Dial in Tayside Region

The dial stands on a red sandstone octagonal plinth about 1300 high. It was originally at Drummond Castle, and is inscribed at the north ’Drumond (sic) Castle / Latitude 56 deg 20m’, and at the south ’PEREVNT ET IMPVTANTVR’, followed by ’Johannes Marke London’ and then, under a crown, ’E / I P’ for Earl John Perth. The dial uses hour numerals IIII- XII - IIII - VIII, with a noon gap, divided to 30,15 and 7.5 minutes in a band within the chapter ring, with a fleur-de-lys for the half hours, and to single minutes marked at 10 minute intervals in Arabic in an external band. There is a smaller chapter ring around the gnomon root, with Arabic hour numerals for 4am to 8pm, divided again to 30, 15 and 7.5 minutes. Between the two chapter rings is a compass bearing scale, divided for 64 points and marked for 32 (S, SBE, SSE, SEBS, SE, etc), with a scale running from zero at the south to 130 degrees in both directions, marked every 10 degrees in Arabic. Each hour segment is inscribed with the names of up to seven cities or locations, about fifty in all. Each name is located on the dial plate at about the time when it is noon there, and appended by the time at the city when it is noon at Drummond, for example the segment from 9am to 10am includes ’Cairo 2:56’. The gnomon is new, made and fixed by George Higgs. It bears an EOT graph and the Drummond crest of wavy lines. The degree scale suggests that the original gnomon had a vertical north edge but that was not used in the replacement. The compass scale is mirrored to show the direction of the sun rather than its shadow, when used correctly with a vertical gnomon edge. The dial bears no date but is certainly contemporary with the Johannes Marke dial at Drummond Castle (SRN 1517) which is dated 1679. The contents of Stobhall were sold in 2012 and the current location of the dial is not known.