MORAY: PROVINCE AND PEOPLE Edited by W. D. H. Sellar
Published in Scotland by The Scottish Society for Northern Studies c/o School of Scottish Studies University of Edinburgh 27 George Square Edinburgh EH89LD ISBN 0 9505994 6 8 Copyright 1993. Scottish Society for Northern Studies and individual contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, in any quantity, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Society and appropriate contributors. Multiple copying of any of the contents of the publication is always illegal. The Scottish Society for Northern Studies gratefully acknowledges financial assistance in the publication of this volume as a whole from: MORAY DISTRICT and towards the publication of chapters three and four from: THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER and GRAMPIAN REGION Cover: Composite engraving of Sueno's Stone from Stuart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland (1856, 1867) superimposed on Gordon of Straloch's map of Moray. Text set throughout in Monotype Times New Roman. Typeset from author-generated discs by BPCC-AUP Glasgow Ltd and printed by BPCC-AUP Aberdeen Ltd
CONTENTS Preface David Sellar v The Geology and Landscape of Moray Cornelius Gillen Man in Moray: 5000 Years of History 25 Ian Keillar The Moray Aerial Survey: 47 Discovering the Prehistoric and proto-historic Landscape Barri Jones, Ian Keillar and Keith Maude The Picts in Moray 75 Ian A G Shepherd Further Thoughts on Sueno's Stone 91 Anthony Jackson Sueno's Stone and its Interpreters 97 David Sellar The Historical MacBeth 117 Edward J Cowan The Wolf of Badenoch 143 Alexander Grant The Great Hall and Roof of Darnaway Castle, Moray 163 Geoffrey Stell and Michael Baillie The Culbin Sands: A Mystery Unravelled 187 Sinclair Ross The Historic Architecture of Moray 205 Ronald G Cant The Pattern of Moray Building: 225 An Introduction to Traditional Building Materials and Practices Elizabeth Beaton Names in the Landscape of the Moray Firth 253 W F H Nicolaisen List of Abbreviations 263 iii
CONTRIBUTORS MICHAEL BAILLIE is Professor of Palaeocology at the Queens University, Belfast. ELIZABETH BEA TON lives in Hopeman. She was formerly an Assistant Inspector of Historic Buildings. RONALD CANT was formerly Reader in Scottish History at the University of St. Andrews. He is.a former President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. EDWARD COW AN is Professor of History at the University of Guelph, Ontario. He is a former President of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies. CORNELIUS GILLEN is Deputy Director of the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Edinburgh. ALEXANDER GRANT is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Lancaster. ANTHONY JACKSON is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. BARRI JONES is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Manchester. IAN KEILLAR lives in Elgin. He is a retired chartered engineer and a former President of the Moray Society. KEITH MAUDE is an Instructor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Manchester. BILL NICOLAISEN was until recently Professor of English and Folklore at the University of New York at Binghampton. SINCLAIR ROSS lives in Forres. He is a meteorologist (retired) and geologist and a former Chairman of the Moray Field Club. DA YID SELLAR is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is a former President of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies. IAN SHEPHERD is Archaeologist for Grampian Region. GEOFFREY STELL is Head of Architecture, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. iv
List of Abbreviations The abbreviations used in this volume follow mainly the conventions adopted by the Scottish Historical Review. APS CBA ER ES HBMD Moray Reg. Njal's Saga [NS] NSA Orkneyinga Saga [OS] Pop.Arch. PSAS RCHM RCAHMS Reg.Mag.Sig. [RMS] RRS The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, edd. T Thomson and C Innes (Edinburgh 1814-75). Council for British Archaeology. The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, edd. J Stuart and others (Edinburgh 1878-1908). Early Sources of Scottish History 500 to 1286, ed. A 0 Anderson (Edinburgh 1922, and reprint 1990). Historic Buildings and Monuments Division. Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis (Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh 1837). Njal's Saga, trans. M Magnusson and H Palsson (Harmondsworth 1960). Njal's Saga, ed. Magnus Finnbogasson (Reykjavik 1944). The New Statistical Account of Scotland, 15 vols. (Edinburgh 1845). The Orkneyinga Saga, trans. with intro. and notes by A B Taylor (Edinburgh 1938). Orkneyinga Saga. The History of the Earls of Orkney, trans. with intro. by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards (Harmondsworth 1978). Orkneyinga Saga, ed. F Gudmundsson (Islenzk Fornrit, Reykjavik 1965). Popular Archaeology. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, edd. J M Thomson and others (Edinburgh 1882-1914). Regesta Regum Scottorum, edd. G W S Barrow and others (Edinburgh 1960-). 263
SHR SGS SRO Stat.Acct. Scottish Historical Review. Scottish Gaelic Studies. Scottish Record Office. The Statistical Account of Scotland, 21 vols. (Edinburgh 1791-9; new edition 1975-). 264