Chapter XXII: Section V: Chronological, Social, and other Indications derived from the Relics

Having thus glanced over the collateral phenomena bearing on the age or period of the Scottish Lake-Dwellings, it only remains to say a few words on the general evidence supplied by the relics themselves. We have already seen that the scattered remains of the artificial islands brought to light in modern times extended over a large area, embracing nearly the whole of Scotland, with the exception of its two northernmost counties and a few others lying on its south-eastern extremity. So far, however, as the discovery of actual remains illustrative of the civilisation and social condition of their occupiers is concerned, we are almost entirely limited to the results of the investigations made at Dowalton, Lochlee, Lochspouts, and Buston, all of which are within the counties of Ayr and Wigtown. In instituting a comparison between the contents of these four groups, their analogy, not only as regards the structure and local distribution of the islands, but as regards the general character of the relics, is so wonderfully alike that we have no difficulty in assuming that originally these lake-dwellings within this area were erected by one and the same people for a special purpose, and about the same time, or at least within a comparatively limited period. It is true that a considerable diversity exists as regards the number and character of the relics found in some of these localities; thus neither Samian ware nor implements of bone or horn have been found at Dowalton, though these are amongst the relics from all the Ayrshire examples. Such negative evidence, however, does not amount to much, more especially in this case, as the absence of Samian ware is more than compensated for by the presence of other articles presumably of Roman origin; and, moreover, I believe that a more careful search would have greatly increased the number of relics from Dowalton.

This uniform similarity in these remains, though not entitling us to extend the above generalisation beyond a certain geographical area in the south-west of Scotland, is however sufficiently marked to enable us to dispense with any further necessity of discussing the merits of each group separately; so that whatever inferences can be legitimately derived from a critical examination of any one group may be safely applied to the whole.

If these observations are really trustworthy, we may at once proceed to examine the remarkable series of implements, weapons, ornaments, and nondescript objects here presented to us, with the view of abstracting from them some scraps of information regarding their original owners. Fragments of Samian ware (Fig. 180), bronze dishes (one with Roman letters, Fig. 13), harp-shaped fibulæ of peculiar type (Figs. 140 to 143), together with a large assortment of beads, bronze and bone pins, bone combs, jet ornaments, etc. etc., are so similar to the class of remains found on the excavated sites of Romano-British towns that there can hardly be any doubt that Roman civilisation had come in contact with the lake-dwellers and partially moulded their habits. The Celtic element is however strongly developed, not only in the general character of many of the industrial implements of stone, bone, and iron, but also in the style of art manifested in some of the ornamental objects included in the collection. Thus the piece of wood (Figs. 149, 150) with its carved spiral patterns, the combs, especially the one represented by Fig. 30, showing a series of concentric circles connected by a running scroll design, the table-man carved with similar circles and an open interlaced knot-work; and the bronze brooch (Fig. 26), present a style of ornamentation which is considered peculiar to early Celtic art. The spiral finger-rings seem also to have been of native origin, and the probability is that they were manufactured where they were found, as several crucibles are amongst the relics from the same lake-dwelling, one of which, from the fact that it still contains particles of gold, unmistakeably demonstrates that it had been used in melting this metal.

On the other hand, the forged gold coin (Fig. 246) is the only relic that can with certainty be said to have emanated from a Saxon source; at least, that cannot otherwise be accounted for.

But if, from internal evidence, a presumptive case is made out in favour of the Celtic origin and occupation of these lake-dwellings, it is greatly strengthened when we consider that the neighbouring Celtic races in Scotland and Ireland were in the habit of erecting similar island abodes, while there is not a particle of evidence in favour of the idea that such structures originated with the Roman conquerors of Britain or its Saxon invaders.

The resemblance between the remains found in the Scottish and Irish lake-dwellings, as well as in many other antiquarian finds of Celtic character, must also not be overlooked. Combs, similar in structure and ornamentation to those from Buston, have been found in several of the Irish crannogs (Fig. 255);[48] in the Brochs and other antiquities of the north of Scotland, as at the Knowe of Saverough, Orkney (Fig. 256); the Broch of Burrian (Figs. 257 and 258); and in many of the ruins of the Romano-British towns, as at York and Uriconium (Fig. 259).[49] Iron knives and shears, variegated beads of impure glass, with grooves and spiral marks, ornaments of jet and bronze, implements of stone, bone, and horn, besides querns, whetstones, etc., are all common to Celtic antiquities wherever found.

Canoes are so invariably found associated with crannogs, that their discovery in lakes and bogs has been considered by Dr. Stuart as an indication of the existence of the latter. This may be true in some cases, but in others, such as Closeburn, Lochwinnoch, and Loch Doon, three of the examples cited by him, it is more probable that the canoes were used by the occupiers of the mediæval castles in the vicinity of which they were found. From these and many other instances that have come under my notice, I have come to the conclusion that dug-out canoes do not indicate such great antiquity as is commonly attributed to them, nor do they therefore necessarily carry us back to prehistoric times.

While some fragments of the pottery collected on the Ayrshire crannogs (all of which include Samian ware) are undoubtedly Romano-British, others as certainly point to a different period and source. I am informed on the best authority that all the portions showing any appearance of glaze, such as those represented by Figs. 181 to 184, were manufactured in mediæval times; but on the other hand that others (Fig. 186) may belong to the same class of fictile ware as was used for mortuary purposes in Pagan times. My own knowledge of the subject is too slender to guide me in forming an opinion on these points; but, considering how little is actually known of the pottery of the transitional period between that of the sepulchral urns and mediæval times, any conflicting inferences that may be deduced from such a line of discussion need not, at least in the meantime, interfere with the chronological conclusions pointed at elsewhere. The statement made by Grose (see page 155), that the monks of the monastery at Friars' Carse used to lodge their valuable effects on the artificial island in the loch when the English made inroads into Strathnith, suggests a possible, and perhaps probable, escape from any difficulty of this sort.

Again, while it is evident from the parallel striation on some of the fragments, on which the traces of glaze still remain, that they were manufactured on the wheel, an inspection of Figs. 160, 161, and 181, proves that hand-wrought vessels were also manufactured after the introduction of glaze. That sepulchral urns were all made by hand is not a sufficient proof that the wheel was not simultaneously in use among the same people. The extraordinary conservatism, as regards changes in religious ceremonies, displayed by all nations and in all ages, is a sufficient explanation of the persistency with which the hand-wrought vessels have continued in use for sepulchral purposes. Hence, I can conceive that to substitute for the latter others made on the wheel, though at the same time largely used for domestic purposes, would have been an intolerable innovation on the religious customs of the people.

The Rev. Canon Greenwell, F.R.S., in discussing the question whether the various early sepulchral vessels were especially made for the purposes of burial, or were originally manufactured for domestic use, thus writes:--

"But perhaps the strongest objection to their having fulfilled a
purpose in the household, is the fact that they possess but little
in common with the pottery which, without much doubt, is domestic.
It is true that not very much of this has been discovered, but
quite enough has been found to enable us to judge pretty accurately
of its character. It has not, indeed, been proved conclusively that
the people who occupied the hut-circles and pit-dwellings were
those who erected the barrows so often met with in close proximity
to them; but if we may judge, as I think we fairly may, from the
identity of the flint implements found in each, there can be little
doubt that they were, the one the dwelling-place, the other the
burial-place, of the same people. Now, the pottery which has been
discovered on the site of dwelling-places is a dark-coloured,
hard-baked, perfectly plain ware, without ornament of any kind,
is in fact just what we would expect domestic pottery to be, and
has nothing in which it resembles the sepulchral vessels. And
more than this, so far as I know of my own experience, or can
learn from that of others, no whole vessel, or even fragments, of
the ordinary sepulchral pottery of the barrows or other places
of sepulture has ever been met with in connection with places of
habitation."--(_British Barrows_, p. 106.)

That many of these relics were the products of a refined civilisation, is not more remarkable than the unexpected and strangely discordant circumstances in which they have been found. For this reason it might be supposed that the crannogs were the headquarters of thieves and robbers, where the proceeds of their marauding excursions among the surrounding Roman provincials were stored up. The inferences derived from a careful consideration of all the facts do not appear to me to support this view, nor do they uphold another view, sometimes propounded, viz., that they were fortified islands occupied by the guardian soldiers of the people. Indeed, amongst the relics military remains are only feebly represented by a few iron daggers and spear-heads, one or two doubtful arrow-points, and a quantity of round pebbles and so-called sling-stones. On the other hand, a very large percentage of the articles consists of querns, hammer-stones, polishers, flint-flakes, and scrapers; stone and clay spindle-whorls, pins, needles, and bodkins; knife-handles of red-deer horn, together with many other implements of the same material; bowls, ladles, and other vessels of wood, some of which were turned on the lathe; knives, axes, saws, hammers, chisels, and gouges of iron; several crucibles, lumps of iron slag, and other remains of metals, etc. From all these, not to mention the great variety of ornaments, there can be no ambiguity as to the testimony they afford of the peaceful prosecution of various arts and industries by the lake-dwellers.

Proofs of a prolonged but occasionally interrupted occupancy are also manifested by the great accumulation of débris over the wooden pavements, the size and contents of the kitchen-middens, and the superimposed hearths so well observed at Lochlee.

From the respective reports of Professors Owen, Rolleston, and Cleland, on a selection of osseous remains taken from the lake-dwellings at Dowalton, Lochlee, and Buston (see pp. 50, 139-143, 236-239), we can form a fair idea of the food of the occupiers. The Celtic short-horn (_Bos longifrons_), the so-called goat-horned sheep (_Ovis aries_, variety _brachyura_), and a domestic breed of pigs, were largely consumed. The horse was only scantily used. The number of bones and horns of the red-deer and roebuck showed that venison was by no means a rare addition to the list of their dietary. Among birds, only the goose has been identified, but this is no criterion of the extent of their encroachment on the feathered tribe, as only the larger bones were collected and reported upon. To this bill of fare the occupiers of Lochspouts crannog, being comparatively near the sea, added several kinds of shell-fish. In all the lake-dwellings that have come under my own observation, the broken shells of hazel-nuts were in profuse abundance.

From the number of querns and the great preponderance of the bones of domestic over those of wild animals, it may be inferred that, for subsistence, they depended more on the cultivation of the soil and the rearing of cattle, sheep, and pigs, than on the produce of the chase.

There is, in my opinion, only one hypothesis that can satisfactorily account for all the facts and phenomena here adduced, viz., that the lake-dwellings in the south-west of Scotland were constructed by the Celtic inhabitants as a means of protecting their lives and movable property when, upon the frequent withdrawal of the Roman soldiers from the district, they were left, single-handed, to contend against the Angles on the east, and the Picts and Scots on the north. It is not likely that these rich provincials, so long accustomed to the comforts and luxury of Roman civilisation, or their descendants in the subsequent kingdom of Strathclyde, would become the assailants of such fierce and lawless enemies, from whom, even if conquered, they could derive no benefit. Hence their military tactics and operations would assume more the character of defence than aggression, and in order to defeat the object of the frequent and sudden inroads of the northern tribes, which was to plunder the inhabitants rather than to conquer the country, experience taught them the necessity of being prepared for emergencies by having certain places of more than ordinary security where they could deposit their wealth, or to which they could retire as a last resource when hard pressed. These retreats might be caves, fortified camps, or inaccessible islands, but in localities where no such natural strongholds existed, the military genius of the Celtic inhabitants, prompted perhaps by inherited notions, led them to construct these wooden islands. Since the final departure of the Romans till the conquest of the kingdom of Strathclyde by the Northumbrian Angles, a period of several centuries, this unfortunate people had few intervals of peace (see pp. 249 to 259), and, with their complete subjugation, ended the special function of the Lake-Dwellings as a national system of protection. No doubt some of them, as well as caves and such hiding-places, would continue to afford a refuge to straggling remnants of natives rendered desperate by the relentless persecution of their enemies, but, ultimately, all of them would fall into the hands of the Saxon conquerors, when, henceforth, they would be allowed to subside into mud or crumble into decay.

Amongst extraneous antiquarian discoveries with which we may profitably compare the remains from the lake-dwellings, there are two remarkable groups recently brought to light by the exploration of two caves, both of which, singularly enough, are within the confines of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde. These are a collection of relics from the Victoria Cave near Settle, Yorkshire,[50] and another from the Borness Cave, Kirkcudbrightshire.[51] Though the objects indicative of high-class art found in the latter are not so numerous as those from the former, yet they are, as a whole, of a similar character and type. They consist of fragments of Samian ware, bronze fibulæ, and other ornaments of bronze and horn, spindle-whorls, and a large quantity of implements and weapons made of stone, bone, and horn, etc., all of which bear a striking resemblance to the corresponding objects from the Lake-Dwellings. It would exceed my limits to enter upon a minute and critical comparison of the important results obtained from these two independent sources, viz., the Caves and the Lake-Dwellings; I cannot, however, resist quoting the following remarks by Professor Boyd Dawkins, regarding the date of habitation of the Victoria Cave, which might, with equal appropriateness, be applied to the latter:--

"There can be no doubt but that this strange collection of objects
was formed during the sojourn of a family for some length of
time in the cave; we have to account for the presence of so many
articles of luxury in so strange and wild a place. The personal
ornaments, and the Samian ware, are such as would have graced the
villa of a wealthy Roman, rather than the abode of men who lived by
choice in recesses in the rock. In the coins we have a key which
explains the difficulty. Some belonged to Trajan and Constantine,
others to Tetricus (A.D. 267-273), while others are barbarous
imitations of Roman coins, which are assigned by numismatists
to the period just about the time of the Roman evacuation of
Britain. These objects, therefore, could not have been introduced
into the cave before the end of the fourth century, or just that
time when the historical record shows us that the province of
Roman Britain was suffering from the anarchy consequent on the
withdrawal of the Roman troops. In the year 360, the savage Picts
and Scots, pent up in the north by the Roman walls, broke in upon
the unarmed and rich provincials, and carried fire and sword as
far south as London. Their ravages were repeated from time to
time, until the Northumbrian Angles finally conquered the Celtic
kingdom of Strathclyde. It must nevertheless be admitted that,
so long as the Celts of Strathclyde held their ground against
the Angles, they would certainly follow the mode of life and the
manners and customs handed down to them by their forefathers, the
Roman provincials. And therefore, it is very probable that these
objects of Roman culture may have been used in that district which
was the Northumbrian border, long after they had ceased to be used
in the regions conquered by the English. To say the least, there
are two extremes between which the date must lie--the fourth and
fifth centuries, as shown by the barbaric coins, and the year 756,
when Eadberht finally conquered Strathclyde. It cannot be later,
because of the presence of Roman, and the absence of all English
cultus. The cave, situated in a lonely spot, and surrounded by
the gnarled and tangled growth of stunted yews, oaks, and hazel,
which still survive in one or two places in the neighbourhood, as
samples of the primeval forest, would afford that shelter from
an invader of which a native would certainly take advantage. We
can hardly doubt that it was used by unfortunate provincials
who fled from their homes, with some of their cattle and other
property, and were compelled to exchange the luxuries of civilised
life for a hard struggle for common necessaries. In no other way
can the association of works of art of a very high order with
rude and rough instruments of daily use be accounted for. In
that respect, therefore, the Victoria Cave affords as true and
vivid a picture of the troublous times of the fourth and fifth
centuries as the innumerable burned Roman villas and cities; in
the one case, you get a place of refuge to which the provincials
fled; and in the other, their homes which have been ruthlessly
destroyed."--(_Journal of Anthrop. Inst._ vol. i. p. 64.)

The presence of a Saxon coin in one of the Ayrshire examples is in no way inconsistent with the general views here advocated, as we have undoubted evidence that the country had been occupied, at least temporarily, by the Saxons as early as the date to which Mr. Evans assigns this coin.

Turning now to the Celtic area beyond the limits of the Scottish portion of the kingdom of Strathclyde, I may at once state that there are no data derived from an examination of its artificial islands, nor any relics of their occupiers, which can give even an approximate notion of their chronological range.

In localities where the Celtic races were not supplanted by foreigners, it would be strange indeed, and altogether at variance with archæological experience, as propounded by the learned author of _The Past in the Present_,[52] if the habit of resorting to isolated and inaccessible islands for safety would be all at once abandoned whenever the greater security afforded by stone buildings became known. Hence, in the Irish annals we find frequent mention made of crannogs down even to the middle of the seventeenth century, and Dr. Joseph Robertson has quoted several historical passages to prove that certain crannogs in Scotland--as, for example, those of the Loch of Forfar, Lochindorb, Loch Canmor, and Loch-an-eilan, etc.--survived to the middle ages. Many of these, however, were strong mediæval castles built for a different purpose, and had nothing in common with the crannogs proper beyond the fact of their insular situation.

From an etymological analysis of the earliest topographical nomenclature of Britain, as well as from other sources, there is abundant proof that in former times a Celtic population occupied nearly the whole of the island. Ultimately, however, these Celts were driven by successive waves of immigrants to the far north and west, and it becomes an important inquiry to determine if, in these localities from which they were expelled, there still exist any traces of lake-dwellings. I have already remarked that no remains of wooden islands have been found in the south-east of Scotland. This, however, may be due to want of research on the part of antiquaries, and other causes, which so long kept us altogether in the dark regarding the phenomena of lake-dwellings in this country; and, indeed, some curious indications have already been supplied by independent observers as to their existence, not only in the south-east of Scotland, as at Balgone in East Lothian (see footnote, page 249), but in several parts of England and Wales.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 40: _Caledonia_, Book iii. chap. v. pp. 358 _et seq._]

[Footnote 41: Amongst the donations to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, I find various vessels of brass found in marshy ground near Balgone, East Lothian (also deer's horns and bones of animals.--_Proceed._ vol. vi. p. 174), by Sir George Grant Suttie, Bart., which are at least suggestive of the former existence of a lake and a crannog in the locality.

These vessels consist of--

A large bronze (brass) tripod pot, with loops at the neck for handle, 13 inches across the mouth, 15-1/2 inches high, and circumference round the middle 45 inches.

Three other bronze (brass) pots of similar type, varying in size.
A bronze (brass) pot (measuring, etc.).
Shallow bronze (brass) basin, etc.
Portion of a larger bronze (brass) basin.
Bronze (brass) tripod vessel, with spout and looped handles, etc.
Bronze (brass) tripod vessel with straight spout, etc.

The following extract of a letter from Sir G. Grant Suttie gives the details of the discovery, dated 16th Feby. 1849:--"Last autumn my labourers were trenching amongst some rhododendrons in a piece of mossy ground under a peculiar ledge of grey rocks, in my park at Balgone, near my house, and about a mile and a half due south from North Berwick Law, when they found a number of camp-kettles of various sizes, one very large, and in this, one of the goblets was found. They were close to each other, and about 8 feet from the surface. The meadow, extending to about 20 acres, where they were found, was generally under water till imperfectly drained by me; since then the level has sunk from 3 to 4 feet. I have little doubt that when these kettles were deposited here the meadow was a lake, or at all events a morass."--(_Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._ vol. iii. p. 251.)]

[Footnote 42: See _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._ vol. vi. p. 91.]

[Footnote 43: _Lake-Dwellings_, by Keller, Second Edition, p. 657.]

[Footnote 44: _A Treatise on the Origin, Qualities, and Cultivation of Moss Earth_, 1811.]

[Footnote 45: _Sketches of Early Scottish History_, p. 100.]

[Footnote 46: Portion of the trunk of an oak-tree, recently dug out of the moss at the margin of the lake basin, still lies on the surrounding hedge bank.]

[Footnote 47: _Notes of a Tour in the East_, 1875.]

[Footnote 48: "It (the comb, Fig. 255) is 2-1/2 inches long, and 1-3/4 deep, and the three pectinated portions are held together by flat sides, decorated with scrolls and circles. The top or handle shows a triple open-work decoration, and the side-pieces are grooved at one end for receiving the clasp of a metal tooth, which replaced one of the lost bone ones."

Double-edged combs "vary from 3 to 4-1/2 inches in length, and from 1-1/4 to 2-1/4 across, the teeth portions being double, and passing through and through the sides to which they were riveted."

"The crannogs of Dunshaughlin, Ardakillen, and Cloonfinlough, and the street cuttings in the city of Dublin, have afforded nearly all the specimens of which the localities have been recorded. The total number of combs at present in the collection, including those on the 'Find Trays,' is eighty. Many of these combs are but fragmentary; yet in each a sufficiency has been preserved to enable us to judge of the original size, and also of its style of ornamentation, which generally consists of transverse or oblique grooves, diced-work, interlacings, dotted lines, and circles surrounding a central indented spot."--(Wilde's _Catalogue_.)]

[Footnote 49: "The comb drawn in the sketch (Fig. 259) is an elaborate affair, consisting of central piece or pieces, with teeth; the upper portion being strengthened in front and behind by transverse pieces of ornamented bone, riveted together by now much corroded iron rivets; three of the rivets are reproduced."--(_Roman City of Uriconium_, p. 86.)]

[Footnote 50: _Collect. Antiq. and Journal of Anthrop. Inst._ vol. i.]

[Footnote 51: _Proceed. of Soc. of Antiq. Scot._ vol. x. p. 476; xi. p. 305; and xii. p. 669.]

[Footnote 52: _The Past in the Present_, by Arthur Mitchell, LL.D.]