Heyjude

X for XV century Misericords

frizztext hosts a weekly A – Z Challenge

Event Type: General Blogging

Start Date: Tuesdays, recurring weekly

Description: Every Tuesday I offer the “A to Z challenge”, walking step by step through the alphabet.

If you would like to join in then please click here

Woman with Coif — S4 – representing womanhood, possibly a mother and daughters

We are quite lucky in Ludlow to have a very impressive Parish Church – St Laurence, which is so big that it can be seen from miles around and is known as ‘The Cathedral of the Marches’. Now none of this has to do with the letter X, but inside the church you can find twenty eight misericords dating from the XV century.

Seated Man with Scroll — S13 – this could be a pupil or schoolmaster at the school run by the Palmers’ Guild in Ludlow.

Now I don’t propose to show you all 28, but here are a few of my favourites.

Owl with eagles — S5 – the owl in medieval times was a dark symbol. Here it is being mobbed by two birds looking inwards, possibly eagles.

St Laurence’s Church has twenty eight misericords in the choir stalls which are of a quality usually associated with great cathedrals such as Worcester or Gloucester.

Monster with female face — N2 – a Harpy (young woman’s head with the body and wings of a bat) with her supporters (bats) creatures of darkness and symbols of evil.

Carved on the underside of the hinged choir seats each misericord is fashioned from a piece of timber some 26 inches (660 mm) long, 12 inches (300 mm) deep and 6 inches (150 mm) thick.

falcon and scales — N13 – Falcon and Fetterlocks, the personal badge of Richard Duke of York (1411 – 1460)

The misericords have a wide variety of themes and with Ludlow then being a royal stronghold there is a royal influence shown in a number of misericords. Wikipedia

Prince of Wales Feathers — N8 – since the mid-16th century the three ostrich feathers have been the personal badge of the Prince of Wales.

S6 – Swan flanked by leaves, the badge of the Bohun family though without the crown collar.

The header misericord is N4 – a mermaid holding a mirror in her right hand, a comb missing from her left. Two dolphins flank her.

One Day One World Project: 18:00 – 19:00

Evenings in Kirkcudbright tended to be the best time of the day. Even on cloudy or drizzly days the sun broke out by mid-afternoon and because the sun didn’t set until late (after 10 pm) we had the most lovely evenings. Decided to return to the cottage via Carrick Bay after a visit to The Gatehouse of Fleet and got there just before 7 pm to see a lone windsurfer out on the bay. Lisa of the blog NorthWest Frame of Mind has decided to run a different project over the next 24 weeks. To try to show what is happening in different parts of the world (if you all join in) at a particular time of day. If you would like to participate you have until next Saturday midnight to post a photo or write about what is happening in your part of the world between 18:00 – 19:00 this week. I hope you’ll join in! See links for more details.

Having an Extra Day

We were supposed to leave Scotland today and return home, but unknown to us when we booked to stay in Kirkcudbright, this was the week of their Jazz festival and today was the Jazz Brolly Parade. Now I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a Brolly Parade so this I wanted to see. Fortunately we managed to get an EXTRA day in our accommodation. So join in!

For more EXTRAS click here:

Gourmet Capital in the Western Cape

After a lovely leisurely road-trip through the Garden Route we headed back to the Western Cape, deciding to spend our last three nights in Franschhoek. If this post doesn’t entice you to at least consider a trip to the Western Cape, then I don’t know what will.

The last post in my South African holiday in 2008 – I hope you have enjoyed it. I certainly have – and once again, please leave your comments on the original post.

Where is your favourite foodie town? Please let me know, I’m always up for a visit 🙂

A Lingering Look at Scottish Windows

This week in Kirkcudbright — pronounced Kirr-coo-bree — I have been checking out the property in the old town, notable for its colourful façades. Obviously an excuse to have a lingering look at the windows.

Some are very colourful:

bright-pink — Barbie Pink House on Union Street

pink-and-purple — What about pink and purple?

Some are very elegant:

Others are unusual:

Houses that have windows that have houses that have windows…

Mad about cats house

And then there are those that entice you to enter:

or just wonder about:

shop — Local red sandstone – note the pilasters and capitals

This weekly challenge is hosted by Dawn from ‘The Day After’ who invites participants to post pictures of any windows that they find curious, inviting, photogenic, or in some way tell a story. Visit her blog to see more windows and/or to join in with the challenge.