Scottish sundials of the
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
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. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
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 effect. Unlike the
sundial
A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
s of similar date on the continent where
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
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.
Lectern dials have some counterparts in continental Europe. This is particularly true of the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
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. It was carved in 1630 by
John Mylne the King's Master Mason.
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.
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
YouTube narrated video on the Gartmore Obelisk SundialVideo footage of the Greenbank Garden dialsScottish Sundials - by Location, Type and DateRegister of Scottish SundialsA Scottish sundial erected by Robert Simson at Kirktonhall, West Kilbride.A Scottish Sundial at Ardrossan's Civic CentreSundials of Scotland - a website for Scottish sundials by Dennis Cowan
Cultural history of Scotland
Sundials