Tim Clarkson's Blog, page 13
March 28, 2013
Restoration of St Oran’s Cross
St Oran’s Cross: front and back of the upper arm (photographs by J.B. Mackenzie in J.R. Allen & J. Anderson The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, 1903)
News of an interesting project relating to St Columba and the monastery on Iona. This year – the 1450th anniversary of the monastery’s foundation – the museum at Iona Abbey will be unveiling the newly restored St Oran’s Cross.
Standing more than 11 feet tall, this magnificent free-standing cross is one of the finest early medieval monuments...
March 18, 2013
The lively maiden of Dumbarton
Clyde Rock, Dumbarton (from ‘Souvenir of Scotland’, 1892)
A number of medieval Welsh manuscripts contain information relating to the Cumbri or North Britons, the native Celtic people of Northern England and Southern Scotland. One of these is ‘Peniarth 47′, written in the 15th century and preserved at the National Library of Wales. It contains a collection of ‘triads’ – brief texts in which three items from the medieval storytelling tradition are grouped under a common theme. Triads were used b...
March 9, 2013
The Galloway Picts Project: update
Latest news from this fascinating archaeological project at Trusty’s Hill near Gatehouse-of-Fleet.
The ‘Data Structure Report’ from last year’s excavation is now available as a PDF file on the project website. It’s an interim publication in which the results are presented in a way that allows specialists to understand the archaeological context of each ‘find’ unearthed during fieldwork.
For the non-specialist, the report gives an excellent overview of what was discovered. Trusty’s Hill has long...
March 8, 2013
The son of the king of the Cumbrians
Viking Age hogback tombstone at Govan (Photo © B Keeling)
A new post at my Govan blog deals with a series of events around the middle of the 11th century – a fairly mysterious period in Scottish history – and with a shadowy figure described as ‘the son of the king of the Cumbrians’. It also mentions various other people who were major players in the political events of the time: King Cnut (‘Canute’), King Edward (‘The Confessor’), Macbethad (‘Macbeth’) and Earl Siward of Northumbria. The main...
February 27, 2013
Blogging about Pictish Christianity
The Isle of May, with the ruined medieval priory in the foreground.
Earlier this month I wrote a blogpost about the presumed Pictish ritual site at Dunino Den, a place seemingly used for pagan ceremonies before being taken over by Christianised Picts in the 8th century or thereabouts.
I had hoped to continue this religious theme by reporting on my visit last year to the Isle of May, a small island in the Firth of Forth. There I explored the remains of a 12th-century priory occupying the site of...
February 21, 2013
Dunragit’s ceremonial mound
The Mote of Droughduil
The area around the village of Dunragit in Galloway contains one of the largest prehistoric ritual complexes in Britain. Aerial photography and excavation have enabled archaeologists to build up a picture of henges, processional roads and other features. These are mostly hidden below ground, but one major element of the complex is still visible today: an impressive artificial mound, standing between the main A75 highway and the railway, not far from the shore of the Solw...
February 20, 2013
On the trail of Arthur
Dumbarton Rock: an Arthurian site? (Photo © B Keeling)
It’s just over a year since my blogpost Is King Arthur Buried In Scotland? which looked at a theory (proposed by Damian Bullen) that the Yarrow Stone near Selkirk marked Arthur’s grave.
The same blogpost also mentioned another theory, set out by Simon Stirling in his book The King Arthur Conspiracy, that Arthur came from Dál Riata.
Well, we now have an additional theory to consider, in the shape of On The Trail Of King Arthur, a book by Robi...
February 19, 2013
The Dumb Proctor
Photo copyright © B Keeling
This curious example of early medieval sculpture is the subject of my latest blogpost at Heart Of The Kingdom.
Carved c.1000 AD, it’s a little-known relic from the kingdom of Strathclyde.
Local people in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, call it The Dumb Proctor.
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February 18, 2013
SIEME Conference 2013
Unfortunately I’ll miss this conference, which is being held in Edinburgh over the weekend of 22-24 February. It’s organized by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in conjunction with the Dark Age Studies Committee. The last remaining tickets sold out a few weeks ago, so even if I was able to change my schedule I wouldn’t be able to attend. I’m sorry to miss it, as there are many enticing papers on the menu. In fact, I can’t see anything on the programme that doesn’t entice.
Some examples o...
February 13, 2013
Dunino Den: a Pictish ritual site?
Dunino Den
Some places associated with the ancient past have a special aura, a hint of the Otherworld. I say this as someone who is not renowned for being particularly receptive to mystical vibes. It has to be a pretty obvious aura to be picked up by my radar, and it doesn’t happen very often. In England, two memorable examples are Durham Cathedral and Avebury, both of which give me a buzz which seems to be more than dumbstruck awe. In Scotland, two places that really stand out are Doon Hill n...
