Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-04-12
ORIGIN OF GARGoYTdEs,

| Salt Lakers innumeTable. who pass
| the altogether splendid Catholic Cathe-
dral. now nearing completion on South
Temple street, and the pretty and pic
| luresaua new Presbyterian Church on
| the same beautiful ttOroughfare, daily
stop and admire their imposing fronts
and fine architecture. But to many
their otherwise. in all respects, pleas
ing appearance, Is married by the pres
ence OF hidecus sargoylas cut into The
solid stone.
| II must not be Imagined that they
are In any wise new or unique, for they
are not. They are found on the fines,
church buildings In Christendom, in
Europe and the United States alike,
They comprise almost every kind OF
bird and beast, real and legendary, and
include many uncanny and dIaholIcal
distortions of the human form. The
boldnes5 and abandon TO which this
sort Of ecclesiastical establishment
has been carried, probably ached Its
height In the work Of the sculptor OF
the last century, who, during the res,
toratior of Chester Cathedral, at the
time Of the dlsestablishment Of the
Irish Church, cut a hideous carlcature
of Gladstones head over or near the
main entrance 20 the ediflce. AS TO the
actual origin of this kind of maiadorn-
ment there is more OF less doubt But
special writer OF the London Globe
cd ~, oh al t1Hr daA
mite information. He says that one o.
the earliest of the elaborate attempts
10 transform roof spouts seems to have
been at the Cathedral OF Rouen. where
the figure Of the great dragon was
adopted for one of them, though
whether 1t was intended as an object
of terror TO the hObgobIn fra ternity of
the seventh century, or a symbol of the
church's triumph over a public foe. can
only be cOniectured- This fearsome
Wild fowl terrorized both bAriks OF the
Seine and terribly rayaged tho City OF
Rouen until nc was galaptly slain by
st Roninus, bishop of the cathedral
| there Probably In sheer jnbIatlon oe
| spirits and In compliment to the valor-
olis bishop the carcass OF the nilsclliey-
GUS BEAST was embodied in stone and
set up aioft as a warming To- all dapre-
dators and any evil spirits by which
they might be actuated. The name
given to this unlucky animal Is said TO
have been gargouille. and hence the
name given to his efilsy, according to
some authorities Others, however de-
rive the appellation from '-gargoiilc, !"
the wea2and OF the throat, or from
-gargale," disease TO which swine are
liable and which causes a gurglIng
sound in the throat, like that which
water makes in passing through a pipe.
We are all at liberty TO choose deriv-
alton, since nobody can speak with au-
thority.
If gargcuillo was really the name
conferred upon the more or less fab
ulous beast whose carcass was initiated
by some fancful sculptor In the MAX
Ing of an ornamental spout. then the
probability Is, that we have here the
origin not only of 'gargoyle.' but OF
the French word for the weazand, as
well as the English Words "gursle'
and "gargle-' Commenting upon the
matter the Globe correspondent says;
One ugly creature having been adopt
cd for a stone sitlgy on so famous a
church as that at ROuen in the seventh
century may easily be conceived to
have set the fashion for other churches,
aud the superfluous hldeousness OF SO
many Of these objections certainly sup
ports the notion that IN part their
sctlptoTg were actuated by the Idea of
tresghtenlng the uncanny folk from the
sacred editices OF The wOrshipers,
The dragon Is the commencement Of
all forms OF the Gargoyle, and toward
the end of the thirteenth century. when
tho prOprlety of adopting This crea-
ture had become an old tradition OF
church architecture. the form OF the
monster wHS transformed into a thing
of soma approach 10 grace and clo-
gancc In the meantime. however, al
most every bird or quadruped OF evil
repute and on figure hat could 10y any
naley client ingenuity he distorted into
something iiTghtful had been called IN
FOR The spiritual defense OF the church.
/ and when animal shapes alone mad been
made 10 undergo every contortior that
could be conceived they We're combined
Win human hgurcs and faces, "A dcvel-
| upment which inevitably led to tho
! later adoption N all sorts or imps and