384 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



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fixed into the handle. The tip of the sheath, however, is sometimes found 

 having been made of bronze or other metal, and also, at times, the handle 

 of the sword, which has been found of silver. Another article, peculiarly 

 characteristic of the Saxon interments, is the knife, the length of which is 

 generally about five or six inches, although at times it extends to from ten 

 to eleven inches ; and then from its shape it must have been a very formi- 

 dable weapon, independent of its utility for other purposes. It has been 

 pretended that it was from the use of this instrument, called in their lan- 

 guage a scax, that our forefathers derived their name of Saxons. Another 

 weapon, the axe, is found at times in the Saxon graves, but it is of very 

 rare occurrence, and was probably not in general use in this island. 



" Over the breast of the Saxon warrior is generally found the iron umbo 

 or boss of his shield. Beneath the boss of the shield is iisually found a 

 piece of iron, which is best described by a drawing, and which, no doubt, 

 was the handle by which the shield was held. Douglas, who had not ob- 

 served carefully the position in which it is found, imagined it to be part of 

 a bow, and called it a bow-brace. The shield itself, as we know from the 

 Anglo-Saxon writers, was of wood, generally of linden, and has, therefore, 

 perished ; but we find remains of nails, studs, and other iron work belong- 

 ing to it. 



" Such are the more common arms which we find, without much vari- 

 ation, in the graves of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers of the period to which 

 these cemeteries belong. The miscellaneous articles are so varied that I 

 can only enumerate them rapidly. Of personal ornaments, the first that 

 attract our attention are the fibulae, or brooches, and the buckles. The 

 latter are usually of bronze gilt, and are often very elaborately ornamented. 

 From the position in which they are found, it is evident that they formed, 

 most generally, the fastening of the girdle. They are sometimes very mas- 

 sive, the larger ones apparently belonging to the male, and the smaller ones 

 to the female, costume. 



"Many of the fibulae which are found upon male skeletons, as well as 

 females, are extremely rich and beautiful. In the Kentish tumuli the 

 prevailing form is circular, and they are often of gold, profusely orna- 

 mented with filigree work, and with garnets or other stones, or sometimes 

 glass or paste, set usually upon checkered foils of gold. The use of this 

 fibula appears to have been to fasten the mantle over the breast, where it 

 is most commonly found. Their general size is from an inch and a half 

 to two inches in diameter; but the Faussett collection possesses one of 

 considerably larger dimensions, which was found in the grave of an Anglo- 

 Saxon lady on Kingston Down. This magnificent ornament is p less 

 than three inches and a half in diameter, a quarter of an inch thick at the 

 edges, and three-quarters of an inch thick at the centre, all of gold, and 

 weighing between six and seven ounces. It is covered with ornaments of 

 filigree w r ork, in concentric circles, and is set with garnets and with pale- 

 blue stones. The acus, or pin, on the back is also ornamented and set with 

 garnets. It was found high on the breast, near the right shoulder. Other 



