[MR] BBC & History Blog: Galloway Hoard Vail Bear's Bishop's Name

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Vikings,

The Galloway Viking Hoard continues to give up its secrets as the pieces
are cleaned, conserved and studied, but also raises more questions.

The silver-gilt pot which contained some of the treasure was originally
thought to be Carolingian, but is now known to have come from Iran's
Sasanian Empire, defunct by the time the hoard was buried.

A tiny gold and rock-crystal jar stashed inside the pot has now drawn the
most attention. Before it was removed for study, X-ray scans revealed an
inscription on the base, "Bishop Hyguald had me made". There were several
Anglo-Saxon churchmen of this name in the kingdom of Northumbria, which
controlled Galloway in the 9th century, but no complete roster of
Northumbrian Bishops survives.  The BBC story suggests Whithorn in modern
Scotland, or Hexham in northern England, as possible seats for Hyguald.

The History Blog story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/62927 .

The BBC story includes a photo of the jar next to a researcher's hand,
showing just how tiny this treasure actually is:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-59702916 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆