The Pictish Latin Inscription at Tarbat in Ross-Shire
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Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 112, (1982), 300-321 Pictise Th h Latin inscriptio t Tarbana Ross-shirn ti e John Higgitt* SUMMARY The paper examines an inscribed and decorated fragment of a Dark Age stone monument (perhaps a cross-slab) found at Tarbat in Ross-shire and now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland Io B(n 286) revise.A d readin damagee th f go d inscriptio givens ni inscriptioe Th . funerars ni comd yan - memorates an individual whose name is partly illegible. No reconstruction of the name is offered, but, as it does not appear to be Celtic, Latin or Anglo-Saxon, it is probably Pictish. The formulae used in the inscription are analysed and close comparisons are found in Wales and on the Isle of Man. The lettering is derived fro displae mth y scrip Insulaf to r manuscript appeard san descendee b o st d from that usen di Lindisfarne th e Gospel 700c decorative f so .Th e treatmen letterine th f to closes gi manuscripto rt f so abou secone centuryh th t 8t de unusua e halth raise f f .o Th o f e dlus letterin inscription a gn i stonn i s ei discusse attentiod dan ndraws occurrence i th o nt technique th f eo h Romen beginine i 8t th e t ea th f go centurh 6t e Constantinoplen yth i centur n i d yan survivine Th . g are spiraf ao l ornamen compares ti do t Pictish sculpture belongin Anderson'o gt s ClasEasten i I sI r Ros alsd scarvean o t d spiral southern si n Ireland and Midland England. In conclusion a date towards the end of the 8th century is suggested for e Tarbath t fragmenletterine th inscriptioe th d f an go t exampln n a sees i Northumbria e s nth a f eo n influences detectable in 8th-century Pictland. INTRODUCTION One of the finest pieces of carved lettering to survive from Dark Age Britain is that on a stone whic firss htwa recorde e 19tth hn di centur y buil t manse intwale th oth f o le gardet na Tarba e NationaRoss-shirn i th t n i d whicw l an Museueno s hi f Antiquitiemo f Scotlano s d (catalogu o IBn e 286) e ston fragmena Th .s ei ) (p26 i t fro mlargea r monumen remains it d tan - ing decoration is comparable with sculpture in the immediate vicinity attributable to the later Pictish period e letterinTh . s almosgi t unique among surviving Britis Irisd han h Dare Ag k inscriptions in being carved in relief and not incised. Although incomplete, this Latin inscription longese isth t comprehensible inscriptio survivo nt e e froPicts e alsos timth e i th m t th n f I i .e,o probable absence of surviving manuscripts, the longest written document of any sort to survive in its origina lbee s formha n t show.(I n tha Booe t th Kell f ko s could have been writte decorated nan d in an ecclesiastical centre in the Pictish East of Scotland (Brown 1972; cf Henderson 1982), and more definite evidenc Pictisf eo h literary activit provides yi post-Pictise th y db h list Pictisf so h kings, whic thoughe h basear e b sourcen o dt o s dating Pictis e bacth ko t h period (Henderson 1967, 161-68; Anderson 1980, 77-102).) Because of its unique status as a document the form and conten Tarbae th f o tt inscription deserv fulleea r examination than the yreceivedr havfa o es . The text, lettering and decoration are important evidence for the cultural contacts of the Pictish church and for the sources of Pictish art. Northumbria and Ireland are the areas to which * Dept of Fine Art, University of Edinburgh, 16-20 George Square, Edinburgh. HIGGITT: THE PICTISH LATIN INSCRIPTION AT TARBA ROSS-SHIRTN 1 I 30 | E comparisons mainly point. It will be seen, however, that there is no basis for the frequent identifica- ston e nam e Iristh n tio thath vies a e e n a f f he nth o o w o t abbor thafo r to t Iris Tarban a s h wa t monastic foundation and consequently a centre for Irish influence in Pictland. TARBAT CONTEXE FINE :TH DTH F TO Although Tarba t documenteno s i t ecclesiastican a s da l centrearle th yn e i medieva l period, numerous carved stone fragments, som verf eo y high quality, have been arounfound an e n di d th churchyard there (Alien 1903, III, 73-75, 88-95). These pieces are attributable to the later years of the Pictish kingdom. (None belongs to the typologically earlier Class I of Pictish sculpture (Alien 1903,1, xi).) These fragment vere th y d unusuaan s l occurrenc inscription a f eo Latin i n on a Pictish monument argue for an important monastery at Tarbat or nearby. A small hoard of silver (Shetelig 1940, 109-10; Graham-Campbell 1976, 115 and passim), which was probably buriesecone th n d i d10t e halhth f fcenturyo bees ha , n churchyardfoune th hiddes n di wa t i n f I . there for safe-keeping, that suggests that the site was already ecclesiastical by that date. There are, however, said to be no recognizable Early Christian features on the site and the present church is of the 18th century (Macdonald & Laing 1970, 138). The outstanding Pictish sculpture of Nigg, Shandwic Hiltod kan Cadbolf no l (Alien 1903 etc), 2 7 , III , , non66 , fig whicf eo 59 s s hi more mile thaw fe sna fro m Tarbat furthes i , r evidenc importance th f eo thif eo slatee areth rn ai Pictish period and is perhaps due to the artistic influence of a monastery at or near Tarbat (Henderson 1975, 106). Such a monastery, if it existed, can have had no connection with the later monaster Novf yo a Fernparise th Tarbatn f ahi o . sitNovw e ne occupie ae Fernth s abouan dwa i t communita y 123b 8 Premonstratensiaf yo n formerl d canonsha o yFearwh ,d beeOl nt na about milen te s away (Cowa Easson& n 1976,101-2) similarite .Th thif yo s name wit Irishe thath hf o t church of Ferns (Ferna) and E W B Nicholson's misreading of the name on the Tarbat stone (Alien 1903, III, simila94-95e on s thao t a )rf Reothaide o t 8th-centurn a , y abbo f Fernso t , suggeste Curido t e (1940,103-4 Henrd )an y (1965,141) that Nova Ferna earlmusn a e ytb daughter house of the Irish Ferns. The baselessness of this association with Ferns was shown by Henderson in the Rhind Lectures for 1977 to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Henderson 1982, 8 22)6n . Ther consequentls ei documentaro yn y link between Dar Tarbae kIrelandAg d tan . EARLIER DISCUSSION TARBAE TH F SO T STONE stone firss Th etwa publishe Aliey db n (1891) latee H . r publishe t mordi e fully (Alien 1903, III, centurieh 94-95)9t basie r th comparisonf o datee s o n h sH o . letterins 8t d it e th o gt s with examples from Ireland, England and Wales. The reading that he published, which has been accepted with very minor variations by later writers, is substantially correct except in the last two lines, where it needs revision. Alien expressed some doubt about Nicholson's Irish abbot, but nevertheless he published the reading and reconstruction out of which the Irish abbot grew. Anderson (Alien 1903,1, xxvii) found parallels for the opening formula (in nomine ...) in roughly contemporary documents and inscriptions in Britain and on the Continent. Kermode (1907, 112) likened both the lettering and formulae of Tarbat to those of an inscription at Maughold on the Isl f Maneo , whic beed hha n unknow Alieo n t Anderson d nan . Curie (1940,e 103-4th w sa ) supposed Irish abbot as supporting a connexion with Ireland suggested by similarities with sculptur t Ahennea letterind Ardagye an th n go h chalice. Radford (1942, 11) accepte Irise dth h inscriptioe th w retrospectiva abbosa s t na bu t e commemoratio beed ha n saine o th wh f t no founde patro r communitye o r th f no . This allowe dato t em Tarbatdhi , along wit crossee hth n so 302 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1982 10te lonath h o t century, . Rather uncharacteristically Macalister (1945-49 , 489-91I , ) rejected attempte th reconstruco t s Tarbae th t t textpresumabld an , Irise yth h abbot too s 'wishfua , l thinking'. Henry (1965,141) was inclined to accept the Irish abbot and she thought that the frag- ments with carved spirals found at Tarbat were so similar to the Ahenny crosses as to suggest thasculptoe Irise th t th hf o rcrosse calles 'nee wa sworo dt th w t ka foundation Scotlandn i ' . Brown (1972, 241) cite e Tarbadth t inscriptio s evidencna e Pictsth f 'o e familiarity wite hth Northumbrian traditio f manuscripno t display script. Robertson (1975, 121) revive theore dth y of Irish workmanship. Calvert discussed the stone's ornamentation, briefly, in her PhD thesis (1978, 276-77, 307). She too saw similarities with the crosses at Ahenny, but took these similarities as evidenc mutuaf eo l influences betwee Iris e Pictisd nth han h sculptural tradition t thisa s period and not of the primacy of one over the other.