Drainie

Drainie 13, Kinneddar, Moray, shrine panel fragment

Measurements: H 0.46m, W 0.34m, D 0.06m

Stone type: sandstone

Place of discovery: NJ c 223 696

Present location: Elgin Museum (1855.1.13)

Evidence for discovery: found in or prior to 1855; according to Stuart (1856, 40), ‘most of

the other fragments [ ie nos 2-13] were found in old dykes about the Manse, and a few were dug up in the old churchyard’. The old manse stood close to the graveyard and the site of Kinneddar old parish church and early medieval foundation, then located beside a sea loch.

Present condition: the stone has been trimmed to a rectangle for re-use as a building stone, but the top edge is original. The carving is very weathered.

Description

This fragment is part of the upper portion of a panel, carved in relief on one broad face with a plain flat-band moulding along the top and a figural scene below. At the top are the forequarters of a galloping horse, facing left and following the horse in front, of which only the rump and hind legs survive. There is a rider on the second horse, mounted on a saddle-cloth, but the details are blurred. Below the horses are five human figures, all in profile facing left, with prominent eyes, full beards, flowing hair and tunics, but their lower legs are missing and again their details are blurred.

Date range: ninth or tenth century.

Primary references: Stuart 1856, pl 130; ECMS pt 3, 148

Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2018