158 



tionaries,* are very numerous, like those in the sister country ;-|- they 

 are circular, finishing obtusely at top, and generally surrounded at 

 bottom by a shallow trench : like those also they contain bones, 

 and in some few instances complete skeletons ; frequently urns of 

 ashes, weapons, implements, and golden ornaments. It has been ob- 

 served by a most competent judge, J that the golden rehcs are both 

 more numerous, and much richer than what had been found in the 

 Barrows of the south of England ; and that the urns, though of 

 much the same materials, are of better workmanship, more deco- 

 rated, and of more graceful shape. Many of tliese sepulchral tu- 

 muli are situated near the circles of stones, or near pillar-stones ; 

 and in several instances a pillar-stone stands on the summit of the 

 tumulus, a sacred monumental stone like the Stele of the ancient 

 Greeks. In the usual contents of these sepulclires, as well as in 

 tiieir form and construction, there is to be observed a curious coin- 

 cidence with those on the great Tartarian Steppes,§ while a dis- 

 tinction of character is marked by the number of idols of most dis- 

 torted shapes which occur in those of Tartary ; for no'idol figure has 

 ever been found in Ireland, nor do our early histories contain any 

 account of, or allusion to that miserable species of idolatry. 



The Caucasian tribe of the Tscherkesians, which in many points 

 bear considerable resemblance to the Irish, still bury their chiefs in 

 Barrows ; with them they place silver goblets, arrows, armour, and 

 all the presents that have been brought by friends and relations 

 during the time the corpse was laid in state. At the funeral all the 

 vassals assemble, and throw up over the body a barrow, of loftiness 



* Bnrr, the summit or top of any thing ; the end of things ; also Death See Lhwyd. 



O'Reilly, and O'Brien's Dictionaries. 



f Tour in Ireland, by Sir R. C. Hoare, p. 294. 



% Ibid. p. 295. 



~§ Archeologia, II. p. 222. 



