Part 4

The following are a few of the localities in which these vases have occurred most abundantly:—Braquemont, Martin Eglise, Bouteilles, where over 100 vases occurred, Roux Mesnil, Neuchatel, etc. It may be interesting to indicate the range in time of the custom, by a few instances, with well-defined dates. In the coffin of Urson, Abbot of Jumieges, who died in 1127, two pierced vases were found. At Leure, near Havre, among many interments with similar vases, there was one with an inscribed slab identifying it as that of Pierre Berenguier (1270–1290). In the stone coffin there were six of these pierced vases. The stone coffin of Simon de Goucans, Bishop of Amiens, who died in 1325, contained three vases, two being placed at the shoulders and one at the feet, all pierced with holes and partly filled with charcoal. In the coffin of John Count Dunois, who died in 1468, seven vases occurred. In that of Francis Longueville, who died in 1491, twelve pierced vases with charcoal were ranged along the sides of the coffin. On the right side of the wooden coffin of the Abbé François d’Orignai, who died in 1483, two pierced vases were found. In the leaden coffin of Agnes of Savoy, Duchess of Dunois, who died in 1508, there were four vases of common red unglazed ware containing charcoal. The latest precise date is furnished by an interment in the graveyard of the Benedictine monastery at Mans. The coffin, on which the inscription was still legible, CHARLOTTE LE NORMANT DE BEAUMONT, DECEDE LE 12 AVRIL 1688, contained a vase with charcoal. This curious and little known custom is fully illustrated in the Abbé Cochet’s works, _La Normandie Souterraine_, 2d edition, Paris 1855, and its sequel _Sepultures Gauloises, Romaines, Franques et Normandes_, Paris 1857. See also _Bulletin Monumental_, vol. xxii. pp. 329–364, 425–447; vol. xxv. pp. 103–132, 273–311; _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie_, vol. xxii. pp. 11, 12, 294–298, vol. xxiv. p. 5–8; _Archæologia_, vol. xxxv. p. 233, vol. xxxvii. p. 399, vol. xxxviii. p. 66, vol. xxxix. p. 117; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London_, 1855, pp. 206, 290; _Revue de l’art Chretien_, vol. ii. (1858), p. 420; De Caumont, _Cours d’Antiquites Monumentales_, vol. vi. p. 316; A. Murcier, _La Sepulture Chretienne en France_, p. 159–164.

Footnote 14:

This is a frequently-occurring characteristic of the vessels partially filled with charcoal found in graves of the Carlovingian period and down to the seventeenth century in France. They are usually pierced with holes irregularly placed. In some cases the holes have been made when the clay was soft. In others the vessels have been pierced by holes driven through their sides after they were fired, as if by a nail or other pointed instrument.

Footnote 15:

At Bernay, where 150 of these incense vases were found, the most common arrangement was four in one coffin, two at the head and two at the feet.

The form of the vase figured is not that of any known variety of urn found with interments of Pagan type. But it closely corresponds with the form of the incense vases represented in an illumination from a manuscript of the fourteenth century (Fig. 2), as placed alternately with candles on the floor round the coffin during the funeral service, and which, as we learn from contemporary documents, were afterwards placed in the grave.[16] In the illumination the red colour of the fire within the vases appears through the holes pierced in their sides. (This cannot be shown in the woodcut here given, but the escaping smoke indicates the position of the apertures). There is in the National Museum another pierced vase, in which the holes have been made when the clay was soft. It was found in 1829, with two others, under a flat stone at the Castle Hill of Rattray in Aberdeenshire. It is here figured (Fig. 3) along with one of the two others found with it, of which the Society possesses a drawing (Fig. 4). From a note attached to the drawing we learn that the three vessels were filled, with ashes when they were first discovered. No other record of the phenomena of this interesting deposit exists; but, from the character of the vessels themselves, which is totally distinct from that of all known types of vessels deposited with Pagan interments in this country, they may be assigned to the class of vessels deposited in Christian graves of twelfth to fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with charcoal and incense.

Footnote 16:

Two instances are cited by the Abbé Cochet. Claud d’Escarbotte left orders in his will that the young lads, orphans, who were to follow him to the grave should carry each a torch and a pot with incense. Jehan Thelinige described the custom more particularly, for he prescribes in his will that the small pots with the fire and the incense shall be thrown into the grave. In the district of Morvan, says M. Jules Chevrier, the peasants even in our own days continue the custom of using funeral vases. They throw upon the coffin, when it is lowered into the grave, a porringer or some such dish of earthenware which had been ordinarily used by the defunct; and in certain parts of La Bresse they still throw into the grave the holy water vessel which had stood at the feet of the defunct previous to the ceremony of inhumation.

In the special features of such survivals as these we read the story of the transition from the older to the newer forms of burial resulting from the change of faith. We see the custom of burial with grave-goods retained as a ceremonial observance in Christian sepulture, and the practice of cremation succeeded by the symbolic act of strewing charcoal in the open grave, and by a ritual which still regards the act of burial as a consigning of “ashes to ashes;” and by these and similar links of connection we pass gradually from the Christian system to the system of Paganism that preceded it.

But when we advance beyond the Christian boundary in Scotland we enter on a region singularly destitute of materials by which the burial customs of the people may be correlated with those which offer indications of their culture and civilisation. The general phenomena of the burials of the Celtic Paganism of the Iron Age in Scotland are not disclosed by any recorded observations known to me. If they exist, they exist either as phenomena of unrecognised character or as phenomena which are still unobserved. I therefore proceed to the examination of a group of phenomena disclosing the existence within the Celtic area of a system of Paganism which was not of Celtic origin; and I turn to these phenomena as the only materials available for the demonstration of the character of Pagan burial—premising that they belong to a time when, owing to the intrusion of a foreign element, the Christian form and the Pagan form were closely contiguous and contemporary in Scotland.

* * * * *

In the autumn of 1878 the late Mr. William Campbell of Ballinaby, on the west coast of the island of Islay, passing through the sandy links there, had his attention arrested by the unusual appearance of a patch of iron-rust in a hollow from which the sand had drifted. Examining the spot more closely, he found that there was a deposit of iron implements in the sand. Digging out the deposit, he discovered that it had been disposed in two contiguous graves, each containing a skeleton laid at full length, with the head to the east and the feet to the west, the boundary of each grave being marked by an enclosure formed of stones set on edge in the sand.

In grave No. 1 he found the following objects deposited with the skeleton:—

An iron sword in its sheath (Fig. 5).

The iron boss of a shield, with its handle of bronze or brass still attached. (The boss and handle are shown in Fig. 6, and the handle separately in Fig. 7.)

An iron spear-head with wide blade and long socket (Fig. 8).

An iron object, having a wide socket at one end of a long shank (Fig. 9).

A conical iron object with the remains of wood adhering to the interior surface (Fig. 10).

A number of fragments of corrugated iron (Fig. 11).

A hollow cylindrical object of bronze with a globular end, probably the mounting of the end of a small sheath (Fig. 13).

An iron axe-head, not differing greatly from the modern form, the eye broken (Fig. 14).

An iron axe-head of similar form, but longer in the shank, the eye entire (also shown in Fig. 14).

The iron head of a small adze, nearly entire (Fig. 15).

The iron head of a hammer, entire (Fig. 16).

A pair of forge-tongs, partially broken (Fig. 17).

The broken fragments of a large iron pot, and its bow-handle, broken (Fig. 18).

In grave No. 2 he found the following objects deposited with the skeleton:—

A pair of oval bowl-shaped brooches of bronze, ornamented with pierced and chased work and with plaited bands of silver wire and studs, of which the pins only remain (Fig. 20).

The brass spring-pins of the two brooches (Fig. 19).

Portions of three pairs of discs of thin bronze, plated with silver, each pair connected by a narrow band, the discs ornamented with bosses arranged in circles, and the bands with borders all in _repoussé_ work (Fig. 21).

A silver hair-pin with a globular head, ornamented with filigree work, and furnished with a ring of wire fastened by a peculiar twisting of one end round the other (Fig. 22).

A silver chain-like ornament, formed of fine silver wire knitted as a hollow tube, knotted at the two ends, and furnished at one end with a ring fastened by a peculiar twisting of the ends round each other (Fig. 23).

Seven beads of coloured glass, enamelled on the surface with patterns in different colours (Fig. 24).

A saucepan of thin bronze, with a long flat handle (Fig. 25).

A hemispherical lump of black glass, in shape nearly resembling the bottom of a bottle, and having its convex side rubbed and striated by use (Fig. 26).

A small object like a needle-case, of silver, broken, and containing what seems to be a portion of a broken needle of bronze.

It is apparent, from the nature of the groups of objects severally associated with the two burials, that No. 1 was the grave of a man, and No. 2 was the grave of a woman. The man was buried with his arms and implements, the woman with her personal ornaments and housewife’s gear. It is equally apparent, from an examination of the whole phenomena of the burials, that there is an obvious absence of all indications of Christianity. They are not destitute of characteristics possessing a special significance, but they are destitute of characteristics possessing such significance as could be attributed to the faith and hope of the Christian creed, or explained by reference to any recognised customs of Christian burial. They suggest, for instance, a condition of life considerably removed from absolute poverty; they present indications of culture and taste, of skill and industry, of manly vigour and womanly grace. But the position of the graves, with the head to the east and the feet to the west, is the opposite of that referred to by the liturgical writers of early Christian times as the proper position of the Christian dead, who should be placed with their feet to the east, so that in rising they may face their Lord as He comes from the east. And there is no feature which can be more surely relied on as an indication of early Christian burial than this orientation of the grave which is here so plainly disregarded.

If the absence of all indications of Christianity be thus obvious, there is no less obviously a complete absence of all the characteristics of art and art-workmanship with which we have become familiar in the progress of our investigation. There is no Celticism apparent in the art of the decorated objects placed in these graves. The characteristics which we have found to be constantly present in the decorative metal-work of the Celtic school of art are notably absent, and those that are present are mostly new and strange to us. If the phenomena of the burials are clearly not Christian, the characteristics of the art are as clearly not Celtic.

To find such weapons of bronze or stone as are commonly styled prehistoric deposited with the dead excites no feeling of surprise, because we know, in a general way, that this was the common custom of prehistoric Paganism. But when we find in a grave, along with the ordinary weapons of war, a collection of implements like this—a group of actual tools of iron—scarcely differing in shape, and not differing in material from those now in use in our workshops, we instantly realise the presence of a phenomenon at once unusual and suggestive. It is unusual in this country because our forefathers received Christianity early, and Christianity abolished the custom of placing implements in graves. It is suggestive because it enables us to perceive how closely the characteristic customs of the man we call primeval may be linked with the arts and culture of modern times. It is therefore a phenomenon which it is desirable to investigate as fully as possible.

For this purpose it will be necessary to examine in detail the principal objects found in the graves, with the view of determining their typical characteristics and relations.

First, I take the sword (Fig. 5) as the most important, and therefore the most likely to disclose its typical relationship by comparison with others. It is a long, broad-bladed, double-edged weapon, tapering slightly and evenly from hilt to point. Its whole length is 36½ inches. The blade is 2¾ inches wide at the junction with the guard of the hilt, 2½ inches in the middle of its length, and 1½ where it begins to be rounded off at the point. The grip of the hilt, which is covered with leather, is 3¾ inches in length. The guard, which forms a straight collar to the blade, flattened on the upper and under surfaces, and convex on both sides, is 4¼ inches in length. The pommel, which is triangular in outline and convex from the apex to the base, is 2½ inches high, 4 inches from side to side, and 1½ inches thick. Portions of the wooden lining of the scabbard still adhere to the blade.[17]

Footnote 17:

Pennant figures an iron sword of this type in the second volume of his _Tour in Scotland_, plate xliv., but dismisses it with the remark that it is “part of an iron sword found in Islay.”

The shield boss (Fig. 6) is a round piece of hammered iron, like a hollow truncated cone, the outlines being those of an ogee curve instead of rectilinear. It measures 3¼ inches diameter and 3½ inches high, the flattened top being half an inch across. The base of the cone impinged upon the wood of the shield, to which it was securely fastened by two rivets passing through the flange of the boss and through the wood. Other two rivets, placed in the circumference of the flange midway between these two, also passed through the wood of the shield and were riveted into the handle. The handle is of brass or bronze, 7¼ inches in length, convex on the exterior surface, and concave internally in the direction of its breadth, and slightly convex also in outline in the direction of its length. It is ornamented (as shown in Fig. 7) by bands of engraved lines forming reticulated patterns, and terminates at both ends in slightly raised circular discs, furnished with loops in front and back. The front loops apparently passed through the wood of the shield, those on the backs of the discs must have stood free on the inside of the shield, and were probably used for its suspension by a strap slung across the shoulder. Portions of the wood of the shield still adhere to the edges of the boss. This specimen shows what has never before been seen in this country, viz. the method of attachment of the boss and handle through the wood of the shield.

The spear-head (Fig.8) is a long and stout-bladed weapon, straight-edged, and tapering equally from the butt of the blade, which is unbarbed, the short neck of the blade passing gradually into the rounded socket. The blade is now only 7 inches in length, but was probably about 10 inches long and 2 inches wide at the butt. The socket still contains a portion of the wood of the shaft.

With these weapons there are other relics to which it is less easy to assign a definite purpose, such as the iron object (Fig. 9), 6 inches in length, which may have been the ferrule of a shaft, if not the heel of the spear-shaft itself, which was often mounted with an iron prong for convenience of thrusting it into the ground.

Akin to this object is the broken portion of a conical ferrule (shown in Fig. 10), and there are a number of fragments of an iron object with a corrugated surface, as if formed of thick wires laid side by side (Fig. 11). None of the fragments suggest the probable size or form of the object when entire, or reveal its purpose. But in the figure of a warrior represented on a small bronze plaque (Fig. 12), dug up in the island of Oland, we see a helmet formed of bands of somewhat similar appearance, and the sword he bears in his hand is a sword of the peculiar type associated with these peculiar relics.

A small and elegantly-formed and ornamented object of bronze (Fig. 13), with a cylindrical socket, terminating in a globose and lobated expansion, with a rope-like moulding round the upper part of the terminal expansion, appears to have been the mounting of the end of a small sheath. A similar object, nearly of the same size, having its globose termination ornamented with a grotesque face was found in a grave in the island of Westray, in Orkney, and will be hereafter referred to. (See Fig. 50.)

The implements associated with these weapons and accoutrements in the man’s grave are equally worthy of special examination, because, when regarded as a representative group, it will be seen that they point with equal definiteness to the same conclusion as to the typical character and relations of the special form of burial with which we are dealing.

The iron axe-heads (Fig. 14) found in the grave were two in number, nearly alike in form and dimensions, though somewhat mutilated. They do not differ greatly from the modern form of the implement, and are good serviceable tools.

The small adze-head (Fig. 15) and the hammer-head (Fig. 16) of iron are also good serviceable tools, not differing greatly from forms that are still in use, but possessing, in common with the axes, sufficient individuality of form and character to establish their typical relationship as members of a special group.

The forge-tongs (Fig. 17), in the same manner, present features of individuality which are capable of being correlated with a special variety of this type of tool confined to a special area, and usually occurring in certain special associations of a similar character to those in which this example occurs.

The broken fragments of the large iron pot present no features of character that can be recognised as distinctive. They are simple fragments of a large culinary pot, the diameter of which is indicated by the span of the iron bow-handle (Fig. 18), of which about half remains entire. But though the pot itself is not a specially remarkable object, the occurrence of an iron culinary pot in such associations is a fact of sufficiently remarkable character to be of importance in the determination of the special relations of a burial distinguished by such a group of unusual phenomena.

Let us now examine in detail the special characteristics of the ornaments and other articles found in the grave of the woman.