Hunterston Brooch

The back of the brooch has a scratched inscription in runes in the Old Norse language, probably 10th century, "Melbrigda owns this brooch"; Maél Brigda, "devotee of Bridgit" is a common Gaelic female name, though seen as male by other sources. Much later ownership inscriptions are not uncommon on elaborate Celtic brooches, often from Norse-Gael contexts. The Hunterston Brooch is clearly an object of very high status, indicating its owner's power and prestige. With the Tara Brooch in Dublin and the Londesborough Brooch in the British Museum, it is considered one of the finest of over 50 highly elaborate surviving Irish Celtic brooches, and "arguably the earliest of the ornate penannular brooches from Britain and Ireland".

Possible origin

The Hunterston brooch may have been made at a royal site, such as Dunadd in Argyll, though is more likely to have been made in Ireland, especially as its pseudo-penannular form is typical of Irish brooches, whereas the truly penannular form remained usual in Pictish brooches. On the other hand, its style is closely comparable to a terminal fragment of a penannular brooch found in Dunbeath in 1860 which probably was made in Scotland; craftsmen may have travelled across the area using the locally popular forms. Lloyd and Jennifer Laing feel it was probably made in Dalriada, and the Museum of Scotland say "The style of the brooch has Irish parallels, while the filigree resembles metalwork from England. The brooch was probably made in western Scotland where the two traditions were joined, or perhaps in Ireland by a craftsman trained in foreign techniques."