Antiquities fkom the Stkwartry. 37 



any one could have liad in marking out the site of a great cairn 

 twice subjected to destruction at the hands of dyke builders 

 passes my wit to understand. Lastly, if, as appears from Mr 

 Copland's account, there was only one interment, central, and at 

 the bottom of so vast a heap of stones, it is almost incredible that 

 the only object preserved was this fragment of a bronze blade. 



Bronze Swords. — This section gives us better, but still im- 

 perfect, specimens. DL 26 is a sword now measuring 20^ in., 

 originally over 23 in. It has three rivet holes in each wing, but 

 two of these on each side are imperfectly cast and do not go 

 through the metal. The hilt plate also has three rivet holes. 

 This sword was found in Carlingwark Loch, and presented by 

 D. A. Gordon in 1873. On a portion of the edge of the blade of 

 this sword there are, as noted by Dr Joseph Anderson in the 

 Proceedings XIIL 33, " minute parallel lines crossing other lines 

 running nearly parallel to the edge," a feature unique even in his 

 long experience and examination of bronze swords. 



Portions of another sword, DQ 118, and of a Plain Ring of 

 Bronze, DQ 119, were presented in 1885 by the Rev. Dr C. J. 

 Cowan of Kelton, on whose glebe they were dug up. Unfortu- 

 nately, as stated by the donor, the sword, which was complete 

 when found, was broken into three pieces by the careless 

 handling of the workmen. Originally it must have measured 

 about 25 inches in length and nearly 2 in. in greatest width. The 

 edge is much spoilt, but there is fine quality in the texture and 

 colour of the patina all over the surface, and in one of the six 

 rivet holes the rivet still remains fastened securely. The Bronze 

 Ring is quite plain, nearly 1^ in. in external diameter and nearly 

 \ in. thick. 



Bronze Caldron. — This, with its contents, is really one of the 

 best of our possessions. The Catalogue describes it under DW 1, 

 Bronze Caldron with Hoard of Iron Implements. As these 

 various objects number eighty-six, we can here name but a few 

 of them, e.g., an axe-head, four hammers, portions of saws, 

 punches, a file, a hinge, a snaffle horse-bit, a gridiron of iron bars 

 with feet, and a multitude of nails and fragments of tools, 

 evidently the refuse of a smithy. The Caldron itself will be best 

 appreciated, failing actual examination, by the woodcut. It is 

 formed of very thin plates of yellow bronze, the bottom of one 



