Woodrae Pictish Slab
Forfar, Angus
Pictish Symbol Stone Class II Canmore
Also known as Woodwray

This Class II stone, found in 1819, is now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The slab was found in Woodrae Castle - according to CANMORE it was used in the kitchen floor there. Woodrae is very close to Aberlemno and is very similar in style to the Aberlemno cross slabs.

The cross face has had the cross deliberately obliterated, but the creatures decorating the panels are still beautifully clear. These include:

  • At bottom-left:
    a pair of dogs biting each other's rear legs, reminiscent of the common Celtic interlaced fighting dogs
    a long-necked beast with its head in the mouth of another fantastical creature.
  • At bottom-right:
    a dog or deer-like creature
    a fantastical creature with a lion-body and snake-like tail holding a creature (maybe a boar or a hare) in its beak-like mouth.
  • At top-left: a pair of interlaced snakes biting each other's tails.
  • At top-right: a beast swallowing a man head-first.

The rear face is very badly damaged. It is divided into at least two sections. In the top section are a horse and rider alongside a double-disc symbol above a step symbol. In the lower section is what may be a hunting scene. Most of a horse and rider are visible as is an ox and several dogs, one of which is in the act of bringing down a deer.

See also: Aberlemno II Class II stone; Aberlemno III Class II stone.

Images ©2004 Martin McCarthy, Theasis Photography

Nearby Sites

0km Aberlemno I Pictish Symbol Stone Class I
0km Aberlemno III Pictish Symbol Stone Class II
0km Aberlemno V Pictish Symbol Stone Class I
1km Aberlemno II Pictish Symbol Stone Class II
(NB: All distances are as-the-crow-flies. Lochs, mountains and beautiful winding roads will make it further. Sometimes much further.)