ve been contemplated, and even begun. "This tower, like those at
Stirling, Linlithgow, and Dundee, may have been intended to open towards
the church with a wide arch, of which the jambs still remain; but this
idea having been abandoned, and any part of the tower which then had
been built having been taken down, the present makeshift gable was put
up instead to fill up the gap, which, in these circumstances, would be
left for the supposed opening into the church."[293] On the north side
of the nave there is a large porch called Halkerston's Tower. It was a
two-storied building, the upper storey being of great height and vaulted
as well as the lower one. The erection of the west end of the church is
referable to about 1489,[294] when payments were made "to the kirk werk
of Pertht." The central tower was erected after the adjoining part of
the nave, and has one window in each face. The parapet and corbelling
were renewed about forty years ago.[295] The exterior of the church has
been altered at various times, and an open parapet carried along the top
of the choir wall over the clerestory windows as well as along the aisle
walls and up the sloping gables of the east end. Dormer windows to light
the galleries break in on this aisle-wall parapet, as well as on the
roof of the nave.

It was in the Church of St. John, Perth, that John Knox denounced the
Mass in 1559, and the multitude afterwards demolished the ornaments,
images, and altarpieces as well as the monasteries and religious houses
in Perth--an example quickly followed by others throughout the country.
In Scott's novel, _The Fair Maid of Perth_, the church is the scene of
the trial by bier-right to discover the slayer of Proudfute.

The East Church (or choir) has been recently restored, and many look
forward to the day when, the present partition walls being removed, St.
John's Church will once more reveal the full splendour of its striking
and grand interior. Perth awaits a generous restorer, and St. John's
affords a grand opportunity for patriotism and beneficence.

DUNDEE CHURCH TOWER

About 1198 the church of Dundee was bestowed on Lindores Abbey, and the
church then existing is stated to have been erected by David, Earl of
Huntingdon, as a thank-offering for his escape from a storm at sea.
About 1442 an agreement was formed between the abbot of Lindores and the
provost and burgesses of Dundee, by which the latter undertook the
construction and maintenance of