I've lived in Kilmaurs for the last twenty-odd years, but it wasn't till fairly recently I became aware of this absolute treasure which is practically on my doorstep!
It turns out that this extension on the back of the local church (St. Maurs Glencairn Church of Scotland) houses a magnificent historic monument to the Cunningham family....complete with a crypt which I'm told holds circa 21 skeletons!
The monument is dated 1600 and is rather beautiful! It depicts the 7th Earl of Glencairn with his wife and eight children. It's quite unusual by all accounts, being a "living monument" showing the whole family in church. I love the row all children all with their bibles open before them....I wonder what their faces looked like in the newly carved sculpture? Their praying hands look as if they've been purposely lopped off...an act of vandalism perhaps? Mind you the Aisle has had a rough time over the years....even being left roofless and exposed to the elements for quite some time.
The faceless, handless children.
Here we see the Earl . Look at that fantastic ornately carved column with the date "ANNO 1600" above.
Now here's something that particularly interests me...
There is a theory that the monument may once have been painted, and there are indeed traces of paint evident in some areas.
It could be remains of past vandalism, however it's now well accepted that ancient and historic sculptures were often originally painted in bright colours. (Archaeologists call it POLYCHROMY). The Terracotta Warriors in China, the Goddess Athena in The Parthenon and the 40 foot statue of Zeuss in Olympia being just three examples. Evidence of painted monuments and statues has been found worldwide. We are so familiar with the blank-eyed, plain statues of Greece and Rome that they would perhaps look almost gaudy to us "coloured-in"! However, the ancients, I'm sure, were in awe of the life-like representations.
So back to our monument....was it perhaps also once painted in "glorious technicolour"?
It's just one of many mysteries we hope will be revealed in time.
I was asked to do two paintings of the Aisle, one exterior and one of the monument inside. These are available as prints and £5 from the sale of each print will go to the restoration fund. These can be found on my HOME page under the heading PRINTS.
You can also make a donation towards the important restoration work via the facebook page
If you would like a guided tour of the Glencairn Aisle, you can do so via the Facebook page here or contact me on tinasloan8@gmail.com. We have some lovely and knowledgeable local people who will be delighted to show you round by appointment.
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