ABSTRACT
The Shetland antiquarian Gilbert Goudie 1 visited St Ninian's Isle in July 1876, in the company of the Rev J C Roger, 2 'in the hope of being able to trace some portions of the foundation of the chapel, and possibly of finding some relic of early times' (Goudie 1879, 23). Goudie's careful search was rewarded with the discovery of an ogham-inscribed slab 'embedded in the sand' (Goudie 1879), He presented it to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland the following year and it is now in the National Museums of Scotland (Anon 1878; NMAS Cat 1892, IB 112). 3 Later that day, soon after the original discovery, Goudie found '|t]wo other stones, similarly inscribed, ... fragments, somewhat defaced by exposure'. Unfortunately he gives no indication of the size or nature of these two fragments, nor is it clear from his description whether he was of the opinion that these were fragments of the same monument or of one or more separate monuments. The two fragments were left on site and by December of that year had disappeared. Goudie's hope that he would be able to recover them has remained thwarted (Goudie 1879, 24; Moar 1952, 94). Small reports that 'diligent search in modern times' had failed to recover the missing oghams (1973, 4). There have been more recent, unconfirmed reports that one or more of these stones survives, built into the wall which divides the island, beside the gate, but initial investigation has failed to uncover them (Brian Smith pers comm).
