The Maiden Stone is a Pictish standing stone near Inverurie

Inverurie

Inverurie is a Royal Burgh and town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north west of Aberdeen on the A96 road and is served by Inverurie railway station on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line...

 in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, most likely dating to the ninth century AD.

Name

The name is derived from local legend, incorporating the most obvious mark of wear and tear on the stone: a triangular notch toward the top of the monument.

The legend states that the daughter of the Laird of Balquhain

Balquhain

Balquhain, also known as Balquhain Stone Circle, The Chapel of Garioch or Inveramsay, is a recumbent stone circle from Inverurie in Scotland.-Description and measurements:...

 made a bet with a stranger that she could bake a bannock

Bannock (food)

Bannock is a variety of flat quick bread. The word can also be applied to any large, round article baked or cooked from grain. When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are often called scones. But in Scotland, the words bannock and scone are often used interchangeably.-Scottish:"Bannock"...

 faster than he could build a road to the top of Bennachie

Bennachie

Bennachie is a range of hills in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has several tops, the highest of which, Oxen Craig, has a height of 528 m...

. The prize would be the maiden's hand. However, the stranger was the Devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 and finished the road and claimed the forfeit. The maiden ran from the Devil and prayed to be saved. The legend finishes by saying that God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 turned her to stone, but the notch is where the Devil grasped her shoulder as she ran.

Based on the mixture of Pictish

Picts

The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...

 and Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 symbols on the stone it is most likely that the stone marks a preaching site during missionary trips to the Picts.

Location

The stone is located just off the A96 in Aberdeenshire. The closest named area is Chapel of Garioch.

Description

The stone is red granite, standing 3.01m high. It is a Class II Pictish monument. The stone is dated to the 8th century AD.

The stone is carved with Christian and Pictish symbology. The west side shows a cross with a human figure between two fish. Below the cross there is a disc shape with a celtic spiral motif surrounded by a key patterned ring, with simple knotwork patterns in the corners. On the reverse, there are four panels enclosing: several centaur-type figures and a dog; a notched rectangle and Z-rod; a Pictish Beast

Pictish Beast

The Pictish Beast is an artistic representation of an animal, and is depicted on Pictish symbol stones. It is not easily identifiable with any real animal, but resembles a seahorse, especially when depicted upright...

; and a mirror and comb. There is a knotwork pattern on the narrow north edge and a keywork pattern on the south edge. A portion of the north edge is missing and the patterns are heavily eroded, particularly on the western face.

The human figure and fish are assumed to represent the Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale

Jonah

Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...

.

The site is listed and protected by Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

.

External links

• Scotland Site Details
• Information About the Stone
• Aberdeenshire Council Information
• The Maiden Stone: leaflet from Aberdeenshire Council