I've been working for some time on researching the names, images of and generally lives of Pictish women for some time. Information on just about anything Pictish is typically thin on the ground, and images of women are no exception. There is one quite well known depiction of a Pictish woman: the top rider on the Hilton of Cadboll stone, seen riding side-saddle wearing a large penannular brooch, a mirror and comb beside her. (The mirror and comb symbols operate somewhat differently than other Pictish symbols, seeming to augment the rest of the symbols in some way. An indicator of female gender is one theory though others such as royal status have also been suggested.)
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Meigle sculpted stones. From my questions about how far back the Vanora legend stretched concerning the central figure of the Meigle 2, the staff member on duty--Lydia, I believe--guessed my interest in potential figures of women. She therefore pointed out to me that the blurred weathered rider in the lower left corner of Meigle 1 had two dangling shoes just like the woman on the Hilton of Cadboll stone. The rider is riding side-saddle. Even the scene is reminiscent with other outriders. There is even a mirror and comb placed just above the scene carved extremely largely though not directly next to the apparently female rider.
I quickly noticed some lines that seemed to indicate a split in the overlayer of the rider's top garment layer. Other stones seem to indicate this is likely to be a coat, fastened in the center by a brooch and left to drape open to show the skirts of the dress beneath. It is always dangerous to let preconceptions guide interpretation, but certainly it appears to me that there is some sort of garment with a widening open stretching to the hemline. It also appears to me as if she is facing slightly toward the direction the horse is riding rather than straight out at the viewer, and that she is perhaps wearing a hood rather than having the loose folds of hair (or voluminous folds of fabric perhaps) the Hilton of Cadboll rider has. If so, this would not be the first probable female Pict image to be hooded. There is a stone with three figures believed to be women, all hooded, the central one with an additional line across the forehead that could indicate anything from a cap to a veil to a circlet.
Lydia indicated that Meigle 1 likely predated the Hilton of Cadboll stone and may in fact have been used as a model for it. It is certainly a pity the figure on Meigle 1 is so weathered, but even the details that can be gleaned are intriguing. In looking at my pictures now, I worry that the lines I see as belonging to the dress and overdress/coat don't lie terribly well with the two dangling shoes, but it looked natural enough in person, so for now I will trust that initial instinct.
It is perhaps worth noting Meigle 1 was found not terribly far from Kirriemuir 1, yet another of the stone depicting a (probable) woman, this one seated in a grand chair or throne, what appears to be a loom to one side of her, a mirror and comb to the other. There is suggestion that she may be plying a drop spindle, dangling at her feet. Sadly the Meffan, the museum containing the Kirriemuir stones, was closed the day I went (this is what comes of having a guide book that's over four years old), so I've not yet seen this one myself.
I will say that having seen Meigle 2 in person, I find the Vanora story--or any other reading of the central figure as feminine--as sadly unlikely. The face looks quite bearded to me. Lydia made the argument for the image representing Christ rather than the most commonly ascribed Daniel in the Lion's Den.
The Vanora legend is, however, an interesting piece of the evolution of the Arthurian legend across Britain. I find myself drawn back, though to the Pictish ladies on horseback.
