Corpus Refs: | none |
Site: | ABHYD |
Discovery: | recognised, 1954 Jones-Davies, C. |
History: | Tomlin/1975, 68: `In August 1954...Canon Jones-Davies went for a walk at Aberhydfer... In a hedge-cum-drystone wall...blocking a disused trackway along the Usk, the Canon was pleasantly surprised to recognize an Ogam-inscribed stone. It was moved to his church at Llywel...'. |
Geology: | Tomlin/1975, 68: `local grey, faintly pink, fine-grained sandstone'. |
Dimensions: | 1.82 x 0.33 x 0.22 (Tomlin/1975) |
Setting: | unattch |
Location: | Llywel Church (current location); Tomlin/1975, 68: `It was moved to his church at Llywel...where it still is, standing against the west wall of the nave.' |
Form: | plain Tomlin/1975, 68--70: `a tall slab...whose bedding plane is marked by a vertical fissure. The stone tapers very slightly towards top and bottom from a maximum width of 0.33 m. Its height is 1.82 m. Its maximum thickness 0.22m., but from a height of 1.22 m., it tapers back to an ultimate thickness of 0.13 m. This seems a natural feature; it means that the primary (Latin) inscription is cut on a gently sloping face. Examination of the stone reveals a complicated sequence of events...'. Summarising, these are: (1) stone cut; (2) latin inscription carved; (3) crude lines cut under lines 3 and 4; (4) from a height of 0.94 m., the stone was chamfered. This is unrelated to either inscription; (5) between the heights of 0.82 m. to 1.43 m., but no higher, the face was pock marked with a tool like a masons point. This tooling destroyed yet more of the Latin inscription; (6) at a point 1.18m high up the stone ogham letters were scored up the left hand side, over the chamfer and the primary Latin inscription. |
Condition: | complete , some |
Folklore: | none |
Crosses: | none |
Decorations: | no other decoration |
Tomlin, R. (1975): | [..]CIVS | [...]VS: | [..]AV[R] | [.A]NVS[-- Expansion: [LU]CIVS [FILI]VS [T]AVR[I]ANVS [HIC IACIT] Translation: Lucius (PN), the son of Taurianus (PN), lies here. Tomlin/1975 70 substantial discussion |
Orientation: | horizontal |
Position: | n/a ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated |
Incision: | inc |
Date: | 400 - 499 (Tomlin/1975) |
Language: | Latin (rcaps) |
Ling. Notes: | Tomlin/1975, 71, suggests the hypothetical reconstruction, [Lu]cius [fili]us [T]aur[i]anus [hic iacit], going on to state: `The ungrammatical nominative for genitive in the patronymic is paralelled'. This inscription is significant in that it is the only Latin inscription overlaid with Ogham (Tomlin/1975, 72). |
Palaeography: | Tomlin/1975, 70, noted that the number of missing letters is reconstructed on the basis of the width of the stone, and then states: `S [in line 2] is followed by an apparently medial stop indicating the end of a word (in itself likely with VS), but it may be only a random pock-mark'. In lines 3 and 4 the letters are larger and clumsier than lines 1 and 2, but still seem to be part of the same inscription. In its lettering this stone is not unlike some third and fourth-century milestones from Wales, such as that from Trecastle Hill (RIB 2260 and 2261), but the fact that this inscription contains a correct formula suggests it is early medieval, probably dating from the fifth century. |
Legibility: | poor Deliberately defaced (Tomlin/1975). |
Lines: | 4 |
Carving errors: | n |
Doubtful: | no |
Tomlin, R. (1974): | TARI[C]OR[O] Expansion: TARICORO Translation: (Stone) of Taricoris (or -us) (PN). Tomlin/1975 71--2 substantial discussion |
Orientation: | vertical up |
Position: | n/a ; arris ; n/a ; undecorated Left hand edge of the stone. |
Incision: | inc |
Date: | None published |
Language: | name only (ogham) |
Ling. Notes: | Importance of this inscription is that it is the only Ogham that is over a Latin inscription (Tomlin/1975, 72). |
Palaeography: | Tomlin/1975, 72: `The 5th and 8th letters have been damaged. The 5th is probably a cramped C, four leftward grooves, of which only the first and fourth are plain; their spacing, and faint surface traces, suggest there were two more grooves between them. For the 8th, surface traces suggest the two notches of O'. |
Legibility: | good Tomlin/1975, 71: `...all but two of its letters are well-preserved'. |
Lines: | 1 |
Carving errors: | n |
Doubtful: | no |