The Dupplin Cross is a carved, monumental

Pictish stone A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the River Clyde, Clyde-River Forth, Forth line and on the Eastern side of the ...

, which dates from around 800 AD. It was first recorded by

Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (16 December 1798) was a Welsh natural history, naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he had ...

in 1769, on a hillside in Strathearn, a little to the north of (and on the opposite bank of the River Earn from) Forteviot and Dunning. In 2002 it was placed in the care of

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

, and was placed for preservation under the 11th/12th-century tower of St Serf's Church, Dunning. The Dupplin Cross is a

high cross A high cross or standing cross (, , ) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. Th ...

, that is a free-standing stone cross. While relatively common in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

and in

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

, such crosses are rare survivals in the lands of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

, though fragments of shattered crosses (probably cast down during the 16th-century

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

) show that a number once existed. In the 18th century a second cross, the Cross of Dronachy, was recorded as having stood on the lands of Invermay, south of Forteviot and also overlooking Forteviot, but having fallen and broken. The cross base survives ''in situ'', but the records do not provide details of its exact form. The cross is carved from

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

, the cross stands about 2.5 metres tall, 1 metre broad over the arms of the cross. It is carved with various scenes, religious, martial and traditional Pictish animal carvings. The cross contains a partially legible inscription, of which only the name ''CUSTANTIN FILIUS FIRCUS'' can be read. This name is taken as the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

form of the early 9th-century Pictish king's Gaelic name Caustantín son of Fergus (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

793–820). Since the inscription implies that the cross was carved either during, or shortly after, the reign of Caustantín, it is particularly important as giving a fixed point in the chronology of Pictish sculpture. It also indicates that Gaelic was spoken at the time as it uses the Gaelic personal name of his father in Latin. Other carved themes on the cross include a rider with an oversized head and ponytail showing him to be a man of authority. On the obverse a man fights bears with his bare hands. The sides include a man (probably

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

) playing a harp, and hunting dogs.

References

External links

CISP database entryCeltic Inscribed Stones Project

Historic Scotland
{{coord, 56, 18, 45, N, 3, 35, 14, W, region:GB_type:landmark_source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title Archaeological sites in Perth and Kinross High crosses in Scotland Historic Environment Scotland properties in Perth and Kinross Culture of medieval Scotland Pictish stones Monumental crosses in Scotland 9th century in Scotland 9th-century sculptures Buildings and structures completed in the 9th century