Apkii-, 1012. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



131 



l-KUKi; 14y. Mason's ■mark 



and HO) and which sometimes consist of radii 

 without a circle — or semi-circle— (Inset in Figure 

 137), are very much more widely distributed than 

 mav be supposed. It 

 has been said that they 

 cannot be sun - dials 

 because in very many 



instances the radii or , 



the spaces cannot be 

 assigned in any possible 

 way to the twenty-four 

 hours of the day. But 

 it must be remembered 

 that "Time" has not 

 aiwa\s been computed 

 as at present : there 

 have been many quite 

 distinct notations of 

 time, and cur division 

 of the da\' into twenty- 

 four hours is compara- 

 tivL'lv modern. The 

 Saxons divided it into 

 "Tides," each of three 

 hours, and their earliest 

 dials — which are semi- 

 circular (Figure 141) 

 mark four tides (day- 

 time). The circular 

 dials marking eight 

 tides (day and night) 

 came later. .\t a later 

 period these divisions 

 were sub-divided and, 

 still later, further sub- 

 divided until at last 

 they were brought into 

 conformitv with the 

 t w e n t \- - f o u r hour 

 method. Some persons 

 sa\- " as the sun cannot 

 throw a shadow upward 

 these dials cannot be 

 .sH/(-dials."' but the reply 

 to this appears to be 

 that having selected the 

 chariot wheel as the 

 shape or form of the 

 sun-dial it was natural 

 Ui usi' the complete 

 form even though onh' 

 the lower half was 

 needed. .Ajiart from 

 that, the complete 

 " w heel " possibly often 

 proved useful in enabling 

 a person to determine 

 the position of the 



hours at a glance notwithstanding the general 

 absence of figures. But that this was a cpiestion 

 of completeness rather than anything else is 

 shewn bv the Great Edstone, Great Easton, and 



V 



lruu> 



Kirkdale dials (Figures 1.56, 139 and 141). The 

 former although circular has only the lower radii 

 cut, both the latter are semi-circles. It has some- 

 times been said that 

 certain dials cannot be 

 Saxon because they 

 were obviously made at 

 a later period ; but the 

 term " Saxon " refers 

 to the notation, not 

 necessaril)' to the work- 

 manship. The varying 

 spacing of the lines on 

 Saxon dials has been 

 the cause of much 

 perplexity to those who 

 iiave failed to notice a 

 much greater variation 

 in modern sun-dials, 

 usually owing to the 

 orientation of the build- 

 ing (or — more correctly 

 — the declination of the 

 dial). ("hurches are 

 invariablv built approxi- 

 m a t e 1 y "East and 

 West," but secular 

 buildings cannot alwa\s 

 be placed according to 

 that rule : therefore the 

 modern sun-dials which 

 are found upon private 

 houses, schools, and so 

 on, vary to a much 

 greater extent than do 

 the Saxon dials found 

 u[)on churches. Although 

 a ver\- large number of 

 Saxon dials still have 

 the tang of the gnomon 

 embedded in the stone, 

 most careful search has 

 failed to discover one 

 with the original gnomon 

 intact — which is not 

 surprising when their 

 age and exposed posi- 

 tion is remembered. 

 15ecause the tang is 

 horizontal many persons 

 believe the only possible 

 gnomon was a hori- 

 zontal one, and that 

 therefore the dials 

 cannot possibly be sun- 

 dials : but this error is 

 probably the outcome 

 of having heard, or read, 

 the erroneous statement, " The gnomon must 

 be parallel to the Earth's axis." (The angle 

 or otherwise of the gnomon makes no difference 

 to the possibility of reading time.) Perhaps the 



4 





FiGlKF, 150. Mason's "mark" at Hellington 



