Notwithstanding these and similar defections from the leading principles of Gothic, the architecture of England is (as has already been pointed out)[4] in many respects very charming, and, in point of variety and picturesqueness, possibly sometimes surpasses French examples. What is here attempted to be pointed out is not so much that English Gothic is defective in the above respects, as that certain logical principles, inseparable from a genuine arcuated system, are less weakly developed in England than in the Ile de France. If between the architecture of the two countries there is not much to choose as regards picturesque details and ornamental features, there can be little question but that the logical spirit which apprehended and followed out the principles of the arcuated style to their full limits is more clearly apparent in the one than in the other. The position of Gothic in England being as described, it is only natural to find in the structures of the leading periods of the style in Scotland, which shine by a light borrowed from England, a similar and even greater departure from the main ideas which actuated the architects of France. The same defects occur here as in England--the frequent use of the wooden roof for wide spans being common to both countries, and producing similar results in each. The wooden roof led, from the principles of its structure, to changes and peculiarities in the design throughout. In some cases the wall shafts which divide the bays are entirely omitted, and give place to a large expanse of plain wall over the main arcade. Instances of this occur at Sweetheart Abbey and Dunblane Cathedral (see Figs. 758, 510). In other examples a continuous arcade is carried along at the triforium level, without any strengthening of the walls over the main piers, thus carrying out the principle of the wooden roof, which implies an equal pressure all along the side walls. This is a very marked feature at Kelso Abbey and Dunblane Cathedral. In some buildings, although vaulted, the wall shafts are of such slight dimensions as to be scarcely of any value (even to the eye) in conveying the weight of the vaults to the ground, and these shafts frequently do not descend to the base, or even to the caps of the main piers, but are carried on corbels inserted in the side walls at a considerable height above the caps of the piers. The functional use of the wall shafts is thus disregarded, and they become mere ornaments. Slight wall shafts of this description, carried on corbels, occur in the nave of Glasgow Cathedral, in the choir of St. Giles’, Edinburgh; in St. Michael’s, Linlithgow; Crosraguel Abbey, &c.; while in the choir of Glasgow Cathedral and in Haddington Church the small wall shafts spring from the caps of the main piers. In Elgin Cathedral the vaulting shafts, which are mere beads, descend to the ground, and the clerestory arcade is almost continuous.