SPYNIE CASTLE AND LOCH.
THE LOCH OF SPYNIE.
The Rev. Dr. Gordon of Birnie, near Elgin, had already found a similar accumulation of shells on the old margin of the Loch of Spynie,—formerly an arm of the sea. The mound is situated in a small wood on the farm of Brigzes. It had been much diminished by its contents having been carted off from the centre of the heap, as manure or top-dressing for the adjoining fields. The mound—or rather couple of mounds, for it has been cut into two parts—must have been of considerable extent. It measured about a hundred yards in length, by about thirty in breadth. The most abundant shell found was the periwinkle, or the edible “buckie,” as it is usually called. Next in order was the oyster; and magnificent natives they must have been. The bay of Spynie was then a productive dredging-ground. On the extensive flat around it, wherever a canal or ditch is dug up, the shells of oysters are yet to be met with, seemingly on the spots where they lived. Yet the oyster, as well as the primitive people who fared on it, have long since passed away.
CONTENTS OF SHELL-MOUND.
The third shell in order, in this bank of shells, is the mussel, and then the cockle,—all edible. “There is evidence enough in these mounds,” says Dr. Gordon, “to show that they have been the work of man, and not the effect of any tidal current, or any other natural cause. The shell-fish which the remains represent are, with scarcely an exception, edible, and continue to be eaten to this day. In all deposits by the sea, there is abundance of species that have ever been rejected as food. The shells are full-grown, or adult shells. In collections made by the sea, the young animals are abundant, and often predominate. Now, no movements of wind and water could have thus selected the edible and the adult, and left behind the noxious and the young. They must have been gathered by man, and for the purpose of supplying his wants. Many other arguments have been brought forward to prove this, so that no doubt is now entertained about the matter. One strong proof is, that the periwinkle and the oyster are never found living and mingled together in the same part of the sea. The former exists between tide-marks, the other in deep water. The cockle delights in sand; the mussel must be moored to a rock or hard bottom. In different parts of the masses of shells at Brigzes, there are to be seen many stones that have been subjected to considerable heat. They probably have been used in this state for cooking, as is known to be the case among people of primitive habits to this day.”
CONTENTS OF BOYNDIE MOUND.
The shells found by Edward in the kitchen-midden at Boyndie corresponded in a great measure with those found by the Rev. Mr. Gordon at Brigzes. Thus, he found the Periwinkle, the highly-esteemed Buckie, the Limpet, the Horse Buckie (in some places called the Dog Periwinkle), the Mussel; bones of various kinds of wild animals, such as the Deer, the Hare, and the Rabbit; the remains of several species of fish, such as bones of the Skate; a few of the Crab family; fragments of Pottery, and small bits of charred wood and ashes. The ashes are just like those left from a wood or peat fire. Small stones, also, were got, partially blackened, as if they had been used for cooking purposes. One very common ingredient among the fish was that part of the head known as the “lug been,”—a bone usually given to the children of the family to pick.
BOYNDIE KITCHEN-MIDDEN.
“A remarkable fact,” says Edward, in his account of the Boyndie kitchen-midden, “and one not mentioned in any account of a similar place, is, that whilst some of the shells crumble to dust almost with the least touch, others are still so hard that they would require the fingers of a giant to pound them. The enamelling of some of the limpet and mussel shells is still as beautiful as almost to persuade one that the animal had been but newly taken out. On the other hand, some are so far gone and so soft, as to feel like a piece of wet blotsheet. But what appears to be the most remarkable peculiarity in these two very opposite extremes is, that the shells thus spoken of may be found in the same handful and from the same spot. Another very striking feature is, that in handling the old ‘muck,’ one’s fingers soon get nearly as black as ink. Here also, as in all the other shell-accumulations, the larger bones are broken—not cut, but broken up longitudinally, or what might rather be called splintered. This has been done, it is thought, to get at the fat or marrow, of which these early people seem to have been very fond. They broke the bone just as we break up with some heavy instrument the large toes of a lobster or parten in order to reach the food.”