hed by two stairs, one from the north and another
from the south aisle of the choir. Only their round arched openings
remain as recesses in the walls of the crypt. The present stairs are
modern. The crypt consists of one central and two side aisles, with an
eastern apse; it is pronounced to be a very picturesque and interesting
structure, and it fortunately escaped being rebuilt, like the rest of
the church. It has a groined roof, and the three compartments in the
length are separated by pointed arches that spring from moulded caps on
octagonal responds. "The opening into the apse has a stunted round arch,
and is a prominent example of the love of the Scottish builders for
this form of arch all through the Gothic period."[233] Each compartment
of the apse has a central boss, and there is a considerable amount of
carved woodwork in the crypt--some of the fifteenth or sixteenth
century, and some later. The choir that was recently taken down
superseded an older one, and it is probably to this former choir that
references are contained in the _Council Register_ for about a century
from 1442.

_Old Aberdeen, King's College._--Of Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen
(1488-1514) it is said: "With no private fortune, and without
dilapidating his benefice, he provided for the buildings requisite for
his University and Collegiate Church, and for the suitable maintenance
of its forty-two members; and the Cathedral Choir, the King's College,
and the old gray bridge spanning the valley of the Dee are monuments to
his memory that command the respect of those who have no sympathy with
his Breviary, rich in legends of Scottish Saints, and who would scarcely
approve of his reformed Gregorian chant."[234] The college was dedicated
to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, and being placed under the
immediate protection of the King, came to be known as King's College.
King James IV. and Bishop Elphinstone endowed it with large revenues. It
was a faithful copy of the University of Paris. The Collegiate Church of
St. Mary, on the north side of the quadrangle, was consecrated by
Edward, Bishop of Orkney, and had eight priests or vicars choral
belonging to it, and six singing boys.[235] It was begun in 1500 and
finished in 1506, and it was said that all its stones and beams proclaim
Bishop Elphinstone their founder, who also presented the chapter with
many valuable vestments, vessels, etc. The chapel is a long, narrow
building, with a three-sided ap