Gold!

Archaeology

Finding gold in most archaeological digs is unusual. Not surprisingly very little was found during the dig in 2006 inside the former East Kirk of St Nicholas. Perhaps Aberdonians were very careful with their valuable items! However three gold items were uncovered during the excavation.

 

The first photograph shows a spiralled gold object found at the beginning of May 2006 in a family burial vault. It has not been accurately dated, but coins in the same vault suggest that it dates from 1690 at the latest, but could be earlier. Exactly what it is remains a little obscure, but it is thought that it is probably an earring. The second illustration is a drawing of this item, included as much as anything to show the skill of the archaeological illustrator. Preparing detailed drawings such as this is an important step in the post-excavation work which follows a dig. It is a great skill to be able to produce such exquisitely detailed records of the items found in the dig, often showing detail which does not show in a photograph.

SF 466 ....NB Gold peace Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Collection
Gold, possibly an earring as found
Post 51 Drawing of gold object
Drawing of object in the photograph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In early September 2006 a gold ring was found – shown in the second photograph. It is a simple ring with a cuff on it, again perhaps an earring or possibly a finger ring. The archaeologist who found it had been involved in digs for 25 years and this was the first gold item he had ever uncovered. That shows how unusual gold items are!

E84 St Nicholas Site Week 33 Gold ear-ring 1231 Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Simple gold ring found during the dig
E84 St Nicholas Site Post Ex Week 51 Gold Earing Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Gold ring found in a skull when cleaning the human remains

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third photograph shows another gold ring, similar to the second one. However, this was not found until after the dig was complete when the human remains were being cleaned. It was found in a skull as this was being cleaned.

(The illustrations are copyright Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections and are used with permission).

 

Fire at the Kirk

History

The choir were practising in the East Kirk of St Nicholas on 9th October 1874. The church had a fancy new, perhaps experimental, chandelier lighting system which had multiple gas jets. Water in glass bowls above the jets was intended to keep it from overheating. On this night, however, the water evaporated and left the bowls dry. The resulting overheating set fire to the roof timbers in the East Kirk and the fire spread to the wooden 16th century steeple. Press reports at the time indicate that it was a ferocious fire. The steeple had been built around 1500 as part of the expansion of the building in the late 15th century and housed a peel of 9 bells. One of these was called Laurence, or ‘Lowrie’ – 1.2m in diameter at the mouth and 1.1 m high, made of thick metal. After the fire some of the metal was retrieved and reused and can be seen in the West Kirk as the pelican lectern. Fragments were also used to make the bell at Mannofield Church. More will be said at a future date about the bells.

The East Kirk was in ruins and there was damage to the rest of the building. Major rebuilding works had to be undertaken, during which time both congregations worshipped in the Music Hall. Repair work took two years before the congregation could move back into the building. The East Kirk was restored much as it had been before the fire, with the difference that two external doors had been added. Even though they were in the original design by Archibald Simpson, who had died nearly 40 years earlier, these had never actually been put in the original building. Worship resumed in the East Kirk in 1876. The new granite spire was designed by William Smith – which is the spire you see today.

Post 50 (a) Fire in East Kirk
Press drawing of the fire and crowds

Two pictures are attached. One is a drawing from the press at the time, showing the crowds which gathered to view the spectacle. The other is of an anonymous painting of the scene. One of the photographs in the Blog on 19th August shows remaining smoke damage on the currently exposed inside wall in the East Kirk.

(c) Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
Anonymous painting of the fire

John Anderson – magician

Uncategorized

John Henry Anderson was born into a family of humble means near Kincardine O’Neil, west of Aberdeen, in 1814 and was orphaned at the age of 10. After working as a herdsboy and then a blacksmith he started working in a travelling theatre company when he was only 16. Here he started to develop his skills as a magician. At the age of 23 he performed magic tricks for Lord Panmure at Brechin Castle, who was very impressed and encouraged him in his career. So John Anderson decided to set up his own touring show which lasted for 3 years. He settled in London, opened the New Strand Theatre and was dubbed ‘The Great Wizard of the North’ by no less than Sir Walter Scott. Sometimes he used the stage name of Professor Anderson.

Not only was he an expert showman, he was very good at publicity and advertising making him one of the first magicians to achieve world renown, including a command performance for Czar Nicholas 1. He toured widely in Europe, North America, Australasia and Russia. His repertoire included many tricks and illusions covering a wide range. Some of these were his own invention, whilst others he took and developed from others. One of his most popular was to appear to catch a bullet fired from a gun. He is, however, given the honour of devising the ‘rabbit out of a hat’ illusion together with a number of derivatives from it, such as flowers appearing from his fingers and a goldfish bowl, complete with water and fish.

John Anderson died in 1874 a few months short of his 60th birthday. He was buried next to his mother in the St Nicholas Kirkyard. 1874 was also the year of the birth of Harry Houdini the famous escapologist who was a great admirer of the work of John Anderson. Indeed he described him as one of his inspirations. On a visit to Aberdeen in 1909 he visited the grave which had fallen into disrepair, so he made arrangements for its upkeep. The two photographs show the grave as it is today and a press photograph of Harry Houdini at the side of the grave after it had been repaired.

 

Post 49 (b) John Anderson
Harry Houdini (left) at John Anderson’s grave
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums Collection
John Anderson’s grave today

St Ninian

History

September 16th  is St Ninian’s Day. But who was St Ninian? Nothing can be said with any certainty. He is reputedly a 4th or 5th century saint. Nothing was written about him until the 8th century when the Venerable Bede included ‘traditional’ information about him in his ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ in about 731. Reference was made to Ninian being British, being instructed in Rome and sent to the UK (in around 397 according to the Catholic Church) to found a Christian community in south-west Scotland.

There is little doubt that there was an early Christian witness, at around that time in the region of modern Galloway, whether or not he was called Ninian. The missionary built a monastery of stone (unusual at that time) called the ‘Candida Casa’ – the White House. The name of Whithorn, where it was situated, derives from the name of the building. So long after the events it is not certain whether it was white because of the stone used or whether it was whitewashed. The complex of buildings which developed around the original chapel still remain.

These early saints were often credited with miracles and St Ninian was no exception. In about 1160 Abbot Aelred of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire wrote a book ‘The life of St Ninian’ in which he records 10 miracles, 6 in his lifetime and 4 after his death. Whilst there is considerable uncertainty about the historical St Ninian, there certainly was an early missionary, often referred to as ‘the Apostle to the Southern Picts’, some 150 years before St Columba came to Iona.

Post 48 DSCN0116 Right apse window East Kirk, Charles Wilson
                              Part of window in East Kirk apse featuring St Ninian

In the former East Kirk of St Nicholas there are three large stained glass windows in the apse. The right hand of these windows was installed in memory of Charles A Wilson who had been an elder for many years and had died in 1958. The bottom of each light of this window shows an aspect of St Ninian. This section of the window is shown in the photograph. On the left, St Ninian is seen with two of his followers setting out to preach the gospel to southern Picts. In the centre there is a representation of St Ninian robed as a Bishop, whilst to the right hand side, St Ninian stands in blessing, with the Candida Casa behind him. The window was designed by Gordon Webster.

Bones in walls!

Archaeology, History,

During the archaeological dig in 2006 there were a number of places where bones were found either under a wall or built into a wall. One reason for this arises because the walls were built in what had been, up to that time, the graveyard – in other words the graves already existed and the wall was simply built on top.

E84 St Nicholas Site Week 28 Skeleton in wall - SK426 Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Bones under the 15th century wall

The first two photographs show examples of this under the 15th century wall. The first photograph clearly shows how the wall was built on top of the burial. In the second photograph, there is also a bone higher up the wall.

 

 

Post 47 (b) bones DSCF0169 Bones in exterior (south) wall
Bones under and in 15th century wall

When the bones are built into the wall they would have been placed there deliberately when building was taking place. Any soil disturbance in the graveyard could disturb existing burials. So digging a new grave was likely to uncover some remains. Likewise, when foundations were being dug the same could happen. In the latter situation it was normal to incorporate the bones within the wall. This might seem strange to modern minds, but bone is a very strong material and so could be used in this way (the first two photographs show bones more than 500 years old and still supporting the wall).

 

E84 St Nicholas Site Week 35 Stewart (Robbo) with skeletons in wall (Ian's section) Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Large collection of bones built into a wall

The third photograph shows a much larger assemblage of bones found in a wall towards the west end of the dig area. Presumably several graves were disturbed during site preparation. The archaeologist is actually working on a grave right at the foot of the wall.

 

Post 47 (d) DSCN0446
Bones sticking out of a 19th century wall

 

 

 

The final photograph shows a wall, which still exists, which was probably built when the East Kirk was rebuilt in 1837. It shows some of the bones which stick out from the wall. There are many more, including one or two skulls in the whole wall.

 

First three photographs are copyright and used with permission of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections

The East Kirk in the 1800s

History,

Following completion of the major expansion of the church building around the end of the 15th century, there were no major external changes, although there were internal modifications both small and large, including the division of the interior to create two separate sanctuaries – the Auld and New Kirks – in 1596. In the early 1700s the Auld Kirk fell into disrepair and in 1732 the building was closed as unsafe. It was eventually rebuilt to a design by James Gibbs, work started in 1751 and it was opened in November 1755 a year after Gibbs death. This meant that the Auld Kirk was now newer than the New Kirk. So to avoid confusion, they were renamed the West Kirk and the East Kirk.

Post 46 (a) South wall with 15th century wall and 1837 wall on top April 2015 DSCN0447
15th century wall (left) and 19th century wall on top (right)

Meanwhile, the East Kirk remained unchanged until, during the early 1830s, led by the then minister, Dr James Foote and architect Archibald Simpson, people were convinced that the building was ‘old fashioned’ and should be rebuilt to have a greater capacity and be in a modern and airy style. Whilst the City Architect, John Smith, objected, the demolition went ahead and the new building was erected on the old foundations to a design by Archibald Simpson. It was dedicated on 7th May 1837. These are the walls seen from the outside today. The walls were indeed built on top of the remaining 15th century walls. On the south side the junction can be clearly seen on the inside. Whilst it is difficult to photograph, the first photograph attempts to show the 15th century wall (left) and the 19th century wall (right) as seen from above. The latter wall is several inches thinner than the earlier wall.

 

Post 46 (b) North wall 1837 April 2015 DSCN0449
The interior of the walls built in 1837

Outside, the walls are smoothly dressed granite. The surfaces inside are much rougher. The second photograph shows a section of the exposed interior wall on the north side between two windows below the gallery.

 

 

 

 

Post 46 (c) North wall of 1837 sat on some 15th century wall and smoke damage of 1874 April 2015 DSCN0445
Fire damage on the inside of 1837 wall. Lower part of wall is from the 1490s

In 1874 there was a drastic fire – more will be written about this in a future blog. As far as the East Kirk was concerned the roof and interior was gutted. Evidence of the fire emerged during the archaeological dig in 2006. In the upper layers of the soil there was a layer of ash from the fire. A number of stones were also found which had been cracked by the heat. In addition evidence still remains on the inside of the walls where there is clear smoke damage. This is shown in the third photograph, where the darkened stone is soot on the wall of the 1837 building. This area is sat directly on top of the wall dating from the late 1400s.

Copper alloy chain

Archaeology, History,
E84 St Nicholas Site Week 32 Building in area B - work in progress Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
General view of sacristy, east wall across bottom (yellow buckets inside sacristy)

The first photograph in this post shows the lower part of the walls of a building to the north of the main church building as it was in the 13th to 15th centuries. Because of its position it is assumed that this would have been a sacristy – a place for keeping vestments, sacred vessels, books and other items used in worship and also for keeping church records. There was some rather tentative evidence when this was being uncovered during the archaeological dig of 2006 that this could have been a two-storey building. Inside there were many intriguing artefacts.

 

E84 St Nicholas site Week 33 Chain 1203 Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
A copper alloy chain found in the sacristy

The second photograph shows one of these artefacts, a delicate copper alloy chain. Its construction is unusual with a ‘figure of eight’ shaped link, so that it produces a double chain. Many different alloys of copper have been used, by adding a second metal, for example bronze (copper and tin) and brass (copper and zinc). Their use was common because of their resistance to corrosion – as this photograph shows, since this chain is likely to have been in the soil for more than 600 years. The scale shown has 1cm divisions, so it can be seen that creating this chain would have been quite an intricate task. The chain has not yet been conserved because we have not had sufficient funds. Once it has been cleaned and conserved the true craftsmanship will become more obvious. We are always open to offers to help with the post-excavation work which still has to be carried out.

(The photographs are copyright Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections and used with permission.)

‘Betrothal of Mary’

History, Progress, ,
Post 43 Betrothal of Mary, Stachan window, SMC
‘Betrothal of Mary’ window by Douglas Strachan

One of the most beautiful windows in St Mary’s Chapel depicts the ‘Betrothal of Mary’. The Jewish customs of two thousand years ago may seem rigid compared with what we are used to in the West today. These customs meant that the engagement was probably arranged by the parents, maybe without Mary or Joseph being consulted. There would need to be a contract, part of which would be the ‘bride price’ to be paid by the groom’s family. The contract was implemented immediately and was binding on the couple. In effect they were considered married, but what we think of as a wedding ceremony would not occur for a considerable time, sometimes up to a year, later. During their betrothal, the couple would have little contact with each other, in order to test their commitment to each other. When Mary and Joseph became engaged is not known. In their case the events of this ‘pre-consummation’ phase of their marriage certainly tested them, following Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus. The Bible tells us that Joseph was minded to break off the relationship, but was dissuaded by the Angel Gabriel.

The window was created by the Aberdeen artist Douglas Strachan in 1899 when still in his twenties. He studied at Robert Gordon’s College and Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen before working as an illustrator on newspapers in the north of England. He was persuaded to try designing stained glass. This window in St Mary’s Chapel is his very first commission (there is a later example of his work upstairs in the former East Kirk). He was prolific in his work with stained glass all over the United Kingdom and some overseas. By 1908 he had moved to live in Edinburgh from where he worked for the rest of his life. The University of his home city awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1923. His largest commission was for the windows of the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle. He died at his home in Midlothian in 1950 at the age of 75 and is buried in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. The window was restored as part of the Mither Kirk Project in 2010 following some damage due to vandalism.

The building dedicated in 1498

History

Following the building of St Mary’s Chapel by the middle of the 15th century (see Blog for 23rd May 2015), work progressed to enlarge the church ‘upstairs’. The records suggest that there was a pause in the work ‘upstairs’ – perhaps to allow funds to be assigned to building a bridge over the Dee. In November 1474 a contract was recorded between Sir Andrew Wright, master of kirk work and David Menzies for the delivery to the harbour of three cartloads, of specified size, of lead. Thereafter, for the rest of the decade there are several reference to the building works at the kirk and to the provision of finance  – from fishings on the Don and ‘wattir of Crvis’ and from taxation on goods passing through the harbour. For some reason not altogether clear, the Provost, Alexander Chalmers, was appointed for two years from September 1477 ‘upper and principal master of work’ to whom Sir Andrew Wright was answerable. Exactly when the building was completed is unclear. It was dedicated by Bishop Elphinstone on 24th September 1498, but some works were still taking place into the next century, perhaps as late as 1520. The church which was dedicated by Bishop Elphinstone was one of the largest parish churches in Scotland and was slightly longer towards Back Wynd than the present building. None of that building is visible from the outside, indeed before the archaeological dig in 2006, none of it was visible on the inside either. However, an extensive part of the south chancel wall was uncovered during the dig. The first photograph shows a general view of the lower part of that wall.

Post 42 (a) DSCN0443
Lower part of 15th century south chancel wall

Some interesting features emerged as the wall was uncovered during 2006. In the photograph, the rough stones at the bottom are the foundations for the wall, with the properly dressed stones of the actual wall built on top of them. It is worth noting that the wall at the left of the photograph is two or three metres under the modern ground level. The surprising feature in the wall clearly visible in the photograph is the ‘slope’ upwards from left to right of the junction between foundations and wall. There were insufficient remains to know why this was, but it appeared as though it was a sloping walkway from the level of St Mary’s Chapel up to the sanctuary above. Maybe this preceded the staircase which was found at the north side of the building and was removed once the latter was completed.

E84 St Nicholas church Site Week 41 Main Wall South of Church Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections
Upper portion of 15th century wall

The second photograph shows the upper part of the wall by where it joins the wall at the west of St Mary’s Chapel (a small section of that is just visible on the left). There is evidence in the structure that there had been alterations to the walls at some stage because the stones do not ‘key-in’ as would be expected. There is also a suggestion that there might have been a filled in window in the wall (just left of centre of the photograph). If this is the case, it could have been to allow light onto the sloping walkway referred to above. Whilst there are remnants of these 15th century walls on the north side, they are not as extensive, suggesting that there was a greater amount of rebuilding in the 19th century when the present exterior was created.

Photographs copyright and used courtesy of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Collections

William Dyce RA

History

William Dyce was born in Aberdeen in 1806. His father was a doctor of some renown. William was a gifted scholar, graduating with an MA from Marischal College at the age of 16. Rather than entering one of the ‘learned professions’ as would have been normal, he opted to follow his interest and ability in art, firstly at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and then at the Royal Academy in London. After a few months in Rome he returned to London and produced, at the age of 20, several paintings. His early professional work were mainly portraits, but he later widened his scope considerably concentrating on mythical and religious subjects. Some of his finest work are the frescos in the Queen’s Robing Room in the newly built House of Lords. Commissioned in 1847, these are based on the Arthurian Legends and use allegory to depict virtues such as mercy, hospitality and courtesy. Those of courage and fidelity were not started before his death. However, William Dyce had many other interests. He was very influential in developing art education, he was a fine organist and composed a number of works, he won a prize for some work on electromagnetism in animals and was involved in founding the Motett Society to study early church music.

Post 41 William Dyce
Memorial to William Dyce RA in the Kirkyard

Most of his life was spent in London where he died in 1864 and is buried at St Leonard’s Church, Streatham. However, he is not forgotten in his native Aberdeen. Apart from the large collection of his works in Aberdeen Art Gallery (temporarily closed for major renovation) he is remembered on a grave structure in the Kirk of St Nicholas Kirkyard. As the photograph shows, the structure is showing signs of ageing. To find the memorial go up the main path from Union Street almost up to the front door of the Kirk. On the right is a tree a few yards from the path. The memorial is ‘behind’ the tree.