DONAN/1

Corpus Refs:none
Site:DONAN
Discovery:first mentioned, 1933 Runciman, W.
History:First mentioned by Walter Runciman when recording his gift to the NMS of casts of the Eigg cross-shafts (Runciman/1933).

NMRS/N48NE19: `Subsequently (prior to 1972) the cross-shafts were moved for safe-keeping to Galmisdale House, Eigg'.

Geology:Runciman/1933, 65: `red sandstone'.
Dimensions:1.1 x 0.41 x 0.0 (CISP)
Setting:in display
Location:Galmisdale House;
In porch of Galmisdale House, Eigg, set into a concrete base and supported by a metal bracket.
Form:cross-slab
MacLean/1997, 181: `The broken cross-slab from Kildonan, Eigg was sculpted on the reverse of an older Pictish monument'.

CISP: Runciman's fig.3 shows the entire slab, revealing it to be broadest at the top, tapering slightly towards the base. There is a pronounced neck below the lowest carving. The scale implies the slab is about 3'7" in height and 14" in maximum width (approx. 1.1m x 0.41m). There is no indication of thickness.

Condition:incomplete , some
Runciman/1933, 65, describes the slab as `broken across the middle and rejoined, the central part awanting'.

CISP: The missing portion, which has been replaced with concrete, comprises perhaps a quarter of the whole.

Folklore:none
Crosses:1: latin; outline; straight; none; square hol; angular; outer curv; tenon; decorated
2: latin; linear; straight; expanded; square; none; none; none; n/a
Decorations:

Runciman/1933, 5: `On the face is the ringed head of a cross [DONAN/1/1], decorated with interlaced designs and a panel containing a key-pattern. On the back is a hunting scene, the figures shown as moving from the top to the bottom. A man on horseback with a dog and bird below and another dog above follow two pigs, in front of which are two more animals, the lower one being a horse. All these designs are in relief, but incised at a later time on the top border of the face are the letters Ihu and XPI, and in the centre of the back a cross with short lines across the ends of the arms'.

Maclean/1997, 187, n.94: `Its hunting scene, `erased' by an incised cross [DONAN/1/2] indicating its re-orientation, is still visible'.

Maclean/1997, 181: `The rectangular terminals, central square and protruding top arm of its encircled cross recall Meigle 2, although the double-ribbon interlace of the Eigg cross-head and ring are better comparable to Invergowrie 1 and 2, or the unringed crosses on Kirriemuir 1 and St Andrews 15, which shares another pattern with Eilean Mór. Eigg's interlace is uncontrolled, lapsing into a simple twist inside the ring. The key pattern filling the area beneath the cross appeared earlier, within the interlace border below the cross-shaft on the largest Applecross fragment, and as late as the unframed example under the cross on the Reay slab, which has another key pattern, seen on Canna 2, related to one on the Applecross slab's cross-shaft. Although its cross-head has a more complex form, Eigg is especially comparable to Reay; both have short ringed crosses set above key patterns and belong to the last phase of Pictish sculpture on both sides of Druimalban'.

References


Inscriptions


DONAN/1/1

Readings

Runciman, W. (1933):IHU || XPI
Expansion:
IESU CHRISTI
Translation:
Jesus Christ.
Runciman/1933 65 reading only
MacLean, D. (1992):IHU || XPI
Expansion:
IHESU CHRISTI
MacLean/1997 187, n.95 reading only

Notes

Orientation:horizontal
Position:inc ; broad ; above cross ; moulding
The inscription is at the very top of the stone, with one word on either side of the top arm of the cross.
Incision:incised
Runciman/1933, 65: `incised'.
Date:850 - (MacLean/1997)
Language:Latin (rbook)
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:The inscription is in half-uncial, note especially the diagnostic forms of the H and P.
Legibility:good
The letters are clearly carved and well-preserved.
Lines:1
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References