TARBT/1

(Portmahomack; Tarbat)

Corpus Refs:	Macalister/1945:513
Site:	TARBT
Discovery:	recognised, 1891 Joass, J.M.
History:	Okasha/1985, 61, argues that by 1891 the stone was lying outside the front door of Invergordon Castle, before which time it has been `built into the wall of the manse garden' at Tarbat. Since 1926 the stone has been housed in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.
Geology:	Okasha/1985, 52 (quoting G. H. Collins, Institute of Geological Sciences, Edinburgh, pers. comm.): `local greenish-grey medium-grained micaeous sandstone, probably Middle Old Red Sandstone'.
Dimensions:	0.48 x 0.31 x 0.2 (Higgitt/1982)
Setting:	in display
Location:	NMS (Cat: IB 286) National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh. [IB 286].
Form:	cross-slab
Condition:	frgmntry , some
Folklore:	none
Crosses:	none
Decorations:	frame; geometric ribbon interlace; geometric spiral

Inscriptions

Allen & Anderson. (1903):	INNOMI \| NEIhUXRI \| CRUXXRI \| INCOMM \| EMORAT \| IONEREO \| …TII \| ..EQUIESC Expansion: IN NOMINE IHESU CHRISTI CRUX CHRISTI IN COMMEMORATIONE REO[TE]TII REQVIES[IT] Allen/Anderson/1903 94 reading only
Macalister, R. A. S. (1945):	[.]N NOM[..]E \| IHU \| X[..] \| [..]UX XP[. \| ..] COMM[.]MORAT \| [.] ONE \| REO[...]TII \| [.]EQUIESC[..] Expansion: [I]N NOM[IN]E IHU X[PI CR]UX XP[I IN] COMM[E]MORAT[I]ONE REO[..E?]TII [R]EQUIESC[AT?] Macalister/1945 489 reading only
Higgitt, J. (1982):	[.]NNOM[I] \| [N]EIHUX[--] \|[--][U]XX[P][--] \| [--][N] COM[M][.] \| [M]ORA[..] \|[O]NE REO[--] \|[--][I]LII \| [--][D]IE[HA][--] \| [--] Expansion: (I)N NOM(IN)E IHU X(PI CRU)X X(PI IN) COM(MEM)ORA(TIO)NE REO(--)LII (--)(D)IE HA(C) (--) Translation: In the name of Jesus Christ, the Cross of Christ in memory of Reo(--)lius. (--) on this day (--). Higgitt/1982 304--314 substantial discussion
Okasha, E. (1985):	[.]NNOM[.] \| [--][..]IHUX[.] \|[--][.]XX[.][--] \|[--]N[.]OM[.][--] \| [--][.]O[--] \|[--]ME[..][--] \|[--][.]CII \| [--][.]IEH[.][--] Expansion: (I)N NOM[INE] IHU X(RI) (--} Okasha/1985 61--62 concise discussion

Orientation:	horizontal
Position:	n/a ; narrow ; n/a ; panel
Incision:	relief Higgitt/1982, 300: `[It] is almost unique among surviving British and Irish Dark Age inscriptions in being carved in relief'.
Date:	750 - 825 (Okasha/1985) 750 - 800 (Higgitt/1982)
Language:	Latin (DCaps)
Ling. Notes:	none
Palaeography:	The script used is Insular Decorated Capitals, carved in relief. See Higgitt/1982, 310--14 for a detailed letter-by-letter discussion of the letter forms, also Higgitt/1994.
Legibility:	some
Lines:	9
Carving errors:
Doubtful:	no

Reo...lii (Language: unknown; Gender: unknown)
Higgitt/1982, 307: `Professor William Gillies has suggested, in a private communication, that, if the name is Celtic, it might open with the element Rigo- `king, kingly', with the loss of -g-, as in Welsh, in which language, in this position, intervocalic -g- was no longer pronounced after the 8th century (Jackson/1953, 393 n. 1, 456-457). He points out, however, that even if the name were related to Rigo- names, the lowering of i to e would still have to be explained. Alternatively, he suggests, one might compare the Celtic prefix *ro `very, pre-eminent, too' (Welsh ry, Cornish and Breton re). Given the apparently unusual form of the name and the Pictish context, the name is most likely to be Pictish'.