It was on landing here that Dr. Johnson exclaimed:--“We are now treading that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion.... That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.” [Illustration: Fig. 200.--Window, Timahoe.] At somewhat later periods the severity of the Irish architecture became gradually relaxed, while its leading types remained unaltered. As the dates of the more decorative buildings are unsettled, I will not enter upon the discussion how far their ornamentation was indigenous, and how far derived from other countries. Towards the Norman period, we find features agreeing with the details of that style united with Irish forms and mixed with ornamental details,--such as those which decorate the well-known Irish crosses, and are common on the monumental slabs in the monastic cemeteries. We also find the jambs of doorways, windows (Fig. 200), and chancel arches, losing the square form extending through the thickness of the walls, which characterises the earlier examples (like those of our own Anglo-Saxon buildings), and becoming divided into separate orders, with decorative mouldings, and shafts with caps and bases, and thus exhibiting the most important elements of the advanced Romanesque and “Gothic” styles. These features increase in distinctness till we reach examples known to be contemporary with our own Norman works, and culminate in the charming Chapel of St. Cormac at Cashel, which, though in outline evincing an adherence to Irish tradition, is in all its details distinctly Norman, and is known to have been erected in the twelfth century. Mr. Petrie thinks that these decorative features are in many instances of very early date. I cannot quite agree with him where Norman details appear; for, though a system of ornamentation may appear early in a particular country, it is impossible that it should anticipate the precise forms elaborated much later by a regular course of progression elsewhere. [Illustration: Fig. 201.--Chapel of St. Cormac at Cashel. Exterior.] [Illustration: Fig. 202.--Chapel of St. Cormac at Cashel. Interior.] There is in Scotland at least one specimen of parallel character to these later of the old Irish churches. I allude to the church of St. Regulus, which stands side-by-side with the cathedral at St. Andrews; just as that of St. Cormac does with the cathedral at Cashel. [Illustration: Fig. 203.--North and East Elevations, Church of St. Regulus, St. Andrews.] [Illustration: Fig. 204.--Plan, Church of St. Regulus, St. Andrews.]