| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1945:377 Nash-Williams/1950:175 |
| Site: | SISHM |
| Discovery: | in/on structure, 1906 Evans, G.E. |
| History: | The stone was first found in 1906 built into the outer face of the south-wall of the church nave. It had not been seen before, because as Evans/1907, 65, notes, it had been covered by Ivy. Rhys/1907, 72--73, cites a letter from Rev. R.J. James of St. Ishmael's, which indicates that the stone had been built into the wall since at least 1862. Macalister/1945, 359, and Nash-Williams/1950, 120, both record the stone as still being in the wall. |
| Geology: | |
| Dimensions: | 0.72 x 0.2 x 0.0 (converted from Macalister/1945) |
| Setting: | in struct |
| Location: | earliest Macalister/1945, 359: `built upside down into the outer face of the S wall of the church nave, between the first and second windows from the W, and a little below the sill level'. Nash-Williams/1950, 120: `built (upside down) into church, in external S. wall of nave'. |
| Form: | plain |
| Condition: | incomplete , some Macalister/1945, 359: `weathered and damaged by a spall, which has carried away the bottom of the last I. The top of the stone is broken away, and with it FILI has presumably gone from the end of the first line'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Rhys, J. (1907): | CIMESETL{I}[--] | AVICATI[-- Expansion: CIMESETLI [FILI] AVICATI [HIC IACIT] Translation: (The place, or monument), of Cimesetlas (PN) (son) of Avicatus (PN) [here (he) lies]. Rhys/1907 66--68 reading only |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): | CIMESETL{I}[--] | AVICATI [-- Expansion: CIMESETLI [FILI] AVICATI [-- Macalister/1945 359 reading only Rhys/1907 66--68 reading only |
| Nash-Williams, V.E. (1950): | CIMESETL{I} [--] | AVICAT[--
Expansion: CIMESETLI [FILIVS] AVICAT[VS] Translation: (The stone) of Cimesetl (PN) (son) of Avicatus (PN). Nash-Williams/1950 120 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical down |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated The two lines of text cover almost all of the face. The inscription is said to be `upside down' in the wall, thereby making the text run downwards originally. |
| Incision: | pocked Nash-Williams/1950, 120: `coarsely picked'. Macalister/1945, 379: `pocked and rubbed smooth'. |
| Date: | 400 - 533 (Nash-Williams/1950) 400 - 499 (Jackson/1953) Jackson/1953, 312, dates the stone to either fifth or sixth century. However, on p. 325, 369, and 521, it is dated to the fifth century. |
| Language: | name only (rcaps) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | Nash-Williams/1950, 120: `Roman capitals...with horizontal final -I in l. 1'. The only other features of note are the rightward lean of the initial CI, and the fact that the T in CIMESETL-- is smaller than the other letters. |
| Legibility: | some All the remaining letters are clear and complete, except for the final I of the last line, which is missing its bottom half. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
Rhys/1907, 71: `The genitive Avicati is doubtless Latinised, and the Celtic would have probably been Avicatos of the u-declension, the second element being catus, `war or battle': Irish cath; Welsh cat, cad, of the same meaning. The first element, avi, is supposed by Stokes to be of the same origin as Latin avere, avidus, and one may perhaps render it `fond'...Avicatus would mean someone who was fond of war and battle'.
Jackson/1953, 369, sees AVICATI > W. Eugad.