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Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Aberlemno Stones

The Pictish stones of Anerlemno are stones that were included between the 7th and 9th century AD. They are very near their original discovered positions, but are still accessible to the public on the side of the road (B193 outside of Forfar).

The Picts were absorbed by the Irish clan, Scots, long ago. The Romans built Hadrians Wall to basically "wall" the Picts in. The Picts were the ones who painted themselves blue with symbols and such. Think Merlin. No wonder Scotland has so much magic!


Aberlemno 1 is called "The Serpents Stone". At the top is a snake and near the bottom is a mirror and comb. No one really knows what these mean at all, not a clue!


Aberlemno 2 is found in a Kirkyard down the road. It's a gorgeous Celtic cross. The center symbol is a Celtic spiral design and the arms are Celtic know symbols. Some of the knot patterns are akin to the Book of Kells! On the back is a battle scene, with horses and men in helmets. Barbarous!



Aberlemno 3 shows a cross with angels kneeling, reading from books! The back is a hunting scene. 





Aberlemno 4 is actually in the McManus museum in Dundee. We did it spend much time in Dundee aside from at the hostel and the Law, so we didn't get to see this stone. Aberlemno 5 is really difficult to make out and has said to be a fake, but it still stands. 



These stones were pretty fascinating, given how d they are. Here is the description on the side of the road. 



There is a small visitor's center that has a bathroom just across the street from the stones. It was a perfectly, strategically placed bathroom and I was super appreciative! The small "town" of Aberlemno was quite sweet little town, and difficult to find. If you drive too fast down the tiny road, you'll miss it! I'm so glad we didn't. 



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