Description of stone
Event ID 1009938
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1009938
Largo, Fife, Pictish cross-slab
Measurements: H 1.98m, W 0.76m, D 0.15m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery:
Present location: Largo churchyard, set against the churchyard wall.
Evidence for discovery: broken into two roughly equal fragments, one fragment was discovered during quarrying on the north side of Norrie’s Law and the other almost a kilometre away, re-used as a drain cover, in 1839. Cemented together, the stone was erected in the grounds of Largo House and later (before the end of the century) removed to stand in the kitchen garden at Polton House, Midlothian. By 1933 it had been taken back to Largo and erected in a shelter just inside the gate to the churchyard.
Present condition: worn and damaged.
Description
The slab has been shaped to a rectangle with a rounded top and it is carved in relief on both broad faces. On face A, a cross occupies the length and breadth of the slab, the rounded top of which follows the ring of the cross. The head of the cross is equal-armed with rectangular terminals, and the shaft is set into a rectangular base. The cross is outlined by a roll moulding, and Stuart shows ornament filling the ring as well as the head and the top of the shaft (the lower and left-hand area are severely defaced). To the right of the shaft is a pair of entwined sea-horses, and Stuart shows a large human figure to the left of the shaft. Face C shows a hunting scene in the upper half, with three horsemen and at least two hounds, all moving to the left. There are traces of some creature behind the lower rider. In front of the two lower riders is a double disc and Z-rod symbol set vertically, and there appears to have been interlace inside the discs. Below is a Pictish beast facing left, and below again a deer looking back at another deer.
Date: ninth century.
References: Stuart 1856, pl 66; ECMS pt 3, 344-7; Fraser 2008, no 82.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
