Notice of a Small Figure in Jet of St James the Greater, recently presented to the Museum by James Gibson Craig, Esq., FSA Scot.
and probably a Signaculum worn by a Leprous Pilgrim to St Jago Di Compostella; with Notes on 'Pilgrims' Signs' of the Middle Ages, and a Stone Mould for casting Leaden Tokens, found at Dundrennan Abbey
Jet, Pilgrimage, Pilgrims badge, Original documents, St James, Hagiography, Crusade, Forgeries
Dundrennan Abbey, Dundrennan, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, UK
Medieval, Sixteenth century, Nineteenth century
Abstract
A previously unclassified artefact from the museum was identified by Joseph Anderson as a pilgrim’s badge dedicated to St James. The author uses this item to begin a discussion of early Christian pilgrimage and the hagiography of St James. He also describes some other pilgrim’s badges and the matrices used to create them. The article concludes with a discussion of lead tokens that were produced to provide income for abbeys and to commemorate events such as the Festival of Fools, as well as the nineteenth century forgeries of these items.