This piece tells of the importance of the Salmon symbol, seen on several Pictish Stones.

SALMON POEM Come, sweet salmon tailing up the bank, come to my whistle made from a brown bear's arm. Come, bright warrior, invade the net. My wife gave long black tresses to make it bind you. Come, firm meat, we will warm your cold blood on bitter juniper branches. Come, silver coins,we will strip your wealth and cast your bones back into the stream so you may grow another body. Come, friend salmon, come. The Salmon is on the Glamis Manse Stone.

SALMON SONG Come salmon come, come tailing up the bank. Come salmon come, come and grace my net. Silver coins, come and join me, Firm flesh, come and feed me, Cold oil, come and warm me, Come and grace my net. Heed my bone whistle and Come salmon come. Need calls you here and you must Come salmon come. Lead your fellows up the stream and Come salmon come. Feed my hungry family, Come salmon come. My net is fitting to receive you, My net is tied with long black tresses, My net is hung with shining pebbles, My net awaits your majesty. Come silver coins, we’ll strip your wealth We’ll warm your blood on bitter branches, We’ll eat your meat most reverently, We’ll fire your oil to light our darkness, we’ll fix your teeth into a comb, We’ll throw your bones back to the stream, So you may grow another flesh and Come salmon come.

Nigg Stone (Clach Neig)

A magnificent, intricately-carved Pictish stone dating from the 8th century AD which is regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest art treasures and which has been said to be second to none in terms of Western medieval art. The Nigg Stone, along with the Shandwick Stone and the Hilton of Cadboll Stone, is evidence of the important role of the Tarbat peninsula in Pictish times, and the three stones may well be linked to the major Pictish religious site at Tarbat. The stone is housed in Nigg Old Church, a fine example of a Scottish parish church in a location which has probably been a place of Christian worship for at least 1,200 years. The church and stone are looked after by the Nigg Old Trust whose volunteers open up the church daily between 1st April and 31st October.

On the Hilton stone, top left, is a round mirror and a comb, symbolising the female shown riding sidesaddle alongside. This poem by Ewan McVicar presents her thoughts.

THE PRINCESS

I wait.  I wait upon my lord and prince, to know and guess at his wish and hurry to obey.  I wait to bear his beautiful child, and another, and pray to St Bechan for another yet.  I wait for the pain Old Malley tells me will surely be there each time and I will not become used to it and will cry up curses upon my lord and will be forgiven them if I give St Bechan two wax candles and give The Goodman the feed of a field for a year.  I wait to become a queen and do what I wish to, not to wait with silent short breaths to hear and obey the wishes of my mother and my lord and the king my lord's father and Old Malley and the priest teacher of the great house. I wait to be happy. I wait.

Tarbat Discovery Centre (Ionad-Taisgealaidh Thairbeirt)

Pictish collection (Cruinneachadh Cruithneach)

A nationally and internationally important and fascinating collection of finds relating to the important Pictish monastery which lies beneath and around the Discovery Centre. The monastic site dates from the late 6th century till around 820AD and the historic former church in which the Centre is located is evidence of this site’s long religious history. The Discovery Centre displays include intricate Pictish stone carvings with detailed geometric patterns and images including cattle licking their new-born calf, a rooting wild boar, and a snarling dragon with a serpent head on its tail. Replicas and photographs of pieces of Pictish sculpture from Tarbat which are now in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh are also on display along with tools used by the monks to create sacred gold and silverware, and the only evidence in Europe of a workshop producing vellum (calf skin which was used in medieval times as the writing surface for illuminated manuscripts). In addition to its Pictish collection, the Centre boasts a rare 14th century crypt which housed the relics of a saint, and the extraordinary ‘six-headed burial’ of a 14th century clan chief killed in battle and buried with extra skulls around his head. Tarbat Discovery Centre also cares for artefacts and archives connected with its most recent religious role as the local parish church, ‘Tarbat Old Kirk’, including local family history information.

THE CHRISTIAN CARVER My work is upon this cross. Chisel and mallet, mallet and chisel through the dark months, finding within the thrawn stone the angels who move the leaves to make the wind. Watching Tiberach the hunter lope off with his curs to cozen a seven pointer, and finding him and his beloved quarry inside the iced stone. Dreaming of knot within snake within dragon within knot, and finding them under the crust of the baked stone. Hearing the clerks sing of order and balance and ranks of cherubim and seraphim ascending and archangels wheeling sermons in lines of fire across the sky, and cursing the stupid stone that will not let me find such a glory within it. My lad who sharpens the chisels says I must teach him to be a carver. I tell him "Better try an honest trade like butchering. At least the butcher kills before he hacks the thing about. The carver hacks the living stone into an abomination of his thoughts, then turns his back on the stone's cry for merciful death." My knucklebones say "Can we not find work indoors in winter?" The Eassie Stone has a cross, four-winged angels, a stag, and a hunter with dogs.

The Shandwick Stone (Clach a’ Charraidh)

A magnificent and intricately carved large cross-slab (around nine feet /three metres high) standing on its original site overlooking the Moray Firth.  The Shandwick Stone, along with the Nigg Stone and the Hilton of Cadboll Stone, is evidence of the important role of the Tarbat peninsula in Pictish times, and the three stones may well be linked to the major Pictish religious site at Tarbat. One side of the stone (on landward side) has panels including a busy scene of birds, beasts and human figures and a fantastic pattern of spirals. The other side shows a cross decorated with spiral work and surrounded by angels, animals (perhaps references to biblical stories), and complicated patterns of snakes and interlace.

Hilton of Cadboll Stone (Clach Bhaile a’ Chnuic)

A fabulous example of an early Christian Pictish stone. Almost eight feet (2.3 metres) high, its intricate carvings include a hunting scene watched by a woman, and her inclusion (women rarely appear on Pictish carved stones) suggests that she was important to the Picts of this area – perhaps even Pictish royalty. The stone you can see is a detailed full-size replica of the original stone which is now housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The replica was commissioned by local people and carved by sculptor Barry Grove. The intricately-carved base of the original stone can be seen in the nearby Seaboard Centre in Balintore. It is is due to be moved to the new John Ross Visitor Centre in Balintore in summer 2021. The local Historic Hilton Trust has recently developed an augmented reality mobile phone app interpreting the history of the site and latest thinking on the symbolism on the stone. Further information is available on the interpretive panel on site.

THIS IS THE MEANING POEM This is the meaning of this. A moon boat was turned over by a lightning spear. Two laurel sprigs born to the wise woman of the crescent month. A pair of tongs catches the moment when the deer bellow. The daughter of the geese people will leap the fire in marriage with the son of the metal smith. This is the meaning of this. The Crescent and V-rod symbol is on many stones.

THIS IS THE MEANING SONG Laurel sprigs are growing fast, This is the meaning of this, At the house with the door of serpent eyes, This is the meaning of this, Where lives the woman of the crescent month, This is the meaning of this, A moonboat stabbed by a lightning spear, This is the meaning of this. This is the meaning of, This is the meaning of, This is the meaning of this. A pair of tongs from the Land of Youth, This is the meaning of this, Is catching the moment in the night, This is the meaning of this, When new-horned deer bellow deep, This is the meaning of this, A moonboat stabbed by a lightning spear, This is the meaning of this. The dark haired daughter of the people of the geese, This is the meaning of this, Will leap the fire in a marriage vow, This is the meaning of this, With the golden son of the metal smith, This is the meaning of this, A moonboat stabbed by a lightning spear, This is the meaning of this.

Almost eight feet (2.3 metres) high, its intricate carvings include a hunting scene watched by a woman, and her inclusion (women rarely appear on Pictish carved stones) suggests that she was important to the Picts of this area – perhaps even Pictish royalty. The stone you can see is a detailed full-size replica of the original stone which is now housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The replica was commissioned by local people and carved by sculptor Barry Grove. The intricately-carved base of the original stone can be seen in the nearby Seaboard Centre in Balintore. It is is due to be moved to the new John Ross Visitor Centre in Balintore in summer 2021. The local Historic Hilton Trust has recently developed an augmented reality mobile phone app interpreting the history of the site and latest thinking on the symbolism on the stone. Further information is available on the interpretive panel on site.

The Hilton Stone.

THE SOUL WASHER To purify a king's soul is no light business. One must learn the seven secret names that demons may safely be addressed by. Herbs must be cut in the dark of the moon, wrapped in blue-dyed cloth, brewed with brown berries and drunk from just such a seashell with just such markings. Once you are fortified, a soul cake must be baked. Then the demons are called out and abjured to enter into the cake, which must then be broken into three equal pieces (the hardest part of the whole business) and each piece eaten by a different kind of pad-footed animal. Of course, that is only the usual kind of soul-washing. Greater troubles of the king's heart demand serious effort.

THE WINTER KING Bow, low down. Choke each sound In chill ground, Here comes the Winter King. Sing no song of summer sun, Summer’s time is long done, Summer’s fight is lost and won, Here comes the Winter King. Autumn leaves lie thick now, Black ground is sick now, Birds leave quick now, Here comes the Winter King. Have faith, spring will come, Heart warm if fingers numb, Spring will rise, spring will run, But here comes the Winter King. Bow, low down, Choke each sound In chill ground, Here comes the Winter King. The symbol is an Asante soul-washer's badge from what is now Ghana, looted by 19th C British soldiers. Amu Logotse, my partner in the initial exhibition project, is Ghanaian.