Renfrewshire-based bookseller and publisher Chris Morrison recently sent me these two Victorian sketches of the Dumb Proctor, an early medieval monument now used as a grave-marker in the public cemetery at Lochwinnoch. The images come from Volume 2 of Archaeological and Historical Collections of the County of Renfrew, published in 1890.
In a blogpost last year I mentioned that the Dumb Proctor was originally a free-standing cross carved in the last phase of the Govan sculptural style. I also showed my own attempt at a reconstruction of how it might look today if the cross-head hadn’t been cut off. The 1890 book was referred to in passing but I didn’t cite it in the bibliography at the end of the post.
I am grateful to Chris for providing the sketches, which I’ve added to my file of notes on this enigmatic monument. The Dumb Proctor is one of a number of Govan-style stones for which I’m hoping to compile detailed ‘biographies’ relating to history, art, preservation, re-use and conservation.
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Links
Blogpost (2013): The Dumb Proctor of Lochwinnoch
The Grian Press (Scottish local history)
Grian Books (rare & out-of-print items)
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Hi Tim
Is it possible that the mounted figure is Christ riding in triumph into Jerusalem see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_entry_into_Jerusalem ?
Kind regards
Elizabeth Roberts Millburn House, School Lane, Moffat DG10 9AX Mobile 07968 801178
Hello Liz. Interestingly, the rider has indeed been suggested as Christ entering Jerusalem. I found an early reference to this in a note from the 19th century. More recently, however, the carving’s similarity to the horsemen on the Govan Sarcophagus and Jordanhill Cross has led to the alternative identification of a mounted warrior carrying a spear.