This post will seem very strange. I am trying to find the famous inscription on the sundial at Whitby Cathedral (in England). I've tried to find it online, and for once, the internet has completely failed me. If anyone knows the quotation, or can find it on the internet, please let me know. Thanks.
Tim, Whitby has only an ancient ruined Abbey not a cathedral. I have hunted around on google and see that Winchester has a sundial but it doesn't seem to have an inscription and excellent eye-sight would have been necessary to tell the time. Salisbury has a very old (13 something) still working clock. Let me know if you need any more info.
Maybe of interest to North Americans is that here in England all centres of population with a cathedral are known as 'cities' and except for the large areas of population that grew up as a result of the Industrial Revolution without a cathedral, everyone else lives in towns/villages etc.
Tim, Veer's right - Whitby Abbey had its roof taken off by Henry VIII. However... When I was last there - some years ago, I seem to remember seeing this sundial in the nearby St.Mary's church, which is a short walk away from the abbey ruins. My memory is not good enough to recall an inscription.
If all else fails, you could try emailing English Heritage who maintain the Abbey ruins, although I don't think St.Mary's comes under their remit. customers@english-heritage.co.uk - I've generally found them quite helpful.
Thanks Veer and PhilC. I am clearly mistaken about the name of the site, but there is a famous sundial with an equally famous motto. There are several good websites which have recorded an amazing array of centuries-old sundial mottoes. The ruined abbey features prominently in Bram Stoker's Dracula. I believe that there is some sinister connection between Dracula and the motto on the Whitby sundial. Thanks for your suggestions. I will keep looking.
Thanks to everyone for helping me out with this one. The motto of this particular sundial is (not surprisingly) a bit bleak: Our lives pass like a shadow. The statement obviously works on more than one level. A sundial's purpose is to simply tell time by means of a run-of-the-mill shadow. But the statement on this sundial draws our attention to the slow yet relentless ebb of our own lives. My internet search for sundial mottoes turned up a surprisingly wide array of moods, some whimsical, some reflective (On this moment hangs eternity) some melancholy, and some outright threatening (Alloquar te, mors instat), which roughly translated means (I speak to thee, death is at hand).
Hmm, interesting. Sundial mottoes have a lot in common with epitaphs; which makes sense but I never really thought about it, though I've seen tempus fugit on both sundials and tombstones. Come to think of it, sundials are often found in graveyards.
Timallan, do you have other mottoes/epitaphs that you like and would share with us? I am fascinated.
I've always thought the commonplace je reviens is a bit creepy, if taken literally.
Margaret Gatty's collection of sundial mottoes is amazing. I suspect the lady herself was a bit eccentric, but how lucky we are for her work! There are so many beautiful mottoes that otherwise would have been lost.
Wonderful site, this is definitely a keeper. I have no sundial, but I think I will manage to get one of these sayings into my small patio garden this summer.
Yes, Timallen, a wonderful site to be sure. Thank you!
I am completely smitten with entry #138, and the story that accompanies it. The motto on this sundial is "Come, light! Visit me!" After our long, cold and snowy winter (we received another 6" of snow two days ago, and now the temps are below zero - again) I am in total agreement with that happy invitation to the sun.
veer
philc
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