Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Pilgrimage To The Preceptory Of St. John's, Torphichen.
they were gazing , whilst our memory and inward man have been running over the transactions and vicissitudes of distant time . AA e must forthwith make for the interior of the edifice . Yet we see not the entrance into the House of St . John . AYhy comes not the hospitaller at the call of the pilgrims ? Nay , why do not the warders on the tower _ of Torphichen respond to the summons of the Knights of the Order ? ( For claim to be such in the transmission of the rites . " lieu quantum
we mutati ! " we hear the scoffers say ) . A Ye hope the worthy Brethren are at mess , aud not at mass , for we have tasted almost nothing for these five or six hours . AVe fancv we smell the refectory not afar off " , when , on rounding a projecting buttress , we are well nigh precipitated into a deep and newly-dug grave . The sexton ' s head just popped up from it at the moment , and it is difficult to say which were most surprised , he at our unexpected appearance , or we at the apparition of his bald and
dusty pate . " Whose bed are ye making there ? " we questioned the earthentrenched functionary . " It ' s juist an auld woman ' s , " he replied , wiping the perspiration from his brow , and eyeing us somewhat deliberately , as if suspicious of bodysnatchers . " AA ^ as she a friend of yours , then ? " ) ' famil the
" Ou aye , she was thirty years servant in a gentlemans y o ^ neeberhood , and a' the family and thir freends about wull be comin till her burial . She was muckle respecket by a' body that kenn'd her . We liked this honest tribute from the man of the mattock and pickaxe ; who , if he had not exactly the wit of Hamlet ' s grave-diggers , had perhaps more than their worth . He was , in trath , but a sorry chronicle for one of his historic calling . Through his guidance , however , we got h called it
into the Preceptory , or Quire , as our cicerone correctly enoug , and by which name it is known to the natives of the country . Upon entering the portal of the venerable place , we involuntarily uncovered our heiuls , and stood for a space of time in the centre of the choir , looking around in silent contemplation . AYhat a variety of thoughts and scenes was the spot calculated to call up I Here , pemaps , on the very ground which we trod , were the chivalry wont to assemble on great it be
occasions , for council and grave deliberation . Here , may , were the aspirants to knig htly honours and distinction received into the ranks of the White-cross warriors . Here the select and sacred band , destined for deeds of hig h emprise in holy Palestine , mig ht have received the last benediction from the bishop , their last commands and exhortations from the Preceptor . "What stirring mixture of vulig ious and martial enthusiasm must have arisen amidst the anthems of adoration and praiseand
, the clanging of swords and shields , and the mustering and mounting of attendant chargers ! But now ' tis silent all . The sharp twittering voice of the volatile swallows , or the hoarse croaking of the intrusive raven , alone interrupts the solemn solitude of the gloomy hall , which , formed by the choir and adjoining transepts , is now all that is left of the House of St . John .
Though not in the ornate sty le of gothic architecture , the interior must have been elegant and imposing . Four lofty pillars support ttie four corners of the choir , and on the arched roofs of the transepts are seen two sculptured shields , the armorial devices of which are now defaced . But the principal object which once must have given an air of grandeur to the whole , is the great gothic window at the extremity ot
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Pilgrimage To The Preceptory Of St. John's, Torphichen.
they were gazing , whilst our memory and inward man have been running over the transactions and vicissitudes of distant time . AA e must forthwith make for the interior of the edifice . Yet we see not the entrance into the House of St . John . AYhy comes not the hospitaller at the call of the pilgrims ? Nay , why do not the warders on the tower _ of Torphichen respond to the summons of the Knights of the Order ? ( For claim to be such in the transmission of the rites . " lieu quantum
we mutati ! " we hear the scoffers say ) . A Ye hope the worthy Brethren are at mess , aud not at mass , for we have tasted almost nothing for these five or six hours . AVe fancv we smell the refectory not afar off " , when , on rounding a projecting buttress , we are well nigh precipitated into a deep and newly-dug grave . The sexton ' s head just popped up from it at the moment , and it is difficult to say which were most surprised , he at our unexpected appearance , or we at the apparition of his bald and
dusty pate . " Whose bed are ye making there ? " we questioned the earthentrenched functionary . " It ' s juist an auld woman ' s , " he replied , wiping the perspiration from his brow , and eyeing us somewhat deliberately , as if suspicious of bodysnatchers . " AA ^ as she a friend of yours , then ? " ) ' famil the
" Ou aye , she was thirty years servant in a gentlemans y o ^ neeberhood , and a' the family and thir freends about wull be comin till her burial . She was muckle respecket by a' body that kenn'd her . We liked this honest tribute from the man of the mattock and pickaxe ; who , if he had not exactly the wit of Hamlet ' s grave-diggers , had perhaps more than their worth . He was , in trath , but a sorry chronicle for one of his historic calling . Through his guidance , however , we got h called it
into the Preceptory , or Quire , as our cicerone correctly enoug , and by which name it is known to the natives of the country . Upon entering the portal of the venerable place , we involuntarily uncovered our heiuls , and stood for a space of time in the centre of the choir , looking around in silent contemplation . AYhat a variety of thoughts and scenes was the spot calculated to call up I Here , pemaps , on the very ground which we trod , were the chivalry wont to assemble on great it be
occasions , for council and grave deliberation . Here , may , were the aspirants to knig htly honours and distinction received into the ranks of the White-cross warriors . Here the select and sacred band , destined for deeds of hig h emprise in holy Palestine , mig ht have received the last benediction from the bishop , their last commands and exhortations from the Preceptor . "What stirring mixture of vulig ious and martial enthusiasm must have arisen amidst the anthems of adoration and praiseand
, the clanging of swords and shields , and the mustering and mounting of attendant chargers ! But now ' tis silent all . The sharp twittering voice of the volatile swallows , or the hoarse croaking of the intrusive raven , alone interrupts the solemn solitude of the gloomy hall , which , formed by the choir and adjoining transepts , is now all that is left of the House of St . John .
Though not in the ornate sty le of gothic architecture , the interior must have been elegant and imposing . Four lofty pillars support ttie four corners of the choir , and on the arched roofs of the transepts are seen two sculptured shields , the armorial devices of which are now defaced . But the principal object which once must have given an air of grandeur to the whole , is the great gothic window at the extremity ot