Magic Statistics

A scary prospect! Usually, I'd ignore this sort of nonsense, but their little junket is scheduled for the same day my sister flies in from Vancouver for a summer visit. If the senators and their hangers-on are clogging up the airport when she arrives, I will be ticked.

UPDATE: The latest news is that there will be four US senators slumming in Whitehorse. The original CBC item mentioned only the two that CBC has ever heard of.

On 3 August 2004, we drove from Glasgow to Carlisle, reluctantly departing Scotland after 12 wonderful days. Our last stop in Scotland on the way back to England was the village of Ruthwell, about 16 miles southeast of Dumfries.

(Click here for a map.)

Inside Ruthwell Church is found The Ruthwell Cross, perhaps the most important and significant ancient cross in the British Isles.

Dated to the middle of the 8th century, it is one of the oldest extant examples of a preaching cross, so called because its rich decorations and carvings tell the story of the life and passion of Christ. In that sense, it is a sermon in stone–a literary document as well as a work of art and Christian devotion.

(Click on photos for larger views.) 

Among the biblical scenes and figures carved on the cross are the Annuciation, Mary’s visit to the home of Elisabeth and Zecharias, the flight into Egypt, John the Baptist, the healing of the man born blind, Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet, the Crucifixion, and the risen Christ in glory. There are as well carvings of other people and animals, and a Runic poem describing Christ, the King of heaven, suffering and dying on the Cross.

The cross stood outside in the churchyard for almost a millennium. Then, following the Reformation in Scotland and passage of new laws against idolatrous monuments, it was smashed to pieces and buried in the clay floor of the church in 1642. Around 1780, when the church was re-floored, the pieces were excavated and placed outdoors next to the walls of the church building. Finally, in 1823, the cross was carefully restored, reconstructed, and set up in the grounds of the manse. Later in the 19th century, growing interest in Anglo-Saxon history and early Christian art brought many scholars and other visitors to view the cross. Some of the antiquarians pointed out that the effects of weather were noticeably damaging the carvings and inscriptions, and so it was moved inside the church in 1887.

The cross stands 18 feet tall. The poem is written in West Saxon language, making it among the earliest known inscriptions in English; it is generally believed to have been written by the Christian poet Caedmon (c. 650 - c. 680).

Most of the above information was found in a booklet I purchased at the Ruthwell Church: The Ruthwell Cross and the Ruthwell Savings Bank by Rev John L. Dinwiddie. The book was first published in a larger edition in 1927, and the abridged edition available at the church was published in 1999.

For more (and better) photos and info, click here or here.

We first heard of the Ruthwell Cross in The Christian Traveler's Guide to Great Britain by Irving Hexham, one of a set of four invaluable guides to European countries (the others are Italy, Germany, and France) for Christians who wish to learn about their heritage while traveling in Europe. I recommend them very highly.

Links to all my blog posts about British churches and Christian sites can be accessed through the box located at the top of the page.