Captivated by the Cross

I’ve been captivated by this image since I found it earlier this week. It was taken by David W Coigach and posted at deviantART. Taken at Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway  (Southwest Scotland), this imagery seems so right for Heavenfield  with the ravens circling overhead. Ok, so I’ll admit heavenfield didn’t have a stone cross, which seems really odd, but I guess a miracle working wooden cross was enough!

15 thoughts on “Captivated by the Cross”

  1. Wow. I’m with you Michelle – I love this picture! Especially since my novel includes Aidan and the monks of Lindisfarne and a Fey who is especially fond of ravens….

      2. Hi Ian – Sorry, I missed seeing these extra comments. I would love to get your promotional literature! What is the best way to contact you – through the website?

        Lisa

    1. That is exactly what I was thinking. Too bad I don’t have anything in the works to use it on. Now you all have the photographers information at the links above. I bet he would be interested in book cover ideas.

  4. Very evocative.I was up at Heavenfield a few days ago; (we live in Hexham)-and I took some photos, which I’ll send separately,Michelle.I’m doing some thinking towards a project for the visit of the Lindisfarne Gospels to the north east next summer-especially looking at the interweaving of Roman, Celtic and Saxon traditions.We started at the

    section of Hadrian’s Wall, just down the hill from the church and I was thinking about the way that Bede tries to locate Oswald within the Roman tradition with that reference. Then we went up to the approach to the church, where a wooden cross has been erected to recall the story as told in Bede.
    I took the photo so the cross was outlined against the early morning sun-again echoing the story of the sign given to Constantine before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
    We walked up to the west end of the little church and then went in.
    More Roman references inside in
    the early Roman altar standing in the nave, with a hole in the top for surmounting it with a Christian cross.(In this sign will you conquer).
    The small icon of Oswald standing
    o on the window sill, shows the
    raven nicely, along with a much stronger Celtic reference in the decoration. Then we went round the back and took one or two photos of the Celtic style crosses in the graveyard. OK-not the real thing, but atmospheric that morning, looking across the misty valley.
    Enough, at least to remind you of the Adamnan’s version of the story, with Oswald’s vision of Columba the night before the battle.
    A few days later, while visiting Edinburgh, we had a further treat on visiting the National Museum of Scotland, with its fantastic early Christian section. It really brought home how meaningless current national borders are when you’re looking at the history of the Church in this part of the world.

  5. Dear Michelle, I’m not sure whether you can link up these photos with the comment. Anyway-I hpe you like them! Best wishes, Judy Lloyd

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