On the Oat-Stane, Kirkliston

IV. E OAT-STANEOTH N E TOMBSTONTH , T KIRKLISTONO ET I S I N : E GRANDFATHETH P O F HENGISO R. Y HORSAD . J AN TY B ? SIMPSON, M.D., PKOFESSOB OF MEDICINE AND MIDWIFERY IN THE UNIVER- SITY or EDINBUKOH, V.P. R.S A., SOOT., &o. The Medieval Archaeology of Scotland is confessedly sadly deficient in written documents. From the decline of Boman records and rule, onward throug r eigho nexe x th htsi t centuries have w , e very few r almos,o t no written data to guide us in Scottish historical or antiquarian inquiries. No numismatiy r havan e ew c evidence whateve n conappeao I rt -. to l sequence of this literary dearth, the roughest lapidary inscriptions, be- 120 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF longin theso gt e dark period f onso r history , e investecomb o t e d with an interest much beyond their mere intrinsic value. The very want of other contemporaneous lettered documents and data imparts importance to the rudest legends cut on our ancient lettered stones. For even brief and meagre tombstone inscriptions rise into matters of historical signifi- cance othee , wheth l r al nliterar d y chroniclean n me annald e sth an f so of the times to which these inscriptions belong have, in the lapse of ages, been destroye lostd dan . needless i t I dwelo st well-knowe l th her n eo n fact, tha Englann i t d and Scotland there have been left, by the Eoman soldiers and colo- nistoccupieo wh s r islanou d d durin e firsth g t four centuriee th f o s Christian era, great numbers of inscribed stones. British antiquarian topographicad an l works abound with description drawingd san thesf so e Eoman lapidary writings. But of late years another class or series of lapidary records has been particularly attracting the attention of British antiquaries,—viz., inscribed stones of a late-Roman or post-Eoman period. The inscriptions on this latter class of stones are almost always, if not always, Sepulchral. The characteristically rude letters in which they are written consist—in the earliest stones—of debased Eoman capitals; and —in the latest—of the uncial or muniuscule forms of letters which are oldese useth n di t Englis Irisd han h manuscripts. Some stones shon wa intermixtur botf eo h alphabetical characters. These " Eomano-British" inscribed stones, as they have been usually termed, have hitherto been found principally in Wales, in Cornwall, and in "West Devon. In the different e Welspartth f so h Principality, nearl hundrede yon I believe,, have already been discovered. In Scotland, which is so extremely rich in ancient Sculptured Stones, very few Inscribed Stones are as yet known ; diligend an e du t searca f i t institutede hb bu , others doubto n , , will betimes be brought to light. An inscribed Scottish stone of the class I allude to is situated in the county of Edinburgh, and has been long known under the name of the Cat-stane or Battle-stone. Of its analogy with the earliest class of Eomano-British inscribed stones fount full no Wales n yds i awarwa I , e opportunitn a d tilha I l f examininyo g last e meetinyearth e t th a , f go Cambrian Archajological Society valuabla , e collectio f rubbingno d san drawing thesf so e Welsh stones, brought forwar thay db t excellent anti- ANTIQUARIE1 12 SCOTLANDF SO . quary, Mr Longueville Jones ; and afterwards, in situ, one or two of the stones themselves I venture followin.e th n i , g remarks direco t , e th t attentio e Societ th Cat-stanee f th n o o yt , partl consequencn yi f thio e s belief in its analogy with the earliest Welsh inscrihed stones ; partly, also d almosorden i ,an adducd o t r tol unknown a e n descriptioe th f no Cat-stane, made in the last years of the seventeenth century, by a gentleman who was perhaps the greatest antiquary of his day; and partly because I have a new conjecture to offer as to the historical per- sonage commemorated in the inscription, and, consequently, as to the probable age of the inscription itself. Site and Description of the Stone. The Cat-stane stands in the parish of Kirkliston, on the farm of Briggs,1 in a field on the north side of the road to Linlithgow, and between the sixtd seventan h h milestone from Edinburgh s placei t I d. withia n hundred yards of the south bank of the Almond ; nearly half a mile below the Boathouse Bridge ; and about three miles above the entrance of the stream int Eomad Frite ool th Forthf e ho n th statiot a , Cramondf no r o , Caer Amond. The monument is located in nearly the middle of the base otriangulaa f r for grounf ko d forme e meetin th Goga e y th db f go r Water wit Rivee th h r Almond G-ogae Th . r flows int Almone oth d aboux si t or seven hundred yards below the site of the Cat-stane.2 The ground on which the Cat-stane stands is the beginning of a ridge slightly elevated above the general level of the neighbouring fields. The stone itself con- sistmassiva f so e unhewn secondare blocth f ko y greenstone-trae th f po district, man yneighbourine largth f o ed boulderbe e gth f whicsn o i e hli The farm is called " Briggs. or Colstane" (Catstane), in a plan belonging to Mr 1 Hutchison, of his estate of Caerlowrie, drawn up in 1797. In this plan the bridge (brigg) ove Almonde th rboathousee th t a , lais i , danothen i downt Bu r. older plan •which Mr H. has of the property, dated 1748, there is no bridge, and in its stead ther representatioa s ei ferry-boae th f no t crossin rivere gth . 2 In this strategetic angular fork or tongue of ground, formed by the confluence of thes riverso etw , Quee r suitn he Mar ed wereyan , accordin Eoberr M o gt t Chambers, caugh carries tBothwely wheb wa f e dof nsh l e 24tonth f Apriho l 1567. (Ses ehi interesting remark Localite sth Abductioe n "th O f yo Queef no n MaryProe th -n "i ceeding Societe th f s o f Scottis yo h Antiquaries ,. 331. volp . ii .) 122 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO Y O river somewhafors n i I .mt i t prismatic r irregularlo , y triangular, with its angles very rounded. This large monolith is nearly twelve feet in circumference, about four feet five inche widthn si thred an , e feet three inches in thickness. Its height above ground is about four feet and a- Honourable halfTh . Eamsas eMr f Barntonyo , upon whose son's property the monument stands, very kindly granted liberty last year for an examination by digging beneath and around the stone. The accom- panying woodcut ,frieny takem r Drummond M y db n a copa f s o yi , Fig. 1. sketch e ,e stontime madth th s exposef t ea o ,a e d when pursuing this search around its exposed basis. We found the stone to be a block seven feet three inche n totasi l length nearld an , y three feet burien i d places wa soil e t dI th upo. a basin f stonesso , forming apparently the ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 123 remain buila f so t stone grave, which, containe boneso dn r otheo 1 r relics, and that had very evidently been already searched and harried. I shall indeed have immediately occasion to cite a passage proving that a century and a half ago the present pillar-stone was surrounded, like some other ancient graves, by a circular range of large flat-laid stones; and when this outer circl s removed,—iwa e t before,—thno f e vicinitd yan base of the central pillar were very probably dug into and disturbed. Different Readings Inscription.ofthe inscriptioe Th uppee th neastere n ro upo th hal t stone f o ncu th fn s ei narrowesd an e triangulat th fac f o e r monolith. Various descriptionf o s legene th d have been give differeny nb t authors latese Th .t published s thaaccouni t ti givef o t Professoy b n r Daniel Wilsos worhi kn i n on Scottish Archaeology. He disposes of tlie stone and its inscription followinthin etwo g short sentence westwarmiles the :— few sto " A dof oft-notee thith s si d Catt Stan Kirkliston ei n parish whicn o , painfue hth l antiquary may yet decipher the imperfect and rudely lettered inscription,—the work, most probably f muco , h younger hands than those that reared the mass of dark whinstone on which it is cut,—IN [H]00 TVMVLO IACET VETT . VICT . A. Abou . E t sixty yardo st the west of the Cat-stane a large tumulus formerly stood, which was opened in 1824, and found to contain several complete skeletons; but nearl l trace y t al havdisappeared."i w f so eno 2 In the tenth volume of the Statistical Account of Scotland, collected The comparative rapidity or slowness with which bones are decomposed and dis- 1 appear in different soils, is sometimes a question of importance to the antiquary. We all know that they preserve for many long centuries in dry soils and dry posi- tions.

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