[2] Decimam partem de urbe Fortevieth.—(See Skene's Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p. 185).
[3] This word, originally, was the name applied by the Romans to their public halls, either of justice or of exchange. Inasmuch as the early Christian Churches generally followed the ground plan of these buildings, such churches long retained the same appellation.
[4] Other chronicles give the place as Scone.—(See Skene's Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p. 174).
[5] Both palace and church would be within the King's Rath or circular fortification.
[6] "The custom of placing a cross over the doorway of a Christian building may be traced back to the sixth century in Palestine, where the Chi-Rho monogram occurs on the lintels of the doorways of the houses. The meaning of the symbolism is explained by the blood of the lamb, which was struck upon the lintels of the doors of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt at the Passover (Gen. xii., 21-23), and our Lord's words—'I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,' (John x., 9)."—(J. Romilly Allen's Christian Symbolism, p. 238).
A good example of such a cross is on the lintel of the doorway of a 7th century church at Fore, Co. West Meath; and another, equally good, is on the doorway of one of the oldest churches in Ireland, on High Island, off the coast of Connemara. In connection with the Round Towers at Antrim and at Brechin there are similar crosses.
[7] See Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Vol. xxvi., p. 438.) Dr Wilson, in his Dunning: its Parochial History, states that the large figure with the sword "is said to be a representation of Alexander the First, who died in the year 1124" (p. 3.)
[8] Sir Herbert Maxwell, in his Scottish Land-Names: their Origin and Meaning, gives as the derivation of Duncrub, the old Gaelic dún craeb=hill of the trees.
[9] Otherwise spelt Mormaer. Except that the constituent elements are inverted, it is the same word as Maormor (Gael. maer, maor, a steward, and mor, great), and was the ancient name for a royal steward of high dignity, placed by a Scottish king over a province, and acting as a royal deputy.
[10] Robertson's Early Kings (Vol. I., p. 77).