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Menmuir 1 Description of stone
Event ID 1031065
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1031065
Menmuir 1 (St Aidan), Angus, Pictish cross-slab
Measurements: H 1.11m, W 0.48m, D 0.14m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO 5343 6436
Present location: Meffan Museum, Forfar
Evidence for discovery: found before 1844 in the kirkyard wall (Chalmers 1848, pl 17).
Present condition: worn.
Description
This rectangular slab is carved in low relief on both sides within a plain flat-band border. Face A bears a cross framed by a roll moulding, which fills the area within the border. It has wide rounded armpits and a central roundel; the arms are filled with debased key pattern and the expanded base of the shaft with somewhat uncertain interlace (the carving on the rest of the shaft has been worn away). Traces of a frontal figure flank the shaft on the right. Face C is dominated by two riders on horseback, wearing pleated or striped costumes, circular shields and swords, and the upper (and slightly larger) rider has a spear. Both are in profile as their mounts trot towards the left. Behind the lower horse is a small figure in a tunic with a hem decorated with key pattern, who brandishes a knobbed club in his right hand. Above the upper rider is a giant prawn on the left and an animal with a long neck and legs folded beneath it on the right.
Date range: ninth century.
Primary references: Chalmers 1848, pl 17; ECMS pt 3, 263-4.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2017.
