Ancient landmarks similar to Uffington Horse?
Edward
What I'm looking for doesn't necessarily have to be carved into a whole
hillside, nor does it have to be a horse. It just has to be a graphic of
something ancient, as is the Uffington Horse, known to be associated with
Scotland. The great thing about the Uffington Horse is how simple, and
"clean," the design is.
Thanks.
Ed
edw...@earthlink.net
Ian O. Morrison
I'm not aware of anything like that in Scotland. Design-wise I suppose
the nearest we have are the Pictish symbol stones. Class I (pre-
Christian) and Class II (Pictish plus Christian symbols) ones use a
relatively small range of designs, including animals (bulls, elephant-
like "fantastic beasts", serpents) and more obscure things, like
the "mirror and comb". Class III ones, of which Sueno's Stone at Forres
is a prime example, depict stories - in that case a battle done as a
sort of cartoon strip. Sueno's Stone is about 20 feet high.
--
Ian O. Morrison
http://homestead.deja.com/user.ian_o_morrison/index.html
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Nigel J. Carron
Edward <edw...@earthlink.net> writes
>Are there any ancient landmarks in Scotland similar to the Uffington Horse?
>What I'm looking for doesn't necessarily have to be carved into a whole
>hillside, nor does it have to be a horse. It just has to be a graphic of
>something ancient, as is the Uffington Horse, known to be associated with
>Scotland. The great thing about the Uffington Horse is how simple, and
>"clean," the design is.
Funny you should ask that - we have a 'white horse' locally, and for the
last 6 years I have intended to research its history. It is I gather not
that ancient and is made from granite boulders rather than carved out
topsoil as the uffington horse is..
There is also a deer on the other end/side of Mormond Hill (8 Miles
south of Fraserburgh), but it is obscured by tree plantation..
--
Nigel J. Carron
Alan Smaill
> In article <mded5.994$Yy3....@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>,
> "Edward" <edw...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Are there any ancient landmarks in Scotland similar to the Uffington
> Horse?
> > What I'm looking for doesn't necessarily have to be carved into a
> whole
> > hillside, nor does it have to be a horse. It just has to be a
> graphic of
> > something ancient, as is the Uffington Horse, known to be associated
> with
> > Scotland. The great thing about the Uffington Horse is how simple,
> and
> > "clean," the design is.
>
> I'm not aware of anything like that in Scotland. Design-wise I suppose
> the nearest we have are the Pictish symbol stones. Class I (pre-
> Christian) and Class II (Pictish plus Christian symbols) ones use a
> relatively small range of designs, including animals (bulls, elephant-
> like "fantastic beasts", serpents) and more obscure things, like
> the "mirror and comb". Class III ones, of which Sueno's Stone at Forres
> is a prime example, depict stories - in that case a battle done as a
> sort of cartoon strip. Sueno's Stone is about 20 feet high.
Don't the celtic crosses go back that far too?
They are "clean", I think.
--
Alan Smaill email: A.Sm...@ed.ac.uk
Division of Informatics tel: 44-131-650-2710
Edinburgh University
Micheil
wrote:
>Are there any ancient landmarks in Scotland similar to the Uffington Horse?
>What I'm looking for doesn't necessarily have to be carved into a whole
>hillside, nor does it have to be a horse. It just has to be a graphic of
>something ancient, as is the Uffington Horse, known to be associated with
>Scotland. The great thing about the Uffington Horse is how simple, and
>"clean," the design is.
>
>Thanks.
>Ed
>edw...@earthlink.net
>
We rented a summer cottage near Faringdon (Abingdon) with a perfect
view of the Uffington Horse, so of course it wasn't long before we
drove to the Vale of Uffington to see it close up.
We were amazed by its large scale and the obvious conclusion that the
site and design had been laid out geometrically, as nobody could
possibly have carved it by eye because of its size. We thought it was
stunning, and as you say, so clean and simple. Just like the famous
Chinese Horse painting, all achieved with a few, apparently random,
brush strokes. An authentic work of art.
Artistic culture those ancient Brythonic Celts had. I've never seen
anything like it in Scotland.
- měcheil
- innis dhomh sgéile mu 'n Thěr nan Ňg...
Ian O. Morrison
Alan Smaill <sma...@dai.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
> Don't the celtic crosses go back that far too?
Yes, but I was thinking of things found exclusively in Scotland,
particularly depicting animals. The finest "Celtic" style cross I have
ever seen was the pectoral cross, decorated with garnets, found in the
tomb of St Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral. That had been dated to the
time of Cuthbert (6th century), which I think is about the time the
earliest (Class I) Pictish symbol stones were made. I'm not sure when
the great cross slabs of Argyll, in particular, were carved - mostly
later I think.