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VI. NOTE SCOTTISN O S H INCISED SLABS (II). BY F. A. GREENHILL, M.A.(OxoN.), F.S.A.ScoT. Read October 1945.27, KINKELL (ABERDBENSHIBE). Gilbert Grenlau, Esq. (1411). Two sketches of this slab have already appeared: one, by Andrew Gibb, F.S.A.Scot., in the Proceedings for 1876-77,1 the other, by James Logan, in the second volume of his Collectanea Ecclesiastica in Provincia Abredonensi (1819), whic includee har e volumth n di e (Lagan's Collections) issue Thire 194n dth i y d1b Spalding Club. apology M 2 r devotinyfo g part of this communicatio face t th liei t n nsthao i t t neithe thesf o r e sketches si satisfactory. Both omit certain details and delineate others inaccurately, while Logan, by greatly exaggerating the width, produces a figure of almost Falstaffian proportions, and in neither case was any attempt made to supplement the drawing by an adequate description. The only accurate reproduction I have yet seen is a small photograph at page xxviii of the introduction to the Third Spalding Club volume just referred to, but it was evidently takeunsuitabln a n ni e stone shadown lighti e th s r th ei fo ,d an , incisions do not stand out with the requisite sharpness. slae bbrownisTh f o (fig , 1) . h sandstone, is placed pedesta uprighw lo a n lo t withi pre-Reformatioe nth n churc f Kiiikell ho ruinsn i w , no ,whic h stands near the left bank of the Don about two miles below Inverurie. The lower portio lef w losts ni whad tno measurean ,s i t fees4 t 10^- inche fee2 y t sb 1 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot.,.vol. xii., Part 1, pi. viii. "- P. 88. PROCEEDING SE SOCIETYOTH F , 1945-46. 6|r inches. It bears the boldly though somewhat crudely engraved effigy of an armed man, with a marginal inscriptiod nan two shields. This figure is of excep- tional interest as an all too rare example of Scot- tish armou opene th n -i r fifteente yearg th in f so h century. Onl otheo ytw r slabs showing Scottish armou f thio r s period are known to me; the first is in the churchyard of Foveran, near New- burgh, Aberdeenshire, and is illustrated and described in the 1908-9 volume of the Proceed- ings; t hasi 1 , unfortun- ately, been somewhat marre recuttingy b d . The second a lie n i s mausoleum in the policies of Duff House, Banff; here the original figure is obscured, and partially obliterated, by a barbar- ousl t effigyy cu wor e th , k of an ignoramus, which s beeha n superimposed upon it. The armour portrayed on the Kinkell slab is of mixed mail and plate. On the head is an acutely pointed bascinet, on the front of which are two Fig. 1. Gilbert Grenlau, Esq. (1411) (obverse). curious objects whicI h Kinkell, Aberdeenshire. have not found on any 1 Pp. 309-11. NOTE SCOTTISN O S H INCISED 5 SLAB4 S (II). other military monument of the period; from their position, they seem designed for the attachment of a visor. Mr Charles ffoulkes, F.S.A., the eminent authorit n armouro y , suggests that thehavy yma e a bee r nfo removable visor which could be hooked on and off, as distinct from the more normal hinge r pivoteo d d types which wer e helmet th fixe o t d . Coverin e facd comine sideth an g th ef o s g well down ove e shoulderth r s is the mail cape or camail, with invecked lower edge. There is no sign of its attachment to the bascinet, to the rim of which it was usually laced cordy b s passed throug hseriea staplesf so . Ove jupone bode th th r s y i tight-fittina , g sleeveless coa somf o t e stout material faced with silk or velvet, on which are embroidered the wearer's s showarmsi t I n. somewhat shorter than usual s loweit , r edge being hidden unde bawdrice th r . From beneat t happeari bottoe sth m portion of the mail shirt or hawberk, with invecked lower edge. The outline of the body seems to suggest that a cuirass of plate may have been worn over the hawberk beneat e juponhth . Excepe insidee uppeth th r f o rfo st arms, wher e hawbereth k sleeves appear e arm th wholle , ar s y encase platen di , with rerebrace r demi(o s - brassarts) covering the outer sides of the upper arms, articulated coudes elbowse th vambraced t a an , s enclosin notee b e forearmsy dgth ma t I . that while the securing straps of the vambraces are shown, those of the rerebrace lefe sar thandse outTh . , whic baree hplacear e ar ,behine don d attitudothee n a th n ri devotionf eo . Chaussons of mail are worn on the thighs, and over them, covering the front portion, cuisse platef o s e strapth , s holding the mplacn i e being well genouilleree shownth f O . s onl uppee yth r part remains t thebu , y appear to have been pointed in profile, like those worn by the two figures on the Foveran slab. The posture of the thighs seems to indicate that the feet wer degreeseffec 0 e angln eth a 18 turnef t d t ea o mus an ,t dou t have been most ungainly. The bawdric, passing aroun loine buckled th san frontn di divides i , d into narrow vertical sections, probabl denoto yt e alternate band differenf so t coloured material, but the engraver has omitted to complete this ornament on the left-hand side. A plain and much narrower belt, also buckled in front, crosses diagonally fro righe mundep th hi te bawdri th e lefr th t o ct thigh, where it supports the sword, a ponderous weapon having a pear- shaped pommel, long grip ornamented in a lozenge pattern, and guard with drooping quillons broadening into leaf-like terminations. Attached to the bawdric on the right-hand side by a small strap is the misericorde, with bound grip and trefoil-shaped pommel. On eithe e heara larg th sid s df i eo e shieldw e dexteno th ,e on r blank (perhaps originally painted); the sinister bears A chevron between 2 water-bougets in chief and a hunting-horn in base. These charges are 46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1945-46. repeated on the jupon, the chevron being concealed by the hands and forearms. Roun edge marginaa dth s ei l strip containin gblack-lettea r inscription, with roundels, now blank, at the corners; these may possibly have been painted with symbol e evangelistth f o s r contracteo s d word f prayero s . The surviving portio inscriptioe th f no n reads : "Hie iacet nobilis armiger gilbertus de gre- ------------ anno d(omi)ni M.CCCC.XI." The portion of a fourth letter of the surname is almost certainly the firs t e surname strokth "n"n a r f fo ,eo , fortunately doubt,n i t e no th s i , arms on the slab being identical with those of Gilbert Grenlau, the contem- porary bisho f Aberdeeo p n (1390-1422) s counter-seal.s givehi a , n o n 1 The fact same tha squire th th ted Christiaeha n bishoe namth s ea p would sugges probabls t thawa e th ynephea thaf wo t dignitary. montd an Althouglonge o f deaty n ho recorde da n o rhar e hth , owing to the mutilation of the stone, they can be inferred with practical certainty, 24tn foo r h July 141 e blood1th y battl f Harlaeo s foughwwa t withina few miles of Kinkell, and many of the slain are said to have been brought thithe burialr casualte rfo Th . y listBoece'ballan d i ol sd givee dan sth n i History e outstandin e confineth ar f o vera w o dt y fe gma leaderse w t bu , be certain that no Lowland gentleman in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, a nea l leasral f kinsmao t e bishopth f no , could have been backwarn di battlee t falleanswerin th mighno e n ne i on , h t d cale garmsha o th t l d an , expect that Gilbert Grenla e squiruth e would have foun lass hi dt resting- plact Machar'S n ei s Cathedral face tTh tha. liee t h Kinkeltsa l seemo st imply that he fell early in the action and that his body, when recovered (probably several days afterwards) conditioa n i s wa , n that would effectually preclud removas eit intermenr lfo Aberdeen.n i t The armour worn by Grenlau shows the penultimate stage in the transition from full mail to complete plate, which seems to have been finally achieved ove r Lowlande mosth f o t y abousb t slabe 1420th Davi f s o a , d Bercla Luthrif yo e (1421 t Creicha ) Johf ,o Fifend an Galychtl, abouf y(o t e samth e date possibld same an , th ey yb engraver t Longforgana ) , Perth- shire, both show figures completely armed in plate, save for a few very minor accessories of, mail. In the Highlands and Isles mail survived for another couple of centuries, the only example of complete plate I have seen in that area being the early sixteenth-century effigy of lain Maclain of Ardnamurcha slaa n lonn bni o a Cathedral.

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