Scottish sundials of the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

period are not just more numerous than in any other country, they are also stylistically unique. This is particularly notable when the size and wealth of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

at the time are taken into account. They are free standing stone sculptures of the 17th and 18th centuries with many small dials inscribed on them. Accurate time telling is clearly not the aim. Precision is sacrificed for decorative effective. Unlike the sundials of similar date on the continent where baroque decoration may be added, the mathematical complexity of the Scottish dials is decoration enough. The ancient sundials of Scotland can be grouped into three main styles: lectern, obelisk and facet-head.

Lectern dials

These are noticeable for their sloping top like a reading desk or lectern, in the equatorial plane, usually with a star on top having dials in all its angles, and at 90 degrees to this a hemi-cylinder with a polar dial inscribed in it. The lectern usually has hollow dials on the south, east and west faces, and hour lines are inscribed in every available angle. One of the more complicated was formerly at Mid Calder House and is now at

Culzean Castle Culzean Castle ( , see yogh; sco, Cullain) is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is ...

. Lectern dials have some counterparts in continental Europe. This is particularly true of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

which was Scotland's primary trading partner of the time and where several lectern dials survive.

Obelisk dials

Obelisk dials are unique to Scotland and there are only 26 of them known. The first is meant to be that at

Drummond Castle Drummond Castle is located in Perthshire, Scotland. The castle is known for its gardens, described by Historic Environment Scotland as "the best example of formal terraced gardens in Scotland." It is situated in Muthill parish, south of Crieff ...

. It was carved in 1630 by John Mylne the King's Master Mason. West Side, Kirkhall Scottish Sundial, Ardrossan

Obelisk dials are made up of three parts. The base element is a square shaft with four or five square panels on each side. In these panels are often sunken dials of bowl-hollows, hearts or triangular and rectangular shapes. The middle element is an octagonal section boss. The corners may be cut away and have dials inscribed in the hollows. The crowning element is a square tapering finial which when viewed with the lower square shaft produces the obelisk appearance. This finial also has panelled sides with up to seven or eight on each side. There can be 70 or 80 surfaces in total available for dials.

Facet-head dials

This term includes a wide variety of other types ranging from a simple cube to complex polyhedrals. The most dramatic of these is at

Glamis Castle Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis (, ) in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public. Glamis Castle has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14th century, thoug ...

References

Bibliography

The information here is heavily derived from the writings of Andrew Somerville who in turn used the pioneering Victorian writings of Thomas Ross. *Vol. 5 The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, MacGibbon & Ross (1892) *The Ancient Sundials of Scotland, Andrew R Somerville (1990)

External links

{{commons category, Sundials in Scotland
Video footage of the Greenbank Garden dials

Scottish Sundials - by Location, Type and Date

Register of Scottish Sundials

A Scottish sundial erected by Robert Simson at Kirktonhall, West Kilbride.

A Scottish Sundial at Ardrossan's Civic Centre

Sundials of Scotland - a website for Scottish sundials by Dennis Cowan
Cultural history of Scotland