Carlisle's curse

The Cursing Stone in Carlisle

IT'S 1525 and the Border reivers are causing havoc along the Scottish/English border. The tribesmen are ransacking properties, killing, raping, stealing and generally causing mayhem. So the Archbishop of Glasgow, Gavin Dunbar, does what any self-respecting Christian would do: curses them! Jump forward nearly 500 years and Carlisle is preparing the millennium celebrations. Artist Andy Altman is commissioned to create a sculpture and chooses as his subject the Dunbar curse. But the arrival of the 21st century saw much hardship for the people of Carlisle: foot and mouth disease, floods - and the decline of Carlisle FC. The cursing stone got the blame and there have been calls for its removal. A Christian website (www.carlisle-cursing-stone.com) has suggested it is the offence to God that has brought about the curse rather than the curse itself. And quite rightly points out that the Archbishop was hardly being Christian in cursing his enemies instead of trying to resolve the problems.

Here is just a sample from Dunbar's curse from 1525 but the full curse is online at the BBC. Finally, it should also be pointed out that the stone only included part of the curse and also included a blessing from the Bible.

"I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their brain (innermost thoughts), their mouth, their nose, their tongue, their teeth, their forehead, their shoulders, their breast, their heart, their stomach, their back, their womb, their arms, their leggs, their hands, their feet, and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, before and behind, within and without. I curse them going and I curse them riding; I curse them standing and I curse them sitting; I curse them eating and I curse them drinking; I curse them rising, and I curse them lying; I curse them at home, I curse them away from home; I curse them within the house, I curse them outside of the house; I curse their wives, their children, and their servants who participate in their deeds. I (bring ill wishes upon) their crops, their cattle, their wool, their sheep, their horses, their swine, their geese, their hens, and all their livestock. I (bring ill wishes upon) their halls, their chambers, their kitchens, their stanchions, their barns, their cowsheds, their barnyards, their cabbage patches, their plows, their harrows, and the goods and houses that are necessary for their sustenance and welfare."