Dyce Symbol Stones

In the ruined kirk of St Fergus, in a quiet churchyard above the River Don at Dyce on the edge of Aberdeen, two Pictish stones are displayed in an enclosure. The older, of about AD 600, is a pink-red granite symbol stone carved with a swimming beast above a double disc and Z-rod. The later, after AD 700, is a cross-slab with a bold cross filled with interlace and four symbols. Along its side runs an ogham inscription, one of about thirty on Pictish stones, found during conservation in 1997; its meaning is a mystery, though it may end son of Rogoddadd. Ogham, a script of strokes probably brought by Irish missionaries, was easy to carve but suited only to short messages. Dyce was probably an early and important Pictish church site. Reviewers say the stones are easy to miss, inside the ruin behind the doorway, and ask for a respectful visit to a working graveyard.