The Tomb of the Wolf of Badenoch (or Tomb of Alexander Stewart) consists of a 15th-century

tomb effigy A tomb effigy (French language, French: ''gisant'' ("lying")) is a sculpted effigy of a deceased person usually shown lying recumbent on a rectangular slab, presented in full ceremonial dress or wrapped in a shroud, and shown either dying or sh ...

and altar (or "chest") tomb, both of which are carved from

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. It is located in

Dunkeld Cathedral Dunkeld Cathedral is a Church of Scotland place of worship which stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper began in 1260 a ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, Scotland, and was built for

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – July 1394), was a Scottish royal prince, the third son of King Robert II of Scotland by his first wife Elizabeth Mure. He was Justiciar of Scotia and held large territories ...

(1343 – c. 1394), who is buried underneath.The Effigy of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Badenoch
. Church Monuments Society (

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

), February 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2023 The effigy is placed on top of the altar tomb and shows Stewart in full and highly detailed knightly armour, with a lion (or dog) resting at his feet. It is in poor condition having been broken apart and defaced in the 16th century during the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

. The effigy is placed on top of an altar tomb lined with 22

pleurants Pleurants or weepers (the English meaning of ''pleurants'') are anonymous sculpted figures representing mourners, used to decorate elaborate tomb monuments, mostly in the late Middle Ages in Western Europe. Typically they are relatively small, a ...

(or "weepers"), who are also dressed in armour.

Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch

Stewart was the third surviving son of King

Robert II of Scotland Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, h ...

(1316 – 1390). He is known to history as the deeply unpopular "Wolf of Badenoch," a name given due to his notorious cruelty, in particular for his destruction of the

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...

and its 13th-century cathedral on June 17, 1390, for which he earned a reputation as "an enemy of the Church".Stewart (1879), p. 5 He has also been described as "a species of Celtic Attila" and as "Scotland's vilest man".The Wolf of Badenoch - Scotland's vilest man?
. ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'', 23 June 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2023

Description

The tomb is inscribed with the year 1420.Norman (1961), p. 104 The monument remains in its original position behind the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

screen at the east end of the cathedral, while Stewart's grave is underneath.

Effigy

The effigy is made from grey-green

and measures in length.Norman (1961), p. 104 Stewart lies on a cloak and is dressed in full armour with his sword by his left side. His head is protected by a

bascinet The bascinet – also bassinet, basinet, or bazineto – was a Medieval European open-faced combat helmet. It evolved from a type of iron or steel Cervelliere, skullcap, but had a more pointed apex to the skull, and it extended downwards at ...

(an open-faced combat helmet) and

visor A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...

and wears a

pauldron A pauldron (sometimes spelled pouldron or powldron) is a component of plate armor that evolved from spaulders in the 15th century. As with spaulders, pauldrons cover the shoulder area. Pauldrons tend to be larger than spaulders, covering the a ...

—a type of

spaulder Spaulders are pieces of armour in a harness of plate armour. Typically, they are a single plate of steel or iron covering the shoulder with bands (lame (armor), lames) joined by straps of leather or rivets. By the 1450s, however, they were often ...

covering the shoulders. He has a

breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. European In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is the front portion of plate armour covering th ...

over his torso, above a plate skirt at his hips. He has a hip belt of a type worn in Scotland until the end of the 15th century.Norman (1961), p. 111 The animal resting at his feet may be a lion or (less likely) a dog. The effigy is in poor condition, having been damaged c. 1560 during the

. It now consists of four pieces broken apart at the neck, waist, knees and ankles. His right foot is missing and his face and left foot are severely damaged. However, it remains one of the best preserved pieces of royal

medieval Scottish Scotland in the Middle Ages concerns the history of Scotland from the departure of the Romans to the adoption of major aspects of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. From the fifth century northern Britain was divided into a serie ...

sculpture. File:Perth and Kinross Dunkeld Cathedral Alexander Stewart 2.jpg, Detail of the head. Note the missing (damaged) facial features. File:WolfatDunkeld.jpg, Detail of the armour with hip-belt File:Tumba de Alejandro Estuardo 2.jpg, Detail with resting lion (?) in view

Altar tomb

The altar (or "chest") tomb contains 22

(or "weepers", that is, sculpted figures representing mourners) dressed in armour; eight on each long side and three at each end. These figures are positioned under three-arch canopies and separated by small

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es.Norman (1961), p. 105 The Latin inscription is placed on the edge of the

stone slab A stone slab is a big stone, flat and relatively thin, often of rectangular or almost rectangular form. They are generally used for paving floors, for covering walls or as headstones. In dolmens Most dolmen constructions were built using stone ...

below the effigy. It reads, "His Jacet Domninus Alexander Senescallus, Dominus De Badenoch, Bonæ Memorle, Qui Obit 24 Die Mensis Julii, Anno Domini 1394".

References

Sources

* Boardman, Stephen I. ''The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371–1406''. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, 1996. * Norman, A. "The Effigy of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Badenoch (?1343 - ?1405)". ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', volume 92, 1961 * Steer, Kenneth. ''Late Medieval Monumental Sculpture in the West Highlands''. Edinburgh: Stationery Office Books, 1977. * Stewart, Charles Poyntz. ''Historic memorials of the Stewarts of Forthergill Perthshire, and their male descendants''. Edinburgh: W & A. K. Johnston, now in the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

, 1879

External links

Dunkeld Cathedral
{{Coord, 56, 33, 54, N, 3, 35, 23, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Tombs in the United Kingdom Tomb effigies