Elgin Cathedral's statue looked like a shield but on ground level, it took on a very bawdy aspect
Tom Fullerton - Daily Express - Saturday March 13th 2010
When the
medieval craftsman carved the stone that would support Elgin
Cathedral’s great arched roof, he must have had a mischievous
grin on
his face. He probably wondered how long the practical joke would remain
his
little secret. Around 500 years, as it happens.To the congregation far below, his carving would have looked just like a shield but, once down on ground level, the carving took on a very bawdy aspect.
Behind the shield is the hidden figure of a monk, naked from the waist down and anatomically – if exaggeratedly – correct.
The cathedral was built in the first part of the 13th century, but was extensively damaged when the Earl of Buchan – the “Wolf of Badenoch” – attacked it in 1390.
It was further damaged in the 1400s and the Bishop of Elgin, Bishop Columba, set about rebuilding it.
Only the shell of the yellow sandstone building remains but Historic Scotland has hundreds of stone carvings that would have been used as supports or merely for decoration.
They were kept under wraps in the Bishop’s House beside the cathedral until Glasgow-based Dr Mary Markus, a specialist stone historian, was enlisted to examine them. It was she who discovered the lewd monk.
She said: “It was one of hundreds of carvings that had been attached to the cathedral.
“It measured about 1ft by 1ft 6ins and appeared to be a shield decorated with unusual heraldry. It was an enormous surprise when I turned it over a found the half-naked monk.
“It was a beautiful piece of carving but I didn’t expect to see this sort of thing. And so cleverly hidden.
“The shield carries the bishop’s heraldry and I can only imagine the craftsman was secretly mocking him.”
Dr Markus, 54, who has examined thousands of stones and has never seen anything like the statue,” added: “It would not have been anything serious, just typical schoolboy humour, poking fun at the bishop in a way that only the craftsman could enjoy.
“He probably thought it would remain undiscovered for a thousand years.”
Dr Markus believes the craftsman worked in a group, travelling around the country.
“We don’t know if they were from home or abroad,” she said, “but they certainly were very highly skilled.”
A spokesman for Historic Scotland said: “The cathedral literally fell apart, and, in the 19th century, someone gathered together the carvings, which were part of a 15th-century restoration, to preserve them.
“The workmanship is of the very highest quality and whoever carved the explicit monk probably thought, ‘They’ll never spot it’.”
The carvings, including one of a dog with a stick in its mouth and, Dr Markus’s favourite, a sleeping lion, have been moved to a warehouse in Dallasdhu, near Elgin, where they are kept in controlled temperatures.
It is hoped that the carvings will one day be able to go on public display.
See also:
The Order of the Grey Monks of St Giles
Decoded Roger Morrice diary reveals dark days
The Lords Prayer 2006 style
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