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Hogback Monuments in Scotland

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Hogback Monuments in Scotland Hogback monument Scotlann si d by J T Lang ORIGINS AND DISTRIBUTION hogbace Th house-shapea s ki d recumbent monumen Vikine th wite f o tgh definitivAg a e rooe curvth f o et ridge rooe usualls Th i f. y tegulate gablee th sometimee d sar dan s embracey db three-dimensional animals. Whils hogbace innovation th t a s kwa tenth-centurf no y Norse-Irish settler Northern i s n e ScottisEnglandth s hwa t examplei , s that attracted Russell Walked an r Romilly Alie consideo nt r hogback clasa s f monumensa so theirighn n i t row t (Russell Walker 1885, 406-24; Romilly Alien 1902,403) and to attempt the identification of their origin. The type originated in North Yorkshire about the second quarter of the tenth century and appears to have remained popular in the North Riding and Cumbria for only a short period, perhaps until the end of the century. Its evolution tends to be a series of regional modifications as much as a chronological stylistic progression; for example, the Cumbrian hogbacks are often slim in section with steeply pitched roofs ,Yorkshire thosth n eo e coas more ar t e rectangula desigt n ri a d nan York itself they quickly give way to a fashionable grave-slab with hogback overtones. It is in Scotland, however, thamose th t t developed form encounteree sar finae th l d evolutionardan y stage mostly clearly observed. The earliest forms of hogback are found in the Allertonshire area of North Yorkshire, those from Brompton being well executed copie f lono s g houses with bombe side largd san e muzzled bears as end-beasts, each occupying a third of the monument. Houses of this type have been reveale eleventh-centurn a n di y contex Englandn i t , thougYorkshirn i t hno yets d ea an , Scandinavian sites, notabl Danise yth h fort Trelleborf so Fyrkatd gan , have yielded ground plans of very similar buildings (Schmidt 1970, 13-28). The type of house is clearly in the Viking Age wooden tradition as the tegulation and roof design often testify, but the idea of erecting a house- shaped recumbent monument ove gravra e seem havo st e bee ntenth-centura y innovatio than i t area. Collingwood (1927,164 Baldwid )an n Brown (1937, 287) woodepointef earlo e e th yus o dt n house-shaped shrines as exemplified in the tumba of St Chad, but Anglian stone shrine-tombs, like the Hedda stone at Peterborough, are extremely rare in the hogback area. Indeed, the only straight-ridged shrine-tom Yorkshiren bi t Oswaldkirka , , possesse featuro n s e whic placn hca t ei securel pre-Vikine th n yi g period unlikelys i t I . , therefore, thahogbace th t k evolved directly from the Anglian shrine tomb. Both Romilly Alien and Collingwood recognised that the hogback reflected contemporary building varieta d house-typef san yo representeds i s monumene th t bu , t is primaril ytombstona architecturas it d ean l features takeshoule b literally o t nto d no . The coincidence of hogback distribution with that of Norse-Irish place-names in Northern England possibilite allowth r fo s f ultimatyo e Irish influence. Tegulated house-shaped cape ar s commo tenth-centurn no y high crosse Irelandn si , som thef eo m with pronounced finiale th t a s gables. The popularity of such house skeuomorphs is exemplified not only in the small metal LANG: HOGBACK MONUMENT SCOTLANN 7 SI 20 | D reliquary-shrines but also in large stone grave-covers, like that at Clones, which are in effect skeuomorph f skeuomorphso s tome th : b cove s basei rreliquara n do y casket whic itsels hi f modelle housa n do oratoryr eo hogbacA . t Gosfortka Cumberlann hi thin i s di ver y tradition and its ornamentation echoes Irish metalwork techniques as well as being thoroughly Viking in its animal ornament. The influence of Irish or Scandinavian metalwork may also be reflected in confrontine th g end-beasts sinc zoomorphie eth c gable reliquarfiniale th f so y sometimes take eth form of inward-facing animal-heads placed at the extremities of the roof ridge, and the Bamberg and Cammin caskets boast similar metal ridges (Wilson and Klindt-Jensen 1966, pi LIV and pi LV). It will be seen that certain Scottish hogbacks betray such influence. The achievement of the sculpto firse th t f radicahogbacke o r th n i ly modificatiosla Irise th hf no habi t first Romills a , y Alien observed, in rendering a contemporary vernacular long-house rather than an ecclesiastical buildin r shrinego d secondlan , amplifyinn yi e gablth g e finials into large three-dimensional end-beasts with muzzles. It is upon the development of the end-beasts that the typology of English hogbacks largely rests. On the earlier examples the beasts are recognisably muzzled bears, but as the monument evolves they become more dragonesque until they degenerate into rudimentary animal-head terminals facing inwards fro gablee mth . Alongside this progression hogbacks without end-beasts were produced; these preserv horizontae eth l band f interlacso scrold ean l ornament beloe wth tegulated roof which appeared in some developed forms of the end-beast hogbacks. A number of English hogbacks have illustrative scenes carved upon them which suggest that the monument was originall tombstone yth pagaa f eo n secular society though Christian iconography soon camo et introducede b trena , d whic notee alss b hi Scotlando n dt i . The early Brompton Panee hogbackth f lo Typee sar , wher end-beaste eth large d sar ean naturalistic rooe th ,tegulates i fsidee th sd contaidan n vertical panel f interlaceso . This group developed int Pilastee oth r Type whose end-beast smallee sar eithed ran r degenerat r heavileo y stylise whosd dan e decorative panel raisee sstaggerear d dan d alon same sidee th g th e n .I are e ath Niche Type occurs with large end-beasts and a semicircular niche on the side surmounted by vertical panel interlacf so placn ei tegulationf eo . This type evolved int Extendee oth d Niche Type wher niche eth elongatees i d between smaller end-beast surmountine th d san g ornament occupiesa horizontal panel. Closely relate theso dt e types Illustrative ,th e Typ narrativs eha figurr eo e carving below the eaves. Many of the early end-beasts wear muzzles about their jowls but these tend to disappear as the animals become smaller or more dragonesque; there comes a point where the end-beast is merely an inward-facing animal-head employed in the manner of the reliquary shrines. Hogbacks without end-beasts often resemble long houses and their ornament consists only f architecturao l features. This Plain House Typ commos ei observee b Scotlann n i ca dd dan developing intRomanesque oth e coped grave-cover YorkshirE n I . Enrichen ea d House Type became popular basis it , c house shape being embellished with abstrac zoomorphid an t c orna- EnglanW mentN partd n I . dan f Yorkshir so e Scroleth l Type, wit s steehit p sides, horizontal strip decoratiof so n alon sides gnarroit d san w sectio havy nema been relateExtendee th o dt d Niche Type t certainlI . y lies behin earliese dth t hogbac t GovakClydee a th n no . The distribution of hogbacks (fig 1) shows that in Yorkshire they radiate from the important cemeter t Bromptonya , spreading alon Teee gth s Valley whence the connectee yar Staine th y d-b moor Pass with Eden Valley siteCumberlanthose d th s an f eo d plain importans i t .I notico t e eth relative absence of hogbacks in northern Northumbria and in the Danish areas of Eastern England. Neither are there hogbacks in the Isle of Man, though Ireland has a single outlier (Lang 1971, 154-8) Solwae th n .I y Firth are numbeaa r Cumberlan e occuth n ro d sid t onlebu ya I PROCEEDING 8 20 SOCIETYE TH F SO , 1972-4 Distribution of Hogback Sites in England 8 Wales jit-* ji i\ s ^*« ^ **^ Key: • Hogback Sites • Centres wit hmorr o 5 e Hogbacks \\ 50 0 50 100 150 200 250 Km FlGl LANG: HOGBACK MONUMENT SCOTLANN S9 I 20 | D solitary, idiosyncratic exampl bees eha n Scottis e founth n do h side Englise .Th h distribution, then, in termrelevancs it Scottise f so th r efo h groups, seem havo st e been subjecte clearlo dt y defined s northerlimitit n o s n ease non-Vikine edgeth th t n I . g presene areath f Durhao o sC t d man Northumberland preserved unde protectioe rth t CuthberS f no t their Angliane heritagth n i d ean west the Solway Firth acted as a frontier, perhaps prescribed from the northern shore upon the Viking settlements. Scotlann I hogbace dth k distribution (fi) differg2 s fro Englise mth h patter than ni e th t majority of sites are close to maritime routes. A very distinct group occurs at Govan on the Clyde, Orkne groua s lata yf ha ep strino a typ d f siteegan o s runs alon coase gth t from Berwickshiro et the Firt f Fortho h culminatin clustea Alloe n th gi n ai r district exceptioe Th . thio nt s littoral distributio groua ns i latf po e stone Teviotdalen si nortneares,e e welth th f ho lo t t English example at Hexham, itself an outlier. The outlying monuments in Scotland, like those at Mossknow, Meigl Brechind ean , ten havo dt e peculiaritie ornamenf so theid an t r isolatio stylistis a s i s ni t i s ca topographical.
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