| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1945:509 |
| Site: | LTHNT |
| Discovery: | in/on structure, 1884 anon. |
| History: | Morrison/1885, 315, notes that the stone was discovered during repairs to the floor of the church of Lethnot in the autumn of 1884. Presented to the National Antiquities Museum, Edinburgh by the local minister, F. Cruickshank in 1885. |
| Geology: | Okasha/1985, 53: `old red sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.24 x 0.11 x 0.05 (Okasha/1985) |
| Setting: | in display |
| Location: | NMS (Cat: IB 132) Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. |
| Form: | Cramp shaft B Probably a fragment of a small free-standing cross. Allen/Anderson/1903, vol. I, xxvii, suspected the fragment to be part of the top arm of a free-standing cross but Henderson, in Okasha/1985, 54, argues that the decoration indicates it is part of a shaft, that `may have been designed to sit in a socket at the head of a decorated funerary recumbent'. |
| Condition: | frgmntry , good The top of the slab is missing. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | On one side carved in relief. The two long sides have a flat edge moulding. Within this frame are parts of three motifs: top - interlace, defaced; middle - spiral work (Romilly Allen No.1109); bottom - interlace (Romilly Allen No.630a). Henderson in Okasha/1985, 54: `The decorated face contrasts strangely with the plainness of the inscribed face', ` The three ornamental motifs are not kept separate in panels but run into one another. This treatment suggests a mid-eighth-century date at the earliest. According to Allen (Allen/Anderson/1903/II, 244) the interlace pattern is not found elsewhere in Pictish sculpture and this combined with the general style of the ornament favours a date well into the ninth century.' (Okasha/1985, 54). |
| Allen, R. (1903): | --] | FILII | MEDICII Expansion: [-] FILII MEDICII Translation: (The cross of [-]) the son of Medicius (PN). Allen/Anderson/1903 263 reading only |
| Diack, F.C. (1944): | --] | FILII | MEDICII Expansion: --] FILII MEDICII Diack/1944 76--77 reading only |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): | --]GRITI | FILII | MEDICII Expansion: [--]GRITI FILII MEDICII Translation: None given. Macalister/1945 485 reading only |
| Padel, O. (1972): | --] | FILII | MEDICII Expansion: --] FILII MEDICII Padel/1972 152--153 reading only |
| Okasha, E. (1985): | --] | FILII | MEDICII Expansion: [-] FILII MEDICII Translation: (...) of the son of Medicius (PN) Expansion: [-] FILII MEDICII Translation: (...) of the son of the doctor. Okasha/1985 53--54 concise discussion |
| Orientation: | horizontal |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; n/a ; inc |
| Incision: | incised Okasha/1985, 53: `incised'. Macalister/1945, 485: `chiselled'. |
| Date: | 750 - 899 (Okasha/1985) 800 - 849 (Stevenson/1961) 700 - 799 (Padel/1972) 800 - 899 (Okasha/1985) |
| Language: | Latin (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | MEDICII could indicate a personal name (Medicius or Medicus) or an occupation (medicus `doctor'). |
| Palaeography: | Okasha/1985, 53: `ornate capital script with Insular D'. Higgitt/1994, 217, 226: `Insular Display Capitals'. Macalister/1945, 485: `fantastic capital letters'. |
| Legibility: | good The lower two lines are clear and well-preserved. The upper line is largely obliterated, only the lower tips of some letters survive. There may have been further lines lost at the beginning. |
| Lines: | 3 |
| Carving errors: | |
| Doubtful: | no |
Morrison/1885, 318, notes that medici appears on a stone from Llangian in Wales (Nash-Williams/1950, 88--90 no. 92).