44 Proceedings of the Society, 1957-58. the Origin Centre
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44 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1957-58. III. E ORIGITH N CENTRE PICTISTH F EO H SYMBOL STONES. BY ISABEL M. HENDERSON, M.A. In this paper I use the classification of the stones given by Romilly Alien s descriptivhi n i e earle th lis f yo t monument Scotlanf so d c1 Clas . sI Undressed boulders with incised symbols. Clas . sII Dresse d slabs with symbols, cros figurd san e sculptur reliefn ei . Class III. Similar sculptured slabs but Avithout symbols. Sinc publicatioe eth Romillf no y Alien's lis 190n i t 3 additional symbol stones have been found with more or less regularity. His statistics Table,2 therefore, requires some revision. Apart from numerical correction there are other ways in which the Table can be made more useful. There is no doubt that his inclusion of monument statistics for the non-Pictish area makes the lack of symbol-bearing monuments there an impressive blank on the Table, which shows clearly the national character of the symbolism. unfortunates i t I , however, that all-Scotland figures have been carried over by other writers into discussion concernin e developmength purele th f o yt Pictish monuments. The presence in the statistics of numbers relating to, say, West Highland Crosses, can only be misleading. Alien gives statistics for each modern county. The Table could perhaps be given more significanc e lanth df i eunit s were taken fro e earliesmth t relevant land survey. Thi e Poppletos founi sth n i d n MS.treatisa n i 3 e beginning De Situ Albanie . composed probably in the reign of William the Lion (1165—1214). The survey omits Argyll and so presumably refers to Pictise th h area prio 843o rt perioa ; d very relevan symboe th o t t l stones. Accordin e surveth dividelane s o gt yth dwa d anciently into seven parts: "Enegus cum Moerne" (Angus and the Mearns); "Adtheodle et Gouerin" (Atholl and Gowrie); "Sradeern cum Mejieted" (Strathearn and Menteith); "Fif cum Fothreue" (Fife and Kinross); "Marr cum Buchan" (Mar and Buchan); "Muref et Ross" (Moray and Ross); "Cathanesia" (Caithness). Most of these names are used as district names in present day Scotland, whether they still represent exactl same yth e territorial area less si s certain. 1 The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1903), n, 3. The introduction is by Joseph Anderson (Rhind Lectures, 1892). In this paper numbers after a place-name refer to Alien's enumeration of the stones at any one site. 1 . Ibid.,10 , II 3 Bib. Nat., Latin 4126. The treatise is translated in A. O. Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History (Edinburgh, 1922), I, cxv-cxix. This MS. contains several Scottish pieces including a list of the kings of the Picts and a list of the kings of the Scots. E ORIGITH N CENTRE PICTISTH F O HE SYMBOL STONES5 4 . A. second survee samth en yi treatise define e lanth s d division naturay sb l feature thid san help determino st e just wha meant. s uniti te Th s which seem to have departed most radicall1 y from the modern areas are those e MounthBuchand th an N f r o . Ma ,; Mora Rosd Caithnessd yan san r Fo . example, "Marr cum Buchan" must bear some relationship to modern Mar and Buchan but these areas as we know them are not the equivalent of the area defined by the second survey: "... from the Dee to the great and •wonderful river tha s callei t e Spey.dth " However, inexact thouge hth interpretatio e surveyth f no se impressio musth , e be th t f o n t whicge e hw territorial division certais si n enoug mako ht e them useful. Her intere eth - pretatio f "Marno Buchanm cu r " e secongiveth n ni d surve accepteds yi with the exception of Strathspey itself whic2 h is treated as part of Morayshire. secone Th d survey give topographicao sn l clues abou aree th t a "Muret e f Ros." However we can safely assume that Moray comprises modern Nairn, Moray and Inverness-shire and that Ross means Easter Ross. Caithness is secone t mentioneth no n i d l surveyal t da . Watson define s Caithnesa t i s s south-easd an t Sutherland.3 The following Table will give statistic lane th dr unitsfo s e giveth n ni treatise, omit all non-Pictish statistics and include corrections of Alien's discoveried ad tabl d ean s published later.* Clas I figuresII omittee ar s s da they would require considerabl et relevan re-workine no th e ar o t t d an g present discussion. Statistics form the bases of arguments for both Alien and Anderson, particularly in their discussions on dating and origin. The question of origin, alone, wil treatee lb d here. It is clear that the custom of erecting stones with incised symbols began in the N., that is to say N. of the mountain range known as The Mounth. The numerical superiority of the Class I stones in this area is such as to make thi certaintysa . Alien believes thapossibls i t i t locato et origie eth n centre even more specificall witd mucys an h a h certainty. frequenc"Ie fth e th f yo occurrence of the monuments is any criterion of their origin then the table that has been given clearly points to Aberdeenshire as the home of the stones belonging to Class I . ." 6 This interpretation of the statistics is shared by Joseph Anderson introductioe th n i Alien'o nt s list. Alien recognizee sth t includeI s Argyll however Poppletoe th sevee n th I als. lisa f n.o s to i nMS son f Cruithneo s , geographica1 l eponyms of the districts in Pictland. All but two can be equated with the units in D fula e r situ.l discussioFo e surveyth f no . Ws v . WatsonJ . Historye Th , Celtic e oth f Place Namesf o Scotland (Edinburgh, 1926), 107 ff. 2 In some ways the area covered by the old bishopric of Aberdeen might be taken to represent "Marr cum Buchan," but such an equation ignoring as it does the evidence of the second survey would require further investigation. interpretatioe th r Fo 3 Moraf no Rosd Caithnesd yan san . Watsonsv cit.,. op , 115-17. 4 For Class I additions and corrections see Appendix. : 5 B.C.M.S., n, 13. He suggests that Inverurie might be the centre from which the habit spread northwards and southwards. 46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1957-58. SYMBOL-BEARING MONUMENT PICTLANDN I S . Areas Class I ClasI sI Angus 10 32 The Mearns . 6 1 Total 16 33 Atholl 1 2 Gowrie 4 14 Total 5 16 Strathearn 2 3 Menteith Total 2 3 Fife .... 3 2 Kinross Total 3 2 Mar 1 . 49 6 Buchan 5 Total 54 6 Moray .... 34 3 Ross .... 8 5 Total 42 8 Caithness 5 3 South-east Sutherland 16 1 Total 21 4 Western Isles 2 5 I Shetland 1 Orkney. 4 1 1 Mar is interpreted as Aberdeenshire excluding Buchan, and all Banffshire excluding Strathspey. The provinc proper Ma f reo represent mucsa h smaller area. Westere Th 2 n Isles, Shetlan Orkned t appea situ.de an no D o yn d ri E ORIGITH N CENTR EE PICTISOTH F H SYMBOL STONES7 4 . assumption which lies behind this conclusion: area of prevalence signifies are f origino a . Anderson believes that this must stane db unlesn ca t i s shown that there were special reason prevensuggeste o t se H on . s it ta s such reason, the sudden conquest by an alien race, which might compel the people employing the symbols to remove to another area, and there to reduplicate their symbols. But, Anderson adds, since all classes of stones, I, II and III are represented in Aberdeenshire there is no suggestion of a disturbing influenc thaf o e tbelievee h sort o s ; s that throwe "..ar e nw . back on the unavoidable conclusion that the type of Class I originated and was developed in Aberdeenshire . ." 1 The following points can be made in criticism of Anderson's argument: 1. The fact, even if it were allowed, that there is normal continuity from AberdeenshirClas n i ClasClaso o t t I I sI II sI a t no s ei valid proof that the centre of origin of Class I did not suffer a disturbing influence. A centre of origin other than Aberdeen- shire might stil postulatee lb d which suffered durin earliese gth t period of the use of symbol stones "a disturbing influence" sufficient to cause a transfer of settlement to Aberdeenshire and multiplicatioe th symbole th f no s there. 2. Anderso thus ni s left with onl argumens yhi t base statisticn do o st support his suggestion that Aberdeenshire is unavoidably the centre of origin. Now while the numbers of Class I stones there must remain impressive s possibli t i , offeo et a statisticar l argumena r fo t more northerly origin centre. The impressiveness of Aberdeen's numerical lead depreciates considerably whe e considew n r statistics relevant to the more ancient land divisions. Alien attributed forty-one stone Aberdeenshiro t s e wit s neareshit t rival Sutherland with fifteen. The new relevant figures are: Mar and Buchan fifty-four; Moray and Ross forty-two. More- over sixteen of the twenty-one examples in "Cathanesia" are in SB.