St Cuthbert's Cormorant and The Gabriel Hound are the first in a new series of designs inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospels.
The Lindisfarne Gospels are elaborately decorated with animals (usually described as dogs) and birds. The birds seem to resemble the sea birds found in the Lindisfarne area, at least in some respects. There's a lot of debate about this - for instance the cormorant doesn't really have clawed feet - but I don't intend to go into all that here.
My naming of these two designs is entirely my own fancy. The Gabriel Hounds are well known in British mythology and go back a very long time. St Cuthbert, at one time abbot of Lindisfarne, is mentioned in the Lindisfarne Gospels. He was well known for his love of wild birds, and so I have dedicated my cormorant to him.
Difficulty: worked mostly in whole cross stitch, however there are some fractionals and backstitch to emphasize the facial features.
The size of each individual embroidery is approximately 8 cm x 26 cm (3 x 10 inches).
See Also: 2 Fishes Designs homepage | Summer In Skye | Skye Classics | Bookmarks | Celtic Saints | Samplers
Copyright © 1998-2014 Eliza Wright, Isle of Skye