[539] Annals of the Four Masters, translated by Owen Connellan, Esq., p. 8.
[540] Skene's Highlanders, vol. i. p. 53.
[541] Antiquities of Argyleshire, Trans. Camb. Camden Soc., Part III. p. 177.
CHAPTER III.
THE NORRIE'S LAW RELICS.
The most remarkable discovery of ancient personal ornaments and other relics of a remote period ever made in Scotland, was that of "The Silver Armour of Norrie's Law," a tumulus or artificial mound which stands on the marches of the two estates of Teasses and Largo, in Fifeshire. The correspondence of the engraved devices on this collection of silver relics with the mysterious symbols which constantly recur on the sculptured standing stones of Scotland, has served, along with the singular character and great beauty of some of the ornaments, to confer on this discovery an interest attached to no other Scottish hoard. This feeling has not been lessened by the fact that only a very few of these precious relics have been preserved; while the imperfect, vague, and probably exaggerated descriptions, of such as were destroyed, have not lessened the feelings of disappointed curiosity and regret with which archæologists refer to the discovery.
The Bay of Largo, on the northern shores of the Frith of Forth, is a large and well-sheltered indentation, furnishing the most accessible position for a safe anchorage and haven near the mouth of the Frith. In the sandy slope near the shore, at the head of the bay, the beautiful gold armillæ were found, in 1848, which have been already figured and described among the relics of a remoter period than that of which we now treat.[542] The remarkable tumulus which furnished the silver ornaments now referred to is situated on the estate of Largo, about three miles from the bay, and is affirmed to have been reputed in old local traditions, to cover the chief of a great army, deposited there with his steed, and armed in panoply of massive silver. Instances of the like popular belief have occasionally received such remarkable confirmation that they cannot be pronounced by the archæologist as altogether valueless.[543] In this case, however, it may admit of doubt if the origin of the tradition be not subsequent to the discovery. The Old Statistical Account refers to the tradition, that the Stones of Lundin "are the grave-stones of some Danish chiefs who fell in battle with the Scots near the place;"[544] but the only allusion made to Norrie's Law is to be gathered from an addition to the description of Largo Law, a well-known hill which rises about eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, and formed of old one of the most prominent beacon-hills of Fife. "Besides this," the Statist remarks, "there are two other Laws. But it is evident that these have been artificial. When the cairn was removed from one of them a few years ago a stone coffin was found at the bottom. From the position of the bones it appeared that the person had been buried in a singular manner: the legs and arms had been carefully severed from the trunk and laid diagonally across it."[545]
The precise facts connected with the opening of the tumulus of Norrie's Law, and even the year in which it occurred, are very uncertain, though the person by whom the valuable hoard was purloined still resides, in good circumstances, at Pitlessie in Fife. Conscious as he is of the appropriation of treasure which was not his own, and not yet entirely free from apprehension of the interference of the Scottish Exchequer to reclaim the fruits of his ill-gotten wealth, he naturally declines all communication on the subject, and thus, as too frequently results from the operation of the present Scottish law of treasure-trove, the history of the discovery is involved in impenetrable mystery. It may be permitted us to reflect with some satisfaction, that by the fears thus excited the depredator has not entirely escaped punishment for the irreparable mischief which his wretched cupidity has occasioned.