U2 



" strap rouud the neck, to which some object was appended, 

 '• would, perhaps, more readily he detached if fastened hy 

 " such a huckle than by the ordinary kind. 



" Amongst the Hoylake buckles occur some* of a form 

 " uncommon in medieval times, but much in use now, 

 ' namely, where the tongue is hinged to a central transverse 

 " bar, so that the extremity of the thong or strap passes 

 " through the buckle twice, first on the side where the 

 " tongue or acua meets it, and then again on the other side. 

 " There are some very curiously ornamented with heads of 

 " animals — I should think of the fourteenth century.'' 



Nos. 36, 37, 38, and 39 introduce us to the pendents or 

 tags of straps, which assisted in lacing as a bodkin assists a 

 tape, or as the termination assists the lace of a child's 

 boot. When at rest, it gave consistency to the strap, and 

 kept it hanging perpendicularly, which certainly was an 

 appearance much superior to that presented hy modern 

 straps. Such terminations we still see in ancient pictures, 

 in sculpture, and in heraldic straps or ribbons on which a 

 legend is written. We see them, too, in practical use in 

 ancient trunks, and occasionally in carpet hags of a peculiar 

 construction. No. 37 is of lead — the others are of brass. 

 No. 30 contains at this moment a piece, of the strap in it, 

 preserved in the most extraordinary way by the turf bog. 

 No. 39 seems to have been mainly ornamental, and No. 37 

 seems to be unfit for any other purpose than that suggested, 

 though instances do occur of lead instruments like it each 

 having the.tong of a buckle. 



Nos. 40, 41, and 42 are articles of a similar kind, but 

 much more artistic in their construction. The first is 

 covered with an impressed ornament, as before like a book- 

 binder's tooling, representing interlaced ornaments of 

 various kinds. No. 42 has ornaments of a different and 

 simpler pattern, and No. 41 is in the resemblance of a 

 cat's head. No. 43 is part of the attachment of a buckle, 

 slightly ornamented. From the appearance of 40 and 42 

 they have been inferred to be of Saxon or early Norman 

 workmanship. No. 43, which is ornamented in the same 

 way, appears to be part of the attachment of a buckle to a 

 strap, though others, somewhat similar, are evidently clasps 

 of books. 



No. 41 is a brooch, somewhat similar in construction 



* No. 34. 



