[Illustration: FIG. 199.--Dunfermline Abbey. Plan of Nave.] and also because the number of canons had been increased from thirty to fifty. In 1249 a dispute arose regarding the consecration of the new choir, but Honorius IV. decided that a new consecration was not necessary, as the consecrated walls of the older part (the nave) continued in use. In the same year Queen Margaret was canonised, and in 1250 her body was transferred from the old church to the new Lady Chapel, in presence of all the chief men in the kingdom. “The translation of the saintly foundress was probably arranged,” says Professor Innes, “to give solemnity to the opening of the new church.”[157] Soon after this the abbey is described by Matthew of Westminster, who probably saw it, as of vast extent, and containing such magnificent palaces that three kings, with their trains, might be accommodated within its walls. “This sumptuous pile was destroyed and levelled with the ground by the soldiers of Edward in 1303, excepting only the church and a few dwellings for the monks.”[158] The Exchequer Rolls inform us of the great expense sometimes incurred in connection with the tombs of the illustrious persons buried in the abbey.[159] The monastic buildings were, as we have seen, on a very magnificent scale; but of the church, and all the splendid structures connected with the abbey, there now only remain (Fig. 198) the Norman nave, the base of the Lady Chapel, and part of the refectory and kitchen. [Illustration: FIG. 200.--Nave Piers and Wall Responds.] The nave (Fig. 199), which is wonderfully well preserved, measures about 106 feet long inside, by about 55 feet wide between the aisle walls. The piers are circular, and measure 4 feet 4½ inches in diameter. The plan of these, with that of the wall responds (Fig. 200), indicates that the original intention (which was carried out) was to groin the aisles. The two eastern bays between the eastern pillars are built up with solid masonry, and only a portion of the arches is seen. The original respond at the east gable wall, against which these arches rested, has long since disappeared, in connection with the erection of the later church. The two western bays, and the triforium arches above them (one on each side), have also been filled up with solid building in order to strengthen the western towers. The southern of these arches is shown in Fig. 201. The pillars which support the west towers are of greater size than the others, and are of a different section. One of the pillars and the corresponding arch of the north arcade are of late Gothic work, and may be part of the repairs ordered by the Privy Council in 1563,[160] or of the work done in 1594, under the direction of William Schaw, Master of Works, who at that time built the north-west tower and steeple [Illustration: FIG. 201.--Dunfermline Abbey. Interior of West End of Nave.] [Illustration: FIG. 202.--Dunfermline Abbey. West End.]