architedlure beftows up- 

 on the natural objects it reprefents, (fig. 42.), would produce a 

 light and elegant effedl, and the ornament would foon become 

 general. 



We know that to fuch accidents, the architedlure of the 

 Greeks was indebted for many of its principal embeililliments; 

 of which the origin of the Corinthian capital is a flriking and 

 authentic example. 



Finding that all the effential parts of Gothic architecture 

 could thus be explained, by tracing its origin to the imitation of 

 a very fimple ruftic edifice, I was defirous of fubmitting the 

 theory to a kind of experimental teft, by endeavouring actually 

 to conftrudl a building fuch as has been defcribed. With the 

 help of a very ingenious country workman*, I began this in 

 fpring 1792, and completed it, in the courfe of the winter fol- 

 lowing, in a manner which far furpafled my expedlation, and 

 which has already m£t with the approbation of feveral Mem- 

 bers of this Society. The method of conftrudlion anfwered fo 

 well in pra(5tice, that I doubt if a better could be followed, with 

 fuch fimple materials ; and fo primitive is the mode of execu- 

 tion, that I believe, with a little ingenuity, the whole might be 

 executed without the help of a fharp inftrument, or of any ma- 

 terials but fuch as the woods afford. 



A SET of polls of afh, about three inches in diameter, were pla- 

 ced in two rows, four feet afunder, and at the interval of four 



Vol. IV. d feet: 



* John White, cooper, in the village of Cockburnfpath, in Berwickfhire- 



