| Corpus Refs: | none |
| Site: | LARON |
| Discovery: | recognised, 1903 Nicholson, J. |
| History: | Forsyth/1996, 360: `The stone was found in 1903 built into the interior wall of an old byre at Latheron, Caithness. The finder, John Nicholson of Nybster, who had previously discovered the Ackergill slab, brought it to Sir Francis Tress Barry who in turn presented it to the National Antiquities Museum (NMS Cat. No. IB 183). The previous whereabouts of the stone are unrecorded'. |
| Geology: | Forsyth/1996, 361: `Caithness sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.915 x 0.43 x 0.1 (converted from Forsyth/1996) |
| Setting: | unattch |
| Location: | National Antiquities Museum (Cat: NMS 1B 183) Forsyth/1996, 360: `presented to the National Antiquities Museum'. |
| Form: | cross-slab Forsyth/1996, 361: `A cross slab of local stone'. |
| Condition: | incomplete , some Forsyth/1996, 361: `Left edge intact, all others fractured. Portion of unknown length lost from top and bottom'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: inc; interlace; inc; inc; inc; inc; inc; inc; inc |
| Decorations: | Forsyth/1996, 362--263: `The carving occupies the whole of one face of the slab. At the top is a double rectangular figure in relief which has been interpreted as the lower portion of a cross shaft. The upper rectangle is filled with double spiral ornaments in C-shaped scrolls placed back to back' (RCHMS 1911b: 82). The lower, narrower, rectangle is filled with an interlace pattern. If this is the remains of a cross shaft then it is of unprecedented shape...Below the rectangular figure there is incised a bird of prey, presumably an osprey, with its talons sunk into a fish. It is possible that these are to be interpreted as a unitary symbol rather than the typical pair, and thus a different category to the goose and the fish on the Class I slabs from Easterton of Roseisle MOR [ECM 124]...The lowest register of the Latheron slab is occupied by two horsemen in profile, one behind the other, partly broken away...The Latheron `cross' is carved in thick relief, the bird and the fish deeply incised, while the horsemen are only lightly incised'. |
| Padel, O. (1972): | DUVNODN[N]A[T^HH]M[A]QQNAH[H^A]T[O] Expansion: DUV NODN[N]A[T] M[A]QQ NAH[H]T[O] Expansion: DUV NODN[N]A[T] M[A]QQ NAH[A]T[O] Expansion: DUV NODN[N]A[HH] M[A]QQ NAH[H]T[O] Expansion: DUV NODN[N]A[HH] M[A]QQ NAH[A]T[O] Padel/1972 112--115 reading only |
| Forsyth, K.S. (1996): | DU[N]NODNN{A}TM{*}QQNET[U][-- Expansion: DU[N]NODNNAT MAQQ NET[U][-- Translation: Dunnodnnat (PN) son (of) Netu[--](PN) Forsyth/1996 364--373 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical up |
| Position: | inc ; narrow ; beside cross ; undivided Forsyth/1996, 364: `vertically, up the left-hand side'. |
| Incision: | incised |
| Date: | 700 - 850 (Forsyth/1996) Forsyth/1996, 368: `Padel was uncomfortable with Curle's art historical dating of the cross to the seventh century, preferring, for palaeographical reason, to place Latheron in the first half of the eight [sic] century. I would be prepared to go even later -- even into the ninth century'. 700 - 750 (Padel/1972) 600 - 699 (Curle/1940) |
| Language: | Goidelic (ogham) |
| Ling. Notes: | Forsyth/1996, 368--372, argues that the inscription `conforms to the formula X MAQI Y familiar from Ireland and seen on half-a-dozen Scottish oghams'. |
| Palaeography: | Forsyth/1996, 364--366, notes the following special characters: Character 9: `A 'hammer-head A' consisting of a single long stroke perpendicularly across the stem, bound by a single short stroke across its right tip'. Character 12: `A single stroke across the stem, curled like an 'S', or more accurately an integration sign...The lower hook is curved, but the upper seems straighter and more angular. Unfortunately this area has suffered damage. Given the surrounding letters this character is probably to be interpreted as A'. |
| Legibility: | some Forsyth/1996, 367: `a clear and legible text'. |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |