The Dupplin Cross is a carved, monumental Pictish stone, which dates from around 820. It was first recorded by Thomas Pennant in 1769, on a hillside in Strathearn, near Forteviot and Dunning. In 2002 it was placed in the care of Historic Scotland, and has been by St Serf's church in Dunning since that time. Events Michael II succeeds Leo V as Byzantine Emperor The Historia Brittonum is written (approximate date) Births Rhodri Mawr (the Great), ruler of Gwynedd (Wales) (approximate date) Photius I, patriarch of Constantinople (approximate date) Deaths December 24: Leo V, Byzantine Emperor (assassinated) Shankara, Hinduist teacher Tang Xian Zong, emperor of... Thomas Pennant (June 14, 1726 - December 16, 1798) was a Welsh naturalist and antiquary. ... Strathearn or Strath Earn, (Scottish Gaelic, Srath Èireann) is the strath (valley) of the River Earn. ... Dunning is a small village in Perth and Kinross in Scotland. ... Historic Scotland is the Scottish agency looking after historic monuments. ...

The Dupplin Cross is a high cross, that is a free-standing, stone cross. While relatively common in Northumbria and in Dál Riata, such crosses are not known earlier in the lands of the Picts. Early records report that a second cross stood on a hill above Invermay, also overlooking Forteviot, but this is now lost, and the records do not provide any detail of its exact form. High Cross, Dysert, Co. ... Section from Shepherds map of the British Isles about 802 AD showing the kingdom of Northumbria Northumbria is primarily the name of a petty kingdom of Angles which was formed in Great Britain at the beginning of the 7th century, and of the much smaller earldom which succeeded the... Dál Riata (also Dalriada or Dalriata) was a Goidelic kingdom on the western seaboard of Scotland and the northern coasts of Ireland, situated in the traditional Scottish and Northern Irish counties of Argyll, Bute and County Antrim. ... The Pictish Strathpeffer eagle stone, Highland, Scotland. ...

The cross is carved from Old Red Sandstone, the cross stands about 2.5 metres tall, 1 metre broad over the arms of the cross. It is carved with various scenes, religious, martial and traditional Pictish animal carvings. The cross contains a partially legible inscription, of which only the name CUSTANTIN FILIUS FIRCUS can be read. This name is taken as the Latin form of the early 9th century Pictish king Caustantín son of Fergus (fl. 793–820). The Old Red Sandstone is a rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Caustantín (Scottish Gaelic: Caustantín mac Fergusa) was king of Dál Riada and king of the Picts or Fortriu, in modern Scotland, from 789 until 820. ...

External links

• CISP database entry (Celtic Inscribed Stones Project)
• Site visit details (Historic Scoland)