Beads, composed of various materials, from Ardakillen, Lagore, Ballinderry, Drumdarragh, Cloonfinlough, and Lough Eyes.
Beads of stone, bone, jet, earthenware, and wood, occur in crannogs; also beads of amber, of which many are in modern use amongst the peasantry as prayer-beads. O’Flaherty, in his Iar Connaught, states that amber was procured in more or less quantities on the coast of Galway. Ornaments of glass, from the most simple and unpretending plain blue bead to that studded with settings of enamel or vitreous paste, so varied in colour and of so much beauty in outline that they might be worn at the present day, are still met with in crannogs, as well as in pagan sepulchres. Blue appears to have been the favourite colour, but some are pale green, white, yellow and red, with spirals and decorations of varied colours; whilst others have a dark groundwork, and are studded with fragments of red, green, yellow, blue and white enamel. All the beads figured in [plate XXVII.] are drawn full size. [No. 1], formed of stone, presents an average specimen of its class. [No. 2] is from Lagore, where a considerable number, but of smaller size, occurred. [No. 3], composed of bone, is probably the largest bead of that material found in any crannog: usually, they are scarcely the size of an ordinary pea. [No. 4] is a pendant of black opaque glass; it probably formed the centre of a necklace. One resembling it, but composed of stone, may be seen in the Petrie Collection, R.I.A. [No. 5] is a small bead of blue glass; its form is one of rare occurrence. [No. 6], of plain cylindrical outline, was accompanied by several others of the same class: in colour it is a dull green. [No. 7], a small globular bead of glass: colour deep blue; and [No. 8], of similar shape, is composed of opaque white glass, or porcelain. [No. 9] is a beautiful bead of green glass, presenting in dark-blue the dot-and-circle pattern; the spaces between the dots and their surrounding circles are pure white, so that a very pleasing effect is produced. [No. 10] is an unusually long bead, of material similar to [No. 6]. [No. 11] is a curious bead, through which passed a piece of bronze wire, which probably formed the loop of a pin. [No. 12] is formed of dark-green glass, relieved by yellow ornamentation, as shown in the representation; and [No. 13] is of dark-blue opaque glass, or paste, with chevrons of white glass, or enamel, passing round it. [No. 14] is formed of white glass, or porcelain, ornamented with a pattern in black, and the opening for the string unusually large. [No. 15] is composed of very light-coloured blue glass; and [No. 16] of pure crystal. [No. 17], formed of jet, was accompanied by fragments of bracelets of the same material. [No. 18], apparently formed of fine clay, its colour what artists call Venetian red, is in the Petrie Collection. [No. 19] is, undoubtedly, most curious, not on account of its form or design, which is common, but in regard to its being made of lead—perhaps the only example of a bead of that material discovered in Irish crannogs. [No. 20] is a fine specimen of the amber bead, so often discovered in connexion with very early remains. [No. 22] is also an amber bead, of rather unusual form, being almost flat, like a wheel. [Nos. 23 and 24] were picked up by W. F. Wakeman, from the shores of one of the crannogs of Lough Eyes, but at a time subsequent to the publication of his Paper on that locality.[144] The collection of glass and enamel beads in the Museum, R.I.A., contains one of long cylindrical form, composed of blue, white, and yellow enamel; it is ¾ of an inch long, is decorated with a blue and white band round each extremity, and has yellow spots on the centre: it is of the same character as [No. 41], represented by [fig. 162]. [No. 21], one of the most beautiful beads in the collection, [fig. 163], measures half an inch in the longest diameter, and is composed of clear glass, with bright yellow spirals of opaque enamel covering its sides. [No. 27], represented by [fig. 164], is an opaque bead of glass, light-green in colour: the aperture is rather large, so that it may have been used as a necklace, or pin-bead; it is grooved in melon-form. Two beads, composed of green glazed-ware, and also of melon-shape, may be seen figured at page 178, in Munro’s Scottish Lake Dwellings. Nos. 20, 21, and 27, Museum, R. I. A., are from the crannog of Lagore.
Fig. 162. Bead from Lagore.
Fig. 163. Bead from Lagore.
Fig. 164. Bead from Lagore.
