DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61904#0162
150 ROSLIN CHAPEL AND CASTLE.
by his monarch, but one who had a mind far more liberal and
judicious than his order and his rank were calculated to infpire.
This is the account we find of him in Robertfon’s Index :—
“ As admiral of the fleet, he conveyed the Princefs Margaret
to France in 1436; he was Chancellor of Scotland from
1454 to 1458; he was made Earl of Caithnefs in 1455. In
1470 he refigned the earldom of Orkney to the king, and
obtained in return various lands in Fife. Having, in 1459,
fettled the barony of Newburgh, in Aberdeenftiire, on William,
his only fon by his firft wife, Lady Margaret Douglas, he, in
1476, fettled the barony of Roflin, and his other eftates in
Lothian, on Oliver St. Clair, his eldeft fon by his fecond
marriage; and he transferred the earldom of Caithnefs to
William, the fecond fon of his fecond marriage. The eminent
founder of Roflin Chapel died foon after this fettlement, which
deranged his eftates^ and degraded his family
What a Angular derangement of his eftates in this great
Earl St. Clair, by dividing them amongft his fons, inftead of
heaping them, contrary to all the laws of nature and equity, on
one ! What a ftrange degradation of his family, by making
them equal participants of his property ! So pitiably do feudal
inftitutions pervert the minds not only of pofteflbrs but of
hiftorians.
In erecting this chapel, Earl William feems to have exercifed
the fame breadth and originality of mind; for he chofe an
architect of a brave and unique genius. Mr. Britton, in his
“ Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain,” thus exprefles
his perception of the fine and peculiar character of the ftyle :—
u This building, I believe, may be pronounced unique, and I
am confident it will be found curious, elaborate, and Angularly
interefting. The chapels of King’s College, St. George,
and Henry VIII., are all conformable to the ftyles of the
by his monarch, but one who had a mind far more liberal and
judicious than his order and his rank were calculated to infpire.
This is the account we find of him in Robertfon’s Index :—
“ As admiral of the fleet, he conveyed the Princefs Margaret
to France in 1436; he was Chancellor of Scotland from
1454 to 1458; he was made Earl of Caithnefs in 1455. In
1470 he refigned the earldom of Orkney to the king, and
obtained in return various lands in Fife. Having, in 1459,
fettled the barony of Newburgh, in Aberdeenftiire, on William,
his only fon by his firft wife, Lady Margaret Douglas, he, in
1476, fettled the barony of Roflin, and his other eftates in
Lothian, on Oliver St. Clair, his eldeft fon by his fecond
marriage; and he transferred the earldom of Caithnefs to
William, the fecond fon of his fecond marriage. The eminent
founder of Roflin Chapel died foon after this fettlement, which
deranged his eftates^ and degraded his family
What a Angular derangement of his eftates in this great
Earl St. Clair, by dividing them amongft his fons, inftead of
heaping them, contrary to all the laws of nature and equity, on
one ! What a ftrange degradation of his family, by making
them equal participants of his property ! So pitiably do feudal
inftitutions pervert the minds not only of pofteflbrs but of
hiftorians.
In erecting this chapel, Earl William feems to have exercifed
the fame breadth and originality of mind; for he chofe an
architect of a brave and unique genius. Mr. Britton, in his
“ Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain,” thus exprefles
his perception of the fine and peculiar character of the ftyle :—
u This building, I believe, may be pronounced unique, and I
am confident it will be found curious, elaborate, and Angularly
interefting. The chapels of King’s College, St. George,
and Henry VIII., are all conformable to the ftyles of the