Fig. 95.—Bronze object in the form of a swine’s head found at Liechestown, Deskford, Banffshire (8½ inches in length).]
At Liechestown, in the parish of Deskford, Banffshire, about the year 1816, a remarkable relic (Fig. [95]), now in the Banff Museum, was found in a mossy piece of ground, at a depth of about 6 feet, and resting on a bed of clay at the bottom of the moss. This object, which is equally peculiar alike in respect to its form and ornamentation, is in the shape of a boar’s head of thin beaten bronze 8½ inches in length by 5½ in greatest breadth. The lower jaw is movable. The eyes are circular holes 1¼ inch in diameter. The whole head is formed of four plates of bronze, the snout, the palate, and the lower jaw (Fig. [96]) having been each made separately, and attached to the posterior part of the head, which consists of an embossed plate bent to the shape. A disc-like plate, which was found with it, is now attached to the open back of the head, but does not quite fit, and it is doubtful whether it had been so placed originally. The ornamentation of this singular object is of the same character as that of the Torrs bronze, but simpler, being merely a series of trumpet-shaped ridges in repoussé work round the eyes. But this ornament, simple as it is, is quite sufficient to determine the relations of the relic to that general group of objects of which it and the bronze from Torrs are the most remarkable specimens.
Fig. 96.—Plates of thin bronze forming separate parts of the swine’s head. (2) The lower jaw. (3) The palate. (4 and 5) Posterior and lateral views of the palate.
Fig. 97.—Sword-sheath found near Mortonhall (23½ inches long).
It is obvious that if these objects had any relation to military equipment, we ought to find the very peculiar art which is so conspicuous in their decoration, also exhibiting itself in the decoration of the weapons and other war-gear in use among the same people. Diodorus, in fact, informs us that the Gauls used oblong shields as tall as the man, and painted after a peculiar fashion. Some of these shields, he also says, had figures of animals in relief of bronze, not merely for ornament but also for defence, and very well wrought. It has been already remarked that it is probable that the military equipment of the Gallic tribes resembled that of the British; and it is the fact that oblong shields, decorated with the peculiar patterns characteristic of the style of art exhibited by the two headpieces which have been described, having these patterns further adorned by coloured enamels, and also possessing the distinctive feature of figures of animals in relief in bronze, have been found in England.[[57]]
No shields of this character have yet been discovered in Scotland, but there are other objects of a military kind which exhibit the same peculiar art in a sufficiently characteristic manner. One of these is a sword-sheath (Fig. [97]) of bronze, 23½ inches in length by 1¼ inch in width, which was found at the foot of the Pentlands, near Mortonhall, and is now in the Museum. It is formed of thin beaten bronze; the ornamental cup-shaped expansions at the lower end are solid castings, and the ornamental strap carrying the loop in front is fastened on with pins. The back of the sheath is a thin slip of bronze sliding in grooves in the inner margins of the two sides. This is the only example of a sword-sheath of this style and period known to have been found in Scotland. Several sheaths of the same character have been discovered in England. Perhaps the most characteristic of these is one in the collection of Canon Greenwell at Durham, which exhibits, in a very special manner, the peculiar style of ornament of which I have given so many illustrations. The swords which these sheaths contained were of iron and have perished. One found in the Thames has the blade still within it, 3 feet 1½ inch in length, but a mere mass of oxide.[[58]] These swords differ greatly in the length and form of the blade from the leaf-shaped swords of bronze which were in general use at an earlier period, and their sheaths differ still more widely in form and ornament from the sheaths of the leaf-shaped swords.
Another class of objects, which are more of the nature of harness-mountings or horse-furniture, also exhibit this peculiar style of ornamentation, in some cases combined with the remarkable feature of having their sunk spaces filled with coloured enamels.
