FIG. PAGE 204. Anglo-Saxon Sword 205. دو Umbone of Shield, Tissington, Derbyshire 110 206. Sepulchral Slab, Lismore, Ireland 117 ... ... 123 123, 125 Darley Dale, Derbyshire... Slab, Hartington, Derbyshire وو Darley Dale, Derbyshire ... ... 216-220. Ancient British Coins, Mount Batten, Ply. 125 228. Quarter-Noble of Henry IV. 229. 236. Bell Founders' Marks, Baslow, Derbyshire... 147 ... ... ... 147 152 152 ... 157 Elton, Derbyshire Bonsall 157 157 159 ... (John Draper) Derbyshire Brassington, Derbyshire 160 ... 180 ... 251. Sepulchral Glass Bottle, Bartlow Hills 253. Roman Glass Bowl, Leicester Celtic Interment 270. Amber and Glass Necklace, Wyaston, Derbyshire 271, 272. Earrings, Kentish Barrows 273. Bone Pins, Darley Dale, Derbyshire 274. Jet Stud, Rudstone, Yorkshire 181 181 182 ... ... 213 HALF-HOURS AMONG SOME ENGLISH ANTIQUITIES. CHAPTER I. AMONG BARROWS. THE remains of the Ancient British, or Celtic, period which have come down to us, consist in the main of barrows, stone circles, pottery, implements of flint and of stone, weapons and ornaments of gold and bronze, and various articles in bone and jet, etc. To each of these classes I purpose devoting a few pages, so as to give a general insight into the remains of that, and subsequent, periods of our early history. It is not my province to speak of the different races who have inhabited our land, nor of their habits or modes of life, their history or their progress in the arts and in civilization, but of those remains only which time has spared, and which we see around us at the present hour. B First, then, as to the barrows, which, it may be well to remark, are grave-mounds, or sepulchral tumuli, and are known in different districts as "barrows," "lows," "tumps," "cairns," "houes," etc. They belong to the three great periods of our history, the Celtic, the Romano-British, and the AngloSaxon; and although each of these bears a very close general resemblance to the others, there are certain differences in detail that are observable to the practised eye, and their contents, of course, vary considerably. The barrows of the Celtic period, as I have on a former occasion written,* vary in their form and size as much as they do in their modes of construction, and in their contents. "Sometimes they are simply mounds of earth raised over the interment; sometimes heaps of stones piled up over the body; and sometimes, again, a combination of cist and earth and stone. Generally speaking, the mounds are circular, rising gradually and gently from the level of the ground towards the centre, but in some instances the rise is somewhat acute. and then they are oval in form. Where elliptical barrows occur (generally known as 'long barrows') they are, I have reason to believe, not matters of original design, but of accident, through additional interments; and I much doubt the propriety of archæologists, at the present day, continuing the very questionable nomenclature adopted by Sir R. C. *"Grave-Mounds and their Contents." Now Hoare and others. In some cases, however, as in the instances of chambered or walled tumuli, the elliptical form of the barrow can be easily understood. An examination of a very large number of barrows leads me to the opinion that the original form of all was circular, and that no deviation from that form, and no difference in section, can be taken as indicative of period or of race. Another appellation occasionally used, that of 'twin barrows,' is further evidence of this-two interments having been made within a short distance of each other, and the mounds raised over them running into and joining each other. It may, however, for purposes of description, and for this alone, be well to retain the names, while discarding much of the theory and of the system which has been attempted to be established regarding them.” Their form and construction will be best understood by reference to the sections. Fig. 1 shows a mound, or cairn, of stones raised over the body, Fig. 1. which is simply laid in the usual doubled-up or contracted position; the outer edge of the circle being formed of rough slabs of stone laid one on another, with their upper ends sloping inwards. |