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Balblair Description of stone
Event ID 1017544
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017544
Balblair 1, Kilmorack, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Pictish symbol stone
Measurements: H 1.37m +, W 0.61m
Stone type: diorite
Place of discovery: NH c 493 433
Present location: in the rockery in Moniack Castle garden.
Evidence for discovery: it was recorded by Stuart as having stood near the old parish school at Kilmorack until about 1827, when it was moved closer to the school. Sometime in the later nineteenth century it was taken to Moniack Castle.
Present condition: weathered.
Description
This slab appears originally to have been a prehistoric standing stone with a number of cup-marks carved on it. In Pictish times it was incised with a ‘formidable man’ symbol, seen in profile walking to the right, with a prominent nose and chin. He is wearing a short gored tunic with a band at the hem. Belted at the waist, and he carries a club in his right hand.
Date: seventh century.
References: ECMS pt 3, 95-6; Fraser 2008, no 106.1.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2017
