The three following beads here described are from the crannog of Lisnacroghera. [Fig. 165], of opaque blue glass, very dark in colour, but relieved with white streaks of the same material, crossing each other obliquely. [Fig. 166], of ordinary blue glass, quite plain; and, [fig. 167], an elongated cylindrical bead of amber.[145] In Wilson’s Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, and in Keller’s Ancient Lake Dwellings of Switzerland, may be seen representations of beads, greatly resembling one from the crannog of Lough Ravel, county Antrim, as shown in [fig. 168]. [Fig. 169], from the same locality, is somewhat similar, but the yellow, raised and rope-like decoration which encircles it does not form an integral part of the glass; it has been produced by laying the colour on the surface, instead of its being fused into the glass. The bead, [fig. 170], although from the lands of Ballintlea, near Timahoe, Queen’s County, is of the same class as many discovered in crannogs. At top and bottom it exhibited indications of friction, showing it had been strung with others as a necklace, or some article of personal adornment. It is formed of sea-green glass, moulded to represent interlaced cords, the strands composed of threads of white glass; round the upper and lower rims there are small knobs of opaque yellow glass. That these beads are of native Irish manufacture is extremely probable, as, in two instances at least, lumps of blue glass in an unfashioned state have been discovered in connexion with crannogs, which also yielded beads of exactly the same colour and material. The majority of the beads present internal evidence of the manner in which they were made: “the glass has at first been in the form of a rod, then a portion, when in a soft state, was bent into the form of a bead, and sufficiently heated to cause the ends to unite.… When the ornamentation is composed of a spiral rod, it has been laid on in the same way, and the line of junction can be made out in every case.”[146]
Fig. 171.—Bone Harp Pin from Ardakillen. Half-size.
Plate XXVIII.
Harp, from the Crannog of Ballinderry. Woodwork restored.
Music.—It has been remarked that, in order to form a just estimate of the character of any particular people, it is necessary to investigate the pastimes and amusements most prevalent amongst them; war, and other contingent circumstances may place men at different times in different points of view, but when we follow them into the retirement of their homes, we are most likely to see them in their true state. In crannogs few musical instruments have come to light, owing probably to the perishable materials of which they were usually composed, yet enough remain to prove that, in time of peace, the sweet sound of the harp, and in war, the hoarse bray of the trumpet, resounded over the waters of the lakes. Portions of ancient harps have not unfrequently occurred in crannogs, but no fairly perfect example has as yet come to light. Some harp pins are formed of bronze, and several of bone were found at Ardakillen. In the Museum, R.I.A., there are upwards of twenty harp pins, the majority obtained from crannogs: they vary in length from 2⅛ to 4⅛ inches, are square in the head, and perforated in the smaller extremity, for holding the wire string. In the accompanying [plate XXVIII.], is figured (1) an Irish harp as restored: it stands at present 37 inches in height, all the metal portions were discovered in the crannog of Ballinderry, county Westmeath, and the proportions and form of the modern woodwork were regulated by the size and form of the original metal work; the thirty-five pins show the number of strings that were formerly attached. Although the style of decoration is of a very early character, yet as the letters I.H.S., surmounted by a cross, appear engraved on a brass plate in front of the instrument, the work cannot be older than the sixteenth century. [Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5], convey a clear idea of the kind of ornamentation on the metal fittings, and [No. 7] (from Drumdarragh crannog) represents a harp pin of the usual kind.