The implements were mounted by inserting the handle between the flanges, and secured by a ligature of some kind tightly coiled round the butt. To secure the head from flying off the handle a loop was, in time, added to the inside edge of the celt by which it was firmly braced to the haft. The loop is almost invariably single; double-looped celts (see fig. 7) are very rare, and but a few specimens have been found in Ireland. The discovery of a mounted celt is also very rare, as the wooden handles, to which they seem generally to have been attached, decayed in the lapse of time. A very interesting example is shown in fig. 8. This celt was found in the bed of the River Boyne near Edenderry. The handle is about 14 inches long, and the head possessed a loop which was worn through--probably, as Wilde thinks, by a metal brace which secured it. [Illustration: Fig. 7. Double-looped Flanged Celt with Stop-ridge.] [Illustration: Fig. 8. Looped Celt with Original Handle.] * * * * * _The Socketed Celt._--In tracing the development of these celts, with specimens, it will be noted that the flanges grow bolder and more projecting, and in time curve inwards, and that the stop becomes more prominent. By merging it, as we have said, into the wings, and gradually removing the decreasing shank, the socket was formed. There was a marked advance here in casting, as provision had to be made for a core to form the socket. ‘The lip of the socket,’ says Wilde, ‘is generally ornamented, and very frequently by one or more raised bands or fillets; sometimes by a very well-cast roped ornament, evidently made to represent a cord of twisted gut. A special description of cast ornament, consisting of longitudinal raised bars, generally ending in annular or button-like projections, sometimes occupies the side of this implement; ... but in no case is the ornamentation produced either by the hammer, punch, or graver, as in the flat simple celt.’[97] There are several varieties of the socketed celt, as the illustrations show. Figures 9 and 10 are 4 inches and 4¼ inches in length respectively, and are characteristic of the plain class of Irish socketed celt, though differing materially from each other in particulars of shape, breadth, position of the loop, and ornament. Of the same variety are figures 11 and 12, drawn one-fourth the actual size. Fig. 13 represents a small and well-decorated celt, and is drawn one-half the size of the object. Fig. 14 represents a flat celt 4½ inches long, with oval socket internally, and a small raised linear ornament. Fig. 15 shows a type of celt rare in Ireland. It is a good example of the axe-shaped implement; it is 3¾ inches long, and about the same across the cutting edge. Fig. 16 is a fine specimen of the long narrow quadrangular celt: it is 5⅜ inches in length and 1⅜ inches in breadth. It is very rare in Ireland, and but a few specimens have been found in the country. Some