Hackmatack Nominee Philippa Dowding Visits!
On Wednesday, May 28th she visited Andover Elementary to meet and talk Gargoyles with the students. The attending classes filed into the gym efficiently and quietly, ready to give Philippa their full attention.
The author explained how the idea for the books germinated and told the kids how honoured she was that children have chosen to nominate her book. She then went on to discuss gargoyles.
Philippa began by asking the students “What do you know about gargoyles?”
A few kids ventured that they were to scare away bad spirits and to guard the buildings. Philippa showed several pictures of gargoyles with open mouths, and asked if anyone knew why they had open mouths.
Gargoyles, as it turns out, are actually designed to be part of the gutter system of stone buildings such as cathedrals. All buildings need rain gutters to channel the water off the roofs to avoid rain damage. If rain water is not diverted into a channel it will simply run down the walls, causing staining and damage over the years.
The ancient Romans and Greeks used animals, both real and mythical that were designed to be waterspouts on their buildings.
It is estimated that the creatures we know as gargoyles began appearing on churches in the Middle Ages, beginning in the 12th Century.
The name comes from the French word gargariser, which means “to gargle”, and may have come from the gargling noise the gargoyles make as water travels through them.
Some building may have sculptures that look like gargoyles, but are not made to carry water, and these are called grotesques. These include all decorative architectural creatures, whether or not they have functioning drainage capabilities.
Gargoyles, however, always have drainage conduits. Thus, not all grotesques are gargoyles, but all gargoyles are grotesques.
Philippa told us she has the best job in the world! Her enthusiasm was infectious as she read aloud from the first book in the series, “The Gargoyle in My Yard” and engaged the kids in discussion and in walking like a gargoyle, and doing the “gargoyle shuffle”!
