Detail of south face of sundial (no.35 on plan), Drummond Castle.

Description Detail of south face of sundial (no.35 on plan), Drummond Castle.

Date 1/4/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 757626

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 59622 CN

Scope and Content Detail of south face of sundial, Drummond Castle, Perth & Kinross This shows the central polyhedron, or many-sided block between the lower column and upper obelisk of the sundial. Every face of the sharply-cut red sandstone is set with a metal 'gnomon', which is angled to cast a shadow onto the incised dial to register the time in various European capitals. The sundial was commissioned by the 2nd Earl of Perth and designed and built by John Mylne III in 1630. The dial is inscribed with a poem in which the hours of the day speak to the reader: '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'. Drummond Castle was built c.1490, but the complex of buildings visible today consist of a gatehouse which was added in 1630-6 by architect John Mylne III (1611-67) and an L-plan mansion built for the 4th Earl of Perth in 1689. The mansion was extended in the 18th or early 19th century, and remodelled in Baronial style into its present form by architect G T Ewing in 1878 and 1900. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/757626

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap