| Details |
A Pictish Class I stone was rescued during the demolition of the Delnadamph Lodge circa 1989. It had been built into the lower courses of the wall of an extension to the Victorian Lodge that had been called the Gun Room (and, subsequently, the Wine Cellar). It had been visible in this position. No other carved stones were noticed during the demolition. The stone is at present in the north-eastern room of the former offices of the estate. The stone is a block of local pinkish granite, almost, but not quite cubical in form. It measures overall 430 mm lengthwise, 310 mm wide and is 260 mm thick. The surface bearing the carving is relatively plane and smooth, but with a slight step, approximately 9 mm high, at the bottom left and a fissure running down vertically from near the top right. The other surfaces are all rough-hewn and bear traces of mortar. Carved on the smooth upper surface, avoiding most of the fissure and all of the step, is the figure of a bird, in profile, with two legs, each slightly truncated by the later re-use of the stone. The carving of the outline of the bird has been pecked-out in a continuous line, 8 to 9 mm broad. The base of the line has not been smoothed-off, so individual peck-marks of the chisel/punch are visible. The line has a paler tone than the surface of the stone, owing to the exposure of abundant quartz grains by the pecking. The line runs from the tip of pointed beak, up round the head of the bird, curves concavely down to form the neck and extends in a reflex curve for the back, ending in a broadly-pointed tail. From here, it then travels back to create the underside of the bird (at this point displaying evidence of recutting, or broadening out, to circa 16 mm in width), until it reaches the legs (two broad lines at right angles to the body). The line then sweeps up to form the chest, recurves under the neck and head and defines the underside of the beak. The beak is terminated by a narrow (5 mm wide) curving line, some 20 to 25 mm in from the tip, joining the top and bottom edges. There is also the suggestion of a mid-line defining the mouth. An eye has been created by a single, pecked depression circa 5 mm in diameter. The only other detail is the wing, represented by a narrow, lenticular carving in the centre of the body, whose lower line extends towards the neck in a gentle, upward curve. The wing is 130 mm long overall, including the extension. The lenticular part (which is truncated on its upper right surface as if the wing were tucked into the feathers) measures circa 90 mm long and 13 to 14 mm tall. The bird is 296 mm from beak-tip to tail and 97 mm from the top of its back to its underbelly (measuring to the outside of both lines). Overall, including the truncated legs (which lack feet) the bird stands 136 mm tall to the centre of the back and circa 180 mm to the top of the head. There is some damage to the surface of the stone in the region of the upper back of the bird, while the tip of the beak is obscured by a small quantity of what may be plaster. Small patches of vivid orange lichen occur on the bottom right hand corner of the carved surface, some overlying the carving. On balance, this carving most resembles the animal art of the Picts, although no precise parallel for the form of the bird exists. The Delnadamph bird does resemble a grouse (but without the tail feathers): further ornithological research is required. The broad, consistently-pecked line defining a profile view, the economy in the depiction of the wing and the confident handling of the curves of the bird all point to this being an unrecorded and rare example. If Pictish, it is likely to date to the sixth or seventh centuries AD. There is also a possibility of the bird being a goose though unlike other Pictish carvings of geese.
|
Historic Environment Records (HER)