445 



The following memorandum respecting some ancient In- 

 scriptions in Scotland, by Mr. John Ramsay, of Heading Hill, 

 Aberdeen, was read. 



" Towards the end of January last, my attention was di- 

 rected to an inscription on a portion of what was once the cross 

 of St. Vigean, a parish of Forfarshire, contiguous to that of the 

 town of Arbroath. Through the medium of a friend, I was 

 permitted to inspect a handsome lithograph of this interesting 

 monument of antiquity, executed, I understand, under the 

 auspices of Patrick Chalmers, Esq., of Auldbar, a gentleman 

 not less skilled than zealous in archaeological pursuits. The 

 cross referred to is thus mentioned in the Statistical Account 

 of the Parish of St. Vigean (1845), written by the parochial 

 clergyman, the Rev. John Muir : ' In the churchyard there 

 formerly stood a large cross over the grave of some person 

 of eminence, richly carved in hieroglyphical figures of the kind 

 found on sepulchral stones in some other places of Scotland. 

 The cross has been long ago demolished, but the stalk re- 

 mains, with characters at the base hitherto undeciphered.' 



" I entirely concur in the opinion of the reverend writer, 

 that the cross in question was monumental. Such sepulchral 

 monuments were common about the period to which the cross 

 of St. Vigean seems to belong. A comparison of some of its 

 ornaments with those of other crosses of the same kind, sug- 

 gests that it was the production of the latter part of the tenth 

 century. The peculiar and beautiful interlacery in the com- 

 partment immediately above the inscription, and on one of the 

 faces of the cross, is of kindred character with that which is 

 exhibited in similar monuments of the same era, sketches of 

 which are given in Mr. Petrie's valuable Essay on the Eccle- 

 siastical Architecture of Ireland. I observe that it is stated, in 

 the Account of the parish already referred to, that St. Vigean 

 lived in the latter part of the tenth century ; and that he had 

 his residence in the neighbourhood of the spot where the cross 

 formerly stood. ' His original chapel and hermitage were at 



