On 21st September we recorded the discovery of two sculptured
stones in Dundee- one of them having been found near the North West corner of
the Howff while the trench was being dug for the electric light connections, and
the other discovered in a building in Couttie's Wynd. Yesterday morning another
stone similar in appearance to these was found in Barrack street, at the North
East corner of Messrs Don, Buist & Co.'s premises, while the workmen were
proceeding with the electric lighting. Like the others, this has been the
springing-stone at the pier between two gothic arches. The mouldings are as
sharp as though fresh from the chisel. Below the entablature a well carved
figure of a winged cherub is still in good state of preservation. As the back of
the stone has been dressed and finished it is probable that this stone shows the
full thickness of the wall-about 18 inches. It is not likely, therefore, that
these three stones formed part of any very large structure. The style of the
carving belongs to the close of the fifteenth century,-certainly not earlier.
Taking into account the fact that two of these stones have been found in the
immediate vicinity of the Howff, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they may
have formed parts of the mausoleum of the Earls of Crawford, which stood in the
garden of the Franciscan Monastery, granted to the town as a burying place by
Queen Mary. The exact date of the erection of this mausoleum is not recorded,
but there is documentary evidence that Earl John, who was slain at Flodden, and
his uncle and successor, Earl Alexander, who died in 1517, were both interred
within its walls. The latter was Provost of Dundee in 1513. The fragments that
have been discovered do not afford sufficient evidence to determine definitely
to what building they belonged.
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