boys? girls?bath? boat?
One of the underrated bonuses of church bell ringing is the opportunity to poke about churches with like-minded pokers. In the list of "Why I ring…." some may cite a love of history and tradition (after social fun/mathematical fascination/ a service to the Church/ a gentle upper body workout etc). It is true that bell ringers can sometimes gain access to spaces that are not normally on public view, but for me, a real joy of visiting churches with other ringers is not the roof spaces, towers and backstairs we can explore, but that there is always someone who is as interested as I am about what we may discover. I have enjoyed many a curious conversation about ecclesiastical draperies, stained glass windows, memorials, church furniture and architecture as I have stood around waiting for a chance to ring some different bells with some different people. The conversations are often more satisfying than the ringing.
On a recent trip, the depiction of symbols in a late 19th century stained glass window provoked debate. The iconography of St Edmund (severed head with crown, wolf, arrow etc) and St George (armour, serpent belt, red cloak of martyrdom, sword) were clear, although I did not understand the relevance of 3 swans in a nest, but why was St Nicholas wearing some splendid blue gloves, balancing 3 oranges/tennis balls/orange baubles on a bible, and what about the 3 naked figures in what looked like a wooden bath? Were they 3 maidens or of mixed genders? One certainly had "appendages" (a term supplied by a medical person) but what were they doing in St Nicholas' window? It provoked some interesting suggestions and scrabbling around in the memory banks as to what St Nicholas actually did. We agreed he was a bishop (hence the suede gloves?), saved some young girls from forced marriages/prostitution by secretly buying them dowries (hence the 3 figures?) but what were they doing in the bath (purity perhaps?) and what's with the oranges/orbs/tennis balls? The conversation roamed, others joined and added their suggestions, photographs were taken. I was so intrigued that I googled the saint and it appeared that he also saved boats at sea (hence the anchor on his brooch) – were the 3 naked figures in a boat rather than a bath? Did the Victorian designer of the glass have a Peeping Tom tendency? Did s/he not have access to Wikipedia to establish the "facts" of St Nicholas' life?
All in all, time well spent. Reading a window in this way with others adds to the experience, because pooling our hazy knowledge was both enlightening and amusing because we all remember stories differently, salient points sticking in the minds of one person whilst totally forgotten by another.
Does anyone have any idea on St George's swans, other than that he is believed to guard livestock? In Ukraine they turn the cattle out to pasture on 23rd April, whatever the weather, because they have the protection of St George. Not a lot of people probably know that, other than Ukrainians obviously, and I bet half of them have forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment