The pointed Gothic style, which, as we have seen, had its origin in the North of France about the middle of the twelfth century, appeared in England about 1170, but can scarcely be said to have reached Scotland till after the close of the twelfth century. The Abbey of Arbroath, founded by William the Lion in 1178, contains a few traces of transition work, passing later into first pointed; and other structures containing a good deal of Norman design were erected in Scotland as late as 1210. The Anglicising process, begun in the twelfth century, was continued in the thirteenth century. The Orders of the Cathedrals were founded on those of England. “Thus the Chapter of Glasgow took that of Salisbury as its guide; Dunkeld copied from the same type, venerable in its associations with the name of St. Osmund, whose ‘use of Sarum’ obtained generally throughout Scotland. Elgin or Murray sent to Lincoln for its pattern, and transmitted it, with certain modifications, to Aberdeen and Caithness. So it was also with the Monasteries--Canterbury was the mother of Dunfermline, Durham of Coldingham; St. Oswald’s at Oxstall, near Pontefract, was the parent of Scone, and through that house of St. Andrews and Holyrood. Melrose and Dundrennan were daughters of Rievaux in the North Riding; Dryburgh was the offspring of Alnwick, Paisley of Wenlock.”[56]
Building in Scotland appears to have gone on in the thirteenth century as busily and with the same enthusiasm as in the previous century. But being far from the seat of the origin of the pointed style, and having received the principles of that style at second hand through England, time was required for its adoption in the North, and even when cordially welcomed there, some of the features of the earlier Romanesque still lingered and were slowly dispossessed.
The pointed arch, for example, although generally adopted, did not entirely displace, as it had done in the South, the round form of the Normans, a feature which, especially in doorways, continued to be employed not only in the thirteenth century, but throughout the whole course of Gothic art in Scotland. In other respects, the thirteenth century style in this country corresponds very closely with that of England. Its features are, however, generally speaking, plainer and the structures are smaller. But the forms of the doors, windows, buttresses, piers, &c., and the mouldings and enrichments are similar in character. The wall openings frequently have the shafts detached and carrying moulded caps, with round abacus, and the arch mouldings are arranged in orders, each set on a rectangular plan over the shafts. The piers are usually solid, with bold clustered mouldings and rounded caps. The windows are almost invariably of the lancet form, either single or arranged in couplets or triplets in the wall.