IV 



Barham and others, that it would be better if he were to write a 

 more elaborate Paper and reserve it for the Journal of the Institu- 

 tion ; and he undertook to say that within a short period of time 

 he should be able to supply in that form, matter more worthy of 

 perusal than any extemporaneous observations he could make. 

 These lunulse were, to his mind, objects of very great interest ; for 

 they were very rare indeed. They were found in the northern 

 part of the county, and about six feet underground. Their value 

 was overlooked at first ; but, on examination, they were found to 

 be of exceedingly pure gold. They were of sufficient value to at- 

 tract the notice of those persons who looked after Crown rights, 

 and they were treated as an escheat of the Crown ; but it was after- 

 wards found that, by charter, they belonged to the Prince of 

 Wales ; proper steps were taken to reward the persons who found 

 them, and His Royal Highness desired that they should remain in 

 the Museum of this Institution. They were highly interesting ; 

 for objects of precisely their character had not been found in any 

 other part of England, nor in Scotland ; but, singularly, they were 

 abundant in Ireland. It was suggested that these gold lunulse 

 should be forwarded to the British Museum ; but this was thought 

 needless, because, it was said, the British Museum possessed a 

 superabundance of such articles. They had, however, only one, 

 and that was found in this county ; and, so far from their being 

 rich in them, he believed they would have given any money — he 

 had no doubt they would have given £100 — for those in the posses- 

 sion of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. It was, therefore, 

 matter of congratulation to this Institution that it had possession 

 of these two articles in its Museum. He would not enter into 

 further details at that time ; because he hoped to do so hereafter, 

 not only with regard to these particular objects, but also as to similar 

 ones found in other parts of Europe. By means of the Ogham Stone 

 found in Devonshire,* it had been established that there had former- 

 ly existed a connection between this county and Ireland, — as had 

 previously been shown by the dedications of some of our Cornish 

 Churches, and by many of our Saints' Days. Tradition also af- 

 firmed that there had been considerable communication between 

 Cornwall and Ireland in the matter of our common Christianity. 

 Hence it was to him a matter of great interest when he found in 

 the Dublin Museum 15 of these objects; and he had been told 

 that also in the Cork and other Irish Museums there were objects 

 of this kind. Such facts opened up inquiries, for what purpose 

 and in what manner they were used. They were executed with 



* See 43)'d Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. 



