SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHEISTIAN TIMES (SECOKD SERIES.) Printed by R. ^ R. Clark FOR DAVID DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH. LONDON . . . HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. CAMBRIDGE . . MACMILLAN AND CO. GLASGOW . . JAMES MACLEHOSE Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/scotlandinearlycOOande_0 AT HILTON OF CADBOLL. SCOTLAND IN EAKLY CHKISTIAN TIMES (SECOND SERIES) THE RHIND LECTURES IN ARCHEOLOGY FOR l88o By JOSEPH ANDE RSON, KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND EDINBUEGH: DAVID DOUGLAS 1881 All rights reserved. SEP 2 2 1994 O'NEILL LIBRARY BOSTON. COLLEGE PREFATOEY NOTE. In the previous volume, comprising the Rhind Lectures for 1879, I have described the structural remains and relics of the Early Christian Time in Scotland which are exclusively ecclesiastical in their origin and use. In this volume, comprising the Lectures delivered in 1880, the subject is continued and brought to a conclusion by the description of objects which, though not strictly ecclesiastical in origin or use, are yet closely connected with those that are so, either by the character of their art or by their associations. The second series of Lectures is therefore the necessary complement and continuation of the first, completing the description and classification of the various types of existing relics which give testimony to the nature and quality of the art and culture developed and brought to maturity in con- nection with the civilisation of Early Christian Times in Scotland. If I have succeeded in demonstrating the exist- ence of a series of art-relics, and directing attention to the remains of an early culture hitherto but little known and less regarded, I trust that they wiU lose no portion of their interest if I have also shown that vi PREFATORY NOTE. they arc for the most part of indigenous types, and therefore peculiar to the area which History and Archaeology alike must always recognise as Celtic Scotland. I have not attempted to exhaust the subject. My aim has rather been to present briefly, but in a popular form, a general statement of the aspects in which the Early Christian Art of Scotland may be regarded by the Archseologist seeking to utilise those remnants of ancient culture which disclose the exist- ence of a Celtic School of Decorative Art, and claim for themselves a place in the history of Art. I have again to acknowledge my obligations to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for the use of a number of their woodcuts ; to Eev. J. B. Mackenzie, Kenmore, for Photographs of the Monuments at Nigg, Cadboll, and Killoran ; and to Mr. Hutchison of Car- lowrie, for Photographs of the Dunfallandy Monu- ment, taken for him by Mr. Jackson, Perth. I have thought it necessary that some examples should be represented with that absolute truthfulness which is only attained by Photography, and have therefore preferred the rugged realism of these reproductions to illustrations more picturesque and artistic in character. J. A. 14 Gillespie Ceescent, EdinbuFvGh Odohcr 1881. CONTENTS. LECTUEE 1. DECORATIVE METAL- WORK BROOCHES, ETC. The Hunterston brooch — Its form and ornament — Relation of its art to the art of the Celtic manuscripts of the Gospels — The technical skill of its workmanship — Its inscriptions — Its typical form — Silver brooches found at Rogart in Sutherlandshire — The character of their art — Bronze brooches found in Mull — Silver brooch with gold filigree-work found at Dunbeath, Caithness — Its story — Its character as a work of art — Silver brooches found near Perth — Their decoration and workmanship — Silver brooch found near Croy, Inverness — Its period given by a coin of Coenwulf found with it — Typical form of the brooch of the Early Christian Period in Scotland, Penannular — Area of the typical form — The Scandinavian form — Brooches decorated vdth Celtic Christian art found among the furnishings of heathen grave-mounds in Norway — Difference between Celtic and Scandinavian art — Area of the typical forms sufficiently defined by the art alone — Intense Celticism of the art of the metal-work of the period — The so- called "Silver Armour" of Norrie's Law, in Fife — The Law a Pagan grave-mound — The story of the discovery and destruction of " the Silver Armour " — Its art the same as that of the Celtic MSS. of the Gospels — Its symbols the same as those of the Sculp- tured Stones — The same symbols on silver chains found in Scot- land — The description of a multitude of examples of artistic workmanship in one style, and from one area, is the disclosure of a National School of Decorative Art . . Pages 1-48 viii COXTEXTS. LECTUEE 11. DECOEATR'E STOXEWORK MOXUMEXTS. The St. Yigeans group of monuments — Their form and ornament — Their pictorial representations and conventional symbols — Typical form of the Celtic cross — The Celtic tonsure — Number and special importance of the monuments of this group — The Aber- lemno group — Their form and characteristics — Relation to the St. Vigeans group — The Kirriemuir gToup — The group at Glamis — The monument at Dunfallandy — The Meigle group — Their number and character — General features common to all these groups — Intense Celticism of their decoration — Transition from purity of Celtic art to twelfth century types — Special features of the pure Celtic type — The area of the type — Its remarkably restricted range — A ruder type associated with it — The incised symbol-stones — Area of this type — Eelative sequence of the two types — Their association with a third type — The free-standing crosses — Two varieties, earlier and later — The crosses at lona — The cross at Kildalton — Intense Celticism of its art — Sub-variety of Celtic type in Galloway and Man — Degradation of the type — The West High- land crosses — General sequence of typical forms in Eastern and Western Scotland — Exceptional groups — The Burghead bull-stones ■ — St. Columba's pillow-stone — Correlation of Scottish and Irish monumental slabs and crosses . . . Pages 49-96 LECTUEE III. TEE AET OF THE MOXUMEXTS. Decoration, figure subjects, and symbols — Decoration their special feature — The prevailing forms of ornament — Relation of their art to that of the Celtic MSS. of the Gospels— The art analysed— Interlaced work — Fretwork — Its Celtic forms — The Celtic spiral — General character of Celtic decoration — Implies culture of imagination and refinement of taste — The jDrocess of its develop- CONTENTS. ix ment and story of its growth — Its latest phase most fully developed in Scotland — Interlacing designs not indigenous to the Celtic area — Extensive range of these and other elements of Celtic art in space and time — What constitutes the Celticism of the art of the Scottish monuments — Comparison with the Welsh, Devonian, and Irish groups — Decoration of the symbols — Art of the pictorial representations — Their value as illustrative materials of unwritten history — Art characteristics of the incised symbol-hearing type — Of the free-standing crosses — Sequence of the types of monuments established by their art characteristics — The Scottish monuments differ from all others everywhere — No pre-existing Pagan monu- ments of these types — The Pagan art and the art of Cliristian times contrasted — Number and im^Dortance of the Early Christian monuments of Scotland — Their value and * utility as art materials — Their formation into a Gallery of Scottish Sculpture w^ould restore to our national. art the original elements of an indigenous system of design .... Pages 97-135 LECTUEE lY. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. The subject more easily approached from the point of \"iew of our own times — Symbolism in a country churchyard — Survival of Pagan forms — Early Christian symbolism — Its origin in the Catacombs of Rome — Its diffusion through the empire — Its degradation — The symbolism of the Scottish monuments — Partly a derived and partly an original system — Intermixture of Pagan and Christian forms — Its pictorial representations — The temptation of our First Parents — Daniel and the Lions — Jonah and the Whale — The rais- ing of Lazarus — The destruction of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea — The ascension of Elijah — Conventional treatment of Scripture scenes — Pictorial subjects on monuments at St. Andrews, lona, Dunkeld, Meigle, Forres, Farnell, etc. — Symbolism of the stag hunt and the ship — Association of beasts and monsters with symbols of Christian faith and Life — Such representations not inappropriate — X CONTENTS. Their symholic significance disclosed in the Divine Bestiaries of the early Middle Ages — Natural History spiritualised in sculpture — The unexplained symbols of the original system — Question of their Pagan origin — Principles on which the scientific investigation of the system must proceed — The range and application of the unknown symbols — The sculptured caves — Their ecclesiastical character and associations — The mysterious symbols on metal- work — Their place in the general system of Christian sym- bolism . . . . . Pages 136-189 LECTUEE V. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. Inscriptions at lona in the Celtic language, and ordinary characters of the Celtic manuscripts — The St. Vigeans inscription — Its type and character — Its legibility — Professor Simpson's reading — Considera- tions which prevent the acceptance of a possible identity as a proved one — St. Drostan — The character of the inscription agrees Avith the character of the art of the monument — Inscriptions not written in any of the literary alphabets of historic antiquity — The Ogham inscribed monuments at Scoonie, Aboyne, Logie, Golspie, and in Orkney and Shetland — The typical character of these epigraphs — Associated with certain types of monuments — With purer forms of Celtic art — With early forms of the symbol of the cross — The area of this type of inscription — Demon- stration of the inscriptional character of Ogham epigraphs — Oghams in manuscripts — Their varieties — Construction of a key to their transliteration — Bilingual inscriptions — The Bilingual texts of the Newi;on Stone — Its fylfot or ' swastika ' a form of the Cliristian symbol of the cross — Area of the Bilingual type — Its importance for the scientific study of the oldest remains of the Celtic lan- guage — The inscribed monuments of the whole Celtic area must be studied as one group . . . Pages 190-225 CONTENTS. xi LECTUEE VI. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN RUNIC AND ROMAN LETTERS. Runic monuments — Their exceptional character and restricted range in Scotland — All stragglers from the Scandinavian group — Their literary type Scandinavian — Their art Celtic — The Orkney and Shetland group — The Kilbar monument — The Manx group — The Ruthwell cross — Its destruction as a monument of idolatry — Its restoration — Description of the monument — Its Scripture scenes and texts — Its legendary scenes and inscriptions — The character of its art — Its Bilingual character — Its runic inscription — The story of its decipherment — The " Dream of the Holy Rood " — The North Anglian version of the poem graven on the cross — The .South Anglian version discovered in a manuscript — Its authorship — This cross a unique monument of early culture — Monuments inscribed in debased Roman characters — The Catstone near Edin- burgh — Special features of its inscription — Its type not Pagan but Christian — The associations of the monument — Christian type of the burials around it — The Catstone an early Christian monu- ment standing in an ancient Christian cemetery — The Yarrow Kirk monument — Special features of its inscription — The stone of the Apostle Peter at Whithorn — The types of its cross and its in- scription — The monuments at Kirkmadrine — The types of their crosses and inscriptions — The line of inscribed monuments ends at a point where another step would enter the period of the Roman domination in Scotland . . . Pages 226-256 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. ON SEPARATE PAGES. PACK The Monument, formerly at Hilton of Cadboll, now at Inver- gordon Castle. From a Photograph by Eev. J. B. Mac- kenzie ..... Frontisijiece. Sculptured Font from Kilmolruy, Loch Ejmort, Skye Vignette. The Monument at Dunfallandy, Perthshire (Obverse and Reverse). Two Plates. From Photographs by Mr. Magnus Jackson, Perth . . . . . .66 The Monument at Nigg, Ross-shire (Obverse and Reverse). Two Plates. From Photographs by Rev. J. B. Mackenzie, Kenmore ...... 106 IN THE TEXT. The Hiinterston Brooch (Front View) .... 2 Edges of the Hunterston Brooch, and Panels hid by the pin . 3 Back of the Hunterston Brooch . . . .4 Brooch of Silver, plated with gold, found at Rogart, Sutherland- shire ....... 7 Bird's Head Ornament on the Rogart Brooch . . .8 Brooch of Silver, with Gilt Ornament, found at Rogart . .10 Brooch of Bronze, found at Rogart . . . .10 Brooch of Bronze, with Zoomorphic Ornament, found in Mull . 1 2 Brooch of Bronze, with Interlaced Ornamentation, found in Mull 14 Brooch of Bronze, plain, found in Mull . . .15 Fragment of Silver Brooch found at Dunbeath, Caithness . 16 The Tara Brooch (Front View) . . . .18 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xiii PAGE The Tara Broocli (Back View) . . . .19 Brooch of Silver, inlaid with gold, found near Perth . .21 Brooch of Silver, with Chased Ornamentation, found near Perth 22 Brooch of Silver found at Croy, near Inverness . .23 Balance-beam of Bronze found at Croy . . .23 Hollow Band of Knitted Silver Wire found at Croy . .23 Silver Penny of Coenwulf, King of Mercia . . .24 Brooch of Silver found at Dunipace . . . .24 Brooch of Bronze, Glasgow . . . . .26 Brooch of Bronze of Celtic type from a Viking grave in Westray 29 Brooch of Silver of Celtic Form and Ornamentation dug up in Norway . . . . . . .31 Brooch of Silver found at Norrie's Law, Largo . . .37 Leaf- shaped Plate of Silver, with Symbols, found at Norrie's Law, Largo . . . . . .38 Pin of Silver, with ornamented Head, found at Norrie's Law, Largo . . . . . . .39 Disc of Silver, with Ornaniention of spiral and trumpet-shaped Scrolls, found at Norrie's Law, Largo . . .40 Band of Silver, with peculiar Ornamentation, found at Norrie's Law, Largo . . . . . .41 Silver Chain of Massive Double Links found in making the Caledonian Canal, near Inverness . . . .43 Silver Chain of Massive Double Links found at Parkhill, Aber- deenshire . . . . . . .43 Terminal Penannular Ring or Clasp of Silver Chain found at Parkhill ....... 44 Terminal Pennanular Ring or Clasp of Silver Chain found at Whitecleuch, Lanarkshire . . . . .44 Obverse of Bronze Plate found at Laws, Monifieth . .45 Reverse of Bronze Plate found at Laws, Monifieth . .46 Sculptured Monument at Aberlemno (Obverse) . .56 Sculptured Monument at Aberlemno (Reverse) . .57 Monument at Aberlemno, with incised Symbols . .59 Sculptured Monument at Kirriemuir (Obverse) . .61 Sculptured Monument at Kirriemuir (Reverse) . . 62 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAOE Sculptured Mouument at Glamis (Obverse) . . .64 Sculptured Monument at Glamis (Reverse) . . .65 Sculptured Monument at Meigle (Obverse) . . .70 Sculptured Monument at Meigle (Reverse) . . .71 Recumbent Monument at Inclicolm . . . .72 Monument, with Incised Symbols, at Logie, in tbe Gariocli . 75 Monument, with Incised Symbol, at Lynchurn, Speyside . 75 S}Tnbols on a Monumental Slab from Strome Shunamal, Ben- becula . . . . . . .76 Sculptured Monument at Migvie (Obverse) . . .77 Sculptured Monument at Migvie (Reverse) . . .77 Stone (broken), with Incised Figure of a Bull, at Burghead . 85 Stone, with Incised Figure of a Bull, at Burghead . .85 Stone, with Cross, in the Churchyard of Coldstone, Aberdeen- shire . ...... 86 Stone, with Cross, at lona, Cladli-an-Diseart . . .86 Stone, ^ith Incised Cross, at Ford, Argyllshire . .88 Stones, with. Incised Crosses, at Laggangarn, Wigtonshire . 89 Stone, viith. Incised Cross, from Mull of Sunnoness, Wigton- shire . . . . . . .90 Stone, with Incised Cross, at Daltallachan, Kircudbrightshire . 91 Stone, with Incised Cross, at Ratho, Midlothian . .91 Stone, -svith Incised Cross, at Hawkhill, Alloa . . .92 Stone, with Cross and Interlaced "Work, from Glenluce . .93 Stone, with Incised Crosses and Books, at Arbirlot . .94 Stone, with Incised Cross, at Mid-Clyth, Caithness . .94 Sculptured Monument at Rossie Priory (Obverse) . . 98 ■ Sculptured Monument at Rossie Priory (Reverse) . .99 Sculptured Monument at Invergo™e (Obverse) . .100 Panel of Interlaced Work, Meigle . . . .101 Panel of Interlaced Zooniorphic Ornament, Rosemarkie . 101 Panel of Fretwork and Spirals, Rosemarkie . . .102 Panel of Fretwork, Inchcolm . . . . .103 Panel of Fretwork, Keils . . . . .103 Panel of Fretwork, Jordanhi 11 . . . . .103 Spiral Ornament, Drainie . . . . .103 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV PAGE Sculptured Monument, Monifieth (Obverse) . . .104 Sculptured Monument, Monifieth (Eeverse) • . . .104 Panel of Spiral Ornament, Hilton of Cadboll . . .105 Sculptured Monument at Monifieth (Obverse) . . .106 Sculptured Monument at Monifieth (Reverse) . . .106 Panel of Spiral Ornament, Shandwick . . . .116 Symbol of the Double Disc at Ulbster . . .119 Symbol of the Beast with the Long Jaws and Scroll-like Feet, Brodie 1 20 Cross, with Human Face, at Killoran, Colonsay . .121 Stone, with Incised Figure of a Stag, from Knock-an-Fruich, Grantown ....... 122 Figures seated on Chairs, from the stone at Dunfallandy . 124 Cross at Kilmartin, Argyllshire (Obverse) . . .128 Cross at Kilmartin, Argyllshire (Reverse) . . .128 Cross at Oransay . . . . . .129 Temptation of Adam and Eve by the Serpent, and Noah in the Ark, on a sarcophagus at Velletri . . .144 Noah in the Ark, from the High Cross at Kells . .144 Daniel in the Den of Lion, on a sarcophagus at Ravenna . 145 Vessel of Glass of Fifth Century, mth representations of Scrip- tural subjects, from Podgoritza in Albania . . .146 Belt-clasp of Bronze, with representation of Daniel in the Den of Lions, from a Burgundian grave at Dailleus . .147 Adam and Eve at the Tree ; the Sacrifice of Isaac ; and Daniel in the Den of Lions, on the Moone Abbey Cross . .149 Daniel in the Den of Lions, on a stone at St. Vigeans . .149 Daniel in the Den of Lions, on the Cross called St. Martin's at lona . . . . . . .150 Daniel in the Den of Lions, and Jonah and the Whale, on a sar- cophagus at Velletri . . . . .151 Jonah and the Whale (the Wliale represented as a quadruped), from the Vatican Codex . . . . .153 Jonah and the Whale (the Whale represented as a quadruped), on the stone at Woodwray (now at Abbotsford) . .154 The Raising of Lazarus, on a sarcophagus at Ravenna . .155 The Raising of Lazarus, on a cross-shaft at St. Andrews . 155 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAGK Tlie Destruction of Pharaoh's Host in the Ked Sea, on a frag- ment of a sarcophagus at Aries . . . .156 The Destruction of Pharaoh's Host, on a stone at Dunkeld . 157 The Ascension of Elijah, and the Bear tearing the Children that mocked Elisha, on a stone at Meigle . . .158 The Ascension of Elijah, from the Vatican Codex . .159 The Monument at Farnell (Obverse and Keverse) . .161 The Tigress and the Mirror, on a stone at Newbiggin of Leslie, Aberdeenshire . . . . . .170 Symbol of the Double Disc, at Logic in the Garioch . .176 Symbol of the Double Disc, with the Bent Eod, at Insch, Aber- deenshire . . . . . .176 Symbol of the House-like form, with the Bent Eod, at Arndilly 177 Symbol of the Lily-like form at Dunnichen . . .177 Mirror and Comb, on the Maiden Stone, Garioch . .178 Serpent, with the Bent Eod, at Newton in the Garioch . 179 Stone, with Symbols, used as the cover of a cist at Dunrobin, Sutherlandshire . . . . . .181 Figures of Animals in Jonathan's Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . 184 Crosses, Figures of Birds, and Symbols in the Doo Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . . . . . .185 Symbol, on a stone at Kintradwell, Sutherlandshire . .185 Symbol of the Beast with the Long Jaws and Scroll-like Feet in the Doo Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . . .185 Figure of a Fish in Jonathan's Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . 185 Symbol of the Double Disc, with the Bent Eod, in the Doo Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . . . . .186 Lily -like figure in the Doo Cave, East Wemyss, Fife . .186 Inscribed Monument at St. Vigeans, Forfarshire (Obverse and Reverse) . . . . . .193 Edge of the Monument at St. Vigeans . . . .194 Edge of the Monument at St, Vigeans, with Inscription . 195 The Inscription on the St. Vigeans Monument . . .197 Inscribed Monument at Logic in the Garioch . . .203 Edge of the St. Ninian's Stone, Shetland . . .205 Inscribed Monument from Bressay, Shetland (Eeverse) . . 206 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvii PAGE Inscribed Monument from Bressay, Shetland (Obverse) . .207 Inscribed Monument from Lunnasting, Shetland . .209 The Ogham Kev, from the Book of Leinster . . .216 Inscription on the Newton Stone, Aberdeenshire . .218 The Newton Stone, Aberdeenshire . . . .219 Kune-inscribed Stone from Cunningsburgh, Shetland . .227 Rune-inscribed Monument from Kilbar, Barra (Obverse and Reverse) ....... 229 Edges and Obverse of Rune-inscribed Cross at Kirk Braddan, Isle of Man . . . . . .232 Obverse of the Shaft of the Ruth well Cross . . .234 Reverse of the Shaft of the Ruth well Cross . , .235 Edge of the Ruth well Cross, inscribed with Runes . .238 Edge of the Ruthwell Cross, inscribed with Runes . . 239 The Catstone, Kirkliston ..... 248 Inscribed Monument at Yarrow-Kirk, Selkirkshire . .251 Inscribed Monument at Whithorn . . . .252 Inscribed Monuments at Kirkmadrine, Wigtonshire . . 254 LECTURE L (4th October 1880.) DECOEATIYE METAL -WORK, BKOOCHES, ETC. Ix tlie autumn of 1826 a shepherd passing along the hill- side of Hunterston, about six miles from Largs, picked up a flattened ring of metal which he observed partially protrud- ing from the soil. A square-headed pin, broken at the point, was attached to the ring by a loop at the back. The article was thus evidently a brooch, but it was remarkable for its unusual size, its peculiar form, and the excessive richness and beauty of its ornamentation. Having passed into the possession of Mr. Hunter of Hunterston, the brooch of Hun- terston is now recognised as an example of artistic work in gold and silver which has few equals of its kind. Its size is unusual. It measures 4J inches in its shortest and 4f inches in its longest diameter, and the pin, though broken, is 5 J inches in length. Its form (Fig. 1) is peculiar. It is a flattened ring of silver, half-an-inch in width, expanding from both sides sjm- metrically to two inches in width at the widest part ; and an apparent separation of the whole form into two symmetrical portions is indicated by the median line of the brooch. The narrow part of the ring, and its expansions are bordered by raised margins, and their surfaces are also divided into panels or sunk spaces of different shapes and sizes, arranged symmetrically. The expanded head of the pin is simi- B 2 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. larly treated. Circular settings of amber are inserted at the corners of the triangular spaces, and the smaller panels of rectangular form are also filled with settings of amber. Fig. 1. — The Huuterston Brooch — Front view (4| inches diameter). The decorative metal-work of the brooch is peculiar, both in its workmanship and in the character of its art. It is a species of filigree having the appearance of granulated work implanted on gold plates. The character of the art is zoo- morphic, the patterns consisting chiefly of serpentine and DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 3 lacertine creatures, twisted and interlaced in the manner so characteristic of that school of Celtic art which produced the illuminated decorations of the manuscripts of the Gospels. Besides this zoomorphic decoration of the front of the brooch. Fig. 2. — Edges of the Hunterston Brooch, and panels hid by the pin. there are panels of simple interlaced work on the edges (Fig. 2), and panels on the back (Fig. 3), decorated with that pecu- liar form of the diverging spiral and trumpet pattern which is characteristic of no art but Celtic art. There is thus no feature of design in the decoration of this brooch which is not also found in the decoration of the Celtic manuscripts of the Gos- pels. Its art is therefore the Celtic art of the Christian period. But there is more to be said of it than this. The ele- gance of its designs is almost equal to that of the best manuscripts. The skill of its workmanship is such that it is questionable whether it could be greatly surpassed by the most skilful art workmanship of the present day. It is only when its details are examined with a magnifying glass that the fitness and beauty of their minutest rendering becomes fully apparent. Whether we consider it in its relation to this peculiar school of art, or in relation to the knowledge of technical processes and the delicacy and skill of its workman- ship, we must regard it as a work of art of no common merit. It is true that it may not commend itself to existing tastes as an article of dress. But its qualities as a work of art are to be judged by the rules of art, and not by the freaks 4 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHPJSTLA.N TIMES. which mould the fleeting forms of fashion. Its design, its ornamentation, and its workmanship, all alike tell of a time when there was a feeling for art so pure, and a capacity for art-workmanship so high, that if it be difficult to estimate Fig. 3. — Back of the Himterstou Broocli (f iuches diameter). their comparative relation to those of the present day, it is at least impossible to say of their manifestations that they are weak, ineffective, or contemptible. On the contrary, it is possible to say of them, with confidence, that they possess DECOKATIVE METxVL-WOEK, BROOCHES, ETC. 5 the special qualities which give excellence alike to art and to workmanship. It is even possible to go farther, and say that he would now be considered an artist of eminence who should produce a design of equal merit, and he a workman of uncommon skill who should render it with equal delicacy and effectiveness. There is still another point of high interest connected with this brooch. It bears on the plain portion of the back of the flattened ring the autographs of two of its former owners, scratched with a point in the surface of the silver (Fig. 3). Both inscriptions are in the later and more local variety of the Eunic alphabet, which is known as Scandinavian, and is thus distinguished from the earlier and more widely diffused variety known as Old ISTorthern. It can even be said of these letters thus scratched on the back of the brooch, that they belong to a special variety of the Scandinavian Eunes, which was confined to an area so circumscribed as to comprehend only the islands of the west coast of Scotland.-^ The inscriptions themselves are simple. They are mere markings of ownership, which have been read as follows : — (1), Maelbritha owns this brooch ; and (2), Olfriti owns THIS BROOCH. The inscriptions are Scandinavian in cha- racter,^ but the name of the first ow^ner, Maelbritha, is Celtic, ^ The rune which here stands for the letter h is the rune which usually, in all other inscriptions, except those found on the west coast of Scotland, stands for the letter o. This use of o for h, says Professor Munch, "is espe- cially characteristic, and altogether peculiar to this class of inscriptions," which he has called the Sodor gi'oup, because it is a constant characteristic of the inscriptions in the Isle of Man. — Memoires de la Soc. des Antiq. du Nord., 1845-49, p. 194. ^ There are various readings of these rudely-scratched inscriptions, and their decipherment has been made the subject of several papers, e.g. — Finn Magnusen in the Annaler for Nordisk Oldkindyghed og Historie, 1846, pj). 323, 399 ; P. A. Munch in the Memoires de la Societedes Antiquaires du Nord, 1845-49, p. 202; Dr. Wilson in the Prehistoric Annals of Scotland {second edition), 1863, vol. ii. pp. 267-277 ; Professor Dr. George Stephens in The 6 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. and both the names are such as were common among the Gallgael, or mixed population of the Norwegian kingdom of the Western Isles. The forms of the Runes indicate a date for the inscriptions of somewhere about the tenth century, and this would agree with the period when Celtic art- workmanship was rising towards its highest expression. The art of the brooch, as I have shown, is Celtic, and the inscriptions are such as would be carved by natives of that restricted area, whose population was partly of Norwegian and partly of Celtic origin. It is possible that in this mixed area a Norwegian or Scandinavian form of brooch might be decorated with Celtic art. This brooch presents a very special form, and the next point in our inquiry will there- fore be, whether that special form is Celtic or Scandinavian — in other words, whether it is a form which is typical. The answer to this inquiry will be furnished by the examination of a series of brooches, decorated with the same art, which have been found from time to time in various parts of Scotland. In the course of the formation of the Sutherland Railway through the parish of Rogart in 1868, a large earth -fast boulder was blasted, and in clearing away the fragments one OM Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia ami England, vol. ii. j^p. 589-599. In this magnificent work Professor Stephens has taken pains to give the brooch the prominence which it deserves, by full-sized illustrations in the colours of the original, and a copious discussion of the critical character and details of the inscriptions. These illustrations were subsequently repro- duced in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. vii., 1870, and in the Archaeological and Historical Collections relating to the Counties of Ayr and Wigton, issued by the Ayr and "Wigton Archaeological Association, 1878, accompanied in both cases by an abridgment of Professor Stephens's remarks on the brooch and its inscriptions. As I am not dealing critically with the inscriptions, these references to accessible sources of infor- mation on the subject will sufiice. I am indebted to the learned Professor for permission to reproduce his engi'avings of the brooch. DECOExVTIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 7 of the workmen found in the soil underneath the boulder a hoard of brooches. He immediately left his work and disap- peared. The number of the brooches was never ascertained ; but in his progress southwards the man left two of them with a shopkeeper in Alness, and these two are now in the posses- sion of Mr. Macleod of Cadboll, by whom they were exhibited to the Society in 1870.-^ A third passed into the possession of the Duke of Sutherland, and is now in the museum at Dunrobin. Fig. 4. — Brooch of Silver, plated with gold, found at Eogart, Sutherlandshire (4| inches diameter). Of the two which are now called the Cadboll brooches, the largest (Fig. 4) measures 4J inches in diameter, the pin being 7f inches in length. The body of the brooch, which is a flattened band of silver, three-quarters of an inch in width, ^ Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotlccad, vol. p. 305. 8 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. bent into a circular or slightly horse-shoe shape, terminates at each of the two extremities in an expansion of circular form. Eouncl tliis expansion are placed four semicircular compartments, separated from each other and from the central circular compartment by raised borders. The circular compartment has an amber setting in the centre. Eound this central setting is a space of an inch in diameter, enclosed within a plain raised border, and intersected by four parti- tions dividing it into four equal compartments. Each of these compartments is filled by a thin plate of gold, on the surface of which is a tooled pattern of interlaced work of great beauty and delicacy. From each of the four semi- circular spaces arranged around the circumference of the central circle there rises part of the body and neck of a (Actual size.) broad-billed bird (Fig. 5). The eyes have been set with green glass. The neck bends grace- fully, and the long flattened bill dips into the interior of the en- Fig. 5.— Bird's head ornament closed circle. These birds' heads on the Brooch. ^^^^i secured by a central rivet passing through the body of the brooch. They are plain on the uj)per part, but ornamented towards the base with parallel lines arranged in triangular spaces. On the central portion of the semicircular band forming the body of the brooch there is a similarly enclosed circular space, with a setting of amber in the centre. This enclosed circular space is also divided into four segments filled with gold plates, ornamented with similar patterns of interlaced work, and surmounted on either side by similar heads of broad-billed birds. The parts of the ring of the brooch intervening between this central portion and the expanded extremities are both traversed by a raised partition parallel to the raised borders of the band, and intersected also in the middle of their length by a cross DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 9 partition. Each side of the ring of the brooch is thus divided into four sunk panels, which are filled alternately by similar and symmetrical panels of interlaced work. The pin of the brooch expands at the head into an oval containing a central setting, and round it a pattern of intricately worked inter- lacements, which are continued in different varieties of pattern down the front of the pin. The brooch thus presents twenty-one different panels of interlaced work in gold, ten panels occupied by birds' heads, and twenty-four settings of amber and glass. It differs from the Hunterston brooch in being more markedly penannular in its form. It presents distinctly the opening between the expanded ends, which was merely indicated in the Hunter- ston brooch. It differs also in the character of its ornamenta- tion, which consists of simple interlacements forming regular patterns symmetrically arranged. It differs besides in pre- senting a bolder ornament of free-standing birds' heads — an ornament which, though present on the edges of the Hunterston brooch, is there used in a subordinate manner. Yet, with all these differences of style, it is manifest that the art of both these brooches is of the same school. In point of fact, when the comparison is made, it becomes evident that there is no feature of the art of either brooch that is not found in the illuminated pages of the Celtic manuscripts of the Gospels. The second of the Cadboll brooches (Fig. 6) is smaller and simpler in character than the first. It is, however, of the same variety of form, a penannular band of silver,-^ expanding at the extremities into a circular compart- ment, which is not quartered as in the larger speci- ^ Dr. Stevenson Macadam, who analysed the metal of ^Yllich these brooches are composed, states that they are made of silver alloyed with copper, the proportion of the latter metal being rather higher than in the sterling or coin silver of our own time, while the plating and inlajang of the ornamental parts is of gold. — Troc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. viii. p. 308. 10 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. men, but surrounded by three compartments of semi- circular form, with a small circular setting at each of the three intersections. The ornamentation of these circular Fig. 6. — Silver Brooch with gilt ornament found at Rogart (3 inches in diameter). and semicircular spaces consists of delicately executed inter- laced work, in patterns of great beauty and intricacy, richly gilt or plated with gold. The central portion of the band forming the body of the brooch is similarly ornamented ; but the intervening spaces on either side are plain, and the band itself, instead of being flat and having sunk panels filled with patterns in gold, has a rounded surface of burnished silver. The contrast thus presented is pleasing and effective, and the art -workmanship is even more delicately exe- Fig. 7. — Bronze Brooch found at Rogart (If inches diameter). cuted than in the larger brooch. The third of the Sutherlandshire brooches (Fig. 7) is smaller and plainer, but neither ineffective nor inelegant in DECOEATIYE METAL-WOllK, BROOCHES, ETC. 11 design. It is of the same variety of form as the other two, but differs from them both in its material and in the charac- ter of its ornamentation. It is of bronze, plated -^ ith silver. The expanded ends of the penannular band of the brooch are ornamented with bosses, and the pin is simply decorated with sunk spaces filled with engraved parallel lines. Looking now for a moment at the general characteristics of these Sutherland brooches, we see that they are no less remarkable for their specialty of form than for the character of their decoration. They present varieties of ornament which difier in certain features of style and treatment from those of the Hunterston brooch ; but like it they present only such patterns and character of design as we have seen con- stantly exhibited in the decorative art of the Celtic manu- scripts. They therefore disclose the existence of a class of ornamental metal-work not necessarily ecclesiastical in origin or use, the decoration of which is pervaded by the spirit of the school of art which produced these manuscripts. These three brooches are aU that are now known to exist of the hoard that was found under the boulder at Eogart. The rest have probably been melted as bullion. Xotliing can arrest the continued destruction of similar objects but the wide dissemination of the knowledge that their mere metallic value is far exceeded by their interest and value as works of art ; that they reveal to us a lost style of art which it may be to the ultimate advantage of the decorative artificer of modern times to study and to imitate ; and that they show us how effectively the sim^jlest materials and the simplest modes of decoration may be associated with beauty of form and purity of design. But they possess a still stronger interest — not of a technical kind, and therefore not neces- sarily confined to a single class of individuals — an interest arising from the fact that they disclose to us the existence in Scotland of an art-faculty of which without them we could 12 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTLIX TIMES. have had no conception, and therefore an interest which must Fig. 8. — Bronze Brooch foiiud in Mull (4| inches diameter). necessarily diffuse itself as widely as the existence of culture and taste in the community. I now proceed to notice other specimens of the same DECORATIVE METxVL-WOEK, BROOCHES, ETC. 13 description of ornamental metal -work, some of which are equally high, and others perhaps even higher in character, although, from their general resemblance to those that have been already examined, it is not necessary to describe them with such minuteness of detail. A bronze brooch (Fig. 8) found some years ago in the Island of Mull, and now deposited in the Museum by Professor Duns, exhibits the same character of decoration.^ It is of the same penannular form, consisting of a flattened band of metal which expands towards the extremities. As in the Hunterston brooch, animals' heads are introduced as marmnal ornaments at the junction of the ring with the expanded por- tions. The decoration of these portions consists of zoomorphic ornament in the central panel, and simple interlaced work in the others. The pin, which is seven inches in length, has a square head, in the centre of which there has been a circular setting, which forms the centre ornament of a lozenge- shaped space with curved edges, the four ends of which are also ornamented with circular settings ; the quadrants formed by this figure intersecting the square are filled with panels of interlaced work. The junction of the pin with its expanded head is ornamented by the figure of an animal's head. Two large circular settings are placed in the angles of the expanded ends of the brooch, and the angles at the ends facing each other are ornamented by groups of three rect- angular settings. There are thus seventeen panels of inter- laced patterns, four of zoomorphic patterns, and nineteen settings on the face of this brooch. Like the Hunterston brooch the back is also ornamented, though not so profusely. The ornamentation of the back of the brooch (shown in the small figure below the brooch) (Fig. 8) consists of two panels of zoomorphic patterns on the expanded portion, surrounded ^ These Mull brooches have been described by Professor Duns in the Troc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. L, Xew Series, p. 67. 14 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CIirJSTIAX TIMES. by engTaved patterns of interlaced work. The whole of the designs on the front of the brooch are in high relief, plated with gold. On this account, as well as in consequence of the metal being bronze, this brooch has not the elegance or Fig. 9. — Bronze Brooch found in Mull (actual size). the delicacy of workmanship of those that are executed in silver. But notwithstanding this, it is still a very beautiful example of this pecidiar style ; and when the metal retained the oriijinal lustre of its surface, and the coloured setting's DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 15 were in their places, it must have had an appearance of gorgeous magnificence which the refinement and delicacy of the silver brooches would fail to convey. Another bronze brooch of the same character (Fig. 9), but less elaborate in its decoration, was also found in Mull some time previous to 1854. It consists of a flat penannular ring with expanded ends ; the opening between the expanded ends of the ring is partially closed by a square socket for a setting, and there are circular settings at the junction of the expanded portions with the ring of the brooch. The triangular compartments of the expanded parts are plain, but may have been filled by the insertion of decorated plates of thin gold as in other examples. The panels bordering these triangular spaces are filled with interlaced patterns, and the narrower part of the ring is divided into three panels, also filled with interlaced work. The pin is round and plain. A third brooch of bronze, found in Mull (Fig. 10), is of the same penannular form, with expanded ends. It differs, however, from the others, inasmuch as it is almost destitute of sur- face decoration. The ring, which is rounded instead of being flat, terminates at its junction with the expanded and flattened portions in a zoomorphic ending, simulating the head of an animal. Fig. 10. — Bronze Brooch found in Mull (2f inches diameter). 16 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. A man digging a drain between his own dwelling and the public road at Dunbeath in Caith- ness, in 1860, brought up a circular ring of metal on the point of his pick. It was broken by the pick, and he handed a fragment of it (Fig. 11) to a bystander, who put it in his pocket as a curiosity, and afterwards de- posited it in the trunk in which he kept his general possessions. Some time afterwards he removed to Edinburgh, and the thing lay toss- ing about in the trunk for eighteen years, till one evening, when search- ing for some papers in the presence of a friend, he came across the frag- ment, and showed it to his friend, Fig. 11.— Fragment of Silver who happened to know Something Marshall, who brought it to me, and allowed me to acquire it for the Museum. It was, without exception, the most beau- tifully-executed specimen of Celtic goldsmith's work that I had ever seen in Scotland, although unfortunately but a mere fragment of a brooch. Having obtained its story, I wrote to the finder, inquiring whether the rest of the brooch could not be recovered.^ It was obvious from his reply that he had ^ His reply was decisive, but at the same tirae so cliaracteristic that I am tempted to give it. He says : — "I received your letter concerning the old brooch that was found here this long time back. I have to inform you that I have got none of this old brooch, and I don't knoAv of any one in this place that has got any of this old stuff you speak about. The time is so long since it was got, that everything about it is out of sight and mind here. As far as I recollect I vnM give you all the information I can about the way this old brooch was got. I got it in a drain or sink that I was making out from the Brooch, inlaid with gold, found at Dunbeath, Caithness (actual size). of metal -work. The result was that it was shown to Mr. John DECORATIVE METAL- WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 17 examined the broocli witli care, and that its unusual charac- teristics had impressed themselves strongly upon his memory ; but it was equally obvious that the idea of its being a work of art, and worthy of being preserved on that account, had never entered his mind. He naturally felt surprise at the inquiry ; but he was quite unconscious that a little special knowledge was all that was needed to make this apparently worthless object the most precious thing he had ever pos- sessed. Intrinsically it was worth only a few shillings, but as an example of Celtic art, and a specimen of exquisitely beautiful art-workmanship, it would have been difficult to estimate its value. Judging from the fragment wliich has thus been preserved by the strangest of accidents, it could have had few competitors in the market of the world. The highest efforts of Greek and Eoman art, as applied to the precious metals, are comparatively common, but the highest efforts of Celtic art are excessively rare. The Tara brooch (Figs. 12 and 13), the finest specimen of its kind, though originally sold by the finder to a watchmaker for a few pence, is now price- less.-^ The silver chalice decorated with Celtic ornament of house. The pick that I had working the drain came at it, and disfigured the whole apparatus out of its form. The brooch looked to me as it was placed on a fine sash of leather or cloth, because I got an imitation of this about it. All the dices in the circle, there was a fine stone in the heart of them all, of eveiy colour. As soon as it was touched they all fell out of their sockets and places. There was something similar to a Roman Catholic cross in the middle of this old brooch, and a great deal of other articles attached to it. The whole of it was watered with gold, or some stuff or other. The whole of it was made up as this corner you have got, only there was a cross coming through the centre of it, and all the dices a fine stone of every colour in every one of them. This is all the information I can give about this old brooch." 1 The follo^ving paragi'aph occurs in the account of the Tara Brooch, given by the Messrs. Waterhouse, jewellers, Dublin: — "On the 24:th of August 1850, a poor woman, who stated that her children had picked up this brooch near the sea, offered it for sale to the proprietor of an old u'on shop in Drogheda, who refused to purchase so light and insignificant an article. It was subsequently bought by a watchmaker in the town, who, after cleaning C SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTL\N TIMES. Fio-. 12.— The Tara Broocli— Front view (actual size). Fig. 13.— The Tara Brooch— Back view 20 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES similar character, wliicli was dug up in a potato plot at Arclagb, though intrinsically worth only its weight in silver, was recently purchased by the Government for £700, that it might be placed in the Museum of the Eoyal Irish Academy as an instructive specimen of high-class native art. It is improper to foster among those that are incapable of ap- preciating artistic qualities the blind cupidity which ascribes a fabulous value to what it does not understand ; but it is necessary to make it widely known that high art, wherever it exists, will always be valued in proportion to its excellence and rarity ; and that this value can only be obtained where the knowledge exists of what constitutes excellence and rarity. Mr. Andrew Heiton, Architect, Perth, has exhibited in the Museum two brooches which were found somewhere in that neighbourhood. Both are of silver, and one (Fig. 14) is orna- mented in the style of the Sutherlandshire brooches. It bears a marked resemblance to the laro'er of the three found under the boulder at Eogart, alike in its form and in having raised orna- ments of animals' heads arranged round the central circular panels of the expanded terminations of the penannular ring of the brooch. The small semicircular panels at the junction of the ring with the expanded part are filled with thin gold plates, of which the ornamentation is zoomorphic, consisting of intertwined serpentine or lacertine creatures, in beaded or granulated work. The ornaments of the thin gold plates of the circular panels are similar in character and similarly pro- and examining it, proceeded to Dublin, and disposed of it to us for nearly as many pounds as lie had given pence for it ; and after having exhibited it at the International Exhibitions in London, Paris, and Dublin, we sold it a short time ago to the Royal Irish Academy for £200, on the express condition that it should never be allowed to leave Ireland ; other-\vise we could have disposed of it for a much larger sum. — Antique Irish Broodies, by Waterhouse and Co. Dublin, 1872, p. 7. I am indebted to Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt for the illustra- tions of this beautiful brooch. DECOEATIYE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 21 ducecl. The work, however, is inferior in delicacy to that of the Sutherland brooches, but the ornamentation of the ring by a series of pointed bosses, closely set on either side of the Fig. li. — Silver Brooch, inlaid ^y^th. gold, found near Perth (54 inches in length). central moulding, is extremely effective. Mr. Helton's other brooch (Fig. 15), is wholly of silver, ornamented with bold designs in chased work, partly of a zoomorphic character. In May 1875 a girl, planting potatoes in a field at Croy, Inverness-shire, found among the earth of the drills turned up by the plough a silver brooch of this penannular form 22 SCOTLAXD IX EAELY CHRISTIAX TIMES. (Fig. 16).^ The body of the brooch is plain, 3 inches in diameter, the ends expanding in the form of circular discs, in which are amber settings, surrounded by a double rope-like moulding. Fig. 15. — Silver Brooch foimd near Perth (8i inches in length). The ends of the circular ring or body of the brooch are finished with a zoomorphic feeling as of the head of an animal holding the disc in its widely extended jaws. The centre of the ring forming the upper part of the brooch has 1 Through the good offices of Rev. Thomas Fraser, Minister of Croy, this brooch and the objects found with it were obtained for the Museum, They were described by me in the Proceedings of the Society, vol ix. p. 588. DECOEATIVE METAL-WOKK, BROOCHES, ETC. 23 an oblong sunk panel, ^vitli a circular amber setting, and interlaced ornaments on either side. The brooch was broken, Fig. 16. — Silver Brooch found at Croy (3 inches in diameter). and the pin was not found. But along with it there were found a number of other articles, indicating that it had formed part -Bronze Balance-beam (broken) found at Croy, Inverness-shire. of a hoard of valuables deposited in the earth. These other articles were, — (1) part of the bronze balance-beam of a small pair of scales (Fig. 17), a common equipment of the travelling merchant at a time when the country possessed no coinage of its own, and all barter was by bullion weight of the precious metals ; (2) a portion of a hollow band of silver wire'(rig. 18), the wire being of the thickness of a fine thread, and the chain or band about half an inch dia- Fig. 18.— Hollow Band of Knitted Silver-wire found meter, and knitted with the ordinary at Croy (6 inches long). stocking-stitch; (3) a number of beads, of which four were preserved, two being of glass with spots 24 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. of coloured enamels, and two of amber ; and (4) two silver coins, of wliich only one (Fig. 19) was preserved. It is a penny of Coenwulf, Iving of Mercia, wlio reigned from A.D. 795 to 818. The time when this hoard was deposited was there- fore subsequent to the close of the eighth centur}^, and this gives us an approximate indication of Fig. 19. — Silver Penny of Coen-s\iilf, found at Croy (Obverse and Reverse). the period of the type of these penannular brooches. Itis notice- able that the art of this liroQch does not possess the special cha- racter of the art of the manu- scripts. The inference is, that in the Croy brooch we have an ex- ample of the style of the earher portion of the period of the type of these penannular brooches, before the characteristic decora- tion of that period had been fully developed. In the examples which foUow we shall find indications of a decadence of style, characteristic of the later portion of the period of the type. A smaUer brooch (Fig. 20), found in the neighbourhood of Dunipace, Stirlingshire, is ornamented with interlaced work in panels on the body of the brooch, and zoomorphic patterns Fig. 20. — Silver Brooch, with set- tings of amber, found at Duni- pace, Stirlingshire (actual size). DECOEATIYE METAL-WOEK, BROOCHES, ETC. 25 on the expanded part. It differs in some respects from those previously described. The pin is longer in proportion to the size of the brooch, and is hinged upon a constriction of the ring of the brooch. Tliis last feature, which is not present in the larger brooches of fine workmanship, is constant in the later form of brooch known as the Highland plaid brooch, w^hich is quite circular instead of penannular in shape, and presents, as the prevailing form of its ornamentation, an exceedingly debased style of interlaced work, associated with foliageous scrolls.-^ It will be also observed that this brooch, though symmetrically penannular in form, has the opening closed by a lenticular setting of amber, and the large central setting has the rude irregularity characteristic of late work. The hinging of the head of the pin upon a constriction of the ring, the closing of the opening between the ends of the pen- annular ring, and the rude character of the central setting, are all features that are departures from the purity of the penannular type in the direction of the type which succeeded it, circular in form and debased in the style of its ornamenta- tion. The same characteristics of decadence in style are appa- rent in the case of another small brooch (Fig. 21), also in the Museum, which was rescued from among old brass in a brazier's shop in Glasgow. Instead of interlaced work, the ring of this brooch is decorated with a rope-like pattern, and the zoo- morphic ornaments of the expanded ends have lost the conventional Celticism that distinguished the art in its best efforts. Like the previous brooch, the open centre is filled 1 "When -we come to examine the mode in which the beautiful interlaced work so characteristic of the earlier phase of Celtic art, as manifested in the sculpture of the stone monuments, became debased and finally died out, we shall see it passing through the same change of expression, taking a more and more foliageous character, and ultimately giving way to a series of designs that are simple wavy scrolls of conventional foliage. 2G SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. with an ornament wliicli in this case consists of a triquetra- like form, with three small settings in the angles. Another specimen in the Museum combines the ordinary form of penannular brooch with an encircled cross decorated with interlaced work of feebly Celtic character. It has a hinge and catch at the back for the pin, and thus belongs to the later group, retaining the typi- cal form and ornamentation, with a distinct transitional character. I have now described all the examples of this form of brooch that are known to exist in Scotland, except one. To that one I shall refer in a special connection. In the meantime I desire to direct attention to the fact which these descrip- tions have disclosed — that we have been dealing with a kind of brooch which possesses a marked individuality of charac- ter, both as regards its form and its style of ornament. Its form is no less peculiar than the style of ornament with which it is associated. It is not a disc, like the Anglo- Saxon brooches, nor oval and Fig. 21. — Bronze Brooch, Glasgow i i ti j_i n t (actual size). bowl-shapcd like the Scandi- DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 27 navian brooches,-^ nor a flattened circular ring like the later Higliland brooches. It is penannular, that is, it is a ring which is not continuous, but has an opening, real or appa- rent, between its two ends. This is the special feature which makes this peculiar form of brooch a typical form. Even when the two ends of the ring are joined, as in the Hunterston brooch, the expanded ends are treated with reference to their ornament, not as if they formed part of a continuous ring, but as if they were two symmetrical endings which did not require to be joined. It thus appears that the typical form of the brooch with which we have been dealing is a form that is penannular, with flattened and expanded ends. It is further apparent, from the descriptions that have been given of the style of their decoration, that this typical form is associated with a style of ornament which is also typical. In my former Lectures I have shown that this style of ornament is cha- racteristic of the manuscripts of the Gospels, and of their cumdachs or covers, decorated with engraved or filigree or repousse work in gold and silver, as well as of the bell- shrines, crosiers, and reliquaries of the early Celtic Church. I have also shown that this style of art, which is thus cha- racteristic of these objects of Christian use and Christian time, is a style which is Celtic, and Celtic exclusively. It has been demonstrated, therefore, that the ornament of these brooches is Celtic ornament in the style of the Christian time. But we have still to determine the area of their typical form. That form is distinctly defined. It does not merge into other forms, so as to raise questions of where the type begins and ends. The eye that has once caught it cannot ^ The form and the character of the art of the Scandinavian oval bowl- shaped brooches found in Scotland in Viking graves will be fully discussed in a subsequent Lecture in connection with other relics of the Viking period. 28 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CIIRISTIAX TIMES. mistake it for any other. When we examine the records of its occurrence, we find that it is widely distributed over Scotland, and plentiful in Ireland. A few sporadic examples occur in England, all, so far as known, derived from the northern districts. I know of no example in the museums of France or Germany or Denmark. The form is therefore characteristic of the Celtic area. But it also occurs in certain special associations within and beyond that area, which demand our attention because they are associations which the Celtic origin of the form and the Christian character of the decoration would fail to explain. It is, therefore, necessary to describe these exceptional associations, and to determine their significance. There was presented to the Museum ui 1851 by Mr. William Eendall, surgeon at Pierowall, in the island of Wes- tray, Orkney, a bronze oval bowl-shaped brooch, a penannular brooch, and various iron relics, including a hatchet, a spear- head, and a portion of the iron boss of a shield, " all found in one of a remarkable group of graves in the links there." These graves are called remarkable because they present phenomena that were then unfamiliar to the Scottish archae- ologists. Such phenomena are exceptional in this country, and they are now known to be confined to certain limited areas of the north and west, chiefly in the islands of Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides. It is now also known that these phenomena owe their remarkable character to the fact that the graves in which they are present are stragglers from a parent group which has its home on a foreign soil, and that the reason why they differ so widely in character from all other graves in Scotland is that they are not Scottish but ISTorwegian. The forms of the axe, the boss of the shield, the spear-head of iron, and the bowl-shaped brooch of bronze, found in this grave in Westray, are all forms which only occur exceptionally in Scotland and in Ireland ; but they are DECORATIVE METAL-WOEK, BROOCHES, ETC. 29 forms which occur constantly in Norway. In the extensive collections in that country derived from the graves of their heathen Viking time, they are the prevailing features, and instances of their occurrence may be numbered by hundreds. But in this Westray grave there was associated with this heathen manner of burial, and with these exclusively Nor- Fig. 22. — Celtic Broocli of Bronze from a Viking grave in Westray. wegian types of objects, a brooch (Fig. 22) of the special form and character of art which I have shown to be Celtic and of Christian time. It is penannular in form, with flattened and expanded ends, decorated with interlaced work in panels, and with settings of blue glass. The pin is long, flat, swelling at the head and loosely looped on the ring of the brooch, as is the case with most of the specimens which I have described. This is not a solitary instance of this apparently incongruous association, though it is the only one known in Scotland. In the Museum at Christiania there is a beautiful brooch of this type (Fig. 23) — as beautiful as any of those we have in this country. It was dug up in the glebe of the parish of Snaasen, in North Trondheim, before 1836, along with a pair 30 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. of the oval bowl-sliaped brooches, peculiar to the Scandi- navian Viking time.-^ It is presumed that the deposit was from a grave-mound, but the research was not then made with the precision requisite for scientific purposes ; and we cannot therefore do more in this case than cite the fact of such a brooch having been found in the soil of Norway along with brooches that are distinctively Norwegian and of the Yiking time. But there are other cases in which the testi- mony is more distinct. For instance, in a grave-mound opened in 1847 at Vambheim,^ among ashes and burnt bones, and associated with a group of objects like those of the Westray grave — the usual accompaniments of Yiking burial — there was found a penannular brooch of bronze, with expanded ends, decorated with interlaced work, and having a panel of interlaced work also in the middle of the ring. It shows how characteristic are the form and the orna- mentation, that Mr. Lorange, in liis Catalogue of the Bergen Museum, is able to say of it : " This brooch is undoubtedly of Scottish or Irish origin." In like manner. Professor Eygh, describing the beautiful brooch of this form (Fig. 23), to which I have referred as found in association with bowl-shaj)ed brooches of the Viking period, has no difficulty in pronounc- ing it Celtic. In fact, so different is Celtic art from Scandi- navian art, and so true is it that such separate areas as Scandinavia and Britain have each their own typical forms, that there is never the least hesitation among Scandinavian archaeologists in a case of this kind. They are so familiar with the art and the forms of their own area, that they recognise at once every such straggler from a foreign group as a stranger from a strange land. Even when the object bears a form which is less local than that of a brooch, the character 1 Isicolaysen's NmsTce Fornlevninger, Cliristiania, 1866, p. 659. - Samlingen of KorsTce Oldsager i Bergen's Museum, ved A. Loraiige, Bergeu, 1876, p. 152. DECORATIVE ]\IETAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 31 of its art suffices to indicate its extraction. Thus, in 1846, in a sepulchral cairn at Berclal, in Norway,^ along with the usual accompaniments of a heathen burial, consisting of a clay urn, an iron spear-head, two oval bowl-shaped brooches. Fig. 23, — Silver Brooch of Celtic form and ornamentation dug up in Norway. (From Professor Rygh's Norske Oldsager. — Actual size). and other articles of Scandinavian type, there was also found a bronze cross,^ gilt and ornamented with interlaced work, which is described by Mr. Lorange as " undoubtedly of Irish or Scottish origin." Even when the object possesses no typical form, its art suffices to indicate the area from which it has come. Thus, an oblong mounting of bronze, found in ^ Lorange, Samlingen af NorsJce Oldsager i Bergen's Museum, Bergen, 1876, p. 152. " Figured in Urda, vol. iii. pi. i. fig. 2. 32 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAX TIMES. a grave-mound at Hof, in Xorway/ along with a quantity of other things of the usual Scandinavian t}^es, declares itself unmistakahly by the character of its ornamentation to be of Celtic origin and Christian time, though found in association with a form of burial which is clearly heathen and Scandi- na\dan. The grave-mound had been heaped over a Yiking ship. By the stern-post sat the skeleton of a man, and close by his feet lay the bones of a dog and an iron porringer. Outside the ship sat another skeleton, apparently a woman's, propped up by stones. At its right side lay an iron knife, a weaver's rubbing-bone, and spatha of whalebone, an iron cooking -pan, and other odds and ends of household use. Near the breast were two brooches of Scandinavian type, and a gilt bronze plaque, which must have been the mounting of some Celtic shrine or coffer, taken for its beauty to serve as a personal ornament. A similar mounting, ornamented with twining serpents, radiating from bosses, was found in a grave-mound at Yaaren, in Xorway, in 1872,^ along with an iron sword of the Yiking form, and a quantity of smith's tools, which had been deposited with the burnt remains of a man and a horse. These objects, with this peculiar orna- mentation, are thus found on the west coast of Norway, deposited among the grave-goods of men that were heathens, and were buried after the manner that prevailed in the heathendom of Scandinavia, in cairns, or sitting in their ships in great mounds of earth, or burned to ashes with their horses and their war-gear. Yet, notwithstanding this, if the principles which I have enunciated are permitted to control the results of the investigation, it follows that these brooches, that cross, and these bronze mountings, though thus found among the furnishings of heathen grave-mounds, are decorated ^ Lorange, Op. cit., p. 176. " Foreningen til Korske Fortidsmindesmaerkcrs Bevaring, Aarsberetning, 1S72, p. 92. DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 33 with Christian art. Though found in Norway, they are Celtic, and though it must be more than nine centuries since they were taken from their own area, and deposited in a foreign soil, they still reveal their nationality by their special characteristics. As the manuscripts which were the subject of a former Lecture, though found in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, disclose their Celtic origin by the intense Celticism of their art, so these objects in metal also tell their origin by their art. It speaks with a voice that can neither be misinterpreted nor misunderstood ; and even if we had no means of knowing how it was possible for these things of Christian Celtic origin to become thus associated with heathen burial in a far-off land, we should still be obliged to believe the testimony of the art, that they are Christian and Celtic. But their presence in this strange association is fully explained by the historical record, which tells that Norway was a heathen country for fully four cen- turies after Christianity had been propagated in Scotland by the followers of St. Columba, and that for fully half of that long period hosts of returning Vikings were continually carrying their plunder across the North Sea. I am not now discussing the subject of pagan burial in any of its various forms. That wiU fall to be dealt with in its own time and place. I merely notice these instances in this connection because it was necessary to show, by suitable examples, that the forms and the art of the Scandinavian area, even though mingled with the Celtic forms and Celtic art in the same graves, are capable of being distinguished, the one from the other. I desire, also, to bring out the fact that the commixture of the two types, and the two styles of art, in the Scottish area and in the Scandinavian area, when we come to deal with it, is in reality a crucial test of the truth of the general principle that special areas are characterised by special archaeological types. D 34 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAX TIMES. In the meantime, the outcome of the present examination is — (1) that there is a special form of brooch, which is Celtic and of the Christian time ; (2) that tliis special form is pen- annular, with expanded ends, having a long pin loosely looped over the ring of the brooch; (3) that this form occurs abund- antlv within the Celtic area, rarely outside of it, and then only in circumstances which show that these outlying speci- mens are stragglers from the principal group ; and (4) that while the area of the type includes both Scotland and Ireland, the special variety of the type with which we have been deal- ing is more Scottish than Irish. In the course of this examina- tion it has also become apparent that the art which usually decorates this type of brooch is the Celtic art of the Christian time — the same art which we have found to be the dis- tinguishing characteristic of the manuscripts and shrmes of the early Celtic Church, and with which we have still to make accj^uaintance as the distniguishing characteristic of the sculptured monuments, which form such a remarkable fea- ture in the history of Christian art, as associated with our country. I now pass to the consideration of another group of objects in metal, characterised by the same art, but exhibit- ing a different phase of its development, and disclosing their connection with the system of symbolism, which is at once the most prominent feature and the profoundest mystery of the class of monumental sculptures with which we have to deal in subsequent Lectures. On the estate of Largo, in Fife, and about three miles from the coast, and to the northward of the bay of the same name, there is an artificial mound known as Xorrie's Law. It is a tumulus, remarkable alike for size and situation. It crowns the summit of a natural elevation, which forms the highest point of a ridge commanding an extensive view. It was DECOEATIVE METAL-WOKK, BROOCHES, ETC. 35 evidently constructed, as many of these Pagan grave-mounds were, " to be seen afar, of all the passers-by on land or sea." The mound itself is 53 feet in diameter. Its base is sur- rounded by a circular trench 16 feet wide, inside of which is a rude wall of boulder stones, and inside that again a second and concentric walling of stones, the space between being filled with earth. Within the second wall the body of the mound was found to be a cairn of stones. In the centre of this cairn there was a cist of small size, composed of four slabs set on edge, and covered by a larger slab. Nothing was found in the central cist, but in two places in the cairn, nearer to the outside, there were smaller cists less regularly constructed. Burnt bones were observed in one of these^ and a small urn was found in the other, but the examinations were made at different times and by different people, and the record is as defective in precision and completeness as the research. For our purpose, however, these facts suffice. The cairn or tumulus of Norrie's Law was a grave-mound of the Pagan time, containing interments after the Pagan manner of burning the body before committing it to the grave. I have described it thus circumstantially, because it is neces- sary for the clear understanding of what is to follow that we should be aware that it is a Pagan grave-mound which occupies the summit of this ridge. Bearing this fact in mind, and reverting also to the fact that this Pagan grave-mound stands upon a natural hillock of sand and gravel, it is further to be noticed that in a sand-pit excavated at its base there was made a most remarkable dis- covery of silver articles, decorated in the style which I have indicated. Unfortunately we only know the nature of this singular hoard by a few fragments which escaped the notice of the original finder, and hence the evidence regarding its character and artistic value is incomplete. The original discov- ery was made about the year 1819. The precise manner in which 36 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. it occuiTecl is unknown, but the person into whose possession the articles passed was a hawker, who kept the secret to him- self, and disposed of them as he found opportunity. He sold a quantity to Mr. Eobertson, a jeweller in Cupar, by whom the articles were melted down ; and about twenty years after- wards, when Mr. Buist of Cupar wrote his account of the find, Mr. Eobertson estimated that between what he had bought himself, and what he said he knew to have been dis- posed of in Edinburgh, there must have been fully 400 ounces of pure silver. The late Dr. Stuart, to whom every- thing relating to his favourite subject was possessed of an intense interest, made every attempt to get at the details of the discovery. The results of his inquiries present them- selves partly as statements of fact and partly as inferences from the facts. The statements vary in detail, but when they are compared, it is seen that they agree on one point, viz. — that the relics were found in the sand-pit when digging for sand. This is the outcome of the several statements of the fact. It is true that the statements go farther than this, and say that the relics were found in a stone coffin. But this is clearly an inference founded on the fact that stone cists were found in the grave-mound on the summit of the natural hillock of sand in wliich the sand-pit was excavated, and strengthened by the impression which then prevailed, that such thincrs oucrht to be found in connection ^-ith ancient o o burials. But none of the parties making the statement were eye-witnesses of the discovery, and there is no averment of the presence of bones, burnt or unburnt, in association with the relics. We now know that it is contrary to experience that such hoards of silver articles should be foimd in connec- tion with such burials. This will appear from the various descriptions of discoveries of silver hoards that have taken place in Scotland when that general question comes to be considered. It is possible that the articles may have been DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 37 protected by a construction of flat stones resembling a cist, as we have already seen that the buried bell of Birsay was protected. It is probable that the sandy knoll at the base of the grave-mound of ISTorrie's Law was selected as the place of their concealment, as being a spot whose traditional repute rendered it less likely to be disturbed. Some time after the original discovery. General Durham of Largo, to whose ears the report had come, employed men to search in the sand-pit, and in the course of their operations they discovered the following objects : — 1. A silver brooch (Fig. 24), 5f inches in diameter, pen- Fig. 24. — Silver Brooch found at Xorrie's Law, Largo (5| inches diameter). annular in form, with flattened and expanded ends, and the ring spirally twisted. 2. A similar brooch of precisely the same form, but slightly smaller, being only 5 J inches in diameter. 38 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. 3. A leaf-sliapecl plate of solid silver (Fig. 25), 3J inches in length, ha^inf? a raised boss at one end ornamented with spirally-divergent lines. The centre of the plate is occupied by a de^'ice consisting of two equal circles placed half their own diameter apart, and united by a neck formed of two incurved lines. Across the middle of this neck there passes, nearly at right angles, the middle part of a rod, which is suddenly bent to right and left, and terminates in both directions with conventional floriations. This device, which re- presents no production of nature or actually existing object of man's fabrication, must be termed a symbol, if for no other reason than the very cogent one that we are completely ignorant of what it was intended to represent. The circles are filled with ornament in the style of art of the Celtic manu- scripts and metal -work of the Christian period. Underneath them is the representation of an animal's head executed with a peculiar Fif^. 25. — Silver Leaf-shaped Plate . . , . , . , found at Nome's Law, Largo Conventionalism, which IS also (actual size). recognisable in the Celtic manu- scripts, but is more characteristic of the sculptured stone monuments of Scotland. 4. Another leaf-shaped plate, precisely similar in size and ornamentation, except that the marginal line is scarcely perceptible, and presents the appearance of having been burnished out. The reverse of both plates is plain and slightly concave. DFXOEATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 39 5. A pin or bodkin (Fig. 26), 6 J inches in length, of peculiar form. The head of the pin bears, on the ob- verse, a figure of the cross, within a circular panel — that is, the precise form of equal-armed cross, with ex- panding ends placed within a circle, which is the pecu- liar characteristic of the early monuments of Chris- tian times. Underneath it is a semicircular panel of enamelled ornament, in the style so frequently referred to as intensely Celtic. I have said the obverse of this ornamented head of the pin bears the figure of the cross. It is significant that the reverse bears a variation of the double disc, or spec- tacle-like object, crossed by the zigjzai^ rod with flori- ated ends. I remark this specially, because when we come to deal with the monuments we shall find this arrangement occurring so often that it becomes among them a typical fea- ture — the obverse present- ing the cross, the reverse 40 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. this spectacle -like device, or some other symbol or sym- bols. 6. A pin or bodkin, almost precisely similar in form, size, and ornamentation to the last, except that it wants the engraved symbol on the reverse of the ornamental head. 7. A portion of a similar pin of smaller size, now only IJ inches in length. The central stud appears to have had a setting of some kind. 8. A disc of beaten plate, 3 inches diameter, with a raised circular margin and a central boss nearly half an inch diameter. 9. A portion of a disc of beaten plate (Fig. 27), 4i inches Fig. 27. — Disc of Silver {ih inches diameter). diameter, which has been cut round, and an irregular portion cut out of the centre from one side. It bears three spirally shaped ornaments in very high relief, hollow, and beaten up from the back, projecting fully J inch from the surface of the plate. The two contiguous spirals are combined with a peculiar variety of trumpet-shaped spiral, which is specially Celtic in character. 10. Two portions apparently of an arm-band or bracelet, DECOKATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 41 hammered so that the inner side is hollow, the outer convex ; the extremities hammered flat and rounded off at the points. 11. Portions of an ornamented band of silver of a peculiar pattern (Fig 28). Fig. 28. — Ornamented Band of Silver, found at Nome's Law, Largo, Fifeshire (actual size). 12. A spiral finger ring, | inch in diameter, formed of a band of metal, flat on the inner side, convex on the outer, tapering to both extremities from the centre, serrated along the inner edge towards either end, and rolled together spirally. 13. A thin riband, half an inch wide and fully 3 feet long, of beaten silver. 14. A small fragment of a chain of fine silver v^dre. The other fragments are chiefly clippings and broken portions of thin silver plate, mostly unornamented. Some bear a border of repousse work, and others show portions of engraved lines ; but there is nothing to add to the indications of the character of the art supplied by the larger objects already described. Nor can we satisfactorily reconstruct the articles, whether of use or of ornament, of which these are the mutilated fragments. The popular notion of a " warrior buried in his silver armour" (though generally accepted), rests upon no basis of evidence, or even probability. Apart from the fact that armour of plate is a comparatively modern adaptation of defensive expedients, it is plain that many of the objects in the hoard have quite another character. The only articles of which the use can be determined with cer- tainty are the two brooches, the three pins, and the finger- ring ; and these are simply objects of personal decoration, not 42 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAX TIMES. necessarily implying any connection either with war or burial. Had the whole of the objects been extant, it might have been possible to draw closer conclusions as to their character and purpose. But dealing with the materials as they have come to us, there is still sufficient evidence to warrant these con- clusions, viz. — (1), That the hoard was deposited in the sandy soil at the base of the Pagan grave-mound ; and (2), That the art which they exhibit is the same art which we have now traced upon the manuscripts, the book-covers, the bell-shrines, the crosiers and reliquaries, and lastly on the brooches and personal ornaments of the early Christian time in Scotland.-^ There are other objects in silver and bronze which exhibit this art, but less prominently, such as the massive silver chains of circular double links, which bear upon their penannular terminal links symbols of peculiar character, occasionally filled with enamel. Five of these chains are known in Scotland, all of which are at present in the 1 It is also stated that there were coins found with the objects first dis- covered at ISTorrie's Law, Two silver coins were found along "with the other relics discovered during General Durham's examination of the sand-pit. They were lost, but Dr. Stuart states that from sketches of them preserved by Mr. Skene, they appear to have been coins of the Emperors Valens and Constantius IL (from A.D. 360 to 380). Two brass coins are stated to have been found by a labourer in the same sand-pit, along vnth some silver coins. The silver coins were sold, and have not been identified, but the brass coins were given to Miss Dundas. One was a second brass of Antonia, daughter of ]\Iark Antony, who died a.d, 38; the other was a greatly defaced coin of the Byzantine series, assigned by Mr. George Sim to about the period of Tiberius Constantine, who died a.d. 682. When coins are associated vnth undated objects, the presumption is that the latest coin indicates a limit beyond which the age of the deposit cannot be extended. The association here is not estab- lished by the evidence, but the seventh century is perhaps the extreme limit which can be assigned for the possible age of the objects, judging by the style of their art. There is some probability that they may have been consider- ably later in date than the close of the seventh century, though there is no doubt that they belong to the earlier and not to the later period of the style of art of which they exhibit such characteristic examples. DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 43 Museum. The largest (Fig. 29) is a chain of 16 pairs of circular links, and a single link at one end. Each link is a Fig. 29. — Silver Chain found in making the Caledonian Canal, Invemess-shire, in 1809 (18 inches in length). solid bar of silver, hammered round, and bent circularly till the ends come close together. When stretched, it measures 18 inches in length. Its weight is 92 J ounces. The terminal links are slightly larger than the rest, which are of uniform size. It was found in 1809, two feet deep in gravel, in the course of the excavation of the Caledonian Canal near its junction with the north end of Loch Xess. Another chain of Fig. 30. — Silver Chain found at Parkhill, Aberdeenshire [17^ inches in length). the same character (Fig. 30), formed of somewhat smaller links, was found in 1864 at Parkhill, in the parish of New Machar, Aberdeenshire. It consists of 23 pairs of circular links and a penannular link, measures 17 J inches in length, and weighs nearly 40 ounces. Like the larger chain, the terminal links are slightly larger than the others, but this chain has also a terminal penannular link of peculiar shape, 44 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. whicli is not present in the larger chain. On the external surface of this penannnlar Knk (Fig. 31) are twice repeated groups of three dots, or circular hollows, on either side of a peculiarly- curved figure or symbol, which sometimes appears incised on the Scottish sculptured monuments. Fig. 31. — Terminal Penannular King or Clasp of Siver Chain, showing incised ornaments, There are triangular SUnk found at Parkhill (actual size). ^ . ' i , n spaces and a triplet of dots on the corresponding part of the ring on the opposite side of the penannular opening. All these sunk spaces have been filled with red enameL A third chain, found at "VYhitecleuch, in the parish of Crawfordjohn, Lanarkshire, consists of 22 pairs of circular links and a penannular terminal link, the whole mea- suring 18 inclies in length, and weighing 62 J ounces. On its Fig. 32, — Terminal Penannular Pang of Silver Chain found at "VMiitecleuch, Lanarkshire, penannular link (Pig. 32) are incised two symbols of pecuhar character, which we shall frequently meet with in connection with the ornamentation of sculptured stone monuments in Scotland ; so frequently indeed, that they may be said to be specially characteristic of these monuments. A fourth chain, precisely similar, but with the penannular ring plain, was lately found at Hordwell, Berwickshire ; and a fifth (smaller and wanting the penannular ring) was found at Haddington. Xo example is known out of Scotland. "Whatever may have DECORATIVE METAL- WOEK, BROOCHES, ETC. 45 been the purpose of these chains, they were undoubtedly of such importance and value that it is difficult to understand why they should all have been found isolated and buried in the earth. Their art interest, however, is subordinate to their special interest, as bearing these peculiar symbols — an interest which will only be fully disclosed when the whole question of the symbols has emerged from the examination of the sculptured monuments. Before entering on that examination, there is one record of an object in metal which claims attention from the singularity of its character. Unfortunately the thing itself is Fig. 33. — Obverse of Bronze Plate found at Laws. not now known to exist, and all the information wliich we possess regarding it is derived from a drawing made in 1796, which is still preserved, and was communicated (at my re- quest) to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland by Mr. J. C. Eoger, in April 1880. The drawing was made by his father, the late Mr. Charles Eoger of Dundee, and bears a memo- randum made at the time to the effect that the original was dug up at the Laws, Monifieth. It represents both sides of a 46 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTLIN TIMES. bronze crescent-shaped plate 4J inches in length, and elabo- rately ornamented. The obverse (Fig. 33) bears in the centre a symbol of the same peculiar form as that engraved on the leaf-shaped silver plate found at Norrie's Law, but somewhat differently treated. In this case, also, the symbol is accom- panied by a beast's head of a specially conventional form, but bearing a strong resemblance to the beast's head on the Norrie's Law plate and to other figures of beasts' heads, which (as we shall subsequently see) are found accompanying this special symbol of the double disc, crossed by the doubly de- flected and floriated rod when it appears on sculptured monu- ments of Celtic character in Scotland. The reverse (Fig. 34), Fig. 34. — Reverse of Bronze Plate, found at Laws. shows a crescent filled with a diapered pattern of geometric ornament, and crossed by a Y-shaped rod with floriated ends. This peculiar symbol of a crescent, combined with such a floriated rod (as we shall subsequently see), occurs with the greatest frequency on the sculptured monuments. The other varieties of ornament exhibited by this singular object are a species of fret, and double reversing scroll, both of which are DECORATIVE METAL-WORK, BROOCHES, ETC. 47 common elements of Celtic decoration. But in the border underneath the crescent the drawing shows part of a very dis- tinct and legible inscription in Scandinavian runes. It is defective at the beginning and end, but the eight letters of which it consists do not admit of doubt— MKITIL : TH-A. The first word is apparently part of a man's name, GRIMKITIL, followed by two divisional points ; the second cannot be cer- tainly determined, as only two letters remain. But the legibility or illegibility of the mscription is not in itself a question of much moment. Its character is sufficiently dis- tinct, and if we admit the drawing to be a faithful copy, we must admit the inscription to be undoubtedly Scandinavian. The care and fidehty of the drawing can be tested by a scrutiny of the manner in which the artist has rendered the style of the ornament ; and no one who is familiar with the stjde of Celtic ornament, and the peculiar, treatment of its details, will fail to recognise its distinctive features. The ornament, as rendered in the drawing, is as unmistakably Celtic as the inscription is Scandinavian in character. After what has been already said with reference to the Hunter- ston brooch, this association of a Scandinavian inscription w^th a work of Celtic art need not surprise us. So much of these Lectures has been devoted to the de- scription of objects wliich exhibit true artistic feeling in form and decoration, and so much more must necessarily be devoted to the same purpose in connection with the subject of the monuments (to wdiich we next proceed), that it may become possible for those who peruse them to perceive that the logical outcome of all this description of decorated manuscripts, decorated metal-work, and decorated stone-work, can be nothing less than the disclosure of a national school of decorative art, presenting qualities and characteristics which are by no means destitute of merit and suggestiveness, and 48 SCOTLAXD IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. may therefore possess a higher value and wider utility than mere curiosities in the history of art. As this becomes more and more apparent in the progress of the investigation, it will also become equally apparent that such manifestations are indications of a quality and diffusion of culture, which could only be produced in conjunction with a ci^ilisation possess- ing a complexity of organisation which sufiiced to make culture possible, and exerting a vital energy sufficient to cause its diffusion, and raise it to excellence. DECORATIVE STONE- WORK J -MONUMENTS. 49 LECTURE 11. (7th October 1880.) DECORATIVE STONE WORK — MONUMENTS. On tlie right bank of the small stream which gives its name to the town of Aberbrothock in Angus, and about a mile from its mouth, there is a picturesque knoll, crowned by a quaint old church. The original ecclesiastical foundation appears to have been dedicated to St. Fechin of Fore,-^ the founder of the eremitical establishment on the little island of Ardoilean off the coast of Galway, which I described in my second Lecture. The earliest church of which we have record on this site was erected before the great Abbey of Aberbrothock, to which it was gifted by King William the Lion. It was a church of some importance in the twelfth century, and to that period some portions of the yet existing fabric are to be referred. In the course of repeated alterations, and latterly of a very extensive reconstruction of the fabric of the church, it was found that the twelfth-century builders had utilised a large quantity of fragments of sculptured monuments as building materials.^ These I now proceed to examine and describe, so ^ The name of the patron saint of the parish is now kno^\^l as St. Yigean, a corruption of the Latinised name Yigianus into which Fechin is convertible, and until the change of style the annual fail' was held on the 20th January, St. Fechin' s day. 2 The fragments thus discovered were first described by Rev. William E 50 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAX TIMES. far as they are available for the purpose of determining the t}^ical character of a series of monuments, ^Yhich were con- sidered so antiquated in the twelfth century as to admit of their being used without scruple or challenge as mere materials of construction. The first, which is in two pieces, discovered in different parts of the fabric at different times, is a finely sculptured slab, 6 feet long, 21 inches wide, and 7 inches thick. It bears on the obverse (see Fig. 123) an elaborately sculptured cross, in the middle of a sunk panel which occupies the entire length and width of the stone, with the exception of the narrow border or raised edo'ins^ which runs all round it. The spaces between the cross and the border are filled with figures of nondescript animals, mostly arranged pictorially, and not forming component parts of symmetrical patterns or designs. One lacertine creature has its tail twisted and knotted into an interlacement with a serpent, and two serpents in the corner on the other side of the stone are symmetrically inter- twisted m a kind of pattern, but the rest of the creatures are pictorially treated. The cross is filled with a regular pattern of interlacements of precisely the same character as those with which we have become familiar in the art of the manu- scripts and the metal- work of the Celtic School. The general character of the decoration on the reverse of the stone (Fig. 124) is also pictorial. At the bottom an archer is fitting an arrow to his bow against a wild boar. Above this Duke, il. A., the minister of tlie parisli, in an elaborate paper communicated to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and printed with numerous illustra- tions in their Proceedings, vol. ix. pp. 481-498. They -were subsequently described and figured in The History of Arbroath (Arbroath, 4to, 1876), by George Hay. The monuments previously known at St. Yigeans have been figured and described in The Sculptured Stones of A ngus and Mearns, by the late Patrick Chalmers of Aldbar, published for the Maitland Club in 1848, and in The Sculptured Stones of Scotland (2 vols, folio), edited for the Spalding Club by the late Dr. John Stuart in 1856 and 1867. decoeatrt: stoxe-work — monuments. 51 group is an animal which has no close resemblance to any known qnadrnped, and in front of it a bird of prey with a fish in its talons. Above this again is a bear-like beast ; another that might pass for a hound ; and in front of these a hind suckling its calf. Over these is a representation of a mirror of the early metallic form — a circular disc with an ornamental handle, and beside it a comb. The third object on this level is roughly crescent- shaped, and ornamented with spirals of a specially Celtic type. Above this is the curious symbol which we have already found on the silver leaf-shaped plate from the hoard at Norrie's Law (Fig. 25), on the terminal link of the silver chain found in Lanarkshire (Fig. 32), and on the bronze crescent -shaped plate found at the Laws (Fig. 33). It is here on a much larger scale, but its form is the same, two discs connected by a narrow neck, and crossed obliquely by a rod with floriated ends, which bend to right and left. The discs are filled with a pattern of interlaced work. Above this is the broken part of the stone, showing a portion of the figure of an ox-like animal, and the whole series is surmounted by a very spirited representation of a stag pursued by dogs. Both edges of the stone are filled with sculpture as well as the sides. One edge (Fig. 125) bears in a sunk panel a run- ning scroll of foliageous ornament, with lanceolate leaves and a triplet of fruit alternately repeated on either side of the wavy stem. The other edge (Fig. 126) has a pattern of inter- laced work, differing from that which forms the ornamentation of the cross, but presenting the same general character. The upper part of this edge of the stone is wanting ; but the lower part, underneath the interlaced work, presents the remarkable feature of an inscription in the Celtic language (Fig. 127), graven in the debased Eoman minuscule letters which became the distinguishing character of the Celtic manuscripts. Let us now group the features of this remarkable monu- 52 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHEISTIAN TIMES. ment. It bears the cross on tlie obverse ; symbols and figure subjects, pictorially treated, on the reverse. The cross is long-shafted, of the full length of the stone. It is also peculiarly formed. The long-shafted cross is often called the Latin cross in contradistinction to the cross with four arms of equal length, which was the common Eastern or Greek form. But the lines of the Latin cross always make angles at the intersections of the arms. This cross is not of the usual form of the Latin cross in this respect ; it has semi- circular hollows or curves at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit. This is a peculiarity which is specially Celtic. The cross on this stone, while it is thus a Latin cross, is nevertheless of a distinctively Celtic form, and its ornament of interlaced work closely resembles many of the patterns presented in the decorated pages of the Celtic manuscripts, while it precisely resembles them in feeling and character. The stone also bears an inscription in the Celtic language, wiitten in the alphabet used in Celtic manuscripts. It presents pictorial representations which include the human figure and a variety of animal forms, some of which are true to nature, while others are wholly imaginary. It presents pictorial representations of objects, such as the mirror and the comb, which are true to the reality ; and it presents con- ventional representations of objects, such as the double disc and crescent, which we shall find frequently recurring with a remarkable persistency of form on other monuments, although we are utterly unable to give them names or tell their signi- ficance. Apart from the purely decorative work, consisting of symmetrical patterns or designs, we have therefore two phases of art exemplified on this monument, — a pictorial, which follows nature and reality, and a conventional, which follows arbitrary rules unknown to us. It thus becomes apparent from an examination of the prominent features of this monument, that in certain aspects of its character it DECOEATIVE STOXE-WORK MONUMENTS. 53 stands apart from all connection with existing customs and usages. To the ordinary observer its art is unfamiliar, its symbolism impenetrable, its inscription illegible. The ideas which foimd expression and currency through the medium of its art or symbolism have passed away with the culture that produced them. Traces of the Celtic language still survive in a small proportion of the place - names of the parish ; but not one in a hundred of those to whom these names are familiar has any suspicion of their Celtic origin, and this inscription is now the only surviving witness of the fact that the Celtic alphabet, as well as the Celtic speech, was once known and used in the lowlands of Angus. But if in these aspects of its character it stands thus apart from all connection with existing customs and usages, it will also become apparent as the investigation proceeds, that by these prominent features it is closely associated (1) with the history of art and the development of a national art-culture which it clearly reveals; (2) with the development of a system of early Christian symbolism, which it no less clearly exemplifies ; and (3) with the literary history of the national language as spoken and written among the men of Angus, at a time when their speech, their art, and their institutions were wholly Celtic. Among the other fragments at St. Yigeans there is one of large size, sadly mutilated, which must have been even a more imposing monument than that which I have described. In its present state it measures about 5 feet and a half in length and 3 feet in breadth. It is incomplete at top and bottom, and much mutilated at the sides. It bears in the centre a cross of Celtic form, extending the full length of the stone, and elaborately ornamented with interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork, in the Celtic manner. On one side of the cross at the bottom of the stone are two figures in ecclesiastical costume, and tonsured after the Eoman fashion 54 SCOTLAND IX EAKLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. — not after the Celtic fashion. The tonsure of the Celtic Chuteh was from ear to ear in a semicircle over the frontal portion of the head, and this was one of the points in which the Church of our forefathers differed from the prevailing custom of European Christendom. The Celtic Church, how- ever, adopted the coronal tonsure of the European Church in the first half of the eighth century ; and a knowledge of this historical fact enables us to say that this monument, which bears two examples of the coronal tonsure, is in all proba- bility subsequent to this period. Above these ecclesiastical figures there are other two of which the upper parts have been cut away, and between them is the figure of a bearded man placed with his head downwards. On the other side of the cross is the figure of a calf upon a pedestal, before which a man is kneelint;'. He holds a rod in his hand with which he touches the animal's neck, and a scroll issues from his mouth. Above this there are two figures seated on chairs, and holdincr a orlobe between them. The reverse of the stone has been carved, but its ornament is now entirely effaced. There is a third monument, which must have been also of large size and considerable merit as a work of art. What remains of it is a slab about 4 feet by 2h. It seems to have been split lengthwise, as it is thin in proportion to its size, and is sculptured only on one side. It bears in the middle a cross shaft, decorated with interlaced work, diverging spirals, and the peculiar diagonal fret so characteristic of Celtic art. On one side of the shaft is a circular mirror, with ornamental handle, like that on the monument first described. On the other side are the figures of a griffin- like creature, and a serpent intertwisted with the doubly- bent rod.-^ The remaining fragments of sculptured monuments that ^ Casts of these three montunents are to be seen in the Museum. DECORATIVE STOXE-WOEK MOXUMEXTS. 55 have been recovered from the walls of this twelfth- century church consist of portions of cross-slabs, and free-standing crosses, socket-stones, and fragments of the slabs that stood in them. All are elaborately sculptured in the same style, with figure-subjects and ornaments more or less resembling in their general character the monuments which have been already described. One socket- stone with a mortise-hole at one end, intended to receive a tenon-slab, or the foot of a cross, is over 5 feet in length and IJ in width, with a thick- ness of 6 inches. It has a raised border surrounding a plain rectangular hollow panel, and on one side is boldly incised the figure of a man with outspread hands, in the ancient attitude of prayer, between two lions (see Fig. 94). It was found built into the wall of a portion of the fabric, which there are architectural reasons for believing to have been erected before 1242. Altogether, upwards of thirty frag- ments, representing nearly as many monuments, have been thus recovered. Here, then, we have a very remarkable group of monu- ments — remarkable alike as regards their number and their character ; for thirty such monuments is a very large number for a single group. It is, in fact, one-fifth of the whole number which the late Dr. John Stuart was able to collect from all Scotland for the first volume of his great work on The Sculptured Stones. If we picture this group of thirty such monuments clustered round the pre-Xorman Church on its isolated mound, — if we consider the quality of their art, the interest of the one fragmentary inscription that remains, and the mystery of the symbolical representations that occur among them, — we cannot but regTet that a group of memorials so singularly interesting, impressive, and instructive, should thus have suffered irretrievable destruction. We judge of what we have lost by what remains of these mutilated products of a national school of sculpture, to which the 66 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. special culture of the present day does not disdain to turn for instruction and for inspiration. I do not now enter on the discussion of their special character and significance as works of art. That will be deferred until we have before us a more general view of the class to which they belong. I Fig 35. — At Aberlemno, Forfarshire (obverse, 7i feet high). only ask attention in the meantime to the obvious fact that they are neither poor in design nor feeble in execution ; that they are, on the contrary, the productions of able minds and practised hands. DECORATIVE STONE- WORK MONUMENTS. 57 At the distance of a few miles farther inland from St. Vigeans, and in the immediate vicinity of the parish church of Aberlemno, there is another group of monuments, fewer in number, but equally remarkable in character. Two of them still stand together in a field not far from the church, a third Fig, 36. — At Aberlemno, Forfarshire (reverse of Fig. 35, 7^ feet high). is in the churchyard, and a fourth (which stood not far distant), has been transported to the banks of the Tweed, and placed among the incongruous associations of Abbotsford. The one which stands in the churchyard (Fig. 35) is 7j feet in height 58 SCOTLAXD IX EAELY CHPJSTIAX TIMES. and 4 feet wide at the base, tapering gently to tlie top, which is sloped upwards from both edges to the centre of the stone. It bears on the obverse a cross, extending the whole length of the stone. The cross is of that specially Celtic form which has semicircular hollows at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit ; and it possesses another feature which is also Celtic in character, an ornamented circle thrown across the spaces between the arms, at a little distance from the intersections. The body of the cross is elaborately orna- mented with interlaced work, diverging spirals, and fretwork. The spaces on either side of the shaft are filled with con- voluted and intertwisted creatures of attenuated lacertine or dragonesque form, similar to those so often met with in Celtic manuscripts of the Gospels. The spaces above the arms of the cross are filled with equally attenuated quadrupeds. The reverse of the stone (Fig. 36) forms a sunk panel, surrounded by a raised edging, which terminates at the apex of the stone in two open-mouthed beasts' heads fronting each other. In the upper part of the panel there is sculptured in relief one of the mysterious symbols which so constantly present themselves among the artistic decorations of these monu- ments. It has the form often seen in manuscripts as that of a house, with a door, and is crossed by the zigzag rod or sceptre, with floriated terminations. The rest of the panel is filled with figures of men on horseback and men on foot, armed with spears and shields, and seemingly engaged in combat. The second stone, being one of the two that stand in the field, is 9 feet high and 3 J broad. It bears on the obverse a cross in relief of the whole lenoth of the stone. The cross is of the same form as has been previously described, but has a central boss, surrounded by four bosses at the angles, and four settings, or representations of settings, for jewels on the shaft, arms, and summit. The circle uniting the arms is ornamented DECORATIVE STONE- WORK MONUMENTS. 59 with interlaced work. In two panels underneath the arms of the cross are two angels with drooping heads. The remainder of the space below is filled with fretwork. Tlie reverse of the stone bears on the upper part two of the mys- terious symbols, the crescent and V-shaped rod, and the spectacle-like form with zig- zag rod. Below them are four men on horseback, and two footmen blowing horns, while, in the same field, are repre- sented deer pursued by dogs. Below, in a corner by itself, is the representation of a man kneeling, and apparently tear- ing open the jaws of a beast. Separated from the rest of the sculptures by a moulding is a centaur bearing a club on its shoulder, and having a branch with six symmetrical offshoots protruding from beneath the arm, and extending backwards over the body. The third stone (Fig. 37), being the second of the two which stand in the field, is 6 feet in height. It is not dressed to a regular form like the others, and bears on one side incised figures of a serpent, a mirror, a comb, and the spectacle-like form with the zigzag rod. The fourth stone, now at Abbotsford, is upwards of 6 feet Fig. 37. — At Aberlemno, Forfarshire (6 feet in height). 60 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. long and 3 feet "broad. It bears on the obverse a central cross in relief, plain, the shaft and summit nearly of equal length with the arms, and the intersections hollowed into three-quarter circles. The panels on either side of the shaft and summit are filled with animals. A border of inter- laced work and spirals surrounds the margin of the stone, and a division of the same character extends alonor the o centre, interrupted only in the part occupied by the shaft and summit of the cross. On the reverse of the stone, in the upper corner, is the spectacle -like figure, without the bent rod, enclosed in a panel, with a single horseman. Underneath is another horseman and figures of animals, among which is a four-footed beast with a serpent tail, swallowing a man (see Fig. 98). In this second group of monuments we have a repetition of the same general features which distinguished the St. Vigeans group, — the cross of Celtic form, elaborately deco- rated with Celtic ornament, and associated with figure subjects which are pictorial and conventional. The group also pre- sents the same characteristics of ornament, — interlaced work, divergent spirals, and fretwork. The character of the monu- ments themselves is also the same. They are flat slabs dressed to a regular shape, and bearing their subjects sculp- tured in relief on sunk panels, bordered by a raised edging. But in this group there is one exception. The second of the two monuments in the field at Aberlemno (Fig. 37) is a stone which has not been shaped, which is sculptured only on one side, and has its sculptures incised and not in relief. A third group of monuments of similar character exists at Kirriemuir, a few miles north of Aberlemno. One of these (Figs. 38, 39) is a shaped slab which has been rounded at the top, but is broken and now incomplete. It is bordered by a raised and slightly rounded edging, and bears on the obverse DECOEATIVE STOXE-WORK MONUMENTS. 61 (Fig. 38) a figure of the cross, decorated with a continuous pattern of interlaced work. The cross differs in form from Fig. 38. — At Kirriemuir, Forfarshire (obverse, 2g feet in height). those previously described in having re-entering angles at the intersections of the arms, shaft, and summit. This variety of cross is also specially Celtic. It is common to the cross- bearing slabs and the illuminated manuscripts, but scarcely so common as the form which has semicircular spaces at the intersections. Above the arms of the cross are two figures of angels, bird-headed. Below the arms are two human figures, each with a book in one hand. The reverse of the stone (Fig. 39) is divided into two panels. In the upper panel are 62 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. two figures standing facing each other, with a round disc between their hands ; beside them a single figure, standing. Fig. 39. — At Kirriemuir, Forfarshire (reverse of Fig. 38, 2| feet in height). In the lower panel is a figure seated on a chair or throne, the posts of which terminate in beasts' heads. On one side is a mirror, and below it a comb ; on the other side, an object like a sword enclosed in a panel. Another monument of larger size is also a shaped slab, about 5 feet high, tapering somewhat to the top, rounded at the upper corners, and bordered by a raised and slightly rounded edging. It bears on the obverse a cross of Celtic form, narrowed by re-entering semicircular spaces at the in- tersections of the shaft, arms, and summit. The cross is placed on a pedestal, its outlines are bordered by a raised and rounded DECOEATIVE STONE-WORK — MOXUMEXTS. 63 edging, and the summit, arms, and three-fourths of the shaft are filled with a diaper of fretwork, incised on the flat sur- face of the stone. The lower fourth of the shaft is a separate panel filled with the figures of two quadrupeds, whose limbs, tails, and crests are interlaced to form a kind of symmetrical pattern. Above the arms of the cross are two human-headed figures with wings, each apparently interlaced with an animal, but considerably defaced. The space on one side of the shaft is filled by a pilgrim with staff and wallet. On the other side are the figures of a stag, a large bird, and three animals, which may be intended for dogs at speed. The reverse of the stone bears the figure of a man on horseback, with a sword on the left side, and a spear in the right hand. On his neck and shoulders he wears a cape-like piece of dress over a tight-fitting body garment, with a kilt-like dress de- scending to below the knee. The horse has a cropped mane, and long tail cut square at the end. The bridle, which is almost of the modern form, has a rosette at the attachment of the reins. The rider sits on a peaked saddle-cloth without stirrups.-^ Behind him is placed the symbol of the double- disc, with the doubly-bent rod, floriated at the extremities. Below is another horseman, similarly mounted and attired, driving a stag, which a hound seizes by the haunch. A third monument of similar character presents a cross on the obverse, filled with a continuous pattern of interlaced work ; the spaces on either side of the shaft are also filled with patterns of interlaced work of zoomorphic character. The part of the stone above the arms of the cross is wanting. The reverse has the fiojures of two horsemen and a dos. The lower figure is armed with sword, spear, and round shield carried on the left arm. The edge of the stone is ornamented with a continuous pattern of close interlaced work. ^ The absence of stirrups is a general feature of these sculptured repre- sentations. 64 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. At Glamis, between Kirriemuir and Meigle, there are two monuments. One (Figs. 40 and 41) is a shaped slab, upwards of 6 feet high and 4J feet broad. It tapers some- what to a gable-formed top, and there is no raised edging Fig. 40. — At Glamis, Forfarshire (obverse, 6 feet high). round the outline of the stone. It bears on the obverse (Fig. 40) a cross of Celtic form, outlined by a raised and slightly rounded edging, and recessed at the intersections of the shaft, arms, and summit by triple curves. The lower part of the shaft is filled with a pattern of interlaced work, arranged in DECORATIVE STOXE-WORK MONUMENTS. 65 six symmetrical knots of interlacements interconnected by the escaping bands. Above this is another pattern, composed of four interlacements similar to each other, but differing in form from those below. The centre of the cross is a slightly raised boss, covered with interlaced work and surrounded by Fig. 41. — At Glamis, Forfarsliire (reverse of Fig. 40, 6 feet in height). a raised and slightly rounded edging. The arms and summit are filled with patterns of interlaced work, arranged to suit the form of the spaces. Above the arms there is on one side a centaur, with an axe in each hand ; on the other, a quad- ruped. In the space on one side of the shaft is a caldron-like object, with two human figures plunged into its mouth head F 66 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTL\N TIMES. foremost ; and below tliem two human figures, face to face, with axes, one of whom appears to have intent to smite the other. On the other side of the shaft is a beast's head, and a symbol consisting of a disc, with a ring attached at either side. The reverse of the stone (Fig. 41) is for the most part plain, but near the centre it has the figures of a serpent, a fish, and a mirror carved in outline. Another monument at Glamis, of smaller size — about 5 feet by 2 J feet — is considerably defaced. It bears a cross of Celtic form, ornamented with interlaced work on the obverse. In the spaces above the arms are an angel with wings, and two human figures ; below the arms, four animals and a mirror. The reverse shows only the figure of a serpent. Closely akin in character is a solitary specimen at Dun- fallandy, in the parish of Logierait, Perthshire (shown in the accompanying Plates). It is a shaped slab about 5 feet high and 2 J in breadth, scarcely tapering, but with corners slightly rounded at the top. It bears on the obverse a cross of Celtic form, extending the whole length of the stone, the upper part of the shaft divided from the lower, so as to give the appearance of an equal-armed cross supported on a longer shaft. The cross is recessed with curves at the intersections, in the manner common on these monuments ; but the centre is a square panel, the corners of which project into the recessed spaces. The form of the cross is also out- lined by a raised and rounded edging, and its upper and lower limbs are filled with a diaper of the peculiarly Celtic form of the double spiral, and further ornamented with four bosses decorated with patterns of divergent spirals. The transverse limbs are filled with. a diaper of fretwork, and ornamented with three bosses decorated with divergent spirals. The pro- longation of the shaft is decorated in the upper part with a pattern of interlaced work arranged in eight symmetrically DECORATIVE STOXE-WOEK MOXUMEXTS. 67 convoluted interlacements, the escaping bands of which con- nect them together, so that they fill the upper part with a pattern suited to the space. The lower part is filled w^ith a still more complicated series of interlaced work symmetrically arranged in triangular figures, each figure being formed as well as filled by the interlacements. The stone has a flat raised edging, which is decorated on one side by an interlacing border, and on the other by a border of double scroll -like spirals. The spaces on either side of the cross are divided into panels. Two of these contain winged figures, apparently of angels; others, the figures of beasts, which are full of character, although they are incapable of recognition or description as those of any known animals. The reverse is bordered by the bodies of two serpentine creatures, ^vhose open mouths are directed towards a human-like face betw^een them. Below are two figures seated on chairs, and between them a cross on a pedestal ; over the cross is the crescent symbol, over one of the seated figures the double disc symbol, and over the other the beast symbol. Below is a figure on horseback, with two of the symbols repeated, and underneath a hammer, anvil, and tongs incised. A very remarkable group of monuments occurs at Meigle in Perthshire. This group comprises a larger number of complete specimens than any other, and exhibits perhaps more distinctly than any other a series of characteristics which may be taken as transitional. One of the largest is a slab over 5 feet high and 3 feet broad. It bears on the ob- verse a cross of Celtic form, extending the whole length of the stone, and elaborately ornamented with interlaced work. The spaces on either side are filled with figures of animals. The reverse of the monument is wholly occupied by figure- subjects and symbols. At the top is a fish ; below it the serpent wdth the bent rod, a beast specially conventional in 68 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. form, distinguished by its lengthened snout and scroll-like projections instead of legs, a triquetra, a mirror, and comb, and the head and neck of an animal resembling that which accompanies the spectacle-like form on the leaf-shaped silver plate from N'orrie's Law. Underneath these is a camel-like creature kneeling at one side, and a deer-like animal at the other. In the lower part of the stone are five horsemen and a beast of attenuated form convoluted into a scroll, which resembles a common ornament in the Book of Kells. Another monument of this group, measuring about 5 feet high and 3 feet broad, bears on the obverse a cross of Celtic form, ornamented with interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork of great beauty. The spiaces on each side are occupied by groups of animals, forming symmetrical patterns by the interlacement of their bodies and limbs, in the usual style of the manuscripts. The reverse of the stone is filled with figure-subjects and symbols. The figure-subjects are men on horseback — one with sword and shield — a stag, a griffin, serpents, and various nondescript animals of attenuated form, twisted and interlaced. The symbols are the crescent and bent rod with floriated ends, and the beast with the long jaws and scroll-like feet. A third monument of smaller size bears on the obverse a cross of the usual type, ornamented with interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork. The cross is enclosed within a border of interlaced work, and rises from a pedestal, the corners of which are ornamented with beasts' heads in a manner which is characteristic of Celtic work, as we have seen both in the manuscripts and the brooches already described. Four beasts occupy the vacant spaces between the borders and the cross, above and below its transverse limbs. The reverse of the stone exhibits a single panel containing the figure of a horseman. On one of the edges of the stone are two symbols — the mirror and the beast with the long jaws and scroll-like feet. DECORATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 69 A fourth monument (now no longer in existence) bore the representation of a chariot. The driver sits on a seat above the pole, which passes between the two horses, and two figures appear inside. In one corner of the slab a wild animal, with short and powerful limbs, suggestive of those of a bear, is in the act of devouring a prostrate human figure, while a smaller animal appears in front, and behind it a man is fitting an arrow to a bow.^ In these monuments the same general character is ap- parent, though they differ considerably in their details. It would be tedious to continue such minute descriptions for each of the remaining monuments of the group. They are altogether upwards of twenty in number,^ and it will suffice for the present purpose that the description which has been already given establishes the general relations of the group, by showing that its prominent features are those that are also prominent in the monuments of the other groups already described, — the cross on the obverse, figure-subjects and symbols on the reverse, and the ornamentation composed of interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork. But we have seen that while in each group this is the prevailing character, each also contains specimens that deviate to a greater or less extent from the general rule, and thus form links or stepping-stones towards the alteration of character that constitutes a difference of type. In this Meigle ^ This monument is figured, and further referred to in the Lecture on the Sjrmbolism of the Monuments (see Fig. 103). 2 Since the delivery of these Lectures, the stones at Meigle (with the ex- ception of those standing erect in the churchyard) have been brought together into the old schoolliouse, which has been acquired by public subscription through the exertions of the late Sir George Kinloch of Kinloch, Bart. , and fitted up as a kind of local museum for their reception. By this means they are preserved from dispersion and weathering. But in such local arrange- ments there is no adequate recognition of their permanent interest as National Monuments, and their public utility as art-materials. 70 SCOTLA^'D IX EARLY CHPJSTIAX TIMES. group, for instance, there are monuments wliich have inter- laced decoration, but present no spirals and no fretwork. There are others which not only want the spirals and the Fig. 42. At Meigle, Perthshii'e (obverse, 8 feet high). fretwork, but want the interlaced work and the s}TQbols of unknown meaning. One of these (Figs. 42, 43), the largest monument in the group, is especially remarkable in this respect. It stands 8 feet high, and 3 J in breadth. It bears DECOKATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 71 the cross on the obverse (Fig. 42), Celtic in form and decorated with bosses, its shaft divided into panels filled with figures of attenuated animals with long necks, placed face to face, but Fig. 43. At Meigle, Perthshire (reverse of Fig. 42, 8 feet in height). not interlaced. The reverse of the stone (Fig. 43) is entirely occupied with figure-subjects of the character usually found on the more elaborately-decorated monuments, — horsemen and dogs, a centaur with a branch, and, placed conspicuously in 72 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. the centre, a man with outspread arms in the ancient attitude of prayer, standing in the midst of four lions. The char- acteristic Celticism which is present in the decoration of this monument is comparatively feehle and inconspicuous ; and there are other monuments in this group which, though they retain traces of Celticism in the character of their decoration, have more in common with monuments that are of twelfth- century type. These are of an entirely different form from the erect cross-bearing slabs. They are triangular in section, and were designed to lie prone on the ground, presenting the appear- ance of the ridge of a roof placed over the grave. Some are decorated with bosses, animals, and figure-subjects — such as men on horseback. Others are decorated with interlaced work, forming a kind of border round an imbricated surface, which covers their sloping sides. A good example of this class of monument occurs at Inch- colm (Fig. 44). At Govan there is a considerable group of Fig. 44. — At Inclicolm (6 feet in lengtli). them, associated also with a group of shaped slabs, decorated wdth crosses of Celtic form and interlaced work in the Celtic style. Among them there is also a sarcophagus, or stone cofiQn, hollowed out of a single block of sandstone, but w^ithout the niche for the head, which came into fashion in the twelfth century. Its exterior is decorated with interlaced work in panels, alternating with panels of figure-subjects. One of these is a stag-hunt ; the others are figures of animals pictori- ally treated. DECORATIVE STONE -WOEK MONUMENTS. 73 In these groups at Meigle and Govan, we have, therefore, a series of monuments of transition character, which link themselves by part of their characteristics to the monuments which are of twelfth-century types, and by part of their characteristics to the purely Celtic type of monument, to which no such precise date is assignable. This purely Celtic type will now have become so familiar from repeated description, that I need not enumerate examples from additional groups in other localities. Its characteristics are — (1) That the form of the monument is an erect slab, shaped to a regular form, and often edged with a bead-like moulding ; (2) it bears the cross on the obverse, figure-sub- jects and symbols on the reverse ; (3 ) the cross is usually of the whole length of the stone, and always of peculiar form, recessed at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit, the arms being frequently also connected by a circle ; (4) the cross is usually elaborately ornamented with interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork, and this ornamenta- tion is frequently present on other parts of the monument ; (5) the figure-subjects recur in groups of special character, such as men on horseback, a stag-hunt, a man tearing the jaws of a lion, a man surrounded by lions, and so on ; (6) the symbols also recur in groups, and partake of the same elaborate ornamentation which usually distinguishes the cross on the opposite side of the stone ; (7) the ornamenta- tion of these monuments is the same in style and character as the ornamentation of the manuscripts and metal- work of the Celtic Christian time. Having thus determined the features of the type of monument by an examination of the specimens composing these remarkable groups, we have next to ascertain what is the area of the type. Its features are so distinct and strongly marked that its area may be sharply defined. We recognise 74 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. them readily as tliey present themselves in groups or single examples of monuments scattered over the eastern half of the country, from Fife to Caithness.'^ This is a wide range of country, but there is a wider range in which they are not found. They do not occur in the Hebrides, nor on the west- ern mainland from Cape Wrath to the south of Argyle. Xor is there a single example south of the Clyde or south of the Forth.- They do not occur anywhere in Ireland, or in Wales, or in Cornwall. There is nothing like them in England, France, Scandinavia, or Italy, or anywhere else in the world. The type is specially Celtic in character, and it possesses the further speciality that it is restricted in its range to that por- tion of the Celtic area lying along the east side of Scotland north of the Forth. But associated with this type of monument, which is a shaped slab standing erect, and having the cross on the obverse, and figure-subjects and symbols on the reverse, we find examples which are not shaped slabs, but oblong stones or boulders, set up without .^ny attempt to bring their natural irregularities into a regular form. One of these has been already noticed as existing in the Aberlemno group (Fig. 37), and other two are here shown (Fig. 45) from Logic, Aber- deenshire, and (Fig. 46) at Lynchurn, near Boat-of- Garten, on Speyside, from a drawing by Dr. Arthur Mitchell. The general characteristic of these unshaped stones is ' As at Largo and Scoonie, in Fife ; at St. Yigeans, Aberlemno, Monifietli, Kingoldrum, Kirriemuir, Cossins and Eassie, in Forfarshire ; at Fordoun, in Kincardineshire ; at Meigle, Fowlis Wester, Gask, Dunfallandy, St. Madoes, and Kossie Priory, in Perthshire ; at Chapel of Garioch, Aberdeenshire ; at Elgin, in Morayshire; at Glenfemess, in Xairushire ; at Shandwack and Rose- markie, in Eoss-shire ; at Golspie, in Sutherlandshire ; and at L^lbster, in Caithness. The Govan slabs are mostly recumbent ; some of them have figure -sub- jects and crosses of Celtic form, and most of their decoration is in the Celtic style, but none bear the symbols. DECOEATIVE STOXE-WOEK MONUMENTS. 75 that they ■Qsnally present the symbols on one side of the stone, but no more — that is, they want the special character which is given to the others by the presence of the cross on the obverse. They differ also from the first type in another Fig. 45. — At Logie, in the Garioch Fig. 46. — At Lynch urn (5 feet (4 feet in height). 10 inches high). respect : their sculpturings are usually of simple incised work instead of relief. But the area they occupy is almost precisely the same as the area of the highly decorated t}^e.-^ They 1 Examples have been figured by Dr. Stuart from Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh ; Lindores, Fifeshire ; Aberlemno and Dunnichen, Forfarshire ; Abernethy, Struan, and Strathmartin, Perthshire ; Logie and New'ton, in the Garioch ; Daviot, Clatt, Insch, Ehynie, Crichie, Kintore, Invermy, Fyvie, 76 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. rarely occur in the western districts of Scotland, and they Fig. 47.-Symbois on the slab Original dedication to St. These incised symbol-bearing monuments exhibit no traces of a transition by which they can be linked on with the series of monuments of twelfth-century date and later; but both by their symbolism and their art they clearly link themselves on with the undated specimens of the type which has now been described. In point of fact we occasionally see the conjunction of the two styles in the same monument. The Golspie monument, which is a shaped slab bearing on the obverse a cross of the whole length of the stone, with panels of elaborately worked interlaced decoration in relief, has the reverse covered with figure-subjects and symbols that are merely incised. The monument at Migvie, in Aberdeenshire, is an unshaped slab, which bears the cross in conjunction with symbols on the obverse (Fig. 48), and a single figure- subject on the reverse Kinnellar, Park, Logie-Coldstone, T5Tie, Bourtie, Arndilly and Keitliliall, Aberdeenshire ; Birnie, Finlarig, and Knockando, in Elginshire ; Congask, in Inverness-shire ; Edderton, in Ross-shire ; Golspie and Clyne, in Sutherland- shire ; Thurso, in Caithness ; and S. Ronaldsay, in Orkney. are scarcely known in the dis- tricts south of the Clyde and south of the Forth. The only example at present known in the western region is a f^ranite slab from Strome Shunamal, Benbecula (Fig. 47), now in the Museum; and the single example south of the Forth (now also in the Museum) was found at the foot of the Castle Eock, Edin- burgh, probably on the site of from Strome Shunamal. Cuthbert there. DECORATIVE STOXE-WORK MONUMENTS. 77 (Fig. 49). The cross, which is peculiar in form, is not out- lined, but simply formed of interlaced work, to which an appearance of relief is given by cutting away the surface Fig. 48. — At Mig\ie, Aberdeenshire Fig. 49. — At Migvie, Aberdeenshire (obverse, 4^ feet high). (reverse of Fig. 48, 4J feet high). round the margin of the figure. Two symbols are placed above the arms, and in the spaces below are a pair of shears and a man on horseback, while the reverse bears also a man 78 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. on horseback, simply incised. At Aberlemno and ^leigle there are monuments on which the cross and the interlaced decoration and the figure-subjects are in relief, while the symbols are merely incised. It seems, therefore, that the type of monument, which consists of an unshaped slab bear- ing the unknown symbols only, and presenting always a style of art which expresses itself in incised work alone, must be held to be the precursor and not the successor of the type which consists of slabs regularly shaped, elaborately orna- mented in relief as well as in incised work, and bearing the unknown symbols, along with the familiar symbol of the cross. "We have thus determined the existence in the eastern portion of Scotland, north of the Forth, of two types of monument, the earlier of which is characterised by the presence of peculiar symbols of unknown significance and by the absence of the cross, while the later is characterised by the presence of the unknown symbols in association with the cross. Here and there within this area, as at Dupplin, Docton, St. Andrews, Mugdrum, Monifieth, Monikie, Strath- martin, and Drainie, we also meet with monuments differing in form and features from both these t}^es. They are few in number, and they are generally of large size and imposing character. The specialty of their form is that they are not slabs bearing the sculptured representations of crosses, but crosses in reality, hewn out of the solid stone, and standing in sockets or pedestals.'^ The most imposing specimen of this t}^e is one which stands among a group of more or less mutilated fragments of cross-shafts, clustered round the ruins of the monastery at ^ The transition from between the slabs bearing representations of the cross and these free-standing crosses is seen in such slabs as those at Gask and Fordoun, in which the hollows at the intersections of the arms of the crosses sculptured on them are complete circles pierced through the stone, so that nothing more than the cutting away of the panels on either side of the shaft and summit is required in order to make them free-standing crosses. DECOEATIVE STOXE-WORK :\rOXU.MEXTS. 7 9 lona. It is of large size, 14 feet high, and 2 feet wide at the bottom of the shaft. It is of the same form as the representa- tions of the cross usually sculptured on the slabs of eastern Scotland, having the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit hollowed into semicircles, and a solid ring con- necting its transverse and vertical limbs. The ornamentation consists largely of a series of patterns formed by the sym- metrical arrangement of bosses, which are themselves covered with patterns of diverging spirals, from which serpents escape and interlace, to form other patterns around the bosses. This special variety of ornament is not common among the monu- ments of eastern Scotland, but it is found on some of those which exhibit the best work, and approximate most closely to the style of the best manuscripts.^ In the great cross at lona it is associated with figure-subjects of men and animals, in the usual style of the erect cross slabs. There is also a very interesting fragment of a cross shaft at lona which presents no figure-subjects, but is decorated in the purest style of Celtic art, with such inimitable beauty, intricacy, and harmony of design, that I am safe in saying of it that no finer specimen of art workmanship in stone exists in Scotland. It is about 6 feet in height and nearly 2 feet in breadth, with raised and rounded edgings at the corners. One face, which is the most entire, is covered by a ground of exquisitely executed interlaced knot-work, occupying the sunk spaces which surround the three raised panels that are the principal features of the ornament. They have no edging, but their surfaces are covered with patterns of pro- jecting bosses, combined with interlaced serpents, and that peculiar variety of escaping spiral, and trumpet scroll-work, which is especially Celtic. The other face of the cross-shaft is much broken, but bears the remains of an intricate panel ^ As for instance, in the decoration of the beautiful slabs at Xigg, Shand- wick, and St. Andrews, on which bosses occur. 80 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. of interlaced work, arranged in lozenge-shaped and triangular spaces, and below it two beautiful circular patterns formed of bosses, with escaping and interlacing serpents. Another fragment of smaller size, also at lona, presents on one of its faces an equally beautiful and still more characteristically Celtic development of this form of ornament, to which it would be difficult to find an equal in beauty, and impossible to furnish a parallel in character, among the art products of all the rest of the world. Somewhat similar in style, and not greatly inferior in workmanship, is the beautiful cross at Kildalton, in Islay. The special feature of its character is also the intense Cel- ticism of its art. No other cross now standing exhibits this in such a striking manner. Its two panels, filled with divergent spirals and trumpet patterns, and mingled with circles enclosing groups of spirals, wherever they might be found, and in whatever material they might be executed, would be certainly recognised as products of Celtic art. ISTothing like them can be instanced among the art-products of any other people or any other time. I make such remarks as these with what may be regarded as needless iteration. But I do so because I wish to set clearly in the broad light of the present culture the important fact that many of these little regarded relics of the earlier culture of our country are worthy of attention, for this reason, if for no other, that when they are gone there will be no more like them in the world — the species will be extinct. It does not seem as if we yet realised the fact that, as a nation, we are the sole possessors of a series of sculptured monuments unique in their character, and possessed of singular merit as works of art. The type of free-standing cross with which we are dealing is rendered sufficiently apparent by these examples. Its form is the same as that of the Celtic cross carved upon the erect slabs, having the intersections of the arms, with the shaft and DECORATIVE STOXE-WOEK : MONUMENTS. 81 summit hollowed into semicircles, and frequently also a ring connecting the transverse and vertical limbs. Its ornamenta- tion is of the same Celtic character as that of the erect cross- bearing slabs, consisting of interlaced work, spirals, and fret- work, associated with figure-subjects. But the free-standing crosses differ from the cross-bearing slabs in one respect. They have not the peculiar symbols associated with their figure-subjects, or with their ornamentation. While, there- fore, they are linked with the two groups of monuments on the east coast, by the form which the cross assumes, and by the character of the ornamentation which they exhibit, they do not share the most peculiar feature of these monuments, the presence of the symbols.^ A special variety of this type of monumental free-stand- ing cross, distinguished by the length and slenderness of the shaft, and the contraction of the arms of the cross, to form a circular head, occurs in Galloway and in the Isle of Man, which at that period had close relations with Scotland. This last group of monuments will fall to be described in connec- tion with the inscriptions which occur upon them, by which they are referred to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and I only notice them here as a sub-variety of the Celtic type partially denuded of its Celtic character. This partial change of character by the loss of Celticism is specially conspicuous in the free-standing crosses. Those 1 There are a few of the erect slabs, which, like the free-standing crosses, are characterised by the absence of the symbols. They present indications which lead to the conclusion that they belong to the later and not to the earlier portion of the period of the type of erect cross-bearing slabs, and thus form a group of slabs retaining only the characteristic features which are also present in the earliest free-standing crosses, and are probably sjmchronous Avith them. Examples of these slabs bearing the cross on the obverse and figure-subjects on the reverse, but without the symbols, are found at Meigle, Glamis, Invergo'WTie, Farnell, Aldbar, Inchbrayock, Kirriemuir, Kingoldrum, Benvie, Forres, and Nigg. G 82 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. of them wliicli have been already described retain in their outlines the special form of the Celtic cross as it appears on the cross-bearing slabs, while they also retain in their orna- ment the special varieties of decorative design in interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork that are characteristic of the period of Celtic art in its purer form, as chiefly displayed in the manuscripts and metal -work, but largely also on the cross-bearing slabs. Those of them which yet remain to be described do not present in their outlines the special form of the cross which is peculiarly Celtic, and they do not retain in their ornament the special features which are distinctive of the Celtic style. This absence of Celticism in form and decoration removes them from amon^^ the classes of monu- ments with which I am dealing ; and as they are all or mostly all demonstrably later than the twelfth century, there is no reason for entering upon a detailed description of them and their characteristics. But as they are better known from modern reproductions than any of the examples of tlie purely Celtic school, they may be used effectively to show by way of a strong contrast what Celtic art was not. The most distinctive characteristic of Celtic art is the absence of foliage. It was zoomorphic, but not phyllomorphic. It had reached its culminating point before a single foliageous scroll makes its appearance among the many varieties of decoration which it had invented and perfected. The degree of the prevalence of this foliageous scroll-work must there- fore indicate the degree of departure from the purity of Celtic art, and the exemplification of this is in fact the special char- acteristic of the later group of free-standing crosses. Their loss of Celticism is rendered complete by the dominance of the new element as the principal feature of their decoration. This dominance is the special characteristic of the art of the West Highland crosses. They also present other differ- ences sufficiently distinctive to separate them entirely from DECOEATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 83 those examples in the same localities which are decorated in the purer style of Celtic art. They are all, or nearly all, crosses of one form, having solid circular heads on long thin shafts, and the ends of the arms protruding from the solid circle, while those in the purer style of art preserve the ancient Celtic form of cross, with the intersections hollowed into arcs of circles, and the arms connected by a ring. There are other differences which are equally suggestive and dis- tinctive. JSTo free-standing cross, whether its decoration exhibits the purer style of Celtic art, or the later and debased style, bears any trace of a Celtic inscription, either in the ordinary characters of the Celtic manuscripts, or in the linear character of the Ogham inscriptions so often associated with the types of the sculptured monuments, which are erect slabs with crosses and symbols decorated in the earlier style. Again, it is noticeable that the crosses which present foliageous scroll-work as the principal element of their decoration usually bear the representation of the crucifixion. 'No such representation ever appears on the crosses or the slabs, which either exhibit the symbols, or are characterised by the presence of the pure style, of Celtic art.^ They bear the cross, but not the crucified figure. Hence it is apparent that the latest of all these types of monuments is that which bears the crucifixion and is decorated with foliageous scrolls. From this examination and comparison of the members of the several groups of these early monuments we have now 1 The Mosaic in the Oratory erected by Pope John VII. in honour of the Virgin (a.d. 705-707) was one of the first instances in which the crucifixion was represented publicly and ofiicially. In Ireland the crucifixion does not appear except on a few of the later monumental crosses. Among the two hundred and fifty inscribed monumental slabs exhibiting the pure style of Celtic art, which have been engraved by Miss Stokes {Christian Inscriptions of Ireland), there is no crucifixion — simply the cross in one or other of its Celtic forms. 84 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. ascertained that there are in eastern Scotland, north of the Forth, two types : the first and earlier type an erect slab, undressed to shape, and simply incised with symbols and figure-subjects ; the second type also an erect slab, but shaped to a regular form, bearing on the obverse the cross of Celtic form, elaborately ornamented with interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork, and on the reverse the same symbols which are characteristic of the first type, but with higher art and a greater variety of figure-subjects. In the west of Scotland we have ascertained that neither of these types of monu- mental slabs exists. But in the groups of monuments which are met with in the West, we have also ascertained the existence of two types : the earlier type a free-standing cross of Celtic form, ornamented like the erect slabs in a pure style of Celtic art, but differing from them in the absence of the symbols ; the later type also a free-standing cross, but not of Celtic form, ornamented with foliageous scrolls, and differing from all the earlier t}^es in its bearing usually the representa- tion of the crucifixion. Having thus obtained a broad general classification of the monuments by their typical characteristics, and having deduced from the inter-relations of the several types their apparent sequence in time, the principal object of the present lecture is accomplished. But besides the monuments thus classified under the types that are prevalent in the eastern and western districts of Scotland respectively, there are other groups of less fre- quent occurrence, which present variations of such a nature as to prevent their being included in any general type. Some of these appear to be strictly local. Perhaps the most singular of these is the Burghead group. It consists of a series of rough undressed stones, on which the figures of bulls are incised, in a style of art similar to that of the monuments of the first type, which are erect slabs, carved only on one DECORATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 85 side witli incised symbols. The difference between them and the erect slabs is that the Burghead stones are small, the Fig. 50.— At Burghead (11 by 10 inches). largest being but 27, and the smallest 20 inches in length, and that there is nothing on any of them but the single Fig. 51.— At Burghead (19 by 12 inches). figure of a bull (Figs. 50 and 51). It is stated in Carruthers Highland Notebook (pp. 220-221) that thirty such stones were 86 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. found in digging at the time of the erection of the harbour. Of this number only five are now known ; but one of these was taken out of the packing of the quay wall during some repairs, and the other twenty -five may be there still. The promontory of Burghead was anciently enclosed by a cashel of peculiar construction, and within its limits there were the remains of an ecclesiastical foundation. Several fragments of sculptured monuments of the second type, peculiar to the east coast, have been found in it. One of these represents a stag- hunt, spiritedly sculptured ; the others are carved with the peculiar interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork, also charac- teristic of the type. In the churchyard of Coldstone, Aberdeenshire, there was found a peculiar monument. It is a flattish, water -worn. undressed stone (Fig. 52), about 22 inches long, 11 inches wide, and 3 inches thick. On one of its faces an oval panel is sunk, about 12 inches by 8, and in the centre of the panel there is a raised cross of Celtic form, hollowed at the inter- sections of the arms with the shaft and summit, precisely as Fig. 52. — At Coldstone, AberdeensMre (22iuclLes long). Fig. 53.— At Cladh an Diseart, lona (20 inches long). DECORATIVE STOXE-WOEK MONUMENTS. 87 it appears on the monuments of the east coast, but without ornamental decoration.^ A similar stone, being a flattened round-edged granite boulder, 20 inches long and 15 inches wide, was found not long ago at Cladh an Diseart, in lona, and is now preserved in the cathedral there. It bears upon one of its flat sides (Tig. 53) a Celtic cross, the intersections recessed, and the arms of the cross connected by a circle. At the time that this was found, an interesting question was raised by its singular form, suggesting its probable identity with the monument which marked the grave of St. Columba before his remains were removed and enshrined. Adamnan, in his account of the saint's last days, relates that he had a bare flag for his couch, and for his pillow a stone, which stone, he adds, stands to this day as the titulus of a monument beside his grave. That probability was lessened by the discovery of another monument of a similar kind during the recent opera- tions for the repair of the ruins of the cathedral. It bears a cross, formed of simple lines expanded at the ends. These three monuments are certainly so different in form and character from the types previously described as to suggest the probability that they may belong to a still earlier type, of which few examples have survived. They bear the same form of cross that is characteristic of the decorated monu- ments, but they are not like them characterised by profusion of decoration and redundancy of symbolism. They are the plainest and simplest monuments which it is possible to conceive — stones unshaped and unerected, merely marked with the symbol of the cross. But there are others which, though they differ from these in being erect stones, are also unshaped and undecorated, bearing only the symbol of the cross in simple outline, rudely ^ Described and figured by Dr. Arthur Mitchell in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. X. J). 612. 88 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. executed. They are often archaic in character, and some- times they are found in direct association with the rehcs of the older Paganism. For instance, a cross-marked slab at Learaboll, in the strath of Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, stands Fig. 54.— At Ford, Argylesliire. in the midst of a Pagan cemetery of the bronze age, con- sisting of twenty-five tumuli and a number of alignments or groups of stones set up in rows.^ It is an unshaped slab 6 feet high, 3 feet wide, and 8 inches thick, bearing on one 1 A plan of thi.s remarkable cemetery, by Rev. Dr. J. Joass, is in the Library of the Society. DECORATIVE STONE-WORK — MONUMENTS. 89 side a rudely incised cross 6 inches in length. A large unhewn monolith of whinstone (Fig. 54) at Ford, Argyleshire, near the south end of Loch Awe, 11 feet high, and 4 feet by Fig. 55. — At Laggangarn, Wigton- Fig. 56. — At Laggangam, Wigton- sliire (6 feet 9 inches high), shire (5 feet 9 inches high). 2 feet 8 inches at the base, has on one side an imperfectly formed cross.-^ Two standing together, and forming part of a group of seven stones (five of which are un sculptured) on a grassy knoll at Laggangarn, in Wigtonshire (Figs. 55 and 56), present the unusual feature of four small crosses placed two above and two below the transverse limbs of the principal cross. The principal crosses on these stones are formed by incised lines about an inch wide, and from a quarter to half an inch in depth. They are quite unsymmetrical, and have no specially Celtic character. The stones on which they are cut are irregularly formed slabs of greywacke, one being 6 feet 9 1 Drawn to scale by J. Romilly Allen, C.E., in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. xiv. p. 347. 90 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. inches high, 2 feet 2 inches wide, and 8 inches thick, the other 5 feet 9 inches high, 2 feet 3 inches wide, and 12 inches thick. The other five stones with which they are associated are only from 2 to 3 feet in height.^ One found at ]\Iull of Siinnoness, Fig. 57. — From Mull of Sunnouess, Wigtonsliire (27 inches high), in the same county, and now in the Museum (Fig. 57), is an oblong water-worn boulder of grey wacke, broken at the lower part, and now measuring only 27 inches high, 15 inches wide, and 5|- inches in thickness. It bears on one side a cross of somewhat similar form, but is of a more decorated character, although the decoration is little more than the repetition of incised outlines round a simple linear cross, with a circular centre, and the extremities terminatino; in short cross-lines. Double groups of three small circular hollows are placed in the angular spaces between the transverse limbs and the summit of the cross, and the whole seems to have ^ Described and figured by Rev. G. "Wilson in Troc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. X, p. 56, DECOEATIVE STONE-WOEK MONUMENTS. 91 been surrounded by an incised border. A cross-bearing boulder of similar character, but larger, is also in the Museum. It bears on one face a cross of somewhat simi- lar character to that on the stone from ]Mull of Sunnoness, Fig. 58.— At Daltallachau. Fig. 59.— At Ratlio, Midlothian. but less regular in form. It also resembles the stones at Laggangarn, in presenting the feature of three small crosses placed one on either side of the shaft, and one in the summit of the principal cross. This stone was formerly built into the wall of a mill at Dromore, in the parish of Kirkmaiden, and still farther back had been built into the wall of the parish church, and held in superstitious veneration in the locality. Another of these simply incised cross -stones is built into the wall of the old graveyard at Kirkmadrine, where are also the two oldest inscribed Christian monuments in Scotland. One bearing an incised cross of a character somewhat similar to the Laggangarn stones, though scarcely 92 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHKISTLVX TLMES. SO rude in execution, and without the subordinate crosses above and below the transverse limbs, is said to have been found about 1850 in a cairn of stones at Daltallachan,-^ in the parish of Carsphairn in Kirkcudbrightshire (Fig. 58). A slab 5 feet high by 1 J in breadth, and 12 inches in thickness (Fig. 59), bearing an incised cross somewhat similar to the Daltallachan example, but more nearly approaching the distinctively Celtic form in the semicircular hollows at the Fig. CO.— At HawkhiU, Alloa. intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit, stands on a ridge to the north of the eastern avenue of Hatton House,^ in the parish of Eatho. About half a mile east of the town of Alloa, on a ridge overlooking the Forth, is a ^ Described by Mr. AV. R. M'Diarmid in the Froc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., voL xiv. p. 284. 2 Described by ]Mr. J. R. Findlay in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. xiv. p. 94. DECORATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 93 stone (Fig. 60), bearing on both sides an incised cross of Celtic form, with semicircular hollows at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit. A number of interments were found in its neighbourhood. A stone dug up in the church- yard of Glenluce (now in the Museum) (Fig. 61), is an elon- gated boulder of greywacke, 6 feet in length by 16 inches in breadth, and 6 inches in thick- ness. It bears on its naturally flattened face an equal -armed cross near the top of the stone, and below it a long decorated panel of interlaced work. The fact that a considerable part of the lower portion of the stone is undecorated, is suggestive of its having been intended to be placed in an erect position, with the undecorated part sunk in the ground. A larger boulder at Arbirlot (Fig. 62), near Arbroath, Forfarshire, also standing erect, bears on its flat face two equal armed crosses, with the unusual addition of two open books. An unshaped slab (Fig. 63), standing in the ancient burying-ground of Mid Clyth in Caithness, bears on one face a cross of archaic type,^ which has been thus figured by Dr. Arthur Mitchell. 1 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. x. p. 630. Fig. 61. -From Glenluce length). feet in 94 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISnAX TIMES. These examples will suffice to give an idea of the general Fig 02.— At Arbirlot, Forfarshire (5 feet high). character of these rude erect mono- liths, bearing incised crosses usually unaccompanied by any other symbol or any artistic decoration. There is no other group, among the members of which we may look with equal probability for the earliest examples of the undecorated series. It may be that with a wider and more precise knowledge of the constituents of these Fig. 63.— At Mid Clyth, two groups characterised by incised Caithness. i i j_i i • work only — the one group bearmg incised crosses without other symbols, and the other group DECORATIVE STONE-WORK MONUMENTS. 95 bearing incised symbols without the cross — it may become possible to trace an upward development in each, and to show that both coalesced in the highly decorated type, pre- senting both the symbols and the cross, and occasionally combining them with figure-subjects and foliageous scrolls. I know of no evidence which will enable us to connect the decorated types of monuments and symbol-stones with the early Columban Church. On the contrary, when we come to consider separately the characteristics of their art and their symbolism, it will be seen that all the evidence derived from these characteristics goes rather to show that they belong to the later and not to the earlier period of the Celtic Church in Scotland — the period, that is to say, immediately preceding the twelfth century, and not the period immediately succeed- ing the sixth. The conclusion from this, internal evidence is strengthened by the consideration that at Clonmacnoise, the Zona of Ireland, where Dr. Petrie found over one hundred and fifty monuments, the inscribed and decorated slabs form a series assigned by Miss Stokes, but on data not absolutely conclusive, to the period between the seventh and twelfth centuries. The last limit is almost certainly determined, the first is conjectural. The high crosses of Ireland which are dated range from the beginning of the tenth to . the twelfth century. The monumental slabs at Clonmacnoise and other early Christian cemeteries in Ireland, are mostly incised, and have no figure-subjects. The high crosses are carved in relief and covered with figure-subjects. We can scarcely regard the Scottish monuments that are also carved in relief, and decorated with figure-subjects and designs in the style of the manuscripts as earlier than those of Ireland, exhibiting a similar phase of a similar art. The probability is that the higher phase was developed in Ireland at an earlier period than in Scotland, and that we shall not greatly err if we assign the decorated monuments of Scotland to a 96 SCOTLAXD IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. period later than the commencement of the tenth cen- tury, and the incised monuments to the period immediately preceding. If these indications — for they are indications merely, and not conclusions — tend to reduce the supposed antiquity of our sculptured monuments, they lose no feature of essential interest in the loss of this conjectural attribute. On the contrary, their peculiar features are rendered more interesting because we can trace among them a sequence of types, leading up to the known types of later monumental art, and forms of symbolism derived from the general system prevailing in other European countries, and traceable to the common source of the various systems of Christian usages and Christian art, which spread successively over the remoter parts of Western Europe, modified by the existing culture on which they were engrafted. ISTot only do the monuments thus gain in interest by the reduction of their conjectural antiquity, but their peculiar features become appropriate and intelligible, because they appear as art characteristics, which are comparable to those of the manu- scripts and metal -work of contemporary or nearly contem- porary workmanship. Thus standing no longer out of relation to all that is already known of the art and symbolism of their time, they will take their place in the general history of the past as instructive records of our country's progress in culture and civilisation. This will appear more fully when the consideration of their special art characteristics has disclosed their relations to that national school of Celtic art which we have seen elaborating its beautiful designs on parchment, adapting them to the exquisite ornamentation of metal-work, and finally adorning these sculptured monuments, as no other monuments were ever adorned, with all the wealth of decoration thus pro- duced. THE AET OF THE MONUMENTS. 97 LECTUEE III. (11th October 1880.) THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. In this Lecture I propose to deal with the art characteristics of the monuments that have been described in the previous Lecture, — (1) by comparison of these characteristics as they appear on the monuments themselves ; and (2) by determining their relations to the general features of early Celtic art, as exhibited in manuscripts, in metal-work, and on other monu- ments throughout the whole Celtic area. Confining our attention, in the first place, to the decorated monuments of eastern Scotland north of the Forth, and re- membering the frequency with which certain varieties of decoration have recurred in the detailed descriptions of the several monuments of the group, it becomes apparent from that frequency that there are certain specific varieties of orna- ment that are constant and prevailing characteristics of their art. The object of our inquiry will therefore be to ascertain the nature and characteristics of these varieties of ornament, their relations to each other, and the style and manner of their use in the decoration of the monuments. It will be also necessary, for a proper understanding of the character and relations of the art which employs these varieties of decora- tion, to inquire whether they are peculiar to the school of art w^hich has created a style of its own by its peculiar use of them. H 98 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHFJSTIAX TIMES. On compariug these monuments among themselves, it becomes evident that the prevailing characteristic of their decoration is that it is a decoration of panels, or spaces se^^arated from each other by borders, and treated as integral Fig. 6i. — At Rossie Priory (obverse 5| feet high). surfaces. Sometimes these surfaces are arbitrary divisions of the general surface of the monument ; at other times they are divisions resulting from the breakiug up of the general surface by the principal design, vhich is frequently a cross extending THE ART OF THE MOXUMEXTS. 99 the whole length of the stone (as seen in Figs. 64 and 65). Sometimes the cross itself is divided into panels, or the spaces Fig. 65. — At Eossie Priory (reverse of Fig. 64, 5{ feet high). on either side of the shaft are so divided. Occasionally there is a border of decoration round the principal subject, and sometimes this border is divided into panels ; sometimes the whole surface of the stone is divided into panels without any 100 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. apparent prominence being given to one more than another ; so that it is difficult to say Avhich is the principal design. But whatever may be the special method by which this breaking up of the general surface is attained, it is always decorated in spaces which balance each other ; and the spaces Fig. 66. — Obverse ; at Invergowrie feet high). themselves are often treated, as to the parts of their decora- tion, in a similar manner. This special character of decora- tion in panels, filled with symmetrically arranged patterns, is the character which we have found to be distinctive of the Celtic manuscripts and metal-work. Examining the different varieties of decoration thus em- THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 101 ployed as enrichments of the surfaces of the monuments, we find that the prevailing feature of the highly decorated monu- Fig.^67.— At Meigle. ments is the use of interlaced work, simple or composite. In its simple form it consists of plain endless bands or ribbons, regularly interlaced into a symmetrical pattern, more or less Fig. 68. — At Rosemarkie. complicated according to the number and nature of the inter- lacements. Sometimes two, three, or four bands are plaited together continuously (as in Fig. 66), or formed into loose open knots, or interlaced with each other in various degrees of com- plexity, so as to form regularly recurring and symmetrical pat- terns. Sometimes the whole space is filled with repetitions of the same pattern ; but more frequently the pattern is changed at equal distances, and the space is thus filled with symmetri- cal groups of patterns whose interlacements are constructed in squares, oblongs, triangles, circles, and the like. These vari- eties of arrangement are specially employed in filling up such spaces as the shaft, arms, and summit of the cross, when this symbol forms the chief ornament of the slab. Characteristic examples are presented by the different parts of the inter- laced ornament on the obverse and reverse (Figs. 64 and 65) of the elaborately sculptured slab at Eossie Priory, in Perth- 102 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. sliire.-^ Sometimes, instead of a free, flowing, curvilinear pattern, the interlaced work assumes an angular character, and becomes rectilinear instead of curvilinear in outline, as shown in Fig. 67, from a slab at Meigle ; and occasionally a very pretty effect is produced by the alternation of the two styles. ]\rore rarely the interlaced work becomes zoomorphic Fig. 69.— At Rosemarkie. in character (as in Fig. 68, on a slab at Eosemarkie), and is composed of the intertwisted bodies and limbs of animals precisely like those of the Celtic manuscripts. The interlaced work of the monuments is chiefly associ- ated with fretwork, as in Fig. 66, at Invergowrie. In the general term fretwork I include almost all the varieties of pattern produced by straight instead of curved lines. The lines may intersect or approach each other vertically or hori- zontally, or deflect at various angles ; but they do not interlace, and they do not curve. Their arrangement is often such as to produce in the spaces between them a series of sharply deflected bands repeating a certain arrangement symmetrically in different directions (as in Fig. 70), and thus forming ^ This specimen is selected for tlie typical character of its ornament. It will be observed that it has the peculiarity of presenting the cross on both sides. THE AKT OF THE MONUMENTS. 103 continuous iDatterns. Sometimes the lines Avhich form the groundwork of the design are arranged like the letter Z, thrown obliquely and reversed (as in Fig. 69, ^ , . s Fig. 70. — At Inchcolm, at Eosemarkie) ; some- times they take the form of the letter I, with lengthened tip- Figs. 71 and 72. — At Keils and Jordan Hill. strokes ; occasionally the two forms are commingled in the same design, and various modifications are added ; but in all the varieties of these and of the common key \//^?y HV (rJ pattern the lines are usually V^yy ^.v,.^/] ts^yl K.^^^ thrown obliquely by prefer- ence, and thus by cutting off the pattern and finishing it wdthin a rectangular border (as in Figs. 71 and 72), many beautiful variations are produced. Characteristic examples mmm Fig. 73. — At Drainie. 104 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. occur on the slabs at Sliaiidwick, Nigg, Eosemarkie, Drainie, Meigle, St. Andrews, etc. Occasionally the angular form of the fret passes off into a curvilinear form of the same orna- ment, as at Drainie (Fig. 73), or into a modification of the double spiral, as on the cross at Inchbrayock. Sometimes Figs. 74 and 75. — At Monifieth (obverse and reverse, 3 feet high). the cross occupying the chief position on the slab is entirely decorated with fretwork, as at Kirriemuir, Kingoldrum, and Monifieth ^ (Fig. 74) ; but oftener it forms a part only of the decoration of the cross. This fretwork, again, is chiefly associated with divergent spirals (as in Fig. 69), combined in many varieties of treat- ' These stones are now in the Museum. THE ART OF THE MOXUMEXTS. 105 ment. The divergent spiral (or volute, as it is termed when it assumes an architectural character) consists of two or three lines starting from a common centre, and diverging spirally, but with peculiarly flattened curves of unequal curvature, so as to include between them trumpet -shaped spaces, and contracting similarly from their greatest expan- sion in other spirals, thus forming a series of figures resem- bling double trumpets placed mouth to mouth. When used as a running pattern or diaper, this design becomes con- tinuous, its double or triple lines whirling inwards to a centre, there turning and whirling outwards, till, by a peculiar flattening of the curve, they escape from the circle of spirals, and diverge to whirl inwards in a reverse direction, and thus form another circle of spirals from which they again escape in a series of convolutions capable of infinite variation and repetition. Sometimes they are arranged so as to form square or circular patterns, as at Hilton of CadboU Fig. 76.— At Hilton of Cadboll. (Fig. 76) ; but more commonly they are used in association with interlaced work, as at Monifieth (Figs. 77, 78), or with fretwork to form part of the ornament on the central cross, which is the principal feature of the slab, though they are rarely used like the interlaced work or the fret as the sole ornament of a cross. Frequently the centre of the cross 106 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHPJSTL\X TIMES. is filled with them, as at Crieff, Abeiiemno, and St. Andrews. Often they cover the bosses which adorn the cross, as at St. Madoes, Fowlis Wester, and lona. Occasionally they form a running pattern along the border of the stone, as at "Woodwray (now at Abbotsford). Sometimes they assume a zoomorphic character, the interlocked ends of the spirals terminating in animals' heads, as at St. Yigeans. A specially beautiful effect is produced by their combination, with bosses Figs. 77, 78. — At Mouifieth (obverse aud reverse, 22 inches high). arranged in patterns as at lona, and at Mgg (see the accom- panying plates), and also on the fine cross at Kildalton. It thus becomes evident that the monuments which bear the cross on the obverse, figure-subjects and symbols on the reverse, possess a certain art-character in common, inasmuch as they exhibit as the prevailing forms of their ornament three varieties of decoration, viz. — interlaced work, fretwork, and divergent spirals. It is equally apparent that the special characteristic of these monuments is their decora- tion. Xo other monuments are characterised by such a lavish profusion of adornment. But it is decoration which, THE ART OF THE MOXU]\IEXTS. 107 though it be lavishly used, is neither feeble in character nor ineffective in the general result. Above all, it is original in the sense in which the best efforts of art are original. It has the merit of being possessed of such individuality of character, that wherever it may present itself it can never be mistaken for anything but what it is. All this indicates the intensity of the feeling which these old artists laboured so lovingly to perpetuate in these costly monuments. We think little of them now, as we cast a passing glance at their weather-beaten forms, standing solitary or in groups in unfrequented places. But that they Avere costly monuments in their day there can be no reasonable doubt. It requires skill to copy them, and to reproduce the finer specimens is really beyond the power of any but an artist of considerable attainments. But to have produced the designs implies a culture of the imagination, a refinement of taste, and a faculty of art -composition, which are not always found •among men who are specially instructed, and which do not exist at all among the masses of the community. How then were these enduring results obtained ? By what means was the knowledge of an art so intricate, so irksome, and yet so replete with beauty and interest, fostered and kept alive ? Above all, where shall we look for the process of its develop- ment and the story of its growth ? To hold that we ought to be able to trace a gradual progress from the simple uncarved pillar-stones to the ornate cross-slabs and the more imposing high crosses, is to main- tain that the art originated and was developed as sculpture on stone. But when we look at such a monument as that at Nigg (see the accompanying Plates), where the reverse has a central group of figure-subjects, surrounded by a wide border of panels of interlaced work or fretwork, and w^here the central cross on the obverse, decorated with interlaced and zoomorphic patterns, is surrounded by a border consisting 108 SCOTLAND L\ EARLY CHRISTL\X TIMES. of panels of interlaced work and divergent spirals, it becomes evident that both faces of the monument are similar in style of treatment and manner of composition to the illuminated pages of the Celtic manuscripts. The decorated pages are usually arranged as a series of elaborately ornamented panels surrounding a central subject, ^'hich very often is one or other of the many varieties of a decorated cross. In this respect, therefore, these decorated monuments closely resemble the decorated pages of Celtic manuscripts, and in this I'espect also they are totally unlike all other monuments. Again, it is specially noticeable that the chief char- acteristics of the art of these stones are (1), an extraordinary elaboration and finish of minute details of ornament ; and (2), a striving after symmetry without mathematical exacti- tude of repetition, which is conspicuous in each of the parts of the patterns separately, as well as in the composition of the decoration as a whole. These also are the prevailing characteristics of the art of the Celtic manuscripts and metal- work — characteristics which are visible in every decorated page, and are so persistent in Celtic decoration of every kind, that they must be held to be essential qualities of the art. In the possession of these qualities, therefore, as well as in the style and manner of its composition, the decoration of these monu- ments is completely like that of the Celtic manuscripts and metal-work, and totally unlike that of all other monuments. Still further, when we come to examine the component parts of tlieir decoration in detail, we find that the peculiar patterns of interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork that are most frequent on the stones, are also frequent in the manu- scripts. In point of fact, their similarity of style is so complete that there is no variety of pattern used in the decoration of the manuscripts which is not also to be found in the decoration of the monuments. This com- pletes the demonstration that the art sculptured on the THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 109 stones is the same art whicli decorates the Celtic manu- scripts of the Gospels. We have already seen that some of the best manuscripts are as early in date as the close of the seventh century, while the best stone and metal- work is later, and comes close to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The natural inference is, therefore, that the art was perfected by the scribes before it was adopted generally by the sculptors and jewellers. The elaborate intricacy of detail, which is one of its most special characteristics, could never have been developed in stone or metal- work. Its most complicated designs, flowing easily from the pen, might be copied in the more durable materials, but they could scarcely have originated, and certainly they would never have arrived at such perfection, if the artists by whom they were elaborated had been merely workers in stone or metal. In Ireland, which was the cradle of the art, it is suggestive that these elaborately intricate patterns are not so characteris- tic of the monuments as of the manuscripts. The earlier Irish monuments are comparatively plain and unadorned ; among the earlier manuscripts, on the contrary, there are many that are profusely decorated. It thus appears that it was only when the art had been brought to a high degree of excellence that it began to be generally applied to stone and metal work in Ireland. There is no reason to suppose that the course of its development was different in Scotland, and hence we must infer that where we have such a wealth of decoration in stone, there must have been previously a greater w^ealth of design, and a higher style of execution, on the pages of books that have perished. If we had but a single illuminated leaf of vellum for every fragment of a stone that has been pre- served, what a wealth of beautiful designs they would have given us. But let us be thankful, and learn to appreciate what we possess, for a legacy of art like this of the monu- 110 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. ments, — althoiigli its scattered materials lie here and there in fields, in hedges and ditches, by lonely road-sides, or in nettle- grown corners of country churchyards, — is really a school which has many and varied capabilities of public utility, and is therefore a possession of which any nation might well be proud. But more than this, it constitutes a wealth of material which no other nation possesses, or can ever hope to possess. Having thus demonstrated the affinity of the early Christian monumental art of Scotland with the forms of early Christian art as cultivated by the ecclesiastical communities of the Celtic Church, it next becomes a question whether the gradual development of an art so excellent and so widely- diffused as that of the Celtic manuscripts may not be trace- able beyond the special area to which these peculiar monuments are confined. In other words, it is necessary to inquire whether the elements of this local art are themselves of local origin. This has been often asserted, but it seems most un- likely, for art, like language, is common to the whole human race, and certain of the elements of decorative art, like certain radical elements of language, are the common property of many sections of the human family. The manner in which these radicles have been selected by racial preference, the diverse systems on which their combinations and modifica- tions have proceeded, and the various resulting effects as seen in the structure and composition of different languages and dialects, offer an exact parallel to the development of national and local systems of decorative art, j^ossessing the same or nearly similar elemental essentials as their common founda- tion. It may be possible, by a process of decomposition, to show that a language which, at a particular period, was the exclusive product and possession of a particular people, is reducible to certain simple elements which were previously the common property of other peoples. But it may be none THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. Ill the less tme that such a language, in the totality of its characteristics, possessed an individuality so strongly marked as to be quite unique, and absolutely peculiar to one people and one period. While it is manifest, therefore, that a national system of art like this of the Scottish monuments is described in correct terms by saying that in all the essen- tial features of its individuality it differs from every other, it does not necessarily follow that its essential elements must have originated in Scotland or in Ireland. I have already analysed the elements of which it is composed. Some of these are common to a much wider area than that of Celtic Britain, or even of Europe. Others are elements that are found, to a greater or less extent, in the art of almost all nations that have developed their art. When I say, for instance, that interlaced work is one of the special charac- teristics of the Celtic school of art, I do not mean that the Celts were the only people who have used interlaced work, or that its invention was due to them. This would be quite as unfounded as if I were to assert that they were the only people who built with uncemented stones, or that they in- vented this style of building. But I have shown that the Celtic buildings, though agreeing in this respect with early buildings in other countries, yet differ widely in the totality of their characteristics from all others, and that it is this difference which constitutes their Celticism. So, in like manner, although other nations have used interlaced work, and used it long before the Celts exhibit any knowledge of it, yet it remains true that no nation ever used it as they have done. For instance, we find interlaced work on Baby- lonish cyKnders,-^ on Mycenian ornaments and sculpture, on Alexandrian manuscripts, on Ethiopic manuscripts and metal- work, and on Pompeian bronzes. But it is of exceptional ^ A Babylonish, cylinder of haematite, with a running interlacement of three bands, used as a division between the figure-subjects, is engraved in the Gazette Archeologique, 1878, p. 136. 112 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. character and restricted scope. We find it on Anglo-Saxon metal-work of the heathen time, and on urns of stone in Scandinavian barrows, associated with objects and usages of purely indigenous character. But it is not in the Celtic style, and it never becomes the prevailing and dominant form of decoration. We find it on the Mosaic pavements of the time of the Eoman occupation of Britain, and on Christian Mosaics of later time in the early churches of Italy and France.-^ "We find it also existing as an architectural decora- tion applied to the ornamentation of churches, both externally and internally. The jambs of the doorway of San Zeno at San Prassede, in Eome, built by Pope Paschal I., about a.d. 820, are ornamented with a running pattern of interlaced ribbon- work of four strands, which might have appeared on the shaft of a sculptured cross in Scotland or in Ireland. The Ionic capitals of the pillars flanking the doorway have also enrichments in interlaced work. The doorway at the east end of the atrium of San Clemente is bordered with interlaced ornamentation similar to that of San Zeno. In the church of Chur, in Switzerland, founded in 1178, there were found seventeen fragments of slabs sculptured with designs of complicated interlaced work arranged in panels. Among them is one on which is sculptured a cross of inter- laced work, with two circles above the arms, and two lions below." The church of Kurtea d'Argysch, in Wallachia, a ^ Interlacing designs are conspicuous in the composition of two of the most ancient pavements of Christian time, in Italy, viz. those of the Catacomb of St. Helena, and the Church of St. Mary of Capua, in which it forms the dominant feature, filling a number of compartments in the general design. It appears in the Mosaic pavements of Casale, Verona, Pesaro, St. John of Eavenna, St. Laurence beyond the walls at Rome, and other places. In short, says Muntz, it is neither the peculiar invention of the Celts nor of the Teutons. Long previously we find it on the pavements of Rome and the provinces. It may even be afiirmed that the Mosaic is its true domain, in which it has maintained itself for more than a thousand years." ' These are figured in the Mittheilungen der Antiquarischen GesellscJiaft in Zurich, vol. xi., Plates 9, 10, 11, and 12. THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 113 building of tlie thirteenth century, has the exterior s^^aces round the windows decorated with complicated interlaced work of great beauty and intricacy.-^ It was thus a common form of decorative ornament applied to many and various purposes, in many different parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, both before and after the time when, in this country and in Ireland, it became one of the prevailing and dominant charac- teristics of Celtic art. But while it was thus used by other peoples as an occasional element of decoration, or as a style of ornament suitable for special purposes, it w^as nowhere developed into a systematic style of art, applied alike to manuscripts, metal -work, and stone -work, unless in this country and in Ireland. In other words, it never gave a distinctive character to any art but Celtic art. In like manner, it may be admitted that the meander, the key pattern, and other rectangular forms of the fret orna- ment, so commonly seen in Greek, Eoman, Egyptian, Chinese, and Mexican art, are not the exclusive possession of Celtic decorators, and did not originate with them. But it is equally true that no nation ever developed the capacities of this rectilinear form of ornament in the special manner in which they have been developed in Celtic manuscripts and on Celtic monuments.^ The variety and beauty of their special adaptations of this system of ornamental design can only be appreciated by those who have closely studied their endless variations, as exhibited in the complicated patterns so ^ Die Bischofliche Klosterkirke bei Kurtea d'Argjisch, von L. Reissen- berger. Jahrbuch der K. K. Central-Commission zur erforschung und erhaltimg der Baudenkmale, Band iv., AVien, 1860, pj). 201, 202, etc. ^ " The art instinct of the Celtic people gave birth to varieties and modifica- tions of this design which are met with in the work of no other people ; and by throwing the lines diagonally, which in the original are at right angles, they made that beautiful pattern so common in its various changes and singular forms on all our ancient monuments." — Miss Stokes, Christian Inscriptions of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 145. I 114 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHPJSTIAX TIMES. frequently met with in the manuscripts and on the monu- ments. Not only are the many varieties of diagonal fret- work peculiarly characteristic of the art of the monuments, but the Z and kindred varieties of this ornament are not found in the decorative art of any other people, at least to such an extent as to give it a distinctive character. But if all this be true of the element of interlaced work, and equally true of the fretwork with which it is associated on Celtic monuments, w^e look in vain among the art relics of all other nations for the special development of spiral orna- mentation which forms the peculiar characteristic of the earlier school of Celtic art. Some resemblance to its peculiar curves appears on the Continent here and there, in the Swiss Lake ornamentation of the Iron Age, in the ornamentation of the gold objects found by Schliemann in Mycenae,^ and in some of the metal-work of Central Germany and Italy ; but nowhere is it applied with the freedom and graceful beauty of the Celtic work. Speaking of this form of decoration in an address to the Eoyal Irish Academy in 1857, the late Mr. J. M. Kemble, the highest authority of his time upon such questions, said : — " There is a peculiar development of the double spiral line totally unknown to the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the nations of the Teutonic north, which is essentially characteristic not only of the Scoto-Celtic, but of the Britanno-Celtic populations of these islands. If the lines are allowed to diverge, instead of following one another closely in their windings, they produce that remarkable pattern which w^e have been in the habit of calling the trumpet pattern. When this is represented on a plain sur- face, as in the illuminations of the MSS., you have that 1 See especially the sculptured tombstones Nos. 140 and 141 (pp. 81 and 86) ; the gold ornament, Xo, 305 (p. 199), and the golden Avine-flagon, Xo. 341 (p. 232), the gold-disc, Ko. 486 (p. 322), and the gold ribbons, Nos. 514 and 517 (p. 326), of Mycciicc, by Dr. H. Schliemann, Lond., 1878. THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 115 marvellously beautiful result which is seen in the Book of Kells, the Gospels of Lindisfame, and in the equally beautiful records of Scoto-Celtic self-devotion and culture in the MSS. of St. Gall in Switzerland. When this principle of the diverg- ing spiral line is carried out in repousse, when you have those singularly beautiful curves, whose beautyis revealed in shadow more than in form, you have a peculiar characteristic — a form of beauty which belongs to no nation but our own, and to no portion of our nation but the Celtic portion. This beautiful pattern," he goes on to say, " is neither Greek nor Eoman nor Oriental. There is nothing like it in Etruscan art ; there is nothing like it in German or Sclavonic art ; there is little like it in Gaulish or Helvetian art ; it is indigenous — the art of those Celtic tribes which forced their way into these islands, and, somewhat isolated, here developed a peculiar, but not less admirable, system of their own." This essentially Celtic variety of decorative ornament occurs on the monuments of Scotland with nearly as much frequency as the interlaced patterns. On earlier metal-work it is associated with forms that betray the influence of Eoman art, and thus it leads us back to a time when the Christian art of this country had no existence. This is precisely what might have been predicated of it, from the fact that it is the one element in that art which is the peculiar development of the art-instinct of the race. But I do not now enter on the task of tracing back the story of its earlier developments. That falls to be discussed as a separate branch of the extended inquiry. What I have to do with at present are the facts that it enters so largely into the composition of the decoration of these monuments, and that it is Celtic, and Celtic only. It follows from this examination of the component ele- ments of the characteristic decoration of these monuments, with reference to their diffusion in space and time, that while 116 SCOTLAND IX EABLY CHPJSTI.V:; TIMES. interlaced ribbon- work in its simpler forms, rectangular fret- work, and what may be called an approximation to the special variety of diverging spii'al which they exhibit, are found in other times and other areas, it still remains true of each of these elements that in the Celtic area they present peculiar varieties and special developments that occur no- FL'. 79.— At Shand-wick. where else. Xo such variety of intricate and elaborately inter- laced ribbon-work as that on the stones at Tarbet, Eosemarkie, or Eossie Priory (Figs. 64, 65), which rivals the similar work on the illuminated pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels, is found anywhere beyond the Celtic area. Xo such intricately and THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 117 symmetrically convoluted zoomorphic work as that of the cross on the stone at Nigg, and no such ornamentation of diver- gent spirals as is seen on the stone at Shandwick (Fig. 79), and on the crosses at lona and Kildalton, exists outside of the Celtic area. And if it be true that these special varieties and singular developments of decorative design, which are pecu- liar to this area, form the chief part of the totality of art characteristics that constitute the Celticism of these deco- rated monuments, the teaching of the great principles which it has been the special object of these Lectures to illustrate is that whatever the object may be on which this totality of art characteristics appears, or wherever it may be found, it belongs to a type whose home is within these islands, and possibly within a more restricted space than even the whole area of Scotland. For, as I have already indicated, the monuments with this peculiar totality of art characteristics are confined to a very limited area in Scotland, viz. to that part of the eastern half of the country which lies north of the Forth. It is true that there is a group of monuments in Wales and Cornwall, which is said, in a vague and general way, to bear some resemblance to them. But the likeness is feeble and incomplete. It does not extend to those characteristics which are prevailing and dominant in the art of the Scottish monuments. The interlaced work of the Welsh monuments is poorly executed, and confined to a few varieties of pattern ; their fretwork is limited in variety, and zoomorphic work and spiral ornamentation scarcely appear at all. On the other hand, like the Irish monuments, their literary character is more conspicuous than their artistic qualities, and in this respect they appear in direct contrast to the Scottish monu- ments, which are always more or less artistic, and seldom literary. It is significant that in Ireland, where the art of the 118 SCOTLAND IN ExVRLY CimiSTIAN TIMES. manuscripts reached its highest perfection, the art of the monuments in its purely decorative form exhibits no corre- sponding development. The earliest monuments of Christian time in Ireland are usually inscribed. This is their special feature. Decoration is not the prominent characteristic on them as it is on Scottish monuments. They commonly bear the symbol of the cross in one or other of its many varieties of form, and these crosses are not unfrequently decorated with interlaced work, spirals, or fretwork ; but there is no approach to the lavish profusion of decorative enrichment which is characteristic of the cross-bearing slabs of eastern Scotland. No Irish stone-work exhibits the counterpart of a page of their manuscripts, having a central cross surrounded with a border of panels filled with decoration. Their High Crosses (which are of later date), are richly sculptured, but their decoration is mostly pictorial representation, consisting chiefly of Scrip- tural incidents. The decorative art of the manuscripts did not extend its development in the direction of stone-work in Ireland, but in the direction of metal- work, and hence the monuments in Scotland that are characterised by this peculiar style of decoration have no counterparts in Ireland. I do not now discuss the question of the significance of the pictorial representations associated with the purely decora- tive designs upon these monuments. That falls naturally to be dealt with in connection with their symbolism. But apart from the question of whether these representations do possess a symbolic character, it is necessary that I should deal with them here in their relations to art. The figure -subjects which form part of the sculptured decoration of the monuments may be divided into three classes : — (1) Those that are purely conventional symbols, such as the cross, the serpent crossed by the zigzag rod, the double disc, the crescent, etc. ; (2) Those which are ideal representations, such as angels, or representations of mythical THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 119 or traditional forms, like centaurs and fabulous beasts; (3) Those which are representations of forms having an actual or visible existence. The conventional symbols are related to the art aspect of the question merely by their decoration, and the only observa- tion that falls to be made with regard to them in this con- nection is that they partake of the same decoration that is characteristic of the monuments. Whatever may be said of them or their relations in connection with the questions of their form or their significance, it can be certainly affirmed of their decoration that it is specially Celtic. Tor instance, we find the crescent-shaped symbol filled with an elaborate pattern of curves of the peculiar form so charac- teristic of Celtic ornamentation, as on the stone at ^ . ^ . , Fig. 80.— At Ulbster. Lmdores; or with a diaper of double diverging spirals, as on the stone at Elgin ; or mth a combination of double spirals and diagonal fretwork, as at Hilton of Cadboll ; or with elaborate patterns of interlaced work, as at Eosemarkie. Similarly we find the double disc in its simple form filled with the trij)ly divergent spiral, as at Ulbster (Fig. 80) ; or with a diaper of spirals, as at Shandwick ; or with interlaced work, as at St. Yigeans ; or with interlaced work and diverging spirals, as at Brodie. In the same manner we find the beast with the long jaws and the scroll-like feet (which, though it may be sometimes used pictoriaUy, appears quite as often in associa- tions which seem to class it among the symbols), some- times covered with a diaper of fretwork, as at Shandwick, and sometimes filled with interlaced work, as at Brodie 120 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHPJSTLSJN' TLMES. (Fig. 81). Even those symbols which may he regarded as of ^ minor importance are filled ///^^^^:^^ ^ — ■''I!!— with ornament. double disc, the crescent, the house-like figure, and the serpent, combined with the zigzag or V-shaped rod with floriated ends, are found in the Christian art of any other people. Xo form of cross created by any other art is the same as the Celtic form. And it is a very remarkable fact in the art aspect of the ques- tion, as apart from the question of symbolism, that no cross of the Celtic form which is also decorated with pure Celtic orna- ment bears any representation of the Crucifixion. Tlie form is used for the display of ornament alone. The symbol is de- corated for the same reason that the monument is decorated. The decoration applied to the principal symbol is usually of such a character as will impart a greater beauty and dignity to the form than if it were left without ornament. The acces- sories by which the cross is suiTounded are sometimes angels and human figures ; at other times the figures are apparently placed beside the symbol without being associated with it, either as part of the same pictorial group or symbolic idea ; and often they are of the nature of mere ornament. There are two very remarkable deviations from the general practice. (3n the slab at Craill the cross terminates in the feet and leo-s o of a human body, and the singular example from Eiskbuie (now at I^illoran), in Colonsay (Fig. 82), has its summit carved into the representation of the face of a man. Sometimes we find the angels rejDresented as human figures with wings, the wings furnished with an ornamental disc at the junction But the forms as well as the decoration of these conventional symbols are also peculiarly Celtic. No such forms as those of the composite symbols of the Fig. 81.— At Brodie. THE ART OF THE MOXUMENTS. 121 with the body. Some- times the two angels usually placed above the arms of the cross, as on the stone at Kirriemuir (Fig. 38), have birds' heads as well as birds' wings. The centaur appears with his axe and his branch (Figs. 40, 43), as in the heathen myth- ology. The imaginary or fabulous animals have a general resemblance to those of the early Middle Age Bestiaries, but they have also a great family likeness to each other, and are specially Celtic in form and character. The same Celticism of style and treatment is specially apparent in the pictorial representa- tions of existing animals. The horses, the dogs, the deer (Fig. 83), the bulls (see Figs. 50 and 51), the wild boars, the fish, the serpent, etc., are all rendered with a special accentuation of Fig. 82. — At Killoran, Colonsay (4 feet 5 inches long). 122 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. their distinctive characteristics, and a certain feeling for form and movement and idealised cha- racter. They are, therefore, true works of art, showing what x^er- ception of character the ancient artist possessed, and to what power of expressing it he had attained. They are not by any means closely accurate transcripts from nature, but they certainly present to us the old Celtic ideal of the forms with which the eye and the mind of the artist were familiar. The human figures have not the same artistic merits. They are little better than quaintly expressed diagrams. Their chief interest, so far as their artistic aspect is con- cerned, lies in the archaeological value of the accessories of the ancient Celtic life with which they furnish us. Though the details of these diagrammatic human figures are treated in a conventional manner, there can be no doubt that the costume, the weapons, and other accessories, are those of the country and the time. In this aspect of their character, as illus- trative materials of unwritten history they are as valuable as the seals and the monumental effigies They illustrate the most ancient life in Scot- Fig. S3, — From Knock-an-Fruich GrantoA\n (3 ft. 8 iu. high). of later times. THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 123 land of wliicli we have any illustrations. They show it in its common as well as in its ecclesiastical and military aspects. They exhibit the dress of the huntsman/ the w^arrior,^ the pilgrim,^ and the ecclesiastic.^ They furnish representations of the forms of the chariot/ and the ship,^ the housings and harness of horses/ instruments of music/ arms of offence and defence, the staff of the pilgrim and the crosier of the ecclesiastic. Such implements and weapons of the period as the axe, the knife, the dirk, the sword, the spear, the shield, the bow, and the cross-bow, are all repre- sented, and, so far as I know, no other representations of them exist. Customs and fashions of which there is no other dis- tinct evidence are also represented. For instance, we learn from a comparison of all the different representations that the horsemen of that period rode without spurs or stirrups, cropped the manes and tails of their horses, used snaffle- bridles with cheek rings and ornamental rosettes, and sat upon peaked saddle-cloths; that, when journeying on horseback, they wore peaked hoods and cloaks, and when hunting or on horseback, armed, they wore a kilt-like dress, falling below mid- thighs, and a plaid across the shoulders ; that they used long- bows in war, and cross-bows in hunting,^ that their swords w^ere 1 As on the stones at Kirriemuir and Hilton of CadboU (see Frontispiece). - As on the Forres Monument and the stone at Aberlemno (Fig. 36). 3 As on the stone at Kirriemuir. As on the stone at St. A^igeans, 5 As on the stone at Meigle (Fig. 103). ^ As on the stone at Cossins. As on the stones at Kirriemuir, Hilton of Cadboll (see the Frontispiece), St. Andrews, Meigle, etc. 8 Trumpets on the stone at Hilton of Cadboll, and harps on the stones at Aldbar, Nigg, Monifieth, and the Dupplin Cross. ^ The cross-bow was not recognised as a military weapon before the twelfth century, and is not found in pictorial representations of warfare till about 1200. But its deadly effect was so well known in 1139 that its use against Christians and Catholics was prohibited under anathema by Pope Innocent II. It was first adopted as a weapon of warfare in England by Richard Ccem* de Lion. But its precision of aim and its effectiveness must have been always in its 124 SCOTLAXD IX EAKLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. long, broad-bladed, double-edged, obtusely pointed weapons with triangular pommels and straight guards ; that their spears had large lozenge-shaped heads, while their bucklers were round and furnished with bosses ; that they fought on foot with sword and buckler, and on horseback with sword, Fig. S4. — From the Stone at Dunfallandv. spear, and shield ; that when journeying on foot they wore trews or tight-fitting nether-garments, and a plaid loosely wrapped round the body, or a tight jerkin with sleeves, and belt round the waist ; that they wore their hair long, flowing, and curly, sometimes with peaked beards, at other times favour as a hunter's arm. That the weapons represented on the stones at Meigle, St. Yigeans, and Shandwick, as used against the bear, the wild-boars and the stag, are really cross-bows or arbalests, and not long-bows conventionaUy or rudely represented, is probable from two considerations, 1. That the long- bow is seen in the hands of the warriors on the Forres stone ; and 2. That in aU the three cases in which the bow is represented as being used against animals the hunter is represented kneeling on one knee, which would certainly be a more suitable posture for taking aim with a cross-bow than with a long- bow. It miLst be admitted, however, that these considerations are not absolutely conclusive. THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 125 with moustaches on the upper lip and shaven cheeks and chin ; that they used covered chariots or two-wheeled carriages with poles for draught by two horses, the driver sitting on a seat over the pole, the wheels having ornamental spokes ; that they used chairs with side-arms and high, curved backs (Fig. 84), sometimes ornamented with heads of animals ; that their boats had high prows and stern-posts ; that the long dresses of the ecclesiastics were richly embroidered ; that they walked in loose short boots, and carried crosiers and book- satchels. Such illustrations of the life and habits, the arts and industry, the costume and arms of the Celtic in- habitants of Scotland are nowhere else to be found. We grudge no expense to obtain fragments of similarly sculp- tured representations of the ancient art of other countries wherewith to enrich our museums ; but the wealth of unique materials which exists in our own land for the illustration of Celtic art and national history is still left, scattered and unprotected, to decay and perish. Having thus discussed the art characteristics of the prin- cipal group of decorated monuments, I now proceed to the examination of the characteristics of the decoration of the other groups. The group whose decorative characteristics w^e have discussed is that which is distinguished by the presence of the cross on the obverse of the stone, and figure- subjects and symbols on the reverse. In the previous Lecture we have seen reason to conclude, from considerations which are more general in their nature than those of mere art characteristics, that there is a group which is of earlier, and a group which is of later, type than these. The group which was determined to be of earlier type is that which consists of unshaped slabs, sculptured only on the obverse, bearing no cross, but simply incised symbols of unexplained meaning. When this group is examined with reference to the characteristics of its decorative art, it is seen 126 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. at once that it differs remarkably from the principal group which has already been discussed. The special characteristic of that group was the excessive profusion and elaborate nature of its decoration. The special characteristic of the symbol-bearing group sculptured in incised work only is the poverty of its decoration. It is not only poor in quality, but extremely limited in range, being almost entirely confined to one variety of ornament and one style of treatment. No specimen of these incised symbol stones exhibits a single attempt at even the simplest pattern of interlaced work. In no example is there the slightest approach to any of the varieties of fretwork which are so common and characteristic ornaments of the cross-bearing slabs. This is the more re- markable when we observe that on these cross-bearing slabs the symbols are so commonly present, and when present, are frequently ornamented with interlaced work and fret. The absence of these two varieties of decoration on the incised symbol stones is not to be accounted for, therefore, by the sup- position that they were not suited in their nature to the deco- ration of the symbols, because we actually find the symbols decorated with them on the cross-bearing stones. But the only ornament on the incised symbol stones is a feeble ap- proximation to the divergent spiral, or an imitation of its peculiar curves. This indicates, as I have shown, that the art of these incised stones is specially Celtic, because, of all the elements used by the Celtic artists, it employs only the one that was peculiarly their own. It indicates also that the type of monument which bears this specially Celtic element of art, and no other, is earlier than those which exhibit the same element more fully developed and harmoniously associated with a variety of other elements treated in Celtic style, though they be not of Celtic origin. In respect to this group, therefore, the testimony of the art characteristics coincides with the inference derived from the general features of the THE AET OF THE MONUMENTS. 127 group, that the incised symbol type is earlier than the cross- bearing type. But while this conclusion may hold good for the sequence of the types, it is not to be taken as implying that all the unshaped stones, with sim]3ly incised symbols, are on that account necessarily earlier than the more elaborately-decorated cross-bearing slabs. From the fact that the monuments of the north-eastern area arrange themselves in three divisions of a progressive series — viz. (1) with symbols alone, (2) with symbols associated with the cross, and (3) after the twelfth century, with the cross alone — it is plain that the earliest specimens are to be found among those that are of the incised- symbol type. But it is equally clear that, although the use of the incised symbols was gradually supplanted by the use of the cross, the older custom may have survived in districts where, for some special or local reason, there was a strong attachment to it. There may, therefore, be many examples of these rudely-incised symbol stones that are actually later than the finely-executed carvings in relief on the more elaborate cross-bearing slabs. It must also be remembered that the manifestations of culture which are left at corresponding heights in the progress upwards and in the progress down- wards, though far apart in time, are not necessarily far apart in quality. •' It may be impossible, therefore, to distinguish with certainty between those examples of the same type which belong to the low state of a rising art, and those which pertain to an equally low state of the same art in its downward pro- gress to death by degradation. The symbols remained in use until the art of the monuments had attained its culminating point ; and it cannot be assumed that they then ceased to be used, or that the course of their development and decadence was different from that of the other forms of art with which they are associated. It is therefore possible that among the rudest of the group in outlying districts, the greatest rudeness 128 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. may be due to tlie lateness and not to the earliness of tlie work. (5 feet 6 inches liigh). Reverse (5 feet 6 inches high). I now proceed to inquire whether the indications afforded THE ART OF THE MON^UMEXTS. 129 by the art-cbaracteristics of tbe two groups of free-standing crosses coincide witb tbe more general indications discussed in tbe last Lecture, as closely as tbose of tbe two groups of erect slabs. Comparing tbe two groups of free - standing crosses between tbemselves, we find tbat tbe one presents tbe form of tbe cross wbicb I bave called Celtic associ- ated witb pure Celtic ornament — consisting of interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork — in tbe same style as tbe elaborately- decorated slabs of tbe east- coast. An example at Kilmartin^ (Figs. 85, 86), wbicb, tbougb it approximates closely to tbe form of tbe free-standing cross, retains tbe cbaracter of tbe erect slabs, and exhibits this style of orna- ment. Tbe second group differs from tbe first in tbe form of tbe cross, wbicb, instead of being recessed at tbe intersections, has tbe arms and summit protruding from a solid circle set on tbe top of tbe sbaft. A glance at tbe figure of tbe Oransay Cross (Fig. 87) — perbaps tbe best speci- ^ig- 87.— At Oransay (12i feet high). men of its type — will sbow tbe difference at once wben its 1 From a drawing by J. Romilly Allen. K 130 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. outlines are compared with those of the cross at Kildalton, or the crosses carved on the slabs at St. Vigeans, Dunfallandy, or Eossie Priory. The difference in the character of the decoration is not less striking than the difference of form. In this cross, as well as in the whole group of the West Highland crosses, the decoration is nearly as profuse and elaborate as that of the cross-bearing slabs of the east coast, but it is all, or nearly all, of one special character. It con- sists almost entirely of foliageous scroll-work, with a partial admixture of interlaced work of inferior character, and occa- sionally a few figure -subjects. Its prevailing and dominant character is, that it is scroll-work and foliageous. Now, this foliageous scroll-work is of altogether exceptional occurrence on the cross-bearing slabs of eastern Scotland. It appears only on such of them as are plainly of late character, as at Crieff, St. Vigeans, Hilton of Cadboll, Xigg, Tarbet, etc. In these instances the scrolls have trefoil or lanceolate leafage, while in the West Highland crosses they are usually termi- nated by a peculiar conventional tricuspid leaf, having its leaflets arranged all on the inner side of the stalk. Such scrolls as these do not appear on the earlier metal-work of the Celtic period in Scotland or Ireland.-^ They are not Celtic, but a debased local survival of Romanesque forms. They occur in their greatest purity and abundance in the fragments of sculptured monuments found at Durham and Hexham, where they may have been introduced directly from the Continent. But the importation did not take root in the eastern area of Scotland, where there was already a native ^ Such a scroll occurs on the collar of the boss of St. Fillan's Crosier. It is a characteristic feature of the foliageous scrolls of the West Highland slabs and crosses that they usually proceed from the tails of gi^iffins or nondescript animals. The same characteristic occurs on the later metal- work. The cumdach or cover of the manuscripts of the Gospels called the Domnach Airgid, made between 1319 and 1353, and the cumdach of the Stowe Missal, made betAveen 1023 and 1064, exhibit this feature. THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 131 sculpture of vigorous growth. It passed over to the Western Highlands, and flourished in complete isolation there for centuries^ after the native sculpture of the eastern area had given place to the current forms of European art. Thus the later art of these West Highland monuments is Celtic only in the secondary sense of its being an adaptation of a local survival of the Eomanesque ; and the pure Celtic art of Scotland is that of the eastern area, which retains the forms and preserves the spirit of the primary school, which worked out its designs with such wonderful skill and patient elabora- tion on the pages of the Gospels and Psalters, and transferred them subsequently to the metal-work and stone-work of the period intervening between the age of the best manuscripts and the twelfth century. The general outcome of the examination of the decorated monuments of eastern Scotland is that they differ from all other monuments everywhere ; (1), in the profusion of their decoration ; (2), in the character and quality of the art they exhibit, and (3), in the presence upon them of a peculiar ^ At St. Oran's Chapel in lona there is a portion of the shaft of a decorated cross, bearing on one side a griffin mth its tail running off into a continuous pattern of foliageous scroll-work, and on the other side a galley with a pennon in the prow. On a panel is the inscription — hec est crvx lacclani meic FINGONE ET EIVS FILII lOHANNIS ABBATIS DE HY FACTA ANNO DOMINI MCCCCLXXxix. This is the oldest cross in Scotland bearing a date. There are others which come near to it in date, and resemble it in style. At Kilkerran there is a fragment of a cross shaft with foliageous scrolls proceeding from the tails of a griffin and wyvern in combat. It also bears the crucifixion in a Gothic niche, angels above, and the spear and sponge -bearers below, the spear-bearer Longinus having the traditional dog's head usually assigned to him. On the other side is a galley, a man on horseback, two figures em- bracing within a Gothic niche, a pair of shears, and a panel with the inscrip- tion — HEC EST CRVX CALANI M' HEACHYRNA ET KATIRINE VXORIS EIVS. Colin M'Eachern of Kilellan was chief of the M'Eacherns in 1493. The well-known crosses which now stand as market-crosses in the burghs of Campbelton and Inverary are memorial crosses of a similar character, misapplied to a municipal purpose. 132 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. symbolism which still remains to be discussed. The special outcome of the examination of the characteristics of their art is that it is a peculiar development of the art of the Celtic manuscripts, restricted to a special area, and consisting of the foUoAving elements : — (1), Interlaced work pure and simple, either arranged in panels or spaces, or forming a con- tinuous pattern ; (2), Interlaced work of a composite nature, consisting of the bodies and limbs of lacertine or dragonesque creatures, intertwisted in symmetrical patterns ; (3), Fretwork of various forms, but mostly produced by the diagonal dis- position of the lines forming the fret, and sometimes con- joined with triangular and spiral adaptations ; (4), Divergent spirals arranged in panels or spaces, or producing a kind of diaper over the surface in symmetrical patterns ; (5), Figure- subjects consisting chiefly of animals treated pictoriaUy, but with a special conventionalism of style, human figures and men on horseback, etc. ; (6), Piepresentations of ideal forms which are also pictorial in treatment, such as angels, centaurs, sirens, and monstrous beasts ; and (7), Eepresentations that are purely symbolic and conventional in form. And now I sum up the whole bearings of the evidence, whether derived from the general features, or from the special art characteristics of these monuments, in one generalisation. They are monuments of Christian character and Christian time. There is no evidence to show that there was among our forefathers any pre-existing or Pagan custom of erecting such sculptured monuments in honour of the dead. The art which is found with Pao-an interments is chieflv exhibited in connection with the plastic material of which they formed the urns deposited with their dead. On these frail vessels of clay the decoration consists invariably of simple linear patterns, formed of groups of parallel or obliquely disposed lines. Interlacements, circles, divergent spirals, and fret- work, are totally unknown, and there is no approach to a THE ART OF THE MONUMENTS. 133 scroll or running pattern of any kind but a simple zigzag. When their ornament appears on stone, which is of rare occurrence, it is seldom indeed that it appears in such a position as to warrant the inference that it w^as either intended to be seen, or to mark the place of interment in the manner of a monument. This may have been the purpose of the cairn reared over the grave which contained the decorated urn, or of the stone -circle set up around the burying-place. But the art of the pre-Christian sepulture is more usually concealed than displayed. We may find the cover of the cist, a rude unshapely block, sculptured on its under side with cups and circles, or with triangles and rudely-formed spirals. But w^e have never found in Scotland any monument erected over a Pagan grave which exhibits the least approach to a truly artistic decoration. The custom of erecting such monuments is Christian and Chris- tian only, so far as Scotland is concerned, and the art they exhibit and the letters they bear, were brought into this country with the copies of the Gospels from which Chris- tianity was taught to the people. I have shown that the art of the monuments was a peculiar development of the art of these manuscripts, con- fined to an unusually restricted area. But within that area it w^as largely developed. We have no means of judging of the extent of its practice, except by reckoning up the sparsely distributed examples that are left. It is clear that the number thus computed from casual and accidental dis- coveries must fall far short of the whole number that origin- ally existed. Yet upwards of three hundred separate monu- ments can still be enumerated. Three hundred examples of an art like this represents a collection of art-materials such as has not fallen to the lot of any other nation of northern Europe. They are materials of such intrinsic value and suggestiveness, that our designers, sculptors, and jewellers are willing to 134 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTL\X TIMES. borrow inspiration from them. I believe that I am correct in saying that no variety of ancient art-workmanship is more generally imitated at tlie present day, and that the closer the copy the better the work. And yet the originals, constituting the whole artistic wealth of a country which cannot be said to under-estimate the value of artistic materials, lie scattered in neglected graveyards, stand gray and weather-beaten on lonely hill-sides, are existing on sufferance in cultivated fields, have been built into dykes by roadsides, converted into gateposts, utilised as tombstones, door-steps, or garden- seats, and broken up as building materials or macadamising for roads. These wasted, mutilated, maltreated remnants of a school of art which flourished in Scotland in the dawnincr- o time of her national history, if now rescued from the destruction which is gradually and inevitably overtaking them,-^ would still form a magnificent gallery of the materials of that native art which our designers, our jewellers, and our sculptors are now endeavouring to imitate, — the only art that is inaccessible to students, on account of the destruction and dispersion of its original examples, and the costliness and rarity of the works in which they are illustrated. The forma- ^ The effect of local action in dealing with these national monuments is usually in the direction of securing their preservation by making them less public and less accessible, removing them within the grounds of a private residence, or building them into a fence or wall which is private property. Occasionally they have been placed in local museums, and in a few instances they have been sent to the National Museum. It is obvious that all merely local expedients fail to make provision for the development of the public utility of the monuments as forming part of a series of art-materials, national in character. If all those that are now enclosed in the grounds of private residences, or built into dykes and outhouses, or otherwise removed from their original sites, were presented to the nation by their present guardians, there would be at once created for Scotland a gallery of national art such as no other country could possess. It would be difficult to estimate the influence which the formation of such a representative collection in the National Museum might exercise both on the study of archaeology and on the decorative art of the country. THE ART OF THE MOXUxAIEXTS. 135 tion of such a gallery of art materials in the country to which they are indigenous would not only restore to the native genius of the Scots the original elements of that system of design which are its own special inheritance, but it would also be an epoch in the history of art itself. Is it too much to say that we owe this to our country, and to the history of our country's art ? Do I estimate its importance and utility too highly when I plead for its consideration as an object which is worthy of a national eJOTort ? In directing attention to these manifestations of native art, it will be observed that I have not attempted to define its comparative place among the various developments of art at different times and in different countries. Xor have I sought to estimate the value of its decorative capabilities in com- parison with any style of decoration presently in use. My object has been to demonstrate its existence, to concentrate attention upon its essential characteristics, to show by its examples that whatever may be their individual or com- parative merit, in the aggregate they are the remains of a distinct school of art, and that they thus constitute a branch of the history of art in general, and a special department of art-materials, which the wide art-culture of the world will not willingly allow to perish. 136 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHEISTLAJN TIMES. LECTURE IV. (14th October 1880.) THE SYJilBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. Having examined in detail the features which give a special character to the decoration of these monuments, I now proceed to examine in detail the features which give a special character to their symbolism. Perhaps we shall best understand the conditions of the question to be discussed if we approach it from the point of view of our own time. It is sufficiently obvious that the most prominent and striking feature of the Christian monuments of our own age is still their symbolism. Xo considerable group of them exists anywhere in which it is not present. It is also sufficiently obvious that the most striking feature in the character of that symbolism is that its elements are not always such as are exclusively of Christian origin and use. The obelisk, the pyramid, the torch reversed, the urn artistic- ally draped with the cloth in which the incinerated bones were gathered, as the last act of the essentially Pagan cere- mony of cremation — these, and other forms and representa- tions derived from different varieties of Paganism, continue to be used in our churchyards. It is no part of my duty here either to commend or to condemn the custom ; but it concerns my argument to show that it exists, because I point to its existence as the most obvious evidence that a system of Chris- tian symbolism does not necessarily consist solely of forms THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 137 and representations that have exclusive reference to the faith and hope inculcated by the Christian creed. I mean to show further, that as matter of fact, so far as we have positive evi- dence, and as matter of inference, so far as such evidence is wanting, the earlier systems of symbolism have exhibited similar features, and consequently, that there has existed in past ages, as there exists now, a feeling for monumental symbolism, expressing itself in modes and fashions regulated by popular preference, irrespective of the influence of church or culture. The country churchyard ^ which I best remember (as a boy at school) was full of a symbolism which would certainly have been regarded as remarkable had it not been common. The subjects of most frequent occurrence were cherubim and seraphim, represented as heads without bodies, having wings disposed like periwigs. There were angels blowing trumpets to summon the dead to judgment, and hour-glasses with wings to symbolise the flight of time and the brief span of life. The King of Terrors, portrayed as a skeleton bearing a scythe in one hand and an hour-glass in the other, was not an unfre- quent form of symbolic sculpture ; but more frequently the simpler symbols of the death's head and cross bones were deemed suflicient to remind the beholder of the common destiny of man. The sailor's calling was symbolised by a ship ; the fisherman's was indicated by a boat ; the carpenter by an adze and mallet ; the smith by his hammer and tongs ; the shoemaker by his leather-knife ; the tailor by his goose ; the builder by his plummet ; the hewer by his mallet and ^ At St. Yigeans, near Arbroath, Forfarshire. Its appearance is now completely altered. All the older stones have been removed from the area of the bur3dng-groiind, and placed against the enclosing wall, while the area is occupied by those of more recent date. The old Celtic monuments which stood in a corner of the burying ground, as well as those recently recovered from the walls of the church, have been placed in permanent positions, some in the tower, others in the walls of the reconstructed fabric of the church. 138 SCOTLAJST' ly EABLY CHRISmX TIMES. chisel ; the plougjun^bii by his plough-irom ; the ditcher bj a spade and mattock; the minister bj an open Bible; tbe weaver by his shuttle ; the miller hy his millstone, and so on. These m ~ joi the eighteenth and first qnarterc: :~ : a veiy few onlj reaching backtot-i T century. Of sixteenth^ fifteenth, : t '^irr monume::: 5 I : r- collectnc: . rchjaidtl a small gi : _ l . holism wl: : _ I . anterior tc :1t coold scar : ' t _ : t : L - ^ the finely t andther T / and trade L widelv a.5 ■ the e : : ' : : . _ formi'-, : z : : ^ ^ hadtl^ L and : :^ : : chara.: : : :L : : l : : ^ was ^" ^ ~ - THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 139 of the undated monuments that carry us back from the twelfth century to the dawn of Christian monumental art in Scotland, w^e do not enter on the examination of a feature that is new or exceptional in connection with Christian monuments. It is admitted on all hands that Eome was the cradle of the Christian art and symbolism that spread gradually over Europe. In different areas we find it differently modified by the quality of the culture on which it was engrafted ; but in its essence and spirit it is everywhere recognisable as the art and symbolism which passed through its initial stages in the catacombs of Eome. Their most remarkable feature is their decoration. The special feature of that decoration is its sym- bolic character ; and the most remarkable feature of that character is, that it carries on previously existing forms and representations of Pagan art, modifying some and adopting others without modification. This was especially the case wdth subjects that were of the nature of ornamental acces- sories, such as w^inged genii, allegorical figures of victory, centaurs, caryatides, hippocampi, and the like.-^ So also we find the dragon which guarded Andromeda at Joppa trans- ferred from its Pagan myth to the system of Christian sym- bolism, and reappearing there as Jonah's ''whale," unchanged in a single one of its features ; and in the same manner we find representations of Orpheus charming the beasts wdth his lyre, associated with figures of the Good Shepherd, and other scenes ^ Symbolic personifications of rivers, cities, day and night, the sun and moon, the winds, the seasons, etc. , which were so common in pagan art, were also carried on into the system of Christian sj^mbolism. Thus, in the sculp- tures of the catacombs representing the ascension of Elijah, the Jordan is still represented as a river-god leaning on his urn, over whose prostrate form rises the biga or quadriga which bears the prophet to the skies. In the repre- sentations of Jonah cast into the deep, the sail of the ship is represented as filled with wind blown from a conch shell by the winged figure which per- sonifies the storm ; while in the scene that succeeds, the calm is again personi- fied by a female bust in the sky. 140 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. from Scripture story, symbolical or historical. If, therefore, the different systems of early Christian symbolism which subsequently spread over the various provinces of the empire were not independent systems separately developed in each separate area, we ought to find in each some traces of the same general features. It is thus obvious that each of these subordinate systems, in so far as it is derived from the parent system, will present the prototypes of that system modified or supplemented by the special culture of its own area ; but as the quality of the culture which produced these modifications was lower in the provinces than in Eome itself, and lowest of all in those remoter regions that bordered on the barbarism lying beyond the limits of the empire, it necessarily followed that the farther the system of symbolism became removed from its source, the greater was its departure from the original purity of art and unity of composition. It thus happens that al- though the early symbolism of Christian art in \Yestern Europe is in its main features manifestly derived from the still earlier system of the common centre from which it was disseminated, the subjects copied from copies unintelligently and inartisti- cally reproduced are often found so disguised and degraded as to be totally unrecognisable until the series of the steps of the degradation has been demonstrated.^ If, therefore, the whole number of the monuments originally existing in any given area has suffered diminution through lapse of ages, it is clear that the difficulty of correlating the degraded types with their prototypes wiU be extreme. Among them there may occur instances in which the alteration of type by degradation may not have gone so far as to obliterate the whole of the ^ A similar effect is visible in the early coinages of Gaul and Britain, in whicli the successive copyists, departing farther and farther from the spirit and form of the prototypes, at last developed typical forms which are intelli- gible only when the series of steps by which the degraded form was reached have been demonstrated, A singularly instructive chapter on this subject is prefixed by Mr. John Evans to his description of the Early British Coinage. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 141 typical features ; but there almost certainly will be others in which the alteration has gone so far as to render them obscure and unintelligible. While, therefore, it may be true that the system of Christian symbolism in any given area remote from the source of its original development is in the main, and necessarily, a derived system, it does not follow that in all its manifestations it is capable of being explained or understood from a simple comparison with those of the original system, if the links be wanting that successively bridged the distance between them. But further, it is clear that a system which is in the main a derived system, consisting of simple variants of universal types, may be associated with, and supplemented by, a series of types which are of independent origin. In such a case, so far as its derived characteristics have not been obliterated by degradation, the system will be capable of ex- planation from external evidence ; but so far as it is of inde- pendent origin, if it is to be explained at all, it must either contain the explanation within itself, or the key must be furnished by contemporary record. It is evident from the most cursory inspection of the Scottish monuments that their symbolism is possessed of this double character. They are crowded with symbols which do not occur in any one instance out of Scotland, and must, therefore, be regarded as of independent origin. But they are also covered with symbolic representations which are simple variants of universal types, and hence the significance of these subjects may be assigned to them by their analogous use and significance in other areas and associations. For instance, it is at once apparent, and has been often remarked, that the figures of the cross, of angels, and evan- gelists, are strangely associated on these monuments with figures of centaurs and sirens, griffins and fabulous monsters derived from the popular mythology of Greek and Eoman paganism. But it has now been shown that in this respect 142 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. the early Christian monuments of Scotland do not differ from the early Christian monuments of Italy or Gaul, or any other area in ^Yhich the symbolism of the primitive Church appears. They have all exhibited a similar intermixture of forms derived from the Pagan art of imperial Eome, and therefore its absence in Scotland would have been a more remarkable feature than its presence. But we are not hastily to conclude that these forms are present on the Scottish monuments in their primitive Pagan significance. That would imply not only an incongruity of association and an unfitness of signi- ficance which cannot be assumed, but it would also imply that they had been directly derived from their Pagan source, and not mediately through the general system of symbolism into which they were incorporated, with altered applica- tions, and interpretations suited to its specially Christian character. The cycle of Christian subjects sculptured on the monu- ments of early Christian times in Italy and Gaul was extensive in its range,^ but certain representations, — such as the Temptation of our First Parents by the Serpent, the Ark of Xoah, the Drowning of the Egyptians in the Eed Sea, the ^ The cycle of Christian subjects represented in the frescoes of the cata- combs and on sculptured sarcophagi includes the following representations, usually treated according to a fixed traditional form : — Adam and Eve by the tree ; Cain and Abel ; Is oah in the Ark ; the Sacrifice of Isaac ; Moses removing his Shoes ; the Destruction of Pharaoh's Host ; Moses receiving the Tables of the Law ; Moses striking the Rock ; David with his Sling ; Elijah in the Chariot ; the Vision of Ezekiel ; the Three Hebrews in the Furnace ; Daniel in the Lion's Den ; Jonah thrown overboard ; Jonah being swallowed by the "Whale ; Jonah being disgorged ; Jonah under the Gourd ; Job on the Dunghill ; Tobit and the Fish ; Susanna and the Elders ; the Annuncia- tion ; the Baptism in Jordan ; the Adoration of the Magi ; the "Water made "Wine ; the "Woman of Samaria at the "Well ; the Paralytic carrying his Bed ; the Blind healed ; the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes ; the Raising of Lazarus ; the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, with Zaccheus in the Tree ; the "Wise Virgins ; Pilate washing his hands, etc. Most of these subjects are also represented on the gilded glass vessels found in the catacombs. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MOXUMEXTS. 143 Sacrifice of Isaac, the Translation of Elijah, the Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace, Daniel in the Den of Lions, and Jonah and the Whale, — were more popular than others. Some of these, again, were more popular at different times and in different localities, and thus the cycle varied in its range as modes of thought were changed, and new forms of expression were given to old subjects. The changes that were made with advancing art were usually in the direction of pictorial naturalness and historical accuracy; but there were also changes made by declining art which it is less easy to determine and specify. Yet through all the changes in the form of expression, the essential elements of the fixed traditional groups by which the subject was represented have remained the same, refined by the excellence, or dis- guised and degraded by the rudeness, of the art that adopted them. In the frescoes and on the sculptured sarcophagi of the catacombs the Ark of ISToah is most frequently represented as an open box, not higher than the knees of the young and beardless human figure who stands up in it, sometimes with arms outspread in the ancient attitude of prayer, at other times stretching the hands to receive the dove returning with the olive-branch. Sometimes the lid of the box is seen behind the human figure ; at other times it is wanting. Occasionally the box has four square projections at the bottom, on which it rests on the ground ; at other times it is placed in the same sea with the ship of Jonah. Occasionally it is grouped with the representation of the Temptation of our First Parents by the Serpent, as on a sarcophagus at Velletri^ (Fig. 88). This primitive representation of the Scripture story of the deluge by the symbol of a square box — a literal area or chest — with a lid, a hasp, and a key-hole, subsequently became a ship freighted with the historical ^ Garucci, Storia della Arte Cristiana, vol. v. pi. 374. 144 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHBISTIAX TIMES. number of human beings. But the sculptor of the Irish cross at Kells, while adhering to the traditional elements of the Fig. 88. — The Temptation of Adam and Eve by the Serpent, and Xoah in the Ark receiving the Dove. On a Sarcophagus at Velletri. conventional group — a box, a man, and a dove — departed from the earlier mode of expression by making the box in the form of a galley, with a high curved prow and stern, and with windows in its sides (Fig. 89). The vessel is shown riding on the waves, the head of Xoah only is visible, and the dove appears rest- ing on the side. The variation in the form of expression is great, but Fig. 89.— X'oah in the Ark, ^-ith ^^ ^- t i ^ i> ^^ the Dove. From the High the essential elements of the giwp Cross at Kells. present, and recognisable. This variation is more strongly marked in the case of another subject — the group which represents the Scripture story of the deliverance of Daniel in the Den of Lions. Its primitive form, as represented by a fresco in the cemetery of Domitilla in the catacombs, shows a human figure, clothed, and standing with outstretched arms, in the ancient attitude THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 145 of prayer, between two lions. It appears in precisely the same form of expression on the sculptured sarcophagi, as at Eavenna^ (Fig. 90). At a later period the prophet is represented nude, and the figure of Habakkuk is introduced at one side (see Fig. 96), often with the angel to balance it at the other. As the subject was closely akin in its symbolic Fig. 90. — Daniel iu the Den of Lions. On a Sarcophagus at Ptavenna. aspect to that of the deliverance of Jonah, they were some- times represented together. Still later, the number of lions is occasionally increased to four,^ and where the space is limited they are placed on either side of the human figure, one over the other. That this human figure, placed some- ^ Gamcci, Storia clclla Arte Cristiana, voL v, pi, 332. 2 Daniel is represented witli four lions in the Cathedral at Amiens, and with five in the Cathedral at Lincoln. — Arch. Jour., vol. xxv. p. 6. L 146 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. times between two, sometimes between four lions, is intended for Daniel, is not a mere inference deduced from association and probability. The significance of the subject is certified by contemporary inscriptions. For instance, we find among a number of other representations of Scripture scenes on a Fig. 91. — Vessel of glass, of fifth century, with representations of Scriptural subjects from Podgoritza. plate of glass discovered in a tomb of the fifth century at Podgoritza in Albania/ the usual conventional figure with outstretched arms standing between two lions (see Fig. 91), ^ This curious relic is 9^ inches in diameter, and has the figures rudely- scratched in the surface of the glass. In the centre is the representation of the sacrifice of Isaac, the altar with the fire kindled on one side, and the ram and the hand of the angel appearing on the other. Below this is Daniel and the Lions, then the Three Hebrews delivered from the Fiery Furnace ; then Susanna ; then Jonah's ship, and the Fish swallowing him, and again con- THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 147 and over the group is the inscription DANIEL DE LACO LEONIS. Again we find it frequently represented and similarly certified on the agrafes or belt -clasps of bronze recovered from early Burgundian graves. The variation in the form of expression is great, but the elements of the group are substantially the same. On an agrafe found at Montillier the lions are standing up against the human figure, their tails at his feet, one paw on each of his shoulders, and one at his side. The rudeness of the representation can scarcely be surpassed. On another found at Mongifi, the Fig. 92. — Belt-clasp of bronze, vnth. representation of Daniel in the Den of Lions. From a Burgundian grave at Dailleus. subject is surrounded by a border of interlaced work. The man's figure is excessively rude, and the lions are placed with their mouths at his feet. Neither of these bears any inscription ; but on one found at Lavigny with the same representation, the border bears the inscription NASVALDVS NANSA VIVAT DEO VTEEE FELIX— DANINIL. The templating him reposing under the Gourd ; then the Temptation of Adam and Eve by the Serpent ; then the Resurrection of Lazarus ; and lastly, Peter (in the character of Moses) striking the Rock. It is figured full size by De Rossi, and also by Le Blant in the Revue Archeologique, from which the accompanying illustration is copied. 148 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAX TIMES. strange position of the lions, croucliing, ^vith tlieir open mouths at the feet of the prophet, is explained by the in- scription on the clasp (Fig. 92), found in the Burgundian cemetery of Dailleus, which bears the owner's name, and the inscription DAGXIOTL DVO LEOXES PEDES EIVS LENGEBANT— Daniel, two lions licked his feet.^ Perhaps the most interesting of all these representations is that found on a wooden holy-water vessel — a small bucket or beaker — from a grave in a Merovingian cemetery at Miannay, near Abbeville, in France. It is ornamented with embossed and gilt copper mountings, on which are representations in repousse of the following groups : — (1) in the centre the Saviour, nimbed and enthroned, his feet resting on the serpent ; (2) on the right, the Temptation in Eden — Adam and Eve standing on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, round the trunk of which the serpent is entwined ; (3) on the left the figure of Daniel, clothed and crowned ; one lion only is re- presented, the space on the other side of the prophet being occupied by Habakkuk holding the pot with the pottage in the one hand, and the symbolic fish in the other ; (4) the angel lifting Habakkuk by the hair of his head to carry him to Babylon. These groups are accompanied by inscrip- tions which name the various figures, so that their signifi- cance is certain.^ AYe have no such positive testimony to the significance of the subject represented by a human figure with outstretched arms, which appears on the Irish crosses, sometimes between two, sometimes between four, and, in one instance, among seven lions. In this last instance, which occurs on the lower panel of the Moone Abbey Cross (Fig. 93), it is associated ^ Troyon, Bracelets et Agrafes Antiques, pi. iii. Mittlicilungen dcr Antiquarischen Gessellschaft in Zurich, vol. ii. ^ Le Blant, Memoircs de la Societe des Antiquaires dc France, Tome XXXV. pp. 68-78 ; hiscriptions chretiennes de la Gaule, vol. i. pi. 251, 252. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 149 with other scenes which, though quaintly expressed and executed with extreme rudeness, are plainly Scriptural. The upper panel bears a representa- tion of the Temptation in Eden, Adam and Eve standing under the tree, round the trunk of which the serpent is entwined. The second subject is also Scrip- tural, though its significance may not be instantly obvious. And when we consider that the Vulgate text of the Scriptures has these words in the narrative of the deliverance of Daniel, " In the den were seven lions," and that on another face of the Cross are the Three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, and the miracle of the loaves and fishes represented by the literal number, and lastly, that all the groups on the Irish crosses, so far as they have been recognised, are Scriptural, no reasonable doubt can exist that it is Daniel who is thus represented on the lower panel. Similarly, although we have no accompanying inscription to certify the fact, there can be no reasonable doubt that the human figure which we find sometimes represented with outstretched arms between two lions, — as on the stone at St. Vigeans (Fig. 94), some- 93. — On the Moone Abbey Cross. (1) Adam and Eve at the Tree ; (2) The Sacrifice of Isaac ; (3) Daniel in the Den of Lions. Fig. 94, — Daniel in the Den of Lions, On a stone at St. Vigeans, times with the lions rampant on either side, as on the cross called St. Martin's at lona (Fig. 95), sometimes among four 150 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. lions, as at Meigle (see Fig. 43), or at Dunkeld, — is the same conventional representation of Daniel in the den of lions, which liverance was typical of man's salvation.^ There was but one subject which, in the early ages of the Church, was more frequently represented than that of Daniel and the lions. This was the story of the prophet Jonah and his miraculous deliverance from the belly of the whale, which was universally accepted as a type of the resurrection. Hence it was continually repeated on every kind of monument con- nected with the ancient Christian cemeteries. It was not unfrequently associated with the representation of Daniel and the lions, as on a sarcophagus at Yelletri- (Fig. 96). 1 So tlie Cliiistian Fathers interpreted it. " "When Daniel spread out his arms in the den, and thus conformed to the similitude of the Cross," says one of these early writers, "God shut the mouths of the lions." "When the prophet spread out his hands in the similitude of the Cross," saj's another, " he passed safe from the jaws of the lions." - Garucci, Storia dclla Arte Cristiaiui, vol. v. pi. 374:. Fig 95. — Daniel in the Den of Lions. On the Great Cross at lona. is SO persistent on Christian monuments and relics, from Italy to Ireland. This group of the man and the lions is the only one on the Scottish monuments which repre- sents a human figure with arms outspread, and Daniel is the only figure in the whole cycle of Scriptural subjects in whose represent- ation this ancient attitude of prayer was retained down to the twelfth century, be- cause the attitude in his case was deemed to be a symbol of the Cross, and his de- THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 151 The story was represented in four scenes, sometimes treated historically, with all the accessories proper to the representa- tion. At other times, and much more frequently, the treat- ment was so conventional that the subject is scarcely recog- nisable. A small dug-out canoe appears on a smooth sea with two men in it, both nude, the one thrusting the other Fig. 96. — Daniel in the Den of Lions, and Jonah (1) cast into the Sea, (2) disgorged by the Whale, (3) reposing under the Gourd. over the side into the open mouth of a marine monster. Frequently the ship is dispensed with, and the beast appears with head and neck extended, and only the legs of the human figure dangling from its mouth. In the disgorging scene the upper half of the human figure is seen rising from the beast's 152 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. mouth. Lastly, the prophet is seen reposing under the vine or " gourd/' often with the beast contemplating him from a distance. It has been already stated that the " great fish " which swallowed J onah was originally figured by the early Christians not as a fish but as a monstrous beast, with length- ened jaws and horrent crest, having two forelegs, but no hinder limbs, and the body tapering away in snaky convolu- tions to a fish-like tail. Among the frescoes and sculptures of the catacombs, the form of this animal is constant and un- like that of any real inhabitant of the deep. The same animal reappears on the Burgundian belt-clasps, from early Christian graves in France and Switzerland,^ always associated with the figure of a man prophesying, not like Daniel, with both arms outspread, but stretching forth the right hand only, and usually associated also with the symbol of the Cross. On these clasps the significance of the subject is not certified by any accompanying inscription, but on the glass plate from Podgoritza (see Fig. 91) we see the ship, the beast with the prophet half swallowed in his capacious jaws, and the same beast, open-mouthed, contemplating Jonah as he reposes under the gourd, while the certifying inscription is given above the group— DIVi^AN DE VENTEE QUETI LIBE- EATVS EST.^ Such a beast disgorging a human being, precisely as Jonah was always represented in the act of 1 See the figures given by Troyon in the Mittheilungen der Antiquarischen Gcsscllschaft in Zurich, vol. ii. pi. 2 and 3 of his Bracelets et Agrafes Antiques. 2 M. le Blant has pointed out the correspondence that exists between the subjects represented in bas-relief on the tombs of the early Christians, and the subjects referred to in the prayers for the d}dng, which are in early liturgies entitled Ord.o commendationis animce quando infirmus est in extremis. The Salisbury Ordo of eleventh century has — Libera eum Doniine, sicut liberare dignatus es Susannam de falso crimine Jonam de ventre ceti Tres pueros de camino ignis Danielem de lacu leonum, etc. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 153 issuing from the mouth of the whale, is presented to us on one of the Scottish monuments at Dunfallandy (see the Plate at page 66). The beast in this case resembles no known Fig. 97. — Jonah and the Whale. The whale represented as a quadniped. From the Vatican Codex. animal. It has two fore-feet and no hinder limbs, it has elongated jaws, a convoluted snaky body and fish-like tail In all the phases of early Christian art these are the special The same subjects, with the same group of inscriptions, appear on the glass vessel from Podgoritza (Fig. 91), but differently arranged : — Daniel de laco leonis Tris pueri de egne cami Susanna de falso crimine Diunan de ventre queti. 154 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. characteristics of the beast, which, by its giving up the pro- phet alive, typified the resurrection. Occasionally it was represented as a quadruped, as seen in the Vatican Codex of about eighth century (Fig. 97), illustrated by Garucci;^ and we have on the Scottish monument formerly at Woodwray, Another subject which was not so common in the cata- combs, but which became very common in later times, was that of David rending the jaws of the lion. That it is David and not Samson that is intended by this conventional repre- sentation is evident from the fact that the harp is fre- quently placed beside the man struggling with the beast, as on the monument at Nigg (see the Plate at p. 107), while sheep are introduced in the background. This subject is repre- sented on six of the Scottish monuments, viz. — at Aldbar, Nigg, Drainie, Dupplin, Aberlemno, and St. Andrews. At Dupplin it is associated with the representation of David as the sweet singer of Israel harping with his harp. The raising of Lazarus was represented on the earlier frescoes of the catacombs by a group consisting of a figure with a rod in the right hand, stretched towards a mummy- like figure swathed in bandages, and standing upright in the enclosure of a tomb. Occasionally the rod, which symbolised Fig. 98.- — From the Stone at Abbotsford, formerly at Woodwray, Forfarshire. and now at Abbots- ford, a representation of a similar beast (Fig. 98), with a human figure in its mouth, in the posi- tion in which the subject of the swal- lowing of Jonah is always represented in the catacombs. Storia della Arte Cristiana, vol. iii. tav. 147. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 155 the power of working miracles, was not represented, and the -The Raising of Lazarus. On a Sarcophagus at Ravenna. figure of the Saviour was simply that of a beardless youth stretching forth the right hand towards the tomb within which Lazarus is seen. On the sculp- tured sarcophagi of later times the Saviour sometimes appears with the nimbus, or with the nimbus and the monogram, accompanied by the Alpha and Omega, as on a sarcophagus at Eavenna^ (Fig. 99). The elements of this group appear '=> ^ Fig. 100.— The Raising of in a much ruder form on a cross-shaft Lazarus. From a Cross Shaft at at St. Andrews, shown in Fig. 100. St. Andrews. 1 Garucci, Storia delict Arte Cristiaiui, vol. v. pL 332. 156 SCOTLAXD IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. The group representing the Virgin and Child appears as the principal figure-group on the cross which is called St. Martin's at lona, on the cross at Kildalton in Islay, and on the cross-bearing slab at Crail. The significance of this group is certified by the occurrence of an inscription in connection with the figures of the woman and child on the fragment of a cross at Brechin. The inscription reads MAEIA M[ATE]rt XPI ; and though it has been said that the inscription is of a later date than the carving, there is nothing either in the Fig, 101. The Destruction of Pharaoh's Host iu the Red Sea. Fragment of Sarcophagus at Aries, character of the carving or of the inscription to substantiate the assertion. The cross at Camuston, which bears on the obverse the crucifixion,^ and below it the figure of a centaur-like creature ^ At one time I had come to the conclusion that this group Avas a repre- sentation of Daniel and the lions {Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. xi. p. 400). The crouching figures underneath the arms of the crucified figure certainly look more like beasts than anything else, and they are so represented in the drawing in Stuart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland. But having since seen the stone in a fortunate light, I have satisfied myself that it is a crucifixion, the spear and sponge-bearers being represented kneeling in a crouching position to suit the space, as in several Irish examples. THE S™B0LISM of THE MONUMENTS. 157 has on the reverse the figure of Christ, with an angel on either side ; and below this group the figures of the four Evangelists, each bearing the book emblematical of his Gospel. On the slab atDun- keld, on the obverse of which is a group repre- senting Daniel in the den of lions, the reverse bears the conventional representation of the de- struction of Pharaoh's hostintheEedSea. This subject was often repre- sented on the sculptured sarcophagi of Italy and Gaul. It usually shows a confused group of chariots and horsemen being engulfed in the rising waters ; and occa- sionally the people of Israel are represented by a group of conven- tional figures standing Fig. 102. on the shore. An ex- ample of the common form of expression given to the subject is shown in Fig. 101 on a fragment of a sarcophagus at Arles.'^ On the Dunkeld stone the subject is treated in a similar manner, though the sculpture is much more rudely executed. 1 Garucci, Storia clella Arte Crisiiana, vol. v. tav. 395. The Destruction of Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea. On the Stone at Dunkeld. 158 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. The upper part (Fig. 102) represents a confused mass of heads of warriors, mingled with shields or chariot wheels ; and immediately below are twelve conventional figures, repre- senting the twelve tribes of Israel standing on the shore. On a slab at Meigle (Fig. 103), which perished in the burning of the church in 1869, there was a representation Fig. 103. — The Ascension of Elijah, and the Bear tearing the Chihlren that mocked Elisha. At Meigle. answering to the traditional form of the group representing the ascension of Elijah, while in the corner a bear is repre- sented tearing the children that mocked Elisha. In the earlier frescoes and sculptui^es of the catacombs this scene is usually represented by a quadriga or chariot, with four horses, driven by a single individual, and rising over the figure of the Jordan, typified by the prostrate form of the river-god leaning on his urn, from which the water issues. A frag- ment of a sarcophagus in the Lateran Museum-^ shows the quadriga, with Elisha standing behind and receiving the prophet's mantle, while two bears appear in the corner. In the Vatican Codex ^ the chariot is a biga without a body, — merely an axle and wheels — and the prophet sits on one of ^ Xorthcote and Brownlow, Roma Sotteranea, vol. ii. p. 257. ^ Garucci, Storia della Arte Cnstiana, vol. iii. tav. 147. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 159 the horses, ^vhich rise over the Jordan, typified as a river-god leaning on his urn (Fig. 104). Elisha appears in the back- ground receiving the mantle. The bear does not appear ; but instead, the raven is figured in the sky bearing a loaf of bread in its beak. The variation of the form of expression is great, but the essential elements of the group are the same. The form of the vehicle, the harness of the horses, and the Fig. 104. — The Ascension of Elijah. From the Vatican Codex. costumes of the human figures, are those of the people and the time. In the Meigle example we must suppose that the same rule of art is observed, and the chariot, the harness, and the costume, are those of the people and of the time. It may be objected that there are more than the necessary number of figures in the representation ; but it was a common practice for the artist to fiU the vacant spaces with imaginary acces- 160 SCOTLAND IX EXV.LY CHPJSTIAX TDIES. series, and he has done nothing here which the sculptors of the sarcophagi and the painters of the frescoes in the cata- combs were not in the habit of doing.^ It is not easy to assign a limit to the license thus taken, when we find, for instance, such a purely conventional subject as the tempta- tion of our first parents represented in the usual manner on the cross-shaft at lona, by the figures of Adam and Eve standing under the tree, round the trunk of which the serpent is twined ; while, on the cross-bearing slab at Farnell (Figs. 105, 106), it is represented by the same two figures under the tree, but accompanied by tico serpents, one placed on either side of the group for symmetry These examples will suffice to show that there are among the pictorial groups represented on these Scottish monuments a considerable number that are demonstrably of the same traditional types of Scripture subjects as those most fre- quently found on early Christian monuments in Italy and Gaul. They are modified in their treatment and form of expression by the peculiar art instinct and usages of the people among whom they are found, but not so greatly dis- cjuised as to be unrecocjnisable. But it follows from this that among the pictorial groups on these Scottish monuments that are left unexplained there ^ For instance, on the sculptured sarcophagus representing the history of Jonah, on which the sculptor has personified the storm and the calm, as before referred to, the third scene represents the "whale" vomiting the prophet on the dry ground, on which crabs, lizards, and snails are seen crawling about. Close to this is the fourth scene, in which the prophet is reposing under the gourd. The sculptor has filled every available space with figures, introducing the ark of Noah on the waters ; and on the otherwise unoccupied shores an angler hooking a fish and a water-bird looking for prey. - This departure from the traditional number or historical truthfulness of representation for the sake of artistic balance or symmetry is seen in the earlier as well as in the later pictures and sculptures. In the catacombs Noah is sometimes represented with two doves ; the number of the Magi is sometimes four or six ; Daniel is represented with two, four, or six lions. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 161 may be other Scripture subjects with respect to which this peculiar treatment and local modification may have gone so Figs. 105, 106. At Faraell, now in the Montrose Museum. Obverse and Reverse (6i feet in height). far as to render them obscure and unrecognisable. This consideration must necessarily operate as a caution against M 162 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTL\X TIMES. the hasty adoption of the inference that all the subjects which we are unable with our present knowledge to refer to a Scriptural origin, must necessarily be secular or historical, and therefore purely representative of the everyday life of the people and the times. For instance, before I had worked out this subject, I used to wonder what Celtic scene that was so quaintly portrayed on the second panel of the Moone Abbey Cross, where a figure bows low before another figure seated on a high-backed chair, and an animal and a tree appear in the background (see Fig. 93) ; or that other scene of similar character from the Arboe Cross, which has been referred to as giving proof of the former existence of apes in Ireland. And it was only by collecting and comparing the different variants of one well- known type, from its earliest to its latest examples, that it appeared capable of demonstration, that however singular might be the treatment, and however wide the variation in the form of expression, these two groups were representations of the offering of Isaac by Abraham.^ The man, the youth, the ram, and the thicket are variously disguised by different modes of treatment, but they form together the conventional group of which this pictorial symbol of man's redemption has always been composed. And, looking at the singular charac- ter of these variants of this particular group, it is impossible to doubt that we may err by supposing that such strangely rude representations are not Scriptural, simply because their character and significance are not obvious. ^ Compare the representation in the centre of the glass plate from Podgor- itza in Fig. 91, with that on the Moone Abbey Cross, Fig. 93. The variation in the form of expression given to this subject in different places at different times is extreme ; but the artist of the Moone Abbey Cross is the only one who has presumed to give Abraham a chair. On the Arboe Cross the figure of the angel has been mistaken for an ape. There are eighteenth-centmy repre- sentations of this subject very quaintly rendered on tombstones in Logierait Churchyard (see p. 138, note). It also appears on a portion of a painted ceiling in the Museum. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MO^X'MEXTS. 163 I do not even exem^ot from the operation of this caution the remarkable scenes portrayed on the great cross-bearing slab at Forres, unquestionably the most remarkable monu- ment in Britain. It is a single stone, 23 feet by 4, and 15 inches in thickness. Its sculptures, though greatly weather- worn, are spirited and elaborate in character. It bears on the obverse a cross of Celtic form, recessed by arcs of circles at the intersections of the shaft, arms, and summit. It pre- sents the same characteristics of decoration as the monuments which bear these Scriptural scenes. The shaft of the cross extends the whole length of the stone, and is filled with pat- terns of complicated interlaced work. Like the St. Vigeans cross-bearinf^ slab, its edc^es are decorated with foliaf^eous scrolls, and it therefore falls to be included among the later examples of the transition time, when the purely Celtic phase of the decoration of the cross-bearing slabs was passing into the mixed style of the high crosses, which subsequently became entirely foliageous. The custom of presenting in monumental sculpture his- torical representations or secular scenes derived from the life or times of the persons commemorated, was not only extremely rare and exceptional everywhere throughout the whole period of early Christian art, but was absolutely unknown in this country so far as any positive evidence exists.-^ Xo monu- ^ If not absolutely unknoAm, it was also extremely rare in Ireland previous to the twelfth century. The subjects sculptured on the high crosses of that country are mostly Scriptural. The following are the most common : — 1, Adam and Eve under the Tree ; 2, Cain and Abel ; 3, the Sacrifice of Isaac ; 4, Samuel selecting David ; 5, Samuel and David, with an attendant carrying the head of Goliath ; 6, David rending the jaws of the Lion ; 7, Da^ad as the Sweet Singer playing on the Harp ; 8, the Three Hebrews in the Furnace ; 9, Daniel in the Den of Lions ; 10, the Adoration of the Magi ; 11, the Flight into Egypt ; 12, the Baptism of the Saviour ; 13, the Temptation of the Saviour (by two dog-headed Demons) ; 14, the Miracle of the Five Loaves and Two Fishes ; 15, the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem ; 16, the Betrayal ; 17, Pilate washing his hands ; 18, the Crucifixion ; 19, the 164 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHKISTIAN TIMES. ment is known to bear any commemorative reference^ sculptured or inscribed, to any historical event occurring within the country in early Christian times, and the estab- lishment of such an interpretation of the sculptures on the Forres monument would therefore be the establish- ment of an exception to the general rule, having no influ- ence on the question of the interpretation of other monu- ments. It is true that there are apparently scenes from real life on many of them, and that they are treated in such a realistic manner that the costume and the weapons, for instance, may be accepted as those of the country and the time. But this is what happens everywhere, and affects only the artistic accessories of the subject, not the nature of the subject itself. While we may accept the dress and weapons of the man tearing the jaws of the lion on the St. Andrews sarcophagus as probably realistic representations, we can hardly accept the subject itself as a scene which ever happened, or could have happened, in Scotland. So also, when we find, as we do so frequently, the representation of a stag-hunt, we may accept the costume and accessories as conceived in the manner of the time, but we are not necessarily required to regard the subject itself as having a realistic reference to the life- history of the individual commemorated.^ In like manner, when we find a ship sculptured on a monument, we may accept the form and rig of the vessel as realistic representa- tions of those in use at the time, but we should be no more warranted in connecting the subject itself with any sup- posed incidents or circumstances in the life of the indi- Transfigiiration ; 20, the Last Judgment ; 21, St Michael weighiug the Souls ; 22, the Harrowing of Hell ; 23, the Dead Rising. ^ The chase of the stag occurs among the subjects represented on the gilt glass vessels found in the gi'aves in the catacombs before the close of the fourth century, and is not rare on the monumental sculptures and frescoes (Garucci, Storia della Arte Cristiana, vol. iii., p. 197). THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MOXUMEXTS. 165 vidual, than in so connecting each of the other separate sub- jects on the same monument, most of which are manifestly symbols. The interpretation which assumes that these pictorial subjects are historical, in the sense of recording contemporary events and incidents, is supported by no external evidence. On the other hand, we know that from the earliest times the ship and the stag were common and popular symbols of Chris- tian monumental art. Originally the ship represented the Church sailing heavenward,^ and the stag symbolised the soul thirsting for the water of life — " as pants the hart for water brooks." ^ Sometimes the symbolic ship was freighted w^ith the four Evangelists, and the Saviour at the helm.^ In course of time the ship assumed an allegorical significance in reference to the voyage of life, and the stag became part of a traditional allegory which represented the soul driven to take refuge in the bosom of the Church.* This popular form ^ Even in the Middle Age Bestiaries we find this symbolism continued : — " The sea is the world, the ship the Holy Church, in which are the people of God." Or again — "The ship is the symbol of the just, who, without ship- wreck of their faith, pass through the storms and tempests of the present evil life, and reach in safety their desired haven." ^ A mosaic at Sens represents two stags drinking out of one vase, with this passage inscribed in Latin below. In the Bestiaries the stag is said to know where the serpent or dragon has its den, and, filling its mouth with water, it floods the den, and the serpent is driven forth, and the stag tramples it to death. The stag is therefore the symbol of Christ, who triumphs over the great serpent, the enemy of man, through the blood and water poured from his side on the cross. ^ A fragment of a sarcophagus at Spoleto represents a vessel, ^^ith the Evangelists roAving, and the Saviour at the helm. The names are inscribed below each of the figures. Such a vessel, freighted with human figures, ap- pears on the monument at Cossins in Forfarshire, The later form which this symbolical or allegorical representation assumed is shown in the group described by Dr. F. X. Kraus, on an em- broidered cope, representing an Archbishop, with his cross in the right hand, blowing a horn and holdiug three dogs in leash, by which he is driving a hind towards a nimbed female figure seated in the background. The three 166 SCOTLAXD IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. of symbolism can be traced over a very wide area, and it held its place for many centuries. On the sarcophagus at Govan the hunter has a sword on his thigh, and the horse is brauded on the flank with the letter A. A similarly branded horse appears in a representation of the chase on an early mosaic from Carthage, and the chase of the stag is frequently figured on monuments of late Eoman time in Xorth Africa. The church of San Zenone at Yerona, which is of twelfth century, has both sides of its doorway decorated with scenes from the life of Christ and from the Old Testament. Under- neath the panels containing representations of Daniel in the Den of Lions and the Temptation of our first parents, there is a representation of the chase, consisting of a horseman and two hounds driving a stag. Had these three panels appeared on a sculptured monument in Scotland, they would have been quite in unison with the general symbolism of these monuments. In this case we find the subjects most character- istic of the monuments, sculptured on the portal of a church, where they cannot possibly have any significance which is not purely symbolical, and we find the chase of the stag included among the subjects from Scripture which are con- sidered suitable for the symbolic decoration of the portal of a church.-^ It is not confined to the symbolism of art alone. dogs are labelled respectively, Caritas, Yeeitas, and Humilitas. The hind is the symbol of the soul, which is thus driven to find shelter in the bosom of the Church, t^'pified by the maiden in the background. Dr. Kraus regards this allegorical picture as based on the old description of the method of hunt- ing the unicorn, given in the Bestiaries or spiritualised natural histories of the early Middle Ages. — Jahrhucher des Vereins von Alterthiuiisfreunden iiiEliein- laiule, Heft xlix. p. 128. This is not a solitary instance. A stag chased by two dogs, followed by a man blowing a horn, is carved in wood on the door of the Church of Rogslosa in Sweden. It is a common subject in mosaic, as at Cremona, Djemila, Carthage, and Sour. — Ant. Tids., 1864, p. 122. It occurs also on objects of ecclesiastical use, as on the monstrance of the rib of St. Peter the Apostle at Xamm- {Melanges d' Archeologie, vol. i. p. 119). THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 167 The chase is repeatedly referred to as a well-understood and commonly- accepted symbol by St. Angustin, St. Jerome, St. Hippolytus, and St. Isidore. Its significance is explained in the Hortus Deliciarum or Garden of Delights, a manu- script of the twelfth century, which perished in the recent siege of Strasbourg : — " We offer to God the spoils of our chase, when, by example or precept, we convert the wild beasts, that is to say, the wicked men. The chase of the Christian is the conversion of sinners. These are represented by hares, by goats, by wild-boars, or by stags. The hares signify the incontinent ; the goats the proud ; the wild-boars the rich, and the stags the worldly-wise. These four beasts we smite with four darts by our example of continence, humility, voluntary poverty, and perfect charity ; we pursue them with dogs when we arouse their fears by the preaching of the word." I have no choice but to accept the concurrent contemporary testimony as to the significance of this figure of the chase, alike in literature and art. !N'o conjectural hypo- thesis, founded on modern notions of the fitness of things, can set that aside. And looking at the monuments themselves, in the light of this testimony, it becomes clear that there is no incongruity or unfitness in the association of this repre- sentation of the stag, pursued by dogs and horsemen, and threatened with darts, among other pictorial symbols of gospel histories, like those of Daniel and Jonah, the Fall of Man, the destruction of Pharaoh's host, and the deliverance of Israel in the Eed Sea. To this concurrent contemporary testimony also we must look for the explanation of the presence in similar associa- tions of the groups of beasts that are not hunted.^ I shall ^ As, for instance, on the inscribed monument at St. Yigeans ; on the monument at Gask, which has figures of no fewer than sixteen beasts ; on the monument at Inchinnan, which has a procession of beasts repeated on both sides ; and many others. 168 SCOTLAXD IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. best and most briefly explain this by the general statement (which any one can verify for himself by reference to the early Middle Age literature) that there existed a popular and widely spread system of spiritualising the facts and fables of natural history, as natural history was then known. This spiritual allegory, under the title of TJie Divine Bestiary, is found in various forms and in different languages. Copies of it in prose and verse, illustrated with quaint and curious drawings, are preserved in various libraries on the Continent.-^ The texts are mostly in Latin and old French. The illustra- tions have often a striking resemblance to the figures of those impossible beasts that are so frequently carved on the Scottish monuments,^ while the explanation given of their symbolic significance completely removes the apparent incongruity of their presence on such monuments, and shows them to be both appropriate and intelligible elements of monumental symbolism, ^ Sinner {Catal. Manuscript, Bihlioth. Bern, vol. i. p. 128-136) mentions two MSS., one of which he assigns to the eighth, the other to the ninth century. The first is entitled ' ' Liber Fisiologi Theobaldi, expositio de natura animalium vel avimn, sen bestiarium. " The second is simply titled " Physio- logus." Hippeau states that this Theobald is other^vise unkno\\Ti, but the importance attached to the subject of his treatise is shown by the fact that the clergy were recommended to read it. Hippeau, Le Bestiaire Divin dans les Memoires des Antiquaires de Xormandie, vol. xix. (Paris, 1851) pp. 328. The MS. Bestiary in the Royal Library at Brussels is of the latter part of the tenth century. - See the plates to the Picard Bestiaiy given in the Melangea d'Archeo- logic by Charles Cahier and Arthur Martin (vol. ii., Paris, 1851, pi. xix. xxii. ) This Bestiary opens with the statement that it was translated from Latin into the Romance dialect by commandment of Philip de Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais, 1175-1217 : — "Here commences the book called the Bestiary. And for this reason is it so called, because it tells of the natures of the beasts ; for all the creatures which God has created in the earth, He created for the benefit of man, and to give him instruction in the faith through them," etc. The texts of several other Bestiaries in prose and verse are given in the same work, and plates xxiii. and xxiv. are taken from the Brussels manuscript before mentioned. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 1G9 Take for instance the panther as described by the Physiologus in the Divine Bestiary : — There is a beast called the panther of many colours, like Joseph's coat, meek and gentle in disposition, and the friend of all animals except the dragon. When it has eaten till it is satisfied, it retires to its den, and there sleeps for three days, and on the third day it awakes and goes forth, and its mighty voice is heard far and near. With its voice a strong and pleasant odour issues from its mouth, and all the beasts from near and far hasten to the sound, and follow the panther to enjoy its sweetness. But the dragons, when they hear his voice, bury themselves in dens and caves, and will not venture • abroad, because they cannot bear its strength and sweetness. The panther is Christ the Lord, who draws all men unto Him, and com- pels the great dragon and all his brood to hide themselves in hell.^ The lion is described in the Bestiaries as possessing three natures or characteristics : (1) When it walks abroad it dis- covers by its powers of smell when the hunters are on its track, and obliterates its footprints by its tail, so that they fail to follow it. So the Lion of the tribe of Judah pursues his unseen way in his divine Providence governing the world. (2) When the lion sleeps it does not close its eyes. So, while the human nature of Christ slept the sleep of death, his divine nature kept watch over all things ; for he that keeps Israel slumbers not nor sleeps. (3) When the lioness has cubs, they are still-born and remain lifeless till the third day, when the lion comes and breathes upon the faces of the life- less young, and brings them to life. So the Almighty God, on the third day, brought to life the dead body of his Son. The lion breathing on the face of its young appears on the stone at Shandwick in Eoss-shire, on the space above the ^ This summarised translation is greatly abridged. The original versions of the different texts may be seen in the works previously cited. 170 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRLSTIAN TIMES. arm of the cross, on the Dunfallandy stone (see the Plate at p. 66), and on several others. The tiger is described as being so fierce and cruel that no living man dares to approach its haunts. But when the tigress goes abroad the hunters take a mirror and place it in the track by which she usually returns to her lair, and when she sees her image in the mirror she is fascinated with delight, and the hunters rob her den and carry off her cubs without danger. The spiritual lesson drawn from this is, that we should heware of the seductive pleasures of the present life, which are symbolised by the mirrors placed in the way of the tigress, lest we should lose our souls as she loses her cubs. The tigress gazing at the mirror on the stone Fig. 107. — At Newbiggin of Leslie, Aberdeenshire. at ISTewbiggin of Leslie, Aberdeenshire (Fig. 107), is a com- position which could scarcely be suggested by anything but a knowledge of the Bestiary. It is not necessary to do more than merely to indicate the nature of these Divine Bestiaries, which were common and popular modes of moral and religious symbolism from the sixth THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 171 to the twelfth centuries.^ They included not only the natural history and the moral and spiritual symbolism of the sup- posed natural attributes and characteristics of the known animals, but also such fabulous creatures as the siren or mermaid, the centaur or Sagittarius, the basilisk, the Avyvern, the griffin, the unicorn, and the phoenix. These are all described as minutely, and spiritualised with a symbolism as definite and significant, as the existing animals. Knowing this, and perceiving the sense in which such strange and seemingly incongruous representations were understood, we cease to feel surprise at the fact of their common occurrence on monumental and ecclesiastical sculpture. It is the want of knowledge on our part, and not the want of fitness and significance in them, which causes them to appear incon- gruous and unsuitable representations in monumental art.^ Possessing this knowledge, we see that the panther and the lion are as fitly placed on the reverse of the stone, as the cross is on the obverse. When the Bestiary informs us that the centaur is the man- animal, and represents the warfare between the spirit and the flesh, and that the osprey, which ^ The idea of representing under the symbolism of animals the lower instincts and passions of human nature is founded in reason, embodied in the wisdom of the ancients, and sanctioned by Scripture and Christian tradi- tion, — Cahier, Les Bestiaires in the Melanges d' Archeologie. But the idea of inculcating, illustrating, and enforcing the doctrines relating to the sjjiritual life by parallelisms drawn from the book of nature, and chiefly from the natural instincts, habits, and attributes of animals (imperfectly as these were then known), had also been familiar to the Christian teachers from a very early period. The Clavis, attributed to St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, in the second century, consists of a catalogue of beasts, birds, plants, and minerals, that Avere symbolical of Christian virtues and doctrines. It is printed in the Spicilegium Solesmense, edited by Dom. J. B. Pitra. 2 It is impossible to maintain Avith any show of reason, that at a time when art was so serious and so traditional, and among a series of monu- mental sculptures, evidently the productions of a great school, there should have been such importance given to subjects to which no serious significance was attached. 172 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. eats the good fish, is the man of pure and holy life feeding on the Son of God, we perceive how the one may be fitly introduced among other symbols of the Christian faith and life, as on the monuments at Glamis and Aberlemno, and the other may be appropriately placed among similar emblems, as it appears on the St. Vigeans stone. That these pictorial bestiaries, like that of the St. Vigeans monument, were appro- priately placed there is proved by the fact that they are there in association with other symbols that are still appropriate, and also by the fact that the same symbols and groups which accompany them on the monuments are also found associated with them on early churches.-^ On the external frieze of the Cathedral of Strasbourg there is a late example of a Bestiary intermingled with such Scriptural scenes as those found on the monuments, viz. the sacrifice of Isaac, Moses rearing the brazen serpent, and Jonah issuing from the mouth of the whale. On the Lombard church of Santa Fede di Cavagnolo, near Vercelli, there was a Bestiary with the cross in the centre, the beasts arranged in panels separated from each other by interlaced work, precisely as they might have appeared on the Scottish monuments. The lion breathing in the face of its young to bring them to life, precisely as it is represented on the Go van sarcophagus and many of the sculptured stones in this country, is figured on a stained glass window at Mans, immediately under the representation of Jonah issuing from the fish's mouth. It is thus clear that these pictorial groups and processions of animals, real and fabulous, had a symbolical meaning, and that it was for this reason, and not because they were mere pictorial or orna- mental accessories, that they were fitly placed on the portals ^ However strange the association of these subjects with the place of Avorship may seem to us, it is clear that what was deemed suitable in con- nection with the sculptured decoration of the church could not in its nature be unsuitable in the decoration of the monuments. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. l73 and capitals and interior walls of churches, as well as sculp- tured on monuments.^ We are therefore obliged to regard the appearance of these uncouth and impossible beasts in this association as due to the very same feeling and the very same reason which placed the cross itself alike upon the churches and the monuments, and placed also, along w^ith it and them, the scenes from Scripture story, which taught most fully and symbolised most clearly the central doctrines and the common faith and hope of the Christian Church. I do not say that the system of symbolism which I have thus described was ever formally sanctioned and recognised by the ancient Church — any more than that the system now or formerly so prevalent in our churchyards was formally approved by the modern Church. So early as the fifth century the popular tendency to this species of symbolism was viewed with displeasure by the austere fathers of the Church. "You ask me," says St. 'Nil in a letter to Olympiodorus, " if it be proper to decorate the w^alls of the sanctuary with represen- tations of all kinds of beasts, so that one sees the nets of the hunters set, and hares and other beasts seeking safety in flight, and hunters pursuing them with dogs. I reply that ^ The portals of many Continental churches of twelfth-century date or earlier, — for instance those of Remagen, Grossen-Linden in Oberhessen, Regens- burg, etc., — are ornamented with fantastic symbolism. Among the subjects thus sculptured on churches there are many which are precisely similar to those on the sculptured monuments of Scotland, e.g. the beast Avith two fore-feet and no hinder limbs, tapering in snaky convolutions to a fish-like tail ; beasts seizing each other, as on the stone at St. Madoes ; monstrous beasts with the heads of human beings between their jaws, as on so many of the Scottish monuments ; the eagle eating the fish, as on the St. Vigeans stone ; David or Samson rending the jaws of the lion ; and men on horseback blowing horns or engaged in the chase. The church of Zillis, in the Orisons in Switzerland, is decorated with a series of fifty-three mural paintings of twelfth century, of which forty-three are subjects from the New Testament and the Apocryphal Gospels, and the rest groups of monstrous and fabulous animals similar to those in the early Bestiaries. 174 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. it is mere puerility thus to amuse the eyes of the faithful."-^ Again, St. Bernard, writing in the twelfth century to William, Abbot of Thierry, wdth special reference to the churches in the province of Normandy, says, " What do here these un- natural apes, these fierce lions, and monstrous centaurs, semi- human creatures, variegated tigers, warriors engaged in com- bat, and hunters sounding their horns ? Here you may behold a quadruped with a serpent for a tail ; there a fish with the head of a quadruped," and so on. If St. Bernard had written this of our Scottish monuments, the description 'would have been absolutely correct in every particular. But such opinions as those of St. Nil and St, Bernard were by no means general. "Pictures are poor men's books," and in all ages and under every form of culture in which pictorial representations have been used, systems of symbolism have been common and popular. It may not be easy for us to see the appropriate- ness of such a system as this, or to appreciate the significance of the moral allegory that underlies this conventionalism of representation. But it is enough for us to know that these subjects w^ere so used in manuscripts and in churches from the fifth to the twelfth centuries, in all the most cultured countries in Europe.^ Knowing this, we know also that they are not inappropriate or destitute of significance when we find them on monuments associated with more common and ^ Epist. ad Olymp. quoted by Martin ; Melanges Archeologique, voL i. p. 120. 2 It may be useful to mention the titles of some of the works in which the reader w^ho is anxious to do so may pursue the subject farther : — Auber, Histoire et theorie du Symbolisme Religieux ; Honorius d'Autun, Speculum Ecclesiae (1531) ; Speculum Humanae Salvationis ; Biblia Pauperum ; Gust. Heider, Beitrage zur Christlichen Tjrpologie, etc., des Mittelalters ; M. C. Hippeau, Le Bestiaire Divin ; Popular Treatises on Sciences written during the Middle Ages, edited by Thomas Wright, Lond., 1841 ; Poesies Populaires Latines anterieures a xii. siecle, par M. Edelstand du Meril, Paris, 1847 ; Hildeberti de Lavardin, Opera, Beaugendre Paris, 1836 ; Vincent de Beauvais, Speculum Katurale ; Garrucci, Storia.della Arte Cristiana, Prato, 1881. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 175 obviously symbolic sculptures. They do not, however, occur on monuments, unless in Scotland — at least with the same frequency and persistence ; but this is not out of harmony with the general character of these monuments, because they are in most of their features entirely unlike the monuments of any other area. This unlikeness is specially apparent in the fact that they bear a series of symbols which have never been found on any other monuments. They are associated with these pictorial subjects, but they are not themselves pictorial. They are conventional figures, which, like the figure of the cross itself, bear no necessary resemblance to actual objects. They are, however, associated and conjoined in their symbolic use with other symbols which are representations of natural forms, such as the fish and the serpent, or of actual objects, as the mirror and comb. The impenetrable mystery w^hich sur- rounds them, in spite of their association and its obvious suggestion that they have a meaning to unfold if they could be made to speak, invests them with a piquancy of interest which belongs to no other monumental sculptures. But if this obstinate impenetrability of their character whets our curiosity, it must also be remembered that it does not necessarily constitute on that account the sole, or possibly even the chief, scientific interest of these representations. There may, indeed, there must, be much to be learned about them that has no direct bearing on the questions of their origin and their significance. It is clear that the absolute mastery of the whole field of knowledge that lies round about them must precede the mastery of the profounder secrets of their special character and significance. We cannot expect to be able to tell what they mean without first knowing what they are, and in what relations they stand to each other, and to the representations usually associated with them on the monuments. 176 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. Fig. 108.— At Logie, iu the Garioch. The figure which is of most frequent occurrence is a crescent, combined with a rod bent like the letter V, and terminating in floriated extremities/ The body of the cres- cent is sometimes plain, but often filled w^ith ornament, as at Hilton of Cadboll (shown in the Frontispiece). The symbol which comes next in frequency is in the form of two circles, connected by a band formed by two parallel lines, or by lines slightly curved. Like the crescent, it appears occasion- ally alone, as in Fig. 108, from the stone at Logie, in Aberdeenshire ; but more usually it is combined with a figure resembling a rod, doubly bent into the form of the letter Z, reversed and floriated at the extremities, as in Fig. 109, on the stone at Insch, Aberdeenshire. The circles are sometimes plain, at other times filled w^ith other concentric circles, pat- terns of spirals, or of interlaced work, or bosses in relief. The third symbol is a rectangular oblon resemblance to the outline of a house, with a door in the centre. This figure never occurs alone on the monuments, but always in combination with the doubly bent rod with ^ See Figs. 45, 46, 65, 78, pp. 75, 99, 106, for examples of this form. In the MS. of the Leges Longobardorum, ninth century (a facsimile page of Avhich is given in Hefner Alteneck's Trachten Kuntsicerke unci Geratliscliaften vom fruhen Mittelalter), the sceptre borne in the hand of "Rachis Rex" is floriated at both ends — a branch as long as the figure of the king. On the banner of St. Cpiacus of the tenth century (figured in the same work) the royal personage, portrayed betAveen two eagles, bears a sceptre in each hand, crossed so that they form a Y-shaped figure with floriated ends. The jewel of Alfred represents a figure holding a similar Y-shaped or double sceptre. Fig. 109. — At Insch, Aberdeenshire. ^, bearing some THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 177 Fig. 110.— At AmdiUy, Aberdeenshire. floriated ends, as in Fig. 110 on the stone at Arndillv, Aber- deenshire. That it was capable of being used alone, however, is evi- denced by its occurrence without the rod on the terminal link of the silver chain found at Whitecleuch, in Lanarkshire, described in a pre- vious Lecture (see Fig. 32). The fourth symbol is in the form of an archway, the opening more or less of a horse -shoe shape. It usually occurs alone, but that it was capable of being used with the bent rod is shown by its occurrence in one instance in that connection. The fifth symbol (Fig. Ill) bears some resemblance to the conventional form of the lily, which was used in later times as the symbol of the Virgin Mary. The sixth resembles a book, the seventh is the head of an animal, and the eighth consists of three circles, a large one in the centre, with a smaller circle attached at either side. These are the symbols which are of most frequent occurrence upon the monu- ments. They are plainly products of a highly conventional phase of art which follows arbitrary rules unknown to us. But it is manifest that though these rules (or some of them) might be capable of being determined by careful investigation and comparison of their results, it would be a necessary condition of the success of such an investi- gation that the number of results to be used for com- parison and induction should be such as would be fairly representative of the whole body as originally existing. And if the materials for this investigation should prove X Fig. 111.— At Dunni- chen, Forfarshire. 178 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. insufficient to enable us to determine the meaning of the symbols, our failure to ascertain their meaning is not to be taken as evidence that they are not representations of objects or ideas that might be perfectly familiar to us if they were less obscurely expressed. Nor, on the other hand, are we to infer from our ability to recognise the form and apparent character of such associated representations as are expressed in a realistic manner, that they must necessarily be destitute Fig. 112.— On the Maiden stone, ncccssarily, in other associa- representations. In like manner it is possible — at least it is conceivable — ;that if we knew the import of the crescent ^ The mirror and comb liad a ceremonial use in the ritual of the Church, and thus acquired a symbolic significance. One of the rubrics of the service of the ordination of a bishop in the tenth century has the direction, " Deinde ministretur ei aqua ad manus et pecten ad caput." The ceremonial comb was also required at the celebration of a bishop's mass. The comb of St. Cuth- bert was buried with him, and is still preserved in the Cathedral at Durham. Combs are common in the lists of relics preserved in the great churches of the Continent. The oldest known is that of Queen Theodelinda (a.d. 590) preserved in the Basilica of St. John at Monza. Bede {Hist. Eccl., Lib. ii. c. xi. ) notices the gift of a mirror of silver and comb of ivory, sent with his blessing from Pope Boniface to Ethelburga, wife of Edwin, King of North- umbria, in the year 625. The shears had also a symbolic significance derived from their ceremonial use in the ecclesiastical tonsure. In later times these symbols appear on incised sepulchral slabs of thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, but probably with altered significations. of an ideal or symbolic signi- ficance. It may be possible — it is at least conceivable — that the mirror and the comb-^ (Fig. 112), the shears, the fish, the serpent, etc., as thus associ- ated w^ith the unexplained symbols, may possess a special significance which did not THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 179 symbol, or the double disc, we might find that while they veiled ideas that were perfectly familiar to us, the forms themselves, though absolutely unsuggestive to our concep- tions of these ideas, might not be less truly representative than many varieties of the symbol of the cross which bear no resemblance to the actual object. By these considerations we are warned to avoid the conclusion that the significance of a symbol must always be necessarily and obviously sug- gested by its conventional form. But when the whole series of symbols is examined, it is seen that some groups are obviously less recondite in their nature than others. There is one, for instance (Fig. 113), that combines the enigmatically bent and floriated rod w^ith a pictorial and realistic re- presentation of a serpent. It appears in this form on one of the stones at Newton, in the Garioch, in association Fig. 113.— On the stone at with the conventional symbol of the double disc, and in the same form, but in other associations on the stones at Insch, Ballutheron, St. Yigeans, Meigle, and Gask. At Inverury and Logierait the symbol presents a simpler form, and the rod which crosses the serpent is straight, but with the same floriations at the ends. On the stones at TJlbster, Knockando, Aberlemno, and Glamis the pictorial convoluted serpent appears without the rod, but in positions and associations which seem to imply that it is used as a symbol and not as mere ornament. The serpent only occurs pictorially in two other instances, viz. at Farnell (Fig. 106) and lona. In both these cases it forms part of the con- ventional group representing the fall of man, "by which came death and all our woe." It being thus certain that the serpent and the tree are used on the monuments in some cases to represent a Scriptural scene and symbolise a Christian 180 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. doctrine, we are not warranted in assigning to these two con- stituents of this symbol-group (however highly they may be conventionalised) any interpretation or association inconsis- tent with some similar Christian application. Still, it remains true that most of the unexplained symbols exhibit forms which are as purely conventional as the signs of the zodiac or the symbols of the planets in a nautical almanac. There may have been a stage in the process of development of the symbolism they embody, in which there may have been a more evident suggestion of some association of ideas between the thing seen and the thing signified. But it is plain that when once a break has taken place in the transmission of the knowledge of the arbitrary significance of such conventional symbols, that significance would almost certainly be irrecoverably lost. And it is equally evident that in such a case it might be absolutely impossible, by any method of comparison and induction, to recover their signifi- cance, because it is never possible to deduce final conclusions from manifestly incomplete evidence. ^Ve have no certainty that we have recovered all the symbols, or that we have yet seen all the forms that have been assumed by the same symbol. But it is possible, I think, from the data we pos- sess to determine certain points in connection with them which greatly narrow the field of inquiry. I do not consider it necessary to discuss at any length the question of the Pagan origin of these unknown symbols. I admit that there is nothing in the fact that they are used on Christian monuments to forbid the supposition that they may nevertheless be of Pagan origin, or that they may have had an exclusively Pagan application and significance before they came to be associated with Christian symbols. Such survivals are not uncommon. The Church did not forbid the use of Pagan customs that were not in themselves sinful or inconsistent with Christian practice. But there is no evidence THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 181 that this custom was a survival from Pagan times. We have never yet found anything of the kind carved on the monu- ments of the native tribes previous to the introduction of Christianity. No stone that is certainly known to have marked a Pagan interment exhibits them. Their assumed connection with stone circles in certain instances is not established by sufficient evidence. Only two stones bearing symbols have been found in direct association with Pagan burials. One of these was a fragment bearing the figure of the beast with the long jaws and the scroll-like feet. It was found by Dr. Stuart between the covering stones of a cist which had contained an interment of the bronze age, in the centre of a large cairn at Linlathen, in Porfarshire. But the fragment had been placed there twenty years before, when the cairn was first opened, and the sole evidence of its association with the burial was the re- collection of a single witness, who stated that it was placed there because it had been found there originally. This evidence is obviously insufficient to establish the fact. The second case is a clear instance of true association with an Iron Age burial, probably of the period of the later Paganism of the north of Scotland, which was intruded into that region from Norway fully three centuries after the time of St. Columba. The stone Fig. lU. -Stone used as tlie cover of : Cist at Dunrobin. 182 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. here figured (Fig. 114), wliicli bears the symbols of the fish, the mirror and comb, and a figure like a sword, was found covering a stone-lined grave, 8 feet long, built at the sides, and paved at the bottom. It contained two skeletons of adult men, and a portion of the socket of an iron spear-head. It was covered by three flat stones, the s}Tnbol-bearing stone being laid over the head of the grave, and the other two uncarved and undressed stones towards the feet. But, while thus placed in direct association with an interment presum- ably, though not certainly, Pagan, there was nothing to show that this was the primary use of the stone. It might have been taken from its primary purpose as a standing monument, and utilised for this secondary object. The fact that it bears these sculptured symbols obviously implies that it was in- tended to be erected above ground, like others of its class, and that its use, as the cover of a cist, was a secondary appropria- tion to a purpose for which it was suited only by its shape. There is, therefore, nothing in either of these instances from which we can certainly deduce a true association with inter- ments that are necessarily of Pagan character or of pre- Christian time. It is now also possible to say that there is no evidence to support the conclusion that some of these unknown s}TQbols may represent personal ornaments, such as fibula or brooches. Among the forms of personal ornaments which belong to the Christian time, there is none that presents any resemblance to any one of these symbols. The sculptors of the monuments (who wore the brooches) were certainly as capable of repre- senting them pictorially, as of representing the mirror and comb, for instance, which they have always done quite faith- fully ; and a single glance at the forms of the brooches of the period (see Figs. 1 to 23) is sufficient to show that the symbols were not intended for them. If we suppose that they may have been intended for insignia of rank or office, THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 183 we are met by the difficulty that they occur by twos and threes on the same monument, and that the same symbol is sometimes twice and even thrice repeated on one stone. If we imagine them to have been of the nature of heraldic devices, we are at once checked by the impossibility of obtaining evidence of the existence of such devices at a period so early. But the negative result of such conjectures goes far to show that there exists no sure ground for assign- ing to them any character which differs essentially from the character of the other symbols with which they are associated. The essential character of all the symbols with which they are associated, whose significance is known, is clearly a character which has special reference to the faith and hope of the Christian life, and we are not warranted in interpreting the unknown symbolism of the monuments in a sense which differs from that of the symbolism whose significance is kno^vn. The circumstance that the text of the Divine Bestiary has been preserved to our time has enabled us to see how it was possible for the apparently incongruous representations of beasts and mythical monsters to have been appropriately placed in association with the cross, the Scripture sub- jects, and other symbolical representations of Christian im- port, both on churches and on monuments. ISTo such key to the significance of these peculiar symbols is now known to exist, but there are indications that whatever that special significance may have been, it was not confined to a range that was merely commemorative or emblematical of individual position or association, in a sense that is only secular. Along the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, from Dysart to Fifeness, there is a range of caves which present evidence of human occupation. The rock is of a kind that can be cut without much difficulty, and the sides of several of these caves are thickly studded with incised sculpt urings. 184 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. The figures thus carved on the cave walls are principally crosses, sometimes equal-armed, oftener of the common plain Latin form, never of the older and more ornate Celtic form, such as is seen on the monuments. Besides the crosses, there Figs. 115, 116. — In Jonathan's Cave, East Wemyss, Fife. are figures of four-footed beasts (Figs. 115, 116), serpents, and birds.^ If these were all the constituents of the cave group of sculptures, it would bear a considerable resemblance to the group of sculptures on the monuments. But when I add that in association with these crosses and beasts there occur also occasionally symbols which are identical in form and character and ornament with those of the monuments, the question naturally arises, Why should these representations be found on caves ? Among these cave sculpturings we have, for instance, as in the Doo Cave at East AYemyss, a group (Fig. 117) consisting of two crosses, two birds, and a symbol precisely the same as that which occurs on the stones at Drimmies, in Aberdeenshire, and Kintradwell, in Sutherland- shire (Fig. 118). Again, in the same cave, we have the symbolic animal, ^ Detailed descriptions of these caves and their sculi^tures, with copious illustrations, will be found in Dr. John Stuart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland (Spalding Club), vol. ii, ; in Professor Simpson's Lapidary Sculpturings (Edin. 4to, 1867); and in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries oj Scotland, vols. V. and xi. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 185 with the long jaws and the crest and the scroll-like feet Fig. 117.— In the Doo Cave. Fig. 118. — On a Stone at Kintradwell. (Fig. 119J, precisely as it appears on the monuments. We Fig. 119.— In the Doo Cave. Fig. 120, — In Jonathan's Cave. have the symbolic fish (Fig. 120), exactly of the same form and character as that of the monuments. But stranger still, we have the mysterious symbols that are so characteristic of these monuments, — the double circle with the zigzag rod (Fig. 121),^ the arch -like symbol, the book -like symbol, the house-like symbol, the lily -like symbol (Fig. 122), and others of less frequent occurrence. The crescent symbol with the bent rod occurs four times in a cave at Covesea, along with the mirror and comb. Thus we have nearly all the unexplained symbols of the monuments sculp- 1 Compare this cave sculpturing of the double-disc symbol, having the beast's head below it, with the same group as engraved on the silver plate from Norrie's Law (Fig. 25). Compare also the symbol in Figs. 117, 118, \yiih. that on the terminal link of the silver chain from ParkhUl (Fig. 31). Fig. 121.— In the Doo Cave. associated with tlie cross, the serpent, and the fish, and other animals which formed constituent parts of the common system of Christian symbolism. If, therefore, there be any reason why these caves should bear upon their walls these common symbols of Christian use, that also must be the reason for the presence there, and on the monuments, of the symbols of unknown significance associated with them. Wyntoun records that St. Adrian, with his company of followers, came to Caplachy, and that while he himself went over to the Fig. 122.— In the Isle of May, part of his company settled on Doo Cave. north shore of the Forth.-^ Caplachie is now Caiplie, in the parish of Kilrenny, and one of the caves ^ " Adrian e wyth hys cumpany To-gydder cam to Caplawchy, Thare sum in -to the 111 of May Chesyd to byde to thare enday, And sum of tharae chesyd be-north In steddis sere the Watter of Forth." JFyntoiai's Cronykill, B. vi. c. viii. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 187 of Caiplie, wliicli has sculptures on its Avails, is still known as the Chapel Cave. The same author tells how St. Serf, accord- ing to the practice of the time, retired to a desert for solitude. The Aberdeen Breviary states that his customary retreat was a cave. The name Dysart still commemorates the place of the saint's retirement, and in the time of Bishop Elphinstone, who wrote the xA^herdeen Breviary, St. Serfs cave w^as still a resort for pilgrims, and greatly honoured. The reason why these caves bear sacred symbols upon their walls must there- fore be that they possessed a sacred character from traditional association w^ith early saints. We see that one has been fitted up as a chapel, and that others have been apparently places of frequent resort.-^ That places thus frequented for religious exercises should bear religious symbols is only to be ex- pected. That those here carved, whose meaning is known, are religious in character and significance, is certain. That those whose meaning is unknown are different in character cannot be presumed in face of the fact of their appearing in the same association, alike on the monuments and in the caves, which practically and symbolically were churches. But these symbols also occur on metal-work ^ as well as in other situations which neither connect them necessarily w^ith religious nor w4th sepulchral usages. They occur graven on the terminal links of massive silver chains of double links w^hich have been found in different parts of Scotland ranging from Inverness-shire to Lanarkshire. They are found on silver pins of peculiar shape, which also bear the symbol of the cross, although they are articles of dress or personal decoration. They have been found on plaques of silver and ^ Such localities as tLe cave at Dysart, the traditional scene of St. Serfs victory over the Devil, which continued ever after to be held in reverence in honour of the saint {Breviarium Aherdonense, Pars Estiv. fol. xv,), must necessarily on that account have become places of pilgrimage. 2 See the previous account of these objects in metal which bear the symbols, pp. 38-46. 188 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. bronze, which are connected by the character of their art with the art of the monuments and manuscripts, although we cannot say of their purpose whether it was sacred or secular. But seeing that these symbols were in their nature such as could be appropriately used on articles of personal adornment, — on costly articles like these massive chains, — while they were also appropriately carved on the rough walls of sea-side caves, and elaborately sculptured on monuments of high artistic design, it is clear that they were of the widest possible application, and must, therefore, have had a significance unrestricted by local, personal, or official considera- tions. Take the two that are of most frequent occurrence, the spectacle-like symbol and the crescent, each with its peculiar form of rod. More than a hundred examples are known. They occur on rocks, on monuments, on metal-work, and on bone. Bearing in mind the fact that they are Christian, and that it is impossible to give them any older or more restricted attri- bution,^ it is plain that there is but one other symbol which equals them in importance, if that be judged by the fre- quency of their occurrence and the universality of their application. That symbol is the cross, the common emblem of the central doctrine of the Christian faith. Whatever may have been the significance attached to these symbols, it could not have been of a trivial or unimportant character. From their prominent place in the system of symbolism, and from the wide range of application they exhibit, their arbi- trary significance appears rather to have been considered of primary importance — of an importance almost equal to that which is veiled under the similitude of the cross itself, with ^ All their associations are of Christian character. When they stand alone there is no suggestion of Paganism connected with them. They have never been found in associations which are definitively Pagan. They are often found associated with the emblems of the Christian faith, and there is therefore no warrant for assigning to them a character which is not suggested either by their nature or their associations. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE MONUMENTS. 189 which they are so often associated. Farther than this I cannot proceed. In what I have said I have indicated the direction in which it seems to me that the solution of the enigma is to be looked for. That it may be solved by a brilliant guess is possible ; that the key may be found by a chance discovery is more probable ; that it can be extracted from the materials now at our command by any process of scientific investigation appears to me impossible. But if the veil of mystery which conceals the meaning of these inscrutable symbols is not to be withdraw^n by the hand of science — at least for a time — the obscurity which has shrouded the significance of much of their associated sym- bolism is partially dispelled. It has been demonstrated that the general system of the symbolism of these monuments is in the main a derived system consisting of simple variants of universal types, disguised and degraded by their passage from the higher art of the primitive Church to the later and more local art of the Celtic Church, which, though it excelled in decorative work, was poor and w^eak in pictorial resources. Such variations of form and style as are incident to the transmission of traditional copies through long distances of space and time have disfigured their appearance and obscured their character. But if it be true that the system is in the main a derived one, its figure-subjects are, and must be, capable of explanation by the analogous treatment of similar subjects in the general system of early Christian symbolism ; and, so far as the meaning of the pictorial representations on the Scottish monuments has been demonstrated, they consist of subjects from Scripture story, intermingled with the grotesque and fabulous forms of the Divine Bestiaries or the common allegorical subjects, like the chase of the stag which pervaded the literature and art of the early Middle Ages. 190 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHKISTLVX TIMES. LECTUEE y. (18th Octobee ISSO.) IXSCPJBED MOXUMEXTS — IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. The inscribed monuments of the early Christian time in Scotland are few in number, but the fact of their bearing inscriptions invests them with special importance. The chief question which I have to answer with regard to them is, What are the types of the inscriptions existing on undated monuments which may be of twelfth-century date or earlier ? In the endeavour to frame an answer to this question an unexpected difficulty, presents itself. The materials fail just at the very point where their testimony would have been most useful in the attempt to establish a point of departure, from which we might work our way backwards by tracing the transition from the dated to the undated monuments. It is a very remarkable fact that though Scotland is excep- tionally rich in monuments that yield no definite monumental story, as being memorials of persons that are individually identifiable in record, she is almost completely destitute of monuments that are in a precise sense historic.-^ ^ This seems a strange thing to say of a nation possessed of such a notable history ; and I fancy that there are few who have fully realised the fact that the art and the interest of such historic monuments have not sufficed to save them from destmction. Where ai-e the monuments of our kings ? Scotland is the only country in Europe which does not possess a single contemporary tomb of a single one of its royal line ? Where are the tombs of the ancient earls, the barons, the bishops, the soldiers, of historic fame ? Their names are familiar in record, but their monuments are either dostroyed or forgotten. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS — IX CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 191 Among two thousand inscriptions collected from grave- yards in the north-eastern districts of Scotland, the late Mr. Jervise only found one which he could assign with pro- bability to the twelfth century. It is a recumbent slab in the churchyard of Insch, Aberdeenshire, measuring 6 feet by 18 inches, and bearing an inscription in Latin, to which is prefixed a small Maltese cross — Oeate pro anima Eadulfi SACERDOTis. Unfortunately the lettering has been tampered with, but the use of the small equal-armed cross as a siglum at the commencement of the inscription, and the character of the formula " Pray for the soul of Eadulf the priest " agree with the general type of late twelfth-century inscriptions both in England and France. But its precise date is of little moment. The fact which is of interest to us is that it is one of the oldest of existing examples in Scotland possessing what I may call the European character of incised slab, laid flat on the grave, and bearing the formula " Pray for the soul of " preceded by the siglum of the cross, and followed by the name and profession of the deceased. At lona there are a few inscribed monuments which are undated. The language of the inscriptions is Gaelic, and the lettering the ordinary Celtic character of the period. One of these stones bears the inscription — " Or do Mael- fataric " — pray for Maelpatrick.^ Like the Latin inscription on the monument of Eadulf the priest, this Celtic inscription has prefixed to it the sighim of a small equal-armed cross of the same size as the letters of the inscription. This is also a common feature of the epigraphs on our oldest seals and coins, which do not reach beyond the twelfth century. The ^ This has been conjectured to be the tombstone of Maelpatrick O'Banain, Bishop of Connor and Dalriada, who died in Zona in 1174, and is thus com- memorated under that year in the Annals of the Four Masters : — Maolpatrick O'Banain, Bishop of Connor and Dal-Ariada, a man to be venerated and full of sanctity of life, gentleness and purity of heart, died in a good old age in Hy of Columcille." 192 SCOTLAXD IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. inscription on the stone of Maelpatrick, therefore, falls in with the ordinary type of inscriptions known to be of the twelfth century, and we have thus established points of departure on two lines — one being a line of Celtic inscriptions in the Celtic language and character, and the other a line of Latin inscrip- tions in the Eoman language and character. The other inscribed slabs differ from the one last described inasmuch as they bear an incised cross as a principal subject, and not as a siglum prefixed to the inscription. The first is a slab about 4 feet 9 inches in length and 18 inches in breadth, undressed, but roughly rectangular in shape, and water or weather worn on the eds^es. The cross which occupies the centre of the slab, extending nearly the whole length of the stone, is of Celtic form, hollowed or recessed semicircularly at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit, and having the arms connected by a circle. The inscription is placed alongside the cross, reading from top to bottom, in the Celtic language and character — " Or ar ANMIN EoGAiN " — Pray for the soul of Eogain. An enclosure close by the wall of the cloister of the monastery is paved with tombstones. Among them lie the other monuments, bearing similar inscriptions. They are plain in character and undecorated, save by the figure of the cross, which exhibits the same Celtic form as the monument previously described. The inscriptions are placed on them in the same manner as in the former case, running down the spaces between the shaft of the cross and the side of the stone. The names of the persons commemorated are mostly illegible, but there is still sufficient distinctness in the rest of the inscriptions to show that the formula is — " Pray for the soul of ." In these monuments we have the transition from the European form of the twelfth century to the Celtic form which preceded it. EoUowing up the line of inscriptions graven in the 94 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. ordinary character of the Celtic manu- cripts we find that in all Scotland there exists but one example out of Zona, It occurs at St. Vigeans, in Forfarshire, upon the remarkable monument which has been already described so far as its sculptures are concerned.-^ It is a monument of the type which is a shaped slab standing erect and bearing the cross on the obverse, and figure- subjects and symbols on the reverse, as shown in Tigs. 123 and 124. The ed(?es of the slab are also filled with sculpture. One bears a foliageous scroll with lanceolate leaves, and a triplet of fruit alternately on either side of the wavy stem (Fig. 125). The other is filled with a pattern of interlaced work. At the bottom of this interlaced work (Fig. 126) is a small panel bearing the inscription. The lettering of this in- scription is in a minuscule character, bearing a general resemblance to the writing of such manuscripts as the Book of Kells, and the Gospels of Mac Piegol and St. Chad, but more closely resem- bling the forms of the letters found on inscribed monumental slabs in Ireland. The form of the letter D (see Fig. 127), as it occurs in the St. Yigeans inscription, is not found in the Book of Deer, nor do any of its other letters precisely resemble those of that manuscript. But ^ 111 Lecture XL pp. 50, 51. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS — IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 1 on the other hand, every one of them may be quite closely matched by comparing them with the letters cut on the inscribed slabs of the great Irish cemetery of Clonmacnoise. When this group of Irish inscriptions is closely scrutinised it is seen that the character of the lettering varies greatly throughout the series, and that those that come nearest to the forms of the St. Vigeans inscription are asso- ciated with a peculiar form of cross placed within a parallelogram — a form which may be most readily described as resembling a window-frame having two smaller panes above, and two large ones below. In the series of monu- ments bearing this form of cross and this style of lettering, there are two which bear the names of persons whose deaths are recorded in the annals in 888 and 895. If it had occurred in Ireland, therefore, the St. Vigeans inscription would have been referred by its palaeographical peculiarities to a period not far distant from the close of the ninth century. But it possesses no features which enable us to deter- mine its date with greater precision, and all that we can say of it on the strength of its palaeographical charac- ter is, that when compared with other ancient inscriptions, its letters are Celtic in type and late in character, because they come nearer in their cL«r 19G SCOTLAND IX EAJRLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. forms to those of the slabs at Clonmacnoise than to the writing of the manuscripts, and most closely resemble the later forms of these inscriptions, ranging from about the end of the ninth to the eleventh century. The type and character of the inscription being thus determined, we have next to consider its legibility. It consists of twenty-four letters, supposing that there are no contractions, but they are not divided into words. There is a collocation in lines, and at the end of the first line there are three points placed in the form of a triangle. This arrangement of three points in early inscriptions and manu- scripts written in Britain, says Mr. Westwood, usually indi- cated a full stop. This use of the three points is found in the Psalter of St. Augustine and the Gospels of St. Chad, both written in the eighth century. If these three points should thus indicate a break in the continuity of the inscription or in the sense, the first line must be the concluding part of a sentence, and the previous part of the inscription may have been written on another panel above the ornament at the top of the stone, as this is written on a panel below the ornament at its base. Unfortunately, the upper part of this side of the stone is wanting. The inscription (Fig. 127) now com- mences with the word Drosten — a word with which we have already become familiar, as the name given in the Book of Deer to the nephew of St. Columba, and first Abbot of Deer. The name also occurs in the Annals of Tighearnach as Drostain, and in the Annals of the Four Masters as Drostan. In an inscription which is not divided into words it is usually easier to get the first word and the last than any of the intervening words. Eeferring, therefore, to the conclu- sion of the inscription, we find the last word to be FoRCUS, a common spelling of the name now known as Fergus. It occurs on one of the monuments at Clonmacnoise as Forcos, and it occurs in this very form of Forcus as the name of one of the IXSCPJBED MOXUMEXTS IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 197 two sons of Mac Ere in Adamnan's Life. The inscription, therefore, apparently consists of two parts — a part in w^hich something is written concerning Drosten, and a part in w^hich something is written concerning? Fersjus. If what was written concerning Drosten was not on an upper panel, seeing that a full stop follows the word, the rest of the sentence must have been understood, and hence it has been suggested that w^e ought to regard Drosten as the genitive case of Drost, and the formula to mean this is The stone of Drost. But whether we are to understand it as the monument of Drost or of Drosten, the difficulty with regard to the rest of the inscrip- tion remains, and is increased by the fact that it seems to contain, at least, one other proper name. In the second line there are five letters which give the name Voeet. This, it has been suggested, may be the same as the Ferot or Pherath of the lists of Pictish kings given in the Pictish Chronicle ; and it so happens that in the later chronicles there is a Fig. 127. — The Inscription at St. Vigeans. 198 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. Drost, son of Ferat, who is said to have reigned three years, and to have been slain by the Scots about 850. Mr. Skene says that the three short reigns introduced by these later chronicles immediately before Kenneth Macalpin rest upon authority which cannot be considered trustworthy. Ad- mitting the justness of this criticism as regards the reigns, however, does not necessarily prevent us from concluding that the persons may have existed at the time indicated, and may have been pretenders to the kingdom, though not actu- ally kings. But it is impossible to go farther and to assume that this stone was erected as the monument of Drost, son of Ferat, who was killed by the Scots in 850, because there is no evidence to show that the Drost whose name is on the stone was the son of Ferat, if the three points after his name are to be regarded as a full stop. In that case it is obvious that though there may be some relationship indi- cated between Ferat and Fergus, there can be none between Drost and Ferat. I have been led into these remarks because they are necessary to justify my non-acceptance of the reading of this inscription proposed by the late Sir James Simpson, and supported with all the ingenuity and acumen of his varied erudition and research. The points on which he founds his reading are as follow : — (1.) The inscription is in all proba- bility in the Pictish tongue, because it contains three well- known Pictish names, Drost, Ferat, and Fergus. (2.) The special Drost, whom this elaborately sculptured monument commemorates was evidently a person of high rank. (3.) In the Pictish Annals ten kings of the name of Drost are re- corded. (4.) The expression of the inscription Drosten ipe VoRET is in all likelihood the common formula Drost, son of Yoret ; because the Gaelic, Cymric, and Cornish word for son — Mac, Map, or Mab — has, in one of these dialects, been transformed into ap by dropping the initial M, and if this INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 199 happened in one Celtic tongue, it might happen in another, and pass into ipe in Pictish, as it has passed into ap in Welsh. (5.) But the formula is probably in the genitive case, as most of the many olden post-Eoman inscriptions usually are — signifying stone of Drost, son of Voret. (6.) The word elt, which precedes Forcus, is probably from the old Celtic word for offspring or family, and thus the whole inscription should read : — drosten-.- ipe voret elt forcus — The stone of Drost, son of Voret, of the race of Fergus. Lastly, he identifies this Drost, son of Voret, with the Drust named in the following entry in the Annals of Tighearnach, under the year 729 : " The battle of Drumderg Blathmig, between the Piccardach, between Drust and Angus, king of the Piccardach ; and Drust was slain on the 12rh day of the month of August." Drum- derg Blathmig, or the red ridge of Blathmig, he says, may be identified with Kinblethmont, some three miles distant from the site of the stone. All this is so very ingenious, and fits together so like what it may be supposed the truth ought to be, that in re- jecting it one feels as if he were rejecting what may be truth. But, on the other hand, there are considerations which must prevent the acceptance of a possible identity in place of a proved one. In the first place, there is no evidence that the Drosten of the monument was a king. Drostan and Fergus were both names of saints that were highly venerated in Angus. Their lives are connected in legend, and they are both represented as having settled finally in localities not far removed from the site of the stone. St. Drostan, accord- ing to the Breviary of Aberdeen, retired to Glenesk to lead the life of a hermit, while St. Fergus chose Glamis as the place of his rest. There is no evidence that this monument was the tombstone of Drost, or Ferat, or Fergus, or of the three together. It was customary to inscribe monumental crosses to venerated saints centuries after their death. One 200 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTLVX TIMES. such monument in Ireland is inscribed as the cross of Patrick and Columba. It was a cross reared in their honour and to promote their veneration — not a sepulchral memorial placed over a grave which contained their remains. There is thus a possibility that the St. Vigeans monument may be something different from the gravestone of a Pictish king of the eighth century. I know nothing against its being the work of the tenth or eleventh century, and purely com- memorative of men, not because they were buried there, but because they were venerated there.-^ But I do not attempt to determine its date or its purpose more closely than this. I have shown that the letters of the inscription are the minuscule characters of the Celtic manuscripts ; that in their forms they approach more nearly to the later inscriptions in that character than to the earlier, and closely resemble the style of the Clonmacnoise inscriptions of ninth to eleventh centuries ; and that the names commemorated by the monu- ment are Celtic. The testimony of the inscription is thus to the same effect as the testimony of the art of the monument, and it is further important as connecting the series of monu- ments of this type of symbolism and ornament with a time when the alphabetical writing in this peculiar character was in use. No monument bearing these symbols and this peculiar style of Celtic ornament presents an inscription in the Eoman alphabet written in the Eoman style. That (as we shall hereafter see) was characteristic of an earlier class of monument, which bore none of these peculiar symbols, and no Celtic ornament. But before we come to them we have to consider another variety of Celtic inscription, which is not written in any of the literary alphabets of historic antiquity, Rliys suggests as the likely reading drostex, ipevoret, ett forcus, which would make the stone commemorative of three indi\'iduals. — Archceo- logia Candtrensis (Fourth Series), vol. v. p. 248. INSCRIBED MOXOIEXTS IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 201 but by an unalphabetic system of combination and arrange- ment of digits upon a stem-line. This mode of giving visible expression to the sounds indicated in other European languages by alphabetic characters was peculiar to the Celtic people, and we find it associated in Scotland with the same type of monument as this at St. Vigeans, bearing the cross on the obverse, and figure subjects and symbols on the reverse. I therefore proceed to describe the stones bearing these peculiar inscriptions (or Oghams, as they are called) in the order of locality in which they occur from the southern border of their area northwards. The first example, lying farthest to the south, occurs at Scoonie, in Fifeshire, associated with a church which appears in record in the latter half of the eleventh century as having been given to St. Andrews by Duncan, Earl of Fife, and subsequently granted to the Culdees of Lochleven by Tuathal, Bishop of St. Andrews.-^ The stone, which is now in the Museum, is a broad, thick slab of sandstone, with undressed, but roughly squared edges. It is sculptured on both sides. On the obverse it bears the figure of the cross, of the Celtic form, hollowed into semicircles at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit. The cross, which extends the whole length of the stone, is ornamented with interlaced work. The panels on either side have been filled with interlaced work, and fretwork, now partially defaced. The stone is broken at the top, and the upper part of the figure of a beast with a scroll-like ending is broken away. On the reverse of the stone are figure subjects and a symbolic subject. The upper part shows the symbolic beast with the long jaws and scroll- like feet. Below it is the chase of a stag, very spiritedly rendered. The wounded animal, with head thrown back, and a javelin sticking in its side, is followed by two dogs and 1 The Church of Scoonie appears to have been dedicated to St. Mo- nenna. 202 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. three horsemen. Down the ed^e of the stone, and crossing^ the muzzle and the forefoot of the stag, is incised an inscrip- tion, the strokes or digits of which are arranged upon a stem- line. The characters, though rudely cut, are well marked, but not separated from each other by spaces, or divided into groups which might seem to represent words. Hence the reading is doubtful, though the marks are clear. There may be eight or ten characters, but with so small a number of letters, which are themselves indeterminable with certainty, it is manifestly impossible to extract an intelligible result from the inscription.^ The next in order of locality proceeding northwards is a fragment of a sculptured stone discovered some years ago in the churchyard of Aboyne, in Aberdeenshire. The stone, as it now exists, is but a fragment of one side of what must have been a large and elaborately sculptured monument. It is now only 30 inches in length, by about 15 in breadth. It bears a portion of an elaborate design in interlaced work, and the figure of a mirror of the usual circular form. The inscription is in two lines, one incised on the face of the sunk panel from which the mirror stands in relief, and the other also incised along the marginal edging or moulding which borders the panel, and probably also formed the edfjinf? of the slab. The one contains fifteen, the other nineteen characters, all consisting of short notches or digits 1 Mr. Brash remarks that the form of the cross, and the ornamentation on this stone, indicate Irish work or design. But it is evident that the work and the designs thoroughly agree in character with the group of sculptured monuments peculiar to the eastern districts of Scotland, and differ greatly from the general character of the Irish monuments. He states that the Ogham inscription is " quite distinct from the "Welsh and Irish examples in the formation of the letters," The transliteration which he gives makes it read from bottom to top — doceiososn ; but he adds that the values which he has attached to the groups of scores are in some cases conjectural. — The Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil, p. 354. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 203 arranged upon a stem-line, placed vertically, and parallel to the edge of the stone.-^ Fig. 128.— At Logie, in the Garioch (4 feet high). At Logic, in the Garioch, there is another of these singu- lar inscriptions. The stone on which it occurs (Fig. 128) is said ^ Mr. W. F. Skene has given the following transliteration of this inscrip- tion, reading from bottom to top : — MAQQOITALLUORRH NEAHHTLAROBBAITCEANNEFF Mr. G. M. Atkinson, editor of Mr. Brash's work, says, "Some of the Ogam characters are faint and veiy difficult to determine, the right hand line being on a kind of rounded edge." His reading is but slightly different from Mr. Skene's, however. The interpretation given by Mr. Skene identifies 204 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. to have formed part of a circle of standing stones on the moor of Garden, but there is no sufficient evidence of this. It is a rough undressed boulder of gneiss, slightly over 4 feet in height and 2 feet in breadth, broader in the centre than at the base, and tapering almost to a point at the top. It is sculptured only on one side, and all its sculp- turings are merely incised — not in relief The principal sculpturiugs are two of the unexplained symbols, the double circle or spectacle-like figure with the zigzag rod or sceptre, and the crescent with the double rod or sceptre. Above these, and near the top of the stone, is the inscription, consisting apparently of six characters arranged on a stem-line ; but as the two ends of the stem-line are bent round so that the whole line forms a complete circle,^ the inscription has no apparent beginning or end, and is therefore illegible. The next example is found at Golspie, in Sutherlandshire. It occurs on a stone now in the Duke of Sutherland's Museum at Dunrobin, which was discovered in the old churchyard of Craigton, about three miles distant. In the same churchyard there were two other stones, bearing the peculiar symbols so often referred to in the previous Lectures. The monument which bears the inscription is an erect slab 5|- feet high by 2J broad. It is dressed to shape, and has a slightly rounded edging. It bears on the obverse a cross of Celtic form, the intersections of the arms with the TALLUORH "u itli Talorc or Talorcen, a name whicli occurs in the lists of the Pictish kings; MAQQOI is the usual formula for "son of;" NEAHHTLA is apparently a proper name, and a local form of Nechtan ; ROBBAIT occurs in the sense of immolavit in the Book of Deer ; CEANNEF is Kinneff, a church in the Mearns. Mr. Haigh, on the other hand, thinks that it ought to be translated, "... daughter of Talluorh ; she was joined to (married into) the tribe of Ceanneff. "— Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. x. p. 602 ; Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil, p. 364 ; Haigh's " Earliest Inscribed Monuments " in Proc. Roy. h-ish Academy, vol. i. (Second Series) p. 454. ^ An Ogham scale written on concentric circles is given in the ancient treatise on Ogham writing in the Book of Ballymote. IXSCKIBED MONUMENTS IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 205 shaft and summit hollowed into semicircles. The cross extends the whole length of the stone, and is elaborately ornamented with interlaced work. The spaces between the vertical limbs of the cross and the side edges of the stone are filled with panels of interlaced work, divergent spirals, and fretwork. The reverse is occupied with figure -subjects and symbols which are merely incised. The inscription is incised along the raised and slightly rounded edging of the top and left side of the reverse. It differs from those previously described, inasmuch as its digits are not arranged upon a stem-line, but placed on either side of the corner or ridge of the edging, which is thus substituted for the stem- line. The characters are nearly thirty in number, but there are difficulties in connection with the manner of their ar- rangement which render their determination uncertain. These four examples are all that are known to occur on the mainland of Scotland, with one exception, which I do not notice now, because it forms a link in the demonstration of the inscriptional character of these carvings which follows the detailed description of them. Eut before this demonstra- tion can be entered on, it is necessary to determine the typical character of the series, as well as the range or area of the type, and its relationship to other types of monumental sculpture. In Orkney and Shetland there are seven examples, giving in the aggregate upwards of 150 characters. A brief descrip- tion of them will suffice. The style of inscription w^hich is characteristic of the Fig. 129. — Edge of the St. Xiniau's stone (2 feet 7^ inches in length). mainland becomes strongly differentiated in these islands, in a direction which indicates contact with foreion influence. 206 SCOTLAND IX EAliLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. Fig. 130.— At Culbinsgarth, Bressay, Shetland. Reverse (3 ft. 9 iu. high). INSCEIBED MOXmrEXTS IX CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 207 208 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CIIIUSTLVN TIMES. The usual character of the mainland inscriptions, however, is seen in the fragment (Fig. 129), found at St. Ninian's, in Dunrossness.^ The inscription presents the peculiarity of being written on a stem -line drawn down the centre of the edge of the stone. The characters are too few to give any intelligible result, but they are plainly of the same nature as those of the Scoonie, Aboyne, and Golspie examples. The longest of these northern inscriptions occurs on a stone which was discovered at Culbinsgarth, on the east side of the island of Bressay, in Shetland, in reclaiming some waste land close to the old church of Culbinsburgh, and is now^ in the Museum. It is a thin slab of chlorite slate, 3 feet 9 inches high and 16 inches broad. It is sculptured on both sides, and bears an inscription on both edges. The obverse of the stone (Fig. 130) bears the figure of an equal-armed cross within a circle, and below^ it two ecclesiastics, with crosiers of the Celtic form in their hands ; below^ them figures of animals in the style we have met with so commonly on the sculptured monuments of the mainland of Scotland. The reverse pre- sents (Fig. 131) across-like figure within a circle, surrounded with a border of interlaced work ; below it two animals and two ecclesiastics with crosiers. The inscription is written down both edges of the stone, and is divided into w^ords by colon-like points. The digits are arranged upon a stem-line, which keeps the centre of the width of the edge of the stone.^ ^ This stone is described and figured by its discoverer, Mr. G. Goudie, in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. xii. p. 24. ^ This inscription has been read with but slight variations in the trans- literation by Rev. Dr. Graves, Dr. Petrie, and Mr. Brash : — CRROSCC : NAHHTFFDDADDS : DATTRR : AXN BEXXRES : MECCUDDROI : ANN In its peculiarity of being divided into words by double points, one placed on each side of the stem-line, it resembles Runic inscriptions. The language also seems mixed Scandinavian and Celtic. The sense of the inscription appears to be : — INSCRIBED MONUjVIEXTS IX CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 209 A man digging peats in land, comes at a depth of five feet upon a long flat stone, hard, close - grained, and smooth of surface. Peat is more valuable there than stone, and he tumbles it out of his way and goes on dig- ging peats, thinking no more about it. Weeks after he comes to carry home his peats. The stone is still there, and when looking at it he remem- bers that he wants a lintel, and here is one admirably suited for the purpose. So he conveys it home, and stands it up against the w^all of his steading till wanted. There the rains wash its " The cross of Xaddodd's daughter here Benres the son of the Druid here." Dr. Graves points out that Xaddodd, according to the Landnamabok, was a famous Yiking of the Faroes, who being on a voyage between them and Norway in a.d. 861, was driven out of his course by a storm, and thus discovered Iceland. He had a grand- son named Benir, who would thus be the Benres of the monument, the person commemorated in the first part of the inscription being his mother. The name Moccudruidis occurs in Adamnan's Life of St. Columla as the patronymic of Ere of Colonsay. moss at Lunnasting, in Shet- Fig. 132.— At Lunnasting, Shetland (3 feet 8 inches in length). 210 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. smootli surface clean, and a passer-by who has seen but one Ogham inscription in his life, happens to cast his eye on the rain -washed surface, and detects the most characteristic example of this northern group of inscriptions yet known. To such accidents we owe all our treasures. The Lunnasting stone (Fig. 132), which was presented to the Museum by the Eev. J. C. Eoger, the gentleman who thus detected its cha- racter, and rescued it from its impending fate, is a slab of sandstone, 3 feet 8 inches long, and 13 inches wide, tapering somewhat towards one end. Its inscription is carved down the centre of its flat face, the digits being arranged upon a stem-line. They are divided into groups (as in the Bressay inscription) by colon-like points, and they present the further peculiarity that each of the elemental parts of these col- located groups forming a separate character, has the digits of Avhich it is composed tied or ligatured by a line drawn across their outer ends parallel to the stem -line. This peculiarity of tied groups of digits is not known to occur beyond the area of the Orkney and Shetland Isles. It is obvious that this definition of the digits composing each separate character, by tying their free ends together by a shorter line parallel to the stem-line, and the further separa- tion of the groups of characters into words by divisional points, are expedients which belong to the maturity and not to the infancy of the system, and must tend greatly to increase the legibility of the inscriptions. Yet, although the characters of the Lunnasting inscription are as clear and sharply defined as if cut in type, it has been found impos- sible to read it intelligibly, as it presents no vowels, and the dialect is unknown.^ ^ Near the top of the stone, to the left of the line of inscription, there is a peculiar incised figure consisting of a vertical line terminating in three short lines, and crossed by another at right angles. Such a triplet of short lines, with a prolongation of the median line, occurs in the Ogham inscrij^tious on IXSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 211 The only example yet found in Orkney is that discovered by Dr. W. Traill in the Broch of Burrian, in Xorth Eonald- say, and now also in the Museum. It is a thin slab of clay- slate, 27 inches in length, and 15 inches in width, bearing on its flat surface an incised cross of Celtic form, having the inter- sections of the arms with the shaft and summit hollowed into semicircles, and below it the symbolic representation of a fish, which occurs repeatedly on the sculptured monuments of the mainland of Scotland. The inscription, which is but faintly scratched with a point on the surface of the stone, extends down one side of the space between the cross and the edge of the stone. It contains about thirty characters, the digits of which are tied at the outer ends, and arranged on a stem- line.^ the back of the silver brooch found at Ballyspellan, County Mayo, and is there obviously used to show the commencement of the inscriptions, though that can scarcely be its use here. Mr. Haigh saj's that although the Lun- uasting inscription has the advantage of being divided into words, he does not venture to supply the suppressed vowels, " especially as it is clear that we have to do with a dialect other than Irish." He suggests Adamnan and Nechtan, however, as two names whose equivalent consonants are present in the inscription. Mr, G. Goudie has given a transliteration of the inscription, with a general notice of the northern groups, in a paper read to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, communicating the discovery of the monument, and its presentation to the Museum. — Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. xii. p. 20 ; Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, vol. i. (Second Series) p. 456. ^ Sir Samuel Ferguson observes that the text of this inscription presents combinations not found in any other lapidary inscription, or in any Irish or other written text, and that it is, therefore, a vain attempt to assign values to these on any other theory than the apparent needs of the context. The following, he thinks, may be suggested as a possible but provisional and con- jectural reading : — MABGORARMANN WRACT THETTS KRROCQS, the sense being apparently that some person whose name is indicated by the first portion of the inscription, "wrought this cross." Mr. Brash reads the first group of letters as lALELRARBAN", but agrees as to the words UNGRRACT and CAAROCCS. Mr. Haigh says "The reading is easy : "— lULELRBROXN UXGRRACT PEFF CEAROCCS. This he translates, " lulerbron, physician (his) grave-cross." 212 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTL\X TIMES. From these descriptions the typical character of this series of epigraphs is clear. They differ from the epigraphs on all other monuments everywhere, inasmuch as they are not written in any variety of any of the literary alphabets of historic antiquity. The basis of the epigraph is a stem-line on which other short lines or digits are arranged in four re- lative positions, to right, to left, across at right angles, or across at an oblique angle. On closer examination of the digits placed in these relative positions it is seen that they sometimes occur singly, at other times in collocated groups of twos, threes, fours, and fives, but never in any number exceeding five. It is thus obvious that a phonetic value assigned to each of these five collocations of short lines placed in each of these four positions relatively to the stem- line would give twenty letters of an alphabet. Scrutinising the various inscriptions more closely, it is found that there are other five sight of different forms which occur occasionally. Adding these to the twenty formed by the short, straight digits, it is obvious that an alphabet of twenty-five letters or phonetic values is thus represented. It is therefore possible that in this series of epigraphs we may be dealing with collocations of signs which are capable of transliteration into vocables, representing the ancient speech of the men who carved them. AYhatever that speech was, it extended over the area ranging along the east coast from Fife to Shetland,— that is, its area was conterminous with the area of the sculp- tured monuments described in previous lectures, bearing the cross on the obverse, and figure subjects and mysterious sym- bols on the reverse. This type of inscription is associated with the earlier types of these monuments, not with the more recent free-standing crosses. It is associated with the style of art which is pure Celtic, not with the more recent, which is characterised by the prevalence of foliageous scrolls. It is associated with the form of cross which I have called Celtic, IXSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS IN CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 213 because it is tlie most common form in association with the peculiar art of Celtic origin as it presents itself on the monu- ments of Eastern Scotland. But it is associated in Shetland with a form of cross which we shall find occurring on monu- ments of earlier character than any of those which bear the highly developed forms and style of the Celtic art — the cross within the circle, which is the earliest of all the forms of the sacred symbol. In Shetland, also, where we find these inscriptions associated with this earlier form of cross, we find them occasionally occurring on monuments which bear no cross and no art decoration of any kind. They are thus associated with the purer forms of Celtic art, as well as with the earlier form of the Christian symbol — a form which appears on monuments that bear no other art decoration. In other words, they appear with the dawning of Christian monu- mental art in this country, and they continue until that art has reached its highest development in its purely Celtic form ; but they are not carried down with it through any of the stages of degradation by which it passed into the purely foliageous scroll work, after it had lost its distinctively Celtic character. Their art associations on the monuments are thus entirely Celtic. If, therefore, these monumental inscriptions of this peculiar class are really Celtic, as their association with Celtic art implies, it is probable that, like the art itself, the type may be widely distributed over the Celtic area. Extending our ex- amination with the view of ascertaining this, we find in point of fact that their distribution is widely extended. Upwards of a hundred monuments bearing this peculiar type of in- scription occur in Ireland,^ twenty-five in Wales, and two in Devonshire. But outside of the Celtic area there is not one. ^ It is a noticeable fact that but few of the Irish examples bear the symbol of the cross. Most frequently they are merely rude unshaped stones bearing an inscription on the angle, and destitute of any other carving. 214 SCOTL.VND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. No single example of sncli a monumental inscription is known in France or Scandinavia, or Central or Southern Europe. The inference from this is decisive. They are Celtic, and Celtic exclusively. Nevertheless, although the typical characteristics over the whole of this extended area are the same, yet each of the different provinces or subdivisions of the great area is characterised by a different variety of the general type. The Scottish group, as I have already shown, differs in certain characteristics from the Orkney and Shetland group, which is distinguished by the tied digits, and both differ from the Irish group, which again differs in certain characteristics from the Welsh group. I make these remarks because they illustrate the principle to which I have so often adverted, that special areas have special types, and because they show that the element of area must always control the application of the deductions of archaeology. Up to this point it has been assumed that these epigraphs are inscriptions in the ordinary sense of the term, and it has been shown how^ it is possible that they may have an inscrip- tional character. Before leaving the subject, however, it is necessary to demonstrate the fact that although they are not expressed in any of the literary alphabets of historic antiquity, they really represent vocables embodying certain monumental formulae, which were capable of being expressed, and have in many instances been expressed, in other languages, and written in other characters. The first and most important point in this demonstration is that this peculiar form of writing by groups of digits arranged upon a stem-line is not exclusively monumental. It occurs occasionally in manuscripts and on metal work.^ It w^as thus written with the pen as well as graven in metal ^ There are four lines of an Ogliam inscription engraved on the back of a silver brooch found at Ballyspellan, County Mayo, now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. INSCEIBED MOXUMEXTS IX CELTIC AXD OGHAMS. 215 and sculptured on stoue. It is, therefore, as truly a form of writing as any other method which is common to these materials. In the manuscript copy of Priscian, now preserved at St. Gall, but which bears internal evidence of having been written in Ireland towards the close of the ninth century, eight of the glosses are written in this peculiar style. They form part of the regular series of glosses extending throughout the volume, and were evidently written at the same time and by the same hand as the rest of the series, which are written in the ordinary Irish script of the period. Examples of the same peculiar form of writing occur also in the manuscript of the Senchus Mor, now in the Library of the British Museum ; in the manuscript of the Annals of Innisfallen, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford ; in the manuscripts of the Stowe Missal, and the Book of Fermoy. These are for the most part mere casual notanda, forming no necessary part of the treatises in which they occur. But in the Book of Ballymote, a compilation from various ancient manuscripts written at Ballymote, in Sligo, in 1391, there is a treatise on the alphabets of the ancient Irish, in which the invention of this peculiar form of writing is ascribed to Ogma, son of Elathan, who, being a man much skilled in dialects and poetry," invented the system of Ogham writing " for signs of secret speech, known only to the learned," and thus it was called Ogham, from Ogma, its inventor. I cite this passage because it is the earliest written authority for the name Ogham as applied to the system of writing which I have described. The legend of Ogma, son of Elathan, is of no im- portance in our inquiry. In this treatise in the Book of Ballymote the Ogham alphabet is given with its key, contain- ing the equivalents of its sigla in the ordinary Irish script. But the perplexing copiousness of the explanation becomes bewildering to the student, when he finds that within the compass of four pages, no fewer than sixty different varieties 216 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHEISTIAN TIMES. of Ogham writing are enumerated, illustrated, and explained — the explanation in most cases being fully as obscure as the text itself. The Book of Leinster, written in the twelfth century, and the Book of Lecan, written in the fifteenth, also give transliterated Ogham alphabets, the key (Fig. 133) being iuni .Hi iiiii "' ""■ I II HI nil mil III. Ill nil «- B L F S N H D T C Q M G NG ST R AGUE 1. Fig 133.— The Ogham Key. the same as that of the Book of Ballymote. There is thus abundant evidence that these epigraphs on the monuments are really inscription al, and that the form of writing which they present was a form which was also used in manu- scripts. But until recently there was no evidence that the key thus furnished by the scribes of the manuscripts was appli- cable to the monumental inscriptions ; and as no progress had been made in deciphering them by means of the manu- script key, Bishop Graves applied himself to the task of constructing a key from the monuments themselves. He reasoned that in every given language, or group of cognate languages, there is a preference for particular sounds and par- ticular sequences of sounds, and hence, by analysing a written passage of definite length, it is possible to construct a table giving the average frequency with which each letter of the alphabet combines with each of the other letters. The lan- guage of the Ogham inscriptions in Ireland being assumed to be old Irish, Dr. Graves constructed such tables from the Irish texts in the Book of Armagh, written in the ninth century ; and having also prepared similar tables for the letters of the Ogham alphabet from a collection of the texts of all the monuments then known, he found, first, that five of these signs corresponded with the vowels in his tables from the INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 2l7 Book of Armagh in the frequency with which they combined with other letters ; and he inferred from this that two of these, by their superior readiness to enter into combinations, cor- responded with a and i of the Irish texts. But still more, to his astonishment, he found that the whole five thus proving themselves independently to be vowels were the same five that were called vowels in the keys given by the manuscripts. In short, the complete result of the investigation was to establish the correctness of the manuscript key, and hence he inferred that the failure to determine the sense of the in- scriptions must be accounted for on other grounds than the incorrectness of the key. The liability to error in the reading is increased by the indeterminate nature of the carving, the want of indications of the division into words, and the want of knowledge of the phonetic forms and rules of the language at that early date. But the correctness of the key given by the manuscripts, as thus tested by Bishop Graves, is demonstrated beyond all doubt by another line of investigation, which deals with a still more remarkable and interesting class of monuments, of which we have only one example in Scotland. This solitary specimen of its type is a rude unshapen pillar of a dark blue stone, which is granitic in its nature, and exceedingly hard and close in texture. It stands now at Xewton of Insch, in the Garioch, Aberdeenshire, but it originally stood on the moor of Pitmachie, about a mile from its present site, and it is recorded that a cluster of graves was found in its neigh- bourhood when the ground was trenched. It is an oblong boulder, with rounded corners and undressed surface, 6 feet high by 2 feet wide, and about the same in thickness. On its flattest side it bears an inscription (Fig. 134) in characters so rudely formed that it requires some familiarity with the forms assumed by the Ptoman letters on early Christian monuments in other parts of Britain to recognise them as 218 SCOTLAND IX EAPcLY CHEISTLVN TIMES. debased Eoman minuscular forms. The inscription consists of six horizontal lines of nnequal length, comprising forty-four distinct characters.^ In the midst of the inscription is a cross of a peculiar form, equal-armed, and having the extremities of its arms bent over to the right. Xo other form of the Christian symbol appears on the stone. It has been often said that this is a Pagan symbol. It is not necessary to deny Fig. 13i. — Inscription on the face of the Ne\rton Stone. this, but it is necessary to show that, admitting the fact that the fylfot (as it is called) is a Pagan symbol does not neces- sarily imply the inference that this is a Pagan monument. The fylfot was not always and everywhere Pagan. It began to be used as a Christian symbol in the catacombs in the third and fourth centuries. It occurs in the ornamented pages of the Gospels of Lindisfarne. It occurs twice on a monumental stone in the Killeen of Aglish, County Kerry, ^ The following is the reading of the inscription suggested by ]Mr. "Whitley- Stokes : — FORTRENVS DIGOLOVOCEVS NESI FILIVS SILOQOUNI E[EQUIESCIT]. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS — IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 219 \vliicli also bears the symbol of the cross withiu a circle, and Fig. 135. — The NeA\i;orL Stone (6 feet in height). an inscription in the Ogham character. It occurs on other monuments of Christian time, inscribed and uninscribed.^ ^ It occurs on a slab, -udth rudely incised crosses, from Craignarget, Wig- tonsMre. It occurs on an Ogham monument found on the Blasket Islands. It occurs twice on the edges of a monument at Glencar, County of KeiTy, on the front and back of -which are Latin crosses. It occurs both in its rectilinear 220 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. It frequently appears as an ornament on the vestments of priests on the monumental brasses of England down to the fifteenth century. It has thus been a Christian symbol from the fourth to the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and there- fore no argument for the Pagan character of this monument can be based on its presence in this inscription. But the special character of this monument is that it bears two inscriptions in tw^o alphabets, and presumably also in two languages. On the edge of the stone (Fig. 135) there is an Ogham inscription extending from the top to near the bottom of the monument.^ From the top dow^nwards the digits are arranged upon the corner of the stone wdthout a stem-line, the angle coming in place of that line. But within a short distance of the bottom it forsakes the angle, makes a turn round, and runs upw^ards on the face of the stone, and here it is necessarily written upon a stem-line. We have thus in this monument an illustration of the two methods of writing a monumental Ogham inscription, either by using the corner of the stone as a stem-line, and placing the digits to right or to left, or across it, as the case might require, or by drawing a stem-line and arranging the digits with reference to it. But the typical characteristics of the monument are — (1) that it bears two inscriptions, one of which is written in Eoman minuscular letters of an exceedingly debased form, and the other in the ordinary digits of the Ogham alphabet ; and (2) that it bears also the siglum of the cross in a form and curvilinear forms on another stone from the same locality on each face of the monument underneath a Latin cross. ^ Mr. Brash remarks ' ' that this inscription is of such a complex and diffi- cult character that the most experienced Ogamist may fail in even making a correct copy, or rather in ascribing to the existing characters the values origin- ally intended." He gives a transliteration which he does not attempt to subdivide into words or to translate. Readings of both the inscriptions on the Newton Stone ^vill be found in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. v. pp. 284 and 289 ; vol. vii. p. 11 ; vol. x. p. 134. IXSCEIBED MONUMENTS IX CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 221 which was not unfrequently used on Christian monuments, although it is not exclusively Celtic. The monument, as I have said, is the single example of its type in Scotland, but the area of the type is not limited to Scotland alone. Among the Christian inscriptions of the earliest types in Ireland-^ there is a class of monuments which, though few in number, are distinguished from the other types common to the country by the presence on the face of the monument of an inscription in Eoman letters ; and there is one example of these, which bears on the edge of the stone an inscription in Oghams arranged on the corner of the stone instead of a stem-line. In Wales there are eleven monuments of this special character, bearing inscriptions in debased Eoman minuscular letters on the face of the stone, and inscriptions in Ogham digits on the edge.^ Many of these inscriptions on the faces of the monuments present forms of the Eoman letters quite as debased as those on the Newton Stone ; the difference being that every letter in the Scottish example is exceedingly de- based, while in the Welsh examples some are less debased than others. Hence there is usually not the same difficulty in read- ing them that presents itself in the case of the Newton Stone. ^ The series of monumental inscriptions in Ireland is fully illustrated and described in a work entitled Christian Inscriptions in Ireland, by Miss M. Stokes, printed for the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, 2 vols. 4to, 1879. The Ogham monuments are specially dealt with in the work (often quoted in these footnotes) entitled The Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil in the British Islands, by the late Richard Rolt Brash, M.R.I.A., edited by George M. Atkinson, London, 1879 ; and also in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxv., in which photo-prints of the inscriptions from paper-casts are given, with transliterations by Sir Samuel Ferguson. 2 The Welsh monuments are described and figured in a work entitled Lapidarium Wallice, the early inscribed and sculptured stones of AVales, delineated and described by J. 0. "Westwood, M. A. ; printed for the Cambrian Archajological Association, Oxford, 4to, 1879. 222 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. Taking one of these monuments, in which both inscrip- tions are distinct, such as that at St. Dogmaels, Cardigan, we find the inscription on the face of the stone reading plainly SAGRANI FiLi CVNOTAML Applying the Ordinary Ogham key of the manuscripts to the Ogham inscription on the edge of the stone, it reads as clearly sagramni maqi cvnatami. There can be no doubt whatever that this is not a chance colloca- tion of strokes or lines, but a proper inscription. The letter A is five times repeated, and the same character which the key gives for A occurs in the proper place each of the five times. The letter M is three times repeated, and the letter N twice, with the same result. The characters are as constant in their forms as those of any modern variety of alphabetic writing. It is also clear that if sagrani fili cvnotami meant to those who could read the Eoman characters that this stone was the monument of Sagranus, the son of Cunotamus, the sagramni maqi cvnatami of the Ogham legend had the same meaning to those who could read it. The monument is therefore bilingual, bearing the same record in two languages, written in two different alphabets. It is obvious tliat the Latin of the inscription is debased and provincial, as well as the characters in which it is written. Similarly we find on the Cilgerran Stone, in Pembrokeshire, the inscription in Eoman characters on the face of the stone reading trenegvssi FILI MACVTRENi Hic JACIT, and the Ogham, on the edge of the stone, reading, trenagvssi maqi maqitreni. Again, on the Fardel Stone, in South Devon, we have the Eoman inscrip- tion on one face giving fanoni maqvirini, and the Ogham on one edge fanoni maqvirini ; while on the other face of the stone is another Eoman inscription, sagramni, and its answer- ing Ogham on the other edge, sagranni. In the whole Celtic area, comprehending Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall, there are fifteen monuments bearing bilingual inscriptions, viz. one in Scotland, one in Ireland, INSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 223 eleven in Wales, and two in Cornwall or South Devon. It thus appears that Wales is the principal area of the type, which is therefore British rather than Scottish. It also appears that the fourteen bilinguals that are known (for they are all capable of being read in both characters except the Scottish one) invariably consist of an inscription in the Latin language, and debased Eoman characters on the face of the stone, with an answering inscription in the Celtic language, and Ogham character on the edge of the stone. As this is the invariable character of all that are known, it would be contrary to all experience to conclude that the nature of the one that is still undecipliered should differ from all that are of the same general type. The Xewton Stone, therefore, though unique in Scotland, is one of a class of monuments that are widely scattered over the Celtic area, but do not extend beyond it — a class which bear bilingual inscriptions, and thus form an intermediate link between the types which are characterised by Celtic in- scriptions and Celtic art, and those which are characterised by Eoman inscriptions, and bear no traces of Celtic art. It may seem strange to some that while dealing thus minutely with the Scottish monuments I have not attempted to transliterate or to give independent readings of their in- scriptions.-^ But it is sufiicient for the purpose of my investi- gation that I have determined their typical relations and established the place of the monuments that bear them in the general series of Christian monumental art. It is true that almost every one who has dealt with them hitherto has felt constrained to attack the individual inscriptions. I not only refrain from doing so, but I go farther and say that the ^ The measure of success whicli has followed such attempts may be judged from the different transliterations and translations published in the Proceed- ings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and elsewhere, cited in the foot- notes to previous pages of this volume. 224 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHPJSTIAX TIMES. interpretation of the individual inscriptions is not a necessary part of the function of the archseologist in his dealings with them. It is a separate inquiry conducted by special methods, demanding special knowledge derived from the study of special materials. To follow out this special inquiry to its final results, it is not necessary that the inquirer should even be an archaeologist in the general sense of the term. But he must be a specialist. He must have given his life, or a large portion of it, to the study of the laws of language, and he must be specially familiar with the application of these laws to the forms of Celtic speech as they existed prior to the twelfth century. The materials for obtaining this knowledge are widely scattered, in great part still unpublished, and therefore not generally accessible ; and no man who accom- plishes the task of c^ualifying himself for tlie scientific study of the texts of Ogham monuments, whatever may be his native endowments or enthusiasm, will do it easily or speedily. It is in this monumental form of Ogham writing that the oldest specimens of the oldest written dialects of the Celtic tongue have been preserved. They are not all of equal antiquity, but no manuscript approaches the age of the oldest of them, or equals in interest the materials they have pre- served for the study of linguistic science. The Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and Devonian groups are merely local expres- sions of one common type, differentiated by distance, but exhibiting a close resemblance in dialect and monumental customs. It is easy to disparage the study of these scanty remains of a literary language which, though it be not dead, is more of an unknown tongue to our modern men of letters tlian almost any other. But no one now decries the import- ance of the scientific study of cuneiform inscriptions or hieroglyphic monuments, and the memorials which I have described stand in precisely the same relation to the language, literature, and history of Scotland that these bear to the INSCRIBED MONUMENTS — IN CELTIC AND OGHAMS. 225 language, literature, and history of Assyria and Egypt. It seems not therefore unreasonable to indulge the hope that the perfervichim ingenium Scotorum, stimulated by the estab- lishment of a Celtic chair in the chief university of the country, may yet accomplish for the legends of these Ogham monuments what Zeuss did for the language of the manu- scripts. For it must necessarily be one of its most legitimate aims, as it will certainly be one of its most important results, to awaken an intelligent interest in all such questions, and give a specially scientific direction to the course of all future study of the literary remains of the Celtic people. My task is accomplished when I have shown that the type of these monuments is one which is peculiar to the Celtic area, and that their inscriptions present the oldest forms of a native language still possessing the remains of a literature older than any literature in Europe excepting those of Greece and Eome. Q 22G SCOTLAND IN EAELY CIIRISTIAN TIMES. LECTUEE YL (21sT October 1880.) INSCRIBED MONUMENTS — IN EUNES AND EOMAN LETTERS. In tlie previous Lecture I described three classes of inscribed monuments, the first bearing inscriptions in the Celtic lan- guage graven in the ordinary minuscular character used in the Celtic manuscripts from the seventh to the twelfth cen- tury ; the second bearing inscriptions also in the Celtic language, but graven in the Ogham character, composed of digits arranged upon a stem-line ; and the third of bilingual character bearing an inscription in Latin, graven in debased Eoman characters on the face of the stone, and its answering inscription in Celtic, graven in the Ogham character on the edge of the stone. In this Lecture I have again to deal with three classes of inscribed monuments, viz. — (1) Inscribed with Eunes ; (2) Inscribed with Eunes and Eoman letters ; and (3) Inscribed in Eoman letters alone. Eunic monuments-' are those which bear inscriptions in the Old Northern language and character, just as Ogham monuments are those which are inscribed in the Celtic lan- guage written in that peculiar character. They are restricted ^ It was once common to call all the sculptured monuments of Scotland "Runic," and the purely Celtic forms of ornament vdth which they are decorated is still absurdly styled "Runic knot- work," by writers who per- petuate the errors of an uncritical age. Runes are a special variety of alpha- betic characters, and "Runic" of course can have no proper or intelligible application to any form of ornament. IXSCEIBED MOXUMEXTS IX EUXES. 227 in Scotland to the area which was conquered and colonised by the jSTorsemen in the eighth and ninth centuries, compre- hending the Isles of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, and Man. A few fragments only have been noticed in the Xorthern Isles,-^ and they do little more than certify the historical fact of the ]S"orse domination there. One of these (Fig. 136) which was found built into the enclosing wall of the churchyard of Cunningsburgh, in the mainland of Shetland, by Eev. George Clark, is now in the Museum. It is a portion of a partially dressed slab 3 feet 4 inches in length, perfectly plain on the broad faces, but bearing an inscription on one edge. The commencement of the epigraph is broken away, and what re- / mains gives the formula . . . . " raised this stone after his father " — in the usual style of the early Christian inscriptions of Scandinavia, but with some local peculiarities of lettering which ally it with the western group of monumental inscriptions in Eunes peculiar to the Norwegian settlements in the Scottish Fi'^. 136.— Rune inscribed Stone from Cunnings- burgh, Shetland (3 feet 4 inches in length). Isles. One complete monument only is known in the Hebrides. It stood in the churchyard of Kilbar, in the island of Barra, and has been recently placed in the Museum. It is about 4 feet 1 These have been j&gured and described by Mr. Gilbert Goudie in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. xii. p. 143, in a paper "On Rune-inscribed Xorse Relics in Shetland." 228 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHEISTIAN TIMES. high and 16 inches broad. It bears on the obverse (Fig. 137) a cross of Celtic form, nearly of the whole length of the stone, hollowed into three-quarter circles at the inter- sections of the arms and summit. The spaces on either side of the cross are occupied with fretwork and double spirals. This is, more or less, the character of all the decorated monu- ments in Scotland, which correspond most closely in their style of art to the decorated pages of Celtic manuscripts, and no stone monument in Scandinavia bears either a cross of this form or a mingled decoration of interlaced work, spirals, and fretwork of this special character. The art of the monu- ment is therefore unequivocally Celtic. But the inscription on the reverse (Fig. 138) is as unequivocally Scandinavian. It consists of three lines placed vertically, and reading from top to bottom of the stone. According to Professor Stephens^ the inscription states that " Ur and Thur erected this stone after Easkur. Christ rest his soul." It is not surprising that there should be a mixture of Celtic art and Scandinavian language within an area like that of the Hebrides, where there was a mixed population for three or four centuries after the first Scandinavian immigration. The topography of the area exhibits a similar mixture of Celtic and Scandinavian elements, and it would be surprising if the monuments did not. But what I wish specially to point out in this connec- tion is the fact that the Celtic art held its ground, while the language failed. This is certainly a remarkable phenomenon. No more striking testimony could be given of the intensity of its character and the power of its absolute individuality. The same phenomenon is observable in the remarkable group ^ The Kilbar monument is described by Professor Stephens in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. (New Series), vol. iii., p. 33, and will also be included in the forthcoming third volume of his great work on the Old Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England, of which tAVO volumes are already- published, Copenhagen, folio, 1868. INSCEIBED MONUMENTS IN KUNES. 229 of monuments that exists in the Island of Man, which was the Fig. 137. — From Kilbar, Barra. Obverse Fig. 138. — From Kilbar, Barra. Eeverse (4 feet high). (4 feet high). seat of the Norse kingdom of Man and the Isles, called in the Sagas the kingdom of the Sudreys, from 976 to 1275. 230 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHELSTLIN TIMES. The monument which comes nearest in character to the one from Kilbar is a slab at Kirkmichael, in Man, about 8 feet high by 3| wide, and tapering slightly from top to bottom. On the obverse it bears a cross of Celtic form, finely ornamented with interlaced work, arranged in separate devices as if in panels, though there are no divisions between the panels. The space on one side of the cross-shaft is filled by a representation of a stag-hunt, and on the other side by two human figures, one of which is represented as playing on a harp. The reverse of the stone bears no cross, no figures, and no decoration — nothing but the letters of the inscription. So far, then, as the art of this monument is concerned, its features are Celtic. The form of the cross is Celtic, and all that I have said of the figure-subjects and the decoration of the stone might have been said of many monuments in the area of the sculptured monuments of Scotland. But the reverse of the stone is as Scandinavian in character as the obverse is Celtic. Like the Kilbar Stone the inscription in Fames is written vertically. It states, according to the reading of Professor Munch,^ that " Mai Lumcun reared this cross after Malmura his foster-mother, daughter of Dugal, and wife of Athisl." Another slab at Kirkmichael of the same character bears on the obverse a cross of the Celtic form decorated with interlaced work, and on the edge of the stone an inscription in Eunes, which states that " Malbrigd, son of Athacan the smith, erected this cross for his soul ; but his kinsman Gaut made it and all in Man." ^ The Manx monuments are figured and described in a work entitled The Runic and other Monumental Ec/nains of the Isle of Man, by Rev. J. G. Gumming, M.A., 4to, London, 1857. Professor Muneli's readings of the inscriptions are given in his edition of The Chronicle of Man and the Sudrcys (Ghristiania, 1860), and also in the later edition of the same chronicle by the Manx Society. Professor Stephens has included some of the inscriptions in his Old Northern Runic Monuments. As I am not dealing critically with the texts of the inscriptions, it may be sufficient to give the references to the principal sources of information regarding them. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN RUNES. 231 Another cross-bearing slab of similar type at Kirk Andreas has part of its inscription effaced. What remains of it gives the full name of Gaut the cross-maker : — " . . . erected this cross after Ufaig his father, but Gaut Bjornson made it." At the same place there is a slab carved with crosses having their shafts filled with rude interlaced work, and the vacant spaces occupied with a stag hunt and figures of animals, while the edge bears an inscription in Eunes, recording that " Sandulf the Swart raised this cross after Arinbjorg his wife." Again, at Kirkmichael we have a slab of large size, over 7 feet high and 2 feet wide, bearing on obverse and reverse crosses of Celtic form filled with interlaced work and ter- minating in spiral scrolls, the side spaces bearing a stag hunt and figures of animals and men on horseback. One side of the slab also bears the triquetra four times repeated, a specially Celtic device, which does not appear once on any of the Pamic monuments of Scandinavia so far as these are figured in the great work of Professor Stephens. But it is specially notice- able that although the figure-subjects, beasts, and stag hunts of these Manx monuments are similar to those of the monu- ments of Eastern Scotland, no single example of any of the mysterious symbols occurs among them. The inscription on the edge of this monument states that " Ulf, son of Thorolf the Eed, raised this cross after Frida his mother." All the family names in this case are Norwegian, and the inscription is in the Norse language and character, while the art of the stone is essentially Celtic in style. The last of this group of monuments that I shall notice is a free-standing cross in the churchyard of Kirk Braddan in the Isle of Man (Fig. 139). It is 4 feet 6 inches in height, and has a long slender shaft, bearing a circular, equal-armed cross-head, one-half of which is broken away. The faces and sides of the shaft are bordered with a raised rope-like edging, and both faces of the shaft and one edge are filled with zoomorphic patterns of animals 232 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHEISTIAN TIMES. m treated in a style that is more Scandinavian than Celtic. Their bodies are covered with scale-like markino^s, and the interlacingsand convo- lutions of their limbs, tails, and crests, ex- hibit a tendency to break off into ex- pansions that are but one degree removed from foliageous scrolls. These characteristics are observed to some extent in the later Irish manuscripts, and they are conspicuous in the early Christian art of Scandinavia, which was contemporary with the last or decaying period of Celtic art. On one edge of the shaft of the cross is a Eunic inscription, stating that "Thorlaf iSTeaki raised this cross after Tiacc, his son ; " the rest is doubtful. At Euthwell, in An- nandale, within eight miles of Dumfries, there stands a very re- markable monument. Its form is that of a tall Fig. 139. — Edges and Obverse of Cross at Kirk Braddan (4 feet 6 inches higli). free standing cross. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN RUNES. 233 As it stands at present the cross is reconstructed. It was found in fragments and pieced together by the late Dr. Henry Duncan, the minister of the parish, who wrote an elaborate account of it in the Transactions of the Society. The whole height of the cross is about 17^ feet, the shaft being 2 feet in breadth at the base, and 15 inches in thickness. The material is sandstone. It stood in the old church of Kuthwell till 1642, when the General Assembly, w^hich met at St. Andrews on 27th July of that year, issued an order for its destruction as a monument of idolatry. It seems to have been simply thrown down, and to have lain in the floor of the church close to the former site of the altar. When Pennant visited the place in 1772 it was still lying there, but was soon afterwards ejected in consequence of the reseating of the church. In 1802 Dr. Duncan, finding that it was exposed to injury in the churchyard, which was unenclosed, removed it to the garden of the old manse, where it still remains. Previous to this, however, a portion of the top of the cross had been accidentally exhumed in digging a grave to an unusual depth ; but the transverse arms are still wanting, those now on the monument having been supplied by Dr. Duncan in 1823. The monument is sculptured wdth figure-subjects on its broad faces, and on its sides with scroll-work, representing a vine, with birds and beasts lodging in the convolutions of its branches, and eating of its fruit. This was a common represen- tation on Christian monuments, and examples occur at Jed- burgh, and on the elaborately sculptured monuments of Celtic character at Hilton of Cadboll, and Tarbet, in Eoss. The figure- subjects on the broad faces of the cross are arranged in panels surrounded with flat borders, on which are incised the inscrip- tions which give to this monument its special interest. They are in two languages and two alphabets, one set being carved in Koman capitals, and the other in Kunes. The inscriptions 234 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. Fig. 140.— Obverse of Shaft of Euthwell Cross. ill tlie Eoman letters demand our first attention, because they have been placed upon the monument in connection with the figure-subjects that are sculptured on it, and in fact explain them. Beginning at the base of the monu- ment on one of its broad faces (Fig. 140), the first panel contains a simple cross of plain Latin form.^ Above this (that is, in the lowest panel of the accompany- ing engraving) are two figures, both nimbed, one with hands joined on the breast in attitude of adoration, the other with the right hand raised in the atti- tude of benediction. Over this panel are the words ingressys angelys [ad eam dixit, ave gratia plena, dominys] te[cym] be[nedicta ty in mylieribys] " And the angel came in unto her and said. Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women." Two things are to be observed with reference to the panel containing this representation. The first is that the personages represented on it both bear the nimbus — a feature w^hich, unless in one or two doubtful ^ The lower part of the cross, wliich is so de- faced that its sculpturing is scarcely visible, is not showu m the engravings, and the upper part, which is partially modern, is also suppressed. By thus reducing the length of the portion engraved, the figures are sho^vn to a larger scale and with greater distinctness than would have been pos- sible other^^-ise. IXSCEIBED MONUMENTS IX ROMAN LETTEES. 235 instances does not occur on any of the monumental figure-subjects of the Cel- tic monuments in Scotland north of the Forth. The second is that we have here the conventional representation of the Scriptural scene known as the Saluta- tion of the Virgin, vouched for directly by the accompanying inscription. Above this is a panel with two figures, one of which has a cruciferous nimbus, and must therefore represent the Lord. On the border is the in- scription, again from the Vulgate text — ET PRETERIENS VIDI [THOMIXEM COECVM] A NATIBITATE ET S[aNAVIT EVM a]b IN- firmita[te] — " and going forth, he saw a man blind from his birth, and healed him from his infirmity." In this panel, therefore, we have the conventional re- presentation of the miracle of healing the blind. Above this there is a standing figure, again bearing the cruciferous nimbus, having a book in the left hand, and the right upraised in attitude of bene- diction. At his feet there is a crouch- ing^ figure so defaced that the form is indistinct, but the subject is made clear by the surrounding inscription — ATTVLIT AL[AB]aSTRVM VNGVENTI ET STANS RETROSECVS PEDES EIYS LACRIMI8 COEPIT RIGARE PEDES EIVS ET CAPILLIS CAPITIS svi TERGEBAT — "She took an alabaster box of ointment, and standing Fig. 141. — liy ver.se of Shaft of Ruth well Cros.s. 236 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. beliind him, began to wash his feet with her tears, and to wipe them with the hairs of her head." This panel therefore gives the conventional representation of St. Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ. Above this are two figures embracing each other. The inscription round this panel is now illegible, but the subject is apparently the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, which was always rendered in this conventional manner. Over this is an archer with a bow, and above him is the top of the cross (not shown in the engraving), which contains a human figure along with the figure of a bird.^ These I take to be representations of St. John and his symbol of the eagle, because the inscription round the panel bears the opening words of his Gospel — ix prixcipio erat verbvm — " In the beginning w^as the Word." On the opposite face of the cross (Fig. 141), beginning again from the bottom, the lower panel contains a repre- sentation of the flight into Egypt, the Virgin riding on an ass, and bearing the child in her arms. The inscription round the panel is nearly effaced, but enough remains to indicate the subject — maria et io [seph]. Above this are two fii^ures face to face, holding^ a disc jointly in their hands. Without the help of the inscription round this panel, it would never have been imagined that the round disc was a loaf of bread, and the figures those of St Paul and St. Anthony. The inscription reads — scs pavlvs et axtoxivs fregervxt paxem IX DESERTO — St. Paul and St. Anthony broke their loaf of bread in the desert. The refer- ence is to a miraculous incident in the legendary hfe of St. Anthony, related by St. Jerome, in which it is stated that for sixty years a raven daily brought a loaf to St. Anthony in the desert, and on the occasion of St. Paul's visit they shared the loaf, breaking it between them. ^ The transverse anus of the cross are modem. The summit which con- tains this figure is part of the original monument. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IX ROMAN LETTERS. 237 Above this is the figure of our Lord with a cruciferous nimbus. He is represented as trampling on two swine, bearing a scroll in the left hand, and the right hand raised in the attitude of benediction. The inscription round the panel, which is taken from the apocryphal Gospel of the Nativity reads — IHS XRS ivdex aeqvitatis serto salvatorem mvndi BESTiAE et dracones cogxovervnt IN de[serto] ^ — "Jesus Christ the Judge of Eighteousness ; Beasts and dragons knew the Saviour of the world in the desert, and came and worshipped him." Above this is a panel containing a figure standing on two globes, bearing the Agnus Dei on the breast, supporting it with his left hand, and pointing to it with his right. This is the usual method of representing John the Baptist, of whom we have a very characteristic image in the Museum, almost precisely similar. Dr. Duncan speaks admiringly of the sculpture of the monument, and adds his opinion that its boldness, freedom, and beauty would not have disgraced a classic age. I have merely described the groups of figures as they occur on the monument, without entering on the question of the quality of their art, and I have described them in this connection in a Lecture on Inscribed Monuments, because it is their presence on the monument that has caused the presence of the ex- planatory inscriptions. In other words, if the sculptures had not been there, the inscriptions would not have been there ; and the presence of the inscriptions explaining the meaning of the sculptures, which we should otherwise have had great difficulty in understanding, becomes exceedingly valuable in connection with the explanation of groups of sculptures on other monuments which bear no explanatory inscriptions. But in the meantime we proceed to the examination of 1 The part of the word deserto here placed mthin brackets has been misplaced by the carver of the inscription. 38 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. the sculptures and incised inscriptions on the two narrow sides of the monument. I have already stated that the sculptures on these narrow sides, instead of being figure-subjects in panels, as on the broad faces of the cross, are running scrolls, each representing a vine with its branches alternately recurved, and bearing grapes in symmetrical clusters, a bird or beast lodging: in each of the branches and feed- ing on the fruit. The vine is the most ancient subject of Christian art. It ap- pears in the catacombs, treated with all the crrace and freedom of classic naturalism both in painting and sculpture. The Byzantine formalism reduced it to a mere running scroll, and in this conventional form it always appears on the monuments of this country, sometimes with and sometimes without the adjuncts of the birds and beasts lodging in the branches. On the raised borders enclosing the two panels of scrollwork (Figs. 142, 143) is incised the other set of inscriptions. They are not in Eoman letters but in Eunes, that is, in the alphabetical character used by the Teutonic nations of the Con- tinent before they adopted the letters of the Eoman alphabet. The Celts had their Odiams. the Teutons their Eunes.^ These 142.— Edge of the Ruthwell Cross. 1 These Eunes, says Professor Stephens, meet us on gi'ave - stones, in churches and monasteries, and on fonts, and bells, and crosses, and censers, and chairs, and all sorts of domestic furniture in all parts of Scandinavia down to the Reformation. They can IXSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN RUNES. 239 Eunes were the original Old ISTorthern alphabet. Their home was in Northern Europe, and they therefore appear in this country as wanderers and strangers to the soil. But this alphabet exhibits two varieties — an older variety, which consists of over 30 letters, and a younger and more provincial variety, in which the number of letters is reduced to 16. In- scriptions in the older variety or Old Northern Eunes are few in number ; while in the later, more provincial, or Scandi- navian variety over 2000 inscriptions are known. The one we have to deal with on this Euthwell Cross belongs to the earlier class. The inscription is arranged in vertical columns on either side of the panel of scroll-work extending from the top to the bottom of the narrow sides of the shaft of the cross, with the exception of the first line, which runs horizontally across the top of the panel. Consequently it reads from left to right, across the first line, in . the usual way, then continues in a vertical line down the whole of the right hand border, returning to the top of the left hand border, and reading vertically again to the base. As the lower part of the cross is more wasted than the upper, there are be traced back to the Early Iron Age of these north- ern countries, but in Britain they only appear after the Romans had departed, and the colonisation by the Anglic tribes had filled the land with relics of Scandinavian types m m Fig. 143.— Edge of the Euthwell Cross. 240 SCOTLAXD IN EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. places where the reading fails towards the bottom of each border, thus making four gaps in the continuity of the inscription. The story of its complete decipherment is in the highest degree interesting and instructive. Assuming that the Eunes were Scandinavian, and the language one or other of the dia- lects of the Old Northern tongue, Mr. Eepp transliterated the inscription, and extracted from it a singularly distinct and coherent record of the donation of a baptismal font of eleven pounds weight, w^th its ornaments, by the authority of the Therfusian Fathers, in expiation for the devastation of the fields and the spoliation of thirteen cows in the vale of Ashlafar. Strange to say, he read the letters in most cases correctly enough ; but as the inscription is not divided into words, he was at liberty to make his own vocables, and extract his own meaning from them, and he obtained this singular result by assuming the existence of linguistic forms which the inscrip- tion was not intended to represent. Other interpretations fol- lowed, all equally wide of the mark, and it was not till 1840, when the attention of the late Mr. J. M. Kemble had been turned to its decipherment, that its true import was ascer- tained. Demonstrating that the language of the inscription was Anglo-Saxon, and its construction rhythmical, he succeeded in producing an intelligible and consistent reading, unbroken in sense and continuity, except where the letters w^ere defaced. He showed that the inscription on one side of the cross com- menced with the words, Christ was on the Eood," and hence that, being rhythmical, the whole inscription was a poetical description of the passion of our Lord. Having deciphered the whole, he found that the four columns arranged them- selves in consecutive order, with blanks between each, result- ing from the failure of the reading at the portions defaced at the bottom of each column.^ ^ A transliteration of the Rimes, with, a critical version and translation IXSCPJBED MOXUMEXTS : IX RUXES. 241 In the first column lie found the runes forming ^Yords of which the following is a free translation : — " Prepared himself God Almighty, When he would the cross ascend Courageous before all men : Bow" [durst not I]. Then in the second column the cross itself takes up the narrative and says : — " I raised the mighty King, Heaven's great Lord ; Fall down I dared not — They reddled us two Both together, I with blood stained Poured from." Here the inscription is again effaced, and, returning to the top of the third column on the other side of the monument, the narrative proceeds, — " Christ was on the Eood. Lo ! thither hastening From afar came Nobles to him in misery — I that all beheld ; I was with the wound of sorrow Stricken." . . . of the inscription, and comparative views of it and the parallel passages from the Yercelli Codex, with a full translation of the whole poem, are given in the learned and exhaustive treatise on the Ruthwell Cross by Professor Stephens in his Runic Monuments of Scandinavia ami England, vol. i. pp. 405-448. Mr. Kemble's readings of the inscription on the cross, and his account of the Yercelli Codex, are printed in the ArcJixologia, vol. xxviii. p. 327, and voL xxx. p. 31. Zupitza [Alt und Mittelenglisches Uhungsbuch, 2d Ed. "Wien, 1881) gives the Runic text, with varying readings and translitera- tion, also the parallel passages from the poem of the Holy Rood, and the literature of the subject. E 242 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTL^N TIMES. And again, on the fourth cohimn, — " With shafts all wounded They laid him down limb-weary, They stood by him at his corpse's head, Beholding [the Lord] of Heaven." Here the reading again fails, but there is sufficient in what has been deciphered to show that this is a monument of no common character. But the remarkable confirmation which Mr. Kemble's read- ing of the inscription subsequently received invests it with an interest that is almost unparalleled in the history of liter- ary discoveries. Long after he had thus deciphered the inscription, in turning over the lea.ves of a book bearing the unpromising title of Apimidix B to Mr. Cooper s Report on Foeclera, Mr. Kemble's eye was arrested by certain lines in an Anglo-Saxon poem, which, on comparison, he found to be identical with those on the Euthwell Cross. Their appear- ance in the book so titled is explained as follows : — In the course of a literary pilgrimage in the north of Italy in 1823, Professor Blume had found in the old Conventual Library at Vercelli an ancient manuscript on parchment in the South Anglian or Wessex dialect of the tenth century. It contained a number of homilies, and six poetical pieces, some of which were of considerable length. The then existing Eecord Commission sent Mr. Thorpe to copy them, but before they were ready for publication the Commission lapsed, and after a series of years they were printed in an appendix to Mr. Cooper's report, of which, until recently, only a few copies were issued. Among these poems there was one in 314 lines, entitled " The Dream of the Holy Eood." It represents the Christian falling asleep, and seeing, as in a vision, the instru- ment of man's salvation appearing in the sky, surrounded with angels, and revealing in various ways its sympathy with the passion and glory of the Eedeemer. At length, receiving INSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS — IX EUXES. 243 the power of speech, it breaks forth in impassioned but dignified language, rehearsing the story of its experience on the day of the crucifixion. Parts of the poem are translated as follows : — " 'Twas many a year ago, I yet remember it, That I was hewn down At the wood's end. There men bare me upon their shoulders Until they set me down upon a hill. Then saw I tremble The whole extent of earth But yet I stood fast. Tlien the young hero prepared himself, That was Almighty God, Strong and firm of mood He mounted the lofty cross Courageously in sight of many} I trembled when he embraced me Yet dared I not to bow earthwards — Fall to the bosom of the ground, But I was compelled to stand fast. A cross was I reared, I raised the powerful king, The Lord of the heavens, I dared not fall down. They pierced me with dark nails. They reviled us both together, I was all stained with hlood Poured from the man^s side. ^ The passages in italics are those which correspond with the inscription on the cross. This version of the "Dream " has been attributed to Cynewulf. — Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader, 1st Ed. p. 169. 244 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. The shadow went forth Wan under the welkin, All creation wept, They mourned the fall of their king, Christ was on the cross, And thither hastening Men came from afar Unto the noble one — / that all beheld With sorrow I ivas stricken. The warriors left me there Standing defiled with gore, With shafts all wounded. They laid him doivn limb-weary, They stood at the corjjse's head Beholding the Lord of Heaven, And he rested himself there awhile, Weary after the mighty contest." Here we have a manuscript version in a South Anglian dialect, of a complete poem written before the tenth century, and containing the very passages which are carved in a North Anglian dialect on the two sides of the Euthwell Cross. If we judge by the wide area over which it has thus been traced, it must have been a poem which was popular and highly esteemed. The manuscript gives no clue to its authorship ; but according to Professor Stephens the cross does. On the upper part, over the commencement of the inscription, he reads the words, CAEDMON ME MADE,— and reads them not as of the cross, but of the poem.^ ^ The late D. H. Haigh, in an article oa the inscriptions of the crosses at Ruth well and Bewcastle, says: — " I submit to the judgment of others this conjecture, hased upon these grounds — viz. that on this monument, erected about A.D. 665, we have fragments of a religious poem of very high character, and that there was but one man living in England at the time worthy to be named as a religious poet, and that was Caedmon. " — Aixhceologia ^•Eliana, vol. i. (KS.),p. 173. " This bold sui)position, " says Professor Stephens, " has now received an unexpected confirmation. By the help of the casts since taken INSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS IX RUNES. 245 This, then, is the story of the decipherment of the Runes on the Ruthwell Cross, I know nothing in the whole range of' monumental history that surpasses it in interest. It makes us regard the monument not only as a fingerpost in the history of Christian art, but as a landmark in the history of English literature. In its sculptured decorations it pre- serves to us the style and quality of a very peculiar phase of early Christian art. In its associated inscriptions in the Latin language and character, it preserves to us the key which gives the explanation of other sculptured groups that liave no associated inscriptions. In them, also, it preserves to us the very words of the texts of Scripture, of the passages from the Apocryphal Gospels and the legendary lives of the saints that were thus chosen for sculptured representation. Above all, in its Eunic inscription it has preserved a frag- ment of one of the earliest known specimens of Old English literature — a poem undoubtedly of very unusual merit. IN'o literary monument graven on stone of such a character, or of greater importance in the history of literature, exists any- where else. It is a monument of culture in the highest sense of the term. It is a monument unique of its kind, bearing witness to the existence of an artistic culture which for its age was high, and of a literary culture which but few of the succeeding ages have greatly surpassed. It is, there- fore, a monument of which the nation of whose history it forms a conspicuous part might well be proud. Yet, look at its pitiable story. Demolished, broken, buried ; restored, and reconstructed by private enterprise ; deciphered, and demonstrated to be of national interest and importance 1 jy Mr. Haigh, and of the Yercelli Codex, I have not only been enabled to amend the text and add some words to the carving, but I have also found the name of the immortal bard Caedmon." — PMnic Monuments of Scandin/ivia ancl England, vol. i. p. 411. Caedmon, who died about 680, has been regarded as a genius of the class headed by Burns — a poet of nature's making, sprung from the bosom of the common people — and is Avell known as the father of English poetical literature, the first composer in the vernacular speech of the people 246 SCOTLAND IN EAELY CHRISTIAN TIMES. as a literary and historic monument, — and yet left to weather and decay ! Had it been covered with Asian bilinguals or African hieroglyphics it might at least have had the chance of being acquired at great expense and brought to this country in triumph, with much public rejoicing over its acquisition. For it can still be said of ns, that while we acquire and preserve the monuments of other nations, and grudge no outlay which helps to illustrate the history of literature and art in many lands, we consign the few that time has spared to us in our own land to oblivion and decay. It is true that we acquire and preserve these monuments of ancient but alien races because we are an educated people, and because our education enables us to perceive their relations to all that underlies the present culture, which has grown out of the products of the literature and art of the past. But is it not also true that when we fail to do this for the ancient products of the culture and art of Scotland, it must be because our education fails to show us the relations in which they stand to the ripening culture of which they were the early blossom and far-off promise ? Having followed the line of Celtic inscriptions in the previous Lecture up to a point at which they become bilingual, and thus indicate the meeting of the two currents of Celtic and Eoman literary influence, and having now found the Eoman current in one direction meeting with another current of Anglian influence, and forming another kind of bilingual, we next proceed to follow the line of Eoman inscriptions in a direction still farther removed from these influences. As we trace this line backwards we shall find the Eoman character of the record less and less modified by local influence, but yet so modified as to be appreciably different from the purely Eoman style. In other words, the more nearly we approach to the purely Eoman period, the more purely Eoman becomes the style and character of the inscription, the less IXSCRIBED MOXUMEXTS IX ROMAX LETTEES. 247 debased are its grammar, its idiom, and its letters, and the more perfectly legible its undefaced texts. Perhaps the most remarkable of the inscribed monuments in the partially debased style of the Eoman alphabet is that known as the Catstone, which stands on the south bank of the Almond, three miles above its confluence with the Forth, and not over six miles from the city of Edinburgh.^ It stands on a slightly elevated ridge on the triangular space formed by the junction of the Gogar and the Almond. It is a massive boulder of greenstone, irregular in shape, unhewn, but rounded in all its angles by the action of water, or of weather, or of both combined. It is a large stone, being nearly twelve feet in circumference, over four feet in width and three feet in thickness, its height above ground being about four feet and a half. It bears on its flattest side (Fig. 144) an inscription in partially debased Eoman capitals, arranged in four lines, without points or other indications of the separa- tion of the words of which it is composed. It is quite legible, however, — ix oc tvmvlo iacit yetta f[ilivs] victi — " In this tumulus lies Vetta, son of Victus." The lettering offers few peculiarities calling for special notice. The use of oc for hoc, the reversed x, the compound letters NV, and the rustic form of the L, are characteristics that are well known in inscrip- tions of this class over the wide range of the Eoman pro- vinces. Yet they are not characteristics that are found in Eoman inscriptions of the heathen time. If this is true of the lettering it is equally true of the form of the inscription. It presents three special features which w^e shall find to be characteristic of Christian inscriptions alone. They are (1), The use of the formula ix hoc tvmylo ; (2) The use of the for- mula IACIT ; and (3) The use of the formula giving the name ^ An elaborate paper on the Catstone, in which it is attempted to be identified as the tombstone of the grandfather of Hengist and Horsa, will be found in the Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot, vol. iv. pp. 119-165, by the late Sir J. Y. Simpson. See also Stephens's Runic Monuments, vol. i. p. 59. 248 SCOTLAND IN EARLY CimiSTLVN TIMES. and patronymic of the deceased. All these are features Avhich are not found on Eoman monuments of heathen origin. Among 1300 inscriptions of the Eoman time in Britain, pre- Fig. 144.— The Catstoue, Kirkliston (4^ feet in height). vious to the prevalence of Christianity, collected by Hubner, there is not one that presents the formula Hie jacct or Li hoc tumulo jacet, or even Jacct. On the other hand, among the Christian inscriptions in Wales, in the debased Eoman INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IX EOMAN LETTERS. 249 character, the formula which is of most frequent occurrence is some modification of the hie jacet, frequently combined with the further amplification in tumulo or in hoc tumido. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the special formula which we thus find graven on this monument is a formula which is distinctively Christian. Xo Pagan monument in Britain bears it. In fact, it is so distinctively Christian that Hubner ^ remarks that the Christian monuments of Britain whose inscriptions are in the Eoman character, have almost without exception but one formula, the hie jacet, occasionally with the addition of in hoe tumulo, or the like. The inscription is therefore typical, and the type is not Pagan but Christian. Having thus examined tlie characteristic features and the typical relations of the inscription on this monument, let us turn for a moment to the collateral indications afforded by its local associations. The area on which the monument stands was carefully examined in 1865 by Mr. Hutchison of Carlowrie, from whose account of it I draw the facts neces- sary to establish my deductions. He found that the monu- ment stands within the area of an ancient cemetery, enclosed by a rude wall, which was still in some parts two feet high along the north side of the area. The stones were undressed, and the wall rudely constructed without cement. Within its area there were found no fewer than fifty-one graves, arranged in rows, the heads to the west and the feet to the east. The graves were lined along the bottom of the sides and ends with rough flat stones set on edge, across which a covering of similar flat and undressed stones was laid, thus forming a kind of rude stone cofiin with a bottom of earth. It has been customary to speak of them as cists, but they are in reality stone-lined graves. The longest of them was 6 feet 9 inches, and the shortest 4 feet 8 inches. They are, therefore, full- length graves, and the typical feature of the burials was that ^ Froc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. vi. p. 184. 250 SCOTLAXD IX EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES. they were placed in rows with the heads to the west and the feet to the east. This orientation and regularity are features that are distinctively Christian/ as opposed to the absence of such characteristics in groups of burials that are of Pagan time. It is therefore clear that the special features which are loresent in these burials are features which are character- istic of a Christian and not of a Pagan type of interment. On the other hand, the absence of Pagan characteristics is equally significant. Heathen burials in this country, when they are enclosed in cists, present features which differ from these entirely. ^Tien they occur in groups they are not oriented, they are not regularly placed in rows, and they are not full length. The cists of the Pagan time differ also from these stone-lined graves in their constructional character. They are more massive, wider and deeper in proportion to their length, and usually have the sides, ends, and covers, each composed of a single stone. Occasionally they contain no- thing but the skeleton, but usually they also contain an urn, or the ornaments, implements, or weapons of the dead. But here there were fifty-one graves, and Mr. Hutchison tells us that though careful search was made, no urn, trinket, or weapon of any kind was found in or around any of the graves, nor did they present the slightest appearance of having ever been previously disturbed. Thus all the indications of character, position, construc- tion, orientation, that are present in this singular cemetery, accord with the indications of the inscription on the solitary monument that stands above ground among them ; and the conclusion to which I come, in view of the whole evidence, is that we have here an ancient Christian cemetery and an early 1 The orientation of Christian burial is alluded to by most of the liturgical writers of the Middle Ages, and the exj^lanation of the custom, as given by Durandus, is that the dead when they rise in the resuiTection may face their Lord as He comes from the East. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS IN EOMAN LETTERS. 251 Christian monument still retaining its original position within its area. ISTo other monument of that early time is known in Scot- land still standing like the Catstone in the midst of its graves. Another of the same class (Fig. 145) bearing six lines of an inscription, so defaced as to be illegible in its continuity, exists at a place called Yar- row Kirk/ in Selkirkshire. It is a rough slab, unsquared and undressed, 7 feet long and 3 feet in greatest width, tapering irregularly to about 2 feet at the smaller end. It was discovered by the plough coming in contact with it underground, and it is uncertain wdiether it then lay on its original site. A cast of the stone is in the Museum. The first line reads hic memor iacet. In the fourth line the name Dumnogenus is legible, and a second inscription below begins with Hic iacent in tvmvlo dvo fili . . . liberali. This, again, is a Christian record agreeing in character with the early Christian inscriptions in other parts of Britain. The debased character of the Eoman letters is the same, the formula hic iacit is the same, and the names Dumnogenus and Liberalis are of Christian time. On the high ground above the town of Whithorn, there stands a monument (Fig. 146) of very unusual charac- 1 Described by Dr. J. A. Smith, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vols. ii. p. 484, and iv. p. 524. 252 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHEISTIAX TIMES. ter It is ca stone of about 4 feet high and 2 feet broad, bearing on one of its faces a cross of peculiar character placed within a circle, and underneath it an inscription of three lines. The cross is formed by the intersection of four arcs of circles. This form of cross is rare on stone monu- ments in Scotland, and in Ire- land it is recrarded as one of the very oldest — if not the oldest — of all the forms ^Yhich the symbol of Christianity has assumed in that country. That it is one of the oldest types in Scotland is proved by _ the fact that in this instance it has attached to the left upper corner of the summit the sion which distinsuishes the Fig. 146.— Atmithorn (4 feet high). Chrisma or the conventional form of the monogram known as the Cross of Constantine." The first appearance of ^ Described and figured by Dr. Arthur Mitchell, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. ix. p. 578. 2 The monogi'am called the chrisma occurs frequently in the catacombs enclosed "within a circle, which is thus explained by an inscription found at Milan : — Circuhxs hie summi comprendit nomina regis Quern sine principio et sine fine vides. It continued to be used on sarcophagi till about the end of the seventh century. It appears along -with the A et w on the tomb of Archbishop Theodore at Eavenna, about 688. It occurs fourteen times in Britain. There are three examples at Kirkmadrine. It occurs on the stone above men- tioned at Whithorn. It stands at the commencement -of the dedicatory inscription of the church of St. Paul at Jarrow. It stands for the first syllable cf the word Christianus in the remarkable epitaph of Porius at Llech Idris, in Merionethshire : — Porius hie in tumulo jacet, homo [Christ^ianusfuit. It occurs I^'SCEIBED MONUMENTS IX KOMAN LETTERS. 253 this monogram on monuments in the catacombs of Eome is about the commencement of the fourth century. In France it occurs on dated monuments from a.d. 377 to 540. The symbols and formulfe of Christian monuments apjjear in Eome about a century earlier than in Gaul, and the natural inference is that if they are a century later in Gaul than in Eome they will be still later in Britain, assuming of necessity that their progress westwards continued to be gradual. We can therefore say with something like certainty that this monument bearing the chrisma cannot be earlier than the end of the fourth, and that it may be as late as the latter part of the sixth, century. The inscription underneath the cross is in Eoman capitals of rustic form, and its letters stand singly, without being tied or ligatured. Both these features indicate lateness of date for a Eoman inscription. No monu- ment executed during the Eoman occupation of Britain ex- hibits these features. The inscription, simple and legible as it is, may be susceptible of a variety of readings. One of these, which is also one of the most obvious, would make it LOCI [s]ti PETRI APVSTOLi, the stone of St. Peter the Apostle, and consequently not a sepulchral monument at all.-^ But, as I have already shown, the raising of memorial crosses in honour of saints was a common custom in the early Church, and whatever doubt thei-e may be as to the actual nature of on a fragment of a cross at St. Helms, Cornwall, and on a stone now placed in the wall of the church at Phillack. It occurs also on an inscribed stone at St. Just, near Land's End, which bears an incomplete name and the formula Hicjacet. It occurs also on a tesselated pavement at Frampton. It has been found on a silver vase at Corbridge, Northumberland, on some brazen frag- ments at York, and on two oval-shaped masses of lead found in the Thames near Battersea Bridge. In one of these the word spes is placed round it, and in the other it is associated with the A et w. The chrisma does not occur in Ireland. 1 Fordun mentions the finding of a magnificent and venerable" cross at Peebles, in the year 1261, which bore the inscription locvs saxcti nicolai EPISCOPI. 254 SCOTLAND IX EAELY CHPJSTIAX TLMES. the memorial-stone, there can be none as to its t}^ical cha- racter and relations. At Kirkmadrine, in the parish of Stoneykirk, also in Fig. 147. — At Kirkmadrine (5 feet liigli). Wigtonshire, there are two very remarkable monuments (Fig. 147), performing, or till quite lately performing, the humble duty of gateposts to a disused burying- ground.-^ ^ The true character of these remarkable monuments was first recognised INSCKIBED MONUMENTS IX EOMAN LETTERS. 255 They are long narrow flat slabs, standing about 5 feet high, and about 18 inches broad. One bears on the obverse the incised monogram of the chrisma or Cross of Constantine, standing free within a circle, and over it the formula A et co} Underneath there is an inscription in six lines, in Eoman capitals, but slightly debased. There are no spaces or divi- sions between the words, and many of the letters are tied or ligatured. The inscription is so legible that its purport scarcely admits of doubt : — HIC lACENT SCI ET PRAE Here he the holy CIPVI SACER and excellent priests, DOTES ID EST to wit, Yiventius VIVENTIVS and Maiorius. ET MAIORIVS. The chrisma is repeated on the reverse of the stone. The other monument is precisely similar in form. It bears also the Chrisma, but without the Alpha and Omega, and under- neath are three lines of an inscription, of which the only parts legible are the two words et florentivs. There was a third stone, but it is now gone, and we owe our knowledge of it to a drawing recovered by Dr. Mitchell.^ It also bore the chrisma within a circle, and underneath it the words ixiTiVM et fixis. This group of monuments is therefore characterised by the presence of a peculiar form of the symbol of the cross, by Dr. Arthur ^Mitchell, who brought them under the notice of the late Dr. Stuart, when engaged in the preparation of his great work on the Sculptured Stones of Scotland. 1 The formula aet w appears on Christian monuments in Gaul, assignable to dates ranging, according to Le Blant, from a.d. 377 to A.D. 547. It occurs tsvice on the tombstones found on the supposed site of St. Hilda's monastery at Hartlepool, which are assigned to the seventh and eighth cen- turies. It does not occur in Ireland. 2 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., vol. ix. p. 568. 256 SCOTLAND IX EARLY CHRISTIAX TIMES. consisting of the chrisma placed within a circle — a form which rarely occurs in Britain, and which, wlien it does occur, is always found in such associations as are suggestive of a period which at the latest cannot be far distant from the time of the Eoman occupation. The character of the in- scriptions also affords similar indications of earliness of date. The letters are still Eoman capitals, as was customary in Eoman inscriptions, and they are not greatly debased from the pure Eoman forms. With this type of monument, presenting no indications of Celtic art, and inscribed in Eoman characters w^hich are but slightly debased, the line of Christian inscriptions in Scot- land ends. We have traced it back to a point at which another step would bring us within the period of the Eoman domination, and among forms that are no longer Christian but Pagan, and purely Eoman in character. INDEX. Abbotsford, sculptured monument at, 106, 154. Aberbrothock, abbey of, 49. Aberlemno, sculptured monuments at, 57, 74, 75, 106, 172, 179. Abemethy, 75. Aboyne, inscribed monument at, 202, 208. Adam and Eve, representations of the temptation of, 138, 144, 146, 149, 161, 166. Aglish, the killeen of, 218. Agnus Dei, the, 237. Aldbar, sculptured monument at, 81, 123. Allen, J. Romilly, 89. Alloa, cross-bearing monument at, 92. Alness, 7. Alphabet, Runic, Scandinavian variety of, 5. Old Northern variety of, 5. Amber, settings of, in Celtic brooches, 2, 8, 16, 21, 23, 24. Amiens, cathedral of, 145. Analysis of Cadboll brooches, 9, Andromeda, the dragon guarding, 139. Angels, representations of, on the Scot- tish monuments, 59, 121, 137. Angus, King of the Piccardach, 199. Animals, sculptured representations of, 51, 62. Annals of Innisfallen, 215. of Tighearnach, 196, 199. of the Four Masters, 196. Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony, 42. Arbirlot, sculptured monument at, 93. Arboe, cross at, 162. Arbroath (Aberbrothock), 49, 50. Archers, sculptured representations of, 51. Ardoilean, 49. Ark of Noah, representations of the, in the Catacombs, 143. on sarcophagi, 144. ' Ark of Noah, representation of the, on the cross at Kells, 144. Aries, monuments at, 156, 157. Armagh, the book of, 216, 217. Arndilly, Aberdeenshire, sculptured stone at, 76, 177. Art, Celtic, elements of, 110. difference of Celtic and Scandina- vian, 30, 33. of the Scottish monuments, ele- ments of, 100. of the Celtic manuscripts identical with that of the monuments of eastern Scotland, 108. Ballutheron, sculptured stone at, 179. Ballymote. the book of, 215. Bally spellan, inscribed silver brooch found at, 211, 214. Barra, inscribed monvmaent at Kilbar in, 227. Basilisk, the, 171. Bear, the, sculptured representations of, 69, 158. Benbecula, 76. Benvie, sculptured monument at, 81. Berdal, Norway, bronze cross with Celtic ornamentation found at, 31. Bergen, museum at, 30. Bestiaries of the Middle Ages, the, 121, 165, 168, 183. Birnie, sculptured monument at, 76. Birsay, the buried bell of, 37. Bjornson, Gaut, maker of crosses, 231. Blasket Islands, the, 219. Boars, wild, representations of, 121. Boat-of-Garten, 74. Bourtie, sculptured monument at, 76. Brasses, monumental, the fylfot on, 220. Brechin, sculptured monument at, 156. Bressay, Shetland, inscribed monument at, 208. S 258 INDEX. Bre\iary, the Aberdeeu, 187. Bridles, representations of, 123. Brodie, sculptured monument at, 119. Bronze balance-beam found at Croy, 22. brooches of, 10, 12, 14, 15, 26, 29. crescent- shaped plate found at Laws, Monifieth, 45, 51. cross of, with Celtic ornamenta- tion, found at Berdal, in Nor- way, 31. Brooch found among old brass in Glas- gow, 26. of Hunterston, the, 1 penannular form of the Celtic, 26. the later form of the Highland, 25, 27. Brooches, Anglo-Saxon, 26. bowl-shaped, of the Viking period, 30. found at Eogart, Sutherlandshire, 6. found near Perth, 20. not represented by symbols, 182. of Celtic form and ornamenta- tion, 1. Scandinavian, 27. Buist, Mr., account of the hoard of silver ornaments at Norrie's Law, by, 36. Bulls, representations of, 121. Burghead, group of monuments at, 84. Burial, Iron Age, 181. Burrian, the brooch of, 211. Cadboll brooches, the, 7. ■ Hilton of, 104, 119, 123. R. B. ^. Macleod of, 7. Caedmon, 244. Cairn at Linlathen, 181. Caithness, 74. Campbelton, cross at, 131. Cape Wrath, 74. Caplachy (Caiplie in Fife), 186. Capua, church of St. Mary of, 112. Camuston, Forfarshire, cross at, 156. Carsphairu, incised cross at, 92. Carthage, 166. Casale, 112. Catacombs, subjects represented on the frescoes of the, 142. Catstone, the, 247. Caves in Fife, sculptures in, 184. Cemetery, an early Christian, near Kirkliston, 249. Centaurs, sculptured representations of, 64, 65, 71, 121, 171. Chairs, sculptured representations of, 62, 124. Chalmers, Patrick, 50. Chapel cave, the, 186. Chapel of Garioch, 74. Chariots, sculptured representations of, 69, 123, 125, 158, 159. Cherubim and seraphim, representa- tions of, 137. Chrisma, the, 252. Christiania, Museum at, 29. Chronicle, the Pictish, 197. Chur, in S\\itzerland, church of, 112. Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, 222. Cist, ornamented cover of, 133. Cladh an Diseart, 86. Clark, Rev. George, 227. Clatt, Aberdeenshire, 75. Clonmacnoise, 95. inscribed monuments at, 195, 196. Clj'de, the river, 74. Clyne, Sutherlandshire, 76. Clyth, Caithness, 93. Coenwulf, King of Mercia, silver penny of, found with silver brooch, etc., at Croy, 24. Coins, Roman, said to have been found with the silver ornaments at Norrie's Law, 42. Coldstone, Aberdeenshire, 86. Colonsay, 120. Ere of, 209. Comb of St. Cuthbert, 178. of Queen Tlieodelinda, 178. of ivory sent with the Pope's bless- ' ing to Queen Ethelburga, 178. Congask, sculptured monument at, 76. Constantine, the Emperor, 42. Cornwall, monuments of, 74, 117. Cossins, sculptured monument at, 74, 123, 165. Costume, old Celtic, representations of, 122. Craignarget, Wigtonshire, 219. CraiU, cross with human feet at, 120, 150. j Cremona, 166. : Crichie, Aberdeenshire, 75. Crieff, sculptured monument at, 106. I Crosier, Celtic form of, 208. of St. Fillan, 130. Cross-bearing slabs, 51, 73. Cross-bow, the, 123. Cross, the Celtic form of the symbol of the, 52, 120. Latin and Greek forms of, 52. with human feet, at Craill, 120. with human head, at Killoran, 120. Crosses, freestanding, 78, 81. of Ireland, 95. Scriptural subjects sculp- I tured on the, 163. INDEX. 259 Crosses of the West Highlands, charac- teristics of, 130. Croy, near Inverness, brooch found at, 21. Crucifixion, representations of the, 83, 120. Culbinsgarth, Bressay, 206, 208. Culdees of Lochleven, 201. Gumming, Rev. J. G., 230. Cunningsburgh, Shetland, 227. Dailleus, 148. Daltallachan, incised cross at, 91. Daniel in the den of lions, representa- tions of, on churches in Italy, 166. on a holy water vessel from a Merovingian grave, 148. on belt -clasps from Burgundian gi-aves, 147. on glass vessels, 146. on Irish crosses, 149. on Scottish monuments, 149, 150. on sarcophagi, 151. on the frescoes of the Catacombs, 143. David rending the jaws of the lion, re- presentations of, 154. Daviot, sculptured monument at, 75. Deer, representations of, 121. Deer, the book of, 194. Devonshire, inscribed monuments of, 214, 222, 224. Djemila, 166. Docton, cross at, 78. Dogs, representations of, 121. Domnach Airgid, the, 130. Doo cave, the, 184. Drainie, sculptured monuments at, 78, 103. Drimmies, sculptured stone at, 184. Drogheda, 17. Dromore, 91. Drost, son of Voret, 199. Drosten, first abbot of Deer, 196. Drumderg Blathmig, 199. Duke, Rev. William, 50. Dunbeath, Caithness, silver brooch found at, 16. Duncan, Dr. Henry, 233. Dunfallandy, sculptured monument at, 66, 74, 124, 153, 170. Dunipace, Stirlingshire, silver brooch found at, 24. Dunkeld, sculptured monument at, 157. Dunnichen, Forfarshire, sculptured monument at, 75, 177. Dunrobin, museum at, 7. Duns, Professor, brooch found in Mull deposited in the museum by, 13. Dupplin, cross at, 78, 123. Durham, General, of Largo, 37. Durham, sculptured monuments at, 130. Dysart, caves at, 183, 187. Eassie, sculptured monument at, 74. Ecclesiastics, representations of, 123. Edderton, sculptured monument at, 76. Edinburgh, 75. Egypt, the flight into, 236. Elgin, sculptured monument at, 74. Elijah, the ascension of, 139, 158, 159. Elphinstone, Bishop, 187. Enamel on silver chains, 42, 44. i Evans, John, 140. Fardel, South Devon, 222. Famell, sculptured monument at, 81, 160, 161, 179. Ferguson, Sir Samuel, 211. Fermoy, the book of, 215. Ferot, a Pictish king, 197. Findlay, J. R., 92. Finlarig, 76. Fish, sculptured representations of, 51, 55, 121. symbol of the, 181, 182, 185. Ford, Argyllshire, 88. Fordoun, 74, 78. Forres, monument at, 81, 123, 163. Forth, the river, 74. Fowlis, Wester, 74, 106. Eraser, Rev. Thomas, 22. Frescoes of the Catacombs, subjects represented in the, 142. Fretwork, diagonal, 114. i Fylfot or Swastika, the, 218, 219, 220. Gallgael, the, 6. Galloway, 81. Gask, sculptured monument at, 74, 78, 167, 179. Glamis, sculptured monuments at, 64, 81, 172, 199. Glencar, County Kerry, 219. Glenesk, 199. Gold objects found at Mycenae, 114. I Golspie, inscribed monument at, 74, 76, I 204, 208. Gospels, the apocryphal, 173. [ Goudie, Gilbert, 211, 227. Govan, group of monuments at, 72. I Grave-mound of Pagan time at Norrie's Law, 35. Grave-mounds of Viking time in Nor- way, 31, 32. of Viking type in Westray, 29. Graves, Rev, Dr., Bishop of Limerick. 216. 260 INDEX. Griffin, the, 171. Grossen-Linden, sculptured doorway of, 173. Habbakuk associated with Daniel and the lions, 145, 148. Haddington, silver chain found at, 44. Haigh, D. H., on the Ruthwell inscrip- tions, 211, 244. Harness, representations of, 123. Hay, George, 50. Hebrides, Norwegian kingdom in the, 61. Runic monuments in the, 227. Heiton, Andrew, silver brooches ex- hibited in the national museum by, 20. Hengist and Horsa, 247. Hexham, sculptured monuments at, 130. Hippeau, M. C, 168. Hof, in Norway, grave-mound at, 32. Hordwell, Ber\\ickshire, silver chain found at, 44. Horsemen, costume of, 123. Horses, representations of, 121. Hunterston, brooch of, 1. Huntsmen, representations of, 123. Hutchison, Robert, 249. Illumes'atioxs of Celtic manuscripts, character of the art of the, 3. Inchbravock, sculptured monument at, 81, 104. Inchcolm, monument at, 72, 103. Inchinnan, 167. Innisfallen, annals of, 215. Insch, sculptured monument at, 75, 176, 179, 191. Inscriptions in the Celtic character, 52, 191. in the Ogham character, 83. in Roman letters, 232. in runes, 47, 226. Inverary, cross at, 131. Invergo\\Tie, sculptured monument at, 81, 100, 102. Inverury, Aberdeenshire, 75, 179. Zona, 79, 106, 156, 160. inscribed monuments at, 191. ornament on crosses at, 117. Ireland, early Christian monuments of, 118. inscribed monuments of, 213, 221, 224. monuments and manuscripts of the early Christian time in, 109. Iron age, ornamentation of the, 114. Isaac, representation of the sacrifice of, 138, 146, 149, 162, 172. Islay, 80, 106, J AERO w, church of St. Paul at, 252. Jervise, Andrew, 191. Jewitt, Llewelhm, 20. Joass, Rev. Dr. James, 88. Jonah and the whale, 139, 146, 150, 152, 153, 167, 172. Jonathan's cave, 184. Joppa, 139. Jordan, the, represented as a river-god, 152. Keithhall, Aberdeenshire, 76. Kells, the book of, 68, 115, 194. Kemble, Mr. J. M., 114, 240. Kilbar, island of Barra, inscribed monu- ment at, 227. Kildalton, Islay, cross at, 80, 106, 117, 156. Kildonan, 88. Kilkerran, 131. Kilmartin, cross at, 128. Kilrenny, 186. Kinblethmont, 199. Kinellar, Aberdeenshire, 75. Kingoldrum, sculptured monuments at, 74, 81, 104. Kintore, Aberdeenshire, 75. Kintradwell, Sutherlandshire, 184. Kirk Andreas, inscribed monument at, 231. Kirk Braddan, inscribed cross at, 231. Kirkmaiden, 91. Kirkmadrine, inscribed monuments at, 91, 254. Kirkmichael, inscribed monument at, 230. Kirriemuir, sculptured monuments at, 60, 74, 81, 104, 121, 123. Knockando, 76, 179. Kraus, Dr. F. X., 165. Kurtea d'Argysch, church of, 112. Laggangarx, cross slabs at, 89, 91. Landnamabok, the, 209. Largo, Fife, silver ornaments found at, 34. Lavigny, 147. Laws, Monifieth, bronze crescent-shaped plate found at, 45, 51. Lazarus, the raising of, 155. Learaboll, Sutherlandshire, 88. Leslie, Newbiggin of, 170. Lincoln, 145. INDEX. 261 Lindisfarne, the gospels of, 115, 116, 218. Lindores, monument vnth. symbols at, 75, 119. Liulathen, cairn at, 181. Lion breathing on its young, representa- tions of, as described in the Bestiaries, 169, 172. David rending the jaws of the, 154. the, described in the Divine Bes- tiary, 169. Lions, Daniel in the den of, 143, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 167. Llech Idris, Merionethshire, 252. Lochleven, Culdees of, 201. Logie-Coldstone, 76. Logie in the Garioch, sculptured monu- ments at, 74, 75, 176, 203. Logierait, representations of Scripture scenes on tombstones at, 138, 162, 179. Lunnasting, Shetland, inscribed monu- ment at, 209. Lyn churn, sculptured monument at, 74. Macadam, Dr, Stevenson, analysis of Cadboll brooches by, 9. Macalpin, Kenneth, 198. Mac Ere, Fergus, 197. M'Diarmid, W. E., 92. Maelbritha, 5. Maelpatrick O'Banain, 191. Mac Kegol, the gospels of, 194. Magi, the, 160. Magnusen, Finn, 5. Man, Isle of, monuments in, 5, 81. and the Isles, Norse kingdom of, 229. Manuscripts, Celtic, identity of the art of, with that of the monuments, 108. May, Isle of, 186. M'Eachem, Colin, 131. Meander or fret ornament, 113. Meigle, sculptured monuments at, 67, 74, 81, 101, 104, 158. Mermaid, the, 171. Metal work, decorative, 1. Miannay, 148. Migvie, Aberdeenshire, 76. Mirror and comb, sculptured represen- tations of, 51, 62, 68, 178, 181, 182. Missal, the Stowe, 130, 215.' Mitchell, Dr. Arthur, 74, 93, 255. Moccudruidis, Ere, of Colonsay, 209. Mongifi, 147. Monifieth, sculptured monuments at, 74, 78, 104, 123. Monikie, 78. Montillier, 147. Monuments, groups of sculptured, 49, 57. of eastern area of Scotland, pic- torial representations on, 118. identity of the art of, with that of the Celtic manu- scripts, 108. symbols on, 118. inscribed in Celtic, 190. inscribed in Koman letters, 162. inscribed in Piunes, 226. of the West Highlands, 130. the art of the, 97. the symbolism of the, 136. types of, in eastern and western Scotland, 84. Moone Abbey cross, the, 149. Mosaics, 83, 112, 165, 166. Moses striking the rock, 146. rearing the brazen serpent, 172. Mugdrum, cross at, 78. Mull, bronze brooches found in, 13. IMunch, Professor P. A., 230. on the Sodor group of Runic in- scriptions, 5. Museum at Christiania, 29. at Bergen, 30. Duke of Sutherland's, at Dun- robin, 7, 204. of Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 20. the Lateran, 158. Music, representations of instruments of, 123. Mycense, gold objects found at, 114. Naddod, a Viking of the Faroes, 209. Namur, 166. Newton of Insch, bilingual monument at, 217. Nigg, sculptured monument at, 79, 81, 104, 106, 107, 117. Noah in the ark, as represented in the Catacombs, 143, 160. Normandy, sculptures on churches of, 174. Norrie's Law, Largo, 34, 51, 68, 185. Norway, brooches of Celtic type found in, 30. Paganism of, in Scotland, 181. Viking grave-mounds in, 32. Ogham alphabet, the key to the, 216. inscriptions, 201, 202, etc. writing, invention of, 215. Ogma, son of Elathan, 215. Olfriti, 5. Oransaj^ cross at, 129. Orkney, inscribed monument in, 211. Orkney and Shetland, exceptional phe- 262 IXDEX. nomena of burials of Scandinavian type in, 28. Ornament, Celtic, special varieties of, 114. Ornamentation of urns, 132. Orpheus charming the beasts, 139. Paganism, the later, of the Xorth of Scotland, 181. Panther, the, described in the Divine Bestiary, 169. Parkhill, Aberdeenshire, silver chain found at, 43. Peebles, cross found at, in thirteenth century, 253. Perth, silver brooches found near, 20. Peter, the apostle, monstrance of the rib of, 166. Pharaoh, destruction of the host of, 156, 157. Phoenix, the, 171. Pierowall, Westray, Orkney, bronze brooch found at, 28. Pilgrims, representations of, 123. Pitmachie, Aberdeenshire, 217. Pitra, J. B., 171. Podgoritza, Albania, glass vessel found at, 146. Porius, epitaph of, 252. Priscian, manuscript copy of, at St. Gall, 215. Eadulf, the priest, 191. Pvatho, cross-slab at, 91. Eavenna, 112, 145, 155, 252. Eed Sea, 156. Eegensburg (Eatisbon), sculptured door- way at, 173. Eemagen, sculptured portal at, 173. Eendall, William, 28. Ehynie, Aberdeenshire, 75. Eiskbuie, cross from, now at Killoran, 120. Eobertson, Mr., jeweller, Cupar, silver ornaments from Xorrie's Law, pur- chased by, 36. Eogart, brooches found at, 6. Eoger, Charles, 45. J. C, 45. ■■ Eev. J. C, 209. Eogslosa, church of, 166. Eome, the cradle of Christian art and sjTnbolism, 139. Eonaldsay, North, 211. Eood, the dream of the Holy, 242. Eosemarkie, sculptured monument at, 74, 101, 102, 104, 116, 119. Eossie Priorv, sculptured monument at, 74, 98, 101. ! Eunes, old Northern and Scandinavian, 239. on a bronze plate found at Laws, Monifieth, 47. on monuments, 226. on the Hunterston brooch, 5. Euthwell, inscribed cross at, 232. decipherment of the inscriptions on the, 240. San Clemente, 112. San Zeno, 112. San Zenone, church of, 166. Sarcophagus, sculptured, at Govan, 72. Schliemann, Dr. Henry, 114. Scoonie, inscribed monument at, 74, 201, 208. Scrollwork, foliage ous, 130. Senchus Mor, Oghams in the manuscript of the, 215. Serpent, sjmibolic and pictorial repre- sentations of, 121, 179. Shandwick, sculptured monument at, 74, 79, 104, 116, 119, 169. Shears, symbolic significance of, 178. Shetland, inscribed monuments in, 205. Ships, representations of, 123, 125. the, as a symbol of the Church, 165. Silver, brooches of, 1, 6, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31. chains of massive links found in Scotland, 42, 177. hollow band of knitted we of, found at Croy, 22. ornaments found at Xorrie's Law, Largo, 36. Sim, George, date of defaced Byzantine coin found at Xorrie's Law, assigned by, 42. Simpson, Sir James Y., his reading of the St. Vigeans inscription, 198. Siren, the, 171. Snaasen, Xorth Trondheim, Celtic brooch dug up at, 29. South Eonaldsay, 76. Spirals, ornamentation of double, 114. Spoleto, 165. St. Adrian, 186. St. Andrews, sculptured monuments at, 78, 79, 104, 106, 155, 201. St. Augustine, 167. psalter of, 196, St. Anthony in the desert, legend of, 236. St. Bernard, 174. St. Chad, the gospels of, 194, 196, 200. St. Columba, 33, 181. St. Cyriacus, 176. INDEX. 263 St. Dogmaels, Cardigan, 222. St. Drostan, 199. St. Fechin, 49. St. Fergus, 199. St. Fillan, crosier of, 130. St. Gall, manuscript copy of Priscian at, 215. St. Helen's, Cornwall, 253. St. Hippolj-tus, 167. St. Isidore, 167. St. Jerome, 167. St. John the Baptist, image of, 237. St. Just, near Land's End, 253. St. Madoes, 74, 106, 173. St. Martin's Cross, lona, 156. St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, 171. St. Monenua, 201. St. Nil, 173. St. Ninian's, Dunrossness, 205, 208. St. Oran's Chapel, 131. St. Paul and St. Anthony, legend of, 236. St. Paul, church of, at Jarrow, 252. St. Serf, 187. St. Vigeans, group of sculptured monu- ments at, 49, 50, 52, 74, 106, 119, 136, 167, 172, 179, 193. Stag-hunt, representations of, 51, 59, 63, 164. significance of, 165, Stephens, Professor George, 5, 228, 230, 244. Stokes, Miss Margaret, 83, 95, 113. Stokes, Whitley, 218. Stone-work, decorative, 49. Strasbourg, 167, 172. Strathmartin, sculptured monuments at, 75, 78. Strome Shunamal, 76. Struan, 75. Stuart, Dr. John, 36, 181. Sudreys, Norse kingdom of the, 229. Sunnoness, Mull of, 90. Sutherland, brooches found at Eogart in, 6, 11. Symbol of the beast with long jaws and scroll-like feet, 120. the crescent-shajjed, 120. the double-disc, 119, 176. the house-like, 120. the serpent, 120. Symbols incised on silver chains, 44. question of the Pagan origin of the, 180. sculptured representations of, 52. Tara brooch, the, 17. Tarbet, interlaced ribbon-work at, 116. Thierry, William, Abbot of, 174. Tighearnach, annals of, 196, 199. Tigress, the, described in the Divine Bestiary, 170. Tonsure, the Celtic, 54. Trade emblems on tombstones, 137. Traill, Dr. W., 211. Tyrie, Aberdeenshire, 76. Ulbster, Caithness, 74, 119, 179. Unicorn, the, 171. Urns of Pagan time, 132. Vaarex, in Norway, Viking grave- mound at, 32. Valens, the Emperor, 42. Vatican Codex, the, 153. Velletri, 144, 150. Vercelli Codex, the, 242. Verona, 112, 166. Viking graves at Westray, Orkney, 28. Viking period, bowl-shaped brooches of the, 30. Vine, the, in Christian art, 238. Virgin and child, representations of, 156. Wales, monuments of, 74, 117. inscribed monuments of, 213, 221, 222, 224. Warriors, representations of, 123. Waterhouse, Messrs., account of the Tara brooch by, 17. Weapons, representations of, 122. Wemj^ss, caves at East, 184. Westray, Orkney, Viking graves in, 29. Whale of Jonah, the, its form derived from the dragon of Andromeda, 139. represented as a quadruped, 153. Whitecleuch, Lanarkshire, silver chain found at, 44, 51, 177. Whithorn, inscribed monument at, 93, 252. Wilson, Dr. Daniel, 5. Wilson, Ftev. George, 90. Woodwray, 106. WjTitoun's Cronykill, 186. Wyvern, the, 171. Yarrow kirk, inscribed monument at, 251. ZiLLis, paintings in the church of, 173. Pri7itedby R. & R. Clark, Edinbtirgh. / — ■ DATE DUE UNIVERSITY PRODUCTS, INC. #859-5503