Delnadamph Lodge

NJ20NW 9.02 2250 0873

(Location cited as NJ 2250 0873). A Class I Pictish symbol stone was rescued (by David Scrimengeour) during the demolition of the Delnadamph Lodge some 15 years ago [c. 1989]. It had been built into the lower courses of the wall of an extension to the victorian lodge that had been called the Gun Room (and subsequently the Wine Cellar). It had been visible in this position. No other carved stones were noticed during the demolition. The stone is at present in the NE room of the former offices of the estate.

The stone is a block of local pinkish granite, almost but not quite cubical in shape. It measures overall 430mm lengthwise, 310mm wide, and 260mm in thickness. The surface bearing the carving is relatively plane and smooth, but with a slight step, approximately 9mm high, at the bottom left and and a fissure running down vertically from near the top right. The other surfaces are all rough-hewn and bear traces of mortar.

Carved on the smooth upper surface, avoiding most of the fissure and all of the step, is the figure of a bird in profile, with two legs, each slightly truncated by the later re-use of the stone. The carving of the outline of the bird has been pecked out in a continuous line, 8 to 9mm broad. The base of the line has not been smoothed off, so individual peckmarks of the punch or chisel are visible. The line has a paler tone than the surface of the stone, owing to the exposure of abundant quartz grains by the pecking. The line runs from the tip of the pointed beak, up round the head of the bird, curves concavely down to form the neck, and extends in a reflex curve for the back, ending in a broadly-pointed tail. From there, it then travels back to create the underside of the bird (at this point displaying evidence of recutting or broadening out to c. 16mm in width) until it reaches the legs (two broad lines at right-angles to the body). The line then sweeps up to form the chest, recurves under the neck and head, and defines the underside of the beak. The beak is terminated by a narrow (5mm wide) curving line, some 20 to 25mm in from the tip, joining the top and bottom edges. There is also the suggestion of a mid-line defining the mouth. An eye has been represented by a single pecked depression c. 5mm in diameter. The only other detail is a wing, represented by a narrow lenticular carving in the centre of the body, whose lower line extends towards the neck in a gentle upward curve. The wing is 130mm long overall, including the extension; the lenticular part (which is truncated on its upper right surface as if the wing were tucked into the feathers) measures c. 90mm long and 13 to 14mm tall. The bird is 296mm from beak-tip to tail and 97mm from the top of its back to its underbelly (measuring to the outside of both lines). Overall, including the truncated legs (which lack feet) the bird stands 136mm tall to the centre of the back and c. 180mm to the top of its head. There is some damage to the surface of the stone in the region of the upper back of the bird, while the tip of the beak is obscured by a small quantity of ?plaster. Small patches of vivid orange lichen occur on the bottom right hand corner of the carved surface; some overlie the carving.

On balance, this carving most resembles the animal art of the Picts, although no precise parallel for the form of the bird exists. The Delnadamph bird does resemble a grouse (but without the tail feathers): further ornithological research is required. The broad, consistently-pecked line defining a profile view, the economy in the depiction of the wing, and the confident handling of the curves of the bird all point to this being an unrecorded and rare example. If Pictish, it is likely to date to the sixth or seventh centuries AD. There is also the possibility of the bird being a goose, although it is unlike other Pictish carvings of geese.

The cited location falls on a moderate slope at an altitude of 430m OD.

(AAS digital image taken 12 August 2003).

I A G Shepherd; NMRS, MS/1739.