In Ludlow this morning and shopping in the rain I nipped into the church and took this pic of one of the misericords. These are 15th century carvings on the choir stalls depicting popular myths and beliefs of the day.St Laurence`s has an almost unique 28 of these carvings. The subjects are often grotesque and anti-feminine - this one depicts a mermaid supposedly luring " men away from the path of salvation to their destruction on the rocks of passion" - although I doubt if they they took much "luring" !!. I would imagine they were a source of much amusement for the choirboys of the day.
Ooo, Should think they were a bit distracted those poor choir boys! Most interesting, there is a famous carving of a mermaid in the church at Zennor, did you go there?
I like this carving - will have to go and have a look at in this church next time we're there - and I didn't know they were called misericords - what a great word!
May 8th, 2010
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