The oldest Christian monument in Scotland can be found at Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway. This is a memorial to a man named Latinus and his daughter who lived and died in the area about 450AD, some 50 years after the Romans had departed from Britain.
Originally, the memorial stood in the early Christian cemetery at the top of the hill where the current church now stands. The Latin inscription is translated as: “We praise you, the Lord! Latinus, descendant of Barravados, aged 35, and his daughter, aged 4, made a sign here.”
The stone is on display in the Whithorn Visitor centre and it is explained that until about 410 the northern border of the Roman empire was at Carlisle, a short distance from Whithorn across the Solway Firth. Although they were on the other side of Hadrian´s Wall, the leading families of Galloway adopted Roman culture and language. Latinus had taken a Roman name and he followed the official Roman faith – Christianity. But the fact that he refers to his Celtic ancestor, Barrovadus, shows that he was also proud of his heritage.
The stone was re-used in the construction of the medieval cathedral and it was rediscovered during archaeological investigations in 1890. There may be traces of the chi-rho Christian symbol, which looks like an x-shaped cross with a “p” running through it. This represents the first two letters of Christ´s name in Greek and is said to indicate Roman influences.
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©Phillip Bruce 2009
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