SCULPTURED STONKS 



Sculptured Stones, a general name given 

 in Hritain to H d;i- of monuments of the early 

 Christian period, many of them Ix-ing mere unhewn 

 tones, with sculpturing* c>i' rude inscriptions, <>r 

 symlmls, or oinamental designs, correspondin;,' in 

 style ami pattetns tn the illuminated decorations 

 of" Celtic maniiseripu nf tlie Gi|iels. The rude 

 tones erected for memoiial purixmex in pagan 

 time* (unless under Koiium influence) are un- 

 inacrilied and uiiornaincntcd (see under STANDING 

 STOXK8). The sculptured stone* of Hritain may 

 tie divided into two classes those that are simply 

 inci-ed and those that l>car sculpture in relief, 

 the former In-ill;,' the earlier methoil. Sculptured 

 tones of the im-i-ed or earlier class may lie sub- 

 divided into two sections, inscribed or uniiiscrilM-d, 

 irrespective of their liearing symlmls and orna- 

 mentation. The advantage of tliis division is that 

 the inscrilied iiioniinient.s can lie arranged in chrono- 

 logical order hy their paheogra|ihical character- 

 istics, and the uninscrilied examples liearing similar 

 Kvnilxil- and oriiamentation to those found on the 

 inscrilied examples will folloxv the same sequence. 

 We know from jwilo-ographienl data that the 

 earliest lapidarv inscriptions in Hritain are in 

 Roman capital letters, and that the minuscules, 

 or small letters, do not make their appearance 

 till about the fith cent.iry. Hence we have a 

 means of dividing the Interfiled stones into an 

 earlier and a later group according as they are 

 written in capitals or minuscules, while those 

 that are mixed or partly in capitals and partly 

 in minuscules will represent the middle or transi- 

 tion peiiod. lint many of the inscribed monu- 

 ments hear inscriptions which are written in a 

 character peculiar to the British Isles, and known 

 mi Ogam (q.v.). Sometimes the Ogam inscrip- 

 tion is associated with an inscription in Roman 

 letters on the same stone, sometimes the monu- 

 ment In-ars an ( (gam inscription only. In the 

 latter case it is frequently associated with sculp- 

 tured ornamentation in relief of the most advanced 

 up' 1 , and therefore we have another means of 

 dividing the inscrilied stones into two groups, one, 

 of which is dcmonstrahly later than the other. 

 Of these four groups, which are ( I ) in-ri il..-.| in 

 Roman capitals only; (2) inscribed in Roman 

 letters and in Ogams, or bilingual and biliteral ; 

 (3) inscribed in Ogams only; and (4) inscribed 

 in Roman minuscules or small letters, the lirst and 

 second have their chief development in Wales, and 

 the third ami fourth in Ireland. 



Of the lirst group of sculptured stones there are 

 sixty in Wales, twenty-three in Kngland, six in 



Scotland, and none 

 in Ireland. They 

 are in general rude 

 undressed pillar- 

 sliines or ohlong 

 boulders from 4 to 

 '.> t ill heu.lil. (he 



inscription- e,.ner 

 ally incised verti- 

 cally. They an- 

 al ways in the Latin 

 language, and 

 usually consist of 

 the name of the 



I. plceeded 



by inn- or other of 

 the varieties of the 

 distinctively Chris 

 tian formula ' Hie 

 jacel,' \T. The 

 greater number of 

 these stones are 

 found in association with ancient ecclesiastical 

 ite, and mime bear also incised crosses of the 



Fig. L The Cat HUne. 



earliest known type. A well-known example u 

 tlie ( 'at Stane near Kirkliston, Midlothian (tig. 

 1 ), which stands in a cemetery of early Chris- 

 tian graves, and lieais the inscription, IN [njoc 

 TVMVI,O JACIT VETTA K[iLit:s] vicTi. One of a 

 group of three at Kirkinadiinc in Wigtownshire 



i miemorates two priests, Viventins and Mavor- 



ius, probably of the church founded there by St 

 Ninian in the 5th century. The greater purity of 

 the forms of the letters and the style of the Latin 

 of the inscriptions of this group indicates their 

 closi-r proximity to tlie periixl of the Roman occupa- 

 tion. The characteristic of the second group of 

 inscribed stones is that they liear two inscriptions, 

 one in the Latin language and in Roman letters 

 (capitals as a rule), and the other in the vernacular 

 in Ogam letters, one inscription being always an 

 echo of the other. Of these bilingual monuments 

 there are eighteen in Wales, two in England (both 

 in Devon), two in Ireland, and one in Scotland, at 

 Newton of Garioch in Aberdeenshire. Two examples 

 will show the general character of their inscriptions. 

 One in Pembrokeshire has, in debased Latin capitals, 

 SAC.RAMNI FILI CVNOTAMI, reading from the top 

 of the stone downwards on one face, and on one 

 edge the answering inscription in Ogam letters, 

 SAGRANI MAQI CVNOTAMI, maqi being the usual 

 form in these inscriptions for son. Another in 

 Carmarthenshire reads in Latin AVITORIA FII.IA 

 CVNIGNI, while the answering Ogam has AVI- 

 TORIGES iNKilNA CUNIONI inigitia standing for 

 daughter, and answering to the modern Gaelic 

 inyeii, as maqi answers to mac. The third group 

 of inscrilied monuments, those bearing Ogams 

 only, lies chielly in Ireland, where there are 186 

 examples. There are only twenty-two in Hiitain, 

 of which twelve are in Scotland, six in Wales, and 

 four in England. Twenty-three of the Irish 

 examples are associated with early forms of the 

 cross incised on the same stone. In Scotland six 

 occur on stones lM-ating crosses or Celtic orna- 

 mentation of a late t\ [. and in Wales six are 

 on stones bearing incised crosses. From their 

 nature these Ogam inscriptions are peculiarly 

 difficult to decipher ; but when the reading is clear 

 they are usually of the same brief character as the 

 bilingual inscriptions of the group previously 

 descrilied. The fourth group of inscribed monu- 

 ments comprises those in minuscules or small 

 letters of the Roman alphabet chielly in the forms of 

 those letters adopted by the Irish scribes. Of such 

 insi-i ibed stones there are about 200 in Ireland, forty- 

 two in Wales, twelve in Kngland, and only three or 

 four in Scotland. The largest group in Ireland is 

 in the ancient cemetery of Clonmacnois, where there 

 are over eighty examples, many of which can be 

 dated by the names of the in-ison* commemorated. 

 They are chielly undressed slabs laid Hat on the 

 graves, and incised Minn-times with the inscriptions 

 only, sometimes also with crosses, and more rarely 

 with Celtic ornamentation. Of the names which 

 can lie identified from the Irish annals four In-long 

 to the 7th century, six to theSlli. twenty eight to 

 the !Uh, eighteen to the 10th. and the same number 

 to the llth century. The earliest bear nothing but 

 the inscriptions and plain crosses. Ornamentation 

 does not liegin to be added till the 9th century. 

 In Ireland tlie inscriptions are usually in the ver- 

 nacular, with the formula oroit do and its con- 

 nections, or nnul nr innnnin and its contrac- 



t ions, meaning ' pray for ' or 'pray for the soul 



of .' In Wales, however, the inscriptions of this 



group are usually in Latin. Though the majority 

 of these stones are sepulchral monuments, others 

 have lieen erected for different purposes, com- 

 memorative or terminal, to mark the iMiundai ies 

 of church lands or sanctuaries. In the An^lo- 

 Saxon parts of Britain the inscribed stoics bear 



