In Irish lacustrine sites a number of discs, formed apparently of deer’s horn, or bone, have been frequently met with; these articles, as a rule, are ornamented on one side only with the dot and circle pattern, such as appears upon combs and other objects of bone; many were found at Lagore, Cloonfinlough, Ballinderry, &c., and they resemble one from the Loch of Forfar, figured in Munro’s Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings. The term “whorl” has been very generally applied to these discs, the supposition being, that their use was to aid in the rotation of the distaff or spindle. Some Irish archæologists, however, have suggested the idea of their being rather draughtsmen, or counters for a game; and English antiquarians have pronounced a similar opinion with regard to ivory discs discovered in that country. The latter suggestion certainly carries with it a great degree of probability; and although the game of draughts as now played cannot claim great antiquity, yet there were other pastimes in which little stones, shells, or nuts were employed by the ancients; but, as the arts of man progressed, “stones and shells were laid aside, and ivory counters became their substitute.” Croften Croker in his tour through Ireland early in the present century observed two peculiar games then almost universal amongst the peasantry; one of them was played on lines usually marked on a board with chalk, as shown in [fig. 174]. “Each player is provided with three counters (small black and white pebbles or shells) which are simply deposited on the board in turn; the game is won by getting these three counters in a straight line. The centre point is considered the most advantageous, and is always taken by the first player: when all the counters are deposited, moves are made from one point to the next should it be unoccupied, and so on until a careless move on either side decides the game, by allowing the adversary to form his three counters in a row.” The unperforated discs ornamented on one side only it may be fairly surmised had served either in draughts or in games of that nature. [Fig. 175] represents a specimen of this class found in a “souterraine” at Drumcliff, county Sligo, in company with calcined bones and traces of iron remains; it seems to be identical in style, size, and material with those found in crannogs, as for example [fig. 176], from the crannog of Cloonfinlough, ornamented with a border of circles with dots in the centre surrounding four groups of similar circles: each group consists of four circles. [Fig. 177], from the same locality, is plainly decorated with five circles arranged in a cruciform pattern. Both these articles are stained a dark-brown colour.[151]
Fig. 175.—Unperforated Bone Disc from Drumcliff, Co. Sligo. One-half size.
Fig. 176. Fig. 177. Unperforated Bone Discs from Cloonfinlough. Full size.
Fig. 178.—Perforated ornamented Bone Disc from Lagore. One-half size.
Fig. 179. Fig. 180. Perforated Bone Discs, with Spike, from Lagore. One-half size.
With regard to the perforated discs, it should be borne in mind that they were of the same size as the unperforated, were decorated with similar designs on one side only, and that it is almost incredible so much trouble should have been bestowed on the ornamentation of an object intended to serve merely as a spindle whorl, as for example on the accompanying examples from Lagore. The more natural inference seems to be, that these discs were employed in some game—say chess—the perforations being intended for reception of the upper parts, marking the distinctive character of the various pieces used in the game. [Nos. 10 and 11, plate XXV.], may possibly have been these distinctive upper portions. An object similar to [fig. 180] is described in the Catalogue of the Museum, R.I.A., as a “whorl,” in which a portion of the lower end of the bone spindle still projects; but might it not equally be supposed to represent a chessman—possibly a pawn—judging from the simple outlines of its projecting portion?