found in Jutland and England (and the same may be said of the Irish one), would have been quite useless against the Roman javelins; and even Mr Engelhardt was puzzled how they could have been kept together to be effective, seeing he only found in one piece out of the hundreds any trace of dowelling. [Illustration: Section of Wooden Shield.] There can be no doubt that the Highland target is the traditional continuation of these early bronze and wooden shields, which evidently were the successors of the Cetra, or small round shield made from the skin of some animal, and mentioned by Tacitus as having been used by the Britons and also by the Mauritanians, who, he says, made it of elephants’ skin. These must have resembled the shields used by some of the African tribes and North American Indians at the present day. They are almost invariably made of wood and covered with leather, the instances to the contrary, when they have been made of iron or steel, being the mere whims of individuals. One such is represented in the portrait of the Hon. James Campbell, son of John Lord Glenorchy (1708); another, having a formidable spike, is in my own possession,[4] and resembles one I have seen, said to have been used by an Earl of Marr, but there is nothing whatever of Highland character about them, being simply the iron or steel target formerly used in other European countries, which were occasionally embossed and engraved in a most elaborate manner. One of these, of Italian workmanship, is preserved in our Museum, having on it a classical subject in high relief, of the best style of this art during the 16th century. A curious Dutch shield of iron, belonging to Mr Charles Lees, R.S.A.,[4] is convex and covered with large bosses, some round and some of triangular form. It looks like a pageant shield. The leather of the Highland shield is very generally embossed with Celtic ornamentation,--a sort of repoussé work, in the form of the twisted interlacing ribbon pattern, with scroll leafage filling up odd corners of the design, and now and then rude attempts at animals.[5] On one belonging to Sir J. Noel Paton there is a galley, a fish, and a nondescript kind of animal; and among those in the Museum is one with birds and grotesque animals surrounding its outer margin, sometimes initials and a date, the whole design divided by concentric circles of brass nails and bosses, the latter often engraved; in this style of ornament they resemble the early bronze shields, with their bosses and smaller studs; sometimes they are bound by a brass or steel rim. [Illustration: Boss.] [Illustration: Boss.]