facing the north contains the arms of Mary of Gueldres, impaled with the royal arms. This also is unfinished on the top. The shield facing the south has the three fleurs-de-lys for France, the old ally of Scotland. These shields clearly connect the pillar with Mary of Gueldres and her husband, James II., and their son, James III. The marriage of the king and queen took place in 1449, and James III. was born in 1453. His father was killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460, and Mary of Gueldres died in 1463. The work was, therefore, probably executed between 1453 and 1463. The unfinished condition of the west and north shields may, perhaps, point to a date shortly after the king’s death and before that of Mary of Gueldres. The heraldic devices on the other pillars and responds are those of distinguished men of the time. On the pillar on the south side of the choir, the shield facing the east bears three unicorns’ heads (see Fig. 831), the arms of William Preston of Gorton, who bestowed (as we shall see) a great gift on the church. The shield on the west bears the arms of Bishop Kennedy (Fig. 833), a chevron between three crosses crossleted, surrounded by a double tressure. This prelate, who [Illustration: FIG. 835.--St. Giles’ Collegiate Church. East Pillar of Choir.] [Illustration: FIG. 836.--St. Giles’ Collegiate Church. The Crossing, from the Nave.] was a grandson of Robert III., was Bishop of St. Andrews, and one of the most eminent men of the period. The shield on the north (Fig. 834) bears the arms of Nicholas de Otterburn, who was Vicar of Edinburgh in 1455, and who had been sent to France in 1448 in connection with the selection of Mary of Gueldres as the bride of James II. The south shield bears a castle, being the emblem of the city (see Fig. 831). The north respond contains the arms (three cranes gorged) of Thomas Cranstoun, Chief Magistrate of Edinburgh in 1439 and also in 1454. As formerly, the good town which he represented would aid in the restoration. The south respond bears the arms of Napier of Merchiston, Provost of Edinburgh, 1457--viz., a saltier engrailed, cantoned with four roses. These new pillars and responds (Fig. 835) differ entirely from the older plain octagonal ones. They are of a form which became very common in Scotland after this time. The pillars are moulded, rather than clustered, and contain a variety of mouldings instead of shafts. These rise from a base which is moulded and ornamented with carvings, and is set on one or two high plinths. The pillar is crowned with a richly-moulded capital, the lower or bed mould being carved with cherubs’ heads, fitted into the re-entering angles of the pier, while the upper mouldings run in straight lines, and include several of the members of the piers in one stretch. The mouldings of the main arches, which spring from these piers, are also richer than the plain splays of the older arches.