Chapter X: Part I (5)

Fig. 132.]

Fig. _b_.

Fig. _c_.

Fig. _d_.

Fig. _e_.

Fig. _f_.

Fig. _g_.

Fig. _h_.]

Fig. 134.

Fig. 135.

Fig. 136.

Fig. 137.]

Articles of Wood.]

Shears composed of iron, and doubtless used for all the purposes of modern scissors, are common in Irish crannogs. Some from Lagore are of graceful form, resembling articles of the same class found in Roman settlements: the one represented, fig. 133, is of very large size, 8½ inches in length. Figs. 134 and 135 differ but little from fig. 133, and they all resemble the implements commonly used for shearing sheep in the present day. Figs. 136 and 137 are small iron knives, with tangs for insertion into horn or wooden handles; at Lagore, where these articles were found, great numbers of blades, some not exceeding three inches in length, were discovered.

Of combs, the most numerous specimens are from the crannogs of Ardakillen, Ballinderry, Lagore, and Cloonfinlough: in some, brass teeth have been substituted for those of bone that had given way, showing that, at the time the repairs were made, that metal was easily procured and worked. Strangely enough, the most usual decoration consists of a series of dot-and-circle patterns. The same style of ornamentation was observed upon many of the combs found in the lake habitations of Switzerland, and amongst the waifs of Roman settlements in Britain. In the remains of such articles, in Irish and in Scottish lacustrine sites, there is a striking resemblance; indeed the bone combs, figured in Munro’s work, are identical with many existing Irish examples. Although the material is usually bone, yet specimens formed of wood are not uncommon: the great majority of combs discovered in Irish crannogs are highly artistic in design--the handle portion sometimes presenting animal forms. Sir John Lubbock says: “It is somewhat remarkable that, while even in the stone period we find fair drawings of animals, yet in the latter part of the stone age, and throughout that of the bronze, they are almost entirely wanting, and the ornamentation is confined to various combinations of straight and curved lines and geometrical patterns;” and this he believes will eventually be found to imply “a difference of race between the populations of Western Europe at these different periods.”[133] The comb, fig. 138, was procured from the crannog of Ardakillen, near Strokestown, county Roscommon. It is restored from the fragments, and in its original state was (as delineated) about 10 inches long, and 1¾ wide, it is now shrunk to a length of only 5½ inches. The toothed portions are in separate pieces, and by this contrivance the pectinated portion, if worn or broken, could easily be replaced. The comb, fig. 139, is the finest specimen of its class preserved in the Museum, R. I. A., it is 2½ inches long, and 1¾ deep. The three pectinated portions are held together by flat sides, decorated with scrolls and circles. The top shows a triple openwork ornamentation: the side pieces are grooved at one end, for the purpose of receiving the clasp of a metal tooth placed in substitution of one that had been lost. Fig. 140, of the same class, is a specimen of a short, one-sided, highly decorated comb, 2¼ inches long, by 1⅜ deep. It is formed out of a single piece of bone, is of graceful outline, and decorated upon the sides with a number of dotted lines and circles. The three elevated rivets projecting above the toothed portion, fastened metal plates which had been attached to the comb, either when it was originally made, or after it had been broken and mended.[134] Fig. 141 is also formed out of a single piece of bone, ornamented with a dot-and-circle pattern; it was found in the same crannog. A third variety of comb, being double-toothed, is of a type so modern, that it seems to call for no special description.

Fig. 140.--Bone Comb from Lagore.]

Bronze Tweezers from Ballinderry.]

Fig. 144.--Nodule of Clay-slate from Ballinderry Crannog.]

Save combs, very few articles for the toilet have been brought to light in Irish crannogs, compared with the numbers found in other countries: the accompanying engraving represents, however, what appears to be tweezers, 3 inches long, made of bronze, and decorated on the external surfaces with dot-and-circle pattern.[135] This, and the two following articles, are from Ballinderry. Fig. 143, a pendant or amulet, ornamented with dots in circles (as represented in the engraving), is carved out of soft stone, and the inscription which it bore is so much defaced as to be now undefinable. It is 3 inches long, including the handle, or loop, for suspension, 1¼ inch wide, and about ⅝ inch thick. The inscription is at top, separated by a line from the ornamentation in the central part: the back is plain. Fig. 144 is a flattish nodule of clay-slate iron ore: at one side, dots, each with two concentric circles in the shape of a double cross, scribed on it, surrounded by a border of similar ornamentation; on the other face, there are a number of the same circles, irregularly disposed (as shown in fig. 144), and, at one side of it, a runic-like scribing. The stone measures 3 inches by 2½, and is about 1½ inches thick. It is, to a certain extent, polished.[136]

Fig. 145, found in the crannog of Lisnacroghera is a small bronze object, considered by W. F. Wakeman to have been an amulet: “the figures which it bears are curvilinear examples of a symbol known to antiquarians as the swastica. There can be little or no question as to the eastern origin of this form of cross.”[137]

From the tenacity with which craftsmen adhered to ancient designs or patterns, it is difficult to assign even an approximate date to many remains of articles suitable for personal decoration; however, any brooch, pin, or other object, upon which interlacing tracery is displayed, should not be referred to a period antecedent to the introduction of Christianity into Ireland.

Bronze Brooch from Lagore.]

Fig. 148.--Penannular Ring, or Brooch, from Lough Ravel.]

Penannular Ring from Ardakillen. Two-thirds real size.]

Of bronze articles connected with personal adornment, few can equal in design and workmanship the hinge brooch from Ardakillen, here represented; it is considered to be of great antiquity. The decoration on the enlarged ends partakes of the “Celtic trumpet pattern,” while the central connecting curved strap, with a raised intertwinement, like that seen on some sculptured crosses, and in the illumination of ancient MSS., would appear to have been cast. The thin ornamented plate in front is fastened by eight rivets to a stout flat plate behind, which also overlaps the edges of the strap; its flat pin is hinged at the back.[138] The very remarkable brooch, represented full size, plate XXVI., was obtained by Petrie[139] soon after the first opening of the Lagore crannog. The original discoverer stated that it was enclosed in an ancient case or box of yew--this has unfortunately been lost. The material of which the brooch is composed, is fine golden-coloured bronze, so lustrous that, in places which have been rubbed or exposed to friction, it is difficult to decide whether the article had not been originally gilt. The pin is 6⅝ inches in length: the diameter of the ring 3⅝ inches. The deeply set compartments, or panels, some thirteen in number, into which the ring is divided, contain ornamentation in what is generally designated the Celtic style: these designs, various in character and admirably executed, remain as sharp as when originally made. It is decorated on the front only. The ring, as is usual, expands on one of its sides, so as to fill up nearly one-half of the circle. The head of the acus is secured to the ring by a boldly projecting loop. The thickness of the plate forming the ring is about a quarter of an inch; the edges are plain. Another bronze brooch,[140] in use amongst the crannog dwellers of Lagore, is smaller than that shown on plate XXVI. The ring measures but 2 inches in diameter; the head of the acus contains a series of circular concentric mouldings, the intermediate spaces being deeply sunk; in the centre is a cavity which formerly contained a setting. The ring is continuous, and one of its sides expands, exhibiting circles (similar to those ornamenting the head of the pin), in one of which a fine setting of amber still remains; the other is now empty. There is no trace of enamel having been used on this brooch. A beautiful bronze fibula, or brooch, found on the site of the crannog of Lough Ravel, is here reproduced (full size), from the engraving in the late _Ulster Journal of Archæology_. This brooch, and one of silver from the same locality, are distinguished by their peculiar bird-head ornamentation on the superior extremity. From the same crannog came the penannular ring or brooch (fig. 148); and, from Ardakillen, a small penannular ring (fig. 149), of most curious torque pattern; indeed, penannular rings of bronze, of various sizes, sometimes highly decorated in very primitive style, are of not unfrequent occurrence in Ireland: they are supposed by some writers to have been used as a kind of money; others have pronounced them to be finger-rings, or bracelets, according to their size; similar objects are met with in gold, and, like their bronze prototypes, have greatly puzzled the learned in antiquarian matters. At the crannog of Lisnacroghera were found two penannular rings, formed of very thin, golden-coloured bronze. They are hollow, and consequently extremely light, so that they could scarcely have served as money: and the smallness of their diameter, which is only 1⅜ inches, shows that they could not have been bracelets. The following articles are also from Lisnacroghera. Fig. 151, a bronze stud--use problematical. Fig. 152, a plain bronze rivet. The circlets of bronze, figs. 153, 154, 155, may have been either the rings of brooches or pins, or perhaps buckles which had lost their tongues. Fig. 155 still retains traces of red enamel in its chevron, or wavy ornamentation.[141]

Fig. 152.--Bronze Rivet.]

Fig. 154.

Fig. 155.

Bronze Circlets.]

Touchstones would appear, from their make, to have been worn about the person, several being pierced with a hole, seemingly for attachment of a string. Sir W. Wilde remarks that they have been found both flat and four-sided, and with and without perforation. They are formed generally of black Lydian stone or of jasper, either material being suitable for gold-testing. Lydian stone, or black chert, is “an impure flint, found in the central portions of the carboniferous limestone of Ireland, and at the base of the Kilkenny coal formation. It is of a dull dark colour, approaching to black; is more opaque, brittle, and stone-like, than flint; never possesses the same translucency, and does not so readily chip into conchoidal fragments: but, next to flint, it is one of the hardest of the siliceous rocks, and hence was used occasionally for forming tools and weapons by the inhabitants of those districts where flint was rare. Lydian stone, ‘Lapis Lydius,’ or, ‘Lapis Hibernicus,’ as it was denominated by the old Dutch writer De Boot, so long ago as 1647, is the true touchstone of the ancients.”

Pipe-clay Crucible.]

Few ornaments of silver, and still fewer of gold, have been brought to light in crannogs, the antiquities of which consist mainly of the more homely class of bone, bronze, and iron articles for personal adornment; yet numerous gold ornaments have doubtless been discovered, but remained unrecorded, from fear of detection on the part of the finder, before the Treasury Minute respecting “Treasure Trove” came into operation. Antique articles of gold have been turned up in the bogs of Ireland, and in various parts of the country. Is it likely that the inhabitants of “island fortresses” should alone be devoid of the precious metal, especially as in them have been found both small earthen crucibles--so diminutive as to have been useful only for gold or silver smelting,--and also small pipe-clay cupels for refining purposes, like those used in the present day for the assay of gold and silver? Fig. 156 represents a pipe-clay crucible from the crannog of Lagore, 2 inches broad, and 1 inch high. A well authenticated instance of the discovery of the precious metal in a crannog, was that of “several gold pins,” at Loughtamand, county Antrim;[142] and, in the autumn of 1870, a beautiful, almost unique, specimen of early Irish art came to light on the site of the former lake dwelling of Lough Ravel, county Antrim. The accompanying woodcut is the size of the original. This silver brooch, or fibula, represents two bird-headed serpents joined together: both sides of the ornament are alike; the silver is slightly thinner than a shilling piece; the pin is missing. In the design there seems to be a resemblance to some of the initial letters in the “Book of Kells,” and other early Irish MSS., so that its probable age is not later than the tenth century.[143]

Fig. 159.--Stone Ring. One-half size.]

Jet Bracelet, or Ring. One-quarter size.

Fig. 161.

Glass Bracelet, or Ring. One-third size.]

Figs. 158 and 159 are good examples of stone rings, the former 2½ inches in the clear; the latter, 2¾ inches. Fig. 160, drawn one-fourth the real size, is a bracelet of jet, from Lough Eyes, restored from the fragments; and fig. 161, restored from existing remains in the Museum, R.I.A., is of blue-coloured glass, decorated with spots and a cable pattern.

Beads, composed of various materials, from Ardakillen, Lagore, Ballinderry, Drumdarragh, Cloonfinlough, and Lough Eyes.]

Beads of stone, bone, jet, earthenware, and wood, occur in crannogs; also beads of amber, of which many are in modern use amongst the peasantry as prayer-beads. O’Flaherty, in his _Iar Connaught_, states that amber was procured in more or less quantities on the coast of Galway. Ornaments of glass, from the most simple and unpretending plain blue bead to that studded with settings of enamel or vitreous paste, so varied in colour and of so much beauty in outline that they might be worn at the present day, are still met with in crannogs, as well as in pagan sepulchres. Blue appears to have been the favourite colour, but some are pale green, white, yellow and red, with spirals and decorations of varied colours; whilst others have a dark groundwork, and are studded with fragments of red, green, yellow, blue and white enamel. All the beads figured in plate XXVII. are drawn full size. No. 1, formed of stone, presents an average specimen of its class. No. 2 is from Lagore, where a considerable number, but of smaller size, occurred. No. 3, composed of bone, is probably the largest bead of that material found in any crannog: usually, they are scarcely the size of an ordinary pea. No. 4 is a pendant of black opaque glass; it probably formed the centre of a necklace. One resembling it, but composed of stone, may be seen in the Petrie Collection, R.I.A. No. 5 is a small bead of blue glass; its form is one of rare occurrence. No. 6, of plain cylindrical outline, was accompanied by several others of the same class: in colour it is a dull green. No. 7, a small globular bead of glass: colour deep blue; and No. 8, of similar shape, is composed of opaque white glass, or porcelain. No. 9 is a beautiful bead of green glass, presenting in dark-blue the dot-and-circle pattern; the spaces between the dots and their surrounding circles are pure white, so that a very pleasing effect is produced. No. 10 is an unusually long bead, of material similar to No. 6. No. 11 is a curious bead, through which passed a piece of bronze wire, which probably formed the loop of a pin. No. 12 is formed of dark-green glass, relieved by yellow ornamentation, as shown in the representation; and No. 13 is of dark-blue opaque glass, or paste, with chevrons of white glass, or enamel, passing round it. No. 14 is formed of white glass, or porcelain, ornamented with a pattern in black, and the opening for the string unusually large. No. 15 is composed of very light-coloured blue glass; and No. 16 of pure crystal. No. 17, formed of jet, was accompanied by fragments of bracelets of the same material. No. 18, apparently formed of fine clay, its colour what artists call Venetian red, is in the Petrie Collection. No. 19 is, undoubtedly, most curious, not on account of its form or design, which is common, but in regard to its being made of lead--perhaps the only example of a bead of that material discovered in Irish crannogs. No. 20 is a fine specimen of the amber bead, so often discovered in connexion with very early remains. No. 22 is also an amber bead, of rather unusual form, being almost flat, like a wheel. Nos. 23 and 24 were picked up by W. F. Wakeman, from the shores of one of the crannogs of Lough Eyes, but at a time subsequent to the publication of his Paper on that locality.[144] The collection of glass and enamel beads in the Museum, R.I.A., contains one of long cylindrical form, composed of blue, white, and yellow enamel; it is ¾ of an inch long, is decorated with a blue and white band round each extremity, and has yellow spots on the centre: it is of the same character as No. 41, represented by fig. 162. No. 21, one of the most beautiful beads in the collection, fig. 163, measures half an inch in the longest diameter, and is composed of clear glass, with bright yellow spirals of opaque enamel covering its sides. No. 27, represented by fig. 164, is an opaque bead of glass, light-green in colour: the aperture is rather large, so that it may have been used as a necklace, or pin-bead; it is grooved in melon-form. Two beads, composed of green glazed-ware, and also of melon-shape, may be seen figured at page 178, in Munro’s _Scottish Lake Dwellings_. Nos. 20, 21, and 27, Museum, R. I. A., are from the crannog of Lagore.

Bead from Lagore.

Fig. 163.

Bead from Lagore.

Fig. 164.

Bead from Lagore.]

Fig. 166.

Fig. 167.

Beads from Lisnacroghera.]

Fig. 169.

Beads from Lough Ravel.]

Glass Bead from Ballintlea.]

The three following beads here described are from the crannog of Lisnacroghera. Fig. 165, of opaque blue glass, very dark in colour, but relieved with white streaks of the same material, crossing each other obliquely. Fig. 166, of ordinary blue glass, quite plain; and, fig. 167, an elongated cylindrical bead of amber.[145] In Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, and in Keller’s _Ancient Lake Dwellings of Switzerland_, may be seen representations of beads, greatly resembling one from the crannog of Lough Ravel, county Antrim, as shown in fig. 168. Fig. 169, from the same locality, is somewhat similar, but the yellow, raised and rope-like decoration which encircles it does not form an integral part of the glass; it has been produced by laying the colour on the surface, instead of its being fused into the glass. The bead, fig. 170, although from the lands of Ballintlea, near Timahoe, Queen’s County, is of the same class as many discovered in crannogs. At top and bottom it exhibited indications of friction, showing it had been strung with others as a necklace, or some article of personal adornment. It is formed of sea-green glass, moulded to represent interlaced cords, the strands composed of threads of white glass; round the upper and lower rims there are small knobs of opaque yellow glass. That these beads are of native Irish manufacture is extremely probable, as, in two instances at least, lumps of blue glass in an unfashioned state have been discovered in connexion with crannogs, which also yielded beads of exactly the same colour and material. The majority of the beads present internal evidence of the manner in which they were made: “the glass has at first been in the form of a rod, then a portion, when in a soft state, was bent into the form of a bead, and sufficiently heated to cause the ends to unite.… When the ornamentation is composed of a spiral rod, it has been laid on in the same way, and the line of junction can be made out in every case.”[146]

Harp, from the Crannog of Ballinderry. Woodwork restored.]

_Music._--It has been remarked that, in order to form a just estimate of the character of any particular people, it is necessary to investigate the pastimes and amusements most prevalent amongst them; war, and other contingent circumstances may place men at different times in different points of view, but when we follow them into the retirement of their homes, we are most likely to see them in their true state. In crannogs few musical instruments have come to light, owing probably to the perishable materials of which they were usually composed, yet enough remain to prove that, in time of peace, the sweet sound of the harp, and in war, the hoarse bray of the trumpet, resounded over the waters of the lakes. Portions of ancient harps have not unfrequently occurred in crannogs, but no fairly perfect example has as yet come to light. Some harp pins are formed of bronze, and several of bone were found at Ardakillen. In the Museum, R.I.A., there are upwards of twenty harp pins, the majority obtained from crannogs: they vary in length from 2⅛ to 4⅛ inches, are square in the head, and perforated in the smaller extremity, for holding the wire string. In the accompanying plate XXVIII., is figured (1) an Irish harp as restored: it stands at present 37 inches in height, all the metal portions were discovered in the crannog of Ballinderry, county Westmeath, and the proportions and form of the modern woodwork were regulated by the size and form of the original metal work; the thirty-five pins show the number of strings that were formerly attached. Although the style of decoration is of a very early character, yet as the letters I.H.S., surmounted by a cross, appear engraved on a brass plate in front of the instrument, the work cannot be older than the sixteenth century. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, convey a clear idea of the kind of ornamentation on the metal fittings, and No. 7 (from Drumdarragh crannog) represents a harp pin of the usual kind.

BRONZE TRUMPET, NOW IN THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY.

FOUND IN THE CO. DOWN, A.D. 1809.

Figures 2 and 3 side view of Trumpet, scale one and a-half inch to a foot; Fig. 4 shows the joining of the plate, and of the two lines of rivets of Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is similarly rivetted.

Fig. 1 section of fig. 2 at larger end, full size, showing strap and rivets.]

In 1809, at Ardbin, parish of Annaghclone, county Down, both joints of a very large and perfect curved bronze trumpet, or bugle-horn, were disinterred from a peat bog that had been a sheet of water about the middle of the last century. As conclusive proof of there having been a crannog in this former lake-bed, a stratum of burnt oak, a canoe scooped out of a single tree, together with four short paddles, were dug up from the peat. Of the trumpet, the remains--minutely described in the _Newry Magazine_ for 1815--are now in the Museum, R. I. A., and in the accompanying engraving (fig. 172) the outside trumpet is a representation of this instrument. As may be observed, from comparison with the various other horns in the Museum, it is by far the largest of that collection, and is probably (as asserted by Wilde) the finest of its kind discovered in Europe. The trumpet is given on a larger scale in plate XXIX.: “it measures 8 feet 5 inches along the convex margin, and consists of two portions, each formed of very strong sheet bronze of a yellowish red colour, and joined along the seam.” It is 3½ inches wide at the open of the large end, and ⅝ at the upper; the small tube has parallel sides, and is about the size of the small extremity of the larger. By what means the two were joined together, or whether a mouth-piece was attached to the small extremity, is unknown, yet a variety of loud martial tones can be produced by the lower fragment. “The riveting of the edges in this instrument is the most perfect thing of its kind yet discovered, and is well exhibited in the accompanying cut, drawn the natural size from portions of its external and internal surfaces. The bronze strap which covers the joining on the inside is studded with small circular-headed studs, riveted on the outside, as shown in the lower section of the cut. There is no strap externally; and the perfection of the riveting has long been a subject of admiration to the curious, there being as many as 638 rivets in the lower portion.[147] By what means they were introduced throughout, or what description of mandril was employed for riveting them upon, is still subject of speculation.”[148] To judge from its size, this kind of war trumpet should give no uncertain sound. It is stated by Polybius, that on the continent “the parade and tumult of the Celts terrified the Romans, for there was amongst them an infinite number of horns and trumpets,” &c. And in describing the Celtic Gauls, Diodorus Siculus says, “they have amongst them trumpets peculiar as well to themselves as to other nations; these by inflation emit an hoarse sound well suited to the din of battle.”

_Chess, &c._--In early Irish MSS. frequent mention is made of chess as a favourite amusement of the Celtic people; and in “The Dialogue of the Ancient Men”--a valuable tract contained in the _Book of Lismore_--there is a curious passage relating to a game of chess, the players being Finn Ban Mac Breasel, son of the king of Leinster, and Guaire Goll, one of Fionn Mac Cumhail’s chess-bearers; the wager was three ounces of gold, and the players quarrelled as usual. The passage is here given as a record of the prevalence of this game at a remote period: “And these two played for three days, and Guaire did not win one game during that time. And he threw down his wager, and insulted and abused the other man, and he said ‘he was not a servant in service, nor a vassal in vassalage, nor a hero in heroism;’ and Finn Ban raised his fist, and gave Goll a blow that brought three front teeth out of his upper jaw, and they fell together on the back of the chess board.” Another anecdote in proof of the prevalence of the game may be found in O’Curry’s _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_; in it the scene is also laid in the pagan age, but anterior to the time of the famous Finn Mac Cumhail--[149] “It was a century before the Incarnation, that Eochaidh Airemh was monarch of Erinn, and his queen was the celebrated Edain, a lady remarkable not only for her beauty, but for her learning and accomplishments. One day that Eochaidh was in his palace at Teamair (according to this ancient story), a stranger of remarkable appearance presented himself before him: ‘Who is this man who is not known to us, and what is his business?’ said the king. ‘He is not a man of any distinction, but he has come to play a game at chess with you,’ said the stranger. ‘Are you a good chess-player?’ said the king. ‘A trial will tell,’ said the stranger. ‘Our chess-board is in the queen’s apartment, and we cannot disturb her at present,’ said the king. ‘It matters not, for I have a chess-board of no inferior kind here with me,’ said the stranger. ‘What do we play for?’ said the king. ‘Whatever the winner demands,’ said the stranger. They played then a game, which was won by the stranger. ‘What is your demand now?’ said the king. ‘Edain, your queen,’ said the stranger, ‘but I will not demand her till the end of a year.’ The king was astonished and confounded; and the stranger, without more words, speedily disappeared.” It is clear that chess is a game of great antiquity,

“Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale
Its infinite variety.”

From the crannog of Lagore was obtained a thin stone or slab of squarish form, measuring about 14 inches on either side. It presented upon its upper surface a number of squares as on a chess-board.[150] The material for this purpose, however, varied considerably, for in the “Annals of Clonmacnoise” it is stated that when _Muirchertach_ of the leathern cloaks (who lived in the middle of the tenth century) carried off the body of Cerbhall, king of Leinster, he caused a chess-board to be formed out of his bones. Instances of utilizing the osseous remains of a dead adversary were, in ancient times, not uncommon. The old Vikings, in imitation of their gods, quaffed their ale out of goblets composed of the crania of their enemies.

In Irish lacustrine sites a number of discs, formed apparently of deer’s horn, or bone, have been frequently met with; these articles, as a rule, are ornamented on one side only with the dot and circle pattern, such as appears upon combs and other objects of bone; many were found at Lagore, Cloonfinlough, Ballinderry, &c., and they resemble one from the Loch of Forfar, figured in Munro’s _Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings_. The term “whorl” has been very generally applied to these discs, the supposition being, that their use was to aid in the rotation of the distaff or spindle. Some Irish archæologists, however, have suggested the idea of their being rather draughtsmen, or counters for a game; and English antiquarians have pronounced a similar opinion with regard to ivory discs discovered in that country. The latter suggestion certainly carries with it a great degree of probability; and although the game of draughts as now played cannot claim great antiquity, yet there were other pastimes in which little stones, shells, or nuts were employed by the ancients; but, as the arts of man progressed, “stones and shells were laid aside, and ivory counters became their substitute.” Croften Croker in his tour through Ireland early in the present century observed two peculiar games then almost universal amongst the peasantry; one of them was played on lines usually marked on a board with chalk, as shown in fig. 174. “Each player is provided with three counters (_small black and white pebbles or shells_) which are simply deposited on the board in turn; the game is won by getting these three counters in a straight line. The centre point is considered the most advantageous, and is always taken by the first player: when all the counters are deposited, moves are made from one point to the next should it be unoccupied, and so on until a careless move on either side decides the game, by allowing the adversary to form his three counters in a row.” The unperforated discs ornamented on one side only it may be fairly surmised had served either in draughts or in games of that nature. Fig. 175 represents a specimen of this class found in a “souterraine” at Drumcliff, county Sligo, in company with calcined bones and traces of iron remains; it seems to be identical in style, size, and material with those found in crannogs, as for example fig. 176, from the crannog of Cloonfinlough, ornamented with a border of circles with dots in the centre surrounding four groups of similar circles: each group consists of four circles. Fig. 177, from the same locality, is plainly decorated with five circles arranged in a cruciform pattern. Both these articles are stained a dark-brown colour.[151]

Fig. 176.

Fig. 177.

Unperforated Bone Discs from Cloonfinlough. Full size.]

Fig. 179.

Fig. 180.

Perforated Bone Discs, with Spike, from Lagore. One-half size.]

With regard to the perforated discs, it should be borne in mind that they were of the same size as the _unperforated_, were decorated with similar designs on one side only, and that it is almost incredible so much trouble should have been bestowed on the ornamentation of an object intended to serve merely as a spindle whorl, as for example on the accompanying examples from Lagore. The more natural inference seems to be, that these discs were employed in some game--say chess--the perforations being intended for reception of the upper parts, marking the distinctive character of the various pieces used in the game. Nos. 10 and 11, plate XXV., may possibly have been these distinctive upper portions. An object similar to fig. 180 is described in the _Catalogue of the Museum, R.I.A._, as a “whorl,” in which a portion of the lower end of the bone spindle still projects; but might it not equally be supposed to represent a chessman--possibly a pawn--judging from the simple outlines of its projecting portion?

Plate XXX., Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, from Lagore, and now in the Petrie Collection, R.I.A., are all perforated. Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are discs formed of bone or horn, varying in thickness from ¼ to ⅛ of an inch; No. 6, however, is scarcely ¹⁄₁₆ of an inch. All these are unperforated, therefore could not have been used as “spindle-whorls.” No. 11 is quite plain, the other specimens are ornamented, but only on one side; all the above are of bone; Nos. 12 and 13--both of them composed of stone and perforated--also came from some of the crannogs in the neighbourhood of Strokestown, and the latter is a good specimen of the so-called “whorl” commonly found in the northern counties, where hundreds of them have been discovered in a great variety of places, in carns, crannogs, plough lands, &c.

Fig. 181, from Cloonfinlough, is, it is believed, a unique specimen of a stone chessman, rounded in the body, diminishing towards the top, and flattened at both extremities. It is 1³⁄₁₆ inch in height, ¾ inch in diameter, and is polished; the material beautifully veined, yellow, pale brown, and white.

Stone and Bone Circular Discs from Crannogs.]

_Ogham._--It is a disputed point, with regard to Ogham inscriptions, whether the signs represent a very ancient alphabet, or are merely a mediæval invention, or cipher. Some allusions to be found in old Irish MSS. refer them to ante-Christian times; but it may also be observed, that in similar writings frequent mention is made of a man’s _Ogham name_ as being scribed on a stone raised in commemoration of him; such name must therefore be inferred to differ from that by which he was ordinarily known. Now, if Ogham be viewed as a cipher, dating only from the early monkish period of Christianity, the _Ogham name_ may mean simply what in the present day would be termed _the name in Religion_. It is, however, immaterial for the present purpose to which category Ogham characters be assigned, for in either case they belong to the metallic age, as probably no race in the stone age had attained the art of communicating ideas by means of an alphabet. Even in the present day, when seeking to civilize barbarous tribes, it is found essential, for the purpose of imparting information, to adapt their languages to an alphabet. Ogham may be briefly described as an arrangement of strokes, or indented lines or notches cut on the arris, though sometimes found on the flat of the stone or other material, when a straight line is substituted for the arris. The letter is denoted by the length of the stroke or notch, its position, whether above or below the arris or line, or appearing both above and below, and likewise the number of strokes or notches grouped together. Oghamic scribings have been found on a stone in the crannog of Ballydoolough, and on bone pins and other ornaments in the crannogs of Ballinderry and the Strokestown group. Ogham appears to have been employed not only for mortuary inscriptions carved on pillar-stones erected over celebrated warriors, but also, in the same manner as we now use the Roman alphabet, for communication by messengers, &c. On one occasion a celebrated mythical Irish hero, named Cuchullain, when traversing a forest saw an inscribed pillar-stone, and hung round it a verse in Ogham character, carved by him upon a withe.[152] The MS. from which this anecdote is quoted was compiled about the year 1106. The same hero is elsewhere represented as sending information to Meave, queen of Connaught, by means of cutting or scribing on wands; the son of a Scottish chief is described as cutting Ogham characters on a spear. The date of the latter incident is assigned to the commencement of the Christian era. Another instance is mentioned, partaking however more of the nature of a regular letter. In A.D. 408, Corc, son of the king of Munster, was driven by his father into exile; he fled to the court of Scotland; but, before appearing in the king’s presence, an Ogham inscription on his shield was discovered and deciphered by a friend, who thus saved the prince’s life, the inscription being to the effect that, should he arrive at the Scottish Court by day, his head was to be cut off before evening, and if by night it was to be cut off before morning.[153]

It is almost needless to add, that all Ogham mortuary scribings are in very antique language, thereby adding considerably to the difficulties attending any attempt at translation of these archaic inscriptions. The Gaelic of to-day, where it yet lingers, is to the ancient dialect much what modern English is to the Anglo-Saxon of olden times. The oldest lettered characters of the Irish lake dwellers are Ogham or runic-like markings on stones, amulets, pins, and brooches. An important “find” at Ballydoolough consists of a block of hard reddish sandstone, measuring 2 feet 1 inch in length, by 4½ inches in breadth, and 6 inches in depth. On it are well-marked Ogham characters, and these, when read by the light of the Ogham alphabet, would seem to spell the word B A L H U.

Ogham found at Ballydoolough Crannog.]

In the comparison of Irish and Gaulish names by Professor Adolph. Picket[154] is found the Celtic name “Balanan” (BALANU), which seems very like that on the stone. At the thicker end of this stone, just before the commencement of the Ogham, a slightly-marked cross of peculiar form may be traced;[155] and the accompanying illustration represents, full size, a fragment of an ornamented stone, from Ardakillen, inscribed with Ogham-like scores.

_Money._--The precious metals, shaped for purposes of traffic, at once stamp crannog “finds” with a modern, or at least with an historic date. Very few coins, however, have come to light; the most numerous are of the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, some of them being forgeries. In the crannog of Cloonfinlough the coins varied in date from one of the Emperor Hadrian to a specimen of the brass money of James II. One coin was discovered under such strange circumstances that it claims special mention:--In the lake adjoining the glebe house, in the parish of Aghnamullen, county Monaghan, there are two islands, and about the year 1850 one of them was for the first time ploughed, and many curious antiquities turned up. In 1863, the rector then in possession, while seated on the island, and peering into the water, observed what to him appeared a button on the leaf of a water-plant growing up from the bottom of the lake; on pulling the leaf, this proved, however, to be an ancient coin--a half groat of the reign of Edward III. The natural growth of the aqueous vegetation had thus lifted to the surface of the lough some of its buried treasures.[156]

Strange as is this incident, it is surpassed by one related in connexion with the discovery of a silver penny of King John. It appears that upon preparing a fish of the bream species, taken in Dalkey Sound, the coin referred to was found in its stomach, and as it is on record that some time during the reign of John, a ship containing a large sum of money was sunk close to the place where the fish was captured, it is but reasonable to suppose that the coin in question had formed a portion of the lost treasure.

_Horse Furniture._--At Ballinacarriga, near Moate, county Westmeath, the peaty mould of a lake, now almost dried up, has at various times yielded numerous objects of interest. One of them (plate XXXI.) is thus described by Alderman Day, F.S.A.:--“It somewhat resembles in shape the wooden forepart of a cavalry saddle of the present day, but here the likeness ends; this piece of horse furniture is covered with interlaced knot-work of the choicest kind, similar to the well-known ornamentation upon our ancient Irish crosses. The timber composing it is yew, which fortunately was preserved by being deposited in the peaty mould of the lake bottom. The centre of the pommel is pierced by a very Moorish-looking horse-shoe ornament, and both sides of the timber are carved in compartments, no two of which are alike in their filling up of scroll and net-work. Even the top of the pommel, of both near and off side, differs in the pattern of the ornament. The points of the pommel at both sides are pierced with two holes, where the mark of the fong is apparent, by which the forepart was secured to the lateral boards which formed the seat of the saddle, and both points are grooved for the reception of these boards.” Bridle-bits, or cheek-pieces, were discovered in Loughran Island, in the river Bann: of these, one is quite plain, and the other remarkably slender; it measures 6 inches across--the two metal rein-straps still remain on the posterior loop. The third, fig. 184, represents a fragment merely, of one that had borne ornamentation.

Forefront of Ancient Irish Saddle. Back and Front view.]

Fig. 185 represents cheek-pieces from the crannog of Lough Faughan, and from Ardakillen. The bit proper, by which cheek-pieces of this class were connected, appears to have been almost invariably composed of iron. A perfect specimen with bronze mountings is represented in Shirley’s _History of County Monaghan_. An example of the iron bit which is supposed to have succeeded that composed of bronze and iron is here given. It came from Lagore, as did also several flat pieces of iron, which there is reason to believe had been attached as ornaments to some article of horse trapping. They measure 3 inches or so in length, by about ¾ of an inch in breadth, and are most curiously decorated in enamel of various colours, the patterns being geometrical interlacing figures in the style known as _Opus Hibernicum_; at the time of their discovery, they presented the only examples of enamel on iron which had then been noticed, and some of them may now be seen in the Petrie Collection of the Museum, R. I. A. It is not known when enamel was first used in Ireland. Some writers refer its invention to the Gauls, on the authority of a passage from Philostratus (who lived about the commencement of the third century), to the effect that the barbarians bordering on the ocean knew how to spread colours upon hot metal so as to become on the cooling of the material as hard as the substance over which they were laid. Fig. 187 represents a small plate of iron, covered with a rich pattern in enamel--vermilion, yellow, and black; and fig. 188 is an ornament of mixed metal supposed, like the preceding, to belong to a piece of horse furniture: it is inlaid with red, brown, and yellow enamel, and “exhibits also specimens of a remarkable glass-mosaic in chequered work of blue and white, encrusted in cavities chiselled out on the face of the metal. This kind of ornament is found occasionally on ancient Irish works in metal, it bears much resemblance to some antique ornaments discovered with Roman remains, and it occurs on the curious bronze basin found in the bed of the river Witham near Lincoln.”

_Miscellaneous Articles._--It would be impossible to classify all the articles brought to light on lacustrine sites; indeed the use to which some of them were, or could be, applied must now be purely conjectural, so widely do the habits of life in the present advanced state of society differ from the rude and primitive existence of the lake dweller. To the representation of objects, whose use could not now be defined with any degree of accuracy, have been added--since the work went to press--a few plates of miscellaneous articles that fell under the writer’s observation in the interval. They are of interest, as throwing still further light on the details of the lake dwellers’ ordinary pursuits.

Amongst the debris of crannogs have been found several designs carved upon the polished surface of the larger bones of mammalia. Sir W. Wilde observed that clear, sharp, and accurate impressions might be made from some of these carvings in the same way that proofs are taken from a woodcut. In some instances the pattern is elaborately finished, and would answer equally well “as a design for the panel of a stone cross, the decoration of a doorway, or cornice of a round tower, a compartment of a brooch pin, the capital of an early ecclesiastical archway, the illumination of a MS., or the graving of a piece of warlike furniture.” An example of this kind of decoration is shown on plate XXXII., fig. 1; it is the leg bone of a deer, 8½ inches long, highly polished, and covered with carvings; its precise use is as yet conjectural. Figs. 3, 4, 5, are _fac-similes_ of the embossed patterns on this bone.

Fig. 1. Decorated Bone from Ardakillen. One-third real size.

Fig. 2. Decorated Bone from Lagore. One-third real size.

Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Embossed Patterns on fig. 1. Real size.

Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Ornamentation on Bone from Lagore. Real size.

Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Ornamentation on Bone from Lagore. Real size.

Decorated Bones from the Crannogs of Ardakillen and Lagore. Use unknown.]

Another carved leg bone of a deer (plate XXXII.), fig. 2, is stained a dark brown colour, probably by lying in peat; its polished surface shows how much it had been handled. Upon the surface of this bone there are various devices traced with a graver or other sharp tool. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, represent these (full size), and figs. 10, 11, 12, are characteristic of Celtic animal ornamentation.

Fig. 190.

Fig. 191.

Fig. 192.

Fig. 193.

Plates of Bone, decorated, use not known.]

In the Museum, R. I. A., there are eight thin plates of bone, varying in length from 1 to 5½ inches; they are of every variety of shape--square, triangular, irregular, but the majority oblong. In some respects they resemble in form, size, and ornamentation, the class of small stone articles supposed to have served as toys, amulets, or in some kind of game. According to Wilde, however, their more probable use was either for the decoration of small caskets, or for dress fasteners. They are generally perforated in several places, and the foregoing illustrations display great variety of outline. Their outer surface, smooth and convex, was more or less decorated with a number of circular indentations and dotted lines. Most of the specimens were found in the crannogs of Ballinderry and Ardakillen.

Spoons formed of thin cuticular horn are not of unusual occurrence. The specimen represented, fig. 194, is one of two such articles found in the crannog of Clooneygonnel, and shaped out of the concave epiphyses, or joint surfaces of the vertebræ of some large mammal. A wooden handle had probably been originally attached to it.[157] Fig. 195, from Ballinderry, is a curious, rudely formed object of bone, perforated with four holes; its use unknown.[158]

Miscellaneous Articles found in Crannogs.]

Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. contain representations of miscellaneous crannog “finds” from Randalstown and Lough Guile, county Antrim, and Ballykinler, county Down: when not otherwise specified the articles are from the first-named locality. Plate XXXIII., 1, a piece of pottery (¼ size) that seems to have formed part of an earthen vessel; it is coarse, strong, well made, and graceful in design; other fragments were met with, and judging from the appearance of fire on the outside of one, it had been used for cooking purposes. 2. A remarkable object of granite (½ size); two of similar form were found at Ballykinler crannog. 3. A paddle or oar made of oak, its length 3 feet 7 inches by 4½ inches in breadth. 4. A wooden scoop; total length 12 inches, the handle 4 inches, thickness 1½. 5. A wooden vessel found with a canoe; its diameter 7 inches, depth 3, and thickness 1 inch; it would be adapted for baling out a boat. 6 seems to be a netting needle (½ size); it is made of iron. 7. A battle-axe; length from face to end of projection at back 7 inches, length of face 5½ inches, breadth 1 inch at the one end, and at the other 1½ inches. 8. Iron sock of a plough; length 7½ inches, greatest breadth 4 inches; it terminates in a point.

The following objects are all drawn one-half size:--9. A knife, the only specimen met with at Ballykinler crannog, having a handle. The haft is of goat’s horn, and the blade like a penknife of large size; it does not seem applicable to any ordinary domestic purpose, but it may have been used for bleeding or operating on animals. 10. A wooden instrument--of which two were found--made of soft, long-grained wood of the pine kind; they might have been used for coarse knitting. 11. An instrument of similar wood, use unknown. 12. There were several like No. 12, formed of soft wood; they might have served as fastenings for mantle or hair. 13. An instrument of bone, neatly made and polished, which might have been used as a pin. 14. A pin, made of a close-grained, hard, white wood, probably holly; several of these were brought to light. 15. An article of iron, use unknown. 16. A pin of iron; several of these were found. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, are pins of bronze. There were a great number resembling No. 17, also several of No. 19. 24. A large button made of bronze; the eyes are not fastened in but cast. 25. A crucible, seemingly of foreign manufacture, and unused; but several were met with greatly calcined. 26, 27, 28, seem to be fastenings for leather or other garments; they are of very thin bronze. 29 is a comb made of bone and riveted with iron (found at Ballykinler crannog).

Plate XXXIV., 1, is a pointed and socketed iron instrument from Ballymena. 2, drawn about half-size, is evidently a lamp of late, or perhaps mediæval form, composed of iron, and the workmanship good; it had an upright handle pierced by an oblong hole, with another hole in a projection at end of handle. A gentleman saw a lamp of this class in use near Carrickfergus in the year 1840, as also in the islands off the coast of Ulster. 3 is a canoe paddle made of oak, and about 3 feet in length; 4 is of stone, and was found in a crannog in the county Down; 5 is a “spindle-whorl” (so called) made of jet, and having indentations on it for a thong or string; 6 is a flint knife (full size); the form is rather unusual, flint knives being generally straight; 7 is a full-size representation of the smallest of two bronze knives; the other differs from it in being 1 inch longer, and the shape not so curved; it should however be observed, that these two articles are supposed by some authorities to be modern forgeries. 8 is a bronze instrument about 6 inches long, and very sharp at the point; the metal and workmanship being similar to the knives, it therefore may also be spurious. 9. A lozenge-shaped “spindle-whorl” of jet. This and the three preceding are said to have come from Lough Guile. 10 is a stone, natural size, perforated with two holes crossing at right angles, and at each end a hole going a short way in. It is suggested that it may have been the axis of a small wheel, “the arms being inserted through the holes in the body of the stone, while it worked on two projections inserted into the holes at the ends.”[159]

Miscellaneous Articles found in Crannogs.]

A pair of scales were found at Loughtarmin, and several at Lagore. At the latter place were also a number of sewing-needles, composed of various materials: the majority were of bone, about six or eight of iron, and four or five of bronze. Those made of metal were comparatively small and fine. Needles of the same kind have been met with in the great crannogs of Ardakillen and Ballinderry.

At Lagore was found a bronze object, use unknown, fig. 196. In one part it is ornamented with a beautiful chased design, once probably enamelled. In the same crannog there was a square iron pipe, 2½ inches in length, to which a long hook was attached.