| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1945:402 Nash-Williams/1950:184 |
| Site: | CRWYS |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1789 Gough, R. |
| History: | Macalister/1945, 377: `Till recently in the garden of the (now ruined) Downing Hall: since moved for its better preservation into the parish church of Whitford'. Macalister/1945, 378: `The stone was brought to its present site by Pennant the antiquary; it is not certain whence it came, but the evidence seems to indicate a place called Cae yr Orsedd in the parish of Caerwys.' There appears to be some confusion over the original location of this stone. Nash-Williams first stated 'Apparently found on a farm called Bryn Sion (Ysceifiog parish) or in the neighbourhood' (1936, 83--4) but later gives it as coming from `Plas-yn-Rhos Farm (?)' in Caerwys parish (1950, 126). Westwood/1876--79, 206, has the stone moved to Downing at the end of the 18th century. He states that is stood a mile from Caerwys, and that it was used as a gate-post of a field. |
| Geology: | |
| Dimensions: | 1.37 x 0.84 x 0.46 (converted from Nash-Williams/1950) |
| Setting: | in display |
| Location: | Downing Hall, Whitford parish.; The stone was at Downing Hall between the late eighteenth century and 1945 when Macalister/1945, 377 states it had recently been moved to Whitford parish church. Nash-Williams/1950, 126: `in Whitford Church, at W end of nave.' |
| Form: | plain Macalister/1945, 377: `a stone of irregular shape, triangular in section' Nash-Williams/1950, 126: `rough pillar-stone'. Macalister/1945, 377, gives dimensions as: 3'6" x 2'9" x 1'4". Nash-Williams/1950, 83, gives dimensions as: 54" x 33 " x 18" (4'6" x 2'9 x 1'6"). |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): | HICI{A}CETMVLI |ERBONANOBILI Expansion: HIC IACET MULIER BONA NOBILI Translation: Here lies the good wife of Nobilis(PN). Expansion: HIC IACET MULIER BONA NOBILI Translation: Here lies Bona(PN) wife of Nobilis(PN) Expansion: HIC IACET MULIER BONA NOBILI Translation: Here lies the good and noble woman. Macalister/1945 377--378 reading only |
| Nash-Williams, V.E. (1950): | HICI{A}CETMVLI |ERBON{A}(PN)NOBIL/I(PN) Expansion: HIC IACIT MULI | ER BONA NOBILIS Translation: Here lies Bona(PN), the wife of Nobilis(PN) Nash-Williams/1950 126, 128 reading only Owen/1891 134--135 reading only Westwood/1855 152--154 reading only Westwood/1876 206, Pl 89.4 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical down |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated The inscriptions runs down most of the length of the stone, and is placed closer to the right edge of the main face. |
| Incision: | chiselled Nash-Williams/1950, 126, states that the inscriptions was 'thinly incised in good style, while Macalister/1945, 377, states 'letters chiselled in rather fine lines'. |
| Date: | 500 - 599 (Nash-Williams/1950) 533 - 599 (Jackson/1953) 500 - 699 (Owen/1891) |
| Language: | Latin (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | Jackson/1953, 193, argues that Nobili is the result of either the dropping of the Latin final -S, or that the final -I 'might represent the addition of Latin gen. sg. -i to [a] British' form which was without any terminations. There has been much confusion on whether the 'BONA' is a name or an adjective, and indeed whether 'NOBILI' is a name or an adjective. The dilemma cannot be definitely resolved, but we can presume that at least one of them was a name. |
| Palaeography: | The inscription is largely in capitals with the 'm' of mulier the only minuscule letter, and this is in the three-pronged comb form. Nash-Williams/1950, fig. 136, read two angle-bar A's. while Macalister/1945, 378, saw only the one in the first line. The R has a horizontal rather than an oblique stroke, and the I's at the end of each line drop below the line of lettering. |
| Legibility: | good Although gaps were left in the earliest readings the stone is in good condition, albeit with some weathering of the second line, and the text is clear. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |