Notice of Some Stone Crosses, with Especial Reference to E Market-Crosseth Scotlandf So Jamey B
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II. NOTICE OF SOME STONE CROSSES, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO E MARKET-CROSSETH SCOTLANDF SO JAMEY B . S DRUMMOND, ESQ., R.S.A., F.S.A. SCOT. .Fro e interesmth t lately createe proposeth y b d d restoratioe th f no ancient City Cross of Edinburgh, it occurred to me that, having at various times made sketches of a number of Scottish market-crosses, a notice of thesf o w e afe migh acceptable b t thio et s Society. In addition to Market or Town Crosses, there are two other kinds of Crosses that may be mentioned, viz., Ecclesiastical and Memorial. Of e latterth e havw , a greae t man n Scotlandi y . .For illustrationa f o s highly-interesting clas thesef so deepublie a e th ,p ow cdeb gratitudf o t e to the Spalding Clu their bfo r beautiful volum "e Standinth n eo g Stones of Scotland," so well edited by their and our secretary, Mr Stuart. There is, however, a class not included in this volume to which I will simply allude, such as the one on the Hawkhill, near Alloa, having merel rudya e cross carve n eaco d h side (fig . Thi2) . e s th seem e b o st first step in advance from the rude upright monolith, marking the site t Dunbaobattle—suca a f e on re (figth s ha . 1)—o grave chiefa th r f eo . By the wayside, near Finzean House, Aberdeenshire, stands one stated by tradition to be erected to the memory of Dardanus, one of our mythic Scottish kings; wooe whilth cairn— s dn e i hi closs i y eb a very large one, ANTIQUARIE SCOTLANDF SO . 87 Next comes a rude attempt at art, a good specimen of which stands near Hume Castle, having incised upon it on one side the figure of a knight with his hound at his feet, and on the other his shield and sword, ter- minating with a cross enclosed in a circle (fig. 3). In the churchyard of Foulis, near Dundee curioua s i , s flat tombstone, havin a gcanop y sculptured on it, below which is a knight's sword, while his hunting horn hang gravse ovestoneth rud e fooa e edge f th s th eo i th r te f t eo a ; upright cross (fig. 4). In the churchyard of Dunbar is another of the Fig . 1 .Standin g Stone near Dunbar. same class, having a floriated cross, and also the shield of arms and sword sculptured on it. Wit ecclesiasticae hth l wanderes crossha o , ever wh Ital n di e d yyon an other Roman Catholic countries mus familiare b tthin i sd countryan ; , no doubt, they were also very common previous to the Reformation, and were generally placed by the solitary wayside, to remind the faithful of their duty as good Catholics, or in some public place of a town, either PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO Y O placed there by the Church or erected by some pious devotee in the spirit with which Sir Walter Scott inscribes the well in " Marmion:"— " Drink, weary pilgrim, drin prad kan y gooe th dr souFo f Sybio l l Gray, Who built this cross and well." Of this clas sI onl y kno f onewo t G-oodlieburna , , near Pertt hI (fig . 5) . has been a crucifix, having the figure of Christ sculptured on it, the under part, from the waist downwards, now only remain- ing, although I was told that people still remembered the upper part lying in the field. In a cottage garden by the roadside near Markinch, there is a stone with a cross rudely sculptured on it in relief. This may have belonged to the same class t CrossrigA .mile w fe sa , from t BiggarPrestoa d an ,n near Dunse, fragments of such wayside crosses still remain. e churchyarth n I f Bortho d - wick there remains a socket, which may have formed part of a cross, erected on the spot Fig. 2. On the Hawkhill, near Alloa where stood St Kentigern's Marvellous Cross, which, with his residence here, is thus alluded to in Jocelyn's Life of the saint, pub- lished by Pinkerton in his Vita Antiques Sanctorum—" Aliam quoque crucem incredibilem dictu, nisi posset explorari visu et tactu, in Lother- werd (Borthwick) juste et religiose de resurrectione cogitans de sola arena maris construxit. In quo loco ipse octo annorum spacio mandit." Again, o rocna k juttin t int roae gou o th d near South Queensferry sockee th s i , t of such a cross, being the spot from which the. pious pilgrims first got ANTIQUARIE SCOTLANDF SO . 89 sigh f Uunfermlineo t . This interesting fragmen saves wa td Eare hyth l of Eoseberry, who insisted that the trustees should not interfere with it makinn i e las roade m s pointe tgsimila th o A autum t wa .t e ou don r n near Melrose, where it goes by the name of a Holy Water Font. An- other class were boundary crosses, erected eithe landmarks ra poino t r so t oue extenth t f sanctuaro t f o y church lands. Some such still remai n connectioni n wite hth Preceptor Torphichenf yo , radi- e churchatinth n gi froe - mon yard. However, Marker o t Town Crosses are those I wish particularl calo e t yatten th l - tion of the Society to. They were generally placed in some large open space of a town, suc a positioh n being chosen not only to show where the market was held, but as a centre from which edicts, either royal or burghal, might be proclaim- ed, and where civil offenders migh e punishedb t n ScotI . - land they generally consisted of a pillar raised upon a flight of steps, or a solid basement without steps of any sort. On most crosses of this sort there Fig. 3. At Eccles, Berwickshire. still remain iroe sth n staplo et whic jouge hth collaa s( r use chaininr dfo malefactorp gu publie th r cfo s edification) were attached, serving thus the same purpose as the stocks in England, or for the more serious punishment of the pillory, where the offenders might be jeered at and pelted with everything unsavoury and disagreeable—a mode of punishment only abolished by Act of Par- liament in 1837. In some cases, probably, the branks (another variety of the same class of punishment) may have been fixed at the opposite 90 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO Y O Crose sidth f seo fro jougse mth t seemI . havo st e t Ormistobeea o ns n and Crieff botn i , f whicho iroe hth n staples still lattee remainth rn I . it is higher up the shaft than on the opposite side. The Market Cross sometimes consiste a large f o d r building, havin ga stai r inside leading to the roof, which was surrounded by a parapet, and from the centre of e roopillae th th f r sprang n countrI . y district jouge sth s see havmo t e been attached either to the gateway of the churchyard, as at Dudding- stone and Eestalrig, near Edinburgh, or on the doorway of the church. At Spott, East Lothian, they are so fixed ; the old bellman, who was a nativ f thio e sonlo parish wh yearyw d diefe an sa ,d ago, recollected Churchyare th n I . 4 Foulis-Easterf g do Fi . having seen a man fixed in the jougs for some ecclesiastical misde- meanour t Biggaa buttresA churce n . th e jougo th ry e hb s ar s door ; whila buttrese othe yard th n w eo n fe r e dooro sa sidesth f ,o ' there remains a staple where, very probably, the branks, or witch's bridle, was attached. Sometimes they were attached even to a tree. A pair whic d bee e hchurchyarha o place s nth n i d f Applegirtho d , Dumfries- shire, are now in possession of Sir William Jardine. In towns they were occasionally on the door-post of the common prison. At the ancient ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 91 villag f Wateo e f Leito r h the yd hous e doorwaol hunth n et a ga f yo still standing. This house, or some part of it, was used as a prison. The Cross was also used to measure punishment from. You have all hear judge e storcondemneo th th d f eywh o notorioua d s offendee b o t r publicly whipped from the Cross to the Watergate, but who so little appreciate benefie dth t that, shakin e judge'th fiss n gi hi t s face tole h ,d him wit n oata h d donh s worst—whereupoha thahi ee h t e judgth n e laconically added ballad bac,ol d f ""do e an Adak th agai n mi nd ;"an e tolBellar d e thaw " t preparations wer eJustice e madth th r y b fo e execution of William of Cloudesly at the Pillory or Cross— " The Markee nth o went te placeh t , As fast as he could hie, Ther epaia nef ro wp u gallow t se e sh Besid pillory.e eth " Crosses were no doubt originally ecclesiastical d theian ,r transition from this character to their ordinary use is simple. In rude and lawless times supposwn eca e apactioy an f no sort being considered bindingf i , contracted at a Cross, with its sacred significance.