FRAzER—On a Great Sepulchral Mound. 55 
about their subsequent fate. We can recognise the traces of the 
pirates’ feast; the captives themselves were plundered and cruelly 
treated and slain ; their bodies, piled together, were left in a heap to 
decay, and before their friends and survivors ventured to cover them 
with a thin layer of clay, decomposition had already advanced, and it 
was impossible to recognise or separate the murdered victims. I be- 
lieve the Irish wolf, too, claimed his share of the prey. The rude 
cairn under which they lay interred must for ages have left its tradi- 
tional story in the minds of the people of that district, for the place 
ever after remained deserted and uncultivated. Even tradition at last 
failed, and all remembrance of their deaths was lost; and were it not 
for the accidental discovery of the sword and spear, I might in all pro- 
bability have never heard of the Aylesbury-road mound, or been per- 
mitted to attempt the unravelling of its eventful records. In this 
Paper I have related so much of the ethnological investigations as 
could be detailed without publishing full measurements of the crania, 
and other particulars that appear better suited for a separate notice. 
These measurements have much importance, for no discovery of similar 
extent of undoubted early Irish crania belonging to the tenth or 
eleventh centuries has ever yet been made; and I feel much indebted 
to Mr. Wardrop and his family for the ample opportunities afforded 
me during several months for investigating every circumstance con- 
nected with the mound and its contents. 
The drawings to illustrate this Paper were made by Mr. T. H. 
Longfield, and I have to thank him for his kindness in preparing 
them. 
