Fig. 18.—Rhosnesney. ½
The only instance known to me in which the rough castings destined to be wrought into this form of celt have been found in Britain is one recorded in the Archæologia Cambrensis[212] by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell. At the meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association at Wrexham, Sir R. A. Cunliffe, Bart., exhibited what had evidently been the stock in trade of an ancient bronze-founder or merchant. It had been found at Rhosnesney, near Wrexham, and consisted of six palstaves, all from the same mould, another somewhat slighter and broken in two, the blade of a small dagger, three castings for flanged celts, and the shank of a fourth—all of them rough as they came from the mould. The cut given of one of the last-mentioned castings is here reproduced on a smaller scale as Fig. 18. It will be seen that a broad runner is left at the butt end, which was probably destined to be broken off; the sides would also be hammered, so as to increase the prominence of the flanges; and the whole would be planished by hammering and grinding. All the specimens have the appearance of having been washed over with tin, but this deposit of tin upon the surface may, I think, be due to some chemical action which has gone on since the bronze was buried in the ground, and may not have been intentionally produced.
A casting for a longer flanged celt found at Vienne (Isère) has been figured by Chantre.[213]
Turning now to the flat and flanged celts discovered in Scotland, I may remark that the instruments of the flat form appear to be comparatively more abundant in that country than in England and Wales.
In Fig. 19 is shown a remarkably well-preserved specimen in my own collection, which is said to have been found near Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire. The sides present two longitudinal facets at a low angle to each other. In hammering these the margin of the faces has been somewhat raised; they are otherwise smooth and devoid of ornament. Other specimens have three facets on the sides.
Fig. 19.—Drumlanrig. ½
Instruments of much the same character have been found near Biggar[214] (6⅛ inches), Culter[215] (5¼ inches), both in Lanarkshire; on the farm of Colleonard,[216] near Banff (found with three which were ornamented); at Sluie on the Findhorn,[217] Morayshire (two, 6 inches); near Abernethy,[218] Perthshire (4 inches across face); near Ardgour House,[219] Invernessshire (5¾ inches); the Hill of Fortrie of Balnoon,[220] Inverkeithney, Banffshire (5¾ inches long); Ravelston,[221] near Edinburgh (7 inches); Cobbinshaw, Midcalder, Edinburgh (4¾ inches), in my own collection. One found in the Moss of Cree,[222] near Wigton in Galloway, has been mentioned by Wilson, and is engraved in the Ayr and Wigton Collections.[223] Others from Inch and Leswalt, Wigtonshire, have also been figured.[224]