The umbone or boss of the shield was, as I have said, of various forms. The most usual shapes are, perhaps, those here given from Kentish graves (figs. [406] and [407]), and [fig. 408], from Tissington, where it was found along with the sword before described ([fig. 372]). This extremely interesting relic, which is among the largest ever found, measures nine inches in height. It is, of course, of iron, and is of the same type as one found at Sibertswold, which is engraved in the “Inventorum Sepulchrale.” The texture of cloth in which it had been enfolded when placed by the body of the hero by whom it was borne, is distinctly traceable on several parts of its surface. The umbone, as it lay, was surrounded with the wood, in a complete state of decay, which had once formed the shield; and small fragments of corroded iron, which were doubtless a part of the mountings of the shield, were scattered about.
Of the form of the Anglo-Saxon shield and its umbone, a tolerably good idea may be formed by the series of examples here given (figs. [409] to [416]), from the illuminated MSS. of the period.
Figs. 409 to 416.
Of Saxon armour the remains yielded to us by the graves are few and far between. Buckles, such as probably fastened the belt or girdle to which the knife, the sword, etc., were suspended, and others which have doubtless belonged to some portions of the dress, are the most abundant. They are of varied form, some being of particularly elegant design, partaking of the character of the fibulæ of the period. Twelve examples from the Kentish graves are given on figs. [417] to [428].
Helmets, or head coverings, in a fragmentary state, have on some few occasions been found. The most remarkable discovery of this kind which has been made is the one which was found by my friend, the late Mr. Bateman, at Benty Grange,[55] in Derbyshire, in the year 1848. The account of this discovery is so full of interest, and so curious, that I give it in Mr. Bateman’s own words. He says:—
“It was our good fortune to open a barrow which afforded a more instructive collection of relics than has ever been discovered in the county, and which are not surpassed in interest by any remains hitherto recovered from any Anglo-Saxon burying-place in the kingdom.
Fig. 417.
