736 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



This specimen "^as a deeper yellow in coloiu' than the last. Tht 

 percentage composition of the fragment is as follows : — 



Gold, per cent., . . . 75-55 



Silver, ,, . . . 13-03 



Copper, ,, . . .11-61 



Iron, ,, . . . trace. 



100-19 



Fineness in carats, . = 18-13 

 Specifiic gra^^ity, . = 15-502 



Number 3. — Specimen marked " Gold Fillet from: the haitole op 

 A Sword." — This consisted of a band or riband of thin gold plate one- 

 fourth of an inch in width, ornamented with a row of small raised studs 

 on each edge produced by punching from behind. The band was 

 only about three inches long, but probably formed part of a much 

 longer fillet, as the ends were somewhat ragged, and had the appear- 

 ance of having been torn. 



It is well known that golden hilted swords were used in ancient 

 times in Ireland, and remnants of the gold decorations of sword handles 

 have been found in various parts of the country, but these are chiefly 

 in the forms of fragments of thin gold plates which probably covered 

 the handle-plates. The specimen, therefore, appears to have been 

 mislabled as it corresponds very closely with a number of gold bands 

 or fillets in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, in the Science 

 and Ai't iluseum, Dublin. Some of these are plain, others decorated, 

 some long and narrow, and others short and broad. One fillet in the 

 collection, aboat four feet long, is the same width as the specimen 

 examined but perfectly plain. Another shorter band (Museum jS'umber 

 113) nearly twice the width, is ornamented with, the same pattern. 

 "With reference to these fillets. Sir "W". R. Wilde, in his Catalogue of 

 the Gold Antiquities of the collection (p. 38), remarks that the use of 

 these has not with certaiiity been determined, but ia all likelihood the 

 elongated specimens were employed as fillets or forehead bands for 

 confining the hair as hair- bands were not uncommon in Ii'eland.^ I 

 think, therefore, it is more than probable, that the specimen is part of 

 a hair -band and not a fillet, fi'om a sword handle, as labled. The 



1 For fmllier iafonnation on these articles see Catalogue of Gold Antiquities. 

 "Wilde, pp. 38, 39. 



