Provenance
Discovery: The ogham-inscribed stone was first recorded in a field, 1 mile NE of Crickhowell. It was removed in 1777 and left ‘neglected by the side of a ploughed field’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 159). According to Brash (1871, 158-162), the stone was used as a foot-stone across a ditch. In 1948, the stone was acquired by Brecknock Museum. The ogham inscription was first recorded in a sketch in Archaeologia Volume IV in 1776.
Findspot: Crickhowell, Brecknockshire (Brycheiniog), Wales (National Grid Reference: SO 225 193)
Current repository: Wales Brecknock Museum (inv. no. 155)
Last recorded location(s): Now in Brecknock Museum, Brecon.
Support
CPAT Regional Historic Environment Record (PRN): 699
Object type: Pillar
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 2.20 × W 0.55 × D 0.27 m
Condition: According to Redknap and Lewis (2007, 160), the stone is complete and in good condition. The inscriptions are much weathered. The central section of the ogham inscription is worn, ‘almost effaced’, presumably by cattle (Macalister 1945, 314). There is some weathering to the letters of the roman letter inscription on the left which is more pronounced at the top.
Inscription
Text field: The ogham insciption starts at the bottom left edge continuing upwards along the top of the stone, and ending one third of the way along the top. The stone is inscribed with a corresponding roman-letter inscription in four lines reading vertically downwards. The first and final line in the inscription are the final words of the middle lines due to lack of space. This layout is similar to the Brynkir inscription and shows the letter-cutters’ understanding of Roman convention for inscriptions of more than one line to be right-justified a certain height above the ground.
Letters: The ogham and Latin inscriptions are chiselled. Macalister (1945, 314) described the inscriptions as ‘well cut, not pocked, and in broad lines’. According to Redknap and Lewis (2007, 160-161), some letters were cut with a bevel. The roman letter inscription features coarse capitals with one minuscule d. There seems to be a higher degree of care in the execution of TURPILLI, the name of the dead, ‘which has competent horizontal spacing’ than in the rest of the text given the more cramped letters in the rest of the inscription (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161).
Date: Sixth century A.D. (linguistic)
Edition
Ogham text: ᚈᚒᚏᚘ
Transcription: TURPỊLḶỊ .. ? ..LỤNỊ
Critical apparatus:
- Macalister (1945, 315) suggests reading the worn ogham as: TURPILI MOSAC TRALLONI 2. In the ogham inscription, the fourth letter seems to be X, a variation of the forfeda character to represent P (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161). 3. The ogham inscription appears to consist of the same commemoration as the roman-letter inscription, except that the latter adds the formula hic iacit ‘here lies’ and an extra name (Dunacatos) at the end. The ogham corresponding to TRILVNI has been read in various ways including T[RA]LL[O]NI (Macalister 1945, 315) but TRILLUNI is more likely. The ogham inscription is ‘notable for containing the symbol “X”, a rare attempt to represent the Latin P’ (Redknap and Lewis, 2007 162).
Translation
Ogham: of Turpillius (or Turpilus), the son of Trillunus
Roman: of Turpilius (or Turpilus). He lies here, the son of Trilunus Dunocatus
Commentary
Sim-Williams (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161) notes that ‘the first name is either Turpilius or Turpilus both well attested. They are originally pejorative Latin names from turpis and would have been borne by a Welshman or an Irishman’. According to Sims-Williams, the suggested second word, MOSAC (‘servant’?), is obscure but possibly connected with OI mosach ‘stinking’. Macalister (1945, 316) maintains that MOSAC ‘corresponds to the unique word PVVERI in the Roman’ and that ‘the word must surely mean “boy”, in the sense of “attendant” rather than of “son”’. Regarding the second personal name, Trillunus, there are various possible Welsh etymologies ‘such as “of three forms” (Rhys 1879, 381-382), “very abundant” (trylawn), “very strong” (trylonn or “of three moons”, perhaps referrring to the time of birth’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161).
The name ‘Dunacatus in the roman-letter inscription is made up of Irish elements, but is a name not found in ogham inscriptions, though it developed later into the Old Irish name Dúnchad’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161-162). DVNOCATI (also attested in Britain in CIIC. 457 (Macalister 1945, 435), and in Okasha (1993, no. 18) DVNOCATI with Irish patronymic) can be the ancestor of either Irish Dúnchad or Old Welsh Din(a)cat, Middle Welsh Din(o)gat, both well attested personal names. It is probably Irish and the Primitive Irish genitive would be *Dūnacatōs, but Latinate -I can be expected to replace the Irish -OS in Britain. It is less likely that DVNOCATI is a place-name (functioning like SALICIDVNI in the Llywel inscription) although a place in south Wales called Brehant Din Cat, ‘guttur receptaculum pugnae’ is mentioned by the ninth-century Breton hagiographer Wrmonoc. (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 161-162).
References
- Brash 1871, 158-162
- Macalister 1945, 314-316, no. 327
- Okasha 1993, nos. 18, 45
- Redknap and Lewis 2007, 159-162
- Rhys 1879, 381-382
- Thomas 1994, 124