Maiden Stone, Chapel of Garioch

Maiden Stone, Class !! Pictish Symbol Stone, Chape; of Garioch, Aberdeenshire. Named from the legend of the daughter of the laird of Balquhain who died during her elopement, this is a cool pink slab of granite, bearing on one face, a ring-headed cross and on the other four bold symbols, carved in high relief. Above the cross on the west face two fish monsters surround a man with arms outstretched. Below the cross a great roundel with spiral work surrounded by interlace, key-pattern and knotwork can still be discerned. The sides of the slab have also been carefully decorated. The east face has been divided into four panels, bearing a centaur, a notched rectangle and Z-rod, a Pictish beast and a mirror and double-sided comb. The cross, the treatment of the symbols and their framing in separate panels on the back of the stone all suggest that this was one of the last symbol stones to be carved in Grampian. It is certainly one of the finest. Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Grampian’, (1986).