e mutilated terminal letter in the third line, which Mr. Lhwyd
deciphered as an F. Sibbald's account of the stone and its inscription,
in 1708, is short but valuable, as affording an old independent reading
of the legend. It is contained in his folio essay or work entitled,
_Historical Inquiries Concerning the Roman Monuments and Antiquities in
Scotland_ (p. 50). "Close (says he) by Kirkliston water, upon the south
side, there is a square pillar over against the Mannor of Carlowry with
this inscription:--

IN OC TV
MVLO IACIT
VETTA K
VICTI

This (Sibbald continues) seemeth to have been done in later times than
the former inscriptions [viz., those left in Scotland by the Romans].
Whether it be a Pictish monument or not is uncertain; the vulgar call it
the CAT _Stane_."

Mr. Gough, when speaking of the stone in the latter part of the last
century, states that the inscription upon it was "not now legible." It
is certainly still even sufficiently legible and entire to prove
unmistakably the accuracy of the reading of it given upwards of a
century and a half ago by Lhwyd and Sibbald. The letters come out with
special distinctness when examined with the morning sun shining on them;
and indeed few ancient inscriptions in this country, not protected by
being buried, are better preserved,--a circumstance owing principally to
the very hard and durable nature of the stone itself, and the depth to
which the letters have been originally cut. The accompanying woodcut is
taken from a photograph of the stone by my friend Dr. Paterson, and very
faithfully represents the inscription. The surface of the stone upon
which the letters are carved has weathered and broken off in some parts;
particularly towards the right-hand edge of the inscription. This
process of disintegration has more or less affected the terminal letters
of the four lines of the inscriptions. Yet, out of the twenty-six
letters composing the legend, twenty are still comparatively entire and
perfectly legible; four are more or less defective; and two nearly
obliterated. The two which are almost obliterated consist of the first
V in TVMVLO, constituting the terminal letter of the first line, and the
last vowel I, or rather, judging from the space it occupies, E in JACIT.
A mere impress of the site of the bars of the V is faintly traceable by
the eye and finger, though the letter came out in the photograph. Only
about an inch of the middle portion of the upr