{"id":20,"date":"2014-01-17T12:54:07","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T12:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bernicianstudies.eu\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2014-04-04T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T11:38:22","slug":"tatooine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bernicianstudies.eu\/?page_id=20","title":{"rendered":"Review texts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recent literature reviews include Colm O’Brien’s appraisal of the fascinating Early Medieval monastic site at Inchmarnock, off the west coast of the Isle of Bute (Lowe, C. 2008 \u00a0Inchmarnock: an early historic island monastery and its archaeological landscape. \u00a0Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh).<\/p>\n

\"inchmarnock<\/a>Most of what we know about Inchmarnock comes from a campaign of survey and excavation there which revealed that it was the site of an important monastic school: it has yielded the largest number of inscribed slates from any site in the British Isles.\u00a0 One of these, famously, appears to show a monk kneeling at the feet of a warrior, perhaps asking a Viking for mercy.\u00a0 Eight gaming boards were also found here: clearly the monks were relieving the boredom of long winter evenings on the island by enjoying a game of Nine Men\u2019s Morris, or Merels.\u00a0 Bishops of Kingarth, at the southern tip of Bute, seem also to have spent time here; so the relationship between St Blane\u2019s foundation (near Kingarth) and that on Inchmarnock is intriguing to contemplate: were they competitors for the patronage of the Cen\u00e9l Comgaill, one of the tribal units of Scottic Dal Riata; or twin aspects of a single entity with one a sort of feeder school for the other?<\/p>\n

The photograph shows Inchmarnock, at dawn, from St Ninian’s chapel on Bute, with Arran looming to the south-west<\/span><\/p>\n

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