NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XII 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, June 5, 1914 
No. 23 
The Sun Dial 
By MARY HARROD NORTHEND 
ITH the coming in of the formal garden along the 
North Shore, a natural sequence has been the 
placing of the sun dial—one of the most interesting and 
legendary bits of garden furniture, the history of which 
is more ancient than old china or old silver. For ro- 
-mance surrounds this earliest method of noting the pas- 
sing hour. Its ancient history is evident from the fact 
that as far back as the 8th century, B. C., the Baby- 
lonians made use of this mechanical contrivance to 
mark time. 
Perhaps the oldest of these devices was in the days 
when clocks and watches were looked upon by the 
superstitious as an invention closely allied to witch- 
eraft. It was then that almost every farmhouse had 
its noon-mark which eould be correctly read to within 
five or ten minutes of the right time. 
England at one time employed on the pubhe build- 
ings sun dials much as we now employ clocks. Some 
were known as the Saxon Dials, being perhaps the most 
ancient of all in England. These were rayed circles 
like the face of a sun dial, but resembling rather sun 
circles and better known as luck circles. 
From a utilitarian standpoint no one can remain 
inseparably connected with these eloquent links of the 
past. Harking back to our childhood days we stood 
on tiptoe to watch the sly shadows stealing silently but 
bestlessly onward. 
Perhaps the most beautiful of the old country dials 
is found at Belton House, Lancolnshire, dating from the 
17th century and reprecenting the figures of Father 
Time and Cupid cutting stone. 
The earliest dials were crude, often consisting of 
poles stuck in the ground with little heaps of stone 
laid out to mark the passing hours. If near a home 
rough notches cut in the doorway or window ledge 
took the place of the stones. 
Later on the dials were made of wood, bronze and 
metal, being made for some particular city. The hour 
spaces varied according to locality, making it neces- 
sary that the time be computed by expert workmen. 
Folding sun dials were carried in the pocket of old 
just as watches are today. They had a special fascin- 
ation for Royalty, Charles the First having them in 
every shape and form. A little silver pocket one was 
his favorite, being given by him to his attendant on the 
last night before his execution to be conveyed as a last 
gift to his son, the Duke of York. All of the Stuarts 
were very fond of the dials. One of the most magnifi- 
cent was set up by the order of Charles the Second, 
while one of the few pleasures of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
during her imprisonment at Holyrood was the beauti- 
fying of the garden where for a companion she had 
her sun dial. 
Many of these dials 
Among them we find these: 
have interesting mottoes. 
‘‘T mark the time, dost thou?’’ 
‘*Let others tell of storm and showers, 
Ill only count your sunny hours.”’ 
‘“Time goes, you say—ah no! 
Time stays, we go.’’ 
‘“‘Tyme passeth and speaketh not, 
Deth cometh and warneth not. 
Amend today and slack not, 
Tomorrow thyself cannot.’’ 
A very unique sun dial was found between the 
““Shakespeare garden’’ and the ‘‘garden of Friend- 
ship’? in Lady Warwick’s summer home. The gnomon 
of this dial is of yew, the figures are box, as also the 
letters of the motto which run outside the figures 
‘‘Les Heures heureuses ne se comptent pas.”’ 
There are two kinds of sun dials, the perpendicu- 
lar and the horizontal, the former being used for build- 
ings while the latter is for garden purposes. Of late 
years in a general revival of old fashioned customs, 
the sun dial has again come into favor, adding a de- 
lightful touch of sentiment while contributing to the 
picturesqueness of modern gardens, and contrasting 
favorably with the more dignified fountain pool and 
marble fragments. 
In design the simple shafts are most effective, al- 
though one often finds a beautifully carved pedestal 
imported from Italy. The location is a matter that 
should receive careful attention as the dial must be 
exposed to the sun all day and yet be far enough from 
trees and buildings to improve the possibility of being 
shaded. It should not be put in a remote corner to be 
happened upon by chance, nor on the other hand so 
conspicuous as to distract one’s attention from the rest 
of the garden. An intersection of two paths is always 
a good place where it becomes the axis of the garden. 
On the Paine estate at Phillips Beach there is a 
very beautiful sun dial with this characteristic inserip- 
tion running across the base of the pedestal— ‘Tyme 
Wanes Awaye as Flowres Decavye.’’ 
At ‘‘Swiftmoor,’’ a beautiful estate at Pride’s 
Crossing, is another sun dial similar in design to that 
found in the Paine garden. The pedestal is in the form 
of a child garlanded with leaves and bearing on its 
head the stone slab upon which the dial itself rests. 
Still. another type is shown on the estate of the 
Hon. T. Jefferson Coolidge at Manchester. Here an 
ancient fluted column, once a part of some stately 
structure in far-away Rome has been transformed into 
a sun dial and now stands on a little circular grass plot 
marking the exact centre of the beautifully arranged 
formal garden. 
While the difficulty of arranging the sun dial so 
as to show all parts to advantage is evident, yet the 
beauty of this garden ornament makes ample compen- 
sations for the time and trouble expended. 
