SCULPTUEED SLABS AND HEADSTONES IN INVEENESS-SHIEE. 309

V.

NOTES ON SOME SCULPTUEED SLABS AND HEADSTONES IN THE CHURCHYARD GLENCONVINTF SO KIRKHILLD HAN , - SHIRE THOMAY B . S WALLACE, F.S.A. SCOT.

Convinth Churchyard..—This ancient burial-place is situ- ated abou mile6 t s wes f Beauly o roate th dn o leadin, g from Tomna- cross to Glenurquhart. d chapeThol ee ruinlth stilf o s l remains historit t s veri bu y, y fragmentary. Convinth, or Conway, was a parish in 1221, and was 1226n i 125 n t I i patronage forme.f 8 th o t vestes dou wa eJoh n di n Byset youngee th , Lovatf ro . Between 125 beed 127d ha 8an nt 4 i grante monke th o dBeaulyf t so , whendowed oha dvicaa r wit hstipena 5f Jo d merks. The churc dedicates wa h t LawrenceS o dt . Alexander Fuas ywa vicar in 1480, who was succeeded by Sir Donald Walter in 1493. In 1576 Mr John Eraser, prior of Beauly, leased the corn tithes and the vicarage teinds of Convinth to Simon Eraser of Lovat (then four years old), at the rent of " 80 merks for his and his heirs lives, year9 1 r sfo after.d an " The showston1 . eNo ridesa horsebackn o r , sculpture reliew lo f n di withi nrectangulaa r border rathen i , archain a r c style, suggestivf eo the similar figures so common on the sculptured stones of the period of the early Celtic Church. No. 2 resembles the demi-effigies not uncommon in England in e thirteentth d fourteentan h h centuries t excessivelbu , y rarn i e . No. 3 is an ornate recumbent slab with a central cross, having a circular head at either end of the shaft, the space on one side 310 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 191113 Y .

shafe oth f t being fillescrollwora y db e othek th pattern y n b ro d an , a sword a com ,a d shearsnumbe an bd f an smalo , r l circular rosettes.

y\o. i. At Convinth. cup-markee ar 5 cups o beind e Nostw an on ,s g4 . dha stones4 . No . 1| inches in diameter and ^ inch in depth, and the other 1 inch in diameter and slightly less in depth than the other. No. 5 has four cups, all more or less oval in circumference, the largest measuring 3 inches in its largest diameter and i inch in depth, the others SCULPTURED SLAB HEADSTONED AN S GLENCONVINTHT A S 1 31 . smaller, the smallest being li inches in its longer diameter and i inch in depth.

t ConrinthA . 2 . No . No. 3. At Convinth.

Kirkhill Churchyard.—Kirkhill consists of two united parishes, Wardlaw and Farnua, which were united in 1618. The church of Wardlaw originally stood at Dunballoch, near Beauly Bridge, from s removewhicwa bula t hi y ldb fro e Popmth e in 1220. The gable of the church of that date at Kirkhill is still 312 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH P O S , PEBRUAE , 1911Y13 . e seeb no t agains wese th t t mortuare gablth f eo y chapel which was built in 1722.

No. 4. At Convinth. No. 5. At Convinth.

Th e churceth sit f t Dunballoco ea h h still exists t withoubu , a t trace of grave or tombstone. Local tradition says that the grave- stones were carried from Dunballoch to Kirkhill.

314 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 13, 1011.

The church of Farnua stood at Kirkton, Bunchrew, where there are still the remains of the churchyard with several old stones. Th churce e th sit f t eKirkhilo ha calles li d " Wardlaw," which bears meaningn Gaelie ow s Th it .c nam s "i e Knock Mhurie," " Mary's Hill, accordin, "or someo gt e "t Maurice, saiS Hil,s th f do lwa o wh " to be the patron saint of the parish. It is generally thought, however, that the saint was " Mary." The accompanying sketches are of stones from Kirkhill churchyard. No. 6, which is the earliest of the four, is a recumbent grave-slab 6 feet in length, bearing in the centre a cross sculptured in low relief, with a wheel-head ornamented with a geometric pattern of incuse triangles, the shaft rising from a calvary base of four steps. In the space on one side of the shaft, about a third of its length from the top, is a symbol resembling a pair of shears, and on the other side a book. No. 7 is a monument of the last quarter of the seventeenth century, interestins i d an g fro s mixturmit classif eo c desig crudd nan e symbol- isme quainth , t caryatide e pillarth n o ss supportin e pedimenth g t exhibiting the costumes of a woman and girl of the period. No. 8 is an example undated, but obviously of about the same period, lesd an s remarkabl e numbeth r crudenesd efo an r s emblemit f o s f o s mortality. Perhaps the book, an unusual symbol, may signify the office of reader or schoolmaster. • anothes Noi 9 . r exampl almosf eo e samth t e date, show e kirksth - officer of Wardlaw, Andrew M'Robbie, with the deid-bell in his right hand holdind viewlefs an o , t hi t p gn handu ,i humaa , n skul enforco lt e e mott th d emblemoan f mortalito s y below e figur Th s suci .e a h quaint representation of the man and his costume that reference is made to the illustration from a rubbing, given by Mr Eae Macdonald, in the Proceedings, vol. xxxvi. p. 721.