Comments | endlessrarities: Medieval Carved Stones at Kilmartin Parish Church

endlessrarities

Medieval Carved Stones at Kilmartin Parish Church

Apr 05, 2013 18:52

Let's take a closer look at some of the graveslabs that lurk within the carved stone repository at Kilmartin. Some of you may remember a post I did last year which featured similar sculptures held at Ardchatten Priory, another ecclesiastical site in Argyll, though located further to the north than Kilmartin ( Read more... )

cathedrals and churches, archaeology

Comments 5

bunn April 5 2013, 22:35:19 UTC

I feel like Nelson : I see no ships! Or fish?

endlessrarities April 6 2013, 16:38:08 UTC

Look at the square between the two gyronny type motifs. There's a raised crescent which represents the hull of the boat, with two lines coming to a point in the middle. That's the lines to hold the sail (which is furled) up. Below the boat is a torpedo shaped object which I presume is a fish. I should really do some research into this, but hey, I'm a busy girl. I'm SUPPOSED to be doing some work on a certain website:-)

bunn April 7 2013, 15:05:29 UTC

Aha! I see it! You meant 'top right of the panel with the gyronnys (gyronnies? there's a joke there somewhere about Two Gyronnies...) I was staring at the top right of the whole slab and wondering what on earth I was missing :-D

goddessofchaos April 6 2013, 10:55:20 UTC

These are fascinating. I don't think I've ever seen graveslabs quite like those in this area - although, most here tend to be so weathered that you can't make out the designs.

endlessrarities April 6 2013, 16:41:44 UTC

Most of the surviving grave slabs in mainland Scottish churches are 18th or 19th century. There's a few 16th century ones in Fife, but the earlier ones tend to get hoovered up to make way for later memorials (most were presumably bashed to pieces and used for building material). Even Dundee, which has some impressive early tombstones in The Howff (check it out, if you ever visit Dundee) has its earliest examples dating back to the late 1500s, i.e. post Reformation. We have the 'backward' attitude of the Highland West to thank for their excellent levels of preservation. And the actions of landowners like the Malcolms who absorbed and preserved rather than destroyed past evidence of human occupation in the area.