It also contained a pair of the large oval brooches, one of which is here figured one-fourth the original size. Two long combs, decorated on each side with ornamental carvings, were found, one of them above each shoulder. The teeth of the combs were fastened between two plates of bone, rivetted together with copper nails. A small bronze pin or bodkin was likewise picked up among the interesting contents of this cist. In this case also the skeleton is believed by Mr. Rendall to have been that of a female: an opinion which coincides with the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Worsaae,[583] though the very large size of the brooches seems more suited for the personal decorations of the chieftain or the priest.
Oval Brooch.
No. 4 was another cist on the north side of the mound, but it had been previously disturbed, and contained only portions of a human skeleton.—No. 5 was opened on the north-east side of the mound. It inclosed part of a small skeleton, which Mr. Rendall pronounces to be "evidently that of a female." This also contained a pair of oval brooches, an ornamental pin or bodkin, and a pair of combs. The woodcut represents one of the combs, which was presented to Mr. Croker. It is much to be regretted that the valuable series of Scoto-Scandinavian relics, thus brought to light by the disturbance of this tumular cemetery, have already been dispersed in many private hands, so as to be irrecoverably lost. Their value would have been greatly augmented as the illustrations of an important period in our national history, could the entire collection have been kept together, and deposited in some accessible public museum.[584]
One of the bronze pins found in the above graves is figured in the Journal of the Archæological Association. Like others previously noticed it has a ring at the head, though it is otherwise much ruder than the example found at Sandwick. It is engraved here about two-thirds of the size of the original, which was thickly encrusted with verd antique when discovered. It is described in the notes furnished to Mr. Croker as "a sharp-pointed metal instrument, hardly a span in length, having a circular ring of the same metal for a head. It was found lying on the abdomen. This was the skeleton of an aged person, of the ordinary size. It was nearly entire. This grave was both covered and surrounded by large flat stones."
Such are some of the traces of Scandinavian influence which the Scottish archæologist meets with in the course of his researches. They all belong to a comparatively recent period; and of the beautiful class of personal ornaments, the oval brooches, which are so frequently found, Mr. Worsaae remarks, "that they are positively to be referred to the last period of Paganism we know with complete certainty, because they are frequently found in graves in Iceland, which country was first peopled by Pagan Norwegians at the close of the ninth century." Long before that date, however, Christianity had reached the Scottish shores; and though impeded, and even frequently eradicated from districts where it had taken deep root, chiefly by the malign influence of these Pagan Northmen, we have no reason to think it was ever entirely extinct. Hence we are abundantly justified in claiming a native origin for the Pagan arts of Scotland, and in referring all Scandinavian influence to a late period and a very limited locality.