Cross represents eternal message
Mine of information
Historic Paisley Abbey – which celebrates its 850th anniversary next year – is a rocky repository of Renfrewshire Christian heritage’s most sacred relics.
Beautiful stained-glass windows, graceful arcades, sturdy pillars, soaring roof vaults, inscribed memorials honouring the town’s merchant princes, along with ancient pots, seals and music slates used by Cluniac monks, are timeless treasures in the 12th century sanctuary.
My own favourite is the 1,100-yearsold Barochan Cross, sanctifying a shady neuk in the south aisle.
The sculptured stone is an old friend which I’ve known for 60 years.
It’s been a source of solace and inspiration during life’s triumphs and tribulations.
The hand-crafted cross, about 10ft tall, dates from the 10th century.
Two centuries older than the Abbey, it’s engraved with fearsome figures thought to be the Biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse symbolising the beginning and end of time. An incised pelican represents
Derek Parker knew many of Paisley’s secrets – the grimy and the good.
He wandered every corner in search of the clues that would unlock Renfrewshire’s rich history.
These tales were shared with readers in his hugely popular Parker’s Way column.
We’ve opened our vault to handpick our favourites for you.
Christ’s Sacrifice of Atonement for the world’s sins. Traditionally, pelicans were believed to pierce their breasts with their spear-like beaks and feed offspring with their own blood.
I first encountered the mystic monument at its original site, near Houston, where my family lived during the early 20th century.
Cresting green-sloped Barochan Hill, it’s said to have marked the medieval pilgrims’ way between Whithorn Priory, in Galloway, and Paisley and Iona Abbeys.
My love of that old rugged cross intensified during my student days when I read the Anglo-Saxon epic poem entitled The Dream of the Rood (Cross).
The 10th century masterpiece described how a forest tree chopped down in the Holy Land became Christ’s blood-stained cross at Calvary.
The rood then metamorphosed into the gem-studded, bejewelled cross that became the Symbol of Salvation.
Barochan Cross was relocated to Paisley Abbey around 1980 to safeguard it from weather damage. It’s on view, free of charge, from Mondays to Saturdays between 10am and 3.30pm.
When I visited this week, the cross’s stone pedestal was gloriously garlanded with Easter blossoms.
The fragrant flowers epitomised new life springing up today in our local countryside where white-blossomed apple, cherry, blackthorn and hawthorn trees a few weeks ago winter-bare and leafless now incarnate the victory of life over death and light over darkness.
Eleven centuries after its creation, Barochan Cross still proclaims its eternal message in the heart of Paisley.