It is the most reasonable conjecture that the parish church, dedicated in honour of St. AEgidius or St. Giles, and which has ever since retained the name of that patron saint, was erected during the reign of Alexander I. (1107-1124), the founder also of the Abbey of Scone and other religious houses.[246] Some fragments of this church remained till the end of last century, the richly ornamented Norman porch, which had formed the entrance to the nave on the north side of the church, being removed about 1797.[247] Dr. Lees thinks that possibly some of the pillars of the choir, and also the door at the entry to the royal pew, belonged to the first church of St. Giles.[248] The edifice appears to have been rebuilt about the time of David II.[249] In the frequent wars with England, Edinburgh suffered much, notably so in 1322 and 1335. This latter raid, having occurred in February, was afterwards known as the "burnt Candlemas." A reconstruction of the church was probably required after these repeated conflagrations, and this appears to have been carried out during the fourteenth century. But shortly afterwards a devastation of the town and its buildings was occasioned by Richard II. in 1385, when, during his occupation of five days, he left the town and parish church in ashes. The citizens, with the help of the Crown, made a great effort to repair the disaster to their church, and from this period the history of the present structure may be said to date. "It is said that during the restoration, which took place in 1870-80, traces of fire were observed on the pillars of the choir, and it is inferred that these pillars must have existed before the burning caused by Richard II. This view is confirmed by the fact that, after 1387, when, doubtless, the town authorities were doing all they could to complete the restoration of St. Giles', they entered into a contract with certain masons to erect five chapels along the south side of the nave, having pillars and vaulted roofs, covered with dressed stone slabs. These chapels still exist, and the wall rib of the vaulting is yet visible on the south side of the arcade, next the south aisle; but the vault and stone roof have been removed, and a plaster ceiling of imitation vaulting substituted. The above contract indicates that the walls of the nave then existed. We must, therefore, assume that the church had been rebuilt previous to the destruction of 1385, and that the above contract was an addition to the building connected with its restoration two years after the fire. Although, doubtless, much injured by the conflagration, the walls and pillars of the church seem to have escaped total destruction. The style of the architecture would lead to the same view; the octagonal pillars of the choir, with their moulded caps, being most probably of the fourteenth century."[250]