The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.Evans, John
History
The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.
Evans, John
Bronze age -- Great Britain; Bronze age -- Ireland; Great Britain -- Antiquities
The only instance known to me in which the rough castings destined
to be wrought into this form of celt have been found in Britain is
one recorded in the _Archæologia Cambrensis_[212] by the Rev. E. L.
Barnwell. At the meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association at
Wrexham, Sir R. A. Cunliffe, Bart., exhibited what had evidently been
the stock in trade of an ancient bronze-founder or merchant. It had
been found at Rhosnesney, near Wrexham, and consisted of six palstaves,
all from the same mould, another somewhat slighter and broken in two,
the blade of a small dagger, three castings for flanged celts, and the
shank of a fourth—all of them rough as they came from the mould. The
cut given of one of the last-mentioned castings is here reproduced on a
smaller scale as Fig. 18. It will be seen that a broad runner is left
at the butt end, which was probably destined to be broken off; the
sides would also be hammered, so as to increase the prominence of the
flanges; and the whole would be planished by hammering and grinding.
All the specimens have the appearance of having been washed over with
tin, but this deposit of tin upon the surface may, I think, be due to
some chemical action which has gone on since the bronze was buried in
the ground, and may not have been intentionally produced.
A casting for a longer flanged celt found at Vienne (Isère) has been
figured by Chantre.[213]
Turning now to the flat and flanged celts discovered in Scotland, I may
remark that the instruments of the flat form appear to be comparatively
more abundant in that country than in England and Wales.
In Fig. 19 is shown a remarkably well-preserved specimen in my
own collection, which is said to have been found near Drumlanrig,
Dumfriesshire. The sides present two longitudinal facets at a low
angle to each other. In hammering these the margin of the faces
has been somewhat raised; they are otherwise smooth and devoid of
ornament. Other specimens have three facets on the sides.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.—Drumlanrig. ½]
Instruments of much the same character have been found near
Biggar[214] (6⅛ inches), Culter[215] (5¼ inches), both in Lanarkshire;
on the farm of Colleonard,[216] near Banff (found with three which
were ornamented); at Sluie on the Findhorn,[217] Morayshire (two,
6 inches); near Abernethy,[218] Perthshire (4 inches across face);
near Ardgour House,[219] Invernessshire (5¾ inches); the Hill of
Fortrie of Balnoon,[220] Inverkeithney, Banffshire (5¾ inches long);
Ravelston,[221] near Edinburgh (7 inches); Cobbinshaw, Midcalder,
Edinburgh (4¾ inches), in my own collection. One found in the Moss of
Cree,[222] near Wigton in Galloway, has been mentioned by Wilson, and
is engraved in the _Ayr and Wigton Collections_.[223] Others from Inch
and Leswalt, Wigtonshire, have also been figured.[224]
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