The Mysterious Stones of Aberlemno

Had history turned out differently, you would have been doing this walk in Pictland, not Scotland. The Picts inhabited this northern part of Britain for thousands of years, yet today we know little about them. Neither their language nor manuscripts have survived and their culture remains a mystery. The best reminders we have of them are the intriguing carved stones that dot the landscape of eastern Scotland - the greatest concentration being in Angus and around the Moray Firth. You can see several of these beautiful pieces of ancient art on this walk, which takes you through the heart of the land of the Picts.The Painted Ones. Mystery surrounds the origins of the Picts. The only thing that seems to be certain is that they occupied what we now call Scotland when the Romans arrived and they may have been here for over a thousand years before that. The Roman Empire soon stretched from southern England to the central belt of Scotland, and the culture and language of the tribes living under the occupation gradually began to alter under their influence. However, the Romans never spread north of the Forth-Clyde line, and so the tribes there kept their distinct language and customs. The Romans called them the Picti, Latin for ‘painted ones’ - a reference to their warriors’ continued habit of daubing themselves in woad, the blue dye from the woad or glastum plant as seen on Mel Gibson’s character in the film Braveheart. After the fall of the Roman Empire, new tribes began to invade Britain, with the Angles and Saxons gradually conquering the south, and Gaelic speakers from Ireland, who called themselves Scotti - or Scots - moving into the far north-west. The Picts were pagans, but they had been exposed to Christian ideas from ad 400 onwards, brought into the country by the great Celtic missionaries Ninian, and later Columba. In ad 565 Columba travelled to Inverness to meet a powerful Pictish king, Bridei. The two men had a competition to see whether Columba’s Christian miracles could beat the wiles of Pictish magic. It isn’t clear who won, but gradually the Picts converted to Christianity. Of course there were wars between the various tribes, the Picts fighting the Gaels and Angles, as well as battling among themselves. The carved stone that you pass in Aberlemno churchyard is thought to commemorate one of Bridei’s major victories. Stone carving became more and more important in their culture, with increasingly intricate patterns being created, often combined with a Christian cross. However, in ad 794 the Vikings began to raid northern and western Scotland, weakening the Pictish kingdom. The Gaelic-speaking Scots saw their opportunity - in ad 843 a Scot called Kenneth MacAlpin seized their throne, and the Pictish nation died.While you're there: Glamis Castle is just a few miles away and well worth a visit. The seat of the Earls of Strathmore for over 600 years and childhood home of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, it is a wonderfully atmospheric castle, with towers, turrets and tiny windows. It is also said to be haunted by a ‘grey lady’ who appears in the chapel and is the spirit of Lady Janet Douglas who was burnt at the stake as a witch on Castle Hill, Edinburgh. You can take a tour of the castle, the grounds and stop at the café.What to look out for: Take a good look at the carvings on the Aberlemno stones. No one truly understands the meaning of the symbols carved on Pictish stones, but they seem to represent a special writing system. Stones are carved with scenes of warriors and battles; with spirals and complex patterns; with simple geometrical shapes; with wild creatures such as stags, wolves and eagles; and even with everyday objects, like combs. Later stones carved after Christianity came to Pictland include crosses.