Aberlemno

NO 523557   54   HS   DD8 3TE

Off B9134, 6 miles NE of Forfar, Angus

www.historicenvironment.scot

A renowned group of Pictish stones, the most impressive and elaborate of which is undoubtedly the double-sided cross-slab standing in Aberlemno churchyard. Over 2 metres high, the front of the stone carries a full-length cross in high relief, decorated with intricate inter-laced designs and surrounded by fan-tastic intertwining animals. On the reverse, the whole scene is framed by two serpents whose open-jawed head meet at the apex of the stone. They surround an extra-ordinary depiction of a battle – one of the very few examples of Pictish sculpture for which a convincing explanation can be made. Situated boldly above the battle are two Pictish symbols – a notched rectangle and z-rod and a cauldron – and these must surely have a strong association with the events shown below. Under-neath is almost a comic-strip depiction of a battle, reading left to right and top to bottom. In the first strip, the mounted warrior on the left is chasing away another horseman wearing a helmet with a prominent noseguard, whose sword, shield and spear lie abandoned behind him. The second strip shows three foot-soldiers confronting another mounted warrior wearing a similar helmet. The third and final strip shows two more horsemen fighting; again, the one on the right wears a helmet with a prominent noseguard. The final scene shows the outcome of this engagement; the helmeted warrior lies dead on the ground, his shield beside him, and a carrion bird pecks at his face. This has been convincingly interpreted as a depiction of the Battle of Nechtansmere, fought in 685, a few miles south of Aberlemno near the modern village of Dunnichen. The helmets, with the distinctive noseguards, are identical to the 8th century Anglian helmet discovered at the Coppergate excavation in York; this cross-slab undoubtedly illustrates the decisive defeat of the Northumbrian Angles which broke forever their power north of the Forth and marked the beginning of their decline.