SCULPTURED STONES 



269 



inscriptions in Anglian runes, and in the Isle of 

 Man and tlie northern and western isles of 

 Scotland, colonised from Scandinavia, the inscrip- 

 tions are in Scandinavian runes. The monuments 

 with Anglian runes are chiefly sepulchral slabs of 

 small size, incised with a cross and the name of 

 .the deceased. In a few cases, however, they are 

 great commemoration crosses, covered with sculp- 

 tured ornamentation, and bearing elaborate inscrip- 

 tions. The finest of these crosses are at Bewcastle 

 (q.v.) in Cumberland and Ruth well (q.v.) in Dum- 

 friesshire. The shaft only of the Bewcastle cross 

 remains, 14J feet in height ; the Rnthwell cross 

 measures 174 f* 6 * ' n height. Both are so similar 

 in design and in style of ornamentation that 

 they must be attributed to the same period. 

 Both have long runic inscriptions that on the 

 Kuthwell cross being associated with a series of 

 inscriptions in Roman capitals descriptive of the 

 scriptural scenes carved on the panels of its two 

 broad faces, while the runes are on the borders of 

 the long panels on the sides of the cross, enclosing 

 scrolls of foliage. They contain twenty-one lines 

 of an Anglo-Saxon poem 'The Dream of the 

 Holy Rood ' which was not known to exist in 

 any other form until a South Anglian version 

 was discovered in a manuscript at Vercelli in 1823) 

 and attributed to Cynewulf, though Professor 

 Stephens of Copenhagen maintains that a line of 

 runes on the top of the cross, now obliterated by 

 exposure, gave the authorship to Cnedmon. The 

 inscription on the Bewcastle cross is less legible, 

 and has been read as recording its erection in 

 honour of Alcfrith, king of Northnmbria, in the 

 7th century, though the opinion is gaining ground 

 that the dates of both these crosses must be placed 

 considerably later than his time. 



The monuments included generally under the 

 name of the sculptured stones of Scotland are for 

 the most part uninscribed. But they are profusely 

 decorated (as will be seen from the annexed figure 



Fig. 2. Sculptured Stone at Nigg. 



of one of the most ornate, at Nigg in Ross-shire), 

 and their chronological place in the general group 



of the early Christian monuments of Britain falls 

 to be determined partly from the relations of 

 their general system of ornamentation to that of 

 the illuminations of the Celtic manuscripts of 

 the Gospels of the 7th to the 10th and llth 

 centuries, and partly by the characteristics of the 

 few inscriptions they do bear. Taken by them- 

 selves, they exhibit peculiar characteristics, which 

 show that, although they form part of the general 

 group which is peculiar to the British Isles, they 

 have been affected by strong local influence. They 

 present a peculiar set of symlxjls, not one of which 

 is known to have occurred beyond the Scottish 

 area, while the special form of the erected cross- 

 bearing slabs, ana the partiality to the representa- 

 tion of conventional beasts as part of their decora- 

 tion, distinguish them from the English, Welsh, 

 and Irish groups. The Scottish sculptured stones, 

 of which over 370 are known, are divided into three 

 varieties : ( 1 ) rude undressed pillar-stones or oblong 

 boulders incised with unexplained symbols; (2) 

 erect shaped slabs of headstone form, sculptured 

 generally in relief, with a cross on one face and 

 h'gnre subjects and symbols on the other ; and 

 (3) high crosses with figure subjects and Celtic 



Fig. 3. Symbols on the Sculptured Stones of Scotland, 



ornamentation similar to those of the cross-bearing 

 slabs, but without the symbols. The rude pillar- 

 stones of the first variety occur chiefly along the 

 eastern side of Scotland from the Firth of Forth to 

 the Orkney and Shetland Isles, being most numer- 

 ous in the district between the Tay and the Spey. 

 Outlying examples, however, occur as far south 

 as Dumfriesshire and as far west as the outer 

 Hebrides. The unexplained symbols incised on 

 these stones are more easily represented than de- 

 scribed. Those of most common occurrence are 

 represented in fig. 3. Some of these are arbitrary 

 symbols, to the development and meaning of which 

 there is no clue. Others such as the serpent, 

 and the mirror and comb are representations of 

 existing objects, apparently used with a symbolic 

 meaning. Some of the arbitrary symbols occur 

 also on silver ornaments of the same period. 

 On stones of the second variety, sculptured in 

 relief, and presumably of later date, these symbols 

 are associated with well-known symbols of the 

 Christian faith, such as the cross and the fish, and 

 with the ornamentation so characteristic of the 

 illuminated pages of Celtic manuscripts of the 

 Gospels. The figure subjects on the stones of 

 this variety are partly scriptural and mostly related 

 to the general cycle of early Christian symbol- 

 ism. Among the scriptural subjects are the 

 Temptation of our First Parents by the Serpent, 

 Daniel in the Den of Lions, the Destruction of 

 Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea, the liaising 

 of Lazarus, Jonah disgorged by the Whale, the 

 Virgin and Child, &c. Along with these are 

 hunting scenes, including the chase of the stag, 

 wild boar, &c., and groups of animals evidently 

 taken from the Bestiaries of the early middle 

 ages, a species of natural history spiritualised, 

 in which tlie characteristics of the various animals, 

 real and fabulous, were set forth as symbolising 

 the spiritual condition of man as related to the 



