PARISH OF EGLINGHAM. 421 



stance that the bodies had been interred under conditions facili- 

 tating almost unimpeded admission of air and moisture I attribute 

 the entire absence of any remains of the bones. It is not unreason- 

 able perhaps to regard grave-mounds of this description as the 

 burial-places of the humbler classes; the accompanying larger 

 cairns or barrows with cists, when such exist, being those which 

 most probably contained the bodies of chiefs or other persons of 

 importance in the community l . 



CCI. Not very far to the south of the camp at Old Bewick, on 

 the north-east side of Harehope Hill, are the remains of a cairn, 

 the greater portion of which has been removed for the purpose of 

 building stone walls. It is 20 ft. in diameter, and has a circle of 

 stones round the base. A large cist was found within it at the 

 centre, the cover-stone of which was on the level of the natural 

 surface. The cist lay north-east and south-west, and was 4J ft. 

 long, 2f- ft. wide, and as much in depth. A hollow had been 

 excavated beneath the surface and then lined with four flags of 

 sandstone, the bottom being covered with another. At the north- 

 east end was a flint knife, chipped along both edges and at one 

 end, which is rounded ; it is of an oblong form, the corners having 

 been removed, and is 2| in. long and If in. wide. No trace 

 of the body was discovered, and nothing was seen in the cist 

 besides the knife, except a little charcoal and a single small 



1 Similar groups occur in other parts of England and in Scotland, all of which have 

 proved equally barren as to contained remains. I have myself examined many in 

 Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire. In a letter from the Rev. J. M. 

 Joass, of Golspie, he says, * I know a great many groups of tumuli, in the counties of In- 

 verness, Ross, and Sutherland, almost always associated with hut-circles. The majority 

 are about 2 ft. or 3 ft. in height, and 6 ft. or 8 ft. in diameter, containing a good deal of 

 earth in their structure, and generally thinly covered with turf. As a rule I have 

 found nothing in them. Near, or within, these groups I have seen large cairns, 

 chiefly made of stones, and seldom turf-covered. These often contain cists, some- 

 times double. They are called " Kings' Cairns/' and have in most cases been disturbed 

 by treasure-seekers, rabbit-hunters, or those who wanted, for drain-covers or other 

 purposes, the flags they expected to find there. 5 Mr. Joass further accounts for the 

 absence of bones in these small tumuli on the same principle as I do. See also 

 Proceedings of Soc. of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. vi. p. 387. On different parts of 

 Danby South Moors (North Riding) these small houes occur in large numbers. Not 

 a few have been opened by the Rev. J. C. Atkinson of Danby, and in no case has any- 

 thing been found, except small scattered pieces of charcoal, and in one solitary 

 instance a flint scraper. Nearly, or quite, thirty were removed about fifty years since 

 on the moor just south of Danby Castle, for the sake of the stones mainly composing 

 them. These were all of the same barren character, as also many more, removed for 

 like purposes* within the last twenty-five years in the same locality. Still fully 

 a hundred are believed to remain. 



