Mr. Alexander Thomson, we have a fine series of designs of a character so unique and excellent as to excite our wonder at the fertility of his inventive faculties and our admiration at the beauty, richness, and vigour of his handling. In all of them he set himself to adapt the principles of Greek art to modern requirements, without any pedantic borrowing of their features. Indeed, it is quite surprising how seldom we find in his works the orders reproduced, with their details strictly conforming to the ancient remains. He more frequently originates some form of column. and capital designed to meet the special requirements he had to deal with, or to conform to the character of the impression he wished the building to convey; but where he has used the orders they are appropriately placed, finely proportioned and detailed, with carefully-adjusted relief, the wall-space behind being kept subdued in tone, with no disturbing objects in it to mar the repose and quiet dignity of the design. The multiplicity and the variety of the details and forms he introduced into his works, and the singular grace and unity of effect he maintained throughout, are deserving of our most careful consideration, showing, as they do, that to adopt a style does not necessarily imply that only those marked features and peculiarities of detail and combinations which are found in the original works are to be reproduced, but that new forms and details may freely be employed, provided we have skill enough to maintain the spirit and essential qualities of the style. Of none of his designs can it be said that they are very like the old work, a term of praise we often hear applied to the works of our best men of medieval proclivities; but, whilst they differ from the works of the Greeks as distinctly as the nature of our requirements do from theirs, they agree with them in the adaptation of forms to the purposes they subserve-the grouping of the parts into forms in which the horizontal lines predominate, the clear marking of the voids, the precision of the distribution, and the graceful adjustment of light and shade, with strength and placidity as a general expression. Only by the adoption of such principles as these can building be raised into a fine art. His churches in Saint Vincent Street and Caledonia Road, Glasgow, are in his best manner, while the various warehouses and other street buildings by his hand are all marked by the same elegance and refinement of detail, and display the abundance of his resources in design, and his power of impressing on them his own ideal perception of art."

X.-Early Sculpture in Scotland.

By ROBERT BRYDALL,

St. George's Art School, Glasgow.

[Read before the Architectural Section, 13th February, 1888.]

IN the great unhewn blocks of stone still to be found standing in various parts of Scotland, sometimes singly, at other places in groups forming parts of circles, and more seldom in parallel rows, we see in the most remote antiquity the primitive intentions of the later sculptor's art. Theories hitherto have failed to account satisfactorily for the erection of these, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that, in many cases, single stones of this kind were placed to identify some spot remarkable for a victory gained or defeat experienced, or over the grave of a fallen hero whose actions were thus meant to be commemorated by his successors, whose stone implements were inadequate to do more than separate the monument from its quarry. As civilisation progressed, and tools of metal began to supersede the smaller ones of stone, efforts were made to enrich these stones with some kind of symbolic markings. What are supposed to be the earliest attempts are circular cupshaped hollows irregularly sunk on the rough face of the stone, succeeded by incised designs of strange curvature, as circles within circles, suggestive of the tattoo forms of the natives of New Zealand, and other symbols more or less ornate, the meanings of which still baffle the research of the most ingenious investigator. So far back as traditional or written history goes, their purpose and meaning have been forgotten. The cairns, barrows, and other similar monuments, by their nature and contents, not only tell their intentions, but throw faint light on something of the habits and customs of the people who constructed them; the flat supported stones, sometimes encircled by others, such as the great Ring of Broidgar in Stennis, permit us to guess them as being places of assembly for judicial or other purposes; the runes on other monuments of a later period have been deciphered by the patient study of the archaeologist, but the first rude attempts at carved symbolism are still as unreadable to us as a page of one of our books would have been to the primeval sculptor.

It has been supposed that some of the still remaining sculptured stones replaced the rude monoliths of an earlier date, probably before the causes of the erection of the latter were quite forgotten, and it has also with more reason been conjectured that some of these in their turn were replaced by early Christian monuments and crosses. On the same principle Christian churches were erected on Pagan sites, and heathen symbols were combined with those of Christianity. The earliest historical reference to the sculptured stones of Scotland occurs in the writings of Boece (who had a faculty for inventing stories), in which he says that King Reutha, about two hundred years B.C., "was the first king amang the Scottis that fand ingyne to put nobill men for thair valzeant dedes in memory, and maid riche sepulturis for the bodies of thaim that war slane be Britonis in defence of this realme. He commandit als monie hie stanis to be set about the sepulture of every nobill man as was slain be him of Britonis. In memory heirof, sindry of thaim remanis yet in the hielandis, that the pepill may knaw sic men war vailzeant in thair dayis, throw quhilk it came in use that the sepulturis of nobill men was halden in gret reverence amang the pepill. On thir sepulturis was ingravin imageris of dragonis, wolfis, and other beistis; for no inventioun of letteris was in thay dayis to put the deidis of nobill men in memore." The same writer in "The New Maneris and the Auld of Scottis," says "They usit the ritis and maneris of the Egyptianis, fra quhome they tuk thair first beginning. In all thair secret besiness they usit not to writ with common letteris usit amang other pepil, but erar with sifars and figuris of bestis maid in maner of letteris; sic as thair epithafis and superscriptioun abone thair sepulturis schawis: nochtheles this crafty maner of writing be quhat sleuth I can not say is perist; and yet they have certane letteris propir amang thaimself quhilkis war sum time vulgar and commoun."

Antiquarian research has shown that while there are some characteristics common to all the sculptured stones and crosses of Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, &c., those of Scotland bear most strongly the impress of Irish art prior to the eleventh century. They also give evidence of a more intimate intercourse and community of customs between the natives of Scotland and Ireland than obtained between those of the northern and southern parts of Great Britain; and, in addition, they cannot safely be ascribed to Danish or Norwegian settlers. Many of the crosses on the Isle of Man closely resemble the Scotch, as, indeed, do some of

the early stone carvings of other countries; but in none of the Danish stones in Man or Scandinavia do the symbols so frequent on the Scottish pillars appear. Runic inscriptions on some of those in Man not only tell the purpose of their erection, but also bear the Scandinavian names of the persons concerned. Thus this to his father Ufeig, but Gaut Bjornson made it,"

66 * *

*

appears on one; on another, "Oter erected this cross to Froga his father, but Thörbiörn son of * * *" was probably followed by the name of Thörbiörn's father, and the words "made it." Regarding these, Mr. Worsaæ says that one sees "every reason to conclude that the splendid specimens in Man were carved by Norwegians, who, though they imitated the monuments in vogue in Scotland, frequently allowed their own characteristically fanciful ideas to display themselves in peculiar devices."

In Adamnan's life of Columba, instances are given of the occasion of the erection of two of the once numerous crosses in Iona. It is related of Ernan, the friend of the saint, that, on being seized by a fatal illness, he desired to be carried to Columba; before his wish, however, was fulfilled, that he should die beside his friend, he expired near to the gate Canabae, in front of which a cross was erected to commemorate the event. The other instance refers to the erection of a cross on the wayside, at a spot where Columba rested on returning from blessing a barn, shortly before his death. In further illustration of the same, it is chronicled as having been the custom of St. Kentigern to erect a cross at any place where he had made converts; a large one was thus erected at Glasgow, and another at Borthwick. When St. Cuthbert withdrew from the Monastery of Dull, in Athole, his first work was to erect a great stone cross at his mountain retreat on Doilweme; and in Ireland, in corroboration of what has already been said, the custom is mentioned of St. Patrick having consecrated the existing heathen stone pillars to Christian uses, which were followed by the erection of crosses in their stead.

Among the devices which appear on the rude pillars, oblong slabs, and in some cases on erect cruciform stones, one of the most common is what is known as the "spectacle" ornament, formed by two circles, sometimes enclosing others more or less complicated, connected by a bar of horizontal or curved lines, and occasionally traversed by the "sceptre," as it is called, in the form of the letter Z reversed, its extremities being variously foliated. Among other symbols are serpents; single and double crescents variously

arranged, sometimes in combination with varied forms of the sceptre; mirrors, frequently accompanied by combs (supposed to indicate the grave of a virgin); horse-shoe and torque-shaped figures, fishes, walrus, and elephantine-looking animals, often enriched with interlaced work, and numerous other figures of a more intelligible meaning, such as hammers and anvils and tongs. In support of the assumption that these now unintelligible forms had a definite meaning, it has to be noted that, while similar figures continually occur on different stones, the arrangement continually varies, as well as the filling in with other lines and details. In some cases the sceptre is found twice or thrice repeated on the same stone, and in each case with a slight change of form.

With regard to some of these symbols, they are by no means confined to sculptured stones. Thus, the "spectacle" and "sceptre," with a scrolled animal's head, appears on an oval-shaped silver plate of about three inches in length, forming a portion of what is known as the silver armour of Norrie's Law. A corresponding circle, similarly divided to one of the usual forms on the spectacle, is carved on a piece of ash wood about five inches square, which was found along with a canoe and paddle in a crannog at Loch Lee. The use of either of these objects is unknown. It is sufficiently intelligible that an emblem of the occupation or character of the deceased should be engraven on the stone marking his final resting place. That a sword might appropriately mark the grave of a celebrated swordsman or serve as an emblem of his rank; an armed figure that of a warrior renowned for his prowess; or a hunt that of a famous hunter, is clear enough; but the continual recurrence of similar combinations of mere lines, circles, and tolerably skilful carvings of animals of known species, all point to the existence of a language of symbols, the key to which is yet to be discovered.

At what is probably a later date than the first use of these devices, figures often occur-robed priests, sometimes with peaked beards, armed figures on horseback or shooting with bows and arrows, others seated as if in judgment, in procession with oxen, or being devoured by animals, with an innumerable variety of grotesque monsters, many of the animals being then unknown in Scotland, and the representations of which bear evidence that the artist was reproducing a traditional form which he had never seen in reality. Whilst there is in these early efforts a total absence of the delicacy and elegance which are observable in the southern