MEMORANDUM RESPECTING SOME ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS IN SCOTLAND.* TOWARDS the end of January 1846 my attention was directed to an inscription on a portion of what was once the Cross of St. Vigean, a parish of Forfarshire, contiguous to that of the town of Arbroath. Through the medium of a friend, I was permitted to inspect a handsome lithograph of this interesting monument of antiquity, executed, I understand, under the auspices of the late Patrick Chalmers, Esq., of Auldbar, a gentleman not less. skilled than zealous in archæological pursuits. The cross referred to is thus mentioned in the Statistical Account of the the Parish of St. Vigean (1845), written by the parochial clergyman, the Rev. John Muir: “In the churchyard there formerly stood a large cross over the grave of some person of eminence, richly carved in hieroglyphical figures * Vide Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume iii. Part 3. of the kind found on sepulchral stones in some other places of Scotland. The cross has been long ago demolished, but the stalk remains, with characters at the base hitherto undeciphered." I entirely concur in the opinion of the reverend writer, that the cross in question was monumental. Such sepulchral monuments were common about the period to which the Cross of St. Vigean seems to belong. A comparison of some of its ornaments with those of other crosses of the same kind, suggests that it was the production of the latter part of the tenth century. The peculiar and beautiful interlacery in the compartment immediately above the inscription, and on one of the faces of the cross, is of kindred character with that which is exhibited in similar monuments of the same era, sketches of which are given in Mr. Petrie's valuable Essay on the Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland. I observe that it is stated, in the Account of the parish already referred to, that St. Vigean lived in the latter part of the tenth century; and that he had his residence in the neighbourhood of the spot where the cross formerly stood. "His original chapel and hermitage were at Grange of Conan, where there is a small grove, and the foundations of a chapel; also a most copious fountain, which preserves his name. Three or four acres of land contiguous to these are by tradition held as belonging to the chapel." May it not, then, be not unreasonably inferred, that this monument marked the place of St. Vigean's sepulture? This, of course, is merely a conjectural suggestion,—at all events the cross is evidently the monument of some person of distinction. Of the personal history of the saint I know nothing; but I think it not improbable, that he was of Irish origin or connection. From the similarity to like monuments in Ireland, of the cross referred to, and of others in Forfarshire, and the adjoining districts, not to mention the round towers at Abernethy and Brechin, it is evident that Irish missionaries were intimately connected with those parts. The inscription, according to my copy of it, is as follows : The above inscription appears to be partly in the old Irish, and partly in the Roman character, I take the alphabet of the former from Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary. This mixed character of the inscription is quite common in monuments belonging to a period prior to the distinctive fixation of alphabets, established in later times, particularly after the introduction of printing. Supposing, as is not improbable, that the aboriginal alphabets of Britain and Ireland had been lost sight of in the darkness attendant on social convulsions, so remarkably coincident either with the extermination of the order, or the decay of the influence, of the pagan priesthood; a renewed acquaintance with the use of letters was only to be derived from two sources, either from the Romans, or from the early Christian missionaries. Hence, I believe, it comes to pass, that the most ancient native inscriptions in Britain (see Borlase) are in the Roman character. Subsequently, some letters were borrowed from the Greek by the Christian missionaries, owing to their acquaintance with the original language of the New Testament. In all writings and inscriptions, then, of the earlier mediæval times, we may naturally expect a mixture of Roman and Greek characters. Hence the strong similarity of the old Irish to the old Anglo-Saxon. This premised, I proceed further to observe, that the inscription above noted seems to be only part of that which originally belonged to the Cross of St. Vigean. I conjecture, for reasons which will afterwards more clearly appear, that the first part must have been cut on the top of the cross above the interlacery, which is now lost. It was not unusual to divide such inscriptions into two parts. An instance of such arrangement is to be found in Borlase's Antiquities of Cornwall, pp. 399, 400. Further, in monuments of the age to which the Cross of St. Vigean belongs, the beginning of the inscription was usually prefixed with a small cross, either so (+), or so (); but this is wanting in the portion of the inscription referred to. Taking all these circumstances into account, I venture to restore the inscription (for it has evidently suffered) as follows: ci-roste MPU CUIS ANIMA; that is, using Roman capitals: CHROS. TEMP U S. DEVORET ET. TE. OR. PRO CUIS ANIMA. It is impossible to I do not pretend to give the original letters or contractions, which time or accident seems to have effaced from the inscription. determine what selection the stone-cutter may have made in his drafts on the Roman and Irish alphabets. At all events, he must have so managed matters as to confine his work within the prescribed limits. I translate the above as follows: O! Cross! Time may destroy thee, too! Pray |