V. PERSONAL ORNAMENTS…

V. PERSONAL ORNAMENTS

It has been already noticed that silver appears to have been a metal very little known in Britain, or the north of Europe, prior to the changes which we associate with the introduction of iron; nor is it difficult, as we have seen, to account for this. The rarity of iron during the primitive periods arises chiefly from the occurrence of the ore in a form least resembling metal, and requiring the most laborious and difficult processes to reduce it to a state fit for use; while the absence of silver is no less satisfactorily accounted for from the mining operations requisite for reaching the argentiferous veins, which were only possible when the introduction of the more useful metals had supplied an abundance of the requisite tools. One class of the earliest silver ornaments, however, retains the same primitive and indefinite style of decoration which has already been described as occurring on the pottery, and also on some of the bronze and gold ornaments found in the tumuli. A very valuable series of examples of this type are figured in the Archæological Journal, in illustration of an account by Mr. Hawkins of the discovery of a number of armlets, and various other silver relics, at Cuerdale, near Preston, along with Anglo-Saxon, Cufic, and other coins.

In the month of November 1830, some labourers engaged in digging for stones, in a field near Quendale, Orkney, came upon the remains of an old building, and, in digging among the rubbish, they found a decayed horn, which appeared to have been wrapped up in a piece of cloth, but the whole crumbled to pieces on exposure to the air. On the outside of the horn were what were at first supposed to be metal hoops, but which proved to be six silver bracelets. They were penannular, and tapered nearly to a point at the ends. The largest of them were square, and ornamented with a kind of herring-bone pattern; the remainder were round. The weight of the heaviest was nearly six ounces, that of the least one ounce, and one which weighed nearly one and a-half ounce, had silver wire coiled round it. Within the horn were pieces of other bracelets, and a quantity of Anglo-Saxon silver coins, including those of Ethered, Athelstan, Edwg, Eadgar, and Ethelred; and alongside were also discovered several broken stone basins. A few of the coins were preserved, but the armillæ, and the remainder of the hoard, were disposed of to a goldsmith in Lerwick, and melted down. Slight sketches of the armillæ, and a deposition taken before the sheriff-substitute of Zetland by the discoverers, are deposited in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Barry describes another hoard extremely similar to this, found at Caldale near Kirkwall. Two horns were discovered by a man while digging peats: they contained about three hundred silver coins of Canute the Great, and near them lay "several pieces of fine silver, in the form of crescents or fibulæ, differing from one another a good deal, both in figure and dimensions. Some of them were flat, others angled; some round, some nearly met at the ends; others were wider at the extremities; one resembled in shape the staple of a door, and another a loop for hanging clothes upon."[486] A portion of the coins alone escaped the usual fate of British relics of the precious metals. A silver armilla, of the same type as those discovered at Cuerdale, was found, in the year 1756, in a cist, along with a quantity of burnt human bones, underneath a large cairn at Blackerne, Kirkcudbrightshire, when the stones composing the cairn were taken to inclose a plantation. It is now in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. A silver bracelet, of a rarer and more artistic design, was found at Brough Head, Morayshire, by labourers engaged in digging the foundation for a new house, and is figured of the full size in the Archæologia Scotica.[487] The woodcut represents another remarkable Scottish relic, a massive silver chain, found in the year 1808, near Inverness, in the course of the excavations for the Caledonian Canal. It now forms one of the most valued treasures of the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. It weighs a little more than ninety-three ounces, and each link is open, and only bent together, so that it may perhaps be assumed with considerable probability, that it was designed to be used in barter, being in fact silver ring money. There are thirty-three links in all, each of them measuring one and nine-tenths inches in diameter, and about two-fifths of an inch in thickness, excepting two at one extremity, and one at the other, each of which are two and one-fifth inches in diameter. With this exception the links appear to be of uniform size, and would probably be found to correspond in weight. An additional link, which was in an imperfect state, was destroyed by the original discoverers, in an attempt to ascertain the nature of the metal. Another silver chain is described in the New Statistical Account, which was found within the area of an intrenched camp, about two miles above Greenlaw, Berwickshire, at the confluence of the Blackadder and Faungrass rivers.

Reference has already been made to the discovery of nine lunar ornaments of silver, on opening one of the great tumuli, or Knowes of Brogar, at Stennis, in Orkney. Notices of fibulæ, and other relics of the same metal, are to be found scattered through the Statistical Accounts, but mostly described in such vague terms as to render them of little avail to the archæologist. The information is usually added that they were immediately concealed or destroyed. A rude chain, now in my own possession, was found during the present season in the Isle of Skye; two of the links are of silver, and the third of bronze. It corresponds to relics composed of fragments of rings broken in pieces for the purpose of exchange, with which both British and Scandinavian antiquaries are familiar. They are not uncommonly linked together, as in the example now referred to.

The bronze relics of this period are much more abundant, and here it is that we, for the first time, come in contact with examples bearing undoubted traces of Scandinavian art, though these belong more correctly to the succeeding era, and will be treated of in detail, among objects of the primitive Christian Period of Scotland. The distinguishing characteristic of the ornamentation of the last Pagan era, as has already been remarked, is its definiteness and positive development of a peculiar style, along with the imitation of natural forms. A very great similarity, however, is traceable in the ornamentation of the whole northern races of Europe throughout a very considerable period; and in numerous cases it is only by a careful discrimination of details, or from some well-defined objects peculiar to certain districts or countries, that we are able to assign a specific epoch or nationality to discoveries. The interlaced ornament, or "runic knotwork," as it is customary to call it, is not unfrequently referred to as of Scandinavian origin; but of this there is not the slightest evidence.[488] It was familiar to the Greeks and Romans, and in its classic forms is known to architects by the term Guilloche, borrowed from the French. A beautiful and early example of its use occurs on the torus of the Ionic columns of the Erectheum at Athens. It pertains, in like manner, to Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Irish and Scottish Celtic art, and more or less to that of all the Northern races of the last Pagan era; while it forms a no less characteristic ornament of early Christian art. In Scotland especially it is the commonest decoration of a very remarkable class of monuments, more particularly referred to hereafter, but of which it is sufficient meanwhile to say that they do not occur, so far as I am aware, in any part of the Hebrides, or in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, where the Scandinavian influence was longest predominant in Scotland, and its relics are still most frequently found. The suggestive source of the beautiful interlaced patterns may be very naturally traced, as in the ornamentation of the earlier pottery, to the knitting and netting of the primitive industrial arts; nor is it at all necessary to assume that it was introduced from Greece to the north of Europe, though it is found, to a certain extent, common to both. But, indeed, many of the earlier decorations of the Scandinavian Bronze Period are also to be found in use by the Romans. The annular ornaments figured in the Guide to Northern Archæology occur on almost every Anglo-Roman patella; the spiral and double spiral ornaments are both frequently met with on mosaics; and an urn, shewn in the same work, is surrounded with one of the simplest varieties of the frette, a still more familiar classic pattern.[489] The only essentially characteristic ornaments of the arts of the northern European races are the serpentine and dragon patterns. In so far as these are not the obvious creations of fancy, they are clearly traceable to an eastern source, the traditions of which, it will be seen, are even more obvious in monuments of Scottish than of Scandinavian art.

So much has been already said in reference to the legitimate conclusions deducible from the various relics of primitive art, that it will now suffice to indicate a few of the objects most characteristic of this period. One of the most familiar of these is the snake bracelet. Examples of it have been very frequently found in Scotland, and several very fine ones are preserved in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. The annexed woodcut represents one of these, weighing thirty-one ounces. It was found at Pitalpin, near Dundee, in 1732, and bears considerable resemblance to another, and still more beautiful one, found, about the year 1823, among the sand-hills of Culbin, near the estuary of the river Findhorn, Morayshire. The circumstances attending the discovery of the latter are thus narrated by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, in a communication which accompanied a drawing of it exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland:--"Some of the sand-hills of Culbin are a hundred feet in perpendicular height; but the material composing them being an extremely comminuted granite sand, is so loose and light, that, except in a dead calm, it is in eternal motion, so that parts of the original soil are laid entirely bare. Though flints are not included in the mineralogical list of this country, yet there is one small spot among the sand-hills where flinty fragments are often picked up; and as elf-bolts, or flint arrow-heads, have been not unfrequently found on this spot, it is supposed that a manufactory of those rude aboriginal weapons may have once existed there. The finder having accidentally lost his gun-flint, went to the spot to look for a flint to replace it, and in searching about he discovered the antique."[490] The weight of the bracelet is two pounds nine ounces avoirdupois, and the form of the snake-heads, with which both ends terminate, seems to indicate that they have been originally jewelled. It can hardly be supposed that either of the above beautiful, but ponderous ornaments, were designed to be worn on the wrist. Such a weight would cumber the sword-arm of the most athletic hero; and this is still further confirmed by the form of the example found at Pitalpin, the inner edges of which are so sharp that they would not only gall the arm, but would even be apt to wound it on any violent action. Such ponderous bracelets were, in all probability, honorary gifts or votive offerings, though there is also reason to believe that they may have been regarded in the same light as the Scandinavian sacramental rings previously referred to. A very remarkable passage in illustration of this occurs in the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 876, where it is recorded that when the Danes made peace with Alfred, at Wareham in Wessex, they gave him the noblest amongst them as hostages, and swore oaths to him upon the holy bracelet. (Halza Beage.)[491] Examples, however, of bronze snake bracelets of lighter weight, and evidently designed to be worn, are of more frequent occurrence. In 1833 there were exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, two bronze bracelets in the shape of serpents, found in the district of Bunrannoch, Perthshire, on the northern declivity of the mountain Schehallion. The one weighed one pound two ounces, the other, one pound fourteen and a-half ounces avoirdupois, and they are described as similar to the armilla found at Findhorn.[492] Another example in the Society's Museum, covered with verd antique, is a light and beautiful bracelet, of the same type, weighing only ten ounces.

Among the earliest definite forms of Northern art, the serpent or dragon is the most common subject adopted for direct imitation, or as a suggestive basis for the play of fancy, by the primitive artist. The woodcut represents a singular bronze ornament in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries, the history of which is uncertain, though its style of workmanship completely accords with that of other well-known native relics. It is figured about one-third the size of the original. The protuberances on the snake-formed bracelets and other relics, evidently designed originally to represent the scales of the serpent, appear to have latterly become a conventional ornament, and are to be found on bronze relics unaccompanied by any more defined features of the snake or dragon. The annexed woodcut represents a very curious bronze relic in the Scottish Museum, whereon the triple snakelike form and scales are represented, but without the head or any more distinct characteristic of the reptile. It measures five inches in its greatest diameter, exclusive of the projecting scale-like ornaments. The exact locality where it was found has not been noted; but another example in the same collection, a little smaller in size, is believed to have been dug up in Argyleshire. It measures externally four and four-fifths inches in greatest diameter. Its most probable use is as a decoration of the arm, or possibly as a neck ornament; but it is quite inflexible, and if worn on the neck must have been permanently affixed to the inheritor of this cumbrous badge of honour. The larger of the two, which is figured here, weighs fully two pounds avoirdupois.

Of the commoner forms of torcs, head-rings, armlets, and other personal ornaments of this period, examples are not rare in Scotland, though the want of any efficient system for securing them from destruction, when of the precious metals, or of being buried in private collections and almost as effectually lost for nearly all useful purposes, renders it difficult to obtain accurate accounts of the great majority of discoveries. Some of the simpler bronze torcs and head-rings have already been described among the relics of the Archaic Period. But one of the most beautiful neck ornaments ever found in Scotland is a beaded torc discovered by a labourer while cutting turf in Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire, about two miles to the north of Cumlongan Castle; and exhibited by Mr. Thomas Gray of Liverpool at the York Meeting of the Archæological Institute. It is engraved on Plate III., along with the bronze vessel in which it was inclosed. The beads, which measure rather more than an inch in diameter, are boldly ribbed and grooved longitudinally. Between every two ribbed beads there is a small flat one formed like the wheel of a pulley, or the vertebral bone of a fish. The portion which must have passed round the nape of the neck is flat and smooth on the inner edge, but chased on the upper side in an elegant incised pattern corresponding to the ornamentation already described as characteristic of this period, and bearing some resemblance to that on the beautiful bronze diadem found at Stitchel in Roxburghshire, figured on a subsequent page. The beads are disconnected, having apparently been strung upon a metal wire, as was the case in another example found in the neighbourhood of Worcester. A waved ornament chased along the outer edge of the solid piece seems to have been designed in imitation of a cord; the last tradition, as it were, of the string with which the older necklace of shale or jet was secured. Altogether this example of the class of neck ornaments to which Mr. Birch has assigned the appropriate name of Beaded Torcs, furnishes an exceedingly interesting illustration of the development of imitative design, in contradistinction to the more simple and archaic funicular torc, which, though continued in use down to a late period, pertains to the epoch of primitive art.

Various other personal ornaments have been discovered in Scotland, manifestly belonging to this later era when artistic design had been fully developed, and its works were characterized by a well-defined style. Of one of the most remarkable of these a drawing has fortunately been preserved, made to illustrate a communication to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries in 1787, though the original, it is to be feared, must no longer be sought for. The cairn in which the relic was found is thus described: "At Cluinmore, near Blair-Atholl, there is a beautiful green cairn, called Sithain-na-Cluana, i.e., the Fairy Hill of Clune. It is about twenty paces high obliquely, and about one hundred and twenty paces in circumference. Upon the top of it there are the two side stones of the altar still remaining, upon which there are engraven some hieroglyphics, so much defaced that they are not readable unless the stones were turned over and narrowly examined."[493] A rough square outline is marked, "the urn, now open, 1½ ft. long;" and following it is the sketch, of which the annexed woodcut is an exact copy, of the same size. It is described as the "Large bronze ring found in the cairn of Clunemore." Rings of a similar character to this, though differing greatly in their details, have been frequently found in Denmark, and various fine examples are preserved in the valuable collection at Copenhagen. But the most remarkable feature of this very curious relic is the hooded snake's head which terminates one of the ends, the other having been most probably finished in like manner. It appears to have almost exactly corresponded to those on the large snake bracelet found near Findhorn, and like it seems to have been jewelled. Objects of this class are named by the Danish antiquaries, Rings for the Hair. A comparison of this example, with one engraved in Mr. Thom's edition of Mr. Worsaae's Primeval Antiquities, (p. 34,) will best illustrate their general resemblance, and the very marked difference of their details. Whether we assume it to have been designed as an ornament for the head or the neck, the Clunemore ring, with its singular snake-head finials, could not fail to prove a very striking article of personal adornment. Besides these hair-rings, the Danish tumuli furnish numerous gold and bronze bands, diadem and coronet shaped ornaments, and other head-dresses, nothing similar to which are known in this country. Various examples of these are engraved both by Lord Ellesmere and Mr. Worsaae, including a very remarkable one figured in the Primeval Antiquities, which was found a few years since in the neighbourhood of Haderslev, and has an inscription engraved on the inner side, in Runic characters, supposed to denote the name of the original possessor. Other rings which occur among Scandinavian sepulchral deposits are classified by Danish antiquaries among articles supposed to have been connected with Pagan worship. These include several varieties of penannular rings not greatly differing in general form from the British gold relics already described under that name. But besides these there are others of a much larger size, one of which, figured by Mr. Worsaae, is described as "a large ring or girdle of massive gold mixed with silver, which is rivetted together in the middle of the front, and is conceived to have been the ornament of an idol; for it can scarcely be supposed that any human being could have constantly worn such a ring."[494]

The woodcut represents an exceedingly beautiful bronze relic, apparently of the class of head rings, in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, which was discovered in the year 1747, about seven feet below the surface, when digging for a well, at the east end of the village of Stitchel, in the county of Roxburgh. It bears a resemblance in some respects to relics of the same class in the Christiansborg Palace, yet nothing exactly similar to it has yet been found among Scandinavian relics; while some of its ornamental details closely correspond to those which characterize the British horse furniture and other native relics of this period. One of its most remarkable peculiarities is, that it opens and shuts by means of a hinge, being clasped when closed by a pin which passes through a double catch at the line intersecting the ornament; and so perfect is it that it can still be opened and secured with ease. It is probable that this also should rank among the ornaments of the head, though it differs in some important respects from any other object of the same class. The oval which it forms is not only too small to encircle the head, but it will be observed from the engraving that its greatest length is from side to side, the internal measurements being five and nine-tenth inches by five and one-tenth inches.

Montfaucon, Vallancey, and other continental and Irish antiquaries, have traced the original of the lunar head-ornaments to the well-known head-dress so common in Egyptian sculpture, and, following out their favourite Druidical theories, have assumed them to be the special badge of the Druid priests.[495] There are not wanting, however, traces of ancient customs among the races of Northern Europe which would lead us rather to assign them as a part of female adornment, as Mr. Birch has already done to the analogous gorgets, so nearly resembling them in form.[496] The maiden coronet, or tire for the hair, in use among the northern races of Europe, and its correspondence to the snood or cockernonie of Scottish maidens, are very happily illustrated in Mr. Robert Jamieson's notes to "Child Axelvold."[497] One of the most touching passages of the old northern ballad derives its chief beauty from the allusion to the ancient usage of the maiden head-dress,--

"Lang stuid she, the proud Elinè, Nor answer'd ever a word; Her cheeks sae richly-red afore, Grew haw as ony eard. She doffed her studded stemmiger, And will of rede she stuid: 'I bure nae bairn, sae help me God, But and our Lady gude!'"

To tyne her snood is still a sufficiently intelligible phrase in Scotland for the loss which forfeits the privileges of a maiden, without admitting to those of a matron. The Greek poets also abound with allusions to the nuptial ceremony of taking off the bride's coronet,[498] and the Jews still preserve a similar usage; so that in this, as in so many other northern customs, we recover additional traditions of the Asiatic origin of the Teutonic races.

FOOTNOTES:

[486] Barry's Orkney, p. 225.

[487] Vol. iii. Plate V.

[488] The term Runic knot, as thus applied to the interlaced ornament, is a ridiculous misnomer, which, if it has any meaning, must signify the Alphabet knot!

[489] Guide to Northern Archæology, pp. 43, 70.

[490] Archæol. Scot. vol. iii. p. 99. It is engraved in a superior style in Archæologia, vol. xxii. Plate XXXV.

[491] Chron. Sax. edit Gibs. p. 83, quoted by H. Ellis, Esq., Archæol. vol. xxii. p. 292.

[492] Minutes of S.A. Scot., April 22, 1833.

[493] MS. Soc. Antiq. Scot., read May 1, 1787.

[494] Primeval Antiquities, p. 64.

[495] Collect. de Reb. Hiber. No. xiii. p. 70.

[496] Archæol. Journal, vol. iii. p. 35.

[497] Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 354.

[498] "The translators of the Greek poets generally interpret μίτρη by the zone or girdle, (of plaited rushes,) which among the Greeks and Romans was not properly a virgin zone, because it was to be worn by the wife till it became too short."--"In later times the unbinding the coronet and unbuckling the girdle, in putting the bride to bed, were so nearly connected with each other, that the zone and coronet were sometimes put for each other, and μίτρη applied to the former, as in the Argon. of Apoll. Rhod. b. 2. l. 287:--

------ᾧ ἔπι μούνῳ Μίτρην πρῶτον ἔλυσα καὶ ὕστατον."

--R. Jamieson's notes to Child Axelvold.

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VI. SEPULCHRES OF THE IRON PERIOD

The descriptions already given of the circumstances under which objects belonging to this era have been found, have supplied some sufficiently characteristic illustrations of the sepulchral rites of the period. Very few well-defined examples, however, of tombs of the era immediately preceding the introduction of Christianity have yet fallen under the notice of observers competent to furnish a satisfactory report of their appearance, or of the peculiarities which have marked the mode of interment in Scotland during this last Pagan age. They are indeed comparatively rare, arising, in part at least, from the period having been one probably of greatly shorter duration than those which have been previously considered; but also we may assume, from increasing civilisation having limited the sepulchral honours of the cairn, or the huge barrow, with its costly deposits, to a very few of the most distinguished chiefs. This latter conclusion receives ample confirmation from many cists found without any superincumbent heap, the contents of which, though of little moment, frequently suffice to connect them with the age of iron. To those tombs of this period, already referred to in previous chapters, one or two additional examples of special interest, however, remain still to be added. Lieutenant-Colonel Miller thus describes a discovery made on his estate of Urquhart, Fifeshire, in the autumn of 1832:--"In trenching the ground within about three hundred yards of Melford, on the Eden, I came upon the remains of two cairns, adjoining which was dug up a spear-head. It was under the root of a tree about an hundred years old, about three feet under the surface, and is the only one of iron that I have met with." The spear-head, which is figured here, measures, in its present imperfect state, only six and a half inches long. The Colonel also describes a dagger, which had very much the appearance of a breakfast knife, but was completely oxidized. There was dug up along with these a small vase, quite entire when found, and in form somewhat resembling a tea-cup, but which was carelessly left on the ground, and broken in the course of subsequent operations. Besides this, several pieces of pottery were met with, one of the thickest of which was strongly vitrified, and also a bronze fibula, and a considerable quantity of bones and ashes.[499] In another cairn, called Gaskhill, near the village of Collessie, in the same county, there was discovered, a few years since, an iron sword, now preserved at Kinloch House. Though greatly corroded, its original form is still sufficiently distinguishable. It measures fully eighteen inches in length, with one edge, returned from the point a short way on the back; differing in this respect from the pointless sword of the ancient Caledonian, as described by Tacitus, though corresponding to other examples found in Scotland, such as those already referred to, which were discovered in the parish of Cummertrees, Dumfriesshire, in 1834. In the course of the following year, a large tumulus on the farm of Dasholm, near Garscube, Dumbartonshire, was partially demolished, within which was a stone-chamber containing a bronze or copper relic, described as the visor of a helmet, with a spear-head, the blade of a sword, two small picks, and various other relics, all of iron, but concerning the original use of many of which the discoverers could form no idea.[500] The tumulus has been only very partially explored, and it is not improbable that it may furnish equally interesting contents to some future excavator. In 1836, another large tumulus was opened in the neighbourhood of the Clyde Iron Works, Lanarkshire, which contained, besides two cinerary urns filled with ashes, two bronze bridle-bits, and various other relics, supposed to have formed portions of horse furniture. The relics included in the latter class may justly rank among the most interesting remains peculiar to the Iron Period.

We know from the accounts of the Roman historians, that when the invading army of Agricola was withstood by the united forces of the Caledonians, one of their most formidable provisions for assailing the legions was the native war-chariot. The incidents preserved to us in the narrative of that memorable campaign of the Roman general, furnish the chief historical evidence we now possess of the degree of civilisation to which the native tribes of North Britain had attained at the period when they came into direct collision with the disciplined veterans of Agricola's army. But the most favourable view of the progress then attained by the natives which can be deduced from the allusions of classic historians, is amply borne out by contemporary archæological evidence. The union of so large a force under one native leader for the purpose of withstanding the general enemy, is in itself no slight evidence of an advanced social civilisation. We learn, moreover, that the British warrior had subdued and trained the horse to his service, and was accustomed to yoke it to the war-chariot; an ingenious and complicated piece of workmanship, requiring no slight mastery of the mechanical arts to execute.

This is perhaps the most important characteristic of the last Pagan era which the tumuli reveal to us; while we discover from them also the remarkable fact, that in the sepulchral rites accorded to the most honoured dead, not only the warrior's weapons, but even his chariot and horses, were sometimes interred beside him, not improbably with the idea that they might still suffice for his use in the strange Elysium whither the thoughts of survivors followed their departed chief. The horns of the deer, and other remains of the spoils of the chase, are frequently found in the older tumuli, with also occasionally the skeleton of the dog lying beside that of the hunter. But it is only in this last period when we have reason to believe the Teutonic colonists had brought with them to the British Isles many new arts and customs, that we clearly trace the remains of the horse, or find the relics of the war-chariot among the contents of the tomb, or beside the urn.

The researches of the geologist establish beyond doubt that the wild horse was a native of the British Islands prior to their occupation by the earliest Allophylian colonists, and even prove the existence of several species. "The best authenticated associations of bones of the extremities, with jaws and teeth, clearly indicate that the fossil-horse had a larger head than the domesticated races; resembling in this respect the wild horses of Asia described by Pallas."[501] A smaller species of Equus, the Asinus fossilis, is also found in the more recent or diluvial formations, along with existing as well as extinct species. Professor Owen remarks,--"From the peculiar and well marked specific distinction of the primogenial or slender-legged horses, (Hippotherium,) which ranged from Central Europe to the then rising chain of the Himalayan Mountains, it is most probable that they would have been as little available for the service of civilized man as is the zebra or the wild ass of the present day; and we can as little infer the docility of the later or pliocene species, Equus plicidens, and Equus fossilis, the only ones hitherto detected in Britain, from any characters deducible from their known fossil remains. There are many specimens, however, that cannot be satisfactorily distinguished from the corresponding parts of the existing species, Equus caballus, which, with the wild ass, may be the sole existing survivors of the numerous representatives of the genus Equus in the Europæo Asiatic continent."[502] Whether any of the fossil species existed at the period of earliest colonization in Britain is still open to question; but the occasional discovery of teeth and bones of the horse, along with the culinary debris of the Scottish weems and other primitive dwellings, seems to indicate its existence here among the British Fauna prior to its domestication and training for the Caledonian war-chariot.

A very curious discovery of the tomb of a British charioteer, with the skeleton of his horse, was made in the year 1829, in the neighbourhood of Ballindalloch, a small post-town in the county of Moray. It is thus communicated in a letter to the secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland:--"A labourer in digging for moor-stones here, a few weeks since, on a moor about a mile from Ballindalloch, found at a depth of above a foot from the surface, a quantity of bones, among which appear to have been a human skeleton, and also the skull and bones of a horse. The whole had been covered up, to my great regret, before I heard of it; but the labourer tells me that there were a quantity of rings and bits of iron, one of them like a great hoop: but all completely rusted. I have been fortunate enough to get hold of what I take to be the bridle [bit] of the horse, two bronze rings, joined by a double link of iron, and also some bronze rings which may have belonged to its harness. There were also some bits of wood, oak I find it to be from a fragment I have; but it was all too much decayed to tell what it had been."[503] The letter is accompanied with a sketch of what is described as "a curious little iron cup found in the grave." It is shewn in the annexed woodcut, and will be at once recognised by the archæologist as the umbo which formed the centre of the shield, and received and protected the hand of its wearer. The fragments of oak found along with it may have also included part of the shield, as well as portions of the war-chariot. Scarcely a doubt can be entertained that in this discovery we have one of the rare examples of the tomb of a British chief, with his arms and his chariot and steed laid beside him,--a piece of wild barbarian pomp which puts all the modern "boast of heraldry" to shame. A bridle-bit in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries, which answers closely to the above description, was found in 1822, along with the remains of the horse and rider, about two feet below the surface, in levelling May Street, in the New Town of Largs; and was accordingly assumed as a relic of the celebrated battle fought there with the Norwegian king, Haco, in 1263.[504] It consists of two plain bronze rings, measuring each three and three-quarter inches in diameter, and united by a double link of iron.

Independently of the great interest which justly attaches to the British war-chariot, as an evidence of skill and of considerable progress in civilisation, the horse furniture which usually accompanies it furnishes one of the most illustrative class of relics of the artistic skill of the period. Among these the bridle-bits have most frequently attracted attention. The examples found in Scotland differ in no very remarkable degree from those with which the archæologists both of England and Ireland are familiar. They consist generally of two large bronze rings, united by two or sometimes three links of the same metal. They are frequently highly ornamented, and the marks of later repair observable on many of them suffice to shew the great value attached to them. The beautiful example figured here, was found about the year 1785, in the bottom of a deep moss at the east end of Birrenswork Hill, Dumfriesshire, a locality rich in the remains of Roman and British arts, and where the traces both of Roman and native intrenchments are still visible. The outer diameter of the rings of the bridle-bit measures two and seven-tenth inches, and the ornamental appendages projecting into each ring still retain considerable traces of the red and blue enamel with which they have been filled. It must have been made for a small horse, as the centre piece measures somewhat less than two inches within the perforated loops. It appears to have been long in use. The large rings are much worn, and have been ingeniously repaired by rivetting a new piece to each. The small loops or eyes also attaching them to the bit have had a fresh coating of metal superadded where they were partially worn through.

A remarkable discovery of ornaments, bronze rings, bridle-bits, and other portions of horse furniture was made in a moss at Middleby, Annandale, in the year 1737. The whole of these were secured by the zealous Scottish antiquary, Sir John Clerk, and are still preserved, along with numerous other objects collected by him, at Penicuick House. The bridle-bits, though plainer than the one figured above, are of the same type, and one of them corresponds to it in the want of uniformity of the two rings, which is probably to be accounted for from their being designed for a pair of charioteer's horses, the more ornamental ring being designed for the outside, where it would be most exposed to view. The duplicate of this appears, from a note in the handwriting of Sir John Clerk attached to the example still preserved at Penicuick House, to have been presented by him to Mr. Roger Gale. Drawings of the principal objects of this valuable collection were forwarded to the Society of Antiquaries of London at the time of their discovery, by Sir John Clerk, and are still preserved.[505] One or two of the most remarkable objects found at Annandale are figured here from the originals at Penicuick House. They are nearly identical in type with the collection of antiquities found within the extensive intrenchments at Stanwick, on the estate of the Duke of Northumberland, and since presented by His Grace to the British Museum. Some of the principal objects are engraved in the York volume of the Archæological Institute, the Stanwick relics having been exhibited during the Congress of 1846. Another discovery of nearly similar character was made at Polden Hill, Somersetshire, in 1800.[506] These also have been secured for the British Museum, and correspond with the Annandale bridle-bit, figured above, in the beauty of their enamel as well as in the form and ornamental details of many of the articles. The great beauty of these objects and the amount of decoration expended on the horse furniture, prove at once the high state of the arts at the period to which they belong, and also the wealth and luxury of the people, which enabled them to lavish such costly ornamentation even on their harness and the furnishings of their war-chariots. No account is known to have been preserved of the circumstances attending the interesting discovery at Middleby, but the place where they were found precludes the idea of their having belonged to a sepulchral deposit. By far the most ample notice we possess of one of the latter, affording a valuable illustration of the precise use of the objects of antiquity described above, as well as of the rites and customs of their owners, occurs in an account of the opening of some barrows on the Wolds of Yorkshire, communicated to the Archæological Institute by the Rev. E. W. Stillingfleet, Vicar of South Cave, in that county. The following account of the contents of one of these, which proved to be the sepulchre of a British charioteer, is abridged from Mr. Stillingfleet's interesting narrative.

"The elevation of the barrow was uncertain, from its crown having being levelled; its diameter was from eight to nine yards. The cist was nearly a circle of eleven or twelve feet. In this cist, excavated to the depth of about a foot and a half in the chalky rock, and on a nearly smooth pavement, the skeleton of a British charioteer presented itself, surrounded by what in life formed the sources of his pride and delight, and no inconsiderable part of his possessions. The head of the charioteer was placed to the north with an eastern inclination. He rested on his back, his arms crossed on his breast, and his thigh and leg-bones appearing to have been crossed in opposite directions. Very near to his head were found the heads of two wild boars. Inclining from the skeleton, on each side, had been placed a wheel; the iron tire and ornaments of the nave only remaining. In diameter the wheels had been a trifle more than two feet eleven inches. The diameter of the ornaments of iron, plated with copper, which had encircled the nave as a kind of rim, was very nearly six inches. Each of the wheels had originally rested on a horse, the bones of which were found under or adjoining to them; the head of each horse being not far from that of the charioteer on opposite sides. From the size of their leg-bones these horses were of unequal height, but probably neither of them reached thirteen hands."

In the charioteer's cist were also found the bridle-bits, rings, buckles, and others of the metallic furnishings of the harness. Many of these objects closely correspond to those found both at Stanwick and in the Middleby Moss, leaving no room to question their native origin and workmanship, and thus freeing us from any uncertainty apparent in the communication by Sir John Clerk to the London Antiquaries, who has thus cautiously labelled his drawings,--"Horse-furniture found in a moss in Annandale in Scotland, supposed to be Roman or old Danish, or British!" The chariot and horses, as well as the personal ornaments and weapons of war, deposited beside the buried chief, were no mere idle funeral pomp, but destined for his use in a future world. Doubtless his faithful attendants anticipated, when lavishing such costly rites on his sepulture, that they were furnishing them for his entrance into the Valhalla of the Gods, proudly borne in the chariot in which he had been wont to charge amid the ranks of the enemy, and achieve such deeds of valour as form the highest attainments of barbarian virtue. It is to be remarked, however, that the articles found in the Yorkshire barrows differ from those discovered in Annandale, in being of iron plated with copper; whereas the latter appear to be entirely formed of bronze, and perhaps should, on this account, be assumed to be of a somewhat earlier date; unless, as is fully more probable, they mark a period when the use, or the full knowledge of the working of iron, was very partially diffused throughout the British islands, and when, therefore, the older and more familiar metal was still to be looked for among the more northern tribes.

It is obvious, from the various examples already cited, that much diversity existed in the modes of interment practised in Scotland during the last heathen period. The cairn and tumulus, the cist and cinerary urn, all occur accompanied with contemporary relics. The Danish antiquaries are able to refer to a definite period when cremation was abandoned for inhumation. But if the date assigned by Mr. Worsaae for the close of the Danish Bronze Period be correct, it very nearly corresponds with that of the introduction of Christianity into Scotland, when our later Iron Period came to a close. Perhaps it is to this closing period of the Pagan era that we shall most consistently refer the substitution of the earliest forms of rude oaken coffins for the primitive cist of stone. Mr. Worsaae has described the investigation of a remarkable barrow in 1827, at the village of Vollerslev, containing a cist hollowed out of a very thick oaken stem, about ten feet in length, within which was found the remains of a woollen mantle, a sword, dagger, palstave, and brooch of bronze, a horn comb, and a round wooden vessel with two handles. English archæologists are familiar with a corresponding oaken cist brought to light a few years since, on the opening of a tumulus at Gristhorpe, near Scarborough, within which lay a skeleton, and beside it a bronze spear-head, flint javelin and arrow heads, ornaments of bone, and a small shallow basket of wicker-work. The whole of these interesting relics are now deposited in the Scarborough Museum. So far as this single example goes, it rather tends to connect the remarkable deposit with a much earlier period. It is referred to in Mr. Thom's interesting preface to the English edition of the Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, as, with one exception, the only discovery of the kind known to have taken place in England. Probably, however, such examples are less rare than is supposed. They have already been observed in more than one instance in Scotland, though little calculated to excite interest in the minds of those under whose observation unfortunately such discoveries most frequently come. On the removal of a tumulus, a few years since, on the estate of Cairngall, in the parish of Longside, Aberdeenshire, two such oaken cists were exposed. They are thus described by Mr. Roderick Gray:--"One of them was entire; the other was not. They had been hollowed out of solid trees, and measured each seven by two feet. The sides were parallel, and the ends were rounded, and had two projecting knobs to facilitate their carriage. The bark of the trees of which they had been formed remained on them, and was in the most perfect state of preservation. No vestige of bones was found in either of them. They had been covered over with slabs of wood, and lay east and west."[507] A more remarkable ancient sepulchre of somewhat similar character was discovered in the parish of Culsalmond, in the same county, in the month of May 1812. The following account of it is furnished by the Rev. F. Ellis:--

"In preparing a field for turnips, the plough, at a spot from which a large cairn of stones and moss had been removed about thirty years before, struck against something which impeded its progress. On examination this proved to be a wooden coffin of uncommon size, and of the rudest conceivable workmanship. It had been formed from the trunk of a huge oak, divided into three parts of unequal length, each of which had been split through the middle with wedges and stone axes, or perhaps separated with some red-hot instrument of stone, as the inside of the different pieces had somewhat the appearance of having been charred. The whole consisted of six parts,--two sides, two gables, a bottom, and a lid. Only a small part of the lid remained, the greater part of it having been splintered and torn up by the plough. The coffin lay due east and west,--the head of it being in the east end of the grave. The sides were sunk into the ground thirteen and a half inches below the bottom piece. In the middle of them were grooves of rough and incomplete workmanship, and of the same length at the bottom. The projecting parts of the sides rested on a hard substance much mixed with ashes which had undergone the action of a very strong fire, and on which part of the grave had evidently been erected the funeral pile. In a corner of the coffin was an urn which was broken in the digging out. It had been formed of a mixture of clay and sand; narrowest at bottom, very wide at the top, and about ten or eleven inches deep. After the different pieces were placed in the grave in their proper order, it appears to have been surrounded with a double row of unhewn stones."[508]

It was my good fortune to witness the exhumation during the present year of examples of this remarkable class of oaken cists, under circumstances of peculiar interest. In the course of constructing an immense reservoir on the Castlehill of Edinburgh for supplying the city with water, an excavation was made on this, the highest ground, and in the very heart of the ancient capital, to a depth of twenty-five feet.[509] After removing some buildings of the seventeenth century and several feet of soil, in which were found various coins of the Charleses and of James VI., a considerable portion of a massive stone wall was discovered, which there can be little doubt formed part of the defences of the city, erected by authority of James II., exactly four centuries before: A.D. 1450. Lower down, and entirely below the foundations of the ancient civic ramparts, the excavators came upon a bed of clay, and beneath this a thick layer of moss or decayed animal and vegetable matter, in which was found a coin of the Emperor Constantine, thus suggesting a date approximating to the beginning of the fourth century. Immediately underneath this were two coffins, each formed of a solid trunk of oak, measuring about six feet in length. They were rough and unshapen externally, as when hewn down in their native forest, and appeared to have been split open. But within they were hollowed out with considerable care, a circular space being formed for the head, and recesses for the arms; and indeed the interior of both bore considerable resemblance to what is usually seen in the stone coffins of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They lay nearly due east and west, with the heads towards the west. One of them contained a male and the other a female skeleton, unaccompanied by any weapons or other relics, but between the two coffins the skull and antlers of a gigantic deer were found, and alongside of them a portion of another horn, artificially cut, and most probably the head of the lance or spear with which the old hunter armed himself for the chase. The discovery of such primitive relics in the very heart of a scene of busy population, and the theatre of not a few memorable historical events, is even more calculated to awaken our interest, by the striking contrast which it presents, than when found beneath the lone sepulchral mound, or exposed by the chance operations of the agriculturist. An unsuccessful attempt was made to remove one of the coffins. Even the skulls were so much decayed that they went to pieces on being lifted, but the skull and horns of the deer found alongside of them are now deposited in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. It is not altogether unworthy of notice here, as possibly indicating the Celtic origin of this early substitute for the primitive stone cist, that our term coffin appears to be derived from the Gaelic, cobhan, a coffer or wooden chest; Greek, κοφινος, a wicker-basket or coffer, though the more usual modern Gaelic name applied to the coffin is ciste-mairbh, or chest of the dead.

The great diversity in the later heathen sepulchral rites may be traced with much probability to the causes which have suggested the term Teutonic as most applicable to the period immediately preceding the introduction of Christianity. The isolation of the British Celtæ was at an end. Not only were the Teutonic races of the Continent effecting numerous settlements in the British Isles, and falling back on the more northern and purely Celtic tribes, as they were compelled to give way to the inroads of the Roman legions on their earlier scenes of colonization; but even where the Celtic population maintained their ground, we have abundant evidence that very extensive intercourse with the south was familiarizing them with the arts and civilisation of the continent of Europe. Such intercourse could not fail also to introduce to them many novel rites and superstitions such as are still traceable in the folk-lore of the whole Teutonic races. Numerous independent proofs unite in confirmation of the fact of an entirely new era having taken the place of the early Bronze Period. The uses and relative values of the metals had obviously been finally adjusted. The Scottish bridle-bit shews the adaptation of the iron for use and the bronze for ornament; and this is even more apparent in the plated harness of the British charioteer found on the wolds of Yorkshire. All the evidence concurs in shewing how great was the change that had taken place since the primitive metallurgist laboriously fashioned his weapons from the rare and costly bronze, still supplying numerous deficiencies with implements of horn and stone. The variety, moreover, in the sepulchral deposits, and in the character of objects designed for the same purpose, is no less indicative of the important changes superinduced on primitive arts, than are the various modes of sepulture suggestive of a diversity of national customs and creeds, or of the indifference and scepticism which are the forerunners of change. Everything betokens the close of the long Pagan era which we have followed down from that remote dawn of archæological annals in which we catch the first dim traces of the aboriginal Briton mingled among alluvial relics of strange animal life, to the commencement of authentic written history and inscriptions, preparatory to a new period of which our own century forms a part.

FOOTNOTES:

[499] MS. Letter, S.A. Scot., Dec. 1832.

[500] New Statist. Acc. vol. viii. p. 48.

[501] Owen's British Fossil Mammalia, p. 385.

[502] Ibid. p. 397.

[503] MS. Letter, J. Stewart, Libr. S.A. Scot.

[504] MS. Letter, John Smith, Esq. of Swindrigemuir, to John Dillon, Esq., 28th March 1822. Libr. S.A. Scot.

[505] S. A. L. Collection of Drawings, vol. ii. p. 61. I am indebted to the obliging attention of Mr. Albert Way for learning of the existence of these drawings, as well as for sketches, which enabled me afterwards to identify the objects in the collection at Penicuick House. The original drawings are by no means minutely correct.

[506] Archæologia, vol. xiv. p. 90.

[507] New Statistical Account, vol. xii. p. 354.

[508] New Statist. Acco. vol. xii. p. 733.

[509] The excavation extended to a depth of fully thirty-three feet below the highest part of the area included within the reservoir, but at the point referred to in the text the lowest perpendicular depth was about twenty-five feet.

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IV. THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD

"Tantum ergo sacramentum Veneremur cernui, Et antiquum documentum Novo cedat ritui, Præstet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui."

S. THOMÆ AQUINATIS HYMNUS DE CORPORE CHRISTI.

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I. HISTORICAL DATA

By whatever course the earlier colonists of the British Isles reached our shores and diffused the first influences of the presence of man, as well as those succeeding evidences of his progress, the traces of which have been reviewed in the preceding sections, it is unquestionable that that latest and most important of all sources of change, the introduction of Christianity, took place by a very different route from that of the Straits of Dover. All the affinities indicated by the later and well-defined relics of native art point to a more intimate intercourse and community of customs and arts between the natives of Scotland and Ireland than between those of the northern and southern parts of the island of Great Britain, taking as its natural intermediate boundary the Highlands of Northumberland and Cumberland. South of this the tribes partook of the characteristics of those of the neighbouring continent. They shared in the civilisation of the north of Europe, held by its mythology, and were involved in its enslavement by the aggressive expansion of the overgrown Roman empire; while the nations both of northern Albany and of the Irish isle were left to the unmitigated influences, for good or evil, of their wild independence. The geographical position of the British and Irish coasts sufficiently accounts for frequent intercourse between the natives of Scotland and Ireland from the earliest periods. While the narrowest part of St. George's Channel has a breadth of about sixty-five miles, the opposite coasts of the Mull of Cantyre and of Fair Head in the county of Antrim, are only fourteen miles apart. The remarkable ancient historical Gaelic poem, generally termed the ALBANIC DUAN, written in its present form in the reign of Malcolm Canmore about the middle of the eleventh century, thus refers to the first peopling of Scotland and the Irish origin of the northern Picts:--

"Ye learned of all Albin, Ye wise, yellow-haired race, Learn who was the first To acquire the districts of Albin.

"Albanus acquired them with his race, The illustrious son of Isiscon, Brother to Britus, without treachery: From him Albin of ships takes its name. * * * * * "The Cruithne acquired the western region, After they had come from the plains of Erin: Seventy noble kings of them Acquired the Cruithen plains."[510]

Of the history of the neighbouring island during the first centuries of the Christian era our knowledge is necessarily extremely imperfect and uncertain; nor have the over-zealous exertions of Irish antiquaries to clear up this period of their national annals greatly added to our information. Without, however, entering upon the controverted ground of primitive Irish history, it is sufficient for our present purpose to know that at the period of the introduction of Christianity into Ireland it was occupied by the Hiberni, an ancient if not aboriginal Celtic race, by the Cruithne, as the inhabitants of Ulster are called by the native annalists, and also by the Scoti, a race who had then apparently established themselves in Ireland, and secured a complete supremacy over the elder native population, at no very distant date. Whencesoever this latter race was derived, we have evidence that they were considerably advanced in civilisation, though their superiority appears to have been less in arts than in arms, the traces of early artistic skill being generally ascribed on satisfactory grounds to the older races who acknowledged their supremacy. So effectual was their superiority in arms, however, in effacing every trace of the independence and nationality of the more ancient tribes, that towards the close of the third century at the latest, the name of Scotia appears to have been generally applied to Ireland, and for nearly seven centuries continued to indicate the Hibernia of Latin writers.

Christianity had already gained some partial footing in Ireland prior to the apostolic mission of St. Patrick, who was consecrated for that purpose by Pope Celestine, A.D. 433. Both the parentage and country of the Irish apostle have been made the subject of recent controversy, but, according to the most commonly accepted history, the little village of Kilpatrick, on the north bank of the Clyde, between Glasgow and Dumbarton, claims the honour of having given birth to the patron saint of Ireland; in return for which the Scottish apostle, St. Columba, is acknowledged as of Irish origin. Though Ireland was not unknown to the Romans no attempt appears to have been made to subject it to their grasping sway, and it was accordingly left to reap by indirect means the advantages of southern civilisation. This the introduction of the new religion most effectually promoted. Greek and Roman literature received the attention of the clergy in a way that produced far more direct and beneficial results than any which flowed from the intrusion of Roman civilisation and supremacy into the neighbouring island. A native literature was developed and fostered, native arts sprung up, and architecture assumed a peculiar national character. From the middle of the fifth till nearly the close of the eighth century, Ireland was among the most civilized and prosperous of the nations of Europe, and wanted only a native Alfred or a Canmore to give the same unity to its independent tribes which St. Patrick had conferred on its ecclesiastical state.

It was during this prosperous era, in the very beginning of the sixth century,[511] that a small colony of these Irish Scoti effected a settlement in the district of Scotland now known as the county of Argyle, and conferred on it the name of Dalriada, according to spurious monkish traditions, in honour of their leader, Cairbre Riada, a celebrated Scottic warrior whose epoch is assigned by older Irish annalists to the third century. This, however, was certainly not the first interchange of races between Scotland and Ireland, nor did it exercise any immediate influence on Scottish history. The earliest authentic records succeeding the era of Roman invasion exhibit Scotland divided into the kingdoms of the Cruithne, or Northern Picts, and the Piccardach, or Southern Picts. The Irish Cruithneans were doubtless a Celtic colony originally from Scotland. Early writers agree in recognising both by the same name of Picts, though few subjects have excited more fruitless controversy than the attempts to assign historic consistency to the half-fabulous race of Scottish Picti, or even to agree on the derivation or meaning of their name. The nec falso nomine Picti of Claudian was long assumed as decisive of their being mere naked savages, who decorated their bodies with paint. But this error is now generally abandoned. A more consistent derivation may be sought in the Welsh peith, to scream, to fight, whence pic-t-a, fighting man. In accordance with such a derivation it appears to have been common to more than one native tribe or kingdom, and to have been rarely or never used unaccompanied by some distinctive epithet, such as the Gwyddyl Ffichti, or Gaelic Picts of the Welsh Triads.

Into the long disputed question of the origin of the Pictish race, it is happily no longer needful to enter at large. Much learning and acrimony have been expended on it, not altogether without reason; for its proper understanding involves the consistent resolution of that period, of no slight importance in Scottish history, intervening between the year 296 of our present era, when the first mention of the Scottish Picti occurs,[512] and the intrusion of the Saxon race in the eleventh century into the kingdom of the Southern Picts. To the critical researches of one or two recent writers, and especially to the consistent narrative of Skene in his able work on the Highlanders of Scotland, we owe the rescue of this portion of Scottish history from the confusion and mystery to which monkish legends and modern controversy had consigned it. During this important era which intervenes between the final retreat of the Romans and the accession of Malcolm Canmore, we find North Britain divided into the three kingdoms of the Northern and Southern Picts and the Dalriads. The Irish derivation of the latter being undoubted, further research into their origin has been left to Hibernian antiquaries, while our native writers long sought in vain to discover any clue either to the intrusion or extrusion of the Pictish race, which if distinct from the old Celtic population, must have appeared and disappeared like the winter's snow. By some they have been supposed to have been utterly eradicated by successive invaders, or to have gradually disappeared as a distinct race by marriage and intermingling with their supplanters. Others have maintained that the Northern and Southern Picts were two distinct races, of which the latter alone were exterminated or driven from the soil by the successive invasions of the Lowlands, while the former maintained their ground, which is still possessed by their descendants the Scottish Highlanders. The weight of evidence, however, and the manifest coincidence between the ancient topographical nomenclature throughout the whole of Scotland, leave no room to doubt that both the Northern and Southern Picts, who have long formed a mythic and half-fabulous race in the popular traditions of Scotland, were none other than the original Celtæ, who so resolutely withstood the Roman invaders. Ptolemy gives the names of thirteen Caledonian tribes; in some editions of the Old Geographer the number is extended to seventeen; and to these the questionable authority of Richard of Cirencester adds at least four more. In all probability the greater number of these existed as independent and frequently rival tribes, up to the period of Roman invasion, and were for the first time united under one leader or chief when Galgacus led them against the legions of Agricola. The immense host, however, which he brought into the field, shews that Scotland was then no longer a savage and thinly-peopled country, while their war-chariots, their shields, huge iron swords, and other effective accoutrements, have already been referred to in evidence of the progress which they had then made in the useful arts. This union against a common enemy, maintained as we have good reason for believing it was, throughout the whole period of the Roman occupation of Scotland, was perhaps the most important of all the fruits which Scotland reaped from the intrusion of the civilized Romans; and to it we may with much probability ascribe the permanent coalition of the numerous independent tribes, and the consequent establishment of the two Pictish kingdoms, the limits of which were to a great extent determined by the natural features of the country. Both spoke dialects of the same Celtic language, to which the philologist still turns for explanation of the more ancient name of Lowland as well as Highland localities, and which still exists as a living tongue among the Scottish Gael. In the Welsh Triads, which are believed to be fully as old as the sixth century, the Picts are uniformly designated, without distinction, as the Gwyddyl Ffichti, that is the Gaelic or Celtic Picts; and Bede, in enumerating the different languages in which the gospel was taught in Britain, speaks of the lingua Pictorum as one tongue, though it is apparent elsewhere that he was familiar with the distinction between Northern and Southern Picts. Even Ritson, while fiercely opposing the idea of any community of origin between the Caledonian Britons and the Picts, admits that the language of the latter was a Celtic idiom.[513] They were in fact the descendants of the only primitive Scottish race of which we possess any authentic historical evidence: the Albiones of Festus Avienus; the race of Albanus of the "Albanic Duan;" the Albanich of Welsh and native writers; and the most numerous and powerful representatives of a people which we have reason to believe continued exclusively to occupy the British Islands from a period the commencement of which we must seek in those dim unchronicled centuries we have already attempted to explore, down to the fifth or perhaps the fourth century B.C. Then began what we should call the Teutonic Invasion, and the long quiescent Celtæ once more renewed their old nomadic life. Yet the lapse of so many centuries has not sufficed to efface the ancient characteristics by which we still recognise as one race the Cornish, Welsh, Gaelic, and Irish Celtæ.

Of six modern Celtic dialects still recognised in Europe, four belong to the British Isles. A fifth, the Cornish, now extinct, also pertained to the same insular home of the Κέλται, while the only remaining one, the Armorican, or dialect of Brittany, belongs to a country intimately associated in the history of its early colonization with Britain. The table of the modern Celtic dialects of Europe, as modified by Dr. Charles Meyer, and adopted by Dr. Latham,[514] from that given by Dr. Prichard in his "Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations," is as follows--divided primarily into two great dialects, each composed of three separate idioms:--

I. THE GALLIC OR BRITISH.

1. Cymric or Welsh. 2. Cornish. 3. Armorican, or dialect of Brittany.

II. THE GAELIC OR ERSE.

1. Fenic or Irish. 2. Gaelic or Highland Scottish. 3. Manx.

But a new race of strangers acquired a footing in Scotland, who were destined to bear no unimportant part in its history. The colony of Irish Scoti, or Dalriadic Scots, having effected a settlement in the district of Argyle, continued to occupy this limited locality for upwards of three hundred years, without seeking to extend their possessions beyond the natural boundaries which inclose the Western Highlands. To this period we may with little hesitation assign many of the traces of ancient population, civilized arts, and extensive cultivation, which have been described in a former chapter.[515] A close intercourse appears to have been always maintained between the Scottish Dalriads and their Irish progenitors, and the history of the Dalriadic kingdom is still chiefly derivable from Irish annalists. From these we are led to conclude that the number and influence of the Dalriadic Scots had gradually increased, while the attention of the Northern and Southern Picts was chiefly engrossed by their own rival jealousies; but their position was frequently precarious, and for nearly three centuries they owed their safety fully as much to the natural isolation of their little kingdom, as to the dissensions of the Picts and the fidelity with which the Irish Scoti adhered to this colonial offshoot from the parent stock. The cooperation and alliance of the Dalriads at length became objects of consideration to these neighbouring rivals, and we learn of a union between the Scots and the Northern Picts, entered upon in the year 731, for the purpose of supplanting Angus MacFergus, a Southern Pict, who then occupied the throne.

At first the Cruithne and their allies were completely worsted, and for upwards of eighty years the larger portion of the kingdom of Dalriada appears to have been subjected to the rule of the Southern Picts. There is abundant evidence, however, that the Irish Scoti continued to maintain a close intercourse with their Dalriadic descendants, and made common cause with them against the Piccardach. The Irish annals occasionally afford the only evidence we now possess of the wars then waged between Scots and Picts, by recording the death of their native kings and chiefs, slain in Albany when fighting with their Dalriadic kindred. But for this powerful aid, it is difficult to conceive how the Dalriads could have held their ground within the small territory which they occupied, in opposition to a powerful kingdom united under one sovereign, even with all the skilful tact with which they availed themselves of the jealousies and rivalry existing between the northern and southern tribes. The struggle between the Dalriads and Picts assumed latterly in some degree the character of a war of succession. There is reason to believe, from several of the names of the Dalriadic kings, that they had not failed to strengthen their alliances with the Northern Picts by intermarriage, so that it is not improbable, owing to the peculiar Celtic ideas of succession by the female line, that the Dalriads may have acquired a claim to the Pictish throne. There appears, however, not only to have existed lines of hereditary sovereigns, succeeding according to the peculiar Pictish laws of succession to the supreme rule, but also a hereditary nobile genus, or patrician class, holding as tenaciously by the purity of their blood and lineage, as under the most stringent rule of the lyon kings-at-arms of a later age.[516] Much obscurity still rests on this period of our national history. Partially and at intervals we discover glimpses of the struggle then going on, amid which, however, increasing evidences suffice to shew that fortune favoured the Dalriadic Scots, until in the year 843 the whole of Scotland is found united under the sceptre of Kenneth MacAlpin, originally sovereign of the little kingdom of Dalriada.

This is that remarkable epoch in our national history known by the name of the Scottish Conquest. It has naturally formed the subject of much investigation and of still more debate. Our earlier historians, assuming the results to have corresponded with the term Conquest, attribute to Kenneth the total extermination of the Piccardach or Southern Picts; the consequence of which has been, that later and more accurate writers, seeking in vain for any evidence of so complete a revolution, have been inclined to pronounce the whole a fable. But it still remains for us to inquire if no other elements of friendly alliance and permanent union existed between the Picts and Scots than those which sprung from cooperation against a common foe. A tradition of a Spanish origin appears to have been ascribed to the Irish Scoti from the earliest period. It is interwoven into all the fables and monkish legends of our earlier chroniclers, and has already been alluded to in reference to the Lia Fail. It is now perhaps vain to attempt to analyze this obscure and doubtful tradition, though we are not without evidence of its probability.[517] The period of their arrival in Ireland is necessarily very partially ascertained, though our information is perhaps sufficiently authentic and minute if we assume, from the notice of Avienus, already referred to, that they were unknown in Ireland in the fourth century before Christ, while we have good evidence of their presence there at the period of Julius Cæsar's British invasion. During this interval history furnishes very satisfactory means of accounting for such a migration. In the year B.C. 218, the second and fiercest struggle between the rival republics of Carthage and Rome was commenced by Hannibal taking Saguntum, a town on the eastern coast of Spain. The Peninsula thereafter became the theatre of a war afterwards carried by Hannibal into Italy, which was not concluded till B.C. 202, when Spain was added to the growing empire of the Italian Republic. But the natives of Spain did not willingly bow to the yoke. One of the bloodiest of all the Roman wars commenced in Spain B.C. 153, and did not finally terminate for twenty years, during which cities were razed to the ground, multitudes massacred and made slaves, and the triumphant arms of Rome borne to the Atlantic shores. Here therefore is an epoch in the history of the Spanish peninsula which seems completely to coincide with the ancient traditions of the Scoti, and the knowledge we possess of the period of their arrival in Ireland.

Such coincidences are not of course to be accepted as absolute proof; but in the absence of more direct evidence they are well worthy of attention, as guiding us to some knowledge of that race which had acquired a footing in Ireland, and partially displaced the aboriginal Hiberni shortly before the Roman invasion of England. But we have still the evidence of philology, the prevailing topographical nomenclature of Ireland, and the dialects of its earliest native literature, all adding confirmation to the conclusion that the Scoti were only another branch of the great Celtic family, which, after enjoying the advantages of commercial intercourse with Phœnicia and Carthage, and sharing in the civilisation of the distinguished nations then bordering on the Mediterranean, had at length been driven forth from their settlements on the western shores of Spain by the encroachments of the Roman Republic. The brief and very partial presence of a Scandinavian race in Scotland is still traceable in its dialects and topographical nomenclature; but no such indications within the limits of the ancient Dalriada, or in the Erse as contrasted with the British dialects of the Celtic language, betray indications of the Irish Scoti having interfused any elements of a foreign tongue into the ancient language of the Scottish Gael. Assuming, therefore, their Celtic origin we can readily understand how a race speaking a cognate dialect, and seeking the shores of Ireland, not as invaders, but as refugees, might rapidly acquire the supremacy over the older Celtic races inferior to them in the arts of war. Such a superior Celtic race were no less fitted to become the colonists and chiefs of Caledonia; and to this consanguinity between the Irish Scoti and the Scottish Picts, which rests more on philological evidence than on any theory of the direct origin of the former, we must look for one of the most important elements in that remarkable revolution of the ninth century known as the Scottish Conquest. The subdivisions of the great Celtic family are of much more importance in relation to the early history of the British islands, and especially of Scotland, than the later Teutonic migrations. There are, first, two great subdivisions, arising apparently from the different routes by which the Celtæ migrated from Asia to the north-west of Europe; and secondly, there are the minor subdivisions,--of greater importance in their bearing on the present inquiry,--resulting from successive arrivals in this country of offshoots from both the great streams of migration, modified by previous sojourn in different countries of Europe, and probably also by some intermingling with foreign races. Thus, the Cruithne and Piccardach, or Northern and Southern Picts of Scotland, are frequently distinguished by the Welsh chroniclers as the Gwyddyl duon and the Gwyddyl gwyn, or black and fair Gaels. Perhaps the term Du-Caledones (Di-Caledones), by which the Romans distinguished the Northern from the Vecturiones or Southern Picts, is only a combination of the Celtic du or dubh, black, with the generic name adopted by them. The Scoti appear also to have been of the fair race, which may, perhaps, be assumed as the indication of a purer Caucasian origin than the Cruithne or Gwyddyl duon of the north. They are termed in the Welsh Triads the Gwyddyl coch or Red Gaels; while the name of Scot, which has adhered to them and to the later country of their adoption, is none other than that of Nomade, Scuta, wanderer, first applied to the refugees--as we conceive from Spain--who in the second century B.C. sought a new home amid the Irish Celtæ.[518] It is to be noted, however, in reference to the former appellations, that both the Scots and Irish were wont to distinguish the Scandinavian invaders by the name of Dubh-Ghaill, the black strangers,--a term derived not from their complexion but their costume.

The presence of a Pictish race--the Cruithne--in Ireland, contemporary with the Scottish Piccardach and Cruithne, and the very great correspondence between many of the gold and bronze relics, as well as the older architectural and monumental antiquities of Scotland and Ireland, all point to a very close intercourse maintained between the two countries at an early period, while the remarkable historical poem, the Albanic Duan, already quoted, assigns to the Cruithne of Scotland an Irish origin. Under such circumstances the occupation of Dalriada by a Scotic colony speaking a dialect of the same language as the Caledonian Picts would be too unimportant a change to excite any notice beyond the limits of the Western Highlands. The native tribes whose borders were encroached upon would settle their disputes according to the summary diplomacy of primitive courts; and that done, intercourse, alliances, and intermarriages would follow as naturally between Scots and Picts as between Piccardach and Cruithne. So, in like manner, when the Scots in alliance with the Cruithne or Northern Picts conquered the Piccardach or Southern Picts, it was merely transferring the supremacy to a more powerful branch of the same great Celtic family. There existed few of the causes for lasting or deadly feud which occur in the struggle for power between rival races, such as the Moors and Goths of Spain, or the English and Irish. The struggle in England between the Normans and Saxons owed its chief elements of bitterness to other causes, as is proved by the readiness with which the two races intermingled when they met on common ground and on an equal footing in the Scottish Lowlands, under Malcolm Canmore. Aided by the very summary processes adopted in rude periods for getting quit of the elements of a disputed regal succession, the lapse of a single generation would suffice to obliterate the animosities between Scot and Pict, and to establish the former in undisputed possession of such supremacy as the Normans had to compel and to maintain for several generations in England, at the point of the sword. Perhaps it formed another element of interfusion among the various Celtic races that the supremacy of the Scoti was solely as warriors. The old native race are always referred to by the Irish bards as superior to them in the knowledge of the arts; a fact perhaps sufficiently accounted for on the presumption of their arrival in Ireland as refugees, after a protracted strife extending over more than one generation, during which the refined arts and luxuries of civilisation would disappear in the struggle for existence. This also may in some degree account for the fact that the Scoti allied themselves with the inferior and most dissimilar race in Scotland, compelled thereto obviously by the superiority of the Piccardach or Fair Picts. But the superior race finally triumphed. The Scoti, indeed, with the aid of the Cruithne, gained the ascendency; but on the extinction of the Scotic line of princes descended from Kenneth MacAlpin, or on the transference of the crown to a collateral branch, according to ancient Pictish law, it seems to have returned to the fair race of the Piccardach. The ultimate ground of dispute between the two, which proved the chief stumblingblock, and prevented a complete union of the southern and northern kingdoms during the reign of the Scottish dynasty, was this Celtic idea of succession through brothers, in opposition to the hereditary succession aimed at by the Dalriadic race, and which was not so effectually forced on the Northern Picts even by the Saxon Conquest as to prevent its revival by Donald Bain, on the death of Malcolm Canmore in 1093. The concluding stanzas of the Albanic Duan, written in the early part of Malcolm's reign, are peculiarly characteristic of the revived claims of the Gwyddyl duon,--

"Malcolm is now the king, Son of Duncan of the yellow countenance, His duration no one knoweth But the knowing one who alone is knowing.

Two kings and fifty,--listen,-- To the son of Duncan of the ruddy countenance, Of the race of Erc high, clear in gold, Possessed Alban,--ye learned."

But though a variety of evidence seems to refer to the Scoti as inferior in arts to the native Irish, it is still probable that Ireland owes to them the introduction from the southern seats of European civilisation of some of the useful and ornamental arts, the traces of which are so abundant throughout the island. It is, however, chiefly to their undoubted superiority in arms over the kindred races that previously were in possession of the ancient kingdoms both of Hibernia and of Albany, that we must ascribe the singular and almost unparalleled occurrence of the conquerors transferring their own name to the whole race and country subject to their rule.

Such is a hasty glance at the most important events pertaining to the civil history of Scotland during the first centuries of the Christian era, with an attempt to account for some of the changes that have heretofore seemed most difficult to reconcile with ascertained facts. But other and no less remarkable changes were, meanwhile, being wrought on the native tribes of Caledonia. The legionaries of Rome had in vain attempted to penetrate into their fastnesses; but other Roman missionaries of civilisation followed with more abundant success. Towards the latter end of the fourth century, ere yet the little kingdom of Dalriada had a being, a youth, the son of a British Prince of Cumberland, visited Rome during the Pontificate of Damasus, elected Bishop of Rome, A.D. 366. Young Nynias, or Ninian, remained there till the succession of Siricius to the Popedom, A.D. 384, who, according to Bede, finding the young Briton trained in the faith and mysteries of the truth, ordained him, and sent him as a Christian missionary to preach the faith to the heathen tribes of North Britain. This is the celebrated British Bishop St. Ninian, or St. Ringan, as he is more frequently styled in Scotland, where numerous churches, chapels, holy wells, as also caves and other noted localities, still bear his name. Arriving in Britain towards the close of the fourth century, he tarried not among his native mountains of Cumberland, but crossing the Solway, established the chief seat of his mission at Whithern, in Wigtonshire, a prominent headland of the old province of Galloway, where he erected the celebrated Candida Casa, according to Bede, "a church of stone, built in a manner unusual among the Britons."[519] The fact is of great value, as disproving the assumption of both Scottish and Irish antiquaries, prior to Dr. Petrie, that the earliest British churches were constructed of wattles. The remains of Roman buildings in Scotland suffice to shew that the Britons of the fourth century had not then to learn, for the first time, the art of masonry, though the facilities offered by a thickly wooded country frequently led the first Christian missionaries to employ its oak and plaited reeds in the construction of their chapels and cells. We are told by Bede that the first church of Lindisfarne was built by St. Finan, more Scotorum, non de lapide, sed de robore secto et arundine.

The brethren of Iona, too, as Adomnan incidentally mentions, were challenged by the proprietor, from whose lands they had gathered stakes and wands for the repair of their dwellings. Yet notable as the cathedral church of Whithern doubtless was, we can have little hesitation in picturing it to our own minds as a sufficiently humble and primitive structure, though distinguished among contemporary edifices, and dear to us in no ordinary degree, as the first British temple consecrated to the rites of the true faith. The Candida Casa, or white-walled cathedral of Whithern, though dedicated originally to St. Martin,[520] became the shrine of the Scottish apostle St. Ninian, and the resort of many a royal and noble pilgrimage, down even to the Reformation; but it would be vain now to look for any relics of this most interesting primitive structure on the bold headland of Galloway, though the fragments of a later ruined chancel still mark the site of St. Ringan's famous shrine.

The death of the primitive Scottish Bishop St. Ninian took place A.D. 432. According to the accepted biography of St. Patrick it was in the following year that Pope Celestine consecrated him a Bishop, and sent him on his mission to Ireland. But the labours of the Scottish missionary had not been in vain. "The brethren of St. Ninian at Whithern" became the centre of an important movement, influencing a large and rapidly increasing sphere, and from their labours there is reason to believe that both England and Ireland received the first impressions towards that great movement which ultimately included the British Isles within the ecclesiastical unity of papal Christendom. It furnishes no inconclusive evidence of the progress of the new faith in the British Isles, that St. Palladius was sent from Rome to the Christian Scots, towards the middle of the fifth century, for the purpose of uprooting the Pelagian heresy. His chief mission was to Ireland, where the Scots were then settled, but he also cared for the converts of the neighbouring isle, then connected with Ireland both by frequent intercourse and by affinity of races. He personally visited the Christian Picts of North Britain, and despatched his disciple St. Servanus, or St. Serf, as he is more usually styled, to the Northern Islands, for the purpose of preaching the true faith to the natives of Orkney and Shetland. That he also was successful many local names and traditions, and even some ecclesiological relics, hereafter referred to, suffice to prove, and thus we arrive at the important fact, that Christianity had already established a firm footing, both in the Scottish mainland and the isles, long before we have any evidence of the presence of the Scandinavians, even as roving marauders, on our coasts. The value of this will be at once apparent, as shewing the necessity which authentic history imposes upon us of referring to a period long anterior to the intrusion of the earliest Scandinavian colonists into Scotland, the erection of the monolithic structures, memorial cairns, and other primitive monuments, which fanciful theorists have assigned, without evidence, to such foreign origin. It is uncertain how long St. Palladius was in Scotland, but his last days were spent there, and he died among his Cruithnean converts at Fordun, in Mag-girgin, or the Mearns. We find good evidence that the influence of his preaching was not evanescent. Before the end of the fifth century churches had been founded, and brotherhoods of priests established, both in the islands and on the mainland; and Bede relates that, in the beginning of the eighth century, while yet the Dalriadic Scots remained within the narrow limits of their first possessions in the Western Highlands, the Pictish king sent to his own monastery of Jarrow, craving that builders might be commissioned to construct for him a church of stone after the Roman manner. From this we are led to infer that the "mos Scotorum" referred to by Bede, of building both houses and churches of timber and wattles, was also the "mos Pictorum" of the same period; but Dr. Petrie has already conclusively established the fact that this custom prevailed only to a very limited extent in Ireland, and contemporarily with the erection of religious structures of so substantial a nature that characteristic examples of them still remain in sufficient preservation to shew perfectly what they had been in their original state. It is indeed from Adomnan's Life of St. Columba that Dr. Petrie produces the earliest historical authority which satisfactorily proves the erection of a round tower in the sixth century.[521] We search in vain for such primitive ecclesiastical structures in Scotland, or even for the stone churches which Boniface and other Italian builders, sent at King Nectan's desire, are said to have built at Invergowrie, Tealing, and Restennet in Angus, at Rosemarky in Ross, as well as in other parts of the kingdom of the Northern Picts. Yet it will be hereafter seen that we are not without some evidence of the character of primitive Scottish churches "built after the Roman manner."

Besides the primitive Christian missionaries referred to as bringing tidings of the new faith to Scotland, St. Rule, St. Adrian, St. Woloc, St. Kieran, and St. Kentigern, must each be noted as sharing in the good work. But the religious establishment which ST. COLUMBA founded at Iona, in the middle of the sixth century, is justly regarded as the true centre of all the most sacred and heart-stirring associations connected with the establishment of Christianity in Scotland. "That illustrious island, which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions," still awakens feelings in the mind of every thoughtful visitor, such as no other Scottish locality can give birth to, unless a Scotsman may be pardoned if he associate with it, not "the plain of Marathon," but the field of Bannockburn. We look in vain for any natural features in this remarkable island to account for its selection as the centre of primitive Christian missions in Britain. It is only about two and a half miles in length, and one in breadth. The waves of the Atlantic dash, with almost unceasing roar, against the rugged granite cliffs which guard its southern and western coasts; and but for the memory of its sacred historical associations, and of its ancient magnificence which has utterly passed away, there is nothing about the little island, placed far amid the melancholy main, that could now tempt the most curious traveller to approach its shores. St. Kieran, the favourite Celtic saint, was the precursor of St. Columba, and even it is said his instructor in the faith. He came from Ireland in 503, with the sons of Ere, thus celebrated in the Albanic Duan as converts of St. Patrick,--

"The sons of Erc, son of Eathach the prosperous, The three who obtained the blessing of Saint Patrick."

The cave of St. Kieran is still shewn in Kintyre, where the first Christian teacher of the Western Highlands is believed to have made his abode. If the dates of this remote era may be relied on, it was not till upwards of half a century after the arrival of St. Kieran, that the great Apostle of Scotland landed on its shores. The record of Bede is equally simple and precise,--"Anno DLXV. Columba presbyter de Scotia venit Brittaniam ad docendos Pictos, et in insula Hii monasterium fecit." The isolation of that little island might perhaps be thought to have proved an attraction to Colum M'Felim M'Fergus, when he abandoned Ireland in his rude currach, or boat of hides, and sought an asylum among the Scottish Picts. But the old Celtic traditions seem rather to indicate, that in the true missionary spirit he bearded the ancient faith in its stronghold, and reared the primitive Christian fane of Iona, where of old the Pagan circle had stood. The name of Hii, or I, by which the sacred isle is most generally known, signifies emphatically THE ISLAND. It is also familiar to us as Ii-Cholum Chille, or the Island of Columba's Cell; but the Highlanders, to the present day, frequently apply to it the name of Innis nan Druidheanach, or the Island of the Druids, or magicians. The first structure reared by St. Columba and his followers on Iona, was doubtless as humble as the little currach by which they had reached its shores. One curious passage, already referred to, speaks of the Abbot as sending forth his monks to gather bundles of twigs with which to build their Hospice. The little chapel of St. Oran, the first follower of St. Columba who found a grave in the sacred soil, still exists, and has been frequently described as a work of the sixth century, but the experienced ecclesiologist will feel little hesitation in dating it full six centuries later. It is not indeed at such spots as Whithern or Iona that we are to look for the existence of primitive structures. The veneration which made these the favourite resorts of pilgrims for many centuries, was little likely to permit the first homely fane to continue, at a period when the re-edifying of churches and monasteries, on a larger and more magnificent scale, was one of the readiest exponents of the piety or contrition which the Church inculcated on its disciples. If any of the primitive Scottish churches still exist, they must be looked for in localities less favoured by the fidelity of medieval piety or superstition.

Christianity we thus perceive was established in Scotland at a very early period, altogether apart from any contemporary intercourse which England may have maintained more directly with the converts of the neighbouring continent. Several important centres were fixed at various points, including the extreme south-west of Scotland, the remote northern, and the western Isles. From these the faith rapidly radiated to the whole surrounding regions, and was even carried by the youthful zeal of the new converts to distant shores. The Icelandic Sagas furnish abundant proof of the conversion of the natives of North Britain and Ireland long prior to Scandinavia, and of the direct influence which they exercised in the Christianizing of the north. When Norsemen first visited Iceland in the latter half of the ninth century, it was uninhabited, but they discovered traces of the former presence of Irish monks, and found their books, crosiers, and bells. This account, derived from the Sagas, receives independent confirmation from the narrative of Dicuil, an Irish monk of the ninth century, who states that monks from Ireland had resided in Iceland for six months, and also visited the Færo Islands, and found them uninhabited.[522] There also existed in ancient times a church in Iceland dedicated to St. Columba, and a native Icelander is described as having been educated by an abbot named Patrick, in the Western Isles of Scotland or Ireland. We likewise find in the names of several of the northern Scottish Islands, and in the traces of the dedications of their earliest churches, ample confirmation of their inhabitants having been Christianized prior to any Scandinavian settlement. The islands of North and South Ronaldshay are now distinguished by their relative positions, but their ancient names are Rinansey and Rögnvalsey. Professor P. A. Munch, of Christiania, adds in a letter referring to this subject,--"I have no doubt that the name of the island, before the Scandinavian settlement, was St. Ninian's Island, Ringan's Island, Ronan's Island, which involves the Christianity of the ancient Celtic population before the Norwegian settlement." It is not, however, with Scandinavian antiquaries that we have to contend in clearing up these points of national history, but with British writers, who vainly seek the sources of native arts and civilisation in those of nations younger than our own. Mr. Worsaae acknowledges that Ireland was Christianized several centuries before Scandinavia, and largely contributed towards the conversion of the latter to the new faith. Interesting traces still remain in the names of many Scottish localities of the primitive Christian colonies, and of the collegiate establishments founded, like that of Iona, in many of the northern and western Isles, several of which are mentioned by Adomnan in his Life of St. Columba. In the curious diploma addressed to Eric, king of Norway, respecting the genealogy of William Saint Clair, Earl of Orkney, drawn up by Thomas Tulloch, bishop of Orkney, about 1443,--wherein, for the sake of brevity, he lets pass many "notable operationis and gestis, and referrs ws till auld cronikis and genealogiis, autentik and approbat," the following notice occurs: "Sua we find that in the tyme of Harald Comate, first king of Norwege, this land, or contre insulare of Orchadie, was inhabitat and mainerit be twa nations callit Peti and Pape, quhilk twa nations, indeid, war all wterlie and clenlie destroyit be Norwegens, of the clan or tribe of the maist stowt Prince Rognald."[523] These were undoubtedly the native Celtic population, or Picts--of the total extermination of whom a document of the fifteenth century cannot be regarded as very conclusive evidence--and the Papæ or ecclesiastical fraternities sent forth from Iona. In the Life of St. Columba it is stated, that the Saint chancing to meet a prince of the Orkneys at the palace of King Brude, commended to his care some monks who had lately sailed to the Northern Seas, and the missionaries afterwards owed their life to his intercession.[524] The Landnáma states, that wherever the Norwegian settlers found monks, or remains of their establishments, they called the places by some name beginning with Pap, from pfaff, Papa, πάππας, a priest,--as Papey, the Priest's Island; Papuli, the Priest's district. In Orkney there are two Papeys; the larger Papa Westray, the smaller Papa Stronsay. In the mainland also there is Paplay, (Papuli); another Paplay in South Ronaldshay; in Shetland two Papeys, Papa Stour and Papa Little; and a Papill (Papilia) in Unst. In the Hebrides also there are two Pabbys, (Papey,) and a Pappadill in Rum. Adomnan mentions, besides his own monastery, those of Achaluing, Himba, Elanna-oma, and Kilduin; the three last supposed to be Oransay, Colonsay, and Loch Awe. Eig, Islay, Urquhart, Inchcolm in the Frith of Forth, Govan on the Clyde, and many other religious sites, are also ascribed, on more or less trustworthy authority, to the missionary zeal of St. Columba, and his immediate followers; while a still earlier origin is assigned, not without some evidence, to various of the ancient Culdee Houses reformed by David I., or merged by him in the magnificent monastic establishments which he founded. Great as was the influence of the Northmen in retarding the fruits of early missionary zeal, it is obvious that they rarely so effectually despoiled the Christian establishments as to permanently eradicate them, or break the traditional sanctity which has consecrated their sites to the service of religion even to our own day. Iona, burned in 802, was rebuilt in 806. Sixty-eight of the brethren perished by the hands of the Pagan Northmen the same year: yet in 814, we again find them founding and building. It is impossible, therefore, to avoid the conclusion that Christianity was very extensively diffused throughout North Britain, and that numerous ecclesiastical fraternities had been established on the mainland and surrounding islands long before the natives learned to watch the horizon for the plundering fleets of the Norse rovers.

It is not till the ninth century that we find authentic traces of the Scandinavian Vikings on the Scottish shores. While, however, we regard the Pagan Northmen in the light of lawless spoilers, preying on weaker or defenceless neighbours, we must beware of the error of supposing that they were no more than a barbarian race of pirates. On the contrary, they speedily substituted conquest for spoliation both in Scotland and Ireland, colonized the possessions they acquired, and established trade and commerce in lieu of robbery. They bore, indeed, no slight resemblance to the bold adventurers of a more civilized age, who followed Drake and Raleigh in their reprisals against Spanish America, and won reputation, still honoured in our naval annals, by means as inconsistent with the modern law of nations as the plundering expeditions of these old Scandinavian Vikings. The war-songs of the Northmen shew that such expeditions were the paths to honour as well as to wealth; nor was it till the milder tenets of Christianity had superseded the warrior-creed of Thor, that their plundering voyages came to an end. But unlike the British and Irish, the Scandinavians have a Pagan literature, contemporary with those scenes of adventure and bold deeds of arms: and so much the more valuable that it preserves a picture of the period uninfluenced by that corporate spirit which detracts so much from the contemporary monkish annals of our own and other countries. They had their sagaman, and their bard or skjalde, like the minstrel or troubadour of medieval Europe, whose chief business it was to rehearse the Sagas, and to compose songs and odes in commemoration of their victories and individual prowess. We must not, therefore, rob the old Pagan Norseman of the wild virtues of his age and creed, by bringing them to the standard of modern ideas and principles; but rather accept the characteristic picture of his Sagas as furnishing no unlikely portraiture of the hardy Caledonian warrior of an earlier age.

We know little that is definite regarding the Scandinavian expeditions to our shores till Harold Harfager, king of Norway, in the latter part of the ninth century, conquered first the Zetlands and then the Orkney Islands and Hebrides, and made himself master of the Isle of Man. The change from having the Norsemen as plunderers to that of having them as masters, was probably altogether beneficial, though not unaccompanied with much violence and suffering. Previously to this period, their ravages appear to have been incessant, and very frequently successful, both on the Scottish and Irish coasts. They repeatedly assailed and plundered the Christian community of Iona; and the annals of Ulster record that the Gentiles, as they are usually termed, completely spoiled the establishment in the year 802, and expelled the family of Iona from the sacred Isle. They seem to have treated in a like manner the various religious communities settled on the different islands above referred to, and still commemorated in the old Scandinavian names which they conferred on them; though, as has been shewn, the followers of St. Columba, and no doubt other fraternities, speedily rebuilt their establishments. Even at that early period, some amount of wealth would be accumulated in the muniment chests of the monasteries, and doubtless the poorest of them would endeavour to provide the chalice, paten, and other indispensable furniture of the church and altar, of the precious metals. These must have supplied a fresh incentive to the plundering Vikings, and thus the early incursions of the Northmen largely contributed to retard the diffusion of the faith among the native Britons, while their own divisions and internal struggles furnished frequent opportunities for the unchecked descent of the spoilers on their coasts. Nor was it plunder alone that the fierce Northmen bore away from our shores. Both the Irish annals and the Icelandic Sagas testify to the fact, that they frequently loaded their vessels with captives, both male and female, who were sold elsewhere for slaves. There even appear to have been regular markets in Norway and Sweden where the captive Scots and Picts were disposed of, and some of the names still in use in Iceland are believed to be derived from such foreign captives: the female slave having occasionally won the favour of her master, and been wedded even to leaders and kings. While, however, the Norse marauders were making descents with increased frequency on our shores, a revolution was taking place in Norway, somewhat akin to that which placed the Dalriadic chief on the Pictish throne. Harold Harfager, after a protracted struggle, established himself as absolute king of Norway; and such of the Vikings as had been active in opposing his ambitious projects could no longer winter in safety within the viks or inlets of their indented coast, from whence they derive their name. Many of these, therefore, who had before paid occasional visits to our shores, now established their head-quarters in the Scottish Hebrides, the numerous bays and inlets of which afforded the shelter and protection for their long-oared galleys formerly sought in their native fiords. From this point d'appui they made incessant incursions on the newly-established kingdom of Norway, while they failed not also to harass and spoil the neighbouring Scottish coasts. Thus deprived of any settled home, and without an acknowledged leader, the Vikings assumed more than ever a piratical character, and became the terror of the whole north of Europe. King Harold failed not to offer effectual resistance to these rebellious Norsemen. Every summer the Norwegian fleet scoured the Scottish Seas, and compelled them to abandon their Hebridean settlements; but the hardy Vikings had little to fear from assailants who only drove them to the open sea, from whence, after a successful descent on some unguarded coast, and not unfrequently on that of their assailant, they returned in winter to the shelter of their old retreat.

After repeated expeditions of the same fruitless character against the rebellious Vikings, King Harold determined to put an end to their predatory incursions by making himself master of the islands which afforded them shelter. Accordingly, in the year 875, he collected a powerful fleet, which he commanded in person, and setting sail from Norway, he bore down on the Shetland and Orkney Isles and the Hebrides, slaying or driving out the piratical Vikings, spoiling their settlements, and taking possession of the islands. He then proceeded to the Isle of Man, which he found entirely deserted of its inhabitants, who had fled to the Scottish mainland on the approach of the fleet. Harold failed not to enrich his followers with the spoils of the Scottish coasts as they returned from this successful expedition, so that the unhappy natives were exposed to equal dangers from the Vikings and their Norwegian conquerors. They were not, however, reduced to abject fear by such repeated assaults. Harold bestowed the possession of the Northern Isles on Sigurd, the brother of Rognwald, a distinguished Norwegian chief, who accordingly became first Jarl of the Orkneys; and the fleet returned to Norway, leaving a force deemed sufficient to secure the newly conquered possessions. But the native chiefs of the islands and neighbouring coasts who had been spoiled and driven from their possessions by the Vikings, took advantage of their dispersion, and so soon as the Norwegian fleet had left the Scottish seas, they seized possession of the Hebrides, expelled or put to the sword the whole of the Norwegians left by Harold to hold them in his right, and resumed the occupation of their ancient possessions. A second Norwegian expedition followed under the guidance of Ketil, a distinguished chief, on whom Harold bestowed by anticipation the title of Jarl; and it is curious that in the "Islands Landnamabok," the natives who had recovered possession of the islands are termed Scottish and Irish Vikings, (Vikinger Skotar ok Irar,) sufficiently shewing the sense in which that term was understood by the Northmen in the beginning of the twelfth century. The Islesmen were unable to resist the overwhelming force, and appear to have been taken entirely by surprise. The Hebridean Jarl entered quietly into possession of his new dominions, and then took the first favourable opportunity of renouncing his allegiance to Harold and declaring himself independent King of the Hebrides.

It is not necessary to do more than glance at the subsequent history of the Scoto-Norwegian kingdoms. In 894, Thorstein the Red, the grandson of Ketil, formed a close alliance with Sigurd, then jarl of Orkney, and with their united forces they made themselves masters of the northern districts of Scotland, including Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, and Moray. Sigurd lost his life in this expedition in a remarkable manner. Having, according to the narration of the Ynglinga Saga,[525] slain Melbrigda Tönn, or Maolbride the Bucktoothed, one of the Scottish maormors or chiefs who derived his appellation from a peculiarly prominent tooth, he cut off the Maormor's head and hung it at his bridle. But from the violent motion as he galloped over the field, the tooth inflicted a wound on his leg, which inflamed, and ultimately caused his death. The record of this incident in contemporary sagas may suffice as an illustration of the barbarous warfare of the period. Sigurd was succeeded by his son Guttorm, as Jarl of Orkney, while Thorstein the Red assumed the title of king of the newly acquired possessions on the mainland; and thus within half a century after the Dalriadic king Kenneth had obtained possession of the throne of the Southern Picts by the aid of the Cruithne or Northern Picts, a large portion of the possessions of the latter were wrested from them and erected into a new kingdom under their foreign conqueror. The sovereignty of Thorstein, however, was of brief duration. He had scarcely held his newly acquired territories for six years when he had to take the field to oppose a force collected by the chiefs of the conquered possessions, under the command of Duncan, the maormor of Caithness. A fierce battle ensued, in which Thorstein was slain, his followers completely routed, and the Norwegians expelled from the Scottish mainland. This took place A.D. 900, and for nearly a century no farther aggression was attempted by the Norwegians, with the exception of the annexation of a part of Caithness to the Orkney jarldom, the result, as is believed, of an alliance between Thorfinn, the Orkney jarl, and the daughter of Duncan, maormor of Caithness. In A.D. 986 Sigurd, jarl of Orkney, once more conquered the north of Scotland, after having defeated Finlay, son of Ruari, maormor of Moray, in an attempt to recover Caithness from its Norwegian possessors. Frequent battles followed. The Norwegians were repeatedly defeated and driven from the mainland: but they returned with increased force and re-established their ground. Meanwhile, by the defeat and death of Kenneth M'Duff, Malcolm, maormor of Moray, became king of Scotland A.D. 1004, and soon after effected a reconciliation with Sigurd, jarl of Orkney, and gave him his daughter in marriage. Thus a mixture of Norwegian and Scottish blood took place, the fruit of which is still discernible in the striking contrast between the population of the northern islands and Scottish mainland and the Celtic races of the neighbouring Highlands.

Alternate friendly alliances and open warfare followed till A.D. 1034, when the Norwegians once more triumphed and obtained effectual possession of the greater part of the north of Scotland, where they established a kingdom under the powerful and talented Jarl Thorfinn, the son of Sigurd and of his wife, the daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm, who thereby ultimately acquired a hereditary right to the Scottish crown, similar to that which is believed to have paved the way to the previous accession of the first Dalriadic king of Scotland. We have thus reached a period of Scottish history over which modern literature has thrown a fictitious but singularly romantic interest. The lineal race of Kenneth MacAlpin, the Dalriadic king, having become extinct, the succession reverted to Duncan the son of Crinan, a powerful chief who had married the daughter of the last king of the Scottish race. But the old Celtic ideas of succession proved irreconcilable with his assumption of the crown, and the personal character of Duncan was little fitted to cope with the difficulties of his situation. His unambitious spirit indeed prevented his forcing himself into collision with the Norwegians, or disputing with Thorfinn his newly acquired dominions; and had he been able to communicate the same disposition to his subjects, his reign might have terminated in peace. But after enjoying his throne for about six years, his people took advantage of the absence of Thorfinn on an expedition to England, and putting him at their head, forced their way into the district of Moray with little opposition. But the Pictish natives of the north refused to recognise the right of Duncan to the crown, or to accept him as a deliverer from the Norwegian yoke, and headed by Macbeth, the maormor of Moray, they attacked him in the neighbourhood of Elgin, routed his army and put him to the sword. Macbeth pursued his success, made himself master of the whole kingdom, and with the sanction of the Norwegian jarl assumed the title of King of Scotland. Thus strangely were the questions of regal legitimacy and national independence at variance. It appears to have been solely as a tributary to Thorfinn that Macbeth reigned over the southern half of Scotland. Repeated unsuccessful attempts were made by the adherents of Duncan's party to recover possession of the throne for his son. In one of these, A.D. 1045, Crinan the father of Duncan was slain, who is styled in the Annals of Ulster "Abbot of Dunkeld,"--lay impropriation and the marriage of the clergy having both been common in Scotland prior to the reform of its church by the Saxon princess who became the wife of Duncan's son. The expedition of Duncan had been undertaken while Thorfinn and the chief Norwegian forces were engaged in assailing the Saxon possessions in England. The sons of Duncan accordingly sought refuge at the English court; and when Malcolm Canmore, Duncan's eldest son, returned to avenge his father's wrongs, he was accompanied by a Saxon army under the command of his uncle, Siward Earl of Northumberland. In securing by such means the possession of the Lothians, which was all that Malcolm was able at that time to wrest from Macbeth, he paved the way for that second and most important change, known in Scottish annals as the Saxon Conquest. Four years afterwards Macbeth was defeated and slain in the battle of Lumphanan, and on the death of Thorfinn, in 1064, Malcolm Canmore obtained final possession of the entire Scottish mainland, though the Norwegian jarls continued to retain undisputed hold of the Northern and Western Isles.

Such is a slight sketch of that important era in Scottish history; from the intrusion of the Scottish race into the Western Highlands, to the final ejectment of the Norwegians from the Scottish mainland, and the restoration of the crown to a Celtic prince at the head of a Saxon army. It is impossible to conceive of the presence of Norwegian settlers for so long a period on the mainland of Scotland without their greatly affecting the character of the native population. From A.D. 895, when the first Norwegian kingdom was established in the north of Scotland, to A.D. 1064, when that of Thorfinn came to an end at his death, a very large portion of the north of Scotland had been repeatedly held possession of for a considerable period by the Norwegians. Long periods of peace and friendly alliance afforded abundant opportunities for intermarriage; and we see in the marriage of the Orkney jarl with the daughter of the Scottish maormor, a clear proof that no prejudices interfered to prevent such unions. This was still less likely to be the case during the reign of Macbeth, which lasted for eighteen years, as the closest alliance and community of interests then subsisted between the Northern Celtic and Norwegian races, and to this period therefore we probably owe the chief changes on the aboriginal Scottish race which still distinguish their descendants from the purer Celtic races of the south and west of Ireland. The genealogies of many of the old Highland chiefs, and the history of the clans, furnish evidence of this intermixture of the races; and the physical characteristics of the natives of several northern districts of the Scottish Highlands abundantly confirm the same fact. Yet it is surprising how very partial the influence of the Northmen must have been. We have proofs of the introduction of Runic literature, and also of the use of Runic characters by the natives; yet if we except the Isle of Man, a dependency of Scotland both before and after its occupation by the Northmen, we have only the merest fragments of inscriptions in the northern runes found in Scotland. On the mainland some few local names are traceable to a Scandinavian origin. In the Scottish Lowland dialect a considerable number of words and many peculiarities of pronunciation are manifestly derived from the same source; while in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, customs, superstitions, language, and even legal formulas, all clearly point to their long occupation as an independent Norse jarldom, or as a dependency of the Danish crown. In the Western Isles, however, it has proved otherwise. There the language and race are still purely Celtic, and the ancient topographical nomenclature has been but slightly affected from their occupation by the Vikings and their Scandinavian successors. This is probably to be accounted for to a great extent by the fact, that the Hebrideans, like the natives of Man, fled on the occupation of their islands by the pirate Norsemen, and only very partially returned after the establishment of law and order under Ketil, the independent Norwegian jarl; so that these islands have been to a great extent colonized anew from the neighbouring mainland. Still extensive and durable traces remain to commemorate the intrusion of this race of northern warriors on the older colonists of Scotland, nor can we hesitate to ascribe somewhat of our peculiar national character and physical conformation to that intimate intercourse which prevailed more or less extensively for nearly two centuries, and indeed in the Orkney and Shetland Islands for a much longer period, between the Norwegian and Celtic races. On Scotland, as a whole, the influence of this Scandinavian colonization and conquest has been much more direct and effective than any results of the Roman Invasion. But both of these historic changes suffice to account for only a very few of the national peculiarities, or of the distinctive features of our earlier arts, and still require us to look to native sources for the larger number of archæological relics, and for the most characteristic classes of monumental remains.

FOOTNOTES:

[510] A Eolcha Albain Uile, translated from the Codex Stowensis, No. XLI. Collect. de Reb. Albanicis, Iona Club, p. 71. Albanus, from the Celtic god, Alw--Gaelic, Aluin, bright, beautiful; Alw-ion, Αλουίων, Albion, i.e., the island of Alw; Britus, Pryd, Prydain, i.e., Pryd, god of Britain. Welsh Archæologia, vol. i. p. 72. Meyer on the Celtic Dialects. Report, 1847, Brit. Assoc. Advancement of Science, p. 301. Bryt or Pryd, the god of the Britons, the Prydyn ap Ædd Mawr of the Welsh Triads.

[511] Skene's Highlanders of Scotland, vol. i. pp. 19, 23.

[512] Eumenius, Ritson's Caledonians, vol. i. p. 71.

[513] Ritson's Caledonians, vol. i. p. 120.

[514] Dr. Latham in treating of the Κέλται, sets down under the head of Phenomena of the System: "the Druids; the bards; the monumental remains of the character of Stonehenge--Máenhír, long stones;" and under the head of their Antiquities: "Coins, images, tumuli, and their contents."--Nat. Hist. of Man, p. 530. But this is a sweeping system of generalization, which takes for granted various points still open to question, if not already disproved. The derivation suggested, (ante, p. 68,) for the term Cromlech, if the correct one, seems to indicate that the true origin and character of these sepulchral memorials were as little known to the ancient Celtæ as to the "Druidical" antiquaries of last century.

[515] Ante, pp. 122-124.

[516] Adomnan, b. 2, c. 33; Skene's Highlanders, vol. i. p. 40.

[517] "As far as regards the Irish tradition of the Fena having arrived from Spain and Africa, to deny it all foundation in history would be inconsistent with what we ourselves have said of the route of the western Celts. I do not hesitate to detect in this tradition a reference either to that migration or to one anterior, which seems to have led likewise by the African coast to Spain, as well as to this country, a nation of Scytho-Celtic (Finno-Celtic) race, including the ancient Iberi and the still extant Basque, nation."--Dr. C. Meyer, Report of the British Association for Advancement of Science, 1847. It is scarcely necessary to add, however, that the Celtic character of the Basque, as assumed here, is now generally disallowed.

[518] "The Celtic Scuta denotes a vagabond, a restless wanderer, one perpetually roving about. This word is the original of the Greek Σκυθα, Scytha, a Scythian; applied to the Scythians with a view to the restless roving disposition of the people. Analogous to this idea, the Persians called the same people Σακαι, Herod. l. 7, cap. 74. Ὁιδε Περσαι παντας τους Σκυθας καλεουσι Σακας. Sacæ. The Persian Sack is plainly a cognate of the Hebrew Shakak, discurrere, discursitare, &c. In confirmation of this etymon, it may be observed that the Scots borderers used to call themselves Scuytes and Skytes, as we learn from Camden. The Saxon-Scots readily adopted this name, being ignorant of its original import; but the Highlanders have always deemed it a term of reproach, and consequently retain their original denomination, Albanich."--Abridged from notes to "The Gaberlunzie," by Callander of Craigforth, 1782. Vide also "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities," Glossary, v. Scouts, p. 520; and "Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary," v. Scouth.

In connexion with this, it is of importance to note the observations of Major Rawlinson in reference to the indications of the aboriginal races of Asia afforded by the Cuneatic inscriptions. He conceives that the Sacæ or Cymri frequently mentioned on the inscriptions at Khorsabad, and who appear to have been generally introduced into the Assyrian empire about the thirteenth century before Christ, were probably of Scythian origin. He, however, thinks it impossible to identify this tribe immediately with the Gaelic Cymri. It appears more probable that, under the name of Cymri, the Assyrians included all the Nomade tribes with whom they were acquainted, without respect to ethnological family; but he suggests that the Celtæ subsequently applied this generic name specifically to themselves, as among the Moguls of the present day a particular tribe have taken the name of "Eluth" or "Ilyat," which properly denotes a mere Nomadic population. The other tribes with which the Assyrians were chiefly brought in contact, were the Shetta or Khyta in Syria, and the Ludi in Lower Babylonia. The former tribe are well known from the inscriptions of Egypt, and the latter were probably the same people who are mentioned in Ezekiel under the name of "Lud," in connexion with "Phut" and "Elam." These tribes of Khita and Luda were both undoubtedly of Semitic origin.

We may confidently anticipate that these researches into the races and languages of the central region of Asia, from whence we believe the human family to have been gradually diffused over remoter countries, until the first colonists reached our own western island, will yet furnish much of the precise information we require relative to the earliest Asiatic migrations of the Celtæ, and the degree of civilisation possessed by them when they began the north-western movement that finally led them to the remotest countries of Europe, bordering on the Atlantic.

[519] Beda, l. 3, c. 4. Ritson, vol. ii. p. 308.

[520] Vita Niniani, Ritson, vol. ii. p. 144.

[521] Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, p. 387.

[522] Dicuil's work was discovered at Paris, and published there in 1807 and 1814.--Antiquities of Ireland and Denmark. Worsaae, p. 17.

[523] Bannatyne Miscellany, voL iii. pp. 73, 74, (in the press,) translated by Dean Guild. 1554.

[524] Adomnan, vol. ii. p. 43; Smith's Life of Columba, p. 55.

[525] Ynglinga Saga, Coll. de Rebus Albanicis, p. 65.

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II. SCULPTURED STANDING STONES

The progress of our inquiry into the peculiar characteristics of Scottish Archæology brings under consideration one of the most interesting, yet most puzzling classes of monuments of early native art. While England has her Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical remains exhibiting more or less distinct traces of the transition by which the debased Roman passed into the pure Romanesque or Norman style, Scotland, along with Ireland, possesses examples of an early native style of ecclesiastical architecture and of Christian monuments, belonging to the same undefined period prior to the Norman invasion of England.

Of the Sculptured Standing Stones of Scotland, including these primitive Christian monuments, a few of the best known examples have been repeatedly engraved, but generally on so small a scale, and with so little attention to accuracy of detail, that they have failed to secure that interest among British archæologists which their great number and the very beautiful and singular character of their sculptures merit. The reproach of leaving these remarkable national monuments unillustrated has, however, been to a great extent removed by the publication of Mr. Patrick Chalmers' magnificent work on the Ancient Monuments of the County of Angus,[526] which furnishes an extensive series of examples of the various sculptured stones long ascribed to a Danish origin, but now nearly all recognised as peculiar to Scotland. Attempts to decorate Scottish sepulchral memorials by means of sculptured ornaments appear to have been made from an early period. Several curious examples have already been noted of stone cists, otherwise entirely unhewn, the covers of which have been rudely ornamented with incised patterns similar to those which are seen on the gigantic chambered cairn of New Grange, near Drogheda. But greater interest perhaps attaches to another though more simply decorated Scottish cist pertaining apparently to a much later period than the cairn of New Grange, or the incised cists which have been classed with that remarkable primitive sepulchre. On a rising ground about half a mile to the east of the town of Alloa, called the Hawkhill, is the large upright block of sandstone sculptured with a cross which is represented in the annexed engraving. It measures ten and a quarter feet in height, though little more than seven feet are now visible above ground. A similar cross is cut on both sides of the stone, as is not uncommon with such simple memorials. During the progress of agricultural operations in the immediate vicinity of this ancient cross, in the spring of 1829, Mr. Robert Bald, C.E., an intelligent Scottish antiquary, obtained permission from the Earl of Mar to make some excavations around it, when, at about nine feet north from the monumental stone, a rude cist was found, constructed of unhewn sandstone, measuring only three feet in length, and at each end of the cover, on the under side, a simple cross was cut. The lines which formed the crosses were not rudely executed, but straight and uniform, and evidently finished with care, though the slab itself was unusually rude and amorphous. The cist lay east and west, and contained nothing but human bones greatly decayed. Drawings of the cross and cist, and a plan of the ground, executed by Mr. Bald, are in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries. Here we possess a singularly interesting example of the union of Christian and Pagan sepulchral rites: the cist laid east and west, according to the early Christian custom, yet constructed of the old circumscribed dimensions, and of the rude but durable materials in use for ages before the new faith had superseded the aboriginal Pagan creeds.

To this same transition-period there can now be little hesitation in assigning that remarkable class of Scottish sculptured stones, decorated most frequently on the one side with the figure of the cross, and on the other with a few mystic symbols of constant recurrence which still remain an enigma to British Antiquaries, and to most others a subject of perfect indifference or contempt; though had they been discovered on the banks of the Tigris or the Nile they would have been thought worthy of the united efforts of European scholars for their solution. Some of these monuments most probably belong to Pagan times, as they contain only the mysterious symbols, unaccompanied by the emblem of the Christian faith, and are usually of ruder execution, and cut on unhewn stones. Of this class are the Standing Stones at Kinellar and Newton, Aberdeenshire;[527] and those of Aberlemno,[528] and Kirktown of Dunnichen, in Angusshire.[529] Theorists who have deemed it indispensable to assign to these singular monuments an antiquity long prior to the Christian era have supposed that the cross has been superadded to the older Pagan sculptures. No traces of any such hybrid union are now discoverable, but, on the contrary, where we find the Christian and Pagan symbols combined, they are almost invariably accompanied with elaborately interlaced patterns and figures of dragons, serpents, and nondescript monsters, bearing a close and unmistakable resemblance to the decorations of some of the most ancient Irish manuscripts, nearly corresponding to the era of the introduction of Christianity into Scotland. Several of the beautiful initials from the Book of Kells, an Irish MS. of the sixth century, as engraved in Mr. Westwood's Palæographia, bear a close resemblance to the style of ornament of these sculptures; while the interlaced knotwork on the case of the shrine of St. Maidoc, which Dr. Petrie conceives cannot be later than the eighth century, though less distinctly characteristic, and by no means peculiar to Ireland, very nearly corresponds in its details to the ornamentation frequently introduced on these Scottish monuments. Others, such as the Aberlemno and one of the Meigle crosses, are decorated with raised pellets or nail-heads, manifestly derived from the ornamental studs of the old British buckler, also to be found elsewhere; as on one of the Manx sanctuary crosses to be seen about a mile from St. Maughold's Church, in the Isle of Man. The arrangements of the figures in some of the Scottish monuments of this period, as in the celebrated Forres column, are also strikingly suggestive of intimate intercourse between Scotland and Ireland at the period of their erection, from their correspondence to such works as the beautiful crosses at Monasterboice. In this case, however, the Irish are evidently the later works, and are, indeed, assigned by Dr. Petrie to the early part of the tenth century.

The locality in which these remarkable monuments are found is also worthy of notice. No example occurs within the ancient limits of Dalriada, or on the western coast in the vicinity of Ireland, nor has any one been discovered south of the Forth, though met with both at Largo and St. Andrews, or north of the ancient southern limits of the Norse kingdom, if we except one now erected in the pleasure-grounds of Dunrobin Castle. Yet it is within the same limited range of country, extending along our eastern coast, that the only examples of primitive ecclesiastical architecture occur undoubtedly pertaining to the Scottish Celtic Church prior to its remodelling in the eleventh century.

No sculptured memorials of the singular class so abundant in Scotland, have been discovered in Ireland, any more than in Norway, Sweden, or Denmark, though so long ascribed to a Scandinavian origin. They are manifestly native monuments, though betraying the same traces of the influence of early Irish art, or at least indications of a period when the peculiar style of their ornamentation was common both to Scotland and Ireland, with which we are familiar in the works of the closing Pagan era. Only one known period of Scottish history answers to these requirements, and seems to point out the ruder class of sculptured standing stones as the monuments of the Pagan Picts, and the more elaborate ones, accompanied with the symbol of the Christian faith, as belonging to that period which has been slightly sketched in a preceding chapter, when Christianity was introduced to the Scottish Picts at the very time in which we possess numerous proofs of the most intimate intercourse between the two countries. What we chiefly want at present for the elucidation of Scottish Archæology is not theories but facts; yet such historical coincidences, though doubtless open to challenge, are not unworthy of note, and cannot justly be ranked along with the vague theoretical speculations, destitute of any foundation but the fancy of their originators, which have discovered in these Scottish sculptures Egyptian, Phœnician, Braminical, or Druidical symbols, as it chanced to suit the favourite theory of the hour.

The Dunnichen Stone affords a good example of the most frequent symbolic figures: the =Z= shaped symbol, sometimes, as in this case, intersecting two circles decorated within with foliated lines, and united most frequently by two reversed curves, or occasionally intertwined with a serpent. Along with these, there is also often introduced a crescent-shaped device--the favourite emblem of Druidical theorists--intersected by a =V= figure, more or less floriated, as on St. Orland's Stone at Cossins,[530] the Aberlemno Cross,[531] and many others. Ingenious theorists have recognised in these the initial Z, L, S, of Zodiacus, Sol, and Luna, and the key to a whole system of mystical enigmas! Another figure which occurs on the Dunnichen Stone has been discovered to be the Atf, or high cap of the Egyptian Osiris surmounted by a lotus! The same combination of symbols, however, is engraved on one of the remarkable silver relics found at Norrie's Law, Fifeshire, as shewn here the same size as the original. From this there can be no doubt that it represents an animal's, probably a dog's, head; and this is equally apparent on one of the crosses in the churchyard of Meigle, and also on what is called "King Malcolm's grave-stone" at Glammis, where the same figure accompanies the two-handed mirror. A writer in the Archæological Journal mentions having met with an almost precisely similar ornament to one of these symbols on Gnostic gems and coins bearing cabalistic inscriptions; and "hence he is led to think that the carvings on the reverse sides of these stones may have been intended to refer to the perpetual conflict between the Cross on the one hand, and false doctrines and worldly pursuits on the other. The Gnostic emblem being intended as an indication of the former of these principles, counteracting and opposing the spreading of the doctrines of the Cross, and the scenes of the chase (so frequently accompanying these sculptured emblems) as indicating the latter."[532] Such abstruse and recondite ideas, however, seem altogether irreconcilable with the age to which the monuments must be assigned, while they leave the main point still unsolved, as to how these symbols do indicate false doctrines or a Pagan faith. Two objects of domestic use, the mirror and comb, frequently accompany the more mysterious figures, and after being assumed by earlier antiquaries as the indications of a female monument, have more recently been traced to the supposed emblems of Christian martyrdom found sculptured on the tombs of the Roman catacombs. Dr. Maitland, however, has successfully combated this mode of explaining what were often no more than the implements of a trade or profession. Above the figures of a mirror, comb, and pair of shears, on one of the primitive Roman tombs, are the simple words VENERIÆ IN PACE, To Veneria in peace,[533]--indications apparently solely of the sex, or possibly of the occupation of the deceased. That these symbols were used in Scotland for the same purpose at a much later period, is proved by the sculptures on some medieval tombs, and in particular on that of the prioress Anna at Iona, who, though a religious, looks no martyr on her tomb. It is engraved by Pennant, (vol. ii. Pl. XXIV. fig. 2,) and more minutely, though in a greatly more imperfect state, in Mr. H. D. Graham's admirable illustrations of the Antiquities of Iona, (Pl. XLV.) Two angels arrange the pillow of the good prioress, a lady neither of spare nor youthful figure; while on either side of her are her little lap-dogs, each with a riband and bell to its neck, and over all the mirror and comb: possibly designed on this, as well as on the Roman lady's tomb, to indicate the virginity or celibacy of the dead. Besides these figures of most frequent occurrence, however, others are also occasionally found curiously referrible to an eastern origin, and, in particular, a symbolic elephant, as on Martin's Stone at Ballutheron, on one of the crosses in the churchyard of Meigle,[534] and on the Maiden Stone on Bennochie, Aberdeenshire, where it accompanies the comb and mirror, from which the monument has probably derived its name.[535] The peculiar character of these singular representations of the elephant is well worthy of study from the evidence they afford of the existence of eastern traditions at the period of their execution. It is impossible to mistake the object intended by the design, while at the same time it is obvious that the artist can never have seen an elephant. What should be the feet are curled up into scrolls, and the trunk is occasionally thrown in a straight line over the back, whereas horses and other animals with which he is familiar are executed with great spirit and truth. Fabulous and monstrous figures also accompany these, such as the centaur occasionally bearing the cross in its hands, and what appears in some to be a branch of mistletoe, as on the reverse of another of the singular crosses in the churchyard at Meigle. On a stone near Glammis a man with a crocodile's head is introduced; on one of the Meigle crosses, among sundry other nondescript animals, is the capricornus or sea-goat; and on the inscribed cross of St. Vigeans a grotesque hybrid, half-bird half-beast, stalks among the fantastic animals and intertwining snakes which decorate its border.

A most lively fancy is apparent in many of these designs; but others are possessed of a much higher value as illustrations of the manners, customs, dresses, weapons, musical instruments, &c., in use at the period when these monuments were erected. Thus in the very curious piece of sculpture figured in the annexed engraving, we have a representation of the use of the bow and arrow, and of a car drawn by two horses. It is now preserved at Meigle along with others, the supposed relics of the tomb of the frail Guanora, Arthur's queen, who, according to Hector Boece, was made captive by the Picts, after the defeat and death of Modred on the banks of the Humber, and passed the remainder of her life in captivity within the strong fortress of Dunbarré or Barry Hill. Thus strangely do we find the romantic tales of the old troubadours, once familiar through medieval Europe, located by popular tradition in the district of Strathmore. Mr. Chalmers conceives that scarcely a doubt can be entertained of the reference to the monument at Meigle ascribed to Queen Guanora, and of which the engraving represents one of the most curious portions, in the following note, under the year 1569, in the Extracta e Cronicis Scotiæ:--"At Newtylde[536] thair is ane stane, callit be sum the Thane Stane, iii eln of heicht, v quarteris braid, ane quarter thik and mair, with ane cors at the heid of it, and ane goddes next that in ane cairt, and twa hors drawand hir, and horsmen under that, and fuitmen and dogges, halkis and serpentis: on the west side of it, ane cors curiouslie grauit; bot all is maid of ane auld fassane of schap. It is allegit that the Thane of Glammis set thir tua stanis quhen that cuntrey wes all ane greit forrest." This description is of great value, not only as preserving a tradition associated with the stone at a period very near the time of Boece, yet differing entirely from his romantic tale of Queen Guanora, but much more so, in that it conveys a tolerably definite idea of what the monument actually was in the sixteenth century.

The traditions associated with these singular monuments, whether gathered directly from vague local traditions, or culled from the marvellous pages of the monkish chroniclers, are equally contradictory and valueless, as throwing any light on their origin, whether associated with King Arthur and his ravished Queen, or, like the remarkable Forres obelisk, popularly called King Sueno's Stone, believed to commemorate the final defeat and ejection of the Norsemen from the Scottish mainland. This beautiful monument, which measures twenty three feet in height, has been repeatedly engraved;--by Gordon, on a sufficiently large scale, but with little attempt at accuracy of detail, and more carefully by Cordiner in his Scottish Antiquities.

There can be no question that many of those sculptured monuments are designed to commemorate particular events, though they have long since proved faithless to their trust. Most of such, however, would probably be of less interest to us than the minute and varied information which we are still able to deduce from the primitive historic memorials. We see in them the warrior on horseback and on foot, armed with sword, spear, battle-axe, and dirk, and bearing his circular buckler on his arm,--a much larger shield than that previously described among the later relics of the Pagan era, and, indeed, closely resembling the Highland target, which continued in use in Scotland till the final extinction of the patriarchal system and hereditary customs of the Highland clans, after their last struggle on Culloden Moor. Nor are the sculptures less minute in their illustrations of domestic habits and social arts. In Plates II. and VI. of Mr. Chalmers' valuable work, we have representations of ancient chairs, and figures apparently of priests and monks. In the former, also, and in Plate XIII., are a harp and harper, the latter executed with much spirit, though now greatly defaced; while hunting and hawking scenes frequently occur, accompanied with very graphic representations of the beasts of chase. There is, moreover, a peculiar style running throughout the whole of these sculptures, and a certain action and contour in the figures and animals, which mark them with as distinctive a character as belongs to any medieval or modern school of art. The engraving on Plate IV. represents one of the most elaborate of these Pictish hunting scenes, fully answering to the description of the old Scottish chronicler, of "horsemen, fuitmen, and dogges, halkis and serpentis." It occurs on what is believed to have formed part of a stone coffin, which was dug up in the immediate vicinity of St. Andrew's cathedral, and is now preserved in St. Mary's College there. Along with this slab, which measures five and three-fourths feet long, by two and one-fourth feet broad, there was found what appears to have formed one end, and part of the other, of the same sarcophagus or monument. Both are covered with intricate knotwork, and in the more perfect of the two there are four compartments, two of which are occupied each with a pair of apes, and the others with globes, each encircled with two serpents. Not the least curious feature of this elaborate design is the introduction of well executed apes and other animals, which we would have supposed entirely unknown to the ancient sculptor. Besides these the ram, the horse and hawk, the fawn, the greyhound pursuing the fox in the thicket, and the tiger or leopard, as the fierce assailant of the horseman seems to be, are all executed with great fidelity and spirit. In addition to these there is a nondescript monster, a sort of winged griffin, preying upon a prostrate ass. But by far the most valuable portions of this curious design are the human figures, with their variety of character and costume. Here manifestly is the Patrician, with his long locks and flowing robes, and his richly decorated dirk at his side, while the plebeian huntsman betrays his humble rank, not only in his homely dress and accoutrements, but even in the lean and half-bred cur which forms his companion in the chase. But the engraving will furnish a much more satisfactory idea of these curious details than any description could convey. The most common decoration of this remarkable class of native Scottish monuments, apart from the symbols and sculptured figures so frequently introduced, is the interlaced knotwork which appears to have been so favourite a device of Celtic art. It occurs on the sculptures, the jewelry, the manuscripts, and the decorated shrines and book-cases of early Irish Christian art, and has been perpetuated almost to our own day on the weapons and personal ornaments of the Scottish Highlanders. The annexed illustration represents a very characteristic example of the common Highland brooch, from the original in the collection of C. K. Sharp, Esq. It is of brass, rudely engraved, evidently with the imperfect tools of the native mountaineer. The tongue is of copper, and the brooch measures four and one-tenth inches in diameter. Amid its decorations will be recognised the triple knot, the supposed emblem of the Trinity, along with other interlaced patterns, such as occur in the bosses of sepulchral and monumental crosses of the seventh and eighth centuries. Precisely the same ornaments may be seen on the Highland targets, preserved among the memorials of the field of Culloden; while other combinations of this favourite pattern formed the universal decoration on the handle of the Highland dirk, from the earliest known examples to those belonging to the same fatal field, on which the unbroken Celtic traditions of Scotland were involved in the fortunes of the fated Stuart race.

Only two of the ancient sculptured standing stones peculiar to Scotland are accompanied with inscriptions. One of them, discovered about thirty years since, on demolishing the ancient Church of Fordoun, in the Mearns, was then apparently undecipherable,[537] and has since become illegible; the other is on a beautiful though mutilated cross in the churchyard of St. Vigeans. That of St. Vigeans is in the common Celtic character familiar to us on early Irish monuments, and on the oldest tombs at Iona, and therefore in so far adds confirmation to the idea advanced as to the probable era of these sculptures. But it is imperfect and perhaps too mutilated to admit of intelligible translation, though sufficient remains in the first words, Aꞅoil en, to shew that it is of the usual character of Scottish and Irish Celtic monumental inscriptions.

"Mr. Petrie," says Mr. Chalmers, "is of opinion, from a portion of it which he has deciphered, that the monument is Pictish, and he expresses a hope that he will be able to explain the inscription." But as the legible fragment seems to consist of only three words and part of a fourth, no very valuable information can be looked for from its fractional remainder.

One other peculiar and indeed altogether unique inscription occurs on a rude unhewn standing stone of granite in the vicinity of the Maiden Stone, with its mysterious symbols, at Newton, in Garioch, Aberdeenshire. The column measures fully six feet in height, and about two feet in greatest breadth. On its upper part is the inscription, extending to six lines, in large and sufficiently distinct, but entirely novel and unintelligible characters. It has been more than once engraved, and repeatedly submitted to eminent antiquaries, but still remains undeciphered. General Vallancey, the well-known Irish antiquary, professed to read the two first words of it. What indeed would he not have undertaken to decipher? These he rendered Gylf Gomarra, Prince Gomarra, apparently from some slight or fancied resemblance of the characters to the corresponding Roman letters, but his G and F are manifestly the same, and the whole still remains an enigma. The side of the same stone, however, bears another inscription, also shewn in part in the annexed engraving, which appears to have escaped the notice of earlier observers, though introduced as a mere ornament in the representation inserted in the Transactions of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries. It has recently been pronounced by Irish antiquaries an Ogham inscription, and as such, is an object of considerable interest, no other example of the use of that simple and extremely primitive character, which the older antiquaries of Ireland have made the subject of so many extravagant theories, having been discovered in Scotland. It does not necessarily follow that the two inscriptions belong to the same period, though found on one stone; but both are as yet equally dumb and irresponsive oracles.

Various early inscriptions in the same old Celtic character as that engraved on the St. Vigeans' Cross are still to be found in Scotland, and particularly in the Western Isles, where it had doubtless been in general use, prior to the adoption of the later Church letters common to medieval Europe. Of this class are two stones at Iona, adorned with simple crosses, one of which has been made the subject of some very fruitless speculation. "No one of the inscriptions in Iona," says Mr. H. D. Graham, "has been so much written about as this, and antiquarians do not agree as to its signification. It is in the old Gaelic character, and has been usually interpreted into Donull fada Chasach--The cross of Donald Longshanks."[538] An older decipherer reads it, "Cormac Ulphada hic est situs," indicative of the sepulchre of Cormac Barbatus, one of the kings of Ireland, buried there A.D. 213; and a third assigns it as the memorial of a king of France, who according to equally credible tradition found his last resting-place in the sacred isle. Mr. Graham has accordingly designated it in his Illustrations of the Monuments of Iona, "the disputed inscription," though finding for it a new reading, which assigns it to a Macdonald of the Glengary line, A.D. 1461. The inscription reads: Oꞃ̄ ꝺo mail Ꝼaꞇaꞃic, or with the first word extended:

✠ OROƖꞆ ꝹO MⱭƖɭ ꝻⱭꞆⱭRƖC A Prayer for the servant of Patrick.

Its modest memorial is sufficiently indefinite, yet it may be assumed with much probability to mark the tomb of Bishop Patrick, whose demise is thus recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters, under A.D. 1174: "Maol Patrick O'Banan, Bishop of Conor and Dal Araidhe, a venerable man, full of sanctity, meekness, and purity of heart, died happily in Hy of Columkille, at a good old age."[539]

Another rude and unsquared slab, with a slightly ornamented cross, bears the still simpler inscription: Oꞃ̄ ɑꞃ ɑꞃmɩn ϵoᵹɑɩn, armin, or more commonly armunn, being a brave man or chief. Extended it reads:

OROƖꞆ ⱭR ⱭRMƖN ΕOꝽⱭƖN A Prayer for the Chief Eogain or Ewen.

Eogan or Eoganan, of the Albanic Duan, commenced his reign over the Dalriads in A.D. 801, and subsequently wrested from the Southern Picts the territories conquered by Angus MacFergus, and governed for a time by princes of his line.[540] The name is not uncommon among the early western chiefs; and the Lord of Argyle at the period of Haco's invasion in 1263, as appears from various early charters, was Eugene or Ewen, son of Duncan, a descendant of the great Somerled.

Various other stones, with crosses cut upon them, evidently of the same date as those thus inscribed, lie scattered among the remarkable tombs of the RELIG ORAN, or St. Oran's Burial Ground,--that sacred spot, the resting-place of saints, and kings, and old island chiefs, so deeply interesting to every Scottish heart,--but these are the only examples of this early class on which inscriptions are now decipherable. Many of the tombs of a later date are ornamented with figures and floriated patterns in relief, characterized by singular beauty and great variety of design. The style of ornamentation on some of them is peculiar to the Western Isles and the neighbouring Scottish mainland: but such ample justice has been done to them in the recent beautiful series of views of the "Antiquities of Iona," by Mr. H. D. Graham, that it is unnecessary to resort to the less intelligible process of verbal description. The intermingling of foliage, scroll-work, chain-work, geometric patterns, and knotwork, with animals, figures, and sacred or warlike implements, is characterized by a profuseness and variety of design such as the sepulchral monuments of scarcely any other single locality or age can equal. The greater number of them, however, belong to a later period than that now under consideration, but on this very account, as well as for other reasons, we must dissent from the conclusions as to the origin of their style of art, advanced by the Rev. J. S. Howison, in his valuable papers on the Antiquities of Argyleshire. The well-ascertained dates of some of the most remarkable of these monuments fix their era from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The accompanying illustration supplies a characteristic example, in the mutilated cross of Lauchlan M'Fingon, the father of Abbot John of Iona, who died A.D. 1500, and had a more important tomb, adorned with his recumbent figure in full canonicals, within the cathedral, though his name figures on the cross in St. Oran's Chapel, erected as we may presume by himself. It is a valuable illustration for our present purpose, as the inscription and date are still perfectly legible: ✠ Hec: est: Crux: Laeclanni: Maic: Fingone: et: eius: filii: Johannis: abbatis: de: Hy: facta anno: domini: Mº: CCCCº: LXXXº IXº. The lymphad, which figures as one of the herald's quarterings of the Mackinnons, is indeed believed to have been derived from the Northmen, but in the form it assumes on this and other Iona sculptures, it bears as little resemblance to the long-oared war galley so frequently engraved on native Scandinavian monuments and relics as the accompanying ornaments do to any known device of Northern origin. The late era to which some of the most characteristic of these sculptures belong, should alone suffice to disprove the idea "that the Scandinavians were the authors of this particular kind of art exhibited by the stone crosses, as also by the sepulchral monuments of Argyleshire;"[541] but no such monuments are now to be found in any of the Scandinavian kingdoms, and since the style must have arisen somewhere, it is surely not more difficult to conceive of it originating in Scotland than in Norway, Sweden, or Denmark. In so far as it is derived, its suggestive originals appear to have been much more Irish than Scandinavian. Its peculiar individuality, however, arises from the same cause as the very singular characteristics of Irish ecclesiology. Both Scotland and Ireland stood more apart than any other of the kingdoms of Christendom from the Crusades and other great movements which conferred so remarkable a homogeneity on medieval Europe. The earlier arts were consequently left there to develop new forms and modifications long after they had been elsewhere entirely superseded by the later styles of medieval art. At the period to which the beautiful monuments of Argyleshire are referrible that district stood singularly isolated, sharing only very partially even in the influences of Scottish art, and still less in its social progress, while at the same time the peculiar sanctity indissolubly associated with its ancient shrines kept alive the spirit in which these originated. Scarcely any circumstances can be conceived more favourable for the development of a new style of art; and hence not only the peculiarity but the endless variety discoverable on the monuments of Argyleshire, and especially in the Relig Oran of Iona. A Scotsman may be pardoned even for some excess of zeal in advancing his claims for sole hereditary right to that historic ground, and the moss-grown sculptures with which it is paved, where

"You never tread upon them but you set Your feet upon some reverend history."

FOOTNOTES:

[526] The Ancient Sculptured Monuments of the County of Angus, including those at Meigle in Perthshire, and one at Fordoun in Mearns, by Patrick Chalmers, of Auldbar, Esq. Bannatyne Club.

[527] Archæol. Scot. vol. ii. Pl. VI. fig. 3; Pl. IX. fig. 3.

[528] Sculptured Mon. of Angus, Pl. VI. fig. 3.

[529] Ibid., Pl. XIV. fig. 1.

[530] Sculptured Monuments of Angus, Plate XV.

[531] Ibid., Plate V.

[532] Archæol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 90.

[533] The Church in the Catacombs, p. 180.

[534] Sculptured Monuments of Angus, Plates VII. and XVII.

[535] Archæologica Scotica, vol. ii. Plate VI. fig. 2.

[536] Newtyle and Meigle are villages within two miles of each other.

[537] Archæol. Scot, vol ii. Plate V.

[538] Monuments of Iona, by H. D. Graham, Esq., p. 16.

[539] Annals of the Four Masters, translated by Owen Connellan, Esq., p. 8.

[540] Skene's Highlanders, vol. i. p. 53.

[541] Antiquities of Argyleshire, Trans. Camb. Camden Soc., Part III. p. 177.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

III. THE NORRIE'S LAW RELICS

The most remarkable discovery of ancient personal ornaments and other relics of a remote period ever made in Scotland, was that of "THE SILVER ARMOUR OF NORRIE'S LAW," a tumulus or artificial mound which stands on the marches of the two estates of Teasses and Largo, in Fifeshire. The correspondence of the engraved devices on this collection of silver relics with the mysterious symbols which constantly recur on the sculptured standing stones of Scotland, has served, along with the singular character and great beauty of some of the ornaments, to confer on this discovery an interest attached to no other Scottish hoard. This feeling has not been lessened by the fact that only a very few of these precious relics have been preserved; while the imperfect, vague, and probably exaggerated descriptions, of such as were destroyed, have not lessened the feelings of disappointed curiosity and regret with which archæologists refer to the discovery.

The Bay of Largo, on the northern shores of the Frith of Forth, is a large and well-sheltered indentation, furnishing the most accessible position for a safe anchorage and haven near the mouth of the Frith. In the sandy slope near the shore, at the head of the bay, the beautiful gold armillæ were found, in 1848, which have been already figured and described among the relics of a remoter period than that of which we now treat.[542] The remarkable tumulus which furnished the silver ornaments now referred to is situated on the estate of Largo, about three miles from the bay, and is affirmed to have been reputed in old local traditions, to cover the chief of a great army, deposited there with his steed, and armed in panoply of massive silver. Instances of the like popular belief have occasionally received such remarkable confirmation that they cannot be pronounced by the archæologist as altogether valueless.[543] In this case, however, it may admit of doubt if the origin of the tradition be not subsequent to the discovery. The Old Statistical Account refers to the tradition, that the Stones of Lundin "are the grave-stones of some Danish chiefs who fell in battle with the Scots near the place;"[544] but the only allusion made to Norrie's Law is to be gathered from an addition to the description of Largo Law, a well-known hill which rises about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, and formed of old one of the most prominent beacon-hills of Fife. "Besides this," the Statist remarks, "there are two other Laws. But it is evident that these have been artificial. When the cairn was removed from one of them a few years ago a stone coffin was found at the bottom. From the position of the bones it appeared that the person had been buried in a singular manner: the legs and arms had been carefully severed from the trunk and laid diagonally across it."[545]

The precise facts connected with the opening of the tumulus of Norrie's Law, and even the year in which it occurred, are very uncertain, though the person by whom the valuable hoard was purloined still resides, in good circumstances, at Pitlessie in Fife. Conscious as he is of the appropriation of treasure which was not his own, and not yet entirely free from apprehension of the interference of the Scottish Exchequer to reclaim the fruits of his ill-gotten wealth, he naturally declines all communication on the subject, and thus, as too frequently results from the operation of the present Scottish law of treasure-trove, the history of the discovery is involved in impenetrable mystery. It may be permitted us to reflect with some satisfaction, that by the fears thus excited the depredator has not entirely escaped punishment for the irreparable mischief which his wretched cupidity has occasioned.

So far as can now be ascertained, in or about the year 1817 an opening was made in the tumulus of Norrie's Law by a hawker or pedlar who frequented the district, and it is possible may have had his attention attracted to the mound by the popular tradition already referred to, which, if it then existed, could scarcely escape him in his annual rounds of the parish. A stone cist was exposed within the tumulus, containing, it is said, no bones or other indications of human remains; but either in or near it were found the silver relics, which the discoverer removed piecemeal, and sold, as opportunity offered, to various silversmiths to be melted down and destroyed. In 1839, upwards of twenty years after this remarkable discovery, the attention of Mr. George Buist of Cupar was directed to the subject, in consequence of discovering that among a few fragments of the original hoard which had been rescued by General Durham, the proprietor of the estate, there were several relics marked with the same peculiar symbols which form so singular a characteristic of the sculptured standing stones of Scotland. Mr. Buist was then engaged in investigating this remarkable class of antiquities, and to the report which he published we are chiefly indebted for the knowledge we now possess regarding "The Silver Armour of Norrie's Law." Mr. Buist, with much industry and perseverance, gathered such information as was then recoverable from persons cognizant of the discovery, and in particular obtained from the country silversmith, who had been one of the chief purchasers of the stolen treasure, the following notes of various sales, by which we obtain a very satisfactory means of estimating the great extent and value of the original deposit:--

"For the information in regard to the lost portion of the Norrie's Law armour I have been indebted to Mr. R. Robertson, jeweller, Cupar, or to individuals to whom I have been by him referred. Mr. Robertson first made a purchase of £5, subsequently two of £10, and knew of another made by some one about Edinburgh to the amount of about £20, and is under the belief that perhaps as much as that here accounted for may have been carried away, and bestowed on various uses. This, by rough computation, may, together with what remains, be reckoned not much under 400 ounces of pure bullion. Mr. Robertson has, as may be readily supposed, a peculiarly distinct recollection of the forms of the various portions of the armour procured by him, and gives a most vivid description in particular of the rich carving of the shield, the helmet, and the sword-handle, which were brought to him crushed in pieces, to permit convenient transport and concealment.... A considerable part of the armour was partially corroded, the alloy having been eaten away as if by some weak acid, exactly after the manner of that employed in certain operations of modern silversmiths. The bullion in this case was much more pure than in those cases where it remained solid and untouched. It was, in fact, reduced to the state of porous, brittle, spongy silver. The parts chiefly affected in this way were those lowest down, which seem to have suffered from long exposure to some subtle corrosive. The upper portions were fresh, compact, and entire. In them the silver was nearly the same as our present standard."[546]

The report from which the above is extracted is illustrated with lithographic drawings of the relics in the possession of General Durham, and also with representations of the shield and sword-hilt, drawn apparently from the recollections of the silversmith. But even when brought to him, crushed and broken, it must have been difficult to form a just opinion of their original appearance; and after the lapse of upwards of twenty years, any attempt to recover their precise form or details from memory must be utterly worthless. Judging indeed from the fragments which remain, it may even admit of doubt if these silver relics ever included any armour or weapons of war. In 1849, Mrs. Durham of Largo House entrusted the silver ornaments rescued by General Durham, to the care of Mr. Albert Way for exhibition at a meeting of the Archæological Institute; and through the liberality of the Council I am now enabled to avail myself of the engravings then made from them. Profound as the regret must ever be with which we refer to this discovery, it is yet no slight matter of congratulation that even these few memorials of so remarkable a sepulchral deposit remain to furnish some evidence of its character, and the period to which it belongs. They were mostly picked up by the brother-in-law of the tenant, and another person, both now deceased; having, it may be presumed, been dropped by their original discoverer in his secret and guilty haste. The inquiry instituted by Mr. Buist led to the recovery of one of the bodkins, and also of one of the engraved scale plates mentioned in the following description. It is perhaps hardly now to be hoped for that any further additions will be made to the rescued waifs of this ravished treasure.

The most interesting of the whole relics are the two leaf-shaped plates of silver, engraved with the mystic symbol of such frequent occurrence on Scottish sculptured Standing Stones. One of the monuments of this class, though destitute of the peculiar symbols here referred to, was found in fragments on the Largo estate, and through the good taste of the late General Durham, has been again reunited, and erected upon a pedestal near the spot where it was discovered. On one side it bears as usual the figure of a cross, and on the other, horsemen, dogs, and other animals, most prominent among which is the symbolic elephant frequently found on the same singular class of memorials. Though destitute of the peculiar devices which confer so great an interest on the silver relics found in its vicinity, this monument is of great value as furnishing independent evidence of the prevalence of the same arts in this locality at the dawn of the Scottish Christian Period. The two leaf-shaped plates, one of which has already been figured,[547] are almost precisely similar. On one the marginal line is wanting which appears in the representation given in the last chapter, but some indications seem to shew that it has been burnished out. The devices on both are deeply engraved, and it is possible may have been enamelled. Mr. Buist describes in his report small lozenge-shaped plates of silver, which formed part of a rich coat of scale armour; referring, there can be little doubt, to these leaf-shaped plates, both of which he has figured. The one already engraved is the size of the original, which weighs 598 grains; the other corresponds in size, but is somewhat above eighty grains lighter in weight. But there is no indication of any means of attachment so as to unite them in a suit of armour, or suspend them to the dress of the wearer. The spirally decorated bosses at the broader ends are concave on the under side, and present no appearance of having ever had anything attached to them. The original destination of these singular relics is indeed involved in the same mystery as the peculiar symbols with which they are engraved.

Next in interest to these scale plates of silver are a pair of bodkins, measuring in length rather more than six and a half inches, and engraved here the size of the originals. They are both alike, with the exception that on the reverse side of one is an imperfect indication of the =Z= symbol, the figure of which is interrupted by the attachment of the pin. The form of the head is peculiar, though not unique, pins of nearly similar fashion having been found in Ireland. A brass bodkin of this type, in the Museum of Trinity College, Dublin, is almost precisely the same in form and dimensions, and only differs in the ornament introduced in the front of the head.[548] Another example of the same type, found at Lagore, County Meath, is figured in the Archæological Journal.[549] It is made of bronze, and is inferior in point of workmanship, but is equally valuable from the undoubted evidence it affords of the native origin of this peculiar form of pin, and of the other relics discovered along with it. The front of the head in the Largo bodkin is beautifully chased in the same style of ornaments as the scale plates, and the central projecting stud bears a Greek cross patée, thus presented, as on the Scottish sculptured stones, in connexion with these mysterious symbols. The mode of introducing the symbol on the bodkin is peculiarly suggestive of its use as a charm. It is engraved where it was evidently not intended to be seen, and where indeed its form is by no means adapted as a decoration to the peculiar shape of the work on which it is introduced. The spiral ornaments on the opposite side are, on the contrary, arranged for effect; and though corresponding to those on the double circles of the scale plate, are suggestive only of decorative design, the same peculiar form being greatly varied in pattern, and even frequently left blank on the sculptured stones. Another smaller pin of the same class is in the Durham collection. It appears to have been jewelled, but is very imperfect. It measures one and a quarter inch in length.

Two ornaments, described by Mr. Buist as "circles or armlets," appear to be the large ring fibulæ of a type common both as Irish and early Highland brooches. The most perfect of the two, which measures five and three-quarter inches in diameter, is represented here half the size of the original. The acus or tongue is wanting in both of them. The torquated hoop is a rare feature in such ornaments, and indeed much seldomer found in works of silver than of gold. It forms the simplest style of ornamentation, and, though by no means inelegant, corresponds very imperfectly with the fully developed style of art indicated in the other contents of the Largo tumulus, with perhaps the exception of a silver disc, figured in the Archæological Journal, half the size of the original.[550] This measures three inches in diameter, and has a central boss with a circular depression, which may not improbably have been set with a jewel of amber or stone. The torquated hoop of the silver fibula does not appear the best adapted for the free movement of the acus, but this seems rarely to have been much attended to. Where, as in these examples, the hoop is disunited, the acus is generally of great length, not infrequently measuring two, and even two and a half times the diameter of its circle. Nothing more was required for fastening such a fibula after the tongue had been passed through the dress, than to turn it slightly past the opening, for which purpose its perforation is always sufficiently wide. The revived taste for archæological pursuits has once more restored this ancient form adapted to the fashions of modern dress, and one of the most favourite Scottish patterns bears the name of the Maid of Norway's Brooch.

It is less easy to assign a use for another of the Norrie's Law relics, engraved here half the size of the original. Mr. Albert Way describes it as "a plate of silver, enriched with singular scrolls or foliated ornaments in very high relief. Three of these remain; there was obviously a fourth, connected with the corresponding scroll by a narrow neck, the plate being formed with an irregular oblong opening in the centre. Dimensions of the plate, four and a half inches by four inches; length of the opening, two and a half inches; projection of the ornaments more than a quarter of an inch. They appear to have been cast, and are formed with great elegance of outline and skilful workmanship." It is obvious that the plate when complete had not been uniform. It would now be vain to speculate on its original purpose, though this appears to be the object described in Mr. Buist's report as the mouthpiece of a sword-scabbard; his whole ideas having obviously been modified by the local belief in the "suit of silver armour" in which the mounted warrior was interred. There is manifestly but little correspondence in it either to a modern sword-guard or the mouthpiece of its scabbard, and it bears not the slightest resemblance to any known appendage of ancient weapons.

The remaining relics of this hoard include two fragments of armillæ, formed of plain silver plates, beaten out so as to present a convex outer face; a double hook, one inch in length, in form of an S; a narrow band, like a riband of silver, about half an inch in width, and upwards of a yard long: one end, which appears perfect, tapering to a point; a fragment of fine interlaced silver; and a spiral silver ring, almost precisely similar in form to one of bronze found in a cist near Edinburgh, and figured in a former chapter.[551] It weighs 120 grains, and is ornamented only with a minute serrated pattern wrought along part of the inner edge of the spiral bar of silver towards either extremity.

Such are the few but valuable relics which have escaped the crucible, amounting altogether only to about twenty-four ounces out of the estimated 400 ounces of pure silver found in the Norrie's Law tumulus by its unprincipled ravisher. That they exhibit the high progress attained by native artists at the period to which they belong can hardly admit of a doubt. The analogy which the forms both of the fibulæ and bodkins suggest--so clearly traceable to types of most frequent occurrence in Ireland--fully corresponds to the historic origin of the races and the arts of Scotland, already traced out in the previous chapter. Their peculiar devices, found only on the earliest Christian monuments of Scotland, no less distinctly refer these remarkable relics to that native transition-period from the fourth to the eighth century, when Pagan and Christian rites were obscurely mingled; and the revelations of the old sepulchral mound shew that the anticipations of the dying warrior still derived their most vivid power more from the heathen valhalla than the Christian paradise. We shall not perhaps greatly err in limiting the era of the Norrie's Law tumulus from the third to the sixth century. We must even allow for the lapse of a sufficient interval between the last surviving witness of the deposition of its treasures, and the advent of that new creed and system which finally abolished the sacredness that formed the old safeguard of the Pagan treasures of the dead. But in addition to every other cause of regret for the barbarous destruction of these beautiful examples of the arts as practised in Scotland a thousand years ago, we have reason to believe that an opportunity was lost--perhaps the only one that can ever occur--of ascertaining the precise epoch, and even the meaning of the remarkable Scottish symbols with which they were decorated. Mr. Buist remarks in his report,--"A considerable number of coins, now wholly lost sight of, and said to have borne these symbolic markings, were found along with the armour at Norrie's Law, and about forty of the same kind were found in an earthen pot at Pittenweem in 1822. It is said that these were destitute of inscription or written character." No great importance can be attached to such vague descriptions of coins chiefly derived from the recollections of persons probably little familiar with any but those of the present currency. But of the fact of coins having been found no doubt can be entertained. Nor is this the only instance of such being met with in a Scottish tumulus, though hitherto they have only been discovered to be destroyed.

The most primitive form of Scottish coinage is evidently the simple gold pellets usually marked with a cross in relief. The two examples engraved here, the size of the originals, are from the remarkable hoard discovered at Cairnmuir, Peeblesshire, in 1806.[552] They resemble two segments of a sphere irregularly joined, and appear to have been cast in a mould. Forty of the same simple class of early currency were found, along with what appears to have been a gold funicular torc, in the parish of Dolphinton, Lanarkshire, and marked, like those of Cairnmuir, "with the impression of a star."[553] Little hesitation can be felt in assigning to the same class a discovery, in the parish of Dunnichen, Forfarshire, of "a number of small gold bullets, which seem to have been the current coin of the times when they were formed."[554] A correspondent describes to me a quantity of silver coins found about two years since in a cist exposed on the demolition of a cairn on the lands of Sauchie, Stirlingshire: "They were so thin that they readily broke in the workmen's fingers; they seemed struck through from the back, and had figures only on the one side; some of them had loops to hang them by." The whole of these are now dispersed or lost, their ignorant discoverers having seemingly contented themselves with the interesting experiment of trying how readily they could break them in pieces. There can be little doubt from the description that they were silver bracteates; and if so, their loss is greatly to be regretted. A cairn of peculiar construction is described in the Statistical Account of the parish of Garvoch, Kincardineshire, within which was found a silver brooch of ancient workmanship, and towards the margin upwards of twenty coins, but these would appear to have been a later deposit, as they included one of Alexander I., and another of Robert Bruce.[555] The valuable numismatic collection of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland includes a few gold coins of the Gaulish type, believed to have been found in Scotland, but their history or exact locality is unknown. Mr. Lindsay, in his "View of the Coinage of Scotland," justly remarks on the neglect of the investigation of this interesting subject, which, until the publication of his work, had been carried no farther back than the reign of William the Lion. To this he has added the history of upwards of a century, and made us familiar with some interesting early types. The earliest of these are of the Crux type of Ethelred II., of whose coins they are evidently an imitation, and are ascribed to the Norwegian jarls of the Hebrides. In the autumn of 1782, some men engaged in clearing away the foundation of an old wall in the island of Tyrie, one of the Hebrides, found an urn containing from fifteen to twenty ounces of Anglo-Saxon silver coins in fine preservation, ninety of these are now in the Scottish Society's collection, and include silver pennies of Athelstan, Eadmund, Eadred, Eadwy, Eadgar, and Eadweard the Martyr. In the present year, 1850, a large hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins was discovered in the Isle of Skye: upwards of ninety fell into the hands of one individual, and a much greater number were dispersed. By far the greater number are stykas of Eadgar. Barry mentions two horns found at Caldale near Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, containing three hundred coins of Canute, including forty-two varieties of mints, with silver fibulæ and other relics, already described along with a more recent discovery of a similar kind.[556] To these also should be added the occasional discovery of Cufic coins, inscribed in the old Arabic character, and ranging from the latter end of the seventh to the close of the tenth century. One of these, a fine gold coin, was discovered in 1823, at a considerable depth, in digging a grave in the churchyard of Monymusk, Aberdeenshire.[557] In all the discoveries referred to it is of special importance to our present inquiries to note that coins and other undoubted evidences of a comparatively recent date are rarely, if ever, found with gold relics of Archaic types. We rather see distinct reason to conclude that the stores of native gold and the direct sources of foreign supply were both nearly exhausted at an earlier period, and that silver, which chiefly belongs to the Iron or last Pagan period, was the metal used for purposes of personal adornment and display at the period when the peculiar native arts were developed which appear to belong to the dawn of the Scottish Christian Period. Whether derived from native or foreign sources, silver appears to have been then in greater abundance, and more lavishly employed for mere purposes of show than at any other period of our national history.

FOOTNOTES:

[542] Ante, p. 321.

[543] Archæol. Journal, vol. vi. p. 259.

[544] Sinclair's Statist. Acc. vol. iv. p. 546.

[545] Sinclair's Statistical Account, vol. iv. p. 538.

[546] Report on the Silver Fragments in the possession of General Durham, Largo, commonly called the Silver Armour of Norrie's Law.--Cupar, 1839.

[547] Ante, p. 499.

[548] Historical Essay on the Dress of the ancient Irish, by Joseph C. Walker, M.R.I.A. Dublin, 1788, p. 15, Plate II. No. 4.

[549] Archæol. Jour. vol. vi. p. 105.

[550] Archæol. Jour. vol. vi. p. 255.

[551] Ante, p. 327.

[552] Ante, p. 317.

[553] New Statistical Account, vol. vi. p. 57.

[554] New Statistical Account, vol. xi. p. 146.

[555] Ibid., p. 38.

[556] Ante, p. 443.

[557] Minute of Soc. Antiq. Scot., June 2, 1828.

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