# Mitchell 2022: Shug Days: Cracking a 270-year-old Epigraphical Mystery > Jack Mitchell, 2022. 20 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The most careful recent treatment; source for dating and for the assessment of readings. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8VRT6KC1/shug-days-cracking-a-270-year-old-epigraphical-mystery Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Shugborough inscription](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription)Mitchell 2022 **0** # Shug Days: Cracking a 270-year-old Epigraphical Mystery Jack Mitchell, 2022. _Antigone (online journal), 28 April 2022_. A classicist's review of the dating evidence (relief about 1748-50 after Andrew Baker; letters first recorded in 1817) and of the Stonor, Regimbal, Massey, Morton and Lichfield readings, proposing a memorial to Anne Venables-Vernon (d. 1742) and conceding it cannot be proven. **Shugborough inscription** ArticleChecked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The most careful recent treatment; source for dating and for the assessment of readings. ## Cited by on this site 20 records [Cut with the monument, between about 1748 and 1773.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M94SW2FKJ/cut-with-the-monument-between-about-1748-and-1773) Answer ANS [No internal test can separate the grammatical readings; only documents can.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M96GJ4TJ4/no-internal-test-can-separate-the-grammatical-readings-only) Answer ANS [They are the initials of a Latin funerary dedication to a named person, matching the D M frame.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/answers/ANS0D1M91W41S64/they-are-the-initials-of-a-latin-funerary-dedication-to-a) Answer ANS [Shepherd's Monument and its inscribed tablet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/artifacts/ART0D1M97FT3BDZ/shepherds-monument-and-its-inscribed-tablet) ART [Family tradition holds that the letters predate Thomas Anson's death in 1773.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M951P1GP5/family-tradition-holds-that-the-letters-predate-thomas) Evidence EVD [Massey's reading is grammatical but conflicts with the pagan D M frame and with its own Latin model.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93363WSP/masseys-reading-is-grammatical-but-conflicts-with-the-pagan) Evidence EVD [Mitchell concedes his own reading cannot be proven from the stone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M96RC6T7J/mitchell-concedes-his-own-reading-cannot-be-proven-from-the) Evidence EVD [Mitchell's Anne Venables-Vernon reading is grammatical and fits a neighbour's wife who died in 1742, but the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M92BR0MCA/mitchells-anne-venables-vernon-reading-is-grammatical-and) Evidence EVD [No mention before Clifford's 1817 parish history.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M95HA2VTP/no-mention-before-cliffords-1817-parish-history) Evidence EVD [Stonor's widower reading is ungrammatical and fits no Anson widower at the time.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M92KJ0ANC/stonors-widower-reading-is-ungrammatical-and-fits-no-anson) Evidence EVD [The letter assignments look arbitrary to critics.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93TM4QPK/the-letter-assignments-look-arbitrary-to-critics) Evidence EVD [The letters are first recorded in 1817.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/evidence/EVD0D1M93JT2H8Q/the-letters-are-first-recorded-in-1817) Evidence EVD [A poem by Sneyd Davies appears to describe the relief](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/events/EVT0D1M8Z664EZV/a-poem-by-sneyd-davies-appears-to-describe-the-relief) EVT [Jack Mitchell proposes a memorial to Anne Venables-Vernon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/events/EVT0D1M90WW6CB4/jack-mitchell-proposes-a-memorial-to-anne-venables-vernon) EVT [The eight letters are first mentioned in print, in Clifford's history of Tixall parish](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/events/EVT0D1M8ZNT27V9/the-eight-letters-are-first-mentioned-in-print-in-cliffords) EVT [Thomas Anson dies; the letters are said by family tradition to predate his death](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/events/EVT0D1M8ZE008DJ/thomas-anson-dies-the-letters-are-said-by-family-tradition) EVT [The Shugborough inscription](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription) The mystery article MYS [Can any reading be tested without new documents?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M91MA24B5/can-any-reading-be-tested-without-new-documents) Question QST [What do the letters OUOSVAVV stand for?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M914P3D8V/what-do-the-letters-ouosvavv-stand-for) Question QST [When were the letters cut?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/shugborough-inscription/questions/QST0D1M91CG55X4/when-were-the-letters-cut) Question QST ## Cite it ``` Mitchell, J. (2022). Shug Days: Cracking a 270-year-old Epigraphical Mystery. Antigone (online journal), 28 April 2022. https://antigonejournal.com/2022/04/shepherds-monument-inscription/ ``` [Read it free at antigonejournal.com](https://antigonejournal.com/2022/04/shepherds-monument-inscription/) Key **SRC** 0D1M8VRT6KC1 Kind Journal article Rights The publisher's Kept 27 Oct 2026, for editors Checked Against the published article Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS. [CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1M8VRT6KC1/shug-days-cracking-a-270-year-old-epigraphical-mystery/csl.json)