The writing was carefully painted onto a wall at Salisbury Cathedral
Posted on 03/02/2010 6:23:06 AM PST by Palter
What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.
It was written half a millennia ago and its message was serious enough to be painted carefully on the wall of England's finest cathedral.
But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says.
It was hidden for 350 years behind a monument to a local aristocrat who was 'martyred' in the English Civil War for his support of King Charles I but rediscovered in January by astonished conservators.
And baffled experts have resorted to asking members of the public with a keen eye for deciphering puzzles to have a look at the text, and a computer-enhanced version, to see if they can help out.
Tim Tatton Brown, the cathedral's consultant archaeologist, explained: "The Cathedral's conservators quite unexpectedly found some beautifully written English text behind the Henry Hyde Monument on the cathedral's south aisle wall when the monument was temporarily removed as part of the on-going schedule of work.
"I had originally surmised the text date from the 16th century, bearing in mind that the monument was erected soon after 1660. However, our researchers now suggest it was written a century earlier and therefore pre-dates the Reformation.
"My colleague Dr John Crook has made a comprehensive detailed photographic record of the script and subsequently enhanced the letter forms on his computer," he added.
The writing was carefully painted onto a wall at Salisbury Cathedral
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I thought from your link he lived to be 157 years old... in fact, it seems, you performed a typo.
Just in case no one else pointed it out.
Heck, I can’t even decipher some of the English in the article.
“....... scholars were executed for translating the bible into English at that tune.”
??
Oh! I just got it.
“Here I sit, broken hearted, ..........”
"...sold my soul and now departed."
"He who espies this scribe of wit..."
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Thanks Palter. |
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A Podcast from their website that discusses the new text...
http://www.salisburycathedral.co.uk/news.inthenews.php?id=101
Will have to listen to it myself later.
Salisbury was built in the 13th and 14th Centuries, long before the Reformation. It is, of course, Church of England today.
Constable's Salisbury Cathedral:
“He who writes upon these walls...”
Clever
If the professor wants help reading it, why did he have his computer use such a funny font? 8-<];-’)
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