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Pas News 40 For NEWSLETTER 40 AUTUMN 2006 PAS Conference Saturday 28 October, Cupar, Fife – see details on page 11 Logierait 2 The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland is in the process of revising it’s popular Pictish Symbol Stones Gazetteer, with the aim of producing a fully illustrated edition. In advance of this, RCAHMS carried out a detailed graphic and photographic survey of Logierait 2. This cross-slab was discovered in the kirkyard some time ago by PAS member Niall Robertson. However, it was during a PAS field trip that the presence of symbols on the back was first noted. (See Pictish Arts Soc J, 1, 29–30) John Borland (Drawing by John Borland; Crown copyright: RCAHMS) (Drawing by John Borland; Crown Logierait 2. Scale 1:10 1 Pictish Arts Society at Pictavia Winter programme 2006/07 All meetings at Pictavia on Friday evenings. Doors open at 7pm, talks begin at 7.30. Tea, coffee and biscuits available before and after. 20 October Barbara Robertson 19 January Alex Woolf Pictures Kings, Kingdoms and Kingship among the Picts 17 November Moira Greig 16 February tbc Picts from a different viewpoint 15 December Mark Hall 16 March John Borland Playtime in Pictland: the material culture Detailed Recording of Early Medieval of gaming in early medieval Scotland Sculpture by RCHAMS: from nought to plenty in ninety years Fresh Pict Application should be made by 1 November to: Pictish Conference, Society of Antiquaries of Problems revisited in Aberdeen Scotland, Museum of Scotland, Chambers St, Saturday 18 November 2006 Edinburgh, EH1 1JF. Cheques should be made King’s College, Aberdeen University out to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Draft Timetable 10.00 Coffee, Registration Text and Society 10.30 Nicholas Evans Ideology, Literacy and Matriliny 11.00 David Dumville Matriliny The World of Work 11.30 Lloyd Laing Workshops and Patronage 12.00 Andrew Heald The Role of the Smith This conference brings to Aberdeen some of the 12.30 Lunch in Mackay Hall papers delivered earlier this summer at the Leeds Landscape, wide and narrow International Medieval Conference, and adds 13.30 Simon Taylor extra papers relevant to those interested in the Pictish Place-Names revisited early art and history of north-east Scotland. It is 14.00 Strat Halliday concerned with recent research on the society The Strathdon Survey of Pictish and art of the Picts. Landscape Coffee, registration and lunch are in the James 14.30 Gordon Noble Mackay Hall, straight ahead in the King’s ‘The ground beneath his feet’: the College quadrangle. The papers are delivered landscape context of Rhynie in KCG7 (ground floor, right, as you enter the Man quad). 15.00 Tea The conference is sponsored by The Research Art and Meaning Institute for Scottish and Irish Studies, Aberdeen 15.30 Jane Geddes University and The Society of Antiquaries of The problems of Pictish art: today Scotland. 16.00 Mike King Cost: Registration, tea, coffee – £7, Lunch – £10 The Christian meaning of the Pictish crescent and V-rod symbol 2 Art of the Picts award Signs of the times Earlier this year it was announced that The Art The Aberlemno roadside stones are facing strong of the Picts: Sculpture and Metalwork in Early competition from the proliferation of roadsigns Medieval Scotland (Thames & Hudson) had appearing near them. A new one – 20 when received the 2005–2006 Historians of British Art lights flash – was about to have been erected Book Prize for best multi-authored or edited beside the central stone but, due to the timely volume published in 2004. intervention of PAS members, it was resited on In reviewing the books published in 2004 in the the verge at the other side of the road. field of British art and visual culture, the Book The safety of Aberlemno schoolchildren, Prize committee looked for significance and residents, road users, and visitors to the hall and originality of subject, as well as outstanding stones is paramount, but surely the visual impact methodological approach, breadth and depth of and positioning of the signage could be more research and sources, and quality of writing and sensitively managed. While the stones remain production. The committee also acknowledged in their present location, this 21st-century the impressive and important contribution that desecration should not be allowed to mar the the authors have made to the study of medieval ancient historic site. art in Britain. Meanwhile Historic Scotland has commissioned Our congratulations to George and Isabel further laser-scans of the Aberlemno stones for Henderson on receiving this well deserved comparison with those done several years ago. accolade and prestigious award from their peers. More about a gaming tower Pictish roots The article on the Constantine Exhibition at York Dr Jim Wilson of Edinburgh University runs (PAS News 39, 7–8) provoked the following Ethnoancestry, a business which offers to test response to the Editor. people interested in finding out if they have ‘As one of your more outlying members, I don’t Norse or Anglo-Saxon ancestors by checking an admittedly contribute much, but I cannot help individual’s DNA for unique genetic markers. being uneasy about a bit of the latest newsletter! Following his success in proving the rather To begin with, I have no knowledge of Latin, so obvious – that a large proportion of the people am relying only on logic and instinct; I know I of Orkney are descended from Vikings, he now am skating on thin ice, am perfectly prepared to claims to have a test for Pictish ancestry: ‘Now be shot down, but will plough on regardless! that the markers have moved on massively and (Sorry about the mixed metaphors!) we have discovered that we can trace back the … I refer to the interpretation by Fraser Hunter component of the Picts by looking at the unique [actually by Sheila Hainey] of the gaming tower. grouping of their Y-chromosome. We believe He [she] interprets “the Picts are defeated, the that this would have been found only in enemy destroyed, play in safety”, interpreting the three pairs of words. Scotland.’ Accepting this pairing, can I work backwards? The new test has been launched recently and Taking LUDITE as ‘play’, then LUDITE it is expected to be popular especially with SECURE gives the final part as ‘play in safety’ Americans searching for proof of their ancestry. or ‘play safely’. Fine. However, at £130 a shot, penurious Picts will HOSTIS DELETA would seem to suggest ‘the not be queuing up to find out if their assumed host is destroyed’. Why ‘enemy?’ And just who ethnicity is real or imagined. is the destroyed host? Can the host be Roman? Apparently VisitScotland estimates that As far as I know, victrix (as in the 20th Legion, genealogy tourism is worth more than £150 Chester) or anything ‘vict…’ suggests victory. million a year to the Scottish economy. It’s good Does the Latin ending ‘OS’ change this? Or may to know that the Picts are still contributing I suggest – PICTOS VICTOS means ‘Pictish significantly to our country’s wellbeing. victory’ or ‘Picts victorious’? 3 This puts a potentially much more significant ‘conquered’ or ‘defeated’. In this case, the Picts light on this piece. It overcomes the stated are described as defeated, but that need mean awkwardness of being premature-Picts defeated, no more than that their opponents thought they Romans victorious, when the Picts lasted longer! had the better of a skirmish, or even of a In the 4th century, the Roman Empire was starting prolonged campaign. It does not imply that the to crumble. Does this in fact celebrate a victory Picts would never again be a threat to the Roman over Rome by, or involving the Picts? administration in Britain. SH Finally, it is in Latin, in the style of a Roman carved stone. What is the Archaeological context? If not definitely known, we should remember the Migvie revisited Romans assimilated the locals into their empire (British Roman villas were almost exclusively In the last issue of the Newsletter (39, 7), Bob occupied by high-ranking Britons, not Romans) Henery reported on a recent visit to Migvie – a ‘Barbarian ‘ tribe by the 4th century was most Church where he had been impressed by its probably using Latin, especially, I would think, internal decoration by local craftspeople and in trade or as a common language. surprised to find the Mill of Newton stone Anyone correct my Latin, or supply more of the housed there. He also related how the owner, context of this piece? Philip Astor, had been thwarted in his attempts Yours etc, Alan Whitehouse to house the Migvie cross-slab in the church, due to the prohibitive costs of its conservation. Sheila Hainey replies: This, however, is not the case, and we apologise I am grateful to Alan for raising several points to Philip Astor for publishing this mistake. I should have made clear in the original article. We are pleased now to set the record straight The gaming (or dice) tower in question was by printing his correction about the status of the found on a villa site in Vettweiss-Froitzheim, Migvie stone: Germany. In his note in the catalogue of the York I had indeed proposed that it too should be moved Exhibition, Martin Henig gives other examples into the church, and in this I had the support of of this type of tower, used in a version of the local council’s principal archaeologist, Ian backgammon, and describes similar inscriptions Shepherd. Such a move would have been on boards also used in the same game. One reads consistent with my understanding of Historic PARTHI OCCISI; BRITTO VICTUS; LUDITE Scotland’s policy for protecting vulnerable early ROMANII, translated by Henig as ‘The Parthians symbol stones where practicable.
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