| Abstract: |
Proceedings, with additional material, of a 1992 conference on the sculptured stones in Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow. Thirty-one early medieval and medieval stones survive of forty-seven recorded; the history of the stones and of two field monuments, the Doomster Hill and a well, are discussed by T A Davidson Kelly in `The Govan collection in the context of local history' (1-17). Charles Thomas (19-26) argues that Govan flourished as a Christian establishment no earlier than the ninth or tenth century, in `Christianity at Govan: but when?'. In `The historical context of the Govan stones' Alan Macquarrie (27-32) emphasises the absence of early Christian historical evidence; he concludes that Norse influence in the Govan school of stonecarving reflects the capture of British Dumbarton by Dublin Vikings in AD870, while the dedication to St Constantine followed translation of that saint's relics from Kintyre by a King of Scots during the late ninth century. `The Govan sarcophagus: an enigmatic monument' by R M Spearman (33-45) discusses the discovery, reconstruction and interpretation of the stone sarcophagus; its decoration is consistent with local and regional tenth-century schools of sculpture, but the form is unusual in stone and may reflect wooden shrines. Four standing stones are described in detail by Ian Fisher (47-3) in `The Govan cross-shafts and early cross-slabs' while Rosemary Cramp (54-61) discusses `The Govan recumbent cross-slabs'.`The sculptured stones in Glasgow Museums' by Colleen Batey (63-72) describes eight early medieval carved stones from other sites in western Scotland in Kelvingrove Museum and one from Lowther Churchyard (Westmorland) in the Burrell Collection. Derek Craig (73-91) provides a handlist of `The early medieval sculpture of the Glasgow area' and discusses regional groups in south-west Scotland, concluding that Govan was a burial ground for secular aristocracy rather than a monastery. Wendy Davies (92-101) describes the social and ecclesiastical context of comparable sites in Wales, Brittany, and Cornwall to provide possible models for Govan in `Ecclesiastical centres and secular society in the Brittonic world in the tenth and eleventh centuries'. Barbara E Crawford (103-12) elucidates the historical background to the development of hogback tombs in `The "Norse background" to the Govan hogbacks' (103-112); these show that Scandinavian incomers formed a distinctive group in tenth-century Scottish society. In `Govan and Irish Sea sculpture' Richard N Bailey (113-21) identifies parallels for sculpture from the area. James Lang (123-31) then discusses five hogbacks which are distinctive in their sheer size, identifying affiliations with Cumbria and warning against using them as indicators of protracted Viking colonial presence in `The Govan hogbacks: a reappraisal'.Rosemary Cramp (133-7) sums up in `Conclusions from the Govan conference'. Nineteenth-century records of three hogback stones at Dowanhill (Glasgow) are presented by T A Davidson Kelly (138-43) in `The Partick hogback hunt'. Appendices comprise `The geology of the Govan stones, a preliminary assessment' by Ray Chadburn (145-6), which shows all the monuments to be of local sandstone, and the `Concordance and measurements of the Govan stones' (147-51), which gives dimensions, lists numbering in different publications, and reproduces illustrations of missing examples. BOC |
