Abbot Shaw placed his arms on several parts of this wall, and in the middle of the north portion he inserted three shields--the central one bearing the royal arms; that on the right the Stewart arms, for the founder; and that on the left the abbot’s own arms. He also erected a tablet on the north-west angle, containing his name and the date of erection. Only a small portion of this wall remains, but the panels containing the royal arms and the inscription are preserved in the Coates Museum. The latter is as follows:-- “Ya callit ye Abbot Georg of Schawe About yis Abbay gart make yis wav A thousande four hundereth zheyr Auchty ande fywe the date but veir [Pray for his saulis salvacioun] Yat made thys nobil fundacioun.”[8] Mr. Chalmers[9] is of opinion that this inscription was designed by John Morow, whose name appears on a tablet at Melrose Abbey.[10] “The character of the lettering in design and workmanship is the same as at Melrose. The references to the building operations, the poetical form of the compositions, the manner in which the names are introduced--‘Callit was I,’ and ‘ye Callit’--and the devout expressions with which they close, make it clear that the inscriptions are the work of the same author.” Whether that is so, or whether the inscriptions simply reflect the style, both literary and artistic, of the period is questionable. In any case, the idea is ingenious. Mr. Chalmers points out that the fifth line, which is erased, was probably cut out by the Reformers, as being out of keeping with their religious views, while the remainder indicates the care with which the historically valuable part was preserved. The days of Abbot John Hamilton (1525-1544), who became Bishop of Dunkeld, and was afterwards promoted to be Archbishop of St. Andrews, were evil for the monastery of Paisley, as for all other similar institutions in the country. When driven from St. Andrews, the archbishop sought safety at Paisley; but that house being sacked and burnt by the Reformers, he had to take refuge at Dumbarton Castle, where he was made prisoner, and afterwards executed at Stirling. The Master of Sempill had been appointed bailie of the monastery, and, at the dissolution, the whole of the church property was handed over to Lord Sempill. The property finally came into the possession of Lord Claud Hamilton, nephew of the archbishop, and the monastic buildings were converted into the “Place of Paisley,” the residence of the Abercorn family.[11] Before the Reformation the monastery consisted of the church, the cloister, and the conventual buildings. The church (Fig. 953) comprised a long aisleless choir, a nave with aisles, a north transept, a south transept, with St. Mirin’s Chapel attached to the south of it, and a tower and spire over the crossing.