A trip down memory lane today, to a spring day in 2019 when I was making my way back to Aberdeenshire (finding Pictish stones along the way of course) from Edinburgh. I was delighted to find a bonus in the lovely little Perthshire village of Abernethy where I found a gorgeous Pictish stone at the base of an equally gorgeous round tower. Pink blossoms piled softly around the base of the tower and blanketed the churchyard behind.
The carvings on the Abernethy stone are deliciously crisp, but its clearly a fragment as evidenced by the cut off markings. As always, I couldn’t tell you what the markings mean on the stone because nobody knows. The symbols do occur on stones across Scotland and have been given names, and what you see here include the tuning fork, hammer and anvil, and the top of a crescent and v-rod peeking up from the base.
This style of tower is almost exclusively found in Ireland - there are only 3 known outside of Ireland and 2 of them are in Scotland. (The others are in Brechin, Angus and St Patrick’s Isle/Isle of Man). While you may find some other similar architecture in Scotland, they are not contemporary with these towers.
It is believed that the tower was built in the 11th Century. In 1821, 7 skulls were found while excavating the base of the tower, as well as “fragments of a light green urn, with a row of carving round the bottom of the neck.” Now there’s an intriguing mystery….
To contrast the beauty of the pink blossoms all around and the peaceful calm of the day, note the metal object hanging from the side of the tower - this is called “The jougs” and was an implement for humiliation and punishment. The offender would have the jougs fastened around the neck like a collar, and would have to stand in the public gaze to face their shame. I learned about the jougs in my research after the visit. Another thing I love about exploring - the gems that I learn in the investigation process.
The Pictish stone was discovered in the foundations of a nearby house in the 1800s, and eventually moved to the tower. Abernethy has been significant as a Pictish principle seat as well as the seat of a Celtic bishopric. I was very disappointed that I didn’t get to go up in the tower as both key holding businesses were closed that day. I’ll just have to go back, oh darn it…
Thanks for reading!
Lilly
So very interesting! We drove into Perthsire -beautiful. We saw beautiful churchyards in Donegal town, Donegal, Ireland where many relatives live.
So interesting, the beautiful churchyard and those wonderfully clear carvings in the stone.