One of those on the aisle offers a further explanation of the mark before mentioned as being on the foreheads of some masks. In this case the prominences of the eyebrows branch off into foliage. This appears also to be the intention in a capital carving in Lincoln Chapter House.
Roslyn Chapel has some very realistic heads, notably of apes or gorillas near the south doorway, of which one is drawn (opposite).
Norman work has frequently some very grotesque heads in corbel tables and tower corners, to the odd appearance of which the decay by weather has no doubt much contributed. Two examples from Sutton Courtney, Oxfordshire, illustrate this weather-worn whimsicality.
Then comes a crowd of faces which have no particular significance, being simply the outcome of the unrestrainable fun of the carver. Some are merely oddities, while others are full of life-like character.
| GARGOYLE, SUTTON COURTNEY. | WEATHER-WORN NORMAN, SUTTON COURTNEY, BERKSHIRE. |
| HUMOUR, YORK. | MASK WITH SAUSAGE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON. | A JEALOUS EYE, YORK. |
The knight with the twisted beard, from Swine, may be a portrait, and the Gargantuan-faced dominus from St. Mary’s Minster certainly is. An old barbarian head from a croche or elbow-rest at Bakewell is rude and worn, but yet bold and fine.
| A BEARD WITH A TWIST, SWINE, YORKSHIRE. | A QUIZZICAL VISAGE, BAKEWELL. |
| GRIMACE MAKER, BEVERLEY MINSTER. | FOOL’S HEADS, BEVERLEY MINSTER. |
Some of these are better than the joculators and mimes’ faces in which the artist seriously set himself a humorous task, as in the three heads ([page 130]) from Beverley Minster, though the latter are in some respects more grotesque.