Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron AgeAnderson, Joseph
History
Scotland in Pagan Times; The Iron Age
Anderson, Joseph
Scotland -- Antiquities
In the parish of Balmaclellan, in Kirkcudbright, a number of bronze
articles were found in draining a bog. It is stated that they were found
about 3 feet under the surface in four parcels, each wrapped in coarse
linen cloth. Close by them the upper stone of a quern was also found.
The quern stone (Fig. 102) is ornamented, but the ornament possesses
none of the distinctive features of the decoration of the bronzes. They
consisted of a circular mirror with handle, and a number of thin plates
of bronze, some being long narrow bands, others curved and cut into
various shapes. The mirror (Fig. 103) is of the form so commonly seen on
the sculptured monuments of the Celtic Christian time in Scotland. The
circular part is 8 inches in diameter, and the handle 5 inches in
projection from the circumference of the circular part. [Illustration:
Fig. 103.—Bronze Mirror found at Balmaclellan (8 inches in diameter)]
The body of the mirror is a thin plate of bronze, surrounded by a
plain-rolled edging. The handle, which is also a thin plate of bronze
similarly edged, is attached to the circular plate by rivets, and the
junction is concealed by a finely-ornamented plate (Fig. 104),
presenting a pattern composed of those peculiar raised surfaces formed
by the meeting of curves rising from the flat at different angles, and
traversing the ground also in curves, which converge and diverge in a
manner pleasing to the eye, but difficult to describe. The upper part of
this ornamental plate is tri-lobate, the lobes bounded by curves of
peculiar form, and bordered by an edging of studs embossed on the metal.
[Illustration: Fig. 104.—Ornamental Plate of thin bronze, embossed, at
the junction of the mirror with its handle (actual size).] The central
ornament of each lobe is a circular device, with a central boss
surrounded by a circle of oval-raised surfaces, and presenting a nearer
approach to the effect of a floral decoration than is usually seen in
this style of ornament. The handle of the mirror is pierced with three
segmental openings formed of the curves of the divergent spiral. A
crescentic collar-shaped plate of bronze (Fig. 105), 13 inches in
diameter, and 2 inches in the width of the band, is decorated with a
chased pattern of similarly convergent and divergent curves, the spaces
enclosed by the curves being hatched with parallel lines. [Illustration:
Fig. 105.—Half of the Crescentic Collar-like Plate of Bronze found with
the Mirror at Balmaclellan.] The remaining plates (Fig. 106), of which
there are a considerable number, are of various forms. Some have
straight outer edges, and the interior edges cut into curves, meeting
each other with long and short points; others are triangular pieces,
with one convex and two concave edges, while others again are long
narrow bands with straight edges. They are all bordered with an edging
of thin metal doubled over and pinned on, and they seem themselves to
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