The position of affairs in connection with St. Giles’ was as above described when, as Lord Provost, Dr. William Chambers conceived the idea of removing the partitions which divided the structure, and again throwing the whole into one noble building. By his exertions, and greatly by his pecuniary aid, this object was effected between 1870 and 1883. The opening service after the restoration was performed by the Very Rev. Dr. Lees, in the presence of a congregation of 3000 people. St. Giles’ Cathedral, as restored, is now, as regards its interior, one of the largest and most interesting Gothic buildings in the country. ST. MICHAEL’S PARISH CHURCH, LINLITHGOW, WEST LOTHIAN. A church dedicated to St. Michael existed here as early as the time of David I. A new church is said to have been erected in 1242, and in 1384 Robert II. contributed to its repair. A great fire occurred in 1424, from which both the palace and church suffered great damage, and the church seems to have been entirely rebuilt after that date. The reconstruction of the edifice no doubt progressed, under the James’s, simultaneously with the palace. In 1530-40, Thomas French, the king’s master mason, was engaged at Linlithgow,[161] and it is possible that the church may have received some internal embellishment under his direction. This edifice is, in part, a good example of the Scottish decorated period. The nave is the earliest part of the structure, and, from its history and style, it would appear to have been erected before the middle of the fifteenth century. The choir is of somewhat later date. These two portions were separated by an arch, which was removed about 1814, when the choir was cut off by a wall from the nave, and converted into a church with galleries. At that time, too, the present plaster ceiling of nave and choir (in the form of groined vaulting) was substituted for the open oaken roof which was formerly visible. The original stone vaulting of the side aisles, however, still extends round the whole building. The plaster groining of the apse was introduced at the above period. Otherwise, the structure has been little altered in its leading features. St. Michael’s (Fig. 856) consists of a choir, 53 feet from east to west, by 65 feet from north to south, including two aisles, and a three-sided apse at the east end; a nave, 95 feet in length by 65 feet in width, including two aisles; two chapels inserted in the place (on the north and south) [Illustration: FIG. 856.--St. Michael’s Parish Church. Plan.] usually occupied by the transept; a square tower at the west end; and a south porch giving access to the nave.