Grampian Club > Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland > Volume 1

252 ROXBURGHSHIRE.
had superintended the erection of this and other religious houses.
The inscriptions proceed thus : —
" Sa gayes the compass ev'n about,
So Truth and Laute do, hut doubt
Be halde to ye hende q John Morvo.
The following inscription, also referring to this Master Mason,
occupies a place above one of the doors : —
" John Morvo sum tym callit was I,
And born in Parysse certainly ;
And had in kepying al Mason Werk,
Of Santandroys the hye Kyrk,
Of Glasgw, Melros and Paslay,
Of Nyddysdayl and of Galway,
Pray to God, and Mari baith.
And sweet St. John keep this haly kirk frae skaith." *
At the end of the north transept a circular arched doorway leads
with two steps downward to an apartment traditionally known as
the wax cellar, where it is supposed the tapers used in religious
worship were kept. On a stone, partly concealed by the lowest
step, there is the following inscription : —
" *^ Hie jacet Johanna : d : Ross."
On another is carved a cross and a shield, the latter being that of
a knight crusader.
On the north wall of the nave, at the beautifully carved gate-
way, called the Valley-gate, is the burial-place of the Kers of Yair,
now of Sutherland Hall. Their arms, a stag's head raised on a chev-
ron — are engraved on the wall — with this inscription : —
" Here lies the Eace of the House of Zair."
Opposite to this burial-place are the graves of the ancient family
of Ker of Kippelaw.
* For a fall and interesting account of the inscriptions commemorative of John
Morow, see a paper by John Alexander Smith, Esq., M.D., in the "Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland" (vol. ii., p. 166),