Sundial 14 - Mercat Cross

For hundreds of years, no doubt,  the ancestors of the distant seagulls would have been swooping down and trying to steal food from the stalls which surrounded this old Mercat Cross.  Now the cross  no longer stands in its original location in the ancient burgh of  Inverkeithing where the markets were held but still stands among old buildings with the yellow house behind dating from 1617.   Today the squacking gulls were hoping that the local school students would drop some of their lunch from the nearby  fast food shops.
It is suggested that this mercat cross dates from about 1400 as a present to the town from Queen Annabella and King Robert III  after their eldest son married Mary Douglas in 1398.  One of the four shields between the roses on top is that of the Douglas family, another that of Annabella Drummond, and the other two are the Royal arms. On top and added in 1688, a unicorn holds a shield with the St Andrew’s Cross above a cubic sundial with dials on each face.   The sun wasn’t shining but it would have been impossible to tell the time anyway because the gnomans are missing.  Fortunately I could refer to my watch to check how long I had before the bus.