How many times have you walked past the former Barony St. John’s church hall building in Ardrossan? I wonder if you’ve ever noticed the heavily worn stone engraving above the main entrance doors?

I’m one of these naturally curious types who needs to find out what things are, how they work, why they are there – and seeing this gave me a challenge.

You see, to me, this carved stone looked like a flaming poesy of flowers with a banner of words inscribed below it. But what was it actually? And why was it above the church hall door?

A little investigation and all was revealed;

It is the burning bush emblem, linked with the Church of Scotland since 1691.

Strangely, there is no record indicating that any General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ever gave approval for the use of the burning bush symbol in any shape or form but it is believed that a Mr George Mossman, the printer of The Principal Acts of the General Assembly in 1691, introduced a title page which carried a representation of the burning bush.

It was accompanied by the words “Nec Tamen Consumebatur” which is Latin for “Yet it was not consumed” and you can just make out that this is exactly the phrase inscribed beneath the Barony’s burning bush.

The phrase refers to a story in the Bible, the Book of Exodus, where Moses sees a bush that even although was on fire, never burned or died.

Scholars suggest that George Mossman may have got the idea to use this French / Dutch form of Latin rather than the more common English Latin to celebrate the return of a Protestant King to the throne following the Glorious Revolution of 1689 when Catholic King James VII of Scotland (James II of England) was overthrown by Protestant William of Orange, a Dutchman whose mother was the daughter of Charles I.

It is also said that the burning bush emblem echoes the teachings of 16th century theologist and preacher John Calvin who saw the burning bush as a representation of the people of God – always threatened by the burning fires of Hell.

At any rate, by 1958 the burning bush emblem was registered with the Lord Lyon King of Arms and it officially became the mark of the Church of Scotland for use on stationery, banners, signs, and other material.

So there is a little mystery here in that, if the burning bush was not an “official” emblem of the Church of Scotland until 1958, was it still common practice for churches to carve the emblem onto their buildings as far back as 1887 when the Barony St. John’s hall building was built?

Anyway, official emblem or not, I would love to restore this carving to its former glory one day – maybe even adding a touch of colour to preserve it? What do you think?

If you enjoyed reading this article, you may like to look at some of my other posts on my blog, www.ardrossman.wordpress.com where you’ll see more discoveries and behind the scenes comments on the renovation work we are doing to the Barony St. John’s buildings.

If you would like to volunteer to help us save the church buildings or fundraise or simply know more about my charity, contact us via our website www.ScotCPS.org.uk or look us up on Facebook or Twitter.