The Celtic Cross An Illustrated History and Celebration
The Celtic Cross An Illustrated History and Celebration
The Celtic Cross An Illustrated History and Celebration
AN ILLUSTRATED
HISTORY AND
NIGEL P E N NIC K
THE
CELTIC
CROSS
The Celtic Cross has long been the most recognized
symbol of Celtic Christianity, representing in its
many stone faces a long tradition of Celtic art
and design, as well as the change from an
ancient Pagan tradition to an era of Christian
conversion and practices.
https://archive.org/details/celticcrossillusOOOOpenn
The Celtic Cross
AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
AND CELEBRATION
NIGEL PENNICK
y
BLANDFORD
A BLANDFORD BOOK
ISBN O-7137-264I-5
Preface.7
5 Heavenly Columns.50
Gazetteer.145
Bibliography.153
Index ..156
I dedicate this book
to my Celtic ancestors,
both from the Kingdom of Kernow
and of the Race of Diarmid.
Author’s Note: I use the terms bce and ce to denote years ‘Before
the Common Era’ and ‘Common Era’. The terms bc (Before Christ)
and ad (Anno Domini - the year of the Lord) are specifically Christian,
while bce and ce are ideologically neutral.
Introduction -
The Ceets
Opposite: The archetypal culture has not been eliminated from Europe. It has left its mark in
Celtic Cross as sunwheel. England, France and Switzerland, parts of Austria, Germany, Hungary,
9
The Celtic Cross
Spain and northern Italy, while Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the
Isle of Man and Brittany are still predominantly Celtic in culture.
The Celts have always given great respect to the arts, especially the
spoken word. In former times, the highest honours were bestowed
upon the bards, and the druids taught their doctrines through the tech¬
niques of a highly developed art of memory. The Celtic worldview was
non-literalistic: it was expressed through a complex series of symbols
and metaphors that gave access to the invisible inner nature of things.
Even when they were conquered, the Celts never lost their exception¬
al abilities. Under Roman rule in north Italy, Celtic families produced
many outstanding men of letters in the Latin tradition, among them
Cato, Catullus, Varro and Vergil. Later, in the north, Irish, British and
Breton bards laid the foundations of the medieval literature of western
Europe, and the tradition has continued unbroken until the present
time. Celtic writers of the twentieth century have been among the
most pre-eminent, among them William Butler Yeats, Dylan Thomas
and Seamus Heaney. As a medium of the intellect, Celtic art crystallizes
the essential infinity of the cosmos and gives expression to it in physi¬
cal form.
The religion of the Celts was an integral part of the culture of every¬
day life, was nature-venerating, polytheistic, and recognized goddesses
as well as gods, which were represented both aniconically and iconical-
ly. According to the best accounts, Pagan Celtic spirituality recognized
the cyclic nature of existence, which involved reincarnation of individ¬
uals, and immediate continuity between the material world and the
otherworld. The druidic teachings, which have come down to us
through Welsh tradition, tell of an integrated relationship between
humans and nature, expressed through a vast body of natural lore con¬
cerning the seasons, the stars, matter and existence. Celtic spirituality
has always recognized that there is an unseen world that interpenetrates
the visible world. Everything exists on several simultaneous levels:
human consciousness interprets them as the physical, the spiritual and
the symbolic. Celtic religion understood the course of nature as the
will of the Gods. In accordance with this, they venerated both local
and general deities, which they saw as being present in natural sanctu¬
aries, especially in ensouled places in the landscape. So their main
places of worship were at holy hills, springs, rivers, lakes, trees and in
woodland. Thus, Celtic culture was integrated with nature, expressed
through the multiple possibilities of life itself. Most of this traditional
lore is still known and preserved in Celtic folk-tradition.
IO
1
The Historical
Background of the
Celtic Cross
II
The Celtic Cross
12
The Historical Backgrond of the Celtic Cross
13
The Celtic Cross
14
The Historical Backgrond of the Celtic Cross
15
The Celtic Cross
16
The Historical Backgrond of the Celtic Cross
17
The Celtic Cross
In a real way, the Celtic monks were the inheritors of the Celto-
Roman tradition, continuing and preserving classical and druidic
learning as well as teaching Christianity. For example, the Irish priest
Columbanus, known as ‘Prince of Druids’, who founded several
monasteries in mainland Europe, was one of the most learned men of
his age. In addition to his priestly role, Columbanus was a noted poet
who wrote in Greek according to classical modes. Many of the
founders of the Celtic church came from the upper class, which in
Pagan times had provided the druids and temple priests. The genealo¬
gies of the British Saints who founded Christianity in Britain after the
fall of Rome show them all to be members of one or other of the Eight
Noble Families of Britain.
Thus, the leaders of the new religion took the same career path as
their Pagan forebears, and in Ireland we can see that many Celtic
Christian priests took over almost imperceptibly from the druids. They
continued all of the druidic functions, reinterpreting their more Pagan
elements according to Christian beliefs and practices. So, for example,
when St Patrick, St Carantoc and other members of the High King’s
legal commission reformed the laws of Ireland, they brought in
Christian elements, but left as much of the traditional structure in place
as possible. Just as the role of the
druid as law-giver was taken over
by the church, so other social func¬ The leaders of the new religion took the
tions were transferred from the
same career path as their Fagan forebears,
Pagan to the Christian priesthood.
and in Ireland ... many Celtic Christian
Thus, St Findchua took over the
role of official curser for the King priests took over almost imperceptibly from
of Leinster when the druid who the druids.
should have performed the tradi¬
tional battle-rite was found to be
too old to conduct it. So the Christian priest substituted for the druid,
and kept the job, later handing it on to his successors.
If the priestly caste remained little altered when Christianity arrived,
then neither were the ancestral sacred places of the Celts tampered
with greatly. Holy places in the Celtic landscape are the collective
shrines of the community, maintained by the families which legally
own them. Because in traditional society land could not be bought and
sold, but only inherited, Celtic holy places were the hereditary proper¬
ty of families. Any man who became a priest in the Celtic church
maintained his hereditary rights over the ancestral holy places in his
18
The Historical Backgrond of the Celtic Cross
19
The Celtic Cross
20
The Historical Backgrond of the Celtic Cross
21
Precedents and
Origins
22
Precedents and Origins
middle of the world. Zeus released one bird to the east, and the other
to the west. Flying in straight lines, they met each other over Delphi,
which was defined thus as the navel of the world. According to anoth¬
er legend, this was also the place where Apollo slew with his arrow the
serpent called Python so that the oracular goddess could take her place
there without hindrance.
At least from Mycenean times, around 1400 bce, if not earlier, the
Delphic world navel was marked by a baitylos, an unworked mark-
stone which was regarded as an aniconic emblem of the deity. Later,
this rough stone was considered inappropriate and was replaced by a
finely carved omphalos. This was also an elliptical stone to which an
eagle of gold was attached on each side in the Egyptian manner. This
Delphic omphalos was carved with swags of what appear to be wool or
cloth, recreating the patterns made upon the earlier stone when it was
honoured ceremonially. A number of ancient Greek sculptured reliefs
and vase-paintings show the omphalos in the days when it was the
Representation of an
revered sacred object of the oracle, dressed with ribbons and branches.
omphalos-stone on an altar,
c. 400 bce, from an ancient
The Roman writer Varro compared its shape with that of a ‘treasury’,
Greek vase in Berlin. and when Delphi was sacked by the Celts under Brennos in 279 bce
the actual treasure of Apollo’s shrine was
taken away as booty.
Although it is primarily the navel of the
world, there is a strong connection, not
only linguistically, between the omphalos
and the phallus. A number of omphaloi at
other places were phallic in shape, and the
Etruscans used phalloid stones as tomb-
markers. In the Celtic realms, a comparable
pillar-stone stood at Pfalzfeld in the
Hunsriick, Germany, in the land once
inhabited by the Treviri tribe. Surrounded
by ropework, an Etruscan motif that later
appears in Celtic crosses all over the British
Isles, the carvings on this stone include a
bearded human head with horns or a head¬
dress, surrounded by scrollwork in La Tene
style. In Ireland, similar stone omphaloi have
survived. The stone at Turoe in County
Galway is an elliptical mark-stone that
closely resembles the Delphic omphalos
23
The Celtic Cross
in shape and size, even down to the swirling patterns that spiral across
its surface. Elsewhere in Ireland are stones that include a cushion¬
shaped omphalos at Castlestrange in County Roscommon and a stone
at Mullaghmast in Kildare. The latter is the base of an ancient Pagan
pillar. Another base of a round pillar, which, when intact, was probably
approximately conical, exists at Killycluggan in County Cavan. These
ompWos-pillars are the model from which the later designers of the
Irish high crosses took their inspiration.
The concept of the stone that stands at the centre of the world, or,
by association, the centre of a country or sacred area, was known else¬
where in northern Europe. Before the introduction of the Christian
religion into western Norway, many sacred places possessed Hellige
hvide stene (holy white stones). Many have been discovered beneath
churches or old homesteads which in Pagan times served as places of
worship. The Hellige hvide stene are cylindrical pillars terminating with
a hemisphere, made from white stone, either marble, quartzite or gran¬
ite. Phallic in form, and measuring up to 90 cm (3 ft) in height, it is
likely that these stones were the objects of worship of the god of sexu¬
ality and generation, Yngvi-Frey, who was the chief god of the older,
pre-agricultural Norse pantheon, known as the Vanir. When the
Christian religion was introduced, the holy white stones were buried,
to be re-discovered in modern times. In Scotland, Clackmannan, a for¬
mer inauguration-place of the Pictish kings, possesses a similar, but
much larger, phallic megalith which stands by the church. Like other
omphaloi, it hallows the centre-point of the land, where the spiritual
essence is at its height. Such places were the natural spiritual centres of
the priesthood, monarchs and lords. In England, the London Stone,
recently refurbished, traditionally marks the centre and holds the ‘luck’
of the city of London, while the same function is ascribed to the Blue
Stane of St Andrews in Scotland. In the Low Countries, the central
points of town market-places, which in other places would be marked
by a market cross, were marked by a blue stone. Thus, the tradition of
the omphalos lives on as an integral element of modern cities.
NATURAL PHENOMENA
Another forerunner of the Celtic Cross can be seen in a striking natur¬
al phenomenon. Under certain weather conditions, sun- or moonlight
shining through airborne ice crystals produces halo phenomena.
These are more common in northern latitudes, and there are many
24
Precedents and Origins
25
The Celtic Cross
there are several variant forms of the wheel. The pattern that was
adopted later by the Celtic Christian church, and taken to be the basic
form, is the four-spoked wheel. Although it is by far the most com¬
mon, however, it is not the only form, as the number of spokes are Bronze Age rock-carvings
of sunwheels from Sweden
variable. There are also examples composed of two concentric circles.
and Norway.
In the Scandinavian rock-carvings, these forms appear in the same con¬ (1—4) Bohuslan;
texts, and thus are assumed to be versions of one another rather than (3) Ostfold;
completely different symbols. The circles may be shown alone, or with (6—7) Bohuslan;
(8) Ostergotland;
appendages that can be interpreted as supports. Sometimes they are car¬
(g) S.W. Norway;
ried by human figures, either above the head or as shields. They are (10) Bohuslan;
borne on ships, and depicted as the wheels of actual vehicles. (11—12) Ostergotland.
26
Precedents and Origins
27
The Celtic Cross
The wheel is the most significant attribute of the Celtic Cross, and it
appeared in a pre-Christian context along with the columnar form on
Roman columns dedicated to Jupiter. A different representation of the
wheel-column can be seen on a pagan Roman grave-stela in Carlisle
Museum. In the form of a rectangular slab surmounted by a triangular
pediment containing a lunar crescent, it bears three wheel-crosses. One
is at the apex of the pediment, while the other two are at the junction
of the rectangle and the triangle. They are depicted as supported on
bulbous pillars in the manner of Celtic Crosses. From this, it is possible
that pillars with wheel-crosses existed in Roman times as Pagan, rather
than Christian, monuments. In support of this hypothesis, there are
Christian Anglo-Saxon representations of crosses which closely resem¬
ble their pre-Christian forerunners. The Lechmere stone at Hanley
Castle, Hereford and Worcester, is a fine example of this type of cross.
In later iconography, the sunwheel was taken from the Pagan sun
gods and goddesses and used as a symbol of the Christian godhead. The
Fuldauer Sakramentar in the University Library at Gottingen, dating
from around the year 975, shows this in a remarkable image of tradi¬
tional cosmology. One illuminated page is in the form of a diagram
composed of three circles. The outermost circle contains personifica¬
tions of the seasons and months. Inside this, the second circle has the
four elements, while the central circle is reserved for God. In his hands,
he holds the heads of the sun and
the moon, while beside him on
either side are two golden six- The wheel is the most significant attribute
spoked wheels. In Classical art, the
of the Celtic Cross, and it appeared in a
sun-god Helios is depicted riding
pre-Christian context along with the
in the car of the sun, a wheeled
vehicle pulled by four horses. This columnar form on Roman columns dedicated
image was perpetuated in the to Jupiter.
Eastern Orthodox church in the
shape of Profitis Elias, the Jewish
prophet Elijah, who flew to heaven. Orthodox icons still being made
today at the monastery of Mount Athos depict the prophet, whose
Greek name Elias is a continuation of Helios, riding heavenwards in a
chariot of fire pulled by the four horses of the sun. Sometimes the
chariot of Profitis Elias is shown inside a roundel at the centre of a
cross, in place of Christ. As a holy sign, the wheel was employed by
Romanesque sculptors. In southern Germany, a carving of the wheel
god is prominent on the monastery tower at Hirsau in the Black
28
Precedents and Origins
THE TORC
The most characteristic artefact of Celtic culture is another round
structure, the tore, which is literally a binding of metal. Originating in
the fifth century bce during the La Tene period, the tore is essentially
a body ornament made of precious metal in the form of a curved rod
with identical free ends that face one another, almost touching. In
effect, tores are incomplete circles. Worn on the neck or arm, they
must be flexible enough to enable the wearer to put them on and take
them off, but without damaging or breaking the metal. Tores appear
to have had a sacred meaning, for images of the gods show them wear¬
ing tores around their necks, or holding them in their hands. Among
the wealth of magnificent ancient Celtic artefacts, some of the most
masterly craftsmanship is preserved in the tores. One of the most re¬
markable collection of tores comes from the splendid hoard found at
Snettisham in Norfolk, England. Dating from the first century bce, the
treasure consists of golden tores composed of exquisite ropework in
metal. One of the more notable examples is in the form of a rope com¬
posed of eight strands, each strand of which is made of eight twisted
golden rods. The fineness of detail and the regularity of the twined
metal in these tores is a demonstration of the highest skills possessed by
the ancient Celtic goldsmiths. These wonderful ancient Celtic tores are
displayed in the British Museum.
29
The Celtic Cross
ROMAN MOSAICS
The patterns of Roman mosaics are important forerunners of the
designs used to adorn and embellish the much later Celtic Crosses.
Basic crosses are present as patterns in the tesselation designs of early
Roman mosaics in Britain. For example, a mosaic from the Roman
palace at Fishbourne in Sussex, made between the years 70 and 100, is
patterned with equal-armed crosses. Another monochrome labyrinth
mosaic dating from the fourth century, found at Cirencester, is concen¬
tric around an equal-armed cross at the centre. Roman labyrinth
mosaics in general are constructed in a cross-form. Most are square, but
there are a number of round forms known. A polychrome mosaic
found in London in 1805 during the construction of the Bank of
England, illustrated here, has an equal-armed cross set within a circle
that itself is surrounded by a square panel of interlace. The circles or
scrolls at the ends of the cross-arms are similar to the treatment of many
later representations of crosses and Trees of Life on runestones.
Many Roman mosaics contain panels surrounded by the interlace
pattern known as the guilloche chain. The fact that mosaic researchers
30
Precedents and Origins
use this specialized name for the interlace has tended to distance the
pattern from its later derivatives. There are two basic forms of guilloche
chain. One is a simple twist of two separate ‘ribbons’, while the other
is usually composed of three ‘ribbons’ interlaced in the manner of
much Celtic work. This form, which appears later throughout Celtic,
Nordic and Romanesque art, was used universally in Roman mosaic. It
was clearly an influence upon this kind of Celtic interlace pattern.
The wheel-cross actually appears in Roman mosaic work, as it does
on tomb stelae. One fine example is in the mosaic of Orpheus found at
Littlecote Park in Wiltshire. Dating from around the year 360, it has a
wheel-cross roundel with an image of lyre-playing Orpheus at the cen¬
tre. In the four quarters made by the cross are four goddesses, riding
various beasts sidesaddle. They symbolize the four directions, the four
elements and the four seasons. Later Christian cross-makers sometimes
re-used this perennial motif by presenting Christ at the same place as
the centre of the four elements within the circle.
31
3
ARCHAIC CELTIC STONES
I n the Hallstatt period, generally after 1000 bce, the Celts lived in
central Europe, for they had not yet migrated westwards and
northwards to the British Isles. However, Celtic traditions there are
recognizable as forerunners of what came later. In that period, the Celts
set up aniconic stones as holy stopping-places in the landscape. In their
form and location, they pre-figure the later Celtic Crosses. Many have
a roughly humanoid form that continues the much older tradition
of making stone representations of the female principle. Some of
the central European stones, such as the Hallstatt period pillar-
cross from Tubingen-Kilchberg in south Germany (now in the
Wurttembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart), have a ‘head’ part that
is incised with an X-shape. Dating from 1,000 years or more before the
Christians adopted the cross, these stones resemble the much later
Celtic stone crosses in parts of Cornwall and Wales. Even when the
Celtic Cross had become a stylized form, certain sculptors made cross¬
es that echo the shouldered humanoid forms of the earlier Continental
stones. Surviving examples of this kind of ‘goddess-cross’ can be seen
in west Wales at Carew and Nevern. A true goddess-stone like those
on which the crosses are based still stands in its original position just
outside the churchyard of St Martin’s in Guernsey. She is La Gran’mere
du Chimiquere, a Celtic goddess image which was revered there long
before the church was built. In the form of a female Herm, ‘The
Grandmother of the Cemetery’ is an armless stone figure with breasts
and a radiate collar that resembles the patterns on some Celtic images
in Germany.
A pointed stone with a rudimentary human face from Rottenburg,
at Stammheim in Stuttgart, is an early type of humanoid stone. It is a
megalith whose shape roughly suggested the human form, which was
‘humanized’ by having the suggestion of a face carved onto it. Later,
actual human representations were carved by the Celts. Some appear to
32
Archaic Celtic Stones
■m
i;
i r ha
mm •V *,
Z* V/'
&
& ffi
‘C
>’<:
:-v-
have been images of goddesses and gods, while others served as com¬
memorative memorials to individuals. It is thought that the Celts took
iV*.
the idea of setting up memorial images of the deceased individual from
AT the Etruscans. There was a similar tradition among the Pagan Slavs fur¬
ther east. They erected carved stone pillars in honour of deities such as
Triglav, Svantovit and Gerovit. They were often square-section pillars
with faces of the gods carved at the top. The Polish Husjatyn pillar,
illustrated here, is a typical example. Its cap resembles the capstones on
the Irish high crosses at Ahenny.
In addition to ancestral memorials, there were also representations of
deities in animal form, for in European Paganism animals can be mani¬
festations of the divine equally as well as the human form. Thus, in
33
The Celtic Cross
addition to goddesses and gods, the boar, deer, stag, horse, dog and
wolf appear frequently in sacred art. Although animal attributes accom¬
pany many Celtic carvings of humanoid deities, they also appear by
themselves on Gallic and Pictish memorials and in certain contexts on
later Celtic Crosses. In addition to the spirits of the animal world,
Celtic cosmology recognizes intermediate beings that exist somewhere
between the human and the animal. They appear as human-animal
form images that include serpent-footed and horned men.
Horns and the horn-like ‘leaf-crown’ surmount the human head in
many La Tene carvings. These seem to pre-figure both the form of the
wheel-head of crosses and the haloes surrounding the heads of saints
and the deity in Christian iconography. This halo-like form appears in
the hairstyles of Celtic goddesses such as Epona and The Mothers.
Two-faced figures also appear in Pagan Celtic art. Usually called jani-
form, after the Roman god Janus, they seem to have originated in
Etruscan practice. The most striking of these La Tene janiform images
is a larger-than-life size, two-faced stone figure that was discovered at
Holzgerlingen in Baden-Wiirttemberg, Germany. This was a pillar in
the form of a sculpted humanoid, with the figure’s arms held tightly
across the waist; the two-faced head had a pair of horns that took
the form of a separated ‘leaf crown’. Other multiple representations
include the sculpture of a three-faced male deity from Soissons
in France. This is so skilfully
designed that there is a central
face whose left and right eyes
become respectively the right
and left eyes of the other faces.
All three have ears of wheat
for beards, while the carving
below of a cock and a ram infer
a connection with the Roman
god Mercury.
The lower part of another
Left: The lower part of a
Celtic image from Steinenbronn,
broken Celtic stone figure
also kept in Stuttgart, shows how found at Steinenbronn,
the human figure melds into Baden-W iirttemberg,
the stone cross. Dating from the Germany, c. 400 bce,
carved with T- and cross-
fourth century bce, this stone
tesselation patterns that
bears patterns that demonstrate appear later in Christian
the multivalency of Celtic Celtic art.
34
Archaic Celtic Stones
35
The Celtic Cross
36
Archaic Celtic Stones
37
The Celtic Cross
38
Archaic Celtic Stones
that resemble altars. On top of each leacht is a stone slab, often incised
with crosses. Set into this is an upright stone cross, which is usually
accompanied by large loose pebbles. These are used in votive rites of
healing or cursing, being turned by the supplicants during prayers and
invocations. The cross-slabs that stand on top of the leachta have much
in common with the pillar-stones that stood on the Celtic burial-places
in Pagan times. Furthermore, the Irish word leacht is derived from the
Latin, lectus, meaning a bed, which is a name often gives to graves in
Celtic countries. Naturally, because they are holy, no leachta have been
excavated to see whether anyone is buried beneath them. Like crosses,
leachta are holy stopping-places at which prayers are offered by devout
people. Some sacred enclosures have a number of them, each of which
has a slightly different character. For example, the island of Inishmurray
in County Sligo has eleven leachta, which are used as stopping-places in
ceremonial processions during religious festivals. It is likely that the
erection of leachta was formerly widespread in Celtic countries, and that
the enormous calvaries of Brittany that were erected much later are a
development of them.
The custom of erecting a memorial stone on top of a burial mound
was widespread in ancient European Paganism. We can have some idea
of how they looked in former times if we visit the places in the Land
of Baden-Wiirttemberg in southern Germany where a number of
Celtic mounds have been reconstructed. Among the mounds with new
stones are those at Hochdorf,
Echterdingen and Hohmichele.
The custom of erecting a memorial stone Unfortunately, there is too little
39
The Celtic Cross
40
4
The Signs of The Land
41
The Celtic Cross
tells that the Piets were so called because their Part of the arm-tattoos of
42
The Celtic Cross
44
The Signs of the Land
45
The Celtic Cross
This poem described, for those who did not know it, the heraldry
of the monarchs of the British Isles. It is not inconceivable that such
consecrated battle-standards were reproduced on commemorative
stones, which originally were painted in the appropriate colours. The
tattoos that people wore on their bodies, their tribal, clan and family
emblems, colours and heraldry are
linked intimately to the landscape Standing stones and stone crosses do not
from which they come. They are
exist separately from the landscape in which
as much a part of the land as the
rivers and hills, fields and track¬ they stand. They are important landmarks
ways, villages and holy places that in their own right, often bearing their own
make up the traditional landscape
names which tell something of their history
of northern Europe. Standing
stones and stone crosses do not
and meaning.
exist separately from the landscape
in which they stand. They are important landmarks in their own right,
often bearing their own names which tell something of their history
and meaning. Thus, stones and crosses are repositories of the local spir¬
it of place, preserving and expressing the particular character of the
land of which they are part. Crosses are always stopping-places in the
landscape, places on pathways where travellers can rest, pray and
restore body and spirit before going on their way. In difficult terrain,
crosses mark the way, showing the waytarer the most favourable path
between villages or monasteries.
46
The Signs of the Land
47
The Celtic Cross
48
The Signs of the Land
Brittany, the names of crosses, and the stories told about them, weave
a geomythic fabric of the land which expresses its character in a partic¬
ular way. So, in Brittany, the cross at the place called La Croix des Sept
Chemins, where seven roads meet, marks the spot where seven broth¬
ers (Connec, Dardanaou, Gerna, Gonery, Jort, Merhe and Quidec)
embraced and left to preach the gospel. All of them became saints in
the Celtic church, for each founded a chapel in the direction in which
he went. Through the Celtic Cross, following on from the earlier
Pagan stone, ancestral heritage is maintained and the mythic spirit of
the landscape lives through those who experience it.
Celtic tradition celebrates multiplicity. Its mythology is full of events
that take place at a certain place through the coming-together of a
number of unrelated causes, each of which could cause the event alone.
Integrating unrelated things into a coherent whole is one of the arts of
the Celtic bard. The Irish wizard Bee mac De is reputed to have been
able to hear nine separate questions from nine different people at one
time, and to respond to them with a single answer. Similarly, the Celtic
Cross, with its origins in many different sacred areas, is the point of
coincidence that reflects the Celtic principle of unity in multiplicity.
In traditional Celtic society, there was nothing impersonal. Each
thing that a man or woman encountered in everyday living had its
own life, too. Each thing was a subject, not an object, which could be
spoken of by its own, personal, name. This was because every natural
thing, human artefact and part of the landscape was named. Each name
reflected some inner nature, a personal quality that had meaning. In the
ensouled Celtic worldview, the personality of every place and artefact
was recognized to be as real as the individual personalities of human
beings. This is the case with seemingly inanimate objects such as stones
and crosses. Such an ensouled world can only exist when there is inti¬
mate personal contact with existence. When individual things are made
by craftspeople, then no two are the same, but once manufacturing
industry arose, with mass-production of multiple things, then the per¬
sonal contact was lost. Artefacts became anonymous products, whose
essential character no longer originated in the individual character of its
maker and users. Today, many of the names of the landscape are lost or
forgotten, or overlain by meaningless inventions. The naming of the
world has continued in a few specialized areas, such as in the names of
private and public houses, hotels, aircraft and ships. On a smaller level,
it is even less frequent, with the occasional exception of particularly
personal possessions such as cars, knives, guns and guitars.
49
5
heavenly Columns
50
Heavenly Columns
THE MAYPOEE
The general principle of the heavenly column appears to be very
ancient, seemingly going back at least 3,000 years. A remarkable point¬
ed conical golden object called a goldkegel found at Ezelsdorf, near
Nuremberg, and dating from 1100 bce, is believed to be the top
of such a pillar. Also, from the evidence of enormous post-holes, it
appears that votive posts were erected in the Celtic sacred enclosures
favoured in Germany and France. In more recent times, maypoles have
been set up each year to celebrate the Celtic festival of Beltane. The
custom was formerly widespread throughout northern Europe, but its
use has dwindled in the British Isles. A visit to southern Germany on
Mayday is recommended for readers who want some idea of what
maypole festivities were like in former times in Celtic countries. We
know of the customs from relatively recent records, but there is no rea¬
son to suggest that they were not substantially the same in ancient
times. Indeed, during the Reformation, Protestants pointed out their
Pagan origin and condemned them as such, and that was the end of the
Maytide celebrations in many places. However, this view of folk-
culture is needlessly harsh and rigid. To most participants in any folk
festival, the religious component is less important than the enjoyment
51
The Celtic Cross
it brings. The great Mardi Gras carnivals of New Orleans and Rio de This English permanent
Janeiro, ostensibly commemorating the beginning of the fast period of maypole on the village
green at Wellow,
Lent, are perfect examples of this.
Nottinghamshire, is painted
In former times, the Welsh maypole was a birch tree, as it is in some spirally with the national
parts of Germany today. In his Crefydd yr Oesoedd Tywyll (1852), the colours of red, white and
blue, and bears the solar
bard Nefydd (William Roberts) left an account of Welsh traditions
emblem of a gilded
of Codi’r Fedwen (raising the birch), which was accompanied by the
weathercock at the summit.
daums y fedwen (the dance of the birch), a kind of morris dancing. ‘The (Nigel Pennick)
May-pole was prepared by paint¬
ing it in different colours,’ wrote
Nefydd, ‘then the leader of the
dance would come and place his
circle of ribbon about the pole,
and each in his turn after him,
until the May-pole was all rib¬
bons from one end to the other.
Then it was raised into position
and the dance begun.’ Dancing
around the pole was the main
activity of Mayday. In some
localities, a number of poles were
set up close to one another. They
created a ‘round’ of stopping-
places which were visited in
order by the revellers in the
manner of the pilgrims’ crosses at
holy places. Until the nineteenth
century, people of Tenby in
Pembrokeshire would set up a
number of maypoles in the town
on Mayday. They were used as
stopping-places for a round-
dance of the town. An account
of 1858 tells us that ‘May-poles
were reared up in different parts
of the town, decorated with
flowers, coloured papers, and
bunches of variegated ribbon.
On May-day, the young men
and maidens would, joining hand
52
Heavenly Columns
JUPITER COEUMNS
Another forerunner of the Celtic cross is the Jupiter Column. As a type
of monument, it seems that Jupiter Columns came into being as the
result of a remarkable incident. In 65 bce, the image of Jupiter at the
Capitol in Rome was destroyed by a lightning strike, along with stone
tablets of the law and a statue of one of the twins beneath the Roman
wolf The destruction of some of the most sacred images of Rome was
recognized as a disastrous omen for Roman society and the future of
the city. Official investigations were put in hand to determine the
nature of the threat, and a means to avert it. Whether the original,
destroyed image of Jupiter had been set upon a column is uncertain,
but, after Etruscan haruspices had investigated the omens, the augurs
decided to set up a column to Jupiter on the site of the previous image.
This was erected ceremonially in 63 bce, with an image of the god
watching over his people. To the Romans, Jupiter, father of the gods
and the people, was the great architect of the universe, sustainer of all.
The architectural column is thus completely appropriate as a symbol of
the god. As protector of the city, the new column became the model
for others in the western Roman Empire. Outside Italy, Jupiter
Columns are found in the Celtic realms that came under Roman rule.
While they are known from Britain, Brittany and most of France, the
vast majority of columns have been discovered in Lorraine and Alsace
and the Rhineland region of Germany, where the remains of 300 have
been identified.
Most Jupiter Columns follow an iconic programme. At the base of
the typical Jupiter Column is a four-sided stone pedestal carved as a so-
called ‘four-god stone’. Generally, this consists of four images of divine
beings: two female and two male. A common scheme has the goddess
Juno on the front side; Minerva on the right side; Hercules on the rear;
and Mercury on the left. Sometimes Mercury is replaced by Apollo,
while a column from Hausen has an eagle bearing an inscription on the
53
The Celtic Cross
front side. On the left of the eagle is Apollo; the back bears Diana, and
the right completes the four-deity scheme with an image of Venus and
Vulcan. Some columns have an inscription carved on the front side of
the base. Above this pedestal stands a seven- or eight-sided part with
divine images. Usually, they depict the goddesses and gods of the days
of the week, though some columns depart from this scheme. When the
days of the week are personified, the eighth place is occupied usually
by a dedication or an image of Victoria, the goddess of victory. This
so-called ‘seven-god stone’ part supports the shaft of the column. The
deities carved on this section seem to have been more variable than
those on the base. While a column found at Plieningen, in the Stuttgart
region, has only the weekday images of Saturn, Sol, Luna, Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter and Venus, another, found at Schwaigern-Stetten, in
the region ofHeilbronn, has carvings of Sol, Luna, Vesta, Neptune,
Mercury and Maia Rosmerta.
From this seven- or eight-fold stone comes the shaft, which in many
cases is carved with patterns. Sometimes the patterns resemble the bark
of a tree. A variation can be seen on a Jupiter Column from Hausen
which is covered with stylized oak
leaves and acorns in a regular tesse-
lation. The oak was the holy tree of Originally associated with Dionysos, the
Jupiter and his sky-god equivalents
vinescroll was adopted by the Christian
in the other European pantheons.
artists to become a major element in their
Typical of Jupiter Column shafts is
one discovered at Walheim, which iconography, re-interpreted as ‘the true
has the lower portion resembling vine’ ...Jesus Christ.
scales or bark, while the upper por¬
tion, divided from it by a ropelike
pattern, has a vinescroll in which human figures carry out various
actions. Originally associated with Dionysos, the vinescroll was adopted
by the Christian artists to become a major element in their iconogra¬
phy, re-interpreted as ‘the true vine’, signifying the regenerative
powers symbolized by Jesus Christ. Closely following the example of
Jupiter Columns, scrolls of vine leaves appear on the shafts of Celtic
Crosses. Good examples exist at Penally in west Wales and on many
crosses that originated in the old Anglian kingdoms of Northumbria
and Mercia in England, where Roman influence was strong.
There is another variant type of Jupiter Column which has the
figures of the goddesses and gods on the shaft. Two of this type are
known from the German city of Mainz alone. The larger of the two
54
Heavenly Columns
55
The Celtic Cross
often it is carved with four heads that represent the four seasons, look¬
ing outwards to the four quarters. Finally, on top of the column is the
image of the god. Often, he is depicted on horseback or in a chariot,
riding down a humanoid yet demonic figure, which has serpents
m place of legs. Terrified, the victim falls beneath the rampant hooves.
In his right hand, the triumphant Jupiter holds a thunderbolt.
Alternatively, the god is seated on a throne. Several surviving Jupiter
Columns in Germany also depict him as the god with the wheel. On
the column fragment at Butterstadt, the mounted Jupiter carries a
wheel as a shield, while the column at Alzey has a wheel on the side of
Jupiter’s throne.
Symbolically, Jupiter Columns are a summation of time and space,
and the Roman pantheon. Later, when Christianity had superseded
Paganism as the state religion, this scheme of portraying the gods and
goddesses on a column was taken up by churchmen and interpreted
according to the newer doctrines. The Celtic Crosses that bear images
of the figures of the three-fold godhead, prophets, patriarchs and saints
are a re-interpretation of the scheme of the Pagan Jupiter Columns.
The classical column was too good a symbolic form to abandon. The
fantastic baroque Pestsaule and Lichtsaule of Austria are other instances
of this re-interpretation at a later date. Erected in the eighteenth
century, they often depict Our Lady’s ascent into heaven amid an
entourage of angels, putti and saints.
stone from Sanda illustrated here, while others are more wheel-like. Right (descending): border
from Hablingo Havor;
The Sanda disc is composed of eight light crescents interspersed with
border from Larbro St
eight others made from alternate light and dark triangles. Other discs Hammers; roundels from
are divided into four by lines or spirals. The pattern on stones from Vastkiinde Bjorkome.
56
The Celtic Cross
RUNESTONES
It was a convention in northern Europe in early medieval times to por¬
tray the cosmic axis in the form of Irminsul, which was represented as a
column with a top composed of interlace patterns or opposed scrolls.
Perhaps this was in imitation of classical columns or the middle-eastern
palm tree of life from which those columns were derived. The axis of
Irminsul sometimes resembles the lower part of a Celtic Cross, without
the head. This has both a stylistic and a symbolic meaning because the
same form was used frequently by Celtic crossmakers, both as the tran¬
sition point between the cross-shaft and its head and also as additional
ornament. In the days before the literalism of the witch-hunts and the
58
Heavenly Columns
Irminsul. Reformation, many believers recognized that the Christian religion was
Left: a drawing from an a continuation and a refinement of the elder faith rather than its inflex¬
illuminated manuscript of
ible enemy. The integration of Irminsul with the cross was therefore a
the Reichenau School,
tenth century, showing a natural progression, where a cross-head was simply added to the top of
man climbing the cosmic the cosmic axis.
axis Irminsul.
Irminsul itself appears in Christian art as a representation of Jacob’s
Centre: the runestone of
Ladder, linking earth and heaven. A tenth-century Christian manu¬
King Harald Bluetooth at
Jelling, Denmark, depicts script of the Reichenau School kept at the Herzog August Bibliothek
Christ and the bound in Wolfenbiittel actually shows a man climbing up Irminsul. It is an
Fenris-Wolf flanking
image of the soul’s ascent from earth to heaven. The great eleventh-
Irminsul.
Right: Celtic Cross at
century runestone at Jelling in Denmark, erected by King Harald, has
Ballaugh, Isle of Man, in both the crucifixion and Irminsul. It shows Christ crucified and bound
the form of Irminsul. with interlacing ribbonwork. Beside him, carved on the edges of the
stone, are twin representations of Irminsul, resembling that on the
Wolfenbiittel manuscript. Thus, the Pagan cosmic axis reflects its
Christian counterpart in the cross, integrating the older and newer
sacred cosmologies. Many Scandinavian milestones used the Irminsul
form for the presentation of the runic inscription. Conventionally, the
script began at the bottom of the stone, and read upwards along the
59
The Celtic Cross
stem of the axis to its top. Then, if the script was longer, it continued
downwards to the right of the axis, effectively in a sunwise spiral, until
it reached the bottom of the stone. Further text was written upwards
to the left of the axis. Other runestones depict the Tree of Life at the
centre of scrolls that bear the runes. In these images, artistic elements
integrate Irminsul, the cross and the Hammer of Thor to produce
unique designs. Finally, there is a form that puts the runes in a spiral
serpentine ribbon that coils around a Christian cross, making the sun-
wheel pattern.
6o
6
Early Celtic Crosses
61
Early Celtic Crosses
63
The Celtic Cross
Island and at the pilgrimage centres of Ballyvourney, Clonmacnois and When it was discovered,
the labyrinth pattern was
Glendalough. They can also be found outside Ireland, in Iona and the
not recognized, and it was
Shetland Isles. kept as a cross.
MEGAUTHIC CROSS-SLABS
AND HOLED STONES
The cross-slab at the former monastery of Reask in County Kerry is of
interest as a surviving bridge between the older and the newer forms of
Celtic art. The carvings on the cross at Reask are comparable with pat¬
terns on Pagan stones from the La Tene Celtic culture in what is now
south Germany. The Reask stone is irregular in shape, and the four¬
fold cross pattern cut into it has been squashed from a true circle to fit
the asymmetrical megalith upon which it is carved. However, it is clear
that there is a reason for this beyond laziness or incompetence. When
one views the cross from a distance, it is apparent that the shape of its
top imitates that of the distant horizon. This reflectivity of stone profile
and horizon can be seen elsewhere in the British Isles. Some stone
64
Right: Early Christian cross-slab at
Reask (Riasc), County Kerry, Ireland.
65
The Celtic Cross
Inscribed pillar-stones.
Left: broken pillar with
floreated cross and remains
of wheel-cross, Kilmakedar,
County Kerry, Ireland;
Centre: Gallarus, County
Kerry, Ireland, with wheel-
cross;
Right: Llandilo, Dyfed,
Wales, with ogham
inscription and Coptic-type
cross.
66
Early Celtic Crosses
67
The Celtic Cross
RE-CONSECRATED STONES
Re-dedication of megaliths by churchmen is recorded in ancient
accounts of the acts of early Celtic priests and monks. Brittany contains
many standing stones that have been made into Christian monuments
by having a cross carved upon them. There are probably more in that
region than anywhere else in western Europe; but it was commonplace
throughout the Celtic realms. In his ‘The Acts of Patrick’ in The Book
of Armagh, Tirechan describes how St Patrick carved a cross on a rock
at Lia na Manach near the church of Kilmore in County Mayo. The
Welsh saint, Samson, seems to have been one of the most active re¬
dedicators. The ‘Life of St Samson’ (The Lives of the British Saints,
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1908) recounts that when the
early sixth-century saint was passing through Cornwall on his way
from Wales to Brittany he travelled
through a region called Tricurius.
There he encountered some people
performing ceremonies at what the Re-dedication of megaliths by churchmen
chronicler calls an ‘abominable
is recorded in ancient accounts of the acts of
image’, that is, a standing stone.
Unlike his Biblical namesake, early Celtic priests and monks.
who toppled the pillars of the
Philistines, this Samson did not fell
the stone, but re-dedicated it to
Christian use by cutting a cross upon it. Although the exact place that
this occurred is not identified, there are several possible locations.
In Glamorgan, south Wales, are the standing stones called Ffust
Samson (Samson’s flail), Samson’s Jack and Carreg Samson (Samson’s
stone). Elsewhere in Wales are other stones called Carreg Samson. The
name is given to a standing stone on the mountainside at Llandewi
68
Early Celtic Crosses
Brefi, a stone cross near the church porch at Llanbadarn Fawr near
Aberystwyth, and two cromlechs in north Pembrokeshire, Dyfed. Also
in this area are stones called Marbl Samson (Samson’s marble) and Bys
Samson (Samson’s finger). Samson’s stones in south Wales stand on the
route of his journey from Llantwit Major to Dol in Brittany, and, not
surprisingly, there are St Samson’s stones in Brittany, too. A menhir at
Mont-Dol, Ile-et-Vilaine, is called St Samson’s Mitre, and at Penvern,
Cote-du-Nord, is another menhir named after the saint. Next to it
stands a chapel dedicated to Samson, which was constructed between
1575 and 1631.
In Wales, the megalith sacred to another early Celtic missionary, St
Beuno, still stands at Berriew in Powys, in the shape of Beuno’s Stone.
The animal-related rites conducted until the last century at Beuno’s
shrine, at Clynnog Fawr in the Lleyn, were the direct continuation of
Celtic Paganism. It seems that, like many priests of the Celtic church,
Beuno took over the shrines of the elder faith for Christian use while
altering their ceremonial character very little. Elsewhere, other Celtic
priests, whose names are not recorded, also appropriated the holy
stones of the elder faith. At Llanfaelog in Anglesey, a prehistoric cup-
marked menhir was re-dedicated by having a cross cut upon it, while at
East Worlington in Devon is the megalith called the Long Stone,
which bears no fewer than five incised crosses.
Some Cornish antiquaries have considered a number of the more
archaic-looking stone crosses in that county to be of druidic, rather
than Christian origin. In their form, they appear close to continental
stones of the Hallstatt period, such as the Kilchberg stone in south
Germany. Thus it is possible that at least some of the Cornish crosses
are stones of the elder faith, re-consecrated for Christian use. ‘The early
pillar “crosses”, though accounted Christian when tested by inscription
and decoration,’ wrote Walter Johnson in 1912 in his Byways in
Archaeology, ‘may yet have an earlier origin ... many of the crosses and
calvaries of Brittany, “with shapeless sculpture decked”, are merely
primitive menhirs adapted by the Christian artificer, and anyone who,
like the writer, has had the opportunity of comparing the Breton sites
with the kindred group of our English Brittany, will readily agree that a
similar story may be told of Cornwall.’
Although it ceased in the early middle ages in Britain, when people
began to destroy standing stones, the alteration of megaliths into
Christian monuments continued in France until shortly before the
Revolution. A re-dedicated menhir at Dol (Ile-et-Vilaine), bears a
69
The Celtic Cross
70
Early Celtic Crosses
metal cross on top of the 9.5 m-tall (30 ft) stone, while the Dolmen de
la Belle Vue at Carnac has a stone cross set upon it. In 1826, Sir
Richard Colt Hoare published an engraving of this cross under the title
of‘Triumph of Christianity over Druidism’. The process of converting
megaliths into crosses was associated usually with some specific local
religious activity. For instance, in 1674, in connection with the con¬
struction of a new chapel nearby, a prehistoric megalith at Penvern in
Brittany was re-dedicated by a Christian priest. This involved cutting
down its summit to make a cross, and carving Christian emblems upon
the remaining body of the stone. At Rungleo in Finistere is the Croix
des Douze Apotres. This is another megalith upon which Christian fig¬
ures have been carved. At Pleumeur-Bodou in the Cotes-du-Nord is
one which in the eighteenth century was cut with the cross and sym¬
bols of Christ’s passion.
The last-known conversion of a megalith in France occurred
in Alsace in 1787, when a megalith near Althorn known as the
Breitenstein was re-carved as the
result of a fulfilled vow. Thus,
The last-known conversion of a megalith
the Breitenstein became another
in France occurred in Alsace in 1787, when
‘Twelve Apostles Stone’. Not all
a megalith near Althorn known as the Celtic Crosses in France are altered
Breitenstein was re-carved as the ‘Twelve megaliths, however. Ancient crosses
similar to those in Cornwall and the
Apostles Stone\
Isles of Scilly exist in several Breton
churchyards. The crosses are of
both the wheel-head and plain form. The churchyard at Ploudalmezou
has a notable wheel-head cross on a stepped base. It is dedicated to St
Pol de Leon, as are the other crosses there. The holy well of Saint-
Cado is topped by a fine Celtic cross with a crucifixion at the centre
reminiscent of that on the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnois.
71
7
The Evolution of the
Celtic Cross
72
The Evolution of the Celtic Cross
Varieties of crosses and Britain was a province of the Roman Empire. Later, however, as
stones at the meeting-point
the memory of being Roman faded, this changed, and half-uncials, a
of Paganism and
Christianity, using motifs
character-type taken from Christian manuscripts, were used instead.
derived from Irminsul. It appears to have been customary among the Pagan Anglo-Saxons
Top row: Osmondwall who did not cremate their dead to bury a runestone with the body.
Chapel, Walls and Flotta
Around the seventh century, stonecarvers began to incise crosses upon
Parish, Orkney; St Nicholas
Chapel, Papa Stronsay, similar stones, some of which were intended to he flat above the dead
Orkney. person, and not to stand up as a tombstone. Northumbrian ‘pillow-
Below: cross with runes stones’ are known from the monastic cemeteries of Hartlepool and
from Ballaugh, Isle of Man;
Lindisfarne, and a few other places including Billingham and Birtley in
stone with ‘Pagan Cross’,
Dover, England. County Durham. Their name is misleading, for they were not placed
Right: Danish runestone beneath the head of the corpse, but over the face or on the chest.
with Irminsul pattern
containing runes.
73
The Celtic Cross
Seventh- or eighth-
century Northumbrian
‘pillow-stones’ from the
Anglian nunnery at
Hartlepool, Cleveland,
England.
Dedications, clockwise
from top left: Ediluni;
Hanegneub; Uermund
and Torhtsuid; --uguid.
Closely related to Irish slabs, of which the largest collection can be seen
at Clonmacnois, the Northumbrian pillow-stones are rectangular, with
an incised cross-pattern. In Merovingian France at this time, it was
becoming fashionable to mark Christian burials by flat slabs carved with
ring-crosses.
Related to the Celtic wheel-head is the type of flat slab which has a
cross at each end. These end-crosses are connected by a bar that forms
another cross at the centre dividing the field into four panels, inside
Opposite: Cross-slabs.
which is ornament. Early examples of this type exist at Sockburn in Top row, left to right:
County Durham and Spennithorne in North Yorkshire. The majority Sinniness; Drummore;
Craignarget (all in Dumfries
of known slabs of this kind (about 40 in all) are in East Anglia in the
and Galloway, Scotland).
region of Cambridge, Peterborough and Norwich, and made of
Centre row: Lawrence’s
Barnack stone. The most numerous find of these cross-slabs was made Church, Papil, West Burra,
in 1811 beneath the earthworks of Cambridge Castle, which was built Shetland; Llangeinwen,
Anglesey, Wales;
by the Normans around the year 1070 on the graveyard of an Anglo-
Peterborough Cathedral,
Saxon monastery. A similar slab, illustrated here, exists at Peterborough Cambridgeshire, England;
Cathedral, and comparable stones without interlace patterns are known Bakewell, Derbyshire,
74
The Celtic Cross
76
The Evolution of the Celtic Cross
77
The Celtic Cross
78
The Evolution of the Celtic Cross
79
The Celtic Cross
at St Andrews. The Nigg stone has remarkably fine carvings, and Ross, Highland Region,
Scotland, broken by
bosses composed variously of knotwork of serpentine and rectilinear
religious zealots and later
form, and spirals. This highly elaborate, sophisticated and doubtless re-assembled. (Historic
very expensive style was not maintained for long. Soon, stonemasons Scotland)
8o
The Evolution of the Celtic Cross
religious allegiance to Rome rather than developed a national style that served
as an emblem of their religious alle¬
Ireland.
giance to Rome rather than Ireland.
As a national style, it was maintained long after Dalriada and Pictland
became Scotland.
At Dupplin, west of Perth, Anglian influence is apparent in the
sculptures of vinescrolls and beasts. There is similar ornament on the
cross at Crieff in Tayside. Mustachioed men resembling those on
Muiredach’s Cross at Monasterboice are on the Dupplin cross, and on
a cross-slab at Benvie, Tayside. They may represent Scots rather than
Piets, who were shown bearded. A cross-slab from Inchbrayock,
Tayside, has a squared cross on one side, accompanied by figures, inter¬
lace and a beast. The rear, as with so many Pictish stones, has human
figures engaged in hunting and Biblical scenes. The interlace and spirals
on the Inchbrayock stone, like much Pictish carving of this period, is a
free and dynamic interpretation of the underlying geometrical matrix.
There are few known Pictish stones that are carved with the
crucified Christ. A cross-shaft from Monifieth near Dundee has a
crucifixion, but on a stone influenced by Anglo-Danish tradition. It is
possible that before the unification of the Piets and Scots there were no
such representations. It is equally possible, however, that early Pictish
depictions of the crucifixion have all been destroyed, for many stones
were damaged or smashed in the suppression of Catholic worship in
the sixteenth century. An idea of what happened can be seen on a
Pictish cross-slab from Woodwray on Tayside which has had the cross
carefully chipped away, leaving only its surrounding beasts and border.
So it is not unlikely that Protestant zealots, in attempting to extirpate
what they considered to be idolatry, destroyed all of the Pictish stones
that bore images of the crucifixion, giving us a false impression of the
actual practices of the Pictish masons.
81
8
Form And Pattern
in Ceetic Art
82
Form and Pattern in Cettic Art
This image was popularized by the druidic mystic AFilliam Blake in his
engraving The Ancient oj Days.
In ancient Europe, the divine order of the cosmos was represented
geometrically by the pattern of the rectilinear grid. The grid is a pow¬
erful symbol of the underlying structure of existence, and of divine or
human dominion over it. Signifying the works of the great architect of
the universe, in the shape of law and order, authority and justice, the
rectilinear grid is present in Celtic art. It served to depict holy figures
in both the Pagan and Christian traditions. The back of an image of the
horned god Cernunnos from Roqueperteuse in southern France has a
grid in the form of four squares within another square. Repeating
cross-patterns based on the grid were being carved on Celtic stones 600
years before the Christian religion came into being. Tesselations of
T-shapes with crosses can be seen in Germany on Celtic memorials
dating from the La Tene period. The lower piece of a stone image in
human form, found at Stemenbronn in Baden-Wiirttemberg and now
kept in the Wurttembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, is carved
with designs that were used again on Christian artefacts in the British
Isles. A thousand years later, an evangelist in the Book oj Durrow wears
a cloak with a grid pattern upon it.
83
The Celtic Cross
84
Form and Pattern in Cettic Art
85
Form and Pattern in Celtic Art
Opposite: Varieties of microcosm, is linked to the largest, the macrocosm. This link is not a
pattern on Celtic Crosses. crude reflection, but a more subtle, ordered repetition through the
Top row, left to right: panel
middle ground that lies between the small and the large. Self-similarity
from cross at Llantwit
Major, South Glamorgan, means that a structure that is present at one level is repeated on both
Wales; Muiredach’s Cross, higher and lower levels. Thus, the overall pattern of a Celtic artefact
Monasterboice, Louth,
may be repeated again in the details of the ornament upon it. Just
Ireland; Littleton Drew,
as there is no place for a void middle ground in nature, so in Celtic
Wiltshire, England.
Second row: Llantwit Major; art there are no empty spaces, just as there are no blank spaces in the
Nevern, Dyfed; Bath cosmos. Structure is present at every point, with each small part
Abbey, Bath, Avon,
simultaneously reflecting the essential structure of the whole. Thus, all
England.
Third row: Monasterboice.
is inseparable. This essential oneness has been the guiding principle of
Fourth row: Inchbrayock, Celtic art from its emergence 2,700 years ago until the present day. It is
Tayside, Scotland; St Just- the leitmotif of the Celtic Cross.
in-Penwith, Cornwall;
Self-similarity is apparent throughout Celtic art. The magnificent
(above) Maughold, Isle of
Man; (below) Mawgan-in- bull-headed tore found at Trichtingen in Germany is a fine example
Pyder, Cornwall. of how the principle of self-similarity operates. Each of the bull-head
terminals on the tore wears a tore around its neck, the terminals of
which are tores, and so on. In Christian Ireland, the same principle was
observed in the construction of shrines which were contained in
identical, but larger, sacred containers, which themselves were kept
in churches of the same form. In turn, the churches were designed
symbolically to be images of the body of Christ and also the form of
God’s creation, the cosmos.
87
The Celtic Cross
88
Form and Pattern in Cettic Art
the pursuit of piety. Even in the West at this time, iconoclasm was
admired, when Bishop Claudius of Turin ordered crosses to be
destroyed as idolatrous, and forbade all pilgrimages to the shrines of
saints. In Christianity, however, unlike in Islam, aniconism did not last.
After a period of violent conflict
between those who wanted images
It is likely that the early Celtic and those who opposed them, an
Christians believed that to depict God ecumenical council of the Eastern
Orthodox Church finally decided to
literally in an image was as unnecessary
end iconoclasm, and reasserted the use
as it was blasphemous. of images in sacred art. 'God himself is
outside all possible description or rep¬
resentation,’ asserted the council’s priests, ‘but since the divine word
took human nature upon itself, which it reintegrated into its original
form by infusing it with divine beauty, God can and must be venerat¬
ed through the human image of Christ.’ This declaration was made in
the form of a prayer to Our Lady, for it was through her that the divine
form took upon human substance, bringing it from the otherworld into
the realm of the human senses.
Although Dungal of Pavia, an Irish monk living in Italy, was one of
the objectors to the iconoclasm of Bishop Claudius, it appears that the
Celtic church was affected by iconoclasm. Celtic art has always had a
strong non-figurative element, and often Celtic artists preferred to con¬
tinue their pre-Christian love for symbolic patterns rather than making
any realistic representation of divine beings. Thus the symbolic forms
of crosses were erected in preference to the literalistic representations
of Christ’s crucifixion. Later, even when the material world was repre¬
sented, it was in a stylized form, avoiding naturalism. The zoomorphic
interlace and plant-forms of Celtic Crosses are so highly stylized that
they cannot be mistaken for the real thing. This stylization helps to
prevent the worshipper from concentrating on nothing but particulars,
thereby remaining unaware of the deep roots of all being.
CRAFT TECHNIQUES
AND CEETIC ORNAMENT
Many researchers into Celtic Crosses have emphasized the close rela¬
tionship between the designs used on ornamental metalwork and stone
sculpture. It is evident that small items of metalwork, whether sacred
objects, ornaments, jewellery or weapons, were easily transported from
89
The Celtic Cross
place to place and thus could serve as models for craftspeople in locali¬
ties distant from their places of origin. Thus, new artistic styles could be
disseminated as small objects. However, we should remember that
while much metalwork has survived from the first millennium the
undoubtedly more common wooden, bone, ivory, textile and leather
items were not as durable and have decayed. Only a few have been
preserved until the present day. So when we look at metalwork, we are
seeing only one part of the repertoire of Celtic craftspeople.
Christian elements of design may have been disseminated into Celtic
art before the religious beliefs to which they refer. When Christian ele¬
ments such as the chi-rho, cross and fish appear in metalwork or other
art of this conversion period, it is not a certain sign that the makers or
owners were members of the religion. Today in everyday life we can
see people wearing crosses and crucifixes as lucky charms, along with
ankhs, yang-and-yin signs, Stars of David, pentagrams and Hammers of
Thor, among other sacred amulets. Perhaps, however, the majority of
those who wear these do so for reasons of adornment in a pluralistic
culture rather than as part of any personal belief. Similarly, in the past,
when a craftsperson took a Christian motif from a textile or a pot, he
or she may have done so because the design had magically protective
connotations, rather than for ideological reasons. The same applies, of
course, to exotic Pagan motifs.
There is much evidence of religious and artistic syncretism in the
post-Roman period. For instance, at the Mark of Mote, a fortified
town on the edge of Dalbeattie Forest in Kirkcudbrightshire, archaeol¬
ogists have excavated cosmopolitan metalworking workshops dating
from the sixth and seventh centuries. There, Celtic and Anglian crafts¬
people co-operated at a centre of excellence, making brooches and
other small items in bronze, brass and gold. The artefacts made there
incorporated contemporary elements from indigenous Celtic art, as
well as Germanic motifs and interlace patterns from the eastern
Mediterranean. Glass was brought in from Germanic workshops else¬
where, for use in enamel-making. Items of Mark of Mote style were
exported across the sea to Ulster. Cosmopolitan centres such as this
The cross-slab from Nash
were places where differing traditions could be integrated to produce
Manor, South Glamorgan,
new ideas and styles. It is to them that we must look for the formative Wales, depicting a standing
elements which went to make up the phenomenon of the Celtic Cross. cross. It is similar in pattern
to slabs from Dunfallandy
Certain cross-slabs, made in the period before free-standing stone
in Scotland and Maughold,
crosses, depict the actual cross as an element of a picture, as if the cross Isle of Man. (The National
is standing in the landscape. Often, they stand above scenes of hunting Museum of Wales)
90
Form and Pattern in Celtic Art
91
The Celtic Cross
92
Form and Pattern in Celtic Art
93
The Celtic Cross
that of the mainstream European tradition of stonemasonry. It can (below) Pictish cavalryman,
Inchbrayock, Tayside,
be argued, however, that because such joints in stone were used in
Scotland.
megalithic times at Stonehenge and elsewhere, they may represent Centre: wrestlers from the
the deliberate use of an archaic technique as sacral craftsmanship. This Town Cross, Kells, Meath,
Ireland; mermaid from
deliberate sacred archaism appears in certain essential elements of
Pictish stone at Meigle,
Classical architecture. Some stone crosses, such as St Martin’s Cross on
Tayside, Scotland; interlace
Iona, also have enigmatic slots that may have accommodated wooden of four men, Ahenny,
extensions that held ribbons, banners or woven emblems. Crosses with Kilkenny, Ireland; monks
with portable Celtic Cross,
a circular shaft, such as the Wolverhampton Pillar and the Gosforth
Ahenny; the Welsh warrior
Cross, have patterns that resemble the tree bark left at the basal portion Briamail Flou from
of some contemporary maypoles in Germany. This may recall the cre¬ Llandyfaelog Fach, Powys,
ation ol crosses from whole trees, but equally may be derived from the Wales.
Right: quarterstaff scene,
patterns carved on the lower portions of Roman Jupiter Columns.
Town Cross, Kells;
Until an intact ancient wooden standing cross is found, these opposing crucifixion scene, Gosforth,
interpretations will have equal plausibility. Cumbria, England.
94
The Celtic Cross
COLOUR
Until the classical revival in the eighteenth century, it was customary in
Europe to paint sculpture. In antiquity, Egyptian, Cretan and Greek
sculpture was painted naturalistically, and later, in the Christian church¬
es, images of God, Our Lady and the saints were similarly lifelike.
Although in Britain we are accustomed now to seeing painted
stonework only inside parish churches and cathedrals, this was not the
case in former times, for all stonework was intended to be painted. The
tradition continues in western Europe in the Roman Catholic church,
and on the medieval gatehouses of St John’s and Christ’s Colleges in
Cambridge. Celtic crosses were no exception. Apart from the obvious
comparison with coloured manuscripts and textiles, there are traces of
colour remaining on some stones, for instance the Penally Cross, and it
is clear that most, if not all, crosses were originally painted in bright
colours.
Forensic studies of ancient crosses have shown that, sometimes, the
stone surface was prepared with an undercoat of lime whitewash or
gesso, upon which the colours were painted. Like traditional fabric
dyes and inks for tattooing, the colours for stone-painting were pre¬
pared from natural materials. Black and white were made from lead,
red from haematite, and green from verdigris. Carved inscriptions were
coloured in, as can be seen still on the Samson Cross at Llantwit Major.
It is possible that the plain panels of some seemingly uninscribed stones
once had painted pictures or texts. The custom of painting memorial
stones with traditional materials continued in North Monmouthshire
and Herefordshire until the early nineteenth century. The secret of
making colours from vegetable matter and lichens was maintained in
the Brute family of Llanbedr, near Crickhowell, Powys, but the recipe
was lost around 1840, and the practice ceased.
Contemporary aesthetic sensibilities make it unlikely that there will
be a revival of the custom of painting stones in the foreseeable future.
However, in 1993, at Gosda, near Cottbus in eastern Germany, the
Runen und Bildsteinpark was opened to the public. It is a park in which
are set replicas of ancient carved and painted stones. They include
Gotland memorial stones, Scandinavian ruestones and Slavonic god-
stones. Currently, the Runen und Bildsteinpark at Gosda is the best
reconstruction of how the ancient stones looked in their prime, painted
in colours, and set in the landscape.
96
9
British Cross Styles
WEtSH CROSSES
There are around 450 ancient sculptured stones, crosses and allied
monuments known in Wales. Stylistic analysis of surviving early stones
indicates that there were individual guilds of sculptors at various
important monasteries, each of which worked in their own particular
recognizable styles. Thus, antiquaries have been able to identify a num¬
ber of distinct schools of ancient Welsh cross sculpture. In Glamorgan,
for example, there were three major workshops: at Llantwit Major,
Margam and Merthyr Mawr. Their examples account for around half
of the known Welsh crosses. Other recognizable sculptural workshops
existed at St David’s in Dyfed and at Penmon Priory on Anglesey in
Gwynedd, areas that, unlike Glamorgan, were within the sphere of
Irish influence. Before the ninth century, the Welsh did not use the
more complex standing crosses favoured in Ireland, Scotland and the
north of England. Then, under royal and ecclesiastical patronage, cross¬
slabs and high crosses comparable with them began to appear.
Ring-headed crosses exist only in the north of Wales. Round-shafted
pillar-crosses are found in north and central Wales, while wheel-crosses
and allied forms are restricted to the south of the country.
The school of Glamorgan produced a characteristic form of Celtic
Cross, known as the ‘panelled’ or ‘cartwheel’ slab, which were made
from the late ninth century until the eleventh century. The finest
example, preserved in the Margam Stones Museum, is a rectangular
slab 193 cm (76 in) tall. The top half is carved with an eight-spoked
97
The Celtic Cross
The tenth-century
Conbehn Cross from
Margam Abbey, south
Wales. The lower part of
the shaft was broken before
1690, and later the remains
were re-united with the
base without this portion of
shaft. (The National Museum
of Wales)
98
British Cross Styles
Ilquici. A later form of cross, which developed also on the Isle of Man,
is the ‘disc-headed’ cross. The Margam Stones Museum keeps a fine
example, though this is broken and not all of it remains. Known as the
Conbelin Cross, it was found at Margam Abbey and dates from around
the turn of the tenth century. Set on a rectangular stone block, which
has the usual horsemen at the hunt, and just a hint of the stepped ‘holy
mountain’ form, the shaft and disc-head were carved from a single
block of Pennant Sandstone. The disc-head is sculpted with a five-
square cross which overlaps the interlace-bearing ring. At the centre of
the middle square is a circular boss that gives the disc the resemblance
to a round shield, as with the Ilquici slab. Like some other south Welsh
crosses of this period, the Conbelin cross was carved with a Latin
inscription. Although damaged, it probably reads ‘Conbelin set up this
cross for the soul of Rich Inscriptions on these old Welsh crosses are
often set low down, and it is possible that this is so that devotees could
see them while kneeling in prayer at the foot of the crosses.
Kept in the church at Llantwit Major, under less than ideal condi¬
tions amid a jumble of chairs, tables, other carved stones and coffin lids,
are no fewer than three ancestral memorials dedicated to the souls of
south Welsh royalty. They are the monuments of King Samson, King
Juthahel and Res, father of King Houelt. Llantwit Major, called in
Welsh Llanilltyd Fawr after its founder, St Illtyd, was the sacred burial-
ground of the local kings. It is a great pity that these royal memorials
are not honoured properly in their own land. The Samson cross bears
the words (in Latin): ‘Samson set up this cross for his soul, Iltut, of
Samson the King, of Samuel and Ebisar’; while the cross of King
Juthahel states: ‘In the name of God most high begins the Cross of the
Saviour, which Abbot Samson pre¬
pared for his own soul and for the
Kept ... under less than ideal conditions
soul of King Juthahel and Artmail
amid a jumble of chairs, tables, other carved
and Tecain.’ The Houelt Cross is a
stones and coffin lids, are no fewer than cross made of local gritstone for the
three ancestral memorials dedicated to the ruler of the local kingdom of
Glywysing, Hywel ap Rhys, who
souls of south Welsh royalty.
was a vassal of King Alfred the
Great of Wessex in the year 884. It
bears the Latin inscription: ‘In the name of God the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, this cross Houelt prepared for the soul of
his father, Res.’ Its supporting ‘shaft’ is inscribed with a tesselation of
triangular key-patterns, and the wheel-head is composed of an equal-
99
The Celtic Cross
armed cross made from five squares, set within and overlapping a ring
of single-band interlace. The four spaces between the arms of the cross
are solid, and filled with three-fold interlace. Beneath a wooden
awning in the churchyard at Llangan in South Glamorgan is another
notable south Welsh cross-slab. Dating from around the same period as
the Houelt Cross, it bears a representation of the crucifixion, of which
only a few are known from this period in Wales.
Among the stones in the church at Llantwit Major is an unusual pil¬
lar, carved from sandstone. In former times, it was set in the ground
outside the north wall of the church. As a pillar, it is unusual because it
has a straight, vertical groove running down the back, the function of
which is unknown. The zigzag and interlace patterns on the pillar are
thus not continuous, but in distinct, if
curved, panels. Unlike the common
Celtic Cross, whose shaft is square or
rectangular in cross-section, round pil¬ Unlike the common Celtic Cross, whose
lars are extremely rare. There is only
shaft is square or rectangular in cross-
one other Celtic round pillar in Wales,
that of Eliseg’s Pillar, near Valle Crucis section, round pillars are extremely rare.
Abbey in north Wales. In England, the
Wolverhampton Pillar is perhaps the
closest parallel. These rare pillars are
the spiritual successors of the Roman columns sacred to Jupiter.
Another remarkable Celtic pillar exists in situ in the churchyard of
Llandough, near Cardiff, which is perhaps the site of the ancient
monastic enclosure mentioned in ‘The Life of St Cadog’ (The Lives of
the British Saints, Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1908). The
pillar is of a type unknown elsewhere, for it consists of four separate
pieces of stone, set one upon the other. An inscription dedicates this
monument to a person named Irbic. It is dated from around the mil¬
lennium. The pillar’s base is rather conventional. It resembles those of
Irish crosses, being a rectangular pyramid with a carving of interlace, a
horse and rider and a man’s bust. From this rises a tapering column that
has rounded pilasters carved with interlace at the four corners, with
interlaced panels between them. This is topped by a small capital which
supports a cushion-shaped stone whose carving makes it resemble a
stack of ropes. The upper part of this cushion-stone is shaped like a
cross base, and from it rises another shaft, four-sided and ornamented
with interlace. The top is broken, though a similar upper portion exists
nearby at Llandaff in South Glamorgan.
100
British Cross Styles
The cross kept in the Meredudd ap Edwin was king of Deheubarth (this part of Wales) from
church at Penally, Dyfed, 1033 to 1035. The cross is composed of two stones, the lower of which
west Wales, in which the
combines base and shaft. T-shaped key-patterns, diagonal knotwork,
lower interlace patterns
the inscription panel, irregular key-patterns and more regular looped
become the higher
vinescroll, according to the knotwork, containing two circles. The head is made as a separate piece,
same underlying like its counterpart at Nevern. Dating from around the turn of the first
geometrical scheme. The
millennium, the Nevern churchyard cross stands 3.96 m (13 ft) high.
wheel-head is pierced with
four holes. (The National The head of the Nevern cross, like that at Carew, was carved from a
Museum of Wales) separate stone, being fixed to the shaft by means of mortise-and-tenon
IOI
The Celtic Cross
102
The Celtic Cross
104
British Cross Styles
in 1348, King Edward III gave the Cross Gneth to the chapel of the
Order at Windsor Castle, where it was enshrined as its most precious
relic. Although the cross itself disappeared from St George’s Chapel in
1548, when its gold back was sold, we know what it looked like. There
is a carving of the Cross Gneth on a stone roof boss at the eastern end
of the south choir aisle of the chapel. It portrays King Edward I and
Bishop Beauchamp kneeling in adoration of the relic, which is a classic
Celtic Cross. To all who knelt at the cross, which was taller than a
man, 40 days’ pardon for sins was granted.
culture, maintaining links by sea with crosses within circles, and the others
have various unencircled kinds of
Wales to the north, the Isles of Scilly to
cross carved onto them. Some round-
the west and Brittany to the south. headed cross-pillars are carved with the
crucified Christ, but without a cross.
The positions of the body vary greatly, and comparable figures exist on
wheel-headed crosses. Many of the later crosses have Celtic interlace
patterns comparable with known examples in other parts of the British
105
The Celtic Cross
Isles, as well as geometric ornament that resembles Anglo-Norman Variant forms of Cornish
crosses.
grave-slab work in England and Wales. The variety of Cornish crosses
Top row, left to right:
is a remarkable tribute to the inventiveness of their artists. Camborne; Crowan;
Helston; Tintagel; Budock.
Second row: Pradannack; St
Buryan; St Wendron; St
Dennis; Michaelstow.
Third row: Merthyr Uny;
Scorner, St Day; Trevolis,
Stythians; Pendarves,
Camborne; St Paul.
Fourth row: Clowance;
Trevean, St Erth; St Erth.
Fifth row: St Erth; St Just;
Penlee, Penzance.
Most surviving Cornish crosses date from between the eleventh and
thirteenth centuries. In the thirteenth century, there was a resurgence
of crossmaking in the older style, such as the cross at Quethioc, where
medieval ‘gothic’ influence is modified by simplified vinescroll pat¬
terns. Because Cornwall was not conquered by the Anglo-Saxons until
the year 925, it retained the older Romanized Celtic culture, maintain¬
ing links by sea with Wales to the north, the Isles of Scilly to the west
and Brittany to the south. Cornwall thus has a number of wheel-head
106
British Cross Styles
crosses the designs of which are related to those in south Wales, which
may even have been made by sculptors trained there. In some cases,
individual patterns may occur in both places. For example, the pattern
of a Cornish interlace cross at Cardinham, composed of four triquetra
knots, is identical to those at Coychurch in South Glamorgan and
Nevern in Dyfed. Also, the monasteries of St Buryan near Land’s End
and St Petroc at Bodmin appear to have had schools of sculptors like
those identified in south Wales. In the Bodnun area, a series of crosses
was set up around the monastery of St Petroc, which was flourishing
in the tenth century. In the most notable of these, which stands at
Cardmham, the sculptor used a variety of motifs, running spirals, ring-
loop interlace and a ring-chain that fades into a rectilinear meander
pattern. The ring-chain is a motif the oldest known example of which
is the cross at Michael, Isle of Man, which was carved by the tenth-
century runemaster-sculptor Gaut Bjornsson.
As in other Celtic countries, stopping-places along paths, pilgrimage
roads and trackways in Cornwall were marked by wayside crosses. The
custom was maintained for many centuries, and as late as 1447 the
Rector of the parish of Creed left money in his will to pay for the
erection of new stone crosses in the county at stopping-places ‘where
dead bodies are rested on their way to burial, that prayers be made, and
the bearers take some rest.’ Churchyard crosses dating from the ninth
and tenth centuries were often located to the right of the church
entrance, and, as in the rest of northern Europe, there was a tradition
of erecting crosses in market-places. Two tenth-century wheel-head
crosses stand in Sancreed churchyard, both with representations of the
crucifixion at the centre of the wheel-head. One bears the name
Runhol, whose name is also discernible on a cross that stands near the
door of Lanherne Convent. Formerly, this cross was in the parish of
Gwinear, but, as is the case with so many crosses, it was moved.
The remains of a royal cross stand near the road to Liskeard about
1.6 km (1 mile) northwest of St Cleer. Reduced by breakage to part of
a cross-shaft, the remains bear an inscription commemorating Doniert,
who was King of Cornwall around the year 875. Close to the cele¬
brated ‘lost church’ of St Piran at Perranporth stands a cross that is
mentioned in a charter dating from the year 960. Unlike the majority
of Celtic Crosses, it has pecked ornament rather than interlace or key-
patterns. Its most notable feature, however, shows it to be a direct
continuation of the older Pagan wheel-headed stones of the Celts,
for its wheel-head is not a vertical Christian cross but an X-shape, with
107
The Celtic Cross
the four holes cut on the vertical and horizontal axes. Thus, it can be
said that, technically, this ancient stone is not a cross at all but an
instance of the older, Pagan, tradition of the continental Celts.
The crosses of the Isles of Scilly closely resemble those in Cornwall.
Three ancient shaped granite crosses exist within the oval churchyard
at St Buryan, originally an Irish settlement, while at St Mary’s an old
high cross serves as a gable cross on the church at Old Town. Two
crosses once stood as boundary-markers on the site of the present St
Mary’s airport, and one of them, from High Cross Lane, Salakee, was
removed in 1887 to St Mary’s Church. During the nineteenth century,
many of the crosses of the Isles of Scilly were taken away from their
original positions by collectors. For example, in the nineteenth century,
Mr E. N. V. Moyle, the Clerk to the Council of the Isles of Scilly, used
his position of influence to assemble a notable collection of stones,
including crosses, in his garden at Rocky Hill, St Mary’s. It is arguable
that the crosses were saved from destruction by their removal, but
equally the disrespect for the sacred that allowed holy stones to be
taken away for personal pleasure is a sign that a spiritual understanding
of the landscape was already in decline.
108
British Cross Styles
sculptors were trained outside the British wars, most of the surviving Anglo-
Saxon crosses suffered attacks from
Isles.
Protestant extremists, who, consid¬
ering them to be symbols of ‘Popery
and superstition’, smashed them with religious zeal. Even the best
crosses did not escape. In the seventeenth century, one of the finest, at
Ruthwell, was pulled down and broken up by activists following a
Church of Scotland edict concerning ‘idolatrous monuments in the
kirk of Ruthwell’. Those we see today have been either re-erected or
re-assembled from broken pieces.
The only Anglo-Saxon cross still retaining its original head is at
Irton in Lancashire. It is similar in form to the Irish high crosses, but, in
common with its Anglian counterparts, does not have a wheel-head.
A fine full-sized replica of it can be seen in the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London. In addition to the Northumbrian school, there
were separate schools of crossmaking in the other Anglian and Saxon
kingdoms. The finest examples of Mercian crosses can be seen at
Sandbach in Cheshire and at Bakewell and its environs. A school of
cross-sculptors has been identified in Derbyshire at Bakewell, from
which 65 examples, in various states of preservation, are known. Later
Mercian crosses were refined into a form close to the classical Celtic
wheel-head, by the addition of a ring.
Following Pagan practice, the Celtic church used mark-stones to
sanctify crossing-places, such as fords and bridges and the entrances to
holy enclosures. This practice was transmitted by Irish priests to the
Anglo-Saxon church, through which it became part of the sacred land¬
scape of England. Perhaps the most powerful instance of the cross as
boundary-marker was at Beverley in Humberside (formerly Yorkshire),
which in former times was one of the most holy places of England.
109
The Celtic Cross
one inside the other. The entry-points into the Outer and the Second of Loki in the underworld,
a carving from an Anglo-
at the north, east, south and west were marked by stone crosses, three
Scandinavian cross-fragment
of which still exist. The churchyard wall was the third boundary, inside at Kirkby Stephen,
which the western church door was the fourth. The next boundary- Cumbria, England.
I 10
The Celtic Cross
line came at the choir screen inside the church, and the sixth was
the frithstool itself. This was a stone throne in which the fugitive from
justice had to sit in order to claim sanctuary. Violators of the sanctuary
were punished with an increasing scale of fines, beginning with the
outer boundary with a fine of one Hundredth (^8), being doubled
at the next cross and so on as far as the frithstool in the inner sanc¬
tum. Violators of the frithstool itself, however, were declared
outlaws and punished with death. Similar enclosures, marked
by crosses at the four quarters, existed around holy places in
Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
cross, with Longinus about to spear him. Christ is richly dressed, with from fragments of crosses
from Kirk Conchan, Isle of
a roundel of interlace over his heart. Remarkable though this is, it is
Man, showing ‘wicker-work'
outside the mainstream of designs of Manx crosses. Another of the interlace and guardian dogs
crosses at Maughold resembles Pictish examples, having a carving of a of Conchem/ St Christopher.
I 12
British Cross Styles
e •• • . • ■*£*,}. —
113
The Celtic Cross
crosses are important mythologically, for they depict several significant Heimdall/Gabriel with his
horn of summoning;
episodes from Norse sacred stories, including elements recognizable
wheel-head with Odm and
from the Pagan scriptures known as The Edda. Episodes from the life of the wolves (Daniel in the
the hero Sigurd Fafnirsbane are depicted on a number of Manx crosses, lions’ den).
The Celtic Cross
most notably those from Jurby, Malew and Maughold. The broken
cross from Jurby shows the hero Sigurd, Wagner’s Siegfried, killing the
dragon Fafnir. Another cross from Jurby shows the Rainbow Bridge,
Bifrost, with Heimdall the warder of Asgard sounding the Gjallarhorn
to summon all the gods to battle
against the forces of destruction.
On a cross thought to be the Under Norse rulership ... syncretic religious
memorial of King Olaf the Red, practices evolved, in which Christian and
who was killed at Ramsey in 1153,
Pagan elements which had the same
are depictions of the story of the
trickster-god Loki. The Kirk Bride symbolic meaning co-existed alongside
cross depicts the four dwarfs that one another.
hold up the sky in Norse cosmolo¬
gy, Nordri, Ostri, Sudri and Vestri;
a figure with a staff, perhaps Odin; Thor, fighting the World Serpent;
and the giant Rungnir. On a slab from Andreas, we can see Odm in
combat with the Fenris-Wolf. Like the Cumbrian Gosforth Cross, the
Manx crosses of the Norse period are wonderful examples of ‘dual
faith’ religious syncretism, where archetypal myths of different systems
coexist in perfect harmony.
Eighth-century Anglian runes have been found on the remains of
crosses at Maughold, spelling out the names Blagc-Mon and-gmon.
Both crosses have an early form of the cross pattee inscribed inside a
circle, with remains of the Greek letters alpha and omega. Other runic
inscriptions on Manx crosses are in the later Scandinavian runes of the
tenth to thirteenth centuries. A stone found at Kirk Maughold bears an
invocation in thirteenth-century runes: ‘Krist: Malaki and Patrick:
Adamnan: But of all the sheep Iuan is the priest in Kurna valley.’
Although this runic inscription appears to be in honour of a Christian
priest, when we encounter runic invocations to the saints it was not
necessarily Christians who carved them. The process of making saints
in the church is identical to the apotheosis of Pagan heroes who enter
the pantheon to become divine, in the manner of Flercules or
Alexander the Great. It is only according to the theological doctrine of
the Christian religion that they do not become gods. Yet, like their
Pagan counterparts, they also enter the otherworldly realms, from
which they may be invoked to grant aid to human beings. Recognizing
this, the Pagan Danes in Ireland invoked St Patrick as the god of the
land in their struggles against the Norwegians there. As recorded in
the Irish Annals of Mac Firbis: ‘This St Patrick, against whom these
British Cross Styles
119
The Celtic Cross
120
Irish High Crosses
the bardic tradition The Circle of Gwynvyd, the ‘White Land’. This is
the bright realm represented as the wheel-cross, emblem of the sun
above the earth as the symbol of the sky god, upon which the Christ is
manifest. According to Breton beliefs, the cross of Christ is envisaged
as a ladder from earth to heaven, down which God came to earth. By
means of this divine ladder to heaven, human souls are enabled to
climb to paradise. From the sixteenth century, when Breton priests
began to re-consecrate prehistoric megaliths, it was customary to carve
them with the symbols of the passion of Christ, which include a ladder.
Although crosses often end with the upper arm of the wheel-head,
the most highly developed among them are topped by a little house
which in bardic cosmology represents the heavenly throne or mansion
of God, Ceugant. The most striking example is on top of Muiredach’s
Cross at Monasterboice. The capstone of the cross from Tihilly in
County Offaly, preserved at University College in Dublin, is also
house-shaped, as were probably the missing capstones of the crosses at
Cloonfad and Duleek. The existing cross-top houses closely resemble
known portable reliquaries, the small, highly decorated boxes in which
holy relics, whether the bones of a saint, his book or some other sacred
item, were kept. The Annals of Ulster tell of how the relics of Conlaed
were placed in a shrine made of gold and silver, which coincides with
the dating of Irish house-shrines from the eighth or ninth century. The
Annals of Clonmacnois record that in 1129 among the relics stolen from
the monastic altar was a reliquary in the form of a model of Solomon’s
Temple in Jerusalem, which in Judaeo-Christian tradition was the
reflection of the heavenly mansion of God on Earth. The Book of Kells
shows us the Irish idea of what the Jerusalem Temple looked like. It is
depicted in a representation of the Temptation of Christ by the Devil.
Christ is on the ridge of a steeply gabled roof which is covered with
tiles or shingles and adorned with serpents’-head finials. The temple
walls are similarly adorned with scales or ornamented panels.
A number of these jewelled miniature houses have come down to
us through the centuries because of the excellent Celtic custom that
relics are preserved by hereditary keepers. Among the finest are the
Monymusk Reliquary in the National Museum of Scotland in
Edinburgh, and the Emly Shrine. Dating from the year 800, the latter
is kept in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Others,
taken as booty by Viking raiders, and later buried with their new own¬
ers, re-emerged from archaeological excavations in recent times. The
museums at Copenhagen and Trondheim house notable examples.
121
The Celtic Cross
They are all eloquent testimony to the exquisite artistry and craftsman¬
ship of their makers.
Irish holy objects show a repetition of house shapes ranging from
those large enough for a human being to enter to those small enough
to hold in one hand. This repeating hierarchy is a classic instance of the
Celtic concept of self-similarity. According to this hierarchical system,
the unseen universal Mansion of God is the largest, within that the
church, then the reliquary-tomb and finally, within it, the metal reli¬
quary itself.
Several surviving ancient Irish churches show the prototype for the
house-shrines. The pilgrimage church on St MacDara’s Island in
County Galway is one of the best examples, having been restored
recently with its original roof-ornament of Y-shaped gable fmials. The
church at Killmaboy in County Clare bears a cross on its west end that
recalls the reliquary of the True Cross once kept inside. Inside some
churches were reliquary-tombs whose form reflected the churches in
which they stood. Extant examples are the reliquary-tombs at Banagher
in County Londonderry, Saul in County Down, Clones in County
Monaghan and the Skull House at Cooley in County Donegal. They
are all in the form of houses of the dead, the so-called ‘mortuary
houses’. The Clones mortuary house, which probably contained relics
of St Tighernach, has gable fmials, once stood inside a church, now
destroyed. Inside such stone shrines, smaller wooden or metal ones may
have been deposited. The small metal Lough Erne Shrine, actually
demonstrates the principle of self-similarity by containing a small shrine
within a larger one of the same form. The practice of carving a repre¬
sentation of the crucifixion upon a cross, where Christ is shown on
another cross, is yet another instance of Celtic self-similarity.
Because, according to Christian cosmology, the souls of those who
die blameless go to live in the heavenly house at the apex of the cos¬
mos, the houses on top of Celtic crosses are an expression of this belief.
It is not just a Christian concept, however, for it exists also in Nordic
cosmology, where the house of the dead symbolizes the great hall of
Odin, Valhalla. The flowering of the Irish high cross came after contact
with the Pagan cosmology of the Northmen, for the house of the dead
was an important element in Germanic and Norse belief. The Anglo-
Saxon chronicler, Bede, recounts that the memorial of St Chad, who
died in the year 670, was made of wood in the shape of a gabled house.
Also, the two known wooden coffins of seventh-century Archbishops
of Canterbury were also both in the form of the house of the dead: one
122
Irish High Crosses
had a hipped roof with a convex section, and the other had a high-
pitched gabled roof
The Anglo-Saxon Hedda Stone in Peterborough Cathedral is a
more durable example of the Canterbury wooden coffins, being in
the form of a carved stone house-tomb 1.5 m (5 ft) in length. It has a
roof sculpted with birds, beasts and interlace, while the walls below
are arcaded with figures standing in each niche or doorway. These
doors with guardian figures recall the Norse accounts of the many
doorways of Valhalla. According to The Edda, from the 540 doors of
the Allfather’s hall come the dead, in the shape of the Einherjar, Odin’s
heroes, to fight against the powers of evil and destruction. Un¬
fortunately, a few years ago, during building works in the cathedral, the
Hedda stone was handled carelessly and damaged by having parts bro¬
ken off it. The cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum shows the
condition of the stone before this incident. Another important
surviving house-shrine tomb is the Kentish Fordwich stone, which is
believed to have originated in Canterbury. About the same length as
the Hedda Stone, it is in the form of a building with a slightly curving
pitched roof, carved with ‘beaver-tail’ tiles, and with walls sculpted as
an arcade in the Romanesque manner.
In parts of England and southern Scotland are a number of recum¬
bent stone grave-markers known by the generic term of ‘hogsback
tombstones’. Associated mainly with areas of Norse settlement, they are
made in the form of a Scandinavian house of the time, generally boat¬
shaped with flattened ends like a Cambridge punt. Although it is
possible that they recall ship-burials, their form is primarily the ‘house
of the dead’. The form of these houses of the dead is taken from the
Nordic timber-framed houses whose frame structure was based upon
the cruck principle rather than the box-frame. Hogsbacks are a direct
development of the pagan omphalos-shaped bauta-stones that were
erected on grave-mounds. These houses are depicted as having a tiled
roof, whose ridge is sometimes the spine of a dragon or a serpent,
resembling the coffins of the Alamanni, which were carved from tree-
trunks. Beneath the roof are the walls, which in some cases bear
interlace patterns, and in others, warriors. There is a Nordic folk tradi¬
tion that the walls of the house of the dead were woven from snakes,
and its form also resembles the wickerwork coffins used in former
times in some areas. A hogsback, formerly at the old Anglian royal
place of Repton in Derbyshire, had spiralling serpents carved on its
walls. Unfortunately, it was broken up early in the nineteenth century.
123
The Celtic Cross
124
Irish High Crosses
125
The Celtic Cross
that may be interpreted as the risen Christ. The centre of the cross does
not have a crucifixion scene, but spirals. On the opposite, western side,
there is a crucifixion scene, but again this is placed beneath the cross
and not at its centre.
Made of granite quarried at Castledermot, the cross at Moone was
lost for centuries, having been broken and the fragments buried. It was
rediscovered shortly after the Potato Famine, when the local stone¬
mason, Michael O’Shaughnessy, unearthed its base and head while
collecting pieces of stone from the ruined abbey for new buildings.
The cross-fragments were recovered, and the head was set up on the
base. Later, during grave-digging, a part of the shaft was excavated. In
1893, three of O’Shaughnessy’s sons reassembled the three parts, but
with some of the shaft still missing. So it stands today.
At Kells in the county of Meath are four crosses that remain in vari¬
ous stages of integrity. They form the fourth group of Irish Celtic
Crosses. Three stand within the church precincts, and the fourth stands
in the middle of the road at the centre of the town as a market cross.
One of the churchyard crosses is broken and incomplete, while anoth¬
er, perhaps the most interesting of the four crosses, is unfinished. This
‘Unfinished Cross’ was assembled in the nineteenth century from some
cross-components that had for some reason been abandoned before fin¬
ishing. Because of this fortunate accident of fate, we can see the way
that the stonemason carved the basic form to allow the laying-out of
interlace and figure patterns. The
other three crosses were finished,
and contain a wealth of figure The Broken Cross has a scene of the
sculpture of Biblical and other
Baptism of Christ, in which the River
scenes that include some remark¬
able symbolism. The Broken Cross
Jordan is shown as a confluence of streams
has a scene of the Baptism of coming from two circular wells, reflecting the
Christ, in which the River Jordan Celtic veneration of sources of rivers.
is shown as a confluence of streams
coming from two circular wells,
reflecting the Celtic veneration of sources of rivers such as the Seine,
Shannon and Severn. The South Cross at Kells also contains an image
that is a clear continuation of Pagan tradition. At the centre of the
wheel-head is an image of Christ in the posture of the Egyptian god
Osiris, who was slain and resurrected like Jesus. The Osiris-Christ
holds a cross and a blooming bough that alludes to the legendary gold¬
en bough and silver branch of Druidism. The market cross is notable
126
Irish High Crosses
for its scenes of the Celtic martial arts, including wrestling and quarter-
staff fighting.
The fifth class of Irish high crosses is characterized by the now-
destroyed Cross of Armagh, formerly at the headquarters of the
archbishops of Ireland. Now only a few pieces remain, but its former
glory is recorded in old engravings which show that the cross was
covered with Biblical episodes arranged in a strictly logical order. The
cross at Arboe in County Tyrone is the best surviving example of this
rigorous arrangement.
The sixth group includes crosses at Clonmacnois, Monasterboice
and Durrow. Clonmacnois in County Offaly preserves a fine collection
of Celtic carvings. It is renowned for its grave-slabs, carved with Celtic
crosses, names and invocations in ancient script. There are also a
number of ancient crosses at Clonmacnois. A fragment of headless
cross-shaft that exists to the north of the old church bears a carving of
the horned god of the forest, Cernunnos, who in Brittany was wor¬
shipped as St Hoeirnin. Often, far from being destroyed by Christian
priests, images of the old gods were maintained at the shrines where
once they were the chief deities. St Fergus’s cemetery on the island of
Innishkeen in Upper Loch Erne still preserves the antlered stone head
of a Celtic divinity. This Clonmacnois cross dates from around the year
800. The South Cross at Clonmacnois is a little more recent, dating
from around 825. It is mostly carved with interlace and bosses, with a
crucifixion on the westward side.
Considered to be one of the finest Celtic Crosses in Ireland is
Flann’s Cross. Named after King Flann, it is also called The Cross of
the Scriptures. It stands to the west of the enclosure at Clonmacnois. A
mutilated inscription at the bottom of the cross-shaft commemorates
Flann, who died in the year 916, and Abbot Colman, who died in 921.
Above the inscription is a carving of the king and abbot setting up a
post, which may represent a cross. The centre of the wheel-cross has an
image of Christ enthroned in the Osirian position. The ring of this
cross is emphasized. Instead of the usual method of construction, in
which the stonemasons made a cross and attached four arcs of stone to
make the wheel, the designer of this cross emphasized the wheel in the
form of a continuous stone ring linking four roundels. Thus, the cen¬
tre cross with Christ in majesty is separated from the arms of the cross
outside the ring. On top of the cross is a carving of a house-shrine.
At Monasterboice in County Louth are two more fine Celtic
Crosses, both of which are intact and on their original sites. The West
127
128
Irish High Crosses
Cross, which measures 6.7 m (22 ft) is the highest ancient cross remain¬
ing in Ireland. The cross-shaft is carved with panels that represent
scenes from Biblical mythology. The wheel-head of the West Cross,
which contains a number of bosses, is in a better state of preservation
than the shaft or the house-shrine cap. It is likely that the cross was
repaired in antiquity with new stone that replaced the original, for the
depiction of the crucified Christ, whose head lolls to one side, is in the
manner of later styles.
The other, more famous, cross at Monasterboice (illustrated on page
84) , is that of Muiredach, named after the Abbot who died in the year
922. He is commemorated by an inscription at the base of the shaft on
the west side. The cross measures 5.5 m (18 ft), though some of the
lower part of the shaft is missing now, the cross having been re-erected
on its original pyramidal base. This cross is a remarkable synopsis of
syncretic religion. Its east and west faces are sculpted with Biblical
scenes, while the sides have spirals, bosses with interlace, and inter¬
twining beasts. The outer part of the wheel-head is carved with bands
of interlace between which are intertwining serpents. At the centre of
the east face is an image of Christ, based on the iconography of the
resurrected Egyptian god, Osiris. Christ is holding a cross and Irminsul-
staff in the Osirian position, and on his head is an eagle that resembles
the crown of Egyptian gods and pharaohs. On the left of Christ is the
Great God Pan with his pipes, while on the right is a harp-playing fig¬
ure, who is King David or Apollo. The tension between the emotional
left side, and the rational right side is resolved in the figure of Christ,
the perfect man.
The seventh and final grouping of high crosses arose in Ireland
during the eleventh century, perhaps in County Clare, where a school
of crossmakers operated from the late eleventh to the mid-twelfth
centuries. There are six known crosses in this style at Kilfenora, three
of which have sculpted figures. The Doorty Cross here has complex
animal interlace. In comparison with the ‘scriptural’ high crosses, the
Opposite: Tomb-slabs with figure sculpture of this school has been increased in size, the crucifix¬
Celtic Crosses from Ireland.
ion is more prominent, interlace is reduced or absent and ring-heads,
Clockwise from top left:
tombstone of the smith
where present, are no longer pierced or drilled through. There are
Tuathal Saer, Clonmacnois, cross-fragments in this style in the churchyard at Killeany in the Aran
County Offaly; stone of Islands, but the most famous example stands at Dysert O’Dea.
Algidu, Durrow, Offaly;
Although the pyramidal base of earlier crosses is retained, along with a
uninscribed cross-slab,
Clonmacnois; slab of Mael pyramidal capstone, the mason created a cross-head without a ring,
Fmnia, Clonmacnois. but with knobs in place of the customary holes. With a relatively large
129
The Celtic Cross
130
Irish High Crosses
131
The Celtic Cross
Opposite: MacMillan’s
Cross at Kilmorie, Knapdale,
Strathclyde. This fifteenth-
century cross perpetuates the
the ‘gothic’ style elsewhere. Later high crosses, such as the fifteenth-
Celtic shape, but without a
century MacLean’s Cross on Iona, are rather simple when compared wheel or holes, as a crucifix.
with the scriptural crosses of Ireland and Islay. Later medieval high Interlace patterns are
crosses, such as MacMillan’s Cross at Kilmorie in Knapdale, retain the reduced, though the ‘holu
hill’ base of the earlier
circular portion of the wheel-head but no longer have the wheel form.
Celtic Crosses is retained,
Instead, at Kilmorie, there is a crucifixion scene, and the lower part maintaining the cosmic axis
bears a sword flanked by simple interlace carving. symbolism.
132
133
11
The Faee And rise
of The Ceetic Cross
T he advent of the Gothic art style led to the end of the Celtic
high cross. In prosperous places, more ornate architectural
styles were favoured, and high crosses were superseded. In re¬
mote, poorer areas, such as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the
Celtic high cross was simplified, eventually losing its main characteris¬
tics. However, although the ornate high crosses were no longer made,
the tradition of Celtic interlace art did not die out, but was maintained
throughout the middle ages by craftspeople in Ireland, parts of Wales
and the west Highlands of Scotland. Appropriately, the holy island
of Iona remained a significant centre of the tradition. The medieval
sculptors who carved grave-slabs in the west Highlands re-interpreted
the traditional interlace patterns once used on high crosses in combi¬
nation with contemporary artistic styles. In Ireland and Wales, too, the
knov/ledge of the art did not die out, but adapted itself according to
the tastes of the time.
134
The Fall and Rise oe the Celtic Cross
A seventeenth-century
Scottish brass brooch from
Tomintoul, Grampian,
showing the continued
understanding of Celtic
interlace design which
continued until the renewed
interest in Celtic art in
Queen Victoria’s reign.
135
The Celtic Cross
THE RE-DISCOVERY
OF THE CELTIC HERITAGE
This wholesale destruction of sacred artefacts had an effect on art styles.
After the Puritan iconoclasm, Celtic interlace was no longer seen as an
everyday part of life by all those who passed the local cross. It became a
136
The Fall and Rise oe the Celtic Cross
137
The Celtic Cross
138
The Fall and Rise of the Celtic Cross
139
The Celtic Cross
140
The Fall and Rise oe the Celtic Cross
141
The Celtic Cross
wheel-crosses made of pebbles standing proud of the cement rendering design and altar cross for
the Watts Mortuary Chapel
of the external walls. At Glen Falcon, built three years later in 1900, he
at Compton, Surrey,
made a copper fireplace-surround with a repousse pattern of an eight¬ England.
fold cross in Manx tradition. Ornamental elements from Celtic Crosses
were popularized by the Manx designer Archibald Knox in his metal¬
work for Liberty and Company. In Ireland the Arts-and-Crafts-inspired
Dun Emer Guild, founded by Evelyn Gleeson in 1902, produced tex¬
tiles and carpets that used Celtic Cross interlace and tesselation patterns.
Later, the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1921 gave impetus to
the promotion of Celtic art as a national style. It has held its position
since then.
However, Ireland’s troubles also led to one of the worst losses of
ancient Celtic manuscripts. This took place in June 1922 during the
142
The Fall and Rise oe the Celtic Cross
Irish Civil War, when the Four Courts in Dublin, held by Republican
soldiers, was shelled by Free State artillery. The building, used by the
Irish Republican Army as a munitions store, received a direct hit from
a shell and exploded catastrophically. The Irish National Archive, held
in the building and containing many priceless documents, was totally
destroyed in one blow. After the victory of the Free State faction,
however, Celtic monuments were erected to those who fell in the war.
In the United Kingdom, too, to commemorate ‘The Great War for
Civilization’, the Celtic Cross was adopted as the model for many of
the numerous war memorials that were erected in almost every village
Smaller examples of
tombstones can also be to honour those who had died in the conflict. Wherever possible, the
interesting instances of new British war memorials were erected at places where crosses had
more recent Celtic Crosses.
stood in former times. Thus, stone crosses were restored to the British
An early twentieth-century
example stands over the
landscape as new representatives of the ‘cherished objects’ whose loss
grave of Cecil Bendall, Rimmer had lamented 50 years earlier.
Professor of Sanskrit at In the 1920s, interest in Celtic artwork continued. In 1922, the
Cambridge University, in
English fantasy artist Sidney Sime designed a cover for the libretto of
St Giles’s Cemetery,
Cambridge, England. Josef Holbrooke’s opera, Bronwen. It showed the hero and heroine
(Nigel Pennick) standing beneath a Pictish-type cross-slab with interlace panels in the
form of a swastika. Of course, before the 1930s,
that ancient sign had none of the bad connota¬
tions later attached to it by the Nazis. As an
ancient symbol for lightning, it appears on
ancient slabs like the Craignarget Stone, and
occasionally upon graveyard memorials like
Professor Cecil Bendall’s Celtic Cross in
Cambridge, which refers to his Hindu connec¬
tions. Following the work of earlier antiquaries,
especially Romilly Allen, from the 1920s, the
Scottish artist George Bain investigated actual
examples of Celtic art from Pictish stones and
Celtic manuscripts, and, by analysis, expanded
on Romilly Allen’s re-discoveries. George
Bain’s main intention was to bring Celtic art
back into the repertoire of contemporary
artists, craftspeople and designers. His master-
work, Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction
(McLellan), first published in 1951, which con¬
tains his analysis, of the principles underlying
Celtic art, has become the standard work on
143
The Celtic Cross
Celtic art. As Bain intended, the book became the greatest influence on
contemporary Celtic artists, and remains so today.
Through the work of Romilly Allen, George Bain and his son Iain,
and the Irish artist John G. Merne, the principles of Celtic art are
understood once more, and there has been a renaissance of Celtic art in
every field except, paradoxically, that of making stone crosses. The
Celtic artists Jim Fitzpatrick, Courtney Davis, David James and Simon
Rouse are among the most notable contemporary exponents of the
style m book illustrations, posters and paintings, often with a spiritual
content. Fantasy artists, illustrating the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and
his imitators, have taken to Celtic art as the authentic reflection of the
elder times in northern Europe.
Similarly, with a recognition of
ancestral tradition, contemporary
jewellers are now making Celtic
Fantasy artists, illustrating the works of
Crosses of precious metals as pen¬ J.R.R. Tolkien and his imitators, have
dants to wear around the neck, taken to Celtic art as the authentic reflection
and small replicas of Celtic Crosses
of the elder times in northern Europe.
are available as ornaments. Since
the 1980s, elements of Celtic art
have become a significant current
in the repertoire of the tattooist. Celtic Crosses, interlace and stylized
animal patterns adorn the human body. This art is worldwide. Among
the most notable contemporary tattooists putting Celtic Crosses on
people are Darren Rosa and Jonathan Shaw of New York, Geoff
Wilson of Lillydale, Australia, and ‘Crazy Greg’ of Heidelberg,
Germany. Their work is in some way a contemporary restoration of
the body art of the ancient Piets and Copts.
In 1996, the continuing awareness of the Celtic Cross was evidenced
by the British Royal Mint issuing of a ^1 coin, designed by Norman
Sillman. Its reverse (‘tails’) side bears a Celtic Cross, representative of
Northern Ireland. However, a revival of making new, full-sized,
coloured Celtic Crosses is still awaited. All of the appropriate knowl¬
edge and skills exist among contemporary practitioners of Celtic art,
and this is ample evidence that the Celtic tradition, already 2,700 years
old, will continue to flourish in the foreseeable future.
144
Gazetteer
In the gazetteer,
numbers following the
place names are
T here are a large number of crosses and related stones remaining
in the Celtic realms. It is not possible to list them all, nor are all
of them accessible. Also, like everything in the landscape,
Ordnance Survey grid
references. crosses are subject to destruction, either through accident, neglect or
unthinking development, like road-widening. So to visit the less
famous examples may be either an adventure or a disappointment.
Nevertheless, when we visit a Celtic Cross we should do it with rever¬
ence, not in an offhand manner as just the next sight to ‘do’ on a jaded
tourist trail. Crosses should be treated with respect, and we should
always bear in mind that each Celtic Cross is sacred, bearing witness to
the universal human recognition of the divine powers that lie beyond
human understanding.
BRITTANY
resemble those on the base of the cross at Moone,
Bazoges-la-Perouse, Ile-et-Vilaine. La Pierre County Kildare, Ireland.
Longue (or La Pierre de Lande-Ros) stands near a
Keregard-Vraz, Plumeur, Finistere. (23 km/
stream between Bazoges and Noyal, 2 km (1 mile)
14 miles southwest of Quimper, 6 km/3 A miles
from the crossroads of Trois-Croix. It is a megalith
west of Pont l’Abbe.) Narrow, rounded, granite
whose top has been carved into a Christian cross.
megalith cross.
Brigognan-Plage, Finistere. The Men Marz at
Lanrivoare, Finistere. Close to the church is ‘The
the Terre-de-Point 1 km (V2 mile) to the north-
Moaning-Place’, eight megalithic boulders, with a
northwest of Brigognan-Plage is known as a miracle
stone cross, that mark, it is said, a massacre in the
stone where St Pol de Leon stopped the encroach¬
fifth century, clearly a place of ancestral memory.
ment of the sea. It bears a small cross on its summit.
Penvern, Cote-du-Nord. (9 km/5/4 miles north¬
Carnac-Ville, Carnac. La Pierre Chaude (or
west of Lannion, 3 km/2 miles northnortheast of
Cruz-Moquen) is a megalithic tomb upon which
Trebeurden.) The cross of St Duzec, 8.1 m (26V2 ft)
stands a tall stone cross.
high, is a megalith that was rededicated as a
Hameau de Rungleo, Finistere. Near Daoulas Christian monument 111 1674. It bears carvings of
(45 km/28 miles southwest of Morlais, 18 km/11 the instruments of the passion, and has a cross bear¬
miles eastsoutheast of Brest) is the Croix des Douze ing the crucified Christ on top. Also near Penvern,
Apotres, a megalith re-dedicated as a Christian near Keralies, is one of St Samson’s menhirs, next to
monument in the late medieval period. The figures a chapel constructed between 1575 and 1631.
145
The Celtic Cross
Plevenon, Cote-du-Nord. At Cap Frehel, 3 km finding-place at Aldbar Castle. The front is carved
(2 miles) northeast of Plevenon, is L’Aiguille de with interlace while the rear has animals, humans
Gargantua, a megalith re-fashioned as a shaft sur¬ and implements.
mounted by a cross.
Brecon, Powys (so 0428). Brecknock Museum
St Samson-sur-Rance, La Tremblais, Cote-du- on Captain’s Walk in Brecon has a collection of
Nord. 5 km (3 miles) northeast of Dinan in the stone stelae and crosses, including the Neuadd
village of St Samson close to the road to La Siarman cross from Llanynys.
Quinardais is another of St Samson’s stones with
Bridell, Dyfed (sn 1742). In the churchyard stands
finely incised bands of rectangles with cup-marks.
a pointed megalith inscribed with an ogham text,
which, translated, reads ‘Nettasagrus, son of the
GREAT BRITAIN descendant of Brecus’. On one side is an equal¬
armed cross within a circle, added in the ninth
Aberlemno, Tayside (no 5255). Alongside the
century.
B9134 road in Aberlemno are three Pictish ‘symbol
stones’, while the churchyard to the east of this road Carew, Dyfed (sn 0403). Beside the A4075 road,
contains the misleadingly named ‘Aberlemno in the wall close to the castle entrance, is an
Stone’, an eighth-century stone with an incised eleventh-century cross, commemorating King
cross accompanied by beasts and hunting scenes. Maredudd ap Edwin, who ruled Deheubarth (the
kingdom of South-West Wales) from 1033 until
Babingley, Norfolk (tf 6726). The stump of a
cross near the crossroads, Boteler’s Cross, could be 1035-
the site of the first Christian settlement in East Cardinham, Cornwall (sx 1269). The church has
Anglia, founded by St Felix of Burgundy in the sev¬ a fine Celtic Cross of typically Cornish tradition.
enth century.
Carmarthen Museum, Old Bishop’s Palace,
Bangor, Gwynedd (sh 5872). The Museum of Abergwili, Carmarthen, Dyfed (sn 4120). This
Welsh Antiquities at Bangor contains some early museum has a collection of early Christian monu¬
Celtic cross-slabs. ments, including the stone of Voteporix Protector.
146
Gazetteer
Cringleford, Norfolk (tg 1905). Parts of a ‘runic Fowlis Wester, Tayside region (nn 9223). The
cross’, discovered during rebuilding 111 1898, are on ‘sculptured stone’ of Foulis Wester is a fine cross¬
the wall behind the font. slab which depicts a free-standing wheel-head cross
flanked by seated figures. The cross is ornamented
Dartmoor, Devon. The sacred stopping-places on
with spirals, interlace and key-patterns.
the monastic trackway between Tavistock (sx 4774)
and Buckfast (sx 7367) are marked by the following Govan, Strathclyde (ns 5565). The old Govan
crosses: Tavistock Abbey — Green Lane Cross — church contains a collection of ancient Celtic
Pixies’ Cross — Warren’s Cross — Huckworthy Cross Crosses and other worked stones.
— Walkhampton Church House Cross — Yannandon
Great Ashfield, Suffolk (tl 9968). A wheel-head
Cross — Lower Lowery Cross — Lowery Cross —
cross stands in the grounds of Ashfield House. In
Lether Tor Bridge — Clazywell Cross — Newley-
former times, it was used as a bridge over the stream
combe Cross — Siward’s Cross — Nun’s Cross —
at the churchyard entrance.
Goldsmith’s Cross — Childe’s Tomb Cross — Mount
Misery Cross — West Ter Hill Cross — East Ter Hill Hackness, North Yorkshire (se 9690). A frag¬
Cross — Skaur Ford Cross — Horse Ford Cross — ment of eighth-century cross is kept in the church,
Horn’s Cross — Two Thorns Cross - Play Cross — which is the site of an Anglo-Saxon nunnery.
Hawson Cross — Buckfast Abbey. Carved with interlace, it bears a multiple inscription
in standard runes, the cryptic runes known as hahal-
Dunfallandy, Tayside (nn 9456). Here is a Pictish
runa, and ogham.
cross-slab which shows the boss-style at its most
prominent, and some of the finest beast-carvings on Hilton, Cambridgeshire (tl 2966). The parish
a Celtic Cross. church has a small but ancient Celtic Cross attached
to the west wall.
Dunning, southwest of Perth, Tayside (no
0114). On the road to Milhaugh, west ol Dunning, Hoxne, Suffolk (tm 1876). In a field close to
is a perron-cross that stands upon a rough stepped- Hoxne is a cross on steps, erected in 1870 to com¬
stone base. It is respected as the memorial to Maggie memorate the reputed execution of King Edmund
Wall, who was burnt there as a witch in 1657. of East Anglia on a tree that stood at this place until
1848.
Dunkeld, Tayside (no 0242). Preserved in the
cathedral is the Apostles’ Stone, a piece of cross¬ Iona, Inner Hebrides, Strathclyde (nm 2726).
shaft with carvings of 12 figures, stylistically related The old Gaelic name for Iona is Innis na Druineach
to many ‘Twelve Apostles’ Stones’ elsewhere. (The Isle of the Druids). St Columba founded St
Mary’s Abbey there in 563, and by the Reformation
Dupplin, near Forteviot, Tayside (no 0518). An
there were over 350 Celtic Crosses on the island. At
Irish-influenced free-standing cross is here.
the Reformation, Protestants threw over 200 of
Ewenni Priory Church, Glamorgan (ss 9177). them into the sea, so now only the fifteenth-century
This church has a number of interesting cross-slabs. Maclean’s Cross and the tenth-century St Martin’s
Cross remain standing.
Forres, Grampian (nj 0358). The tenth-century
Sueno’s Stone, over 6 m (20 ft) high, is carved with Kedington, Suffolk (tl 7047). On the gable at
contemporary scenes of hunting and battle. the east end of the church is the uppermost part
of an ancient wheel-head cross, which was placed
Fowey, Cornwall (sx 1152). On the A3082 near
there after it was excavated from beneath the chan¬
Fowey is the Tristan Stone, a pedestal bearing a
cel floor.
sixth-century stone with an inscription commemo¬
rating Drustanus, perhaps the Arthurian Tristan or Keills, Strathclyde (nr 6980). The old chapel
Tristram. Before 1971, the stone stood at the Four here contains several Celtic crosses and other carved
Turnings crossroads near Menabilly. stones.
147
The Celtic Cross
Kenidjack, Cornwall (sw 3631 and sw 3645). remarkable serpent’s head. The churchyard contains
Two cross-pillars, from Trevonan in Sennen Parish, a fine perron, and there is a ‘death road’ called
stand in the grounds of Boscean Hotel. Burial Lane that leads to the churchyard.
Kildalton, Islay (nr 4550). The tenth-century Lonan, near Ballamenaugh, Isle of Man (sc
wheel-headed Celtic Cross in Kildalton churchyard 4279). This has a notable cross-slab.
is the finest in Scotland.
Ludgvan, Cornwall (sw 5033). The churchyard
Kilmory, Knap, Strathclyde (nr 7075). At contains a cross-slab and two larger ancient standing
Kilmory is an old chapel containing Celtic Crosses crosses.
and other Celtic carvings.
Margam Stones Museum, The Old School
Lanherne, St Mawgan, Cornwall (sx 2368). A House, Margam, West Glamorgan (ss 7887). A
notable Cornish cross stands here. valuable collection of ancient Celtic Crosses and
slabs from the early days of the Christian religion in
Laugharne, Dyfed (sn 3011). A notable Celtic
Wales. It includes the sixth-century Bodvocus stone.
Cross is preserved at the church.
In the ninth and tenth centuries, there was a school
Littleton Drew, Wiltshire (ST 8280). Two cross¬ of cross-sculptors at Margam, and the Conbelm
fragments at the church may be the remains of one wheel-head cross displayed here is a fine example of
of the crosses erected to mark a stopping-place of St their work.
Aldhelm’s funeral procession from Doulting to Maughold, Isle of Man (sc 4991). The church¬
Malmesbury. yard has a collection of Celtic Crosses and stones.
Llandewibrefi, Dyfed (sn 6755). The parish Meigle, Alyth, Tayside (no 2844). An important
church has a fine cross. collection of Pictish cross-slabs is displayed here.
Llandough, South Glamorgan (ss 9972). The Merthyr Mawr, Mid Glamorgan (ss 8877). Here
churchyard of St Dochdwy contains a unique four- there is a panelled cross with a broken interlaced
section pillar cross, ‘The Stone of Irbic’. It has a head, a characteristic example of the style.
‘holy mountain’ base with a carving of a horseman
Methwold, Norfolk (tl 7394). At Cross Hill is an
and the bust of a man.
ancient stone that once held a wooden cross-shaft,
Llangammarch, Powys (sn 9347). Over the door now lost.
of the church porch is a fragment of a ninth- or
Mold (Yr Wyddgrug), Clwyd (sl 2363). In
tenth-century sunwheel-cross, with a human figure
Maesgarmon Field, off the Gwernaffield Road,
and a spiral below, perhaps a serpent.
stands the ‘Alleluia Stone’, erected by Nehemiah
Llan-gan, West Glamorgan (ss 9678). A ninth- Griffith in 1736 to commemorate the victory of
or tenth-century disc-headed sandstone cross bear¬ Bishop Germanus’s army over Saxon and Pictish
ing a figure of Christ stands in the churchyard. forces in 429 ce.
Llangollen, Clwyd (sj 2044). A stone cross-shaft Montrose, Tayside Region (no 7157). Preserved
known as ‘The Pillar of Eliseg’ is in a railing enclo¬ m the museum at Montrose is the damaged Pictish
sure close to the Cistercian Abbey of Valle Crucis. It cross-slab from Farnell, which has a famous image of
contains a geneology of Eliseg, a ninth-century the Tree of Life with Adam and Eve, two serpents
worthy. and a cross. Also in the museum is a cross-slab from
Inchbrayock with spirals and key-patterns.
Llantwit Major, South Glamorgan (ss 9678). In
the church is a rather poorly presented collection of Mylor, Cornwall (sw 8235). The churchyard
ancient Celtic Crosses, including that of Hywel ap contains the tallest cross in Cornwall, with solar
Rhys, king of Glywysing, who died in 886, and a carvings.
148
Gazetteer
Nanquidno, Cornwall (sw 3629). A wheel-head which bear peck-marks that may have held painted
cross, with a cross and bosses in relief, marks a stop- cement or plaster in former times. There are the
ping-place on the track to Nanquidno Farm. remains of an inscription, interpreted as Regis Ricati
Crux, ‘The cross of King Ricatus’.
Nevern, Dyfed (sn 0839). The churchyard con¬
tains a phallic stone and a Celtic Cross, dating from Perranporth, Cornwall (sw 7756). A cross men¬
the tenth or eleventh centuries. Inside the church tioned in a charter of the year 960 stands close to
are ancient cross- and ogham-stones. At the end of the celebrated ‘lost church’.
the churchyard is the nineteenth-century Celtic
Rosemorran, Cornwall (sw 4732). In the hedge
Cross marking the grave of the bard Tegid, the
at the back of the farmyard is a round-headed cross,
Reverend John Jones, located at the only place
which has Christ on one side and a cross on the
in the churchyard from which one can see St
other.
Brynach’s holy mountain, Carn Ingli.
Rossie Priory, Tayside (no 2930). The character¬
Nigg, Highland (nh 8071). In the old parish
istic Pictish ‘page in stone’.
church is the broken cross-slab notable for its fine
bosses, carved with interlace and six-fold spirals. Rudston, Yorkshire (ta 0967). At Rudston
Church is a millstone grit pillar which is the largest
Old Town, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly (sv 9210).
megalith in a British churchyard.
A granite cross formerly at High Cross Lane,
Salakee, is mounted on the gable end of St Mary’s St Buryan, Cornwall. Close to St Buryan are a
Church at Old Town. number of interesting crosses. At Boskenna (sw
4324) on the B3315 to the southeast of St Buryan, is
Paul, Cornwall (sw 4627). On the churchyard
a broken, wheel-head cross set into a cider-press
wall is a four-hole wheel-head with a clothed Christ
stone. Another is located to the north of it at
figure. Nearby is a round-headed cross, the shaft of
Vellansagia (sw 4325), and to the northwest ot St
which has carved crosses.
Buryan (sw 3927), next to a fine milestone, is
Penally, Dyfed (ss 1199). The church contains a Crows-an-Wra, ‘The Cross of the Witch’, after
whole wheel-head cross with interlace and scroll which the nearby hamlet is named.
patterns, with some original red colour remaining,
St Cleer, north of Liskeard, Cornwall (sx 2468).
and a second fragment with opposed animals and
Near the fifteenth-century house ot St Cleer’s Well
interlace.
is a Latin cross, while on the road to Redgate about
Pendrea, Cornwall (sw 4025). A round-headed 1.5 km (1 mile) away is the fragment of a tenth-
cross with a cross on one side and Christ on the century inscribed stone that recalls the memory of
other stands by the road from Buryan to Land’s End. Doniert, King of Cornwall, who drowned in the
River Fowey in 875.
Penmon, Anglesey (sh 6380). The Priory Church
contains two notable Celtic Crosses. St David’s, Dyfed (sm 7525). The chapel contain¬
ing the relics of St David has an altar composed of a
Penrith, Cumbria (ny 5130). In St Andrew’s
number of ancient Celtic cross-slabs and test-pieces.
churchyard are cross-fragments that mark ‘The
Giant’s Grave’, said to be the grave of the giant Isir, St Dogmaels, Dyfed (sn 4715). In the abbey
who resided in a nearby cave. ruins is a lapidarmm that contains many interesting
old stones, including several cross-slabs, one of
Penzance, Cornwall (sw 4730). Outside the
which is humanoid.
Penlee Museum, Morrab Road, Penzance, is pre¬
served a notable tenth-century wheel-head cross St Just, Cornwall (sw 3631). St Helen’s Chapel at
which once stood at another site, serving as a mar¬ Cape Cornwall has an ancient cross erected on a
ket cross. Its shaft is divided into panels, some of gable end.
149
The Celtic Cross
St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall (sw 5129). This Walsingham, Norfolk (tf 9336). Some of the
holy mountain of the Sun contains four crosses that stopping-places of pilgrim routes to Walsingham,
mark sacred stopping-places around the former Britain’s primary Marian shrine, were marked by
monastery. crosses, some of which still remain: e.g. at Binham
(tg 9839); Caston (tg 9697); Gresham (tg 1838);
St Vigeans, Tayside (no 6342). At St Vigeans is
Hemsby (tg 4917); and Weeting (tg 7739).
an important collection of Pictish cross-slabs, one ol
which (The Drosten Stone, St Vigeans I) has a Whissonsett, Suffolk (tf 9123). The church con¬
sheela-na-gig. On the back of this stone is the earliest tains the remains of a stone cross with interlace.
known representation of a crossbowman.
Whitecross, Cornwall (sw 5234). Beside the
Sancreed, southeast of St Just, Cornwall (sw main A30 road in Ludgvan parish stands a cross-head
4129). Sancreed churchyard possesses two notable supported by two stone blocks. It is whitewashed
wheel-head monolithic crosses, one of which bears annually in a ceremony.
an image of the Christ and the inscription Runho,
Whitford, Clwyd (sj 1477). Maen Achwyfan,
perhaps the crossmaster’s name.
‘The Stone of Lamentations’ is a late tenth-century
Southrepps, Norfolk (tg 2636). The broken shaft wheel-head cross-slab with designs related to
of an Anglian cross stands near the crossroads out¬ Northumbrian cross-decoration, including spirals
side the village. and interlace.
Temple, Cornwall (ix 5574). A number of Whithorn, Galloway (NX 4440). The museum at
ancient cross-incised stones and stone crosses are Whithorn contains a collection of crosses.
built into the wall of this church.
Trelleck, Gwent (so 5005). Outside the church is Cardonagh, Inishowen, Donegal (c 2444). West
a stone cross, standing on a stepped ‘world moun¬ of Cardonagh is the Donagh Cross or St Patrick’s
tain’ base, erected by an early medieval king of this Cross. It is said to be the oldest low-relief cross still
part of Wales. standing in Ireland.
150
Gazetteer
Durrow, south of Kilbeggan, Offaly (n 2323). Kilfenora, Clare (r 1119). Here is an eleventh-
century cross, which, with that at Dysert O’Dea
Northeast of Durrow Abbey is a tenth-century high
(q.v.) is the most important example of the type in
cross and the holy well of St Columba.
which a full-length figure of Christ is carved on the
Dysert O’Dea (r 1218). The high cross here has cross, transforming the Celtic Cross into a crucifix.
interlace and zoomorphic figures, and a stone repre¬
Killaloe, Limerick (R 1717). In the churchyard of
senting St Tola, the eighth-century founder.
St Flannan’s Oratory is Thorgrim’s Stone, dating
Fahan, Buncrana, Donegal (c 2343). 7 km (414 from the Erst millennium, which is a cross-shaft
miles) south of Buncrana, at Fahan, is St Mura’s bearing an inscription in both the runic and ogham
Cross, a stone with remarkable interlace and human scripts.
figures. Close by is another cross-slab built into a
Kilmakedar, Kerry (q 0411). A remarkable sun¬
roadside wall.
dial-cross stands close to the Romanesque church. It
Glen of Aherlow, Tipperary (r 1913). At is in the form of a wheel-headed cross with a flat¬
tened top, resembling some of the carved crosses at
Ardane, in the south of the Glen of Aherlow, is the
oval sacred enclosure called St Berechert’s Kyle, Clonmacnois.
which has two ancient crosses and over 50 cross¬ Kilnasaggart, Louth (o 3031). Here there is
slabs set on the drystone walls. an inscribed granite pillar dating from around the
year 700.
Glendalough, Dublin (t 3119). The Vale of
Glendalough contains many sacred remains associat¬ Loughrea, Galway (m 1622). 6.5 km (4 miles)
ed with the sixth-century monastic settlement of St northeast of Loughrea is the Turoe Stone, a phallic-
Kevin. They include St Kevin’s Cross (c. 1150). shaped omphalos with La Tene-style carvings.
The Celtic Cross
Monasterboice, Louth (o 3028). The Celtic and the Berechtume Stone, an eighth-century cross¬
monastery founded by St Buithe has three ancient slab sculpted with spiral and geometrical patterns.
crosses. Muiredach’s Cross (c. 923) is one of the
Tynan, Armagh (h 2734). Tynan Abbey, west of
most finely developed and executed Celtic Crosses
Armagh, has four stone crosses, probably dating
in existence. It has a crucifix-sunwheel with ‘world
from the eighth century. The Village Cross and the
mountain’ base and ‘heavenly house’ capstone. The
Terrace Cross were taken in 1844 from Egish
North and West crosses are also particularly note¬
churchyard, while the Well Cross and Island Cross
worthy, as is the pillar sundial which is also carved
were brought to Tynan from Glenarb.
with a wheel-cross.
White Island, Lower Lough Erne, Fermanagh
Moone, Kildare (n 2719). The Moone Cross
(H 2133). The ruined church on White Island con¬
stands in the grounds of Moone Abbey. It is over
tains seven sculpted stone images of Pagan and
5 m (16 ft) tall. Its base bears a crucifixion scene,
Christian figures.
while the sunwheel-head has a four-fold spiral
pattern.
152
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155
Index
156
Index
Irish high crosses 126, Cricklade 138 Davis, Arthur 'Badsey' 92 Elven 37
127, 129, 130 Crieff 81 Davis, Courtney 144 Emly Shrine 121
re-consecrated stones Croagh Patrick 64 Deerness 124 Enda, St 72
121 Croix des Douze Apotres Delphi 22-3, 83, 88 Entremont 38
and self-similarity 87, 7i Denmark 94, 117 Epona 34
122 La Croix des Sept diamond grid 84 Eresburg 51
symbols 54, 63 Chemins 49 Diana 54 estela discoidea 117
and wheel motifs 27, 31 crosses: Anglo-Saxon Diodorus Siculus 88 Estonia 93
Christopher, St 38 108-12 Dionysos 54 Etruscans 9, 23, 33, 53, 58
Church of Scotland 109 ankh 61,62 ‘disc-headed’ cross 99 Euclid 82
Ciaran, St 44 arc-cross 63—4 Dol 69-71 Euffigneix 42
Cicero 61 Cornish 105—8 Doniert, King of Ezelsdorf 51
Circle of Columbkille 29 cross-slabs 64-8, 63, Cornwall 107
circles, quartered 25-6 74-6, 75, 78-81, 79, 80, Doorty Cross, Kilfenora Faeroes 20—1
Cirencester 12, 30 90-1, go, 100, 102-4 129 Falstone 124, 124
Clackmannan 24, 120 destruction 135—6 Dorset 91 Findchua, St 18
Clare, County 129 ‘disc-headed’ 99 Dover 73 Finn McCool 29
Clarke, W. 140 early Celtic crosses druids 10, 11, 18, 37, 119 Finn MacGorman 45-6
Claudius, Bishop of Turin 61-71 Druids’ Cord 82 Fishbourne 30
89 evolution of Celtic cross Drumcliff 130 Fitzpatrick, Jim 144
Clones 122 72-81 Drummore 75 Flann’s Cross,
Clonfert Cathedral 38 interlace patterns 93, 93, Dublin 91 Clonmacnois 127
Clonmacnois 37, 64, 71, 101, 101, 105-6 Duleek 121 Fontaines 20
74, 77, 94, 125, 127, Irish high crosses Dun Emer Guild 142 Fordwich stone 123
128, 130 124-30, 128 Dunfallandy 80, 130 Fowlis Wester 80
Cloonfad 121 Isle of Man 112—17 Dungal of Pavia 89 France: monasticism 13
Clowance 66, 106 market crosses 136 Dunino 67—8 re-use of stones 69—71,
Codex Brucianus 61 nineteenth-century Dupplin 81 70
Cold Kitchen Hill 27 copies 138—40 Durham 124 see also Brittany
Colerne 48 Pictish 76-81, 79, 80 Durrow 77, 127, 128 Fuldauer Sakramentar 28
Collins 137 ‘pillow-stones’ 73-4, 74 Dysert O'Dea 129-30 funerary stelae 61,62
colour 96 re-use of megaliths
Columba, St 15, 19, 20, 68-71, 121 Easby 108 Galway, County 93
29, 94 Scottish high crosses East Anglia 74 Gaut Bjornsson 107
Columbanus, St 18, 20 130-2, 131-3 East Worlington 69 geometry, sacred 82—7
columns: Irminsul 51, stopping-places 46—8, Easter Ross 77, 80, 80 George IV, King of
58-9, 59, 60, 73, 94, 50, 52, 64, 64, 107, 136 Eastern Orthodox England 137
119 sunwheel cross 8, 25—6, Church 28, 88-9 Germany: Jupiter
Jupiter Columns 53-6, 25, 26, 28-9, 63 Echterdingen 39 Columns 53-6
55, 94, 100, 101 tau cross 37, 67 Echternach 20 maypoles 51
maypoles 51-3, 52, 94 war memorials 143 The Edda 114, 123 Glamis 79
Conbelin Cross 99 Welsh crosses 97-105 Edinburgh 16 Glamorgan 68, 97—9
Conchem 38, 113 wheel-cross 28, 31, 63—4 Edward I, King of Glamorgan, Vale of 53
Constantine, Emperor 42 Cross Gneth 104-5 England 104, 105 Glastonbury 15, 20
Cooley 122 crossroads 50 Edward III, King of Gleeson, Evelyn 142
Coptic church 14, 42, 61, Crowan 66, 106 England 105 Glencolmkille 64, 67
62, 104 Crux Guriat, Maughold Edwin, King of Glendalough 64, 64, 130
Cork 14 114 Northumbria 16 God 83, 88-9
corn dollies 91-2 Culdees 16-17 Eglinton Casket 134 ‘goddess-crosses’ 32
Cornwall 66, 69, 105—8 cup-marks 65—6 Egypt 22, 61, 82, 96, 108, gods and goddesses 10,
cosmic axis 118, 119, Cybele 11 120, 125 11, 37, 38
120-1 Cyngen, King 102 Egyptian Diamond 84, goldkegel 51
Coychurch 107 85, 125-6 Gorgo 42
Craignarget 75, 143 Dalriada 15, 80, 81 Elijah 28 Gosda 96
‘Crazy Greg’ 144 Dartmoor 47—8 Eliseg's Pillar, Valle Gosforth Cross 94, 95,
Crete 25, 96 David, King of Israel 129 Crucis Abbey 100, 101 110, 116
157
The Celtic Cross
158
Index
159
The Celtic Cross
l60
Other titles of interest:
CELTIC PILGRIMAGES
Sites, Seasons and Saints
Elaine Gill and David Everett;
illustrated by Courtney Davis
CELTIC WOMEN
In Legend, Myth and History
Lyn Webster Wilde;
colour plates by Courtney Davis
The photograph on the front of the book jacket (by Mick Sharp)
shows St Piran's Cross. Illustration on the rear by the author.