Of Saxon armour the remains yielded to us by the graves are few and far between. Buckles, such as probably fastened the belt or girdle to which the knife, the sword, etc., were suspended, and others which have doubtless belonged to some portions of the dress, are the most abundant. They are of varied form, some being of particularly elegant design, partaking of the character of the fibulæ of the period. Twelve examples from the Kentish graves are given on figs. 417 to 428. Helmets, or head coverings, in a fragmentary state, have on some few occasions been found. The most remarkable discovery of this kind which has been made is the one which was found by my friend, the late Mr. Bateman, at Benty Grange,[55] in Derbyshire, in the year 1848. The account of this discovery is so full of interest, and so curious, that I give it in Mr. Bateman’s own words. He says:-- “It was our good fortune to open a barrow which afforded a more instructive collection of relics than has ever been discovered in the county, and which are not surpassed in interest by any remains hitherto recovered from any Anglo-Saxon burying-place in the kingdom. [Illustration: Fig. 417.] [Illustration: Fig. 418.] [Illustration: Fig. 419.] [Illustration: Fig. 420.] [Illustration: Fig. 421.] [Illustration: Fig. 422.] [Illustration: Fig. 423.] [Illustration: Fig. 424.] [Illustration: Fig. 425.] [Illustration: Fig. 426.] [Illustration: Fig. 427.] [Illustration: Fig. 428.] “The barrow, which is on a farm called Benty Grange, a high and bleak situation to the right of the road from Ashbourn to Buxton, near the eighth milestone from the latter place, is of inconsiderable elevation, perhaps not more than two feet at the highest point, but is spread over a pretty large area, and is surrounded by a small fosse or trench. About the centre, and upon the natural soil, had been laid the only body the barrow ever contained, of which not a vestige besides the hair could be distinguished. Near the place which, from the presence of hair, was judged to have been the situation of the head, was a curious assemblage of ornaments, which, from the peculiarly indurated nature of the earth, it was impossible to remove with any degree of success. The most remarkable are the silver edging and ornaments of a leathern cup, about three inches in diameter at the mouth, which was decorated by four wheel-shaped ornaments and two crosses of thin silver, affixed by pins of the same metal, clenched inside (fig. 429). The other articles found in the same situation consist of personal ornaments, the chief of which are two circular enamels upon copper 1¾ diameter, in narrow silver frames, and a third, which was so far decomposed as to be irrecoverable (see group, fig. 430); they are enamelled with a yellow interlaced dracontine pattern, intermingled with that peculiar scroll design, visible on the same class of ornaments figured in ‘Vestiges,’ p. 25, and used in several MSS. of the seventh century, for