INCHY/1

Corpus Refs:none
Site:INCHY
Discovery:recognised, 1945 de Pass, H.
History:Forsyth/1996, 33: `found during ploughing in former parkland on the Carse of Gowrie, 120 m south of Inchyra House...It is clear the slab was covering an inhumation burial'.

The slab was removed from the site and given to the Perth museum, where it is on display.

Geology:Forsyth/1996, 334: `very fine grained local sandstone'.
Dimensions:1.6 x 0.31 x 0.43 (Forsyth/1996)
Setting:in display
Location:Perth Museum (Cat: 5/45)
Forsyth/1996, 333: `Harold de Pass presented the stone to Perth Museum where it is now on display'.
Form:name-slab
Forsyth/1996, 336: `A long, thin, tapering, rectangular slab incised on both broad faces'.
Condition:incomplete , some
Fosryth/1996, 226: `Narrow end intact but broad end broken, and a portion missing'.
Folklore:none
Crosses:none
Decorations:animal

Forsyth/1996, 337--340: `I will follow Stevenson in designating the smooth surface the front, but this is merely conventional and is not meant to imply that the carving on this side is primary.

Front: At the narrow end there is one pair orientated with that end as the top, namely a notched double-disc, and a fish. Positioned very close to the top of the slab, they are the most substantial and finely drawn of all the Inchyra symbols...At the other end of this face, orientated with the broad end as a top, is an indistinct group of symbols which were not noticed at first. The lowest is a mirror and, above that, the remains of a `tuning-fork' symbol. These carvings have been plausibly presented as both incomplete and partially defaced, as if, as Wainwright suggests, the carver had a change of heart before completing the design...A possible reason for the abandonment of the enterprise lies in the flaky nature of the stone.

Back/Rough Face: Though this is the rougher of the two broad faces there has, as Stevenson noted, been some preparatory smoothing of the stone before carving. The carving consists of a single pair of symbols at the broken end of the slab orientated with the broad end to the top. The pair comprises serpent below a fish, the upper part of which has been lost at the fracture. Though somewhat less well drawn than the first pair described, these do have the appearance of being finished...The six symbols are organised into three pairs: notched-double disc above fish, fish above serpent, and `tuning-fork' above mirror'.

References


Inscriptions


INCHY/1/1

Readings

Forsyth, K.S. (1996):[E!]TTL[I!]ETR[E!]N{*}I[DD]OR[SV]
Expansion:
ETTLIETRENOIDDORS
Forsyth/1996 343--346 substantial discussion

Notes

Orientation:vertical down
Position:inc ; narrow ; inc ; undivided
Forsyth/1996, 343: `A(i) starts 45 mm (1 1/2 ") below B, runs along the narrow edge for 450 mm (17 1/2") in the opposite direction, leaving 230 mm (9") blank at the end'.
Incision:inc
Forsyth/1996, 343, cites Padel that these strokes were `hastily scratched', concluding herself that both INCHY 1/1 and INCHY 1/2 `are simply informal, casual inscriptions, perhaps even `graffiti''.
Date:None published
Language:Indeterminate (ogham)
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:Forsyth/1996, 352: `written in an informal and cursive hand which, though not exactly careless, has given little attention to the finer points of length, slope and spacing'.

Forsyth/1996, 345: `[Character] 11: The next character looks like a right angled triangle sitting on its point. It consists of one vowel-length stroke across the stem, followed by an angled-vowel-type-stroke...their b-distal tips are touching, but not the h-distal. There are at least two ways of interpreting this character, either as one half of the angled [theta] character seen at Bressay...or an O made up of one straight and one angled stroke, cf. the similarly mixed E on the back right ogham at Brodie. Either way the character is unprecedented'.

Forsyth/1996, 355: `the only transliteration query concerns...the unique triangular character. If it is a mix of straight and angled vowel-strokes then we may take it as some kind of O'.

Legibility:poor
Forsyth/1996, 344: `very slight inscription...It is casually carved with a particularly haphazard stem-line'.

Forsyth/1996, 354: `more or less legible'.

Lines:1
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References


INCHY/1/2

Readings

Forsyth, K.S. (1996):--][U!]HT[U][O!][A!]GED[--
Expansion:
--][U!]HT[U][O!][A!]GED[--
Forsyth/1996 346--348 substantial discussion

Notes

Orientation:vertical down
Position:inc ; narrow ; inc ; undivided
in Forsyth/1996, 346, this inscription is shown descending on the opposite narrow edge to INCHY 1/1.
Incision:inc
Date:None published
Language:Indeterminate (ogham)
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:Forsyth/1996, 352: `written in an informal and cursive hand which, though not exactly careless, has given little attention to the finer points of length, slope and spacing'.
Legibility:some
Forsyth/1996, 346: `Approximately 240 mm (9 1/2") lettering survives, but both the beginning and end of the inscription appear to be missing and even the extant letters are damaged in several places. Stevenson says there is no trace of lettering on fragments from lower down this edge but does not give details of how far these clear patches are from the present beginning. Thus an unknown number of letters have been lost from the beginning. The marked difference in length between vowels and consonants and the fact that all consonants slope gives a number of clues to the interpretation of the extant carving'.
Lines:1
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References


INCHY/1/3

Readings

Forsyth, K.S. (1996):INEHHETESCIE[T!][T!] ||| INNE
Expansion:
INEHHETESCIE[T!][T!]INNE

Notes

Orientation:vertical up along
Position:inc ; narrow ; inc ; undecorated
Incision:pocked
Forsyth/1996, 348: `the letters are rather deeply carved with a pock and smooth technique comparable to that of the symbols at this, the narrow end'.
Date:None published
Language:Indeterminate (ogham)
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:none
Legibility:some
Forsyth/1996, 348: `This is the boldest of the Inchyra oghams, the only one to be noticed initially...The first three letters, and especially the first, are less distinct than the rest'.

Forsyth/1996, 354: `more or less legible'.

Lines:1
Carving errors:0
Doubtful:no

Names

References


INCHY/1/4

Readings

Forsyth, K.S. (1996):[S!]ETU[-]
Expansion:
SETU[-]
Forsyth/1996 351--352 substantial discussion

Notes

Orientation:horizontal
Position:inc ; broad ; inc ; inc
Incision:
Date:None published
Language:unknown ()
Ling. Notes:none
Palaeography:none
Legibility:some
Forsyth/1996, 354: `more or less legible'.
Lines:1
Carving errors:
Doubtful:no

Names

References