Amongst extraneous antiquarian discoveries with which we may profitably compare the remains from the lake-dwellings, there are two remarkable groups recently brought to light by the exploration of two caves, both of which, singularly enough, are within the confines of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde. These are a collection of relics from the Victoria Cave near Settle, Yorkshire,[50] and another from the Borness Cave, Kirkcudbrightshire.[51] Though the objects indicative of high-class art found in the latter are not so numerous as those from the former, yet they are, as a whole, of a similar character and type. They consist of fragments of Samian ware, bronze fibulæ, and other ornaments of bronze and horn, spindle-whorls, and a large quantity of implements and weapons made of stone, bone, and horn, etc., all of which bear a striking resemblance to the corresponding objects from the Lake-Dwellings. It would exceed my limits to enter upon a minute and critical comparison of the important results obtained from these two independent sources, viz., the Caves and the Lake-Dwellings; I cannot, however, resist quoting the following remarks by Professor Boyd Dawkins, regarding the date of habitation of the Victoria Cave, which might, with equal appropriateness, be applied to the latter:—
"There can be no doubt but that this strange collection of objects was formed during the sojourn of a family for some length of time in the cave; we have to account for the presence of so many articles of luxury in so strange and wild a place. The personal ornaments, and the Samian ware, are such as would have graced the villa of a wealthy Roman, rather than the abode of men who lived by choice in recesses in the rock. In the coins we have a key which explains the difficulty. Some belonged to Trajan and Constantine, others to Tetricus (A.D. 267-273), while others are barbarous imitations of Roman coins, which are assigned by numismatists to the period just about the time of the Roman evacuation of Britain. These objects, therefore, could not have been introduced into the cave before the end of the fourth century, or just that time when the historical record shows us that the province of Roman Britain was suffering from the anarchy consequent on the withdrawal of the Roman troops. In the year 360, the savage Picts and Scots, pent up in the north by the Roman walls, broke in upon the unarmed and rich provincials, and carried fire and sword as far south as London. Their ravages were repeated from time to time, until the Northumbrian Angles finally conquered the Celtic kingdom of Strathclyde. It must nevertheless be admitted that, so long as the Celts of Strathclyde held their ground against the Angles, they would certainly follow the mode of life and the manners and customs handed down to them by their forefathers, the Roman provincials. And therefore, it is very probable that these objects of Roman culture may have been used in that district which was the Northumbrian border, long after they had ceased to be used in the regions conquered by the English. To say the least, there are two extremes between which the date must lie—the fourth and fifth centuries, as shown by the barbaric coins, and the year 756, when Eadberht finally conquered Strathclyde. It cannot be later, because of the presence of Roman, and the absence of all English cultus. The cave, situated in a lonely spot, and surrounded by the gnarled and tangled growth of stunted yews, oaks, and hazel, which still survive in one or two places in the neighbourhood, as samples of the primeval forest, would afford that shelter from an invader of which a native would certainly take advantage. We can hardly doubt that it was used by unfortunate provincials who fled from their homes, with some of their cattle and other property, and were compelled to exchange the luxuries of civilised life for a hard struggle for common necessaries. In no other way can the association of works of art of a very high order with rude and rough instruments of daily use be accounted for. In that respect, therefore, the Victoria Cave affords as true and vivid a picture of the troublous times of the fourth and fifth centuries as the innumerable burned Roman villas and cities; in the one case, you get a place of refuge to which the provincials fled; and in the other, their homes which have been ruthlessly destroyed."—(Journal of Anthrop. Inst. vol. i. p. 64.)
The presence of a Saxon coin in one of the Ayrshire examples is in no way inconsistent with the general views here advocated, as we have undoubted evidence that the country had been occupied, at least temporarily, by the Saxons as early as the date to which Mr. Evans assigns this coin.
Turning now to the Celtic area beyond the limits of the Scottish portion of the kingdom of Strathclyde, I may at once state that there are no data derived from an examination of its artificial islands, nor any relics of their occupiers, which can give even an approximate notion of their chronological range.
In localities where the Celtic races were not supplanted by foreigners, it would be strange indeed, and altogether at variance with archæological experience, as propounded by the learned author of The Past in the Present,[52] if the habit of resorting to isolated and inaccessible islands for safety would be all at once abandoned whenever the greater security afforded by stone buildings became known. Hence, in the Irish annals we find frequent mention made of crannogs down even to the middle of the seventeenth century, and Dr. Joseph Robertson has quoted several historical passages to prove that certain crannogs in Scotland—as, for example, those of the Loch of Forfar, Lochindorb, Loch Canmor, and Loch-an-eilan, etc.—survived to the middle ages. Many of these, however, were strong mediæval castles built for a different purpose, and had nothing in common with the crannogs proper beyond the fact of their insular situation.
From an etymological analysis of the earliest topographical nomenclature of Britain, as well as from other sources, there is abundant proof that in former times a Celtic population occupied nearly the whole of the island. Ultimately, however, these Celts were driven by successive waves of immigrants to the far north and west, and it becomes an important inquiry to determine if, in these localities from which they were expelled, there still exist any traces of lake-dwellings. I have already remarked that no remains of wooden islands have been found in the south-east of Scotland. This, however, may be due to want of research on the part of antiquaries, and other causes, which so long kept us altogether in the dark regarding the phenomena of lake-dwellings in this country; and, indeed, some curious indications have already been supplied by independent observers as to their existence, not only in the south-east of Scotland, as at Balgone in East Lothian (see footnote, page 249), but in several parts of England and Wales.
CHAPTER VI.
SUPPLEMENTARY.