| Corpus Refs: | Forsyth/1996:3 |
| Site: | ALTYR |
| Discovery: | recognised, 1839 Rhind, W. |
| History: | Forsyth/1996, 23, records that the stone currently stands `surrounded by a wooden fence in a field by the drive from Altyre House to Forres, in the parish of Rafford Moray (NGR NJ 0391 5537)', but that its earlier placement was unclear. Forsyth cites an earlier suggestion (Calder & Moray/1957, 246) that the stone was brought to its current site c.1820 from `somewhere in the Laigh of Moray'. Forsyth/1996, 24, does, however, also make clear that Williams Rhind, in 1839, was the first to notice the carvings on the stone. These were not identified as ogham until the twentieth century. In his copy of Allen/Anderson/1903 Graham Callander, Keeper of the National Museum of Scotland from 1919-1938 wrote the marginal note `this stone has an ogham inscription'. This suggestion was followed up by R.B.K. Stevenson, and the stone was analysed and published by Sir William Calder and K.H. Jackson in 1957. |
| Geology: | Allen/Anderson/1903, 136: `Grey sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 3.3 x 0.86 x 0.18 (Forsyth/1996) |
| Setting: | in ground |
| Location: | other Forsyth/1996, 23: `This cross-slab currently stands surrounded by a wooden fence in a field by the drive from Altyre House to Forres, in the parish of Rafford, Moray (NGR NJ 0391 5537). This not, however, its original location and there is some confusion over where it had been prior to this'. |
| Form: | cross-slab Allen/Anderson/1903, 136: `an upright cross-slab ... of rectangular shape'. Forsyth/1996, 27: `A tall, thin Class III cross-slab'. |
| Condition: | complete , some Allen/Anderson/1903, 136: `The monument is used as a rubbing post for cattle, and is much injured by exposure to the weather, especially at the back. If the cross was ornamented, which seems doubtful, none of the decorative sculpture now remains'. Forsyth/1996, 27: `Severely weathered and covered in lichen. While some portions of the ogham are comparatively clear, others are very worn and doubtful. There may be a section missing from the beginning'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; outline; straight; expanded; ; none; none; none; plain |
| Decorations: | Allen/Anderson/1903, 136: `sculptured in relief on two faces thus -- Front. -- A cross (shape 98A) with square stepped hollows in the angles between the arms, and a narrow shaft extending nearly the whole height of the slab. Back. -- Traces of the shaft of a cross in the middle of the slab'. Forsyth/1996, 28: `...cross on reverse cut in very shallow relief and only its vertical shaft survives...It is a square-armed cross with double square hollows for arm-pits [Romilly-Allen's shape 98a, Cramp's A2(1984)]. The shaft is of the same thickness as the arms and the stepped hollows creates the impression of a square panel at the cross-head. The form was a popular one on Pictish cross-slabs, particularly among later slabs and is seen elsewhere north of the Mounth at Skinnet CAT, Edderton and Nigg ROS...The background is too pitted to rule out the possibility that it might have been decorated with geometric or figurative work, but there is no trace of any such carving. If the slab was indeed plain it would be unique in such a grand monument'. |
| Jackson, K.H. (1957): | --][D]AMMAQQA[AH]ALLMVBVM[A]AHHRRASSUDDS Expansion: --][D]AMMAQQA[AH]ALLMVBVM[A]AHHRRASSUDDS Calder/Jackson/1957 249 reading only |
| Forsyth, K.S. (1996): | --]AMMAQQ[Q!]A[L!]M[VS]MAHHR[A!]R[A!][S]S[U]DDS Expansion: --]AM MAQQ [Q!]A[L!]M[VS] MAHHRR[A!][S]S[U]DDS Forsyth/1996 35 substantial discussion |
| Orientation: | vertical up |
| Position: | inc ; arris ; beside cross ; undivided |
| Incision: | pocked Forsyth/1996, 30:`The carved surface is too weathered and lichen encrusted for a detailed examination of carving techniques'. |
| Date: | None published |
| Language: | Goidelic (ogham) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | Forsyth/1994, 35; `...cut in a rather simple IIa or IIb form of script, the letters very generously spaced along a stem line, with long straight vowel-strokes occupying up to the whole width of the ogham band'. |
| Legibility: | poor Forsyth/1996, 27: `Face: The extant carving is very faint and weathered, for much of its length it is too densely encrusted with lichen to be made out. Edge: At the base, the whole of the edge has been lost to a depth of several centimetres. The inscription is visible at the lowest point on the intact surface, about 600 mm from the current ground level'. |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |