Proceedings of the Society, May 9, 1892. Notice of a Bronze Bell of Celtic Type at Forteviot, Perth- Shire. by Joseph Anderson
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434 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1892. VII. NOTICE OF A BRONZE BELL OF CELTIC TYPE AT FORTEVIOT, PERTH- SHIRE. BY JOSEPH ANDERSON, LL.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY AND KEEPER OF THE MUSEUM. The bronze bell now exhibited by the kindness of Rev. James Auderson, D.D., minister of Forteviot, has been brought to light by' the a worthobservan f o ye ey t Corresponding Member of the Society, Kev. John Maclean, minister of Grantully, to whom e walsar eo indebtee th r fo d discover e bronzth f yo e belf o l Little'Dunkeld, describen i d e Proceedings,,th vol. xxiii. p . 11.8. The Forteviot bell (fig) 1 . strongly resembles the Little Dunkeld bell in its general character largers i t ,bu , measur- ing 11 inches in height, in- clusive of the handle, which rises 2| inchesp abovto e th e of the bell. The body of the Fig . Bronz1 . e Bell, Forteviot (\). bel s thui l Js8 inche heighn si t e usuaan th inched7 f lo quadrangulawidte n mouths i i th t t hI a . r form, with a strong, heavy handle set on the rounded top of the bell, so that the upper part of the loop is horizontal and the sides bent inwards. t I make e fift f th thesso h e Celtic bell f bronzo s knoww eno Scotn ni - land, the others being—(1) the belief St Fillan of Glendocharfc; (2) the bell of St Eonan or Adamnan at Insh on the Spey; (3) the bell of t FinaS f Eileano n Finan Locn i , h Shiel, Ardnamurchane th ) (4 d an ; bel f Littlo l e Dunkeld, before mentioned. e bel f FortevioTh o l t differ e othes th fro l rm al bronz e bells known ni NOTICE OF A BRONZE BELL OF CELTIC TYPE. 435 Scotland, in having on the centre of one of its flat sides the letter M formed in relief as part of the casting. There is a quadrangular bronze bel Irelandn i l s fla, it whic tf o side e hn inscriptio a sbearon n o s - re n questing " a prayer for Cumascach, the son of Aillell." This Cumascaclr wae steware th Celtis th f o cd monaster f Armagh yo s deat hi s d hi an , recorded in the year 904, so that the inscription is later than the com- mencement of the 10th century. Judging from the form of this letter M on the Forteviot bell, an earlier date than this could scarcely be e executioth t rudo s Bu assignes eni tha. it t wouli to dt unwise db o et lay much stress on the characteristic form of a single letter. The general design of the bell itself is suggestive of a later date than the bell of St Pillan, which is probably the oldest of all the bronze bells of Scotland s certainli d an finese , th ydesign i t workmanshipd nan e Th . bell f Littlso e Dunkel Forteviotd dan , however, have suc familha y like- ness as to suggest that they both belong to the same local group, as well as to the same period of time—a period when the Celtic Church in Scotlan d lonha dg ceasee Irisb n anythin i ho t s d origi it t nbu g and traditionary usages, and probably after the emergence of the Scottish Church from "servitude unde e laws'anth r d custom f the-Pio s c tsn "i centuryh 9t e th . Fortevio s fro n earlwa ma t y perio residencda e Pictisth f eo h kings. e legent AndreS Th f o d w represent t Eegulufollowers S s hi d s an sa s proceeding to Forteviot with the relics of the holy apostle immediately after their landing at Kilrymont (St Andrews) in 761. King Hungus ha dn expeditioa gon n o e n into Argyle t thebu ,y foun thres dhi e sons residing at Forteviot. These princes are said to have given the tenth t parAndrewerecte holn e S f tha o th td y me t d an d" an ,d town Go o t " a cross in' commemoration of the gift, and gave their blessings to the royae th o lt plac familyd ean , whose abod t wasei . Then they weno t t Kindroche Braeman s i t hi l al meeo t rkine d th tan g return s e oh n hi d an , nobles prostrated themselves befor t e relicAndrewS th e f so , which were there shown to them"; and he gave that place to God and St Andrew, and built a church there. Then he came over the Mounth to Monichi, and there, in honour of God and the blessed apostle, he built a church; and so .the king came with the holy men to Forteviot and built there a 6 43 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE , 18929 TH Y F . O SMA , church (basilica) to God and St Andrew. The church erected at Forteviot is styled in the legend a " basilica," while the others erected at Kindrochet and Monikie are specified by the common term " ecclesia," narrative th d thay an sa et o afterwardgoet n so s they wen Kilrymono t t t Andrews(S passind an ); n processioi g n seven times roun a gread t part of that place, he gave it to God and St Andrew for the construction ther f churcheeo s (basilicas oratoriesd an ) e "townTh . r "urbso " f o " Forteviot, mentioned as the" abode of the royal family, would be the king's " rath fortifier "o d residence churcy an d h erectean , t thada t time would probabl withie yb fortifiee nth d precincts r StuarD . t considered that this royal residence was the Dun Fothir of the Irish annals, which j is'state havo dt e e sugtwich A4 d ;eD. 69 an suffere, d an d1 sieg68 n ei gests that the namy mea e du'n-oma enth f th ee men districtth ^f o r ;o Kine th Fortren f f ogo o r tera , m latterly synonymous wit kingdome hth ' e southern'PictSoth f ; Fothuir-tabaich r Fortevioo t s mentionei t d in Pictise th on f eo h chronicle splac e asth e where Drust e lasth , t kinf go the Picts, was killed; though other chronicles place this event at Scone; Kenneth Macalpin e Scoti th e firs f ^th o ct dynasty succeedeo ,wh d Drustj died "in-palacio'su Fothuir-tabaichte od S60n "i i s e reigIhi n th f o n successor Donald , Gaedhee "th l established with their kin Fortevion gi t the rights and laws of the kingdom of A6dh, son of Eocha," which Dr Skene explains referrins 1a e establishmenf successioth o o w gt la e nth f o t in use among the Scots, which iii its preference of the male over the female successio s oppose wa n e Picts e transactio th o that dTh f o .t n seems to bear a close resemblance to that recorded as having taken place in the reign of Donald's successor; Cdiistantiiie, on the Mount of Belief at Scone, when " the King, with Kellach the Bishop; with the Scots, swor observo et law e disciplind eth san e faithth f ,eo ane righte dth th f so churches and the Gospels." r SkenD e states that Forteviot seem havo st e continue droyaa l resi- dence till the reign of Donald, the soil of Constaiitine; the fifth in succession from Kenneth Macalpin, when Scone becam e capitaeth r fo l e ancienth a t timetBu ;"palace t Fortevioa " t seem havo t s e been restored by Malcolm Carimorej and continued to be> at least occa- sionally, the residence of his successors. In the reign of Malcolm NOTIC BRONZA F O E E BEL F CELTIO L 7 43 C TYPE. the Maiden (1153-65) we find a charter granted by him at Fetherteviet e landoth f f Eossivso Dundud ean Eadulo t f f Frebern amond an , e gth witnesse Countese th e sar s Ada king'e th s s mother; William king'e th , s brother (who afterwards as king himself confirmed the charter) ; William of Egremont, and the usual officers of State. So late as 1306, and dur- e inEnglisth g h invasions Edward, Princ f WaleSeo j date lettesa r from Forteviot, in which he thanks Sir Aymer de Valence for his protection extende e monkth o f dCupat so AnguSn i r i At the west end of the village of Forteviot there is an eminence called the Holy Hill, from its traditional attribution as the site of the " palace " of the early kings, and consequently also the site of the early church dedicate t AndrewS o dt , from t frowhich s regano m it d l an ;associations , the popular epithet of " holy " must necessarily have arisen. The ruins which existed upon it in 1633, as mentioned by Adamson in The Muse's Tlirenodie, were supposed by him to be those of a castle-—mean-- in y thae royab g th t l castle—but evidenco thern s i e e that thers ewa ever a castle at Forteviotj and the royal residences of the time referred wero t e no't likel leavo yt remarkably ean e accumulation ruinsf so , unless thos f theio e r circumvallations s evei t nI doubtfui e churcheth f i l s whic t EeguluhS s persuade kine dth "o gt buil d " were edifice stonef o s , but they may have been succeeded at Some time much nearer the 12th century by churches of stone.