CHAPTER V

INGENIOSE DIALLERS
"In this glorious reign, as likewise in the century which has passed, there are to the honor and pleasure of the King and the glory of God in all his works, as seen in the sunne and his mo- tions, many ingeniose diallers."
-Matbematick Rules by I. N. GENTN, 1646.
" Methinks it were a happy life To carve out dials quaintly, point by point."
— J Henry fl, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.
S CLOCKS and watches be- came more general they were doubtless often imper- fect and harassing in their workmanship. Dutch and German horologers had been warmly welcomed to England, and throughout Europe, but Shakespeare gives a striking example of the carelessness of their work in his taunt : —
" I seek a wife !
A woman, that is like a German clock, Still a-repairing, ever out of frame, And never going aright ! "
The most celebrated dial and clock maker who came to England was Nicholas Kratzer. In a letter
I03
1O4 Sun-dials and Roses of Yesterday
written in English to Cardinal Wolsey from Lucca in 1520, he is called "an Allemagne," a "deviser of the King's horologies," and it was stated that he was "ready to go to England." He was born in Munich, educated in the university of Cologne and other German universities, and became a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in July, 1517. Under the command of Henry VIII he studied astronomy there, and wrote two scientific books which are still preserved in the College Library. Kratzer and Holbein were both men of merry spirit, and both sojourners in a strange land, soon were arcades ambo ; and the portrait of the dialler here copied (now in the Louvre) was painted by the German artist, and is deemed by many his finest work. In it "Master Nicholas" leans contemplatively over a table with a chamfered scale inscribed : Imago ad vivum effigem expressa Nicolai Kratzer, 1528.
Kratzer lived into the reign of Edward VI. At his death many of his papers went to the hands of the astrologer, Dr. Dee, who was an excellent astron- omer and dialler. Holbein also was interested in clock and dial making. He designed a time-meter as a gift for the king, which had on its summit a clock driven by wheel-work ; below were forenoon and afternoon sun-dials, and still lower a clepsydra.
The most interesting English portable dial in existence is now owned by Lewis Evans, Esq., of Russell Farm, Watford, England. It was once the property of Cardinal Wolsey ; and it is without doubt the only existing dial made by Kratzer ; in
Nicholas Kratzer, Deviser of Horologies to King Henry VIII
of England.
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105
design and workmanship it is worthy that great master. On this page and page 106 are shown a side and a front view of this exquisite dial. The instru- ment consists of nine dials arranged on a hollow block of gilt brass, 3^ inches high, 2^ inches wide, and ij^- inches thick. The shape of each side plate (as shown in the fig- ures) is (in general) octagonal set upon a base shaped some- what like the lower half of an equilateral triangle. Seven of the dials are on the side plates or faces which connect these two octagonal plates. There are, therefore, four vertical dials - north, south, east, and west dials — an "upper polar dial," an " inferior polar dial," an " upper equinoctial dial," an "inferior equinoctial dial," and on top a horizontal dial, and a depressed circle which once contained a Side View of Cardinal compass. The tiny gnomons
Wolsey's Dial.
are
all formed of thin triangular metal plates. On the lower part of each of the side plates are engraved shields. One (shown in the illustration) bears the arms of Wolsey : sable on a cross engrailed argent, a lion passant purpure between four leopards' heads azure; on a chief or a Lancaster Rose between two choughs. On the other shield is a representa- tion of the arms of the cathedral church of York. Wolsey was made Bishop of York in 1518, and
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died in 1530, so the dial must have been made in those inclusive years.
Soon after Kratzer was made a Fellow of Corpus Christ! he " was made by Cardinal Wolsey his Mathematick Reader." And in the garden of his college this famous " deviser of horologies " put up for King Henry VIII a dial, which has long since vanished. But a careful drawing of it exists in a manuscript by one Hegge, which is now in the College Library ; and this drawing is reproduced on
page 107 of this book. It bears an extraordi- nary resemblance to the Wolsey dial owned by Mr. Evans, both in general shape and in position of the dials. And the arms of the church of Winchester are shown in the draw- ing placed as the arms of the church of York are on the portable dial. Mr. Evans also notes the similarity
Full View of Cardinal Wolsey's Dial. Qf ^ jncHnation an(J
type of the numerals, the arrangement in narrow circles of the hour numbers, and the resemblance in shape of the gnomons. Both dials resemble a wood-cut in the first book on dialling that was ever printed, a treatise by one Munster ; and the portrait of Kratzer by Holbein, facing page 104 of this book,
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107
also shows the great dialler with a similar block of dials in his hand. All this cer- tainly proves the as- sertion that it is the most remarkable por- table dial in existence, and cordial thanks are due to Mr. Evans for giving knowledge and sight of it to us all.
Hegge describes Kratzer's dial at Cor- pus Christi thus : -
" In this beautiful Alter (on wch Art has sacrificed such Varietie of Invention to the De- itie of the Sun) are twelve Gnomons, the Sun's fellow travellers, who like farr distant In- habitants, dwell some under ye Aequinoctiall, some under the Poles, some in more temparat Climats; some upon Plains in Piano ; some upon the Mountains in Convexo ; and some in the Vallies in Concavo. Here you may see the Aequinoctiall Dial the Mother of ye rest, who hath the horizons of the parallel Sphere for her dubble Province, which suffer by course and
Drawing of Kratzer's Dial, in Manu- scriPl of Robert
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half-years night : There the polar Dial wing'd with the Lateral Meridian. Here you may behold the two fac'd Vertical dial which shakes hands with both Poles. There the Convex dial elevated in triumph upon 4 iron Arches. Here, lastly, the Concave Dial which shews the Sun at noone the hemisphere of Night. In other dials neighboring Clocks betray their Errours ; but in this Consort of Dials in- formed with one Soul of Art, they move all with one Motion, and unite with their Stiles the prayse of their artificer."
There is something most touching and stirring in this poetical tribute of one dial-maker to another ! Who would think that a treatise on the sombre science of gnomonics could show such an outburst of sentiment and enthusiasm? It is genuine praise, too, the adoring veneration of one craftsman for the skilled hand of a master. The phrase " Consort of Dials informed with one Soul of Art" is an un- usual one, and a most felicitous one ; it is a beauti- fully exact term, too, to describe Kratzer's wonderful dials. I wish I could read Robert Hegge's whole
^j^j
treatise ; he has won my full respect.
There was infinitely more enthusiasm on such subjects then than nowadays; all sciences were new; diversions for men of mind, for men of parts, were few, and science study served as pleasant occupation; dialling was a science closely allied in the minds of nearly all to astrology as well as astronomy. All had an interest, and nearly every one had a profound belief, in astrology ; it influenced many sciences besides that of medicine, and was a favorite study. It occupied with many persons of leisure the place that a study of literature has to-day with the added
Ingeniose Diallers 109
zest ever clinging to aught mystic ; dialling shared in the zest and in the magic.
A belief in the occult influence of the stars and suns and planets upon daily life was universal. Even the few scoffers who dared doubt the validity of a horoscope still heeded the influence of the planets in the humble things of life, — in all farm- work and domestic labor especially. Medicine and astrology were so allied that the soberest dispensa- tories and medical treatises mingled their rules and influences just as freely as did the old woman who gathered herbs in the full-o'-the-moon. The dial- maker had, therefore, a certain honor cast upon his work because it was allied to still deeper thoughts and beliefs.
In Loggan's Views of the English Universities many English sun-dials are shown as they appeared in 1688. Among them is a pillar which stood on the churchyard wall of St. Mary's at Oxford. This pillar bore a cubical stone with dials on four sides, and was crowned by a pyramid surmounted by a ball. This pillar with dials was the work of Nicholas Kratzer ; and a full description of it is given in his manuscript De Horologis^ with the inscriptions which were cut in the stone and written on placards. These were curiously frank, even to the extent of telling that the dial-maker was a heavy drinker. The sun-dial is gone, but there still stands in the quadrangle of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, a similar column dated 1581. It is shown in this book on page no. It is taller and more elegant, but there is the same cubical block with dials sur-
no Sun-dials and Roses of Yesterday
mounted by a pyramid. This is crowned with a pelican on a globe, the crest of the college. Four coats of arms are carved on the cube : those of the
Sun-dial in Quadrangle of Corpus Christi College, England.
founder of the college, Bishop Fox ; the royal arms ; the arms of the college ; and the arms of Bishop Oldham.
On the column is a perpetual calendar and a motto, Horas Omnes Complecta. On the pyramid are in Latin mottoes adapted from the Vulgate :
THERE IS LAID UP A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. THANKS BE TO GOD ; THE GRACE OF GOD WITH ME ; I EMBRACE ALL HOURS ; I HAVE PLACED GOD AS MY
HELPER. This dial was constructed by Charles Turn- bull, a member of the college, and his initials are
Ingeniose Diallers in
cut on it. A good and full description of it is in Fowler's History of Corpus Chris ti College. It is said that the dial pillar was deemed "inconvenient" when the quadrangle was used as a drilling ground in times of threatened invasion, but happily it escaped being razed. This dial has been frequently copied, in whole and in part. The beautiful cross in the market-place in Carlisle has some of its fea- tures. A view from an old print of Carlisle is shown in the chapter on the Rosicrucians.
English horologers vied with the German mathe- maticians in skilful workmanship. We read that John Poynet, another man of admirable learning, presented Henry VIII with a horologium, which, says Fuller, " I might English dial, clock, or watch, save that it is epitheted Sciotericum." This "ob- served the shadow of the sun," showed, in addition to the hour of the day, the day of the month, change of moon, ebb and flow of sea, etc. Fuller' says severely of such mysteries, " Men never were more curious to divide nor more careless to employ their time than now."
We have some excellent pictures of the dial- makers of the seventeenth century written for us by Fuller and by their contemporary, that equally entertaining old fellow, Aubrey. Dial-makers were much esteemed and much feared, and "were well content to be so." Aubrey says, " In those darke times astrologer, mathematician, and conjurer were accounted the same things."
The Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College, Oxford, who made the fine circular dial on the
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college library, did not hesitate to secure for himself the name of a conjurer by a system of tricks with a confederate.
William Oughtred, the teacher of many " ingeniose schollars," including Sir Christopher Wren, wrote in 1578 a book entitled Horologiograpbia Geometrica, which Wren translated into Latin when he was but fourteen years old. Let me quote from Aubrey's lively account of him : —
" Oughtred was a little man ; had black haire and black eies with a great deal of spirit. His witt was always work- ing. He would draw lines and diagrams in the dust. His son Ben told he did use to lye a-bed till eleaven or twelve o'clock, with his doublet on. Studyed late at night ; went not to bed until 11 o'clock; had his tinder box by him ; and on the top of his bed staffe he had his inke-horne fixt. He slept but little. Sometimes he went not to bed at all in two or three nights, and would not to come downe to meales till he had found the qutesitum. Severall great mathematicians came over into England on purpose to be acquainted with him. His country neighbours knew there must be some extraordinary thing within him he was so visited by foreigners. He did not like any save those who tugged and took paines to worke out questions. He taught all free. He could not endure to see a scholar write an ill hand ; he taught them all presently to mend their hands.
" He wrote a very elegant hand, and drew his schemes most neatly as they had been cut in copper. He was an astrologer, and very lucky in giving his judgments in nativities : he would say, that he did not understand the reason why it should be so ; but so it would happen : he did believe some genius or spirit did help. The country people did believe that he could conjure, and 'tis like enough
Triangular Lodge with Sun-dials, Rushton, Northamptonshire.
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that he might be well enough contented to have them think so.
" He was a great lover of Chymistry and told Jno. Evelyn not above a yeare before he dyed, if he were five younger he doubted not to find the philosopher's stone. The olde gentleman was a great lover of Heraldrv. His wife was a penurious woman, and would not allow him to burne candle after supper, by which means many a good notion is lost, many a probleme unsolved. Mr. Hanshaw, his scholar, when he was there, bought candle, which was a great comfort to the old man. His son Ben was confi- dent he understood magique."
The old dial-maker died of joy for the coming in of the king. Son Ben is a distinct character, and takes his departure from history, " putting on his considering cap, which was never like his father's, with much adoe to find the place where lie his father's bones ; for truly his grief was so great that he could not remember the place." The chronicler says dryly, " Now I should have thought it would have made him remember it the better."
In reading the biographies of men of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we note that their skill in dialling is ever made the subject of much praise. Thus Aubrey writes of one Edward Halley : —
" As a boy he studied Arithmetique and was very per- fect in the Coelestial Globe. He studyed Geometry, and at 1 6 could make a Dyall and then he said he thought him- self a brave fellow. When at the age of 19 he solved this useful probleme, never done before, viz. : From 3 distances given from the Sun and Angles between to find the Orbe, for which his name will ever be famous. At 1678 he
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added a Spectacle-glasse to the Shadow-vane of the lesser Arche of the sea-Quadrant (or back-staffe) which is of great use, for that spot of light will be manifest when you cannot see any Shadow. He presented his Planisphere with a short description to her Majesty who was very well pleased with it ; but got nothing but prayse"
Aubrey refers to the wonderful dials of Wren, and also relates of Robert Hooke, the inventor of pendulum watches, about the year 1680, that when but a boy, he made a dial on a round trencher with- out any mathematical instruction, — which was not remarkable, after all, for a man who invented thirty different ways of flying.
A great number of mathematical works of about this date exist in various public and private libraries ; these are often in manuscript, for the market was overstocked. Fuller remarks in his Worthies of England^ " I never did spring such a covye of mathematicians all at once, as I met with at this time."
The interest in sun-dials in England must have been vastly spurred on by the never flagging zest of King Charles I for them in every form. It was one of the touching stories which I read in my child- hood that he ever carried a silver pocket-dial which he gave on the night preceding his execution to his attendant Herbert as a last gift to his son, the Duke of York. I wonder what was the title of that book which I so loved, which gave anecdotes of the English kings, princes, and princesses ! There were sev- eral of King Charles in it, and they helped to make him the idol of my childhood, — a regard I cannot
Ingeniose Diallers 115
even now divest myself of, though years of mature reading have forced upon me other tales than the sad and romantic ones of that little picture-book. I had not the slightest notion what a dial was ; but since it was associated with the king's dying, I had a wild fancy that it was something, a silver box that contained poison- -to steal the old motto-jest — a die-all.
One of the most superb dials ever erected in England was the one in the king's garden at Whitehall, set up for King Charles II. I have a description of this magnificent and singular dial in Leybourne's Tractates, but a minute account is in a book written by the maker of the dial, Rev. Father Francis Hall, of the Society of Jesus. A copy of this latter rare volume was lent to me by Mr. Lewis Evans. A briefer account may be seen in The New Universal Magazine of January, 1756. The title of Father Hall's book may be given in full, as being most explanatory : An expli- cation of the Diall Sett Up in the King's Garden at London in 1669. In Which Very Many Sorts of Dyalls are Conteined ; by which besides the Houres of All Kinds diversely expressed, many things also belonging to Geography, Astrology, and Astronomy are by the Sunnes Shadow made visible to the eye. Amongst Which, Very Many Dialls, Especially the Most Curious, are New Inventions, Hitherto Divulged to None. All these Particulars are Shortly yett Clearly sett forth for the common good. By the Reverend Father Francis Hall (otherwise Line] of the Society of Jesus, Professor of Mathematicks. The book has sixty-nine inter-
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esting illustrations. The Elevation of this dial from Leybourne here copied is equal to a de- scription, but some of the curious details may be pointed out. The dial stood on a "Pillar" or " Piedestall " of stone, being in six parts, set in the general form of a " Pyramis." The lower table was about forty inches in diameter, and had twenty dials set around the edge, all covered with glass. Some of these showed the hour after the Jewish, some the Babylonian, some of the Italian fashion. The gnomon of each was a lion's paw or a unicorn's horn. On the upper part of this table were eight reclining dials ; these were curious. One showed the time by the shade of the style falling on the hour lines, the next by the shade of the hour line falling on the style, the third had no shadow. Of the four faceted globes attached to this table, one had several dials " belonging to Geography," the second several dials " belonging to Astronomy," another to Astrology. There were also four globes with dials attached by iron arms.
The second table was thirty inches in diameter. This had sixteen dials on the circumference ; these differed from those first named, in that the former were drawn on the back of the pieces of glass that protected them, while these sixteen were on the stone. These showed " the different manner of Rising of the Stars to Witt ; the Cosmicall, the Cronycall, and the Heliacall." The styles of these dials were little stars painted on the inside of the glass cover. This table had eight reclining dials, four of which were of mirrors which reflected the
Elevation of Dial of King Charles II at Whitehall.
Ingeniose Diallers 117
shadows oti dials placed above on the third table. There were four arms with globes attached.
The third piece of the dial was a sort of globe cut in twenty-six faces. Some of these faces were cov- ered with glass which served as windows, letting the observer look at dials within the globe. From this four iron branches held each a glass globe painted within in such a manner that they also served as dials.
The fourth part or table, twenty inches in diame- ter, was cut on the edge into twelve semicylindrical concave dials, of which the style was a Flower de Luce. The four glass globes on this all were inge- niously varied.
The fifth part, a globe twelve inches in diameter, was cut in faces of which fourteen bore each a dial.
The sixth part was a glass globe seven inches in diameter, held by bands of iron and surmounted by a cross.
This very bald outline conveys no idea of the ingenuity displayed in these many dials, which num- bered nearly three hundred, and were of seventy- three different kinds ; the four globes attached by iron arms to the lower table were marked each, Per Ignem, Per Aquam, Per Aeram^ Per Terr am. The first bowl, filled with water, showed the hour by the heat of the converged rays. The second bowl, also filled with water, threw a little circle of light on the true hour. The third globe, filled with air, exhibited " two little pictures of the sun like two stars," and thereby marked the hour. The fourth globe had " a geographicall description of the whole earth upon the inward superficies of the Bowie."
n8 Sun-dials and Roses of Yesterday
The four great globes standing upright on the lower table were very singular ; each bore thirty-two dials, of which twelve were pentagons ; and they served to show "supper time," "sleeping time," etc., of scores of points all over the world. The globes attached by iron branches to the second table bore
FaXIt Regjria Det He proLeM Cat
DIV CaroLVs Britannia
Hexagonal Dials on King Charles Dial.
the titles, PER STYLUM SINE UMBRA, PER UMBRAM
SINE STYLO, PER STYLUM ET UMBRA, and SINE STYLO
VEL UMBRA, which indicated their character. Through the little peep-holes of the largest globes could be seen pictures, including portraits of the king and queen, queen mother, Duke of York, Prince Ru- pert, etc.
This old book with its curious wording and illus- trations has raised a world of fancies and dreams in my mind. I can see the gay and thoughtless courtiers, and the equally volatile and careless king,
Ingeniose Diallers 119
bending eagerly over this dial, while Charles pointed out to Nell Gwynne, perhaps, the various singular contrivances which formed the dial-faces, and trans- lated to her the scores of Latin mottoes ; for each dial of the hundreds, big and little, had some motto or inscription. It seems a pendant to the pages of Pepys, --a presentment of the court life the diarist so truly loved.
And how quickly it all vanished! like the graphic scene of the king's gay court, and his sudden death, so strikingly told by John Evelyn. So quickly had this wonderful dial disappeared that Leybourne could write, " Thus have I given a brief account of this now demolished Dial, which account and figure to- gether may give some light to the ingenious Practi- tioner to invent infinite Varieties of this Kind."