Brave, Celtic/Pictish Animal designs by Michel Gagne.
An amateur metal detectorist may have discovered a forgotten relic of a long-dead ancient civilization which once thrived in what is today northern Scotland.
Rua sharing how you can add some sweet picts ;)
The Celtic Picts of Scotland were the original inhabitants of the area, as modern genetic research has confirmed.
Brave, Celtic/Pictish Animal designs by Michel Gagne.
I donated this piece to the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary for their Easter auction- a Pictish/Celtic inspired hound. Design © Hatch, Burn, Carve/Martin Wilson Hand carved and hand enamelled f…
Оригинал взят у kardiologn в Миниатюры Теодор де Бри 1588 год, пиктская женщина. Теодор де Бри 1588 год, пиктский мужчина. Biblioteca Digital Hispnica, Res/254. Triunfo del Emperador Maximiliano I, Rey de Hungra, Dalmacia y Croacia, Archiduque de Austria : de…
Brave, Celtic/Pictish Animal designs by Michel Gagne.
Bird and fish
Celtic Symbols of Cernunnos and the meaning of the horned Celtic god deals with power and protection. This is a nature god of passion and energy. Get more..
I donated this piece to the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary for their Easter auction- a Pictish/Celtic inspired hound. Design © Hatch, Burn, Carve/Martin Wilson Hand carved and hand enamelled f…
Decoding Pictish symbols This work is now peer-reviewed and published here . Image from Aberdeenshire.gov.uk/leisure-sport-and-cul...
Line diagram of the Pictish beast (public domain) Named after their very distinctive body tattoos, the Picts ('painted people') inhabited northeastern Scotland as a separate tribe from c.300 AD to 850 AD, after which they were united with the Celtic Scots under the reign of King Kenneth I. The Picts can boast as their principal claim to archaeological fame their ornately-carved symbol stones. These are elaborately decorated with various creatures, objects, and other depictions, especially the earlier, pre-Christian stones - which are designated as Class I (dating from the 6th Century, generally unshaped, and bearing line-incised symbols on at least one flat face) or Class II (of rather later date, and bearing much more intricate, flamboyant designs). Class III stones, conversely, date from when Christianity reached the Picts, so on these stones the earlier Pictish symbols have been mostly replaced by Christian ones. Due to their realistic designs, the many different animal types carved on Class I and II Pictish symbol stones are readily identifiable – with one notable exception, that is. Appearing on about 29 Class I stones and 22 Class II stones, this bizarre-looking exception is known as the Pictish beast. Close-up of Pictish beast depicted on Meigle 4 Stone at Meigle Sculptures Stone Museum (© Simon Burchill/Wikipedia) Several very famous Pictish symbol stones bear depictions of it. These include: the Dunfallandy Stone (Class II) in Tayside; one of the Rhynie Pict stones in Aberdeenshire; and the 6-ft-tall Rodney's Stone (Class II), which is a cross-slab of grey sandstone originally present in the graveyard of the old church of Dyke and Moy but subsequently transferred to the Grampian village of Dyke to commemorate Admiral Rodney's victory and standing today on the left side of the avenue leading to Brodie Castle. Other symbol stones depicting the Pictish Beast are a cross-slab on the Brough of Birsay at the northwestern corner of Mainland, Orkney; the 9th-Century, 10-ft-tall Maiden Stone near Pitcaple in Aberdeenshire; and a carved stone in Grampian's Port Elphinstone Henge near Inverurie (the henge itself is much older than the carvings). Perhaps the least stylised, most 'natural' portrayal of this mystifying creature can be found upon a spectacular Class II stone at Tayside's Meigle Sculptures Stone Museum, which is adorned with carvings of horse riders and a tail-biting serpent as well as the Pictish beast, plus the customary Pictish V-rod and crescent symbols. Pictish beast depicted on Meigle 5 Stone at Meigle Sculptures Stone Museum (© Simon Burchill/Wikipedia) Depictions of it on such symbol stones as these portray this bizarre creature with a dolphin-like head, a long beak, four limbs that often curl backwards underneath its body (although sometimes, as on the Meigle Museum stone, only the paws curl backwards), an elongate tail with a noticeable curl at its tip, and, most distinctive of all, what may be a long slender horn or even a trunk-like projection sprouting from the top of its head and curving over its back. Indeed, this last-mentioned feature has earned the Pictish beast the alternative name of 'swimming elephant' (which all too readily conjures up some decidedly surreal images of a Celtic version of Trunko! - click here to read all about this latter onetime monster of misidentification). Needless to say, no known species of animal resembles the Pictish beast as so portrayed, which in turn has incited appreciable speculation and controversy among historians and archaeologists as to what it may be. One popular, conservative identity for it is a dolphin (or even a beaked whale, i.e. a ziphiid), based upon its beaked, superficially dolphin-like head - as a result of which I wonder if its anomalous 'trunk' may in reality be a representation of a spout of water spurting upwards when the dolphin exhales through its blowhole (conjoined, modified nostrils), which is indeed situated on the top of this marine mammal's head. Conversely, the unequivocally leg-like limbs and non-fluked tail of the Pictish beast are radically different from the flippers and fluked tail of dolphins and other cetaceans. Pictish beast depicted on Rodney's Stone at Brodie Castle (© Ann Harrison/Wikipedia) Other postulated suggestions include a seahorse (especially when depicted vertically), a deer, a seal, and a dragon. A bona fide elephant or even an unknown species of secondarily aquatic elephant has also been considered (albeit not seriously, for obvious reasons!). It may simply be that the Pictish beast is an entirely fictitious, imaginary creature, possibly even a composite of several different creatures, but its numerous portrayals (accounting for approximately 40 per cent of all Pictish depictions of animals) imply that it had considerable symbolic significance for the Picts. Indeed, it may even be the earliest known artistic representation of the legendary kelpie or Scottish water-horse (click here for a ShukerNature article on this malevolent entity). One of the three Aberlemno symbol stones in Tayside depicts a pair of interlaced horse-headed, elongate aquatic monsters, and some scholars have suggested that these may constitute a more sophisticated version of the Pictish beast. A rearing kelpie – is this the identity of the Pictish beast? (public domain) Moreover, in their book Ancient Mysteries of Britain (1986), Janet and Colin Bord proposed that the Pictish beast might be a direct representation of the elusive water monsters allegedly inhabiting various of Scotland's lochs, its 'trunk' explaining the familiar 'head and neck' or 'periscope' images often reported and even photographed by Nessie eyewitnesses. Backing up their fascinating hypothesis, the Bords make the following very telling observation: "Since a whole range of animals and birds is accurately depicted on the symbol stones - wolf, bull, cow, stag, horse, eagle, goose - perhaps these were the creatures most familiar to the Picts in their everyday world, and 'monsters' were also familiar to them, being more often seen in the lakes than they are today, and accepted as part of the natural world just like eagles and stags." This in turn leads to the most intriguing and original (if zoologically offbeat) identity ever put forward for the Pictish beast. A familiar figure in the British Fortean community for many years, Tony 'Doc' Shiels describes himself as a monster-hunter, stage magician, surrealist artist, and shaman of the western world (among other things), and he has suggested that the Pictish beast may indeed be a depiction of the unidentified Scottish water monsters. Moreover, as he first documented in a Fortean Times article (autumn 1984) and further propounded six years later in his book Monstrum! A Wizard's Tale (1990), and as I have also referred to briefly earlier in this present book (see Chapter 7), he has speculated that these latter mystery beasts' zoological identity could in turn be a highly novel, specialised form of squid. Front cover of Fortean Times #42 (autumn 1984), depicting 'Doc' Shiels's conjectured elephant squid at bottom-right (© Fortean Times/Tony 'Doc' Shiels) But how could such a creature be equated with Nessie and company, and how firm are its basic anatomical and physiological foundations? Here is what I wrote about Shiels's proposed 'Pictish squid' in my book Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999): "As conceived by Shiels, the most striking feature of his hypothetical species is a long, flexible, prey-capturing proboscis-like structure (the trunk of the Pictish beast), on account of which he has dubbed this creature the elephant squid. If held out of the water, its proboscis could resemble a long neck, which Shiels believes may explain the familiar 'long-neck' images of Nessie and her kin. He also provides his elephant squid with inflatable dorsal airsacs as part of its buoyancy mechanism (which could yield the varying shape and number of humps reported for Nessie), six short tentacles, and a pair of longer curling arms (the Pictish beast's curling front legs), as well as a muscular tail bearing two horizontal lobes. "In his accounts, Shiels proposes that this remarkable mollusc may even be able to emerge briefly onto land, which might therefore explain why certain Nessie eyewitnesses (such as the Spicers, who claimed to have spied this mystery beast on land in 1933) have likened it to an enormous, hideous snail. Quite apart from the profound morphological modifications necessary for a beast corresponding to Shiels's elephant squid to have evolved from known cephalopod (squid and octopus) stock, however, a fundamental obstacle to this hypothetical creature's plausibility is that all known species of modern-day cephalopod are exclusively marine. There is not a single species of freshwater squid or octopus on record, and for one to evolve would require drastic tissue modifications relating to osmoregulatory ability." Doc Shiels's sketch of his hypothetical elephant squid (© Tony 'Doc' Shiels) Shiels's Fortean Times account attracted considerable interest within and beyond the Fortean and cryptozoological fraternity, and summaries of his speculation subsequently appeared in a wide range of publications by other writers. Regrettably, however, many of these second-hand accounts mistakenly claimed that Shiels had formally dubbed his hypothetical elephant squid Dinoteuthis proboscideus (translating, incidentally, as 'trunked terrible squid'). In reality, conversely, as Shiels went on to explain in Monstrum!, Irish zoologist A.G. More had already given that particular name to a massive squid specimen beached at Dingle in County Kerry, Ireland, in October 1673 during a major storm. Instead, Shiels suggested that an apt name for his own, totally conjectural cephalopod would be Elephanteuthis nnidnidi - a name that needs no explanation for anyone knowing of Shiels's experiments with psychic automatism. More recently, mystery beast researcher Scott Mardis from the USA has suggested that the Pictish beast images may actually depict an evolved, surviving species of short-necked plesiosaur (and therefore quite probably a pliosaur, which also had long jaws like those of the Pictish beast). Plesiosaurs have of course been officially extinct for at least 64 million years, but an evolved, surviving representative of the long-necked, short-jawed version (elasmosaur) of these aquatic prehistoric reptiles nevertheless has long been a popular cryptozoological identity for Nessie-type water monsters. Leptocleidus capensis, a short-necked, long-jawed plesiosaur from the early Cretaceous (© Nobu Tamura/Wikipedia) In short, the Pictish beast remains the subject of several interesting interpretations, but no satisfactory solutions - unless of course the answer lurks not among its petroglyphic portrayals but instead within the secretive depths of the lochs forming a major, familiar part of the landscape once inhabited by the painted people of Scotland's distant past? This ShukerNature blog article is excerpted from my forthcoming book Here's Nessie! A Monstrous Compendium From Loch Ness. Pictish beast depicted on the east side of the Maiden Stone in a photograph (© Ronnie Leask/Wikipedia) and a line drawing (public domain)
Rua sharing how you can add some sweet picts ;)
I donated this piece to the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary for their Easter auction- a Pictish/Celtic inspired hound. Design © Hatch, Burn, Carve/Martin Wilson Hand carved and hand enamelled f…
Explore Don Orlione's 19479 photos on Flickr!
Rua sharing how you can add some sweet picts ;)
One of my friends uses the tag ‘every day is Halloween’ on her social networking sites and I am with her in wishing it was. I love it, not trick or treating, that was never done here when I was a child but a Halloween party, apple-bobbing and creepy stuff was the high point of my infant year. To be frank I did have a Wednesday Addams kind of personality as a child. My default art subjects as a six year old were Dutch ladies and things spewing blood. I still love Halloween and my heart sinks whenever I get someone moaning about it being an imported foreign money making thing. I know I am going to have to politely point out the very native British nature of the thing, everything from lanterns to costumes to trick or treating has its origins here. And then there are those dog in the manger types who just moan about everything being commercial and inauthentic as a cover for being miserable gits. Fortunately I notice more adults having fun with the thing and certainly in London there is tons of good stuff going on from huge extravaganza, to the silly to the small. Halloween suits London, the city is intrinsically sinister. Me lurking at a Halloween party last year... Last year I posted some ideas for Halloween costumes and was really chuffed to hear a few people had a (very effective) go at them. In view of the festival’s British origins I thought I might suggest a few outfits that might be effective and will complement glasses of warm cider and English ales, more Samhain than night of ghouls. The ethereal approach. Leaf mayhem. This chap has gone the whole hog..I'd like to know what he is drinking... For those who can cope with painting themselves and do not mind smearing themselves over fellow revellers I think dressing as the Green Man/Green Woman would be effective. Actually you might not need to do the whole bright green face thing: perhaps celtic swirls or a few artistic rendered leaves. would suffice .The rest of the outfit just needs to be green, it could be sexy vintage green dress or wench or semi naked (as long as the heating in your venue is good). The essential thing is greenery, cheap artificial ivy from the pound shop or real greenery nicked from your neighbours garden (but watch where you put it, gardeners itch). I may go for it next year as it involves a little effort rather than a great cash outlay. Modern druids at Stonehenge. Continuing the ancient Briton theme how about the ‘Romans go home’ squad? You could start with being a druid. We don’t know what this lot actually wore, the tradition is long robes, a bit of holly or mistletoe and a scythe. I think you could do quite a lot along the toga and exotic jewellery line for this one, so bed sheets and a trick to Primark could set you up nicely. Alternatively you could back-comb your hair, get a bit metallic and paint yourself with blue swirls, girls if you can mock up a silvery bra type thing you could do even do Boudicca. This is another good cheap option and one that can be sexy, demure or downright fierce. Mind you, bearing in mind the Romans didn’t go home, for quite a long time you could just give in and come as Britannia, plastic roman helmet, shield and more bed sheet creativity. I suspect one of those cheapo devil's forks you see everywhere right now would double up nicely as a trident.You could be imperious and demand drinks all night…. be careful who you call a subject though. Winsome Druid. Little boys rocking the woad... A more sultry approach... Aunt Sally and Wurzel Gummidge. Moving forward and bearing in mind some people love the excuse to wear a wig, sword, crinoline or bonnet, coming as an Aunt Sally might be fun although you have to remind people in the pub that they are not actually allowed to throw things at you (Aunt Sally is an old game involving a wooden figure). Her face make up is good fun, for those who remember the television series getting your chap to dress up as a scarecrow (and they are seriously creepy) might be a good idea. The bonnets can be bought cheaply, any old long dress will do: it is the make up that matters. Aunt Sally make up. How about coming as Punch and Judy? Judy with her dress, mob cap, big stick and baby would be easy to do and instantly recognisable. Another good sinister fictional character is Miss Haversham with her tattered ancient wedding finery,easy to create with old net curtains from a charity shop and spray cobwebs. A ships figure head might also be good,you need coiled hair, very static bright make up and the name of a ship painted on a sash and a tight long skirt, I have seen it done and it can look effective. Punch and Judy would make a good costume for a couple. Figure heads.... And if anyone out there really has to be a zombie I would suggest that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies be your starting point this year….. Any other ideas out there to share? xxx
They have been dismissed as savages who resisted the march of civilisation. But the remains of a monastery found in the north of Scotland suggest the Picts have been wronged
The Picts were a group of people living in the ancient eastern and northern area of Scotland in the fourth century. It is generally accepted that the Picts were not, as once believed a new race, but were simply the decedents of the already established Iron Age people of northern Scotland. The uncertainty that surrounds the Picts is simply because they left no written records as seems to be the case for ancient civilizations in the area. We have no clear vision of how they lived and what there religion consisted of and general information about there society. All we know of them is from second hand evidence that has been written from others and their impressions of the wild Pictish people. My intent here is not to go into their history but to celebrate their incredible pieces of art that they left behind in the form of stone, metal, jewelry and small objects of rock and bone. As a artist I often imagine that in each tribe there must have been a few who were the artisans, who recorded their inspirations and things of beauty for their king and members of his group and also to please their creative instincts for themselves. What we have of their work stands today. I can imagine the hundreds of objects and monoliths which did not make thorough the centuries of time. The large stones which crumbled from wear and tear would vanish away but perhaps other objects lay waiting to be found in the earth, perhaps in the future. Like all civilizations they came and went. Lets enjoy what they have left us. The following are published books on the Picts and their art.
