As we have seen in a previous chapter, tracery originated from the necessity of piercing that portion of the wall which was left vacant when two lights were gathered under a single arched dripstone, and therefore elementary tracery consisted merely of apertures in a flat surface.
"Our Homeland Churches and How to Study Them"
Sidney Heath
In ancient times it was natural to the old builders if they had, say, a barn to build, to make it strong and seemly and graceful; to buttress it with stone, to bestow care and thought upon coign and window-ledge and dripstone, to prop the roof on firm and shapely beams, and to cover it with honest stone tiles, each one of which had an individuality of its own.
"At Large"
Arthur Christopher Benson
At the east end of the chancel there are often three lancet windows, the centre one higher than the rest, with one dripstone over them.
"English Villages"
P. H. Ditchfield