Meigle
Cross Slab (Pictish), Pictish Symbol Stone (Pictish)
Site Name Meigle
Classification Cross Slab (Pictish), Pictish Symbol Stone (Pictish)
Alternative Name(s) Meigle Museum; Meigle Stones; Meigle No. 23
Canmore ID 30853
Site Number NO24SE 25.23
NGR NO 2872 4459
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/30853
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Meigle
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
Meigle 23, Perthshire, cross-slab
Measurements: H 0.76m, W 0.52m, D 0.13m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: NO c 2876 4474
Present location: in Meigle Museum (HES)
Evidence for discovery: found in 1858 in the foundations of a kiln about 91m to the north of the church.
Present condition: very weathered.
Description
Almost rectangular, this cross-slab has a tenon-like projection at the top, which is purely ornamental and accommodates part of the design on each broad face. Both are carved in relief within a flat-band border, and face A bears a short and heavy cross with a ring linking the terminals of its arms, except for the upper arm which extends beyond the ring into the projection. There is a central roundel, and the entire cross has been ornamented but it is mostly now obliterated by weathering. Traces of diagonal key pattern survive on the shaft. A squatting figure gazes out on both sides of the shaft.
Face C bears a single panel of zoomorphic ornament in two registers, at the top two confronted quadrupeds share a single frontal head, while beneath them two more quadrupeds have their heads turned back and their necks linked, each grasping in its jaws the end of the elongated tail of the other. The sculptor has deliberately carved the right foot of the right-hand animal slipping out of the frame.
Date: ninth or tenth century.
References: Stuart 1867, pl 5.2; ECMS pt 3, 337-8; RCAHMS 1994, 99.
Desk-based information compiled by A Ritchie 2019.
Publication Account (1964)
NO24SE 25.23 2872 4459.
No. 23 On the front, a long-shafted cross with 'ring of glory', a little figure on each side. On the back, two fanciful beasts with long interlaced necks, and a pair of beasts with a single head.
S Cruden 1964.
Note (1990)
NO24SE 25.23 2872 4459.
A cross-slab with a stepped top measures 0.76m in height, 0.52m in width and 0.13m in thickness at the foot, and bears decoration, now very worn, on both faces. On the front, there is a ringed cross with thistle-shaped armpits, and a shaft decorated with interlace and flanked by figures. Stuart clearly depicts a boss at the centre of the cross-head, but this is now very worn. On the back, there are two pairs of beasts, those at the top of the slab confronted and having a shared head or overlapping heads, those below having crossed-over necks and intertwined tails.
Information from RCAHMS (JNGR) 1990.
J Stuart 1867.
