Fig. 166.—Leswalt. ½
For the use of Fig. 166 I am indebted to the Council[502] of the Ayrshire and Wigtonshire Archæological Association. The original was found in a peat-moss near the farm-house of Knock and Maize, in Leswalt parish, Wigtonshire, and is now in the cabinet of the Earl of Stair. Its analogies with that found at Kingston, Surrey (Fig. 142), are very striking, while at the same time it closely resembles the type exhibited by the mould from Ross-shire already mentioned. The occurrence of instruments of so rare a form at such a distance apart is very remarkable; but if, as appears probable, the celts of this type are among the latest which were manufactured, and may possibly belong even to the Late Celtic period, their wide dissemination is the less wonderful.
Socketed celts have been found in very large numbers in Ireland, upwards of two hundred being preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; and numerous specimens are to be seen in other collections, both public and private. Mr. R. Day, F.S.A., of Cork, has upwards of forty in his own cabinet. The Irish celts vary much in size, the largest being a little over 5 inches long, and the smallest less than an inch. The most common form is oval at the neck, and expands into a broad cutting edge. There is usually some kind of moulding round the mouth, giving the end of the instrument a trumpet-like appearance. The effect of the moulding is not unfrequently exaggerated by a hollow fluting round the neck, as in Fig. 167.
——— Fig. 167.—Ireland. ½ ————— Fig. 168.—Ireland. ½
Celts of this and some of the following types have been figured by Vallancey.[503]
In that shown as Fig. 168 there is a slight shoulder below the trumpet-shaped part of the mouth, and the loop, instead of springing straight out from the neck, has its ends extended into four ridges, running over the neck of the celt like half-buried roots.
An example of a celt with the loop attached in a similar manner has been engraved by Wilde.[504] Another (3¾ inches) is in the collection of Mr. R. Day, F.S.A.