Another Part of a Pictish Symbol Stone from Little Ferry Links, Golspie, Sutherland Gillian Harden*
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Another part of a Pictish symbol stone from Little Ferry Links, Golspie, Sutherland Gillian Harden* INTRODUCTION During preparatory galleropenin e w worth ne r a Inverneskt yfo f a go s Museu t GallerAr d myan in 1982, it was realized that a hitherto unprovenanced and unpublished fragment of a Pictish symbol collectionstone th n ei s forme largeda JoasM rJ Littln piecparsr a o f D o et v e founRe e 188th n d i y 0b * Museum and Art Gallery, Castle Wynd, Inverness | SOCIET 4 57 ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1986 Ferry Links, som milee2 s (south-) (3-2km ) wes Golspief to Dunrobi,n i (NG w 8196)H no R N d n,an Castle Museum. THE INVERNESS STONE stone Th Invernesn ei s Museu probabls mha y collection e beeth n ni s since between 190d 9an 1917 (Wallace 1909, 9; 1917, 60), although no details pertaining to the circumstances of its discovery or the donor have survived. It is part of a slab of red sandstone, trapezoidal in shape, measuring maximum m 0 37 m maximu m lengthm 0 thickm 25 ,m m 5 . widt8 Incise flattere d th han n do , pre- pared^) , surface of the slab is the left side of a crescent and V-rod symbol, and below it the upper arc of pardisc a outlin e f to .Th vers ei y finexcellentld ean y executed deem n m p ,o wid3 bein m d m e an g 3 lese th s weathered areas. On this fragment only the shaft of the left side of the V-rod is present, cut by the deeper incised outline of the left point of the crescent. This part of the crescent is infilled with a simple spiral and an appended lobe and dot motif within a triangular area. Part of the central area of the crescent is also represente similarls i d dan y decorated with lobe dotd botn san s o h spirae sideth f slo (illu . Thers1) e alse ar o trace spiraf so l decoratio smale th n li extant area toward V-roangle e righe sth th th f t edto a stonee oth f . Just below the left side of the crescent and V-rod are two parallel arcs of a disc with maximum , whicradiumm h0 s9 for m par f anotheo t r symbol e inciseTh . d line e similasar techniqun i r d ean ILLLUS 1 Part of the Pictish symbol stone from Little Ferry Links, Golspie, Sutherland lowee .Th r Invernesparn i s ti s Museum uppee th , r parn i t Dunrobin Castle Museum (scale 1:4) SHORTER NOTES 575 dimensions to those of the upper symbol and could be part of a disc, mirror, double disc, mirror case or triple disc symbol. Stephen Crummy produced the reconstruction drawings of all the symbol stones in Inverness Museum's collection r displafo s y purposes. Whilst researchin e varioue formth gth f o s s ClasI s symbol discoveree sh possiblda e link between thi Dunrobin si example on d ne an Castl e Museum (Alien & Anderson 1903c, 47, No 4). With the cd>-operation of Lord Strathnaver, the Inverness example was taken to Dunrobin Castle by the then Assistant Curator (Archaeology), Catharine Millar, to test the suggestion that the two were parts of the same stone. The two fragments did indeed fit together (illus 2). e DunrobiILLUTh S2 Invernesd nan s Little partth f eso Ferry Links stone placed together 6 57 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1986 THE DUNROBIN STONE This trapezoidal fragment of a Pictish symbol stone on red sandstone, found on Little Ferry mm0 incises 9 i t Linksy I . b dmaximus m wit ha m ,terminatio e 0 hth 22 my b dimensionm nm 0 30 f so of a V-rod and the upper arc of part of a crescent. To quote from Alien: Althoug hmera e fragment, this ston valuabls ei mose affordins eth a f t o perfec e beautifugon d an t l examples of the ornamental termination of the V-shaped rod yet found in Scotland. The artistic feeling exhibite drawine th subtle n dth i f go e curve unquestionabls si y great. As discussed elsewhere (Davidson 1946, 32-3; Lacaille 1954, 265-6) the Links between Golspie and Little Ferry have, in the past, yielded many indications of the prehistoric use of the area. Mesolithic and later flint artefacts and debitage abounded, as well as shell and bone middens, stone axe fragments and potsherds. It was in this same general location that the stone in Dunrobin Castle Museu founs presumablymd wa dan , therefore Invernesn i , thaw no t s Museum. Three other frag- ments of Pictish symbol stones were also found in this area (Alien & Anderson 1903c, 46-7). SYMBOLE TH S mose th s ti commonld crescene ro Th V d ytan found Pictish symbol, occurrin morn go e tha0 n5 examples of Class I stones and on about 20 Class II stones. However, the refinement of execution of this exampl r surpasseefa s that exhibite majorite th n do f stones yo , suc thoss ha e from Garbeg, Inverness (Wedderbur Grimn& e 1984,161 Kintradwelld )an , Sutherland (Alie Anderson& n 1903c, 44, No 3). The stylistic achievement of this Little Ferry Links stone can possibly best be compared with examples from South Ronaldsay, Orkney (ibid, , front Findlarig21 d an ) , Moray (Stuart 1867, pi 106), although neithe thesf r o exactl e eus same yth e motif crescene filo st th l V-rod tan d outlines. The lobe and dot motif can be seen in the crescent and V-rod symbols from Inverurie (Alien & Anderson 1903c, 168, No 1) and Kintore (ibid, pi 23, back) but neither also exhibits the spiral motif lattee th particularls d ri an y unrefine styles it flowine n di Th . g spirals withi Little nth e Ferry Links stone suggest a confidence of technique not readily paralleled on other Class I stones using the motif, although a simpler form of spiral can be seen on the Logic Elphinstone example (Stuart 1856, pi 3, No 2). Som crescen0 e3 V-rod an t d symbols sam e occuth symbole n ro fac th disc e s ea th f , so doubl e disc (and Z-rod), triple disc, mirror and/or mirror case on the Class I stones. There are also nearly 10 example f Classo I stonesI s bearing these same characteristics. These various circular symboll sal occu somn i r e instances immediatel crescene Little th lef e f th V-ro yo d th tn e beloo o an t t s da d wan Ferry Links stone. Examples include the disc on the back of the Easterton of Roseisle stone, Moray (Alie Anderson& n 1903c, pi 15) double ,th e disZ-rod can d from Rosemarkie, Easter Ross (ibid, pi , back)7 triple th , Inveravoe disth n co n stone, Banff (ibid,mirroe th , 2) r153 froo N , m Knowf eo Burrian, Orkney (RCAMS 1946, fig 58) and the mirror case from Advie, Moray (Joass 1906, 346). CONCLUSIONS Although still fragmentary, this symbol stone from Little Ferry Links is an example of artistic craftsmanship of singular merit and adds a further dimension to the details outlined by Alien. It also forms an addition to the list of Class I symbol stones which have more than one symbol inscribed upon them, althoug glimpse hth f thaeo t second symbo tantalisingls i l y indefinite. SHORTER 7 NOTE57 I S REFERENCES AlienAnderson& R J , J , 1903a- Earlye Th c Christian Monuments Scotland.n i Edinburgh. Davidson, J M 1946 'A Miscellany of Antiquities in Easter Ross and Sutherland', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 80 (1945-6), 25-33. Joass M 190 J , 6 'Donation Museue th o Library'st d man , Proc Antiqc So Scot, (1905-6)0 4 , 346-7. Lacaille Scotland. n Stonei D e 195 e A Th , 4Ag London. Ritchie, J N G 1985 Pictish Symbol Stones: a handlist 1985. Edinburgh. RCAMS 1946 Royal Commissio Anciene th n Historicand o an t l Monument Scotlandf so , Inventoryf o Ancient Historicald an Monuments: Orkney Shetland.d an Edinburgh. Stuart, J 1856 Sculptured Stones of Scotland, Vol 1. Aberdeen. Stuart, J 1867 Sculptured Stones of Scotland, Vol 2. Edinburgh. Wallace T , 1909 Guide Invernesso t Museum surroundingd an district. Inverness. Wallace ,T 1917 Guide Invernesso t Museum objectsd an of scientific interest surroundinge th n i district. Inverness. Wedderburn, L M McL & Grime, D M 1984 The Cairn Cemetery at Garbeg, Drumnadrochit', in Watson& Friell P (eds) G G W J , , Pictish Studies, Oxford, 151-67. (=Brit ArchaeolRep, 125.).