Dedicated to Researching Rosslyn Chapel, The Knights Templar and Scottish Freemasonry

The exact number of Green Men at St Mary’s Collegiate Church has not (yet) been ascertained but it is clear that there as many as at Rosslyn Chapel and St Giles. Why the Green Man should be such an important motif within these Collegiate Churches is unknown.

This Green Man is a little unusual in that each decorative element of a cornice normally took up only one moulding (one square) and is regularly interspersed with hollows. This Green Man is the size of three mouldings (with hollows as normal on either side). The use of the space of three mouldings was probably necessary to show the foliage coming from either side of his mouth - something that would have been very difficult to do in a single moulding.

The image is not the best in the world given the distance from the ground to the cornice but there is sufficient detail to confirm that this is a Green Man in the traditional style.

To read an article about the symbolism and meaning of the Green Man click here.