Scottish Sundials Contact

Drummond Castle

Perthshire - NN 845181 - Gatty 149, 151, 477 - Ross 417 - Stev 267, 270

There is an amazing amount of information about this dial which is particularly fortunate as it is the first of the obelisk type of dial which are unique to Scotland.

It is a particularly fine dial both in terms of its conception and execution.

The great number of hollow dials which have been carved into the plaques should be noticed. They are extremely innovative and a very good case study of this important feature in Scottish dials.

Visited 10 September 1986 - A. R. Somerville

Visited Spring 2003 - Author

A mammoth day out by car from St Andrews. We took the principle of coming to a road junction and then deciding on a whim which way to go. Amazingly we ended up at Drummond Castle. Fate some of you will say but the sceptics amongst you will say it might have been somehow deliberate.

You must pay to enter these gardens but for once I will say that it is actually worth it. Nature is controlled and regimented into patterninglines with nano precision. Beautiful or sublime depends on you.

This dial is dated 1630 both on the finial and in documents. Its construction cost £32 18s Scots and was built by John Mylne III the King's master mason and who built a large extension to Drummond Castle for the second Earl of Perth.

Somerville has a reference to the obelisk dial at Wemyss Castle (formerly at Invermay) being carved in Perth in 1640 by John Mylne. If so it would be just 10 years after the Drummond dial and by the same master mason. The Wemyss Castle dial is notably different to later obelisks but clearly related to the Drummond obelisk if nothing else by its separation of boss from finial and base. They could both be seen as being the early experimental phase of obelisk design before it solidified as a typology.

There are five stanzas carved into the stone of the dial at Drummond in which the hours as sisters describe the flight of time. Ross kindly had this translated from latin:

We are the hours on the pillar you see,

Marked by the shadows that ever flee,

And move with the sun in its course on high,

Noting the time passing swiftly by,

Sisters are we, then why are we clad,

In joyful robes, and robes that are sad?

We who have rays from the sun at morn,

Are servants to those in the East who are born,

Who live in those regions far remote,

Where the Medes and the Persians round Babylon fought,

We whose robes are red and bright,

Have our names from the sun's retreating light,

Italians, Bohemians, all are we,

And the bright red tints of the West you see,

We who are dark and dusky in hue,

Mark out the hours of the zodiac in blue,

To the people of France and the people of Spain,

Who live by the side of the weltering main,

There are further lines that have been worn away.

Home Summary Analysis Dials by Location Dials by Type Dials by Date Contact Links	Drummond Castle
	Perthshire - NN 845181 - Gatty 149, 151, 477 - Ross 417 - Stev 267, 270 There is an amazing amount of information about this dial which is particularly fortunate as it is the first of the obelisk type of dial which are unique to Scotland. It is a particularly fine dial both in terms of its conception and execution. The great number of hollow dials which have been carved into the plaques should be noticed. They are extremely innovative and a very good case study of this important feature in Scottish dials. Visited 10 September 1986 - A. R. Somerville Visited Spring 2003 - Author


	A mammoth day out by car from St Andrews. We took the principle of coming to a road junction and then deciding on a whim which way to go. Amazingly we ended up at Drummond Castle. Fate some of you will say but the sceptics amongst you will say it might have been somehow deliberate. You must pay to enter these gardens but for once I will say that it is actually worth it. Nature is controlled and regimented into patterninglines with nano precision. Beautiful or sublime depends on you.
	This dial is dated 1630 both on the finial and in documents. Its construction cost £32 18s Scots and was built by John Mylne III the King's master mason and who built a large extension to Drummond Castle for the second Earl of Perth. Somerville has a reference to the obelisk dial at Wemyss Castle (formerly at Invermay) being carved in Perth in 1640 by John Mylne. If so it would be just 10 years after the Drummond dial and by the same master mason. The Wemyss Castle dial is notably different to later obelisks but clearly related to the Drummond obelisk if nothing else by its separation of boss from finial and base. They could both be seen as being the early experimental phase of obelisk design before it solidified as a typology. There are five stanzas carved into the stone of the dial at Drummond in which the hours as sisters describe the flight of time. Ross kindly had this translated from latin: We are the hours on the pillar you see, Marked by the shadows that ever flee, And move with the sun in its course on high, Noting the time passing swiftly by, Sisters are we, then why are we clad, In joyful robes, and robes that are sad? We who have rays from the sun at morn, Are servants to those in the East who are born, Who live in those regions far remote, Where the Medes and the Persians round Babylon fought, We whose robes are red and bright, Have our names from the sun's retreating light, Italians, Bohemians, all are we, And the bright red tints of the West you see, We who are dark and dusky in hue, Mark out the hours of the zodiac in blue, To the people of France and the people of Spain, Who live by the side of the weltering main, There are further lines that have been worn away.