Z, or the broken sceptre symbol, and a strange animal composed of volutes, so frequently repeated on the ancient sculptured stones and crosses of Scotland (Figs. 162, 163). In a silver pin it is also to be seen below a Greek cross, while on the other side of the head are mystic symbols of unknown meaning.
Fig. 167.—Knotted-rope Pattern, Fordoun Church, Kincardineshire.
These elegant and graceful designs are combined with the interlaced cable or rope pattern (Fig. 167), of Germanic origin, which was unknown in Britain before the English Conquest. The original[1] of this figure is part of the ornamentation of a tombstone in Fordoun Church, Kincardineshire, where St. Palladius (A.D. 450) is said to have been buried. It is accompanied by the double-mirror and Z (Fig. 162), the snake, the spiral patterns (Fig. 158), and the figures of three men on horseback, one bearing a spear. This combination may be taken as an outward sign of the fusion of the two peoples in Scotland and Ireland. The graceful fancy of the Celt was joined to the heavy and massive design of the German, and is to be seen equally in the results of the patient labour of the scribe in his cell, and of the sculptor and metal-worker, who have left more palpable, though probably not more enduring, proofs of their wonderful art. The two designs are at the present time used in the jewelry of both Ireland and Scotland.
The same combination is visible in the enamel work.
- ↑ Stuart, Sculptured Stones of Scotland, i. pl. 67.
