orkney-shetland-1946-vol-3/04-013

Transcription

BRESSAY.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [BRESSAY.

[LEFT COLUMN ]

BEGRAVEN DE / MANHAFTEN COMMANDEVR /
CLAES IANSEN BRVYN VAN / DVRGERDAM
GESTORVEN / IN DIENST VAN DE NEEDER /
LANTSE OOSTINDISE COM/PANGIE ADY 27
AVGVSTY A 1636. ("Here lies buried the brave
commander Claes Jansen Bruyn of Durgerdam,
died in the service of the Dutch East India Com-
many on the 27th of August in the year 1636.")
HISTORICAL NOTE.-In 1635 the sailor here
commemorated had been in command of a

[Figure Inserted]
FIG. 461- St Mary's Church, Cullingsburgh (No 1083);
after Dryden.

squadron which was chasing Portuguese galleons
off the coast of Mozambique. His ship, the
Amboina, left Surat for home on February 9th
of the following year. Delayed by contrary
winds, she did not reach the Cape of Good Hope
until May 6th, thus missing her consorts, who
sailed without her. Starting alone three days
later, she encountered violent gales and lost
twenty-nine of her crew through an outbreak of
disease. Many of the survivors were weakened
by illness. Indeed when she at last made
Bressay Sound on August 26th, only twenty
healthy remained. Her captain died next
day. The Ammonia herself lay off Bressay for
many weeks until the invalids recovered. She
finally brought her cargo of Persian silk safely
to the Texel on October 16th. Durgerdam was
a small village on the Zuider Zee, near Amster-
dam [endnote 3]
(3) A table-stone, 6 ft. 2 in. by 3 ft. 31/2 in.,
rests on four square baluster legs. In a sunk
panel at the top, two shields accollée with a
heart above are flanked by scroll-work. The
dexter one only is legible and is charged:
Within a bordure, a chevron couped between

[RIGHT COLOMN]
three (? leopards' heads cabossed). An inscrip-
ion below the shields is almost obliterated and
all that can be made out is: HERE LYIS IN HOPE
OF A BLESSED RE/SURRECTION [? THE BODIE] OF
MARGA/RET .. O ... [? A VERTVOVS GENTLEWO]
/MAN. At the foot is a sunk panel, which con-
tains, beginning from the dexter side, an hour-
glass, crossbones, a skull, a coffin, and again
crossbones.
(4) A slab in the graveyard, 6ft. 4 in. by
2 ft. 10 in., has borne a shield at the top and a
skull, crossbones, and an hour-glass in a sunk
panel at the bottom, as well as an inscription in
the centre. Charges and letters are illegible.
The famous " Bressay Stone," which is be-
lived to have been found near the ruins of this
church, is described separately under No. 1084.
[ENDNOTES]
1 Sibbald, Description, p. 29. 2 Ecces. Arch.
Scot., i, p. 157. 3 P.S.A.S., lxix (1934-5),
pp. 36-40.
liii & liiiA. 9 July 1930.

1084. Sculptured Stone from Cullingsburgh.-
This stone (Figs 476 and 477), popularly known
as the Bressay Stone and believed to have been
originally found near the ruins of St. Mary's
Church at Cullingsburgh (No. 1083), is now pre-
served in the National Museum of Antiquities.
It is of chlorite schist and measures 3 ft. 9 in.
in height, being 1 ft. 4 in. wide at the top, 1 ft.
wide at the bottom, and 1 3/4 in. thick.
It is sculptured in relief on the two broad
faces and inscribed on the narrow edges:-

"Front (Fig. 476). - Near the top of the stone
is a cross with arms having expanded ends,
within a circle. The whole of the cross and the
spaces between the arms are covered with inter-
laced work...At each of the upper corners
of the slab, above the circular cross, is a monster
disgorging or swallowing a small human figure
placed between the two...On each side of the
circular cross are traces of interlaced ornament.
"Immediately under the circular cross, in the
centre, is a man on horseback and on each side
an ecclesiastic with pointed hood, crosier, and
book-satchel slung over the shoulder. Above
the horseman to the right is an S-shaped object
like a serpent, and on the left a small equal-
armend cross incised.
" Below the figures just described is a piece of
plait-work composed of four bands, and two
2

Transcriber's notes

HI
I was not sure what to do about the endnotes in this transcription. I settled on [endnote 1] in place of the superscripted number. I then write [endnotes] above where the endnotes were placed at then end of the section. Can you please let me know if this was correct and if not how to do it in future. Thanks