Eassie Sculptured Stone — The Ancient Codex

History — Photo: PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

The cross-slab was carved about the mid-8th century AD. It was found in the bed of the Eassie Burn near Eassie Church by Rev. Cordiner around 1786.

Eassie Sculptured Stone is a carved stone near Glamis, Angus, Scotland.

What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.

History

The cross-slab was carved about the mid-8th century AD. It was found in the bed of the Eassie Burn near Eassie Church by Rev. Cordiner around 1786.

After its discovery the stone was moved to the churchyard, where it stood for over a century, until the 1960s when a purpose-built shelter with viewing windows was constructed for it within the ruined church.

People

Rev. Cordiner

Found the cross-slab in the bed of the Eassie Burn c. 1786
Lloyd Laing

Historian who interpreted the rear-face tree figure as bearing suspended human heads, and extended the 'Aberlemno School' grouping
John Romilly Allen & Joseph Anderson

Devised the classification system under which the slab is a Class II Pictish stone

Cultural influences

Pictish symbol tradition — the rear face carries a Pictish beast over a double-disc-and-Z-rod, plus horseshoe and further beast symbols, marking the stone as a Class II monument in Allen and Anderson's classification.
Early Christian sculpture — the cross face bears a ringed cross with a keywork-decorated central boss, complex interlaced knotwork on arms and shaft, and a pair of angels in the upper quadrants.
The 'Aberlemno School' of Pictish sculpture — as extended by Lloyd Laing from Ross Trench-Jellicoe's list, the Eassie stone belongs to this stylistic group.

Connections

Glamis 2 stone

Nearby stone bearing a similar four-winged angel to those on Eassie's cross face
Aberlemno 2 & 3 (Aberlemno School)

Fellow members of the Aberlemno School of Pictish sculpture
Meigle / Glamis / Kirriemuir stones

Other Aberlemno-School stones (Menmuir 1, Kirriemuir 1, Monifieth 2, Rossie Priory, Glamis 1 and 2)

Discovery & excavation

The cross-slab was found in the bed of the Eassie Burn, near Eassie Church, by Rev. Cordiner about 1786. It was moved to the churchyard, where it stood for over a century, before being housed in the 1960s in a purpose-built see-through shelter within the roofless shell of the old parish church.

Finds now held at: Eassie Burn (find spot); Ruined Eassie parish church (current shelter).

What to look for

The cross face — a ringed cross with a keywork-decorated central boss and complex interlaced knotwork on the arms and shaft.
The pair of angels in the upper quadrants of the cross face (the right-hand figure now almost completely lost to damage).
The cloaked warrior with a small square buckler and spear in the lower-left quadrant, and a stag with hunting hounds in the lower-right.
On the rear face: a damaged Pictish beast over a double-disc-and-Z-rod, a trio of cloaked figures, and a figure before a potted tree (interpreted by Lloyd Laing as having human heads suspended from its branches).
The weathered cattle and horseshoe/beast symbols at the lower part of the rear face.

Plan your visit

Location: 56.6144°N · 3.0565°W
Nearest settlement: Glamis
Access: Open access
Terrain: Easy going
Start point: Eassie Cross-Slab · In the old church of Eassie, west of Glamis off the A94.
Best time: Open year-round.
Start point: Eassie village (old Eassie church) (parking unconfirmed) — Nearest settlement; specific parking not confirmed. The stone is in the old church of Eassie, west of Glamis off the A94. No public car park is mapped nearby; the closest is at Glamis village around 3km east.