OK, so we’re now in to “Sad Bastard Alert” mode
You may decide that this is a whole new form of “Anorakism” but I also have a love
of misericords - these are wood carvings attached to the underside of choir stalls,
and sometimes known as mercy seats. Choir stalls are the original theatre seats,
in as much as the seat fob lifts - this is because medieval monks were supposed to
stand up for services which could exceed four hours duration, however, in typical
church fashion, these misericords were designed so that the monks could cheat and
perch on them.
Sorry if I put you to sleep, but, I’d suggest you read the next paragraph - it won’t
waste much of your time, and if you didn’t have time to waste, you wouldn’t be on
Your Party Photos.
The nice thing about misericords, is that the carvers were allowed to do pretty much
what they wanted - didn’t matter how profane. one example is in a series of misericords
from the 13th century, Man goes to pub, man gets pissed, man get’s wheeled home by
his mates in a barrow, Man’s wife is waiting to beat him over the head with a rolling
pin. Has life changed so much over the centuries? Other examples are fabulous and
mythical beasts, caricatures etc.
If I haven’t bored you out of 6 months growth, you might like to look at www.misericords.co.uk
which I’m proud to say is the web’s most comprehensive misericord site, with photos
from over 65 locations. Let’s face it, it’s better than work.
