8 On the Ring Money of the Celte. 
than an agricultural country, and therefore its surface has been much less disturbed 
than the other parts of Celtica; the plough and the spade have been less active, there- 
fore the remains of the magnificence of former ages have there remained undiscovered. 
The cultivation of the potato has been, however, of late years, greatly instru- 
mental to the discovery of these antiquities: most of those found without the bogs, 
have been brought to light by the potato-planter’s spade. 
The existence of bogs, or peat moss, of such immense extent in Ireland, has also 
greatly operated in preserving the remains of antiquity which have been there de- 
posited, either by accident or design—I say design, for no doubt many valuable 
articles have been purposely hidden on sudden alarms. 
They were secure places of secretion of the precious metals from the incursions of 
an enemy or a sudden emergency ; this description of property could be deposited 
without any external indication to lead the plunderer to the spot; and a token or 
clue could easily and safely be fixed to guide the owner, when the danger had passed, 
to the certain recovery of his property. In many instances, no doubt, the possessors 
of the secret fell by the swords of their enemies, and thus the treasure remained, uutil 
accident, in recent times, brought it to light. 
The bog is also of such a nature as sometimes to ovyergrow the level of the ground 
adjoining, and overflow it, and thus cover even the habitations of men, and with them 
all their valuables. An instance of this having taken place has lately been disco- 
vered by Captain Mudge, R.N., while employed in making a survey of the coast of 
Ireland. In cutting out a bog he discovered a series of wooden buildings of a very 
rude character ; and the stone axes with which the timbers had been hewed into 
shape were found on the spot, which were, no doubt, covered by the moving bog, 
while in the very act of construction, and so remained until discovered by Captain 
Mudge. These must have been built of a period previous to the Celtic invasion—as 
stone axes were the implements of the Zuath de daone, or Northern People. 
The aggregate amount of the articles of manufactured gold found in the course of 
twelve months in the bogs and fields of Ireland, is truly surprising—most of them of 
exquisite and elaborate workmanship, particularly torques, helmets, breastplates, brace- 
lets, rings, and ring-money, with many implements, the use of which it is difficult 
even to suggest. Besides those which come under the notice of the antiquary or the 
curious investigator, immense quantities are silently broken up and sold by the finders 
as old gold, lest the owners of the soil should make their claim, and deprive the 
finders of the fruits of their good fortune. 
Ancient silver articles are, however, of much rarer occurrence, at least those which 
may be considered Celtic. It may safely be said that there are found a thousand ar- 
ticles in gold to one of silver. This may possibly be attributed to the ease with which 
gold was collected, compared with the exertion necessary to obtain silver—the latter 
requiring all the labour and skill of mining and refining operations, while gold is 
