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
A palstave without loop, and which from the engraving appears to have
a well-marked stop-ridge and to have the side flanges much hammered
over, is said to have been found near Tintot-top,[363] in Clydesdale.
The description, however, says that it has no stop, otherwise the
figure would almost justify an attribution of the instrument to
Southern Germany rather than to Scotland. Another of much the same
character, but without any stop-ridge, has been figured from Baron
Clerk’s[364] collection as having been found in Scotland.
Palstaves with a side loop have been said[365] to be common in
Scotland; but this can hardly be the case, as in the Museum of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland there are no authenticated examples.
One from Aikbrae,[366] Lanarkshire (6¾ inches), like Fig. 77, has
been figured. Wilson gives another example like Fig. 78, but does not
say where it was found. The “spade” he gives as his Fig. 59 is in all
probability Italian.
[Illustration: Fig. 92.—Pettycur. ½]
A palstave rather like that from Balcarry, Fig. 91, but with a loop,
is figured by Gordon[367] as having been found in Scotland.
What may be classed as a celt with two side loops, or possibly as a
chisel, is said to have been found in the year 1810 in a barrow near
Pettycur,[368] Fifeshire. It is described as very strong, and the bend
in the upper part, as seen in Fig. 92, is thought to be accidental.
Wilson describes it as a crowbar or lever, but as its total length is
only 7½ inches it can hardly be classed among such instruments.
A somewhat similar tool, but without holes in the side stops (7⅞
inches), is in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.[369]
Turning now to the instruments of this class discovered in Ireland,
I may observe that it is so difficult to draw the line between the
flanged celts, tapering both ways from a central ridge, and those
which have a slight projecting stop-ridge upon them, that some Irish
instruments of the latter class have already been mentioned in the
preceding chapter, to which the reader is referred for the more highly
ornamented varieties. Other Irish types have also been incidentally
cited.
Some of the Irish palstaves much resemble English and Scottish types,
but generally speaking there are sufficient peculiarities in their
forms to enable a practised observer to recognise their origin. For
several other varieties of form, besides those mentioned in the
following pages, the reader is referred to Wilde’s Catalogue.
Winged celts without a stop-ridge, like Fig. 53, have occasionally
been found in Ireland, and one is figured by Wilde.[370] I have one
(5¼ inches) from Armoy, Co. Antrim. The wide-spreading celt with a
slight stop-ridge and segmental band upon the blade, like Fig. 50,
also occurs. A remarkably fine specimen from Westmeath with punctured
ornaments on the wings and at the lower margin of the band has been
engraved by Wilde.[371] Some are without the segmental band.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account