III. NOTE DISCOVERIEN SO MAGNUT S N SI S CATHEDRAL, KIRKWALL. JOHy B N MOONEY, P.S.A.ScoT. When the restoration of St Magnus Cathedral was begun by Sheriff Thorns' Trustees, a hope was entertained that many relics would be e course founoperationsth th f n i deo . That expectatio t beeno ns nha full ye relic th realised f si t discoverebu ; d hav t beeno e n numerous, t i canno e saib t d thee uninterestinar y r unimportanto g f chieO .f cask oa e interesn containina s wa t g human bones foun 31sn o d t March 1919 in one of the pillars. Another interesting " find " was made in the first week of February this year by workmen engaged in excavating track r pipefo s connection si n wit e installatiohth organn a f no . Four skeletons burie rowa n di , e westheadth o , t swer e e choifounth rn i d betweelineo f tw pillarsso e nth ,maie righth n e church o t th axi f so ; and in one of the graves the upper portion of a crosier and what appearchalica e b pated o et an s n wer wels a e e lalsb oy foundma t I . o givt e particular f theso s e graves ane relicth d s mentioned before dealing with the bones in the wooden case, as the latter have been supposed to form part of the skeleton of St Magnus, and cannot be satisfactorily considered without special reference o bonet s s founn i d another pillar last century. It is necessary to keep in view the extension of the Cathedral eastward, which was not completed until probably at least 150 years after the death of the founder. The accompanying ground-plan of the choir (fig. 1) shows the termination of Rognvald's building about the 240 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 11, 1925. middle of piers D and L; but Dryden, Meyer, and Dietrichson give good reasons for believing thal t an apse extended from the original eastern portions of those piers. No certain trace of an apse was found during the restoration works. The original high altar would have stood CHOIR LID LZ3 r- PRq&YTERY 432 H ma/nurwi, i L K J H T VI So to 2O SO S 4O . PlaFig 1 t Magnus S Easter.f nf o o d n En Cathedral , Kirkwall. between piers B and L, and after the extension of the choir, between G and o, or between the farthest east bays. It will be^ seen that the four graves found last February were all in the oldest part of the Cathedral. The skeleton nearest the site of e firsth t high altad beeha rn buried wit e heath h d abou inche8 1 t s from a line flush with the western ends of piers D and L. The lettere 1Th s use Drydey db distinguishinr nfo pillare gth followee sar thin i do t s s plaa o ns facilitate references. NOTE DISCOVERIEN O S T MAGNUS N I S S CATHEDRAL1 24 . wood of the coffin was not greatly decayed; and, from the appearance of the bones, this grave, which may be called " No. 1," must have been the latest of the four, made undoubtedly at a date subsequent to the remova e higth hf o lalta r fro s originamit l position. Grave " No. 2" extended westwards from opposite the middle of pilla. K r The foot of grave " No. 3 " touched a point in line with the east side of the base of round pillars B and J. The wes e positio th thosf "o t4 o gravt . es "f nNo pillars o e wa . There were slight traces of what may have been coffins in graves 2, 3, and 4, a sort of black dust being visible. The distance between Nos. 1 and 2 feet0 betweed 1 an ,s e otherwa nth fees2 inches6 t . The western portioe choirth f o ,n where those skeletons layd ha , been outside the lines of excavations when the Government restoration and repairs were carried out in 1848; and so, too, during the alterations refittind e Heritore choian th th y Towb f d r go an s n Counci 1855-6n i l . In the eastern part of the choir the bones of bishops and earls had been removed wholesale at the time of the latter operations, but the four graves described abov beed eha n undisturbed. Nothing furthe call3 . sr No neet e recordebu b d , 4 d f Noso dan 2 . for special notice n thiI . s grave bottoe th , f whicmo s onl hwa feey2 t 3 inches belo e surfacewth e crosie th ,d othe an r r relics referreo t d wer e e skeletonbreas th th foun crosiee f n o o tt Th dI y . (fig. la r 2) . s madi sockea f pewte eo s ha r leadt o rd (part brokeni an ,e f o tth f o ) same material. The diameter of the circular head is 5£ inches, and not over T\ inch thick. Round the edge are two concentric parallel lines less than ^ inch apart. About f inch from the inner of those lines are another pair of parallel lines, within which is a curvilinear • Maltese cross, having the inter-arms cut out. Parallel lines also run along both sides of each arm of the cross. It was not unusual to place in the grave of a bishop a rude imitation of his pastoral staff. Nea e foo f thith ro t s grave were found what canno othee b t r than a chalice and paten, made of metal similar to that of the crosier. Small portions of the chalice have been broken off. Its diameter at e dept inches4 th s i d h p an abou, to inche 1 t renth A . t runs froe mth broken part to the centre. On the lower side are indications that it beed ha n fixe standa o dt . The paten measure inche5 s diametern si bordea , toos It .f ha ,o r double parallel lines simila circula e thoso t th r n eo rcrosiere heath f do . The inner pair of lines enclose a circle in which are inscribed four small circles, separated by straight lines intersecting each other at right angles portio A edge . bees th ef ha n o n broken off. VOL. LIX. 16 242 PROCEEDING E , SOCIETY192511 TH Y .F O S MA , addition I chalice th pated o nt ean n some gold threads were found e graveinth , nea e e breasskeletonth th r f o te golth ;d threads were, doubto n , remain f vestmentso s crosiere Th .gole th , d threads, chalice, and paten can lead to only one conclusion—that the skeleton is that oa bishop f e positio e grave—iTh th . f o ne oldesth n e t th par f o t Fig. 2. Head of Crosier, Chalice, and Paten of Lead or Pewter from Kirkwall Cathedral. Cathedral, which was untouched by the alterations and excavations in 1848 and 1855—suggests that these are remains of a bishop who died befor e higth e h altas shiftewa r d fro s originamit l place. Bishop William the Old would have been buried close to the first high altar, knowe w but s skeletos hi a , beed nha n exhume re-interred dan d near the new high altar. There is no record where William II., Bjarni, Jofreyr, Henry—the first four bishop o succeedeswh d him—were laid. If, as Meyer suggests, it was Henry who built the extension to the NOTE DISCOVERIEN O S T MAGNUS N I S S CATHEDRAL3 24 . choir, he also may have been buried near the later high altar. As to whether the skeleton in grave No. 3 was one of the others, no proof is available. The crosier head and the lines of ornamentation of the paten indicate, however, a period long prior to the Reformation, possibly e thirteentth h century. Of pre-Reformation bishops buried in the Cathedral evidence is altogether lacking, excep regards a t s two—Willia Thomad an d Ol s e mth de Tulloch. Robert Maxwell apparently die Orkneyn di t therbu , s ei no record of his burial. It is known that Robert Honeyman and Fig . Plat3 . Leaf eo d from Kirkwall Cathedral. <}.) Murdoch Mackenzie—post-Reformation bishops—found a resting-place there, the former near bay M and N, the latter in the south transept chapel. The Government repairs on the Cathedral in 1848 led to the discovery of the remains of William the Old in a stone cist between pillars E and P. Among the drawings by Sir Henry Dryden, now in the possessio f Thornso n ' Trustees o slabe thostw ar , s f o ewhic h covered tha s founte cis graveth e leadewa t th dn I .n plate (fig ) describe3 . d in the Proceedings of this Society, vol. v. p. 217, with the inscription H. REQVIESCIT: WILIAMVS: SENEX FELICIS MEMORIE on the front and PMVS EPIS on the back. The plate and a relic of bone 244 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 11, 1925. and iron, supposed to be the head of a staff,1 were presented to the Society on 8th February 1864 by the Lords of H.M. Treasury. The Society received from the same source, on the same date, the crosier of oak (fig. 4), with chalice (fig.