Camus Cross
Encyclopedia
The Camus Cross, otherwise known as the Camuston or Camustane Cross, is an Early Medieval Scottish
standing stone
located on the Panmure Estate
near Carnoustie
in Angus
, Scotland
. First recorded in the 15th century in a legal document describing the boundaries between Camuston
and the barony of Downie, and described in the 17th century by Robert Maule, it is a freestanding cross
, rare in Eastern Scotland.
The cross is thought to date from the tenth century, and exhibits distinctive Hiberno-Scottish mission
influences, in common with several other monuments in the area. Tradition and folk etymology suggest that the cross marked the burial site of Camus
, leader of the Norse army purportedly defeated by King Malcolm II at the apocryphal Battle of Barry
. However, the name of the stone is likely to derive from the extinct village of Camuston, which has a Celtic toponymy.
, approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest
of Carnoustie
in Angus
, Scotland
. It is situated at the centre of a 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) long avenue leading east-north-east
through Camuston Wood from the Panmure Testimonial
to the Craigton
to Carnoustie
road, at . The avenue is part of Panmure Estate and leads, beyond the road, to the former site of Panmure House
.
and stands 2 metres (6.6 ft) high, approximately 0.6 metres (2 ft) wide at the base, 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) wide at the arms, and approximately 0.2 metre (0.656167979002625 ft) thick. It stands on a low earth mound, 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) wide (east to west), 4.5 metres (14.8 ft) wide (north to south) and 1 metres (3.3 ft) high, in the centre of the Camuston Wood avenue, facing east to west. All faces and sides are sculpted. The cross has suffered significant weathering
, most notably on the west face, which has obscured some of the designs.
The stone bears no idiomatic Pictish
symbol
s and, under J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's classification system, it is a class III stone. Intact freestanding crosses of this age are comparatively rare, perhaps due to their vulnerability to damage, and the only ones in Eastern Scotland are the Camus Cross and the Dupplin Cross
in Strathearn. Fragmentary remains of other crosses include heads found at Forteviot
, St Vigeans
and Strathmartine
and shaft fragments found at Monifieth
, Abernethy, Carpow
and Invermay
, as well as a number of socketed stones where crosses once stood.
The western face is divided into three sections. The uppermost section is almost completely weathered
. The antiquarian Alexander Gordon
, who described the stone in 1726 in his Itinerarium Septentrionale, records this panel as holding a crucifixion
scene, with the figure of a man at the right hand side and the left side completely defaced. Below this is a depiction of a centaur
holding a bow, with the lowest panel having a symmetrical floral scroll design.
The eastern face is usually interpreted as a depiction of Christ
flanked by angels above the four evangelists
, although Robert Maule, in the earliest description of the stone, described the scene as Moses giving out the Law.
The carving
on the Camus Cross shows distinct similarities with those on the Brechin
Hogback
stone and point to an Irish Ecclesiastical influence. The foliar designs on the north and south edges, originally seen as Ringerike
-like (and hence, Scandinavian
in origin), consist of tendril
s and volute
s with "wave-crest" thickening. These features bear closest similarity with Irish insular art
of the late tenth century, and the treatment of the symmetrical foliar scroll design on the lower portion of the west face is diagnostically Irish. Moreover, the full-face figures on the east face are of an identical type to those on the Brechin Hogback. In the case of the Brechin Hogback, the figures are carrying objects that are characteristic of early medieval Irish
monasticism
.
/early Gaelic era monument, dating from the 10th Century. The earliest record of it is in a legal document of 1481, describing the boundary of the lands of Camuston
, owned by Sir Thomas Maule, and the barony of Downy, owned by the Earl of Crawford. The boundary was described as running "a magna cruce lapidea de Cambiston" ('from the great stone cross of Camuston'). It was mentioned in the context of the Battle of Barry
in Hector Boece
's Historia Gentis Scotorum in 1527, and first described in detail by the antiquarian Robert Maule, who erected it at its present position in 1620, after moving it six feet to centralise it within the Camuston Wood avenue.
Camus
was the supposed leader of a Norse
expeditionary force defeated by the armies of King Malcolm II at the Battle of Barry. Tradition, popularised in the sixteenth century by historian Hector Boece
, states that Camus fled the battle scene when defeat was imminent, and was caught and slain at the point where the cross now stands. The battle, and its main protagonists, including Camus, are now known to be historically inauthentic.
The name of the cross is likely to derive from the village of Camuston. No trace of this village can be seen today, and it had ceased to exist by the time of the first Ordnance Survey
map, published in 1888, but surveyed in 1857 to 1859. Its former location is indicated in the 1794 map by Ainslie, about half a mile to the East of the cross. Camuston can be found with earlier spelling variations, for example, 'Cambistown' as it is called in documents from 1425 and 1426, and has a Celtic rather than Scandinavian etymology.
A burial disinterred in 1598, near the Camus cross, was attributed by Maule as being the body of Camus:
Little information of the burial exists, but goods found in the cist were kept at Brechin Castle
. These were sketched by Jervise and are typical of Bronze Age
artefacts, found fairly commonly in the area.
Scotland in the Early Middle Ages
Scotland in the early Middle Ages, between the end of Roman authority in southern and central Britain from around 400 and the rise of the kingdom of Alba in 900, was divided into a series of petty kingdoms. Of these the four most important to emerge were the Picts, the Scots of Dál Riata, the...
standing stone
Pictish stones
Pictish stones are monumental stelae found in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line. These stones are the most visible remaining evidence of the Picts and are thought to date from the 6th to 9th centuries, a period during which the Picts became Christianized...
located on the Panmure Estate
Panmure House
Panmure House was a 17th-century country house in the Parish of Panbride, Angus, Scotland, to the north of Carnoustie. It was the seat of the Earl of Panmure. It was rebuilt in the 19th century, and demolished in 1955....
near Carnoustie
Carnoustie
Carnoustie is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. First recorded in the 15th century in a legal document describing the boundaries between Camuston
Camuston
Camuston was a village that once existed in Angus, Scotland until the late 18th/early 19th centuries. No trace of it can be found today, but its former location on land between Panmure House and Camustane Hill can be seen for example in the 1794 map by Ainslie, about half a mile to the East of the...
and the barony of Downie, and described in the 17th century by Robert Maule, it is a freestanding cross
High cross
A high cross or standing cross is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors...
, rare in Eastern Scotland.
The cross is thought to date from the tenth century, and exhibits distinctive Hiberno-Scottish mission
Hiberno-Scottish mission
The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a mission led by Irish and Scottish monks which spread Christianity and established monasteries in Great Britain and continental Europe during the Middle Ages...
influences, in common with several other monuments in the area. Tradition and folk etymology suggest that the cross marked the burial site of Camus
Camus (folklore)
Camus, in historic literature, was a Scandinavian general dispatched to engage the Scots in battle, reportedly in the early eleventh century AD. The legendary engagement was called the Battle of Barry, and was first alluded to by Boece....
, leader of the Norse army purportedly defeated by King Malcolm II at the apocryphal Battle of Barry
Battle of Barry
The Battle of Barry is a legendary battle in which the Scots, purportedly led by Malcolm II, defeated a Danish invasion force in 1010 AD. Its supposed site in Carnoustie, Angus can be seen in early Ordnance Survey maps. The history of the event relies heavily on tradition and it is currently...
. However, the name of the stone is likely to derive from the extinct village of Camuston, which has a Celtic toponymy.
Location
The Camus Cross is located in the Downie HillsDownie Hills
The Downie Hills are a small range of hills in Angus, Scotland, approximately to the North of Carnoustie. At their highest point is the summit of Camustane Hill, where lies the Panmure Testimonial. To the east of this is a tree-lined avenue that leads via the Camus Cross to the former site of...
, approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
of Carnoustie
Carnoustie
Carnoustie is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is situated at the centre of a 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) long avenue leading east-north-east
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
through Camuston Wood from the Panmure Testimonial
Panmure Testimonial
The Panmure Testimonial, otherwise known as the Live and Let Live Memorial, is a monument in Angus, Scotland. It was erected in 1839 to commemorate the generosity of William Maule, the 2nd Earl of Panmure during the 'year of short corn' in 1826, a year in which an unusually hot and dry summer led...
to the Craigton
Craigton, Angus
Craigton is a village in Angus, Scotland. It lies to the north of the Downie Hills, approximately three miles north of Carnoustie. Immediately to the west of the village lie the reservoirs of Monikie Country Park, and to the south is the Panmure Testimonial....
to Carnoustie
Carnoustie
Carnoustie is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast...
road, at . The avenue is part of Panmure Estate and leads, beyond the road, to the former site of Panmure House
Panmure House
Panmure House was a 17th-century country house in the Parish of Panbride, Angus, Scotland, to the north of Carnoustie. It was the seat of the Earl of Panmure. It was rebuilt in the 19th century, and demolished in 1955....
.
Description
The freestanding cross is carved from Old Red SandstoneOld Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
and stands 2 metres (6.6 ft) high, approximately 0.6 metres (2 ft) wide at the base, 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) wide at the arms, and approximately 0.2 metre (0.656167979002625 ft) thick. It stands on a low earth mound, 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) wide (east to west), 4.5 metres (14.8 ft) wide (north to south) and 1 metres (3.3 ft) high, in the centre of the Camuston Wood avenue, facing east to west. All faces and sides are sculpted. The cross has suffered significant weathering
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
, most notably on the west face, which has obscured some of the designs.
The stone bears no idiomatic Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
s and, under J Romilly Allen and Joseph Anderson's classification system, it is a class III stone. Intact freestanding crosses of this age are comparatively rare, perhaps due to their vulnerability to damage, and the only ones in Eastern Scotland are the Camus Cross and the Dupplin Cross
Dupplin Cross
The Dupplin Cross is a carved, monumental Pictish stone, which dates from around 800A.D. It was first recorded by Thomas Pennant in 1769, on a hillside in Strathearn, a little to the north Forteviot and Dunning...
in Strathearn. Fragmentary remains of other crosses include heads found at Forteviot
Forteviot
Forteviot is a village in Strathearn, Scotland on the south bank of the River Earn between Dunning and Perth. It lies in the council area of Perth and Kinross...
, St Vigeans
St Vigeans
St Vigeans is a small village and parish in Angus, Scotland, immediately to the north of Arbroath. Originally rural, it is now more or less a suburb of the town of Arbroath. The name St Vigeans is derived from Vigeanus, a Latinised form of the Old Irish name Féichín. Saint Feichin flourished in...
and Strathmartine
Strathmartine
Strathmartine is an area of Angus, Scotland . It is to the north of Dundee and the surrounding district is often referred to as "the Howe o Strathmartine". William Lorimer, the classicist, known for producing a translation of the New Testament in Lowland Scots was born in Strathmartine...
and shaft fragments found at Monifieth
Monifieth Sculptured Stones
The Monifieth Sculptured Stones are a series of five class II and III standing Pictish stones from the early Medieval period found in or around St Regulus' church in Monifieth, Angus, Scotland...
, Abernethy, Carpow
Carpow
Carpow is a diffuse hamlet in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated immediately to the east of the confluence of the River Tay and River Earn, 2 km north east of Abernethy.Carpow is most notable for its archaeological remains...
and Invermay
Invermay
Invermay is a diffuse settlement in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated approximately 2 km southeast of Forteviot on the Water of May, some 8 km southwest of Perth.An early medieval freestanding cross was once located at Invermay...
, as well as a number of socketed stones where crosses once stood.
The western face is divided into three sections. The uppermost section is almost completely weathered
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
. The antiquarian Alexander Gordon
Alexander Gordon (antiquary)
Alexander Gordon was a Scottish antiquary and singer. His survey of Roman sites, the Itinerarium, was considered an essential reference by all Roman antiquaries of his time.-Early life and education:...
, who described the stone in 1726 in his Itinerarium Septentrionale, records this panel as holding a crucifixion
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
scene, with the figure of a man at the right hand side and the left side completely defaced. Below this is a depiction of a centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
holding a bow, with the lowest panel having a symmetrical floral scroll design.
The eastern face is usually interpreted as a depiction of Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
flanked by angels above the four evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
, although Robert Maule, in the earliest description of the stone, described the scene as Moses giving out the Law.
The carving
Stone carving
Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work....
on the Camus Cross shows distinct similarities with those on the Brechin
Brechin
Brechin is a former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin is often described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese , but that status has not been officially recognised in the modern era...
Hogback
Hogback (sculpture)
Hogbacks are stone carved Anglo-Scandinavian sculptures from 10th-12th century England and Scotland. Their function is generally accepted as grave markers.-Geography and description:...
stone and point to an Irish Ecclesiastical influence. The foliar designs on the north and south edges, originally seen as Ringerike
Ringerike style
The Ringerike style is a Scandinavian animal style from the late 10th century and the 11th century, which evolved out of the earlier Mammen style. It has received its name from a group of runestones with animal and plant motifs in the Ringerike district north of Oslo. The most common motifs are...
-like (and hence, Scandinavian
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
in origin), consist of tendril
Tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support, attachment and cellular invasion by parasitic plants, generally by twining around suitable hosts. They do not have a lamina or blade, but they can photosynthesize...
s and volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
s with "wave-crest" thickening. These features bear closest similarity with Irish insular art
Insular art
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of Ireland and Great Britain. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe...
of the late tenth century, and the treatment of the symmetrical foliar scroll design on the lower portion of the west face is diagnostically Irish. Moreover, the full-face figures on the east face are of an identical type to those on the Brechin Hogback. In the case of the Brechin Hogback, the figures are carrying objects that are characteristic of early medieval Irish
Early Medieval Ireland 800–1166
The History of Ireland 800–1169 covers the period in the history of Ireland from the first Viking raids to the Norman invasion. The first two centuries of this period are characterised by Viking raids and the subsequent Norse settlements along the coast...
monasticism
Monasticism
Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
.
History
The Camus Cross is currently thought to be a late PictishPicts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
/early Gaelic era monument, dating from the 10th Century. The earliest record of it is in a legal document of 1481, describing the boundary of the lands of Camuston
Camuston
Camuston was a village that once existed in Angus, Scotland until the late 18th/early 19th centuries. No trace of it can be found today, but its former location on land between Panmure House and Camustane Hill can be seen for example in the 1794 map by Ainslie, about half a mile to the East of the...
, owned by Sir Thomas Maule, and the barony of Downy, owned by the Earl of Crawford. The boundary was described as running "a magna cruce lapidea de Cambiston" ('from the great stone cross of Camuston'). It was mentioned in the context of the Battle of Barry
Battle of Barry
The Battle of Barry is a legendary battle in which the Scots, purportedly led by Malcolm II, defeated a Danish invasion force in 1010 AD. Its supposed site in Carnoustie, Angus can be seen in early Ordnance Survey maps. The history of the event relies heavily on tradition and it is currently...
in Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
's Historia Gentis Scotorum in 1527, and first described in detail by the antiquarian Robert Maule, who erected it at its present position in 1620, after moving it six feet to centralise it within the Camuston Wood avenue.
Camus
Camus (folklore)
Camus, in historic literature, was a Scandinavian general dispatched to engage the Scots in battle, reportedly in the early eleventh century AD. The legendary engagement was called the Battle of Barry, and was first alluded to by Boece....
was the supposed leader of a Norse
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
expeditionary force defeated by the armies of King Malcolm II at the Battle of Barry. Tradition, popularised in the sixteenth century by historian Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
, states that Camus fled the battle scene when defeat was imminent, and was caught and slain at the point where the cross now stands. The battle, and its main protagonists, including Camus, are now known to be historically inauthentic.
The name of the cross is likely to derive from the village of Camuston. No trace of this village can be seen today, and it had ceased to exist by the time of the first Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
map, published in 1888, but surveyed in 1857 to 1859. Its former location is indicated in the 1794 map by Ainslie, about half a mile to the East of the cross. Camuston can be found with earlier spelling variations, for example, 'Cambistown' as it is called in documents from 1425 and 1426, and has a Celtic rather than Scandinavian etymology.
A burial disinterred in 1598, near the Camus cross, was attributed by Maule as being the body of Camus:
Not far thearfra in the bank of Camstone, the zeir of God Im fywe hundrethe nyntie and aught zeiris, thear wos ane greawe fownd withe ane bread stone on eury quarter thearof efter the forme of ane malt cobile, quharin did ly the heale bons of ane man of gryt statwre, the thee bone quharof ves neir als longue as bothe the schank and thee bone of any reasonable man of this age, the harne pan gryte, and vanted the palme bread of ane hand thearof, quhilk had beine the straik as appeirithe of ane sword, it wes thought to heawe beine Cames the cheif mans bwriel.
Little information of the burial exists, but goods found in the cist were kept at Brechin Castle
Brechin Castle
Brechin Castle is a castle located in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. The castle is the seat of the Earl of Dalhousie, who is the clan chieftain of Clan Maule of Panmure in Angus, and Clan Ramsay of Dalhousie in Midlothian. The original castle was constructed in stone during the 13th century...
. These were sketched by Jervise and are typical of Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
artefacts, found fairly commonly in the area.