Read Ebook: Ye Sundial Booke by Henslow T Geoffrey W Thomas Geoffrey Wall

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Introduction 1

The History of the Sundial 3

Photograph No. 1 of Saxon Sundial, built into the South Porch of a 11 Norman Church, Stanton S. Quintin, Chippenham, Wilts.

Photograph No. 2 of the Saxon Sundial discovered by the Author at 13 Stanton S. Quintin, Chippenham, Wilts.

Famous Men and the Sundial, with Notes on Mottoes 15

The Setting of the Sundial 22

Poem, "My Desire" 27

Sketch to Poem, "The Sundial" 28

Poem, "The Sundial" 29

Sketch to Poem, "The Dial's Motto" 30

Poem, "The Dial's Motto" 31

Sketch to Poem, "The Maid and the Sundial" 32

Poem, "The Maid and the Sundial" 33

Sketch to Poem, "The Moon and the Dial" 34

Poem, "The Moon and the Dial" 35

Verses and Sundial Sketches 36

Additional Mottoes and Verses for Sundials 402

Names and Places where Sundials exist, with Index to Sketches and 416 Verses

Advertisements 423

INTRODUCTION.

In placing before the public this book on sundials and sundial verses I suppose that I must conform to the usual order of things and apologise for being on earth, but at the same time I am very grateful; and, feeling so kindly disposed to FATHER TIME, I have ventured in verse to extol his praises, and, with the kindly help of my artist, I have boldly put before the public a work that has entailed considerable labour and expense. If, then, any critic--confident in his or her powers of being able to compile a work vastly superior in every detail to the one which I have supreme pleasure in now placing before the public--should like to enter the lists and vie with my humble efforts, I will gladly forgive all criticism, and congratulate myself on having been instrumental in securing for FATHER TIME a fresh devotee; and I will offer up my humble prayers that he or she may prove to be a far more worthy servant than myself.

But, apart from all levity, let me here simply testify to the onerous nature of my self-imposed task, and express the hope that my untutored efforts may in part, if not in whole, be appreciated by a few generous natures who, being themselves unable to devote time to the compilation of such a work, yet are grateful for this contribution to what has ever been a most pleasing and engrossing subject.

He would, indeed, be a mean man who, having received considerable assistance in any undertaking, failed to acknowledge such on the first opportunity; and I have the greatest pleasure in here testifying to the untiring efforts of my artist, Miss D. Hartley, who has contributed so largely to my work; indeed, I am sure that, without her talent, I should receive but poor commendation from the general public.

All the sundials that figure in this work are dials that actually exist, and although the settings are new, yet it is to be hoped that this will in no wise detract from the value of the book. So many ancient dials are to-day continually changing hands and being placed in new surroundings, that although cognisant of the fact that it would be far more interesting to illustrate my work with sketches showing the dial in its original position, yet in the majority of cases I have proved this to be impossible. I have, therefore, decided, whilst representing faithfully the actual dials, to adopt quite new lines, and to illustrate my work with a series of sketches in keeping with the age of each horologe, and also to supplying a series of pictures calculated to suit the style and nature of my book. Before referring to my poetical efforts, I will here thank all those friends who have so kindly assisted me in my arduous undertaking.

It is not possible to mention the names of all those who have so kindly assisted me in securing photographs of dials, or who have furnished me from time to time with any required information; I will, therefore, but express my great gratitude for every kindness, and venture to hope that my book will meet with the approval of all.

If, then, any verse or verses appear to be weak, let the reader remember that there has been no picking and choosing; for I have boldly published all that I have written, well knowing that no two people see alike, and that what may displease one may also find favour with another. Let, then, those verses which do commend themselves to the reader be in his or her eyes sufficient warranty for my book.

T. G. W. H.

The History of the Sundial.

Who shall discover the age of the sundial, or fix with certainty the year in which ye horologe was first invented to record the passing of the day or perchance the hour? The archives of time will never reveal to us the first dial that was invented to aid mortal man to regulate his life and so fulfil his daily task. We can only at the best surmise what the date may have been, and record existing information for the benefit of posterity, trusting that new discoveries may throw fresh light upon this most engrossing subject.

To the student of astronomy and mathematics, it will ever appear to be a most natural event that the sundial should have been constructed to record accurately the time of day; and such might doubtless express surprise that the age of the earliest known horologe is not of greater antiquity. But it must not be forgotten that the requirements of early man were small, and time, although a most important consideration, was not of the same value that it is to-day, in the highly civilised age in which we live.

It is not my intention to give a long and detailed account of the sundial, for I must confess that I am not sufficiently versed in its chequered and varied history; but, nevertheless, I feel bound to include in my book one or more chapters that shall supply a little information upon the age, development, and construction of ye horologe.

But here I am at a loss to know where to start, for if I should deal with the Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, or Roman ages, doubtless I should be ruled out of court, for a wise critic would question the lateness of my starting point, and would prove conclusively that I ought to have begun with Adam, who could not have missed the opportunity afforded him of erecting a sundial in the Garden of Eden. Indeed, so hard is it to fix a date for the earliest introduction of the sundial in its most primitive form, that we can only allude with safety to its mention in ancient writings and its discovery in various countries through different ages.

Without doubt the Bible gives us the oldest records, and we may be sure that wherever we get even the briefest allusion to the division of time, we can assert the existence of a horologe with little hesitation.

Job alludes to the monitor in the words--"as a servant earnestly desireth the shadow," and the miracle of the sundial of Ahaz has been quoted and handed down for centuries.

Sundials exist in most countries in various forms, differing in construction according to the knowledge of the age in astronomy and mathematics, and showing clearly at different periods in the history of a race the outside influence of the greater wisdom attained to by many students in the art of horology.

If we devote considerable attention to the history of sundials we almost unconsciously find ourselves dividing them into the following groups:--Wall dials, pedestal dials, and portable dials. Without doubt it will never be surely solved as to which is the older of the first two, for who can ever know the resources of primitive man, the knowledge of the ancients, or the earliest discoveries of the wandering tribes of the East?

How little we really know of ancient China or Japan, where sundials abound. When the history of the horologe of the West still remains imperfect, who will determine that of the East? Let us solve the riddle of Avebury or Stonehenge with certainty before we can decide the age of any other likely form of horologe; let us move the sands of the desert of Egypt and dig down into every ruin of the past before we can hope to fix a date at which mortal man constructed a dial, mural or pedestal, to record the passing of the day. Although priority in the age of the first two groups of dials may remain an uncertainty, yet the third group of portable dials can be safely given a late date.

There is no more engrossing study than the age of the sundial, and to those interested in gnomonics any fresh information or unrecorded history is of the greatest importance. It is, however, left to the excavator of buried cities and ancient ruins of the past to shed fresh light upon such a well-worn subject, and the humble historian but faithfully records and hands down to posterity the result of his discoveries.

The minutes of to-day are as the hours of yesterday, and the necessity of an accurate time-keeper is in this present century more keenly felt than ever it was in the past. A glance at the sky to determine the position of the sun in respect to well-known landmarks may have sufficed the races of primitive man, but as generation succeeded generation, and regular business occupations and more home life commenced, the observance of stated intervals of the day must have become a necessity; so that, if the old proverb be true, necessity became the mother of invention, and in due course gave birth to the sundial, which, as time went on, developed until it reached the perfect stage in which we find it to-day.

Perhaps some day excavations in the Holy Land will reveal fresh forms of horologe that will put into the shade the age of the present dials from ancient Greece, but until then we have little data other than vague allusions to them in the historical records of the past to go upon. It is very doubtful whether ancient Egypt with all its vast learning and resources will ever throw fresh light upon the subject of gnomonics. Situated so close to the Equator, both the horizontal and vertical dials would be of small service.

The angle of the gnomon being equal to the latitude of the place, the few degrees either side of the Equator would necessitate such a small elevation that a horizontal dial would be of little help. Again, a vertical dial would show the time for only a very short portion of the year, since the dial plate would have to be almost parallel with the rays of the sun. Still, doubtless, records may yet be found that will testify to its existence, if not in ancient Egypt, in lands that felt Egyptian influence and benefited by their learning and wisdom.

Theories are problematical and surmises are often without foundation, but I would indeed venture to think that it is more than possible that the sundial played some part in the rectification of the Babylonian calendar in 747 B.C., which took place about nineteen years before the accession of King Ahaz, in whose reign it was clearly alluded to.

The oldest known dials at present are those of Grecian origin, and for the most part are of the hemicyclean form invented by the Chaldean Berosus, who lived about 340 B.C., and his particular shape and construction of dial was in use for centuries. Four of these sundials were discovered in Italy: one at Tivoli in 1746, another at Castel Nuovo in 1751, another at Rignano in 1751, and the fourth at Pompeii in 1762. It is thus evident that this form of sundial which was used by the Arabians was popular also amongst the Romans. An interesting specimen of this form of horologe, which can now be seen in the British Museum, was found at the base of Cleopatra's Needle in 1852. This dial is concave, and is made from a stone 16 1/2 inches high by 17 inches wide, the depth of the bowl being 10 inches; the hours marked are the twelve unequal hours by which the Greeks divided up their day.

This dial--by no means satisfactory--doubtless owed much of its popularity to its novel construction, and to the fact that it was more or less of a portable nature. But the knowledge that it was constructed 360 years after the known existence of the sundial , leads us to surmise that other forms of dials were in use at the same time. It is a known fact that the ancients were familiar with declining dials, and the Tower of the Winds at Athens, which still exists, has on its walls, built in octagonal shape, no fewer than eight of this kind. And although the date of these dials is evidently of a later period than the actual building, they certainly belong to a very early time. However, the Greeks were, as we know, well versed in the art of dialling, and without doubt gave a lead in this study to other nations.

Herodotus, writing in 443 B.C., says that the Greeks acquired their knowledge of the sundial from the Babylonians; the Roman writers in turn give evidence of their acquisition of this instrument from the Greeks. Although the Romans were backward in the science of gnomonics and slow to adopt any particular form of horologe, they eventually constructed many a beautiful dial of varied design. The first sundial was erected in Rome in the year 290 B.C., this being taken from the Samnites by Papirius Cursor. Another was brought to Rome by Valerius Messala from Catania 261 B.C., but it was not until 164 B.C. that, as far as we know, a dial constructed at Rome was set up by order of Q. Marcius Philippus.

Cicero, writing in 48 B.C. to Tiro, mentions that he wished to place a sundial at his villa in Tusculum, and at a later date we see Romans erecting sundials in every possible corner of their villas and grounds.

The first known dial in Britain, with the exception of the one or two reputed Roman dials discovered in this country, are those of Saxon origin found on some of our ancient churches. As far as we know nearly all the earliest mural examples are semicircular, and although the spaces into which the dial is divided vary considerably in number and size, they seem to point to the practice of the early Norsemen dividing time into tides. And since it is known that they apportioned the time into eight tides, and that the oldest horologes have the fewest spaces, it seems more than likely that many dials so marked owe their existence to these hardy invaders.

Bede records the fact that the hours were shorter or longer according to the seasons, and this testimony is borne out by existing dials, generally found built into ancient buildings, on the sides of porches, and the jambs of windows. I myself discovered one, only two feet off the ground, built into the east side of an old Norman south porch, and the fact that the dial had been cut in order to fit the stone into its place--added to its position--showed very plainly that it had been taken out of an earlier building and used again. Without hazarding any date as to the earliest form of horologe in this country, I would but testify from my own experience that many dials of early workmanship actually exist unnoticed on many of our ancient buildings, principally churches. A close and careful examination of the walls of such would, I am sure, reveal many a time-worn horologe of the past. Generally they are found on faced stones built into porches, windows, and corners of buildings, and consist of circles and half-circles, divided by lines which radiate from a hole in the centre to the circumference. The number of lines differ considerably and the spaces are also of unequal size.

Evidence tends to prove that these dials are of Saxon and Norman times, and I venture to think from their divisions that in many cases, although found on Norman buildings, they tend to show that Saxon ideas continued to exist in many things in spite of Norman influence. It would take many generations at that period of the history of our country to supplant in remote districts a recognised form of dial, and although the Norman method of recording time was more accurate, doubtless it was but gradually adopted.

The Saxons used the simple dial so long in vogue amongst the hardy Northmen or Vikings, who, being a maritime race, founded their divisions of time on the ebb and flow of the tide. First, the four tides, two high tides and two low; then, further improving this, they subdivided these divisions again into halves and quarters, thus making the day and night equal to sixteen hours. In this country there exist many of their dials, and some are very noteworthy.

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