![Shugborough inscription](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Shugborough_inscription.jpg)
The Shugborough Inscription is a sequence of letters – O U O S V A V V, between the letters D M on a lower plane – carved on the 18th-century Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of
Shugborough Hall
Shugborough Hall is a stately home near Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England.
The hall is situated on the edge of Cannock Chase, about east of Stafford and from Rugeley. The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolutio ...
in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, below a mirror image of
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
's painting the ''
Shepherds of Arcadia''. It has never been satisfactorily explained, and has been called one of the world's top uncracked
ciphertext
In cryptography, ciphertext or cyphertext is the result of encryption performed on plaintext using an algorithm, called a cipher. Ciphertext is also known as encrypted or encoded information because it contains a form of the original plaintext ...
s.
In 1982, the authors of the pseudohistorical ''
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' (published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States) is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh (author), Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in ...
'' suggested that Poussin was a member of the
Priory of Sion
The ''Prieuré de Sion'' (), translated as Priory of Sion, was a fraternal organization founded in France in 1956 by Pierre Plantard in his failed attempt to create a prestigious neo-chivalric order. In the 1960s, Plantard began claiming that ...
, and that his ''Shepherds of Arcadia'' contained hidden meanings of great esoteric significance. The book makes a passing reference to the Shepherd's monument and the inscription, but offers no solution. In 2003,
Dan Brown
Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...
copied many elements of ''
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail'' (published as ''Holy Blood, Holy Grail'' in the United States) is a book by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh (author), Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.
The book was first published in 1982 by Jonathan Cape in ...
'' in his bestselling novel ''
The Da Vinci Code
''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Langdon ...
'', but made no mention of the Shugborough inscription. However, the book led to renewed interest in ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail''. In 2004, Richard Kemp, the then general manager of the Shugborough Estate, launched a promotional campaign with the
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
Museum and two former Bletchley Park Employees - Shiela Lawn and Oliver Lawn. The promotion of the event included repeated references to the idea that there could be a connection between the monument and the
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
, based on the brief reference made to the monument in the pseudohistorical ''The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail''. Despite the fact that organisers of the event had their own favoured theories, no conclusive answer emerged.
Monument
![Shugborough arcadia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Shugborough_arcadia.jpg)
![Shugborough shepherds monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Shugborough_shepherds_monument.JPG)
The monument, commissioned by
Thomas Anson, was built sometime between 1748 and 1756.
The outer form of the monument is a portico featuring two
doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
columns. These support an
entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
decorated by a
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
comprising three
metope
In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a bu ...
s depicting laurel wreaths, and two containing carvings of stone heads. One head shows a smiling bald-headed man; the other bears a likeness to the goat-horned Greek god
Pan. The entablature is topped with an
antefix
An antefix (from Latin ', to fasten before) is a vertical block which terminates and conceals the covering tiles of a tiled roof (see imbrex and tegula, monk and nun). It also serves to protect the join from the elements. In grand buildings, the ...
using an
anthemion
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...
design.
Inside the portico is a rusticated arch, which frames a
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
fashioned by the Flemish sculptor
Peter Scheemakers
Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...
. The
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
is a copy of the Poussin painting ''
Et in arcadia ego
''Et in Arcadia ego'' (also known as ''Les bergers d'Arcadie'' or ''The Arcadian Shepherds'') is a 1637–38 painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style. It depicts a pastoral scene with id ...
'' and shows a woman and three men, two of whom are pointing to a tomb. On the tomb is carved the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
text ''
Et in arcadia ego
''Et in Arcadia ego'' (also known as ''Les bergers d'Arcadie'' or ''The Arcadian Shepherds'') is a 1637–38 painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style. It depicts a pastoral scene with id ...
'' ("I am also in
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
" or "I am, even in Arcadia"). The carving displays a number of small alterations from the original painting, including the addition of an extra
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
placed on top of the main tomb. Below the relief is a stone plaque displaying a ten-letter inscription. The inscription is broken into two lines. There are eight letters on the first line, and two below on the second line, placed at either end of the letters on the first line. The letters on the second line, D M, were commonly used on Roman tombs to stand for ''
Dis Manibus'', meaning "dedicated to the
shades".
Theories
In recent decades, investigators have proposed several possible solutions. Despite the many theories, staff at Shugborough Hall remain sceptical of all proposed solutions. A spokesman for the property (now owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
) was quoted in 2014 asserting, "We get five or six people a week who believe they have solved the code so we are a bit wary of them now."
Latin Initialism Theories
* One suggestion is that the eight letters are a coded dedication by George Anson to his deceased wife. In 1951
Oliver Stonor speculated that the letters might be an
initialism
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for the Latin phrase ''Optimae Uxoris Optimae Sororis Viduus Amantissimus Vovit Virtutibus'' ("Best of wives, Best of sisters, a most devoted Widower dedicates (this) to your virtues").
This was the solution favoured by former Bletchley Park employee Shiela Lawn. It has been pointed out, however, that the grammar of this sentence is incorrect, and that abbreviations following Latin rules cannot be expanded arbitrarily.
* Steve Regimbal interprets the letters as standing for a new Latin translation of the phrase "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity." (), namely ''Orator Ut Omnia Sunt Vanitas Ait Vanitas Vanitatum''. He has speculated that the phrase may be the source of the earlier inscription "OMNIA VANITAS" which may have been carved on an alcove at the estate of one of Thomas Anson's associates,
George Lyttleton.
* Former
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
Keith Massey interprets the letters as an initialism for the Latin phrase ''Oro Ut Omnes Sequantur Viam Ad Veram Vitam'' ("I pray that all may follow the Way to True Life") in reference to the Biblical verse
John 14:6, ''Ego sum Via et Veritas et Vita'' ("I am the Way, the Truth and the Life").
[
]
Cypher Theories
* Dave Ramsden (2014) suggests that the monument be understood as a funerary altar, dedicated to a syncretic female figure known as the "Shepherdess". He interprets the eight-letter inscription as a polyalphabetic cipher used to encrypt the name "Magdalen".
* George Edmunds in his book ''Anson's Gold'' (2016) proposed a cypher encoding the latitude and longitude of an island where Admiral George Anson, Thomas Anson's brother, had buried Spanish treasure. Anson mounted a secret expedition to recover this treasure, which was located but due to unforeseen circumstances remains in place. According to Edmunds, Anson received letters in code sent by the expedition leader which include part of the cipher.
English Initialism Theories
* Margaret, Countess of Lichfield (1899–1988) suggested that the monument was built by Admiral Anson as a memorial to his wife. She thought that the inscription referred to a poem that related a story of a Shepherdess, Alicia, who lived on one of the hills of Rome and helped convert pagans to Christianity. In this theory, the initialism referring to the lines ''Out Your Own Sweet Vale, Alicia, Vanishes Vanity. Twixt Deity and Man Thou, Shepherdess, The Way'', but no source for these words has ever been traced.
* A. J. Morton observes that some of the letters match the names of the residents of Shugborough in the early 19th century, and believes that the inscription denotes the words ''Orgreave United with Overley and Shugborough, Viscount Anson Venables Vernon''.
References
External links
Bletchley veterans tackle 'toughest puzzle yet' (The Guardian)
Da Vinci Code at Shugborough Hall (BBC)
Holy Grail 'clue' at stately home (The Times)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shugborough Inscription
18th-century inscriptions
History of cryptography
Modern Latin inscriptions
Inscriptions of disputed origin
Alleged tombs of Jesus
Undeciphered historical codes and ciphers
Tourist attractions in Staffordshire