Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

Please note that Potton rock, or the Indian Rock, is situated on the posted private, and fenced property of a working farm and is not accessible, except by permission.  Potton Heritage is working to secure access to the rock and to the larger Jones site of which the rock is part, so far without appreciable success (2012).

This site has been designated as an archeological heritage site by the Potton Heritage Association and by the ministère de la Culture, as part of the greater “ Site Jones ».  It is locally called the Potton rock or the Indian rock. 

According to oral history, it was in 1927 that 12 year old, David M. Perkins discovered Potton rock outcropping with carved inscriptions, which quickly became known as the “Indian” rock.  The visible rock is thought to be only a small portion of a larger rock drift near the Jones Brook, in Vale Perkins.  The rock inscriptions are now poorly visible, having been much eroded by time and exposure to the elements. 

Although the Indian rock and its inscriptions have been thoroughly examined by professional and amateur archaeologists alike, no one has been able to positively identify their meaning or origin.  Several theories exist, and all agree that the inscriptions are indeed very old.

The Brome County Historical Society discussed the mystery of the rock inscriptions in at least one meeting chaired by Homer Mitchell, who was President from 1933-1952, and from 1953-1959.  In summation of the Society's discussion about Potton's rock, he commented – (as recorded in the Auger theory mentioned below) “ The mystery of Potton Rock has never been solved and probably never will be.  I think we can say it is a closed book. »

That comment certainly did not bear out!  Nor did it end the discussions! 

In a 1965 article appearing in “ Along the Old Roads » discussing Indian carrying places in Potton, the assertion is made that the strange markings on the Rock “ were scratched on the rock by Indians » “ according to those who have studied these », with the further notation “ (…) these give little aid, however, to the study of aboriginal history, since they cannot be interpreted save in rare cases where tradition has kept the significance alive. »^[1]  

In the 1970's, the site was again investigated.  Leonard Auger presented his theory to the Brome County Historical Society around 1976: “ that these inscriptions were of native Indian derivation and were an accounting of an Indian raid in Vermont, in July of 1755 ».

After his examination of the rocks, Edmund J. O. Eberdt theorized in a monograph presented to the Brome County Historical Society on June 23, 1978, that the origins were possibly “ writings of the Iberian people who had lived at the Iberian peninsula of Europe about 4000 years ago.^[2] »

Gérard Leduc, Ph. D., founder of Potton Heritage Association and amateur archaeologist, has studied the Potton rock for years and theorizes “ that the inscriptions are of pre-historic origins, because of certain similarities of the markings with ancient Ogham script ». (Ogham is an early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language in Ireland and Britain, between about the 4^th and 7^th Centuries AD.^[3])

Inspired by Dr. Barry Fell, marine biologist and amateur epigrapher of Harvard University, Mr. Leduc's theory is based upon a study commissioned by archaeologist Pierre-Jacques Ratio in 1992, and upon his own studies of The Book of Ballymote^[4], written by Irish scribes in 1391.  Mr. Leduc identified two words in Ogham which may match inscriptions found on the rock in Potton: Bel (a god) and Lia (brook)^[5].

Mr. Ratio, consultant and professional archaeologist, was inconclusive in his report, stating only that further study of the site would be necessary.  He did not, however, discount the Leduc theory.

Yet another report, this time commissioned by the ministère de la Culture in 1993 and prepared by Société de recherche et de diffusion ARCHÉOBEC, concerned the mill site found not far away, and the archaeological research done there.  It was silent as to the stone inscriptions of Potton Rock.

For those adhering to the Ogham theory, here's a bit of information about that ancient celtic script: “ The Ogham script recorded the earliest Old Irish texts dating between the 3^rd and the 6^th century CE.  After the 6^th century CE, Old Irish was written with the Roman alphabet, and Ogham disappeared from general but the knowledge must have been preserved in some form because our knowledge of Ogham comes from the chapter “Auraicept na n-Éces” in the 15^th-century work The Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhà³ta), which also contains genealogies, mythologies, and histories of Ireland.^[6] »

Various opinions exist on the exact origin of ogham.  Some claim that it stemmed from a cryptic way of writing runes, some say that it was inspired from the Roman alphabet, and yet others hold that it was independently invented.  It seems that only an experienced epigraphist can decode our inscription, if then.  The Ogham letters are divided into four groups, each containing five letters.  This yields a total of 20 Ogham letters.^[7]

(Wikipedia/ogham presents numerous theories for deciphering these ancient scripts, for those who may have time to spare and are so inclined!)