The Brandsbutt Pictish stone

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In the small town of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, there is a Pictish symbol stone with two symbols and some Ogham script on the left hand side of the stone. The stone is known as the ‘Brandsbutt stone’. The symbols include a crescent moon and V rod and a snake and Z rod. Ogham stones are mainly found in Ireland. However, there are a few in Wales and Scotland, mainly in Argyll and the north east. This suggests there was some level of Irish migration to these areas. The Ogham inscriptions usually include a personal name or two personal names e.g. X son of Y. However, the Ogham script on the Brandsbutt stone is unusual, to say the least. This, and other Ogham inscriptions on Pictish stones, have led people to believe that the Picts may have spoken some kind of pre Indo-European language. The Ogham script reads –

IRATADDOARENS

This may be a Pictish name. However, some scholars have suggested that ‘Ira’ is Old Breton for ‘here lies’. The Picts may have had a similar word for ‘here lies’. This led me to think that the Ogham script should be read as follows –

IRATA – DDOARENS

Here lies Doarens.

Doarens could be a female name like Doreen or Dora. As such, the Pictish stone may have been a burial stone. However, the Ogham script could also be read as follows –

IRA – TA – DDOARENS

Here is the land of Doarens.

The ancient Egyptian word for land is Ta. The Irish Gaelic for land is Talamh. In the Irish and Scottish origin legends, the Gaels are supposedly descended from an Egyptian princess called Scota. The Gaelic word for king is Rí and the ancient Egyptian word for king is Ra. Furthermore, the last pharaoh of Egypt was called Nectanebo II. He was defeated in a battle with the Persians and Greeks and sent into exile around 343BC. There are a number of Pictish kings called Nechtan. Did Nectanebo II sail to Ireland or the Orkney islands with his followers? Given these potential links to ancient Egypt, it’s possible that Ta was the Pictish word for land.

If this is the translation of the Ogham script, who was Doarens? She may have been a Pictish queen or princess of Mar or Buchan or the Pictish kingdom of Cé, which is modern day Aberdeenshire. The Picts supposedly had a matrilineal system of succession. In other words, the kingship was inherited through the female line. This was the case with the high kingship. However, were some of the Pictish kingdoms matriarchies? Were Pictish women able to inherit lands and titles? This may have been the case with some of the provinces or kingdoms of northern Pictland. However, there is only a king list for the high kings. We have no record of the king lists of the Pictish provinces/kingdoms.

Inverurie would have been the ‘capital’ of the province of Garioch in the Pictish kingdom of Cé. Perhaps Doarens was a Pictish princess who inherited the province of Garioch? The Pictish stone may have been raised to record the land transaction. The Pictish symbols may have represented the two parties to the agreement. Many of the Pictish stones have two symbols. However, some of the Pictish stones have a mirror and comb below the two symbols. This may indicate that it was a burial stone, as the mirror and comb would have been grave goods. However, there is no mirror and comb on the Brandsbutt stone.

The Pictish symbols remain a mystery. However, I would suggest that the crescent moon and V rod was the symbol of the king or queen of northern Pictland, as the symbol is found predominantly in northern Pictland. The snake and Z rod is a common symbol in the area of Garioch (on the Class I stones which date to around the 5^th/6^th centuries). It may be the symbol of the king or queen of Garioch or the Pictish kingdom of Cé.