Provenance
Discovery: First recorded near Eglwys Nynnid c. 1578. First published illustration by Westwood in 1846 (includes ogham). First ogham reading 1869 by Brash (1869, 151-153).
Findspot: Margam, Glamorgan, Wales (National Grid Reference: SS 8030 8442)
Current repository: Wales Margam Stones Museum
Last recorded location(s): Margam Stones Museum.
Support
The Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Historic Environment Record: 00788w Eglwys Nynnid; Pumpeius Stone
Object type: Pillar
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 1.35 × W 0.35 × D 0.52 m
Inscription
Text field: An Ogham inscription begins on the upper left edge of the stone, reading upwards, and continues on the right edge of the stone, reading downwards (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 439-440). The stone is also inscribed with a Roman-letter inscription in two lines, reading vertically downwards. The ogham inscription partially corresponds to the Latin inscription.
Letters: The inscriptions are likely chiselled. In the ogham inscription ‘the gaps are large enough to have carried more than one letter, and need not have consisted of vowel-notches only…the Ps appear to be represented by crosses of three lines, a varition on one of the forfeda signs’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 440). The roman-letter inscription is ‘mostly Roman capitals, but with uncial form of E … ’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 440).
Date: Sixth century A.D. (linguistic)
Edition
Ogham text: ᚘ
Transcription: 1 P[O]P[IAS] RỌL[---]NM[---]Q[---]LL[.]NA
Critical apparatus:
- ‘The Latin Pumpeius (for Pompeius) seems likely to have been rendered in the ogham but there seems to be no correlation in the remainder of the two inscriptions. The Ps appear to be represented by crosses of three lines, a variation on one of the forfed signs (restored by Macalister 1945, 385-388)’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 440). 2. Macalister (1945, 388) initally restored the name as POPES but later revised this to PAMPES.
Translation
Ogham: No complete translation is suggested for the ogham inscription
Roman: Pumpeius Carantorius (lies here)
Commentary
The ogham inscription appears to correspond to the roman-letter inscription in its first half ‘the ogham P[O]P[, if correctly restored…may preserve the original vowel Pompeius…[most likely] the omission of the /m/ is due to Vulgar Latin as in SEPRONIVS (RIB 1: no. 686), and Continental forms such as Popeianus and Pepeia…If POPIAS is the correct reading, the -AS may be the Irish nominative ending corresponding to Latin -us and IA rather than EA could be a hypercorrect spelling…The forfid for P is one of the additional ogham letters invented for this un-Irish sound’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 440-441). The rest of the inscription does not appear to correspond to the Roman-letter inscription. ‘ROLACUN…offers the Irish etymology *Ro-ola-kun-, ‘very large hound’… ILLUNA could be related to the OI name Illan(n), Elann and word ela ‘swan’, as in CIIC: no. 79, ELUNA in Ireland’ (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 441).
In the roman-letter inscription, ‘PVMPEIVS for Pompeius may show the Welsh development of /um/ [from] /om/…CARANTORIVS is definitely not Irish; it is the forerunner of OW Cerenhir, W. Cerennhyr…such names in -orius have been much discussed’ but no definitive interpretation of its significance is offered (Redknap and Lewis 2007, 440-441).
References
- Brash 1869 April, 151-153
- Macalister 1945, 385-388
- Redknap and Lewis 2007, 438-441