With a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Master Craftsman Thomas Keyes is creating rich, illuminated manuscript pages – inspired by the Book of Kells – that portray legends, tales, and myths from ancient times. The Tarbat Discovery Centre now hosts an exhibition of four original artworks, the tools Pictish monks would have used to prepare parchment and pigments, and information about the role the Tarbat peninsula played as a hub of intellectual activity more than 1,200 years ago.
Watch Master Craftsman Thomas Keyes at work making parchment and pigments:
Thomas Keyes Inaugural Lecture
Master Craftsman's Blog
Did you know…
Did you know… The scribe artist of the Book of Kells worked on the Breves Causae section (the short summary of each gospel at the
Did you know…
Did you know… Picts probably used woad, but not for that! Rumour has it that the Picts painted themselves blue with pigment from the dye
Did you know…
The monks at Tarbat burned seaweed to create an alkaline solution in which they soaked calf skins to remove the hair and clean the hides for making parchment. Seaweed lye is not as strong as lime, which most parchment makers would have used, so the monks allowed bacteria to grow in the solution to help process the skins more efficiently–making the Tarbat technique as good if not better than the work from other monasteries at the time.
Did you know…
Did you know… Irish scribes made ink from holly bark. Use of the ink is recorded in a 12th century poem which describes it as
Visit the archive of Stories on Skins blog posts here.
Here at Tarbat we have world class, unique archaeology that sheds light on the world of insular manuscript making. We do not, however, have our own manuscript, and the original story of our site has been lost to history.
We know that monks from the British Isles loved stories, so much so that continental monks complained about it during medieval times! Monks on Tarbat would have know the story of Saint Columba and probably would have told stories about their experiences with a Viking raid, a topic contained in many Gaelic stories.
By taking inspiration from Gaelic stories and combining it with the rich imagery and evidence of parchment making at Tarbat we are creating a new manuscript to bring the stories and crafts of Tarbat monastery back to life.
An seo air an Tairbeirt tha arc-eòlas gun choimeas san t-saoghal againn, a tha a’ soilleireachadh saoghal cruthachaidh làmh-sgrìobhainn fhèin againn, agus tha ar n-eachdraidh thùsail mun làrach air chall.
Tha fios againn gu robh manaich à Eileanan Bhreatainn tìtheach air sgeulachdan, chun na h-ìre ‘s gu robh manaich mhòr-thìreach a; gearain mu dheidhinn sna meadhan-aoisean! Bhiodh manaich air an Tairbeirt eòlach air sgeulachd air Naomh Calum Cille agus ‘s dòcha gum biodh iad air sgeulachdan innse mu na thachair riutha fhèin ri linn ionnsaigh Lochlannach, cuspair a tha ann an iomadh sgeulachd Ghàidhlig.
Le bhith a’ faighinn brosnachaidh bho sgeulachdan Gàidhlig agus ga mheasgachadh leis na h-ìomhaighean beairteach agus fianais gu robh pàipear-craicinn ga dhèanamh air an Tairbeirt, tha sinn a’ cruthachadh làmh-sgrìobhainn ùr airson sgeulachdan agus ceàird manachainn Thairbeirt ath-bheothachadh.
