Description

The monument comprises two early Pictish symbol-bearing stones, both re-used prehistoric standing stones, that have been erected close to the E side of Newton House. One, known as the Newton Stone, bears two inscriptions. The monument is being rescheduled to reduce the scheduled area given that the stones are not in their original location.

The Newton Stone is of blue gneiss and is around 2.03m high. At the top are six horizontal lines of characters which are thought to be a debased Roman script, the meaning of which is unknown. To the left of this, down the side of the stone, runs an ogham-inscription. This contains a personal name (Ethernan) and additional material that is either incomplete or not wholly legible. On a lower facet, to the right of the main face, is a recently discovered Pictish mirror symbol, while around the back, just above ground level, a spiral has also been noted. We cannot be sure of the order in which these carvings were made, or over how long a time. This stone originally stood in a plantation near Shevock toll-bar (NJ 6676 2883), on the slope of a hill above Shevock Burn, reportedly 1 km S of Newton House. Graves were discovered nearby but their connection with the stone is not proven.

The second stone is a roughly pillar-shaped of blue-grey gneiss around 2.06m high. The designs it bears are a notched double-disc over a serpent and Z-rod. Prior to its move to its present location it is said to have been located on the march between Newton and Rothney, 0.7 km W of the toll-gate of Shevock about 1.4 km S of Newton House.

The area to be scheduled is a circle centred on each stone, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural significance

Intrinsic characteristics: Both re-used standing stones bear well preserved carvings that have the potential to enhance the study of Pictish symbol stones, the development of Insular art in Britain and Ireland, Pictish use of literacy and technical aspects of carving stones in the early medieval period. There is the possibility that the spiral design is prehistoric in date and relates to the earlier use of the Newton Stone as a standing stone.

Contextual characteristics: Although both stones no longer stand where they were originally erected, they are still closely associated with the locality. The Picts used their symbols in a range of contexts, but the majority of surviving examples are found carved on stones, the earliest examples being on unshaped stones (around 200 examples survive). The meaning of the symbols is much debated, but they may represent personal names. The Newton examples probably date to the 6th or 7th centuries. Evidence for Pictish language and their use of literacy is very rare. Around ten inscriptions survive which use Roman letters and the majority of these are in Latin. The Newton example is curious, but is clearly related to such inscriptions. Around 30 examples of ogham inscriptions are found in Pictland, the majority dating from the 7th to 9th centuries. Most inscriptions tend to be fairly short and consist entirely or predominantly of personal names. The Newton example is slightly longer than usual. The distribution of ogham and Roman alphabet inscriptions is largely complementary, and it is very rare for a monument to bear both types.

Associative characteristics: The Newton Stone can best be understood in the context of the inscribed stones that were erected to commemorate named individuals in Celtic Britain during the 6th and 7th centuries AD, and is evidence of the cultural links that existed between different parts of the British Isles at this period. While the symbol designs are unique to the Picts, their content (such as the patterned snake) provide evidence for how the art of the Picts relates to the Insular art style of this period, and the relationship to art in different media, such as metalwork. Again, this provides important evidence for the relationship between the Picts and their early medieval neighbours. Although they have lost their original landscape setting, the Newton stones are a good example of the 19th-century trend to add historic interest to the policies of country houses by the relocation of historic objects.

National Importance: The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular of the culture of the Picts in Aberdeenshire, their language and levels of literacy, and their cultural links with other areas of Scotland and the British Isles. This potential is enhanced by the good preservation of the stones.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NJ62NE 12.1.

References:

Allen and Anderson J R and J 1903, THE EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND: A CLASSIFIED ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE MONUMENTS WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR SYMBOLISM AND ORNAMENTATION, Edinburgh, Vol 3, 178, 198.

Brash R R 1875, 'REMARKS ON THE OGHAM INSCRIPTION OF THE NEWTON PILLAR STONE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 10, 134-41.

Carr R 1870, 'ON THE INSCRIPTIONS UPON THE STONE AT NEWTON INSCH, ABERDEENSHIRE, AND ON THE INSCRIPTIONS ON A SCULPTURED STONE AT ST VIGEAN'S, FORFARSHIRE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 7, 11-23.

Forsyth K 1998, LITERACY IN PICTLAND, in H Pryce (ed), Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies, Cambridge, 39-61.

Graves C 1886, 'AN ATTEMPT TO DECIPHER AND EXPLAIN THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE NEWTON STONE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 20, 298-313.

Henderson I M 1972b, 'ENTRIES IN PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING AT ABERDEEN', Archaeol J 129, 199.

Henderson G and Henderson I 2004, THE ART OF THE PICTS, London, 34-35.

Jackson A 1984, THE SYMBOL STONES OF SCOTLAND: A SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF THE PICTS, Kirkwall.

MacKie E W 1975a, SCOTLAND: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL GUIDE: FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY, London, 199-200.

Mack A 1997, FIELD GUIDE TO THE PICTISH SYMBOL STONES, Balgavies, Angus, 85.

Moore G 1865, ANCIENT PILLAR STONES OF SCOTLAND: THEIR SIGNIFICANCE AND BEARING ON ETHNOLOGY, Edinburgh: Aberdeen, 89.

Padel O J 1972b, 'A NOTE ON THE OGHAM INSCRIPTIONS ON THE STONES AT NEWTON AND LOGIE HOUSE', Archaeol J 129, 196-8.

RCAHMS, 1994, PICTISH SYMBOL STONES: A HANDLIST 1994, Edinburgh, RCAHMS, 10.

Rhys J 1892, 'THE INSCRIPTIONS AND LANGUAGE OF THE NORTHERN PICTS', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 26, 263-351.

Rhys J 1898, 'A REVISED ACCOUNT OF THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE NORTHERN PICTS', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 32, 360-7.

Ritchie J N G 1985, PICTISH SYMBOL STONES: A HANDLIST 1985, Edinburgh, 7.

Ritchie J 1916, 'DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURED SYMBOL STONE AT RAYNE AND SMALL CROSS AT CULSALMOND, ABERDEENSHIRE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 50, 279-85.

Shepherd I A G 1986, EXPLORING SCOTLAND'S HERITAGE, Edinburgh, 119-121.

Shepherd I A G and Ralston I B M 1979, EARLY GRAMPIAN: A GUIDE TO THE ARCHAEOLOGY, Aberdeen, 28.

Simpson W D 1943b, THE PROVINCE OF MAR, BEING THE RHIND LECTURES, Aberdeen University Studies, 121, Aberdeen, 101.

Skene W F 1865, 'NOTES ON THE OGHAM INSCRIPTIONS ON THE NEWTON STONE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 5, 289-98.

Southesk Earl of 1883, 'THE NEWTON STONE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 17, 21-45.

Southesk Earl of 1884, 'THE OGHAM INSCRIPTIONS OF SCOTLAND', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 18, 191-3.

Stuart J 1856a, SCULPTURED STONES OF SCOTLAND, 1, Aberdeen, 13.

Stuart J 1822b, 'AN ACCOUNT OF SOME SCULPTURED PILLARS IN THE NORTHERN PART OF SCOTLAND', Archaeol Scot, 2, 315.

Thomson A 1865b, 'NOTICE OF THE VARIOUS ATTEMPTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE TO READ AND INTERPRET THE INSCRIPTION ON THE NEWTON STONE, GARIOCH, ABERDEENSHIRE', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 5, 224-34.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland