The Newton Stone: Scotland’s Unreadable Inscription

Why it matters

For two centuries the Newton Stone has been the most argued-over inscription in Scotland. Carved into a pillar of rock about two metres high are two texts. One, up the edge, is ogham, the stroke alphabet of early Ireland and Scotland. The other, across the top of the face, is six lines of letters in a script that nobody has convincingly identified. Since the stone was found in 1803, people have read it as Phoenician, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Gaelic and more. It remains unsolved.

The inscriptions

The ogham has about 25 letters running along a natural ridge on the stone’s left side. The antiquarian W. F. Skene was among the first to transcribe it, in 1865. A recent study suggests it may include a Pictish personal name, which would make the stone a memorial.

The mystery script has 43 characters across the upper face, including a sign that looks like a swastika in the fourth line. Many scholars think it is a debased form of late Roman cursive handwriting, letters written by someone copying a style they half knew. Others have suspected a much later forgery, but a study in 1956 found the carving technique matched genuine Pictish stones.

A small incised mirror symbol, one of the Pictish signs, has been spotted near the base, along with a spiral on the back. A second stone stands nearby carved with Pictish symbols, including a serpent and a double disc with a Z-rod.

Theories, from wild to sober

• 1863: a writer proposed the text was Phoenician.
• 1865: another read it as Hebrew and Sanskrit.
• 1885: Bishop Charles Graves argued for Greek and Latin.
• 1907: it was read as Old Gaelic.
• Most scholars today: debased Roman cursive, carved in early medieval Pictland.

The stone was found by George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen and a future Prime Minister, at Pitmachie Farm near Old Rayne, and moved to the garden of Newton House.

Visiting

The stone stands in the grounds of Newton House near Insch, which is a private home. Arrangements for seeing it have varied over the years, so check locally before you go and don’t walk into the grounds uninvited.

Around the Newton Stone

The Garioch around Insch is full of carved stones. West towards Rhynie is the Craw Stane, standing at the gate of a Pictish royal stronghold, and south-east under Bennachie is the Maiden Stone. A few miles further, East Aquhorthies is the finest recumbent stone circle in Scotland.

Close by at Kennethmont, Ardmore makes a smoky Aberdeenshire malt, and at Oldmeldrum Glen Garioch runs tours. The fields north of Inverurie saw the battle of Red Harlaw in 1411. For more stones with a story, see our guide to the famous stones of Scotland.

Sources

• Canmore — Newton House, Newton Stone.
• Aberdeenshire Council Historic Environment Record — Newton Stone.
• Wikipedia — Newton Stone (dimensions, discovery, theories).
• W. F. Skene (1865); C. Graves (1885); A. B. Gordon (1956).