State Historical Society to receive South Dakota Tartan Stone

Frank Maurer of California will present the South Dakota State Historical Society State Arcives with a Tartan Stone on Monday, July 27, 2009. The presentation will take place at 11:00am at the Cultural Heritage Center, located at 900 Governors Drive in Pierre. The presentation is free and open to the public. Maurer practices the ancient Pictish art of stone-carving. Picts were inhabitants of the northern part of Britain before the Scots. Maurer's genealogical research led him to the discovery that he is related to the first Scottish king, MacAlpin, and his ancestral connections to the Picts of Scotland, the master Celtic stone-carvers. Maurer started his stone-carving career with a miniature of the symbol stone, The Craw Stane, of Rhynie Scotland, and has branched out, creating both Celtic and non-Celtic themes in stones. The U.S. Senate designated April 6 as Tartan Day because the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland's Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320. In celebration of Tartan Day and his Scottish heritage, Maurer has hand-carved many tartan stones and delivered them to state archives across the country. At the presentation of the stone, Maurer will tak about the art of hand-carving stone, the tools needed, as well as Scottish history and the connections to South Dakota Scottish heritage. Maurer will also be wearing Scottish attire and discuss the significance and history of the kilt. The Tartan Stone will have carvings of South Dakota symbols. After the presentation, the South Dakota tartan stone will be on display in the State Archives Research Room, located at the Cultural Heritage Center. The archives research room is open 9:00am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday and the first Saturday of each month. Please call 605-773-3804 for more information, or visit www.sdhistory.org