The sun., 1904-08-21
sun DIALS AGAIN IN FASHION.
TIMEkEEPERS THAT WERE "a
WOCS IN ENGLISH HISTORY.


Sun dials have come again into fashion
they are to be seen everywhere, says
| Chambers 8 journal, and very often wrongly
placed. Elegant designs. tor, are the
modern ones, and large place OF business
in London is kept almost wholly occupied
in making new models TO attract the eye
and appeal to the imagination. A large
quantity Of the stones Of Christ's Hospital
and old Kew Bridge were bought and have
been carved into nice pedestals with u his
torio flavor.
In the old days no church was without
it's sun dial. Old st. Cuthbert's in Edin-
burgh, for example, has dial on the
original tower to which the new building
was added.
In many old country towns the dial has
for centuries occupied a prominent place
on the church or in the kirkyard. 1t was
the stapdard timekeeper. But one farm
ers wife in Yorkshire has series Of grooves
on the stone flag of her house door, and has
always the correct time under her eye
when the sun shines.
A pretty new dial decorates lnverleith
Park, Edinburgh; and this is very useful
addition to public places and gardens.
Lord Haddington has very handsome sun
dial of massive design in his gardens at
Tyringhame. Lord Leicester has variety
of dials so placed that he can tell the time
on the glass Of his bedroom window without
getting out Of bed.
At Sandringham there is very fine dial
engraved on slab Of slate and built into the
walls Of the house. The notices cIosen by
the King and Queen are: MY time is In
Thy hand" and @Let others tell OF storms
and showers, I'll only count your sunny
hours" A huge stone dial, six feet square.
IL on the wall Of the Old Tile House in
Buckinghamshire.
-Begone about your business was in
scribed on the dial of the old brick house
which stood in Inner Temple terrace,
London; and the present old sun clock
in Pump Court has marked the disappear
ing hours for over three centuries. While
various catbedrals such rs Ripon Minister.
have very old dials, singular to say st PauPs,
London, has none; but as clocks were Just
appearing when Wren designed his master
piece it is probable that the old time had
to give place to the new.
That unsavory locality known as Seven
Dials derived its name from large stone
dial which stood in the centre of the square
with streets branching OF. A splendid ex-
ample OF lingo Jones's architecture stood
for years in the middle Of the new square
at Lincoln's Inn, with the proud motto,
"Let your light so shine before men, and
the irony of fate was exempliied when it
was removed to make room for large mar
ing gas lamp.
Glamis castle has an elaborate dial,
a tall pillar with four lions erect and back
to hop han RING the UlQta A nOTOnPt
mounts all. Doubtless when Macbeth was
thane of Glamis he would eye some sun
clock when he wanted to know how the
time passed. Lord Glasgow has an ancient
and bearing date 1907 and Lord Rosebery
has a pleasing dial at Dalmeny.
What is said to be the most costly sun
dial ever erected was one In pyramidal
form, set up in the year 1869 by order of
Charles H., facing the banqueting house at
professor Of mathematics at Liege,
This tall pyramid contained no fewer
than 27i different dials. Some showed
the hours according to the Jewish. Baby.
counting, while others displayed tables
pertaining to astronomy, geography, as
trolooy etc There were portraits on glass
OF the King and Queen, the Duke OF York
and Prince Rupert. The cost OF this royal
toy was ths al; ana cams 1os aso
Skibo Castle has a very ancient sun
clock. although Mr.. Carnegie personally
prefers his household TO be regulated. by
Greenwich time.
The Duke of Sutherland had very
extensive dial erected quite recently in the
gardens at Chorley Wood, Surrey.
Quite unique has been the idea Of the
Duke Of Newcastle. In his house at Clumber
he has a pedestal on which are two iron
hoops about yard in diameter placed
.tI ID fha nfh vii a
rod across the middle. In the centre is a
knob which, when the sun shines, throws
it's shadow on the figures that are marked
in gold on the hoops, so that very attrac-
tive time clock is produced.
Another departure from the conventional
stone pedestal is on the lonely island OF
st. Marys, one OF the Sciily group. An
old cannon is stuck upward with a dial
plate fixed across its mouth.
An obelisk at Rome. which was brought
from Egypt by the Emperor Augustus,
has been set up az gnomon. On the
pavement around it are lines marked In
bronze, and for over a century Romans
have glanced at the hour o'clock as they
proceeded on their way.
There was ingenuity on the part OF the
French gunner at Paris who had charge
of the gun for proclaiming the hour OF noon.
He 80 arranged the dial that the hour OF
noon concentrated the rays OF the sun
through a burning glass on the powder at
the cannon's touch hole and the time gun
was thus fired.
Perhaps the present method OF firing
by electricity at Edinburgh Castle. is the
more reliable, for on some days the sun
is obscured by clouds.
Holyrood Palace has a beautiful dial
due to the unhappy Charles I. 1t Is called
Queen Mary's, but the Mary referred to
was Henrietta Maria. For hewing the
stone alone an Edinburgh mason was paid
f40S.
ia an unfinished dial whose shaft was from
a design by Mr. Gilbert, r. A. 1t is dedicated
to the wife of Joseph Hatton. One well
known man has gone SO fRr as to have
beautifully carved sun CLOCK erected on the
marble stone which covers his family bury.
ing place-a constant reminder, truly, Of
the passage OF days.
To get a pretty sun dial il not a costly
thing to-day. brass horizontal plate
with carefully adjusted gnomon, but with
out equation table or pedestal, can be had,
eight inches in diameter, for f2 So.
A vertical dial feet by feet inches,
with bright gun metal gnomon, and with
ali lines and figures cut and gilt in, would
probably cost f30. This is of Portland
stone, with notices, and similar to that at
Sandringham. Between these prices there
is wide choice.
Each purchaser has his own ideas az