104 On Ancient Interments, by James Hardy. 



clay slate, of fine grain, of a grey colour, and shews specks of 

 mica. It had been a fragment selected from the boulder-drift 

 of the district, in which rolled portions of a similar stone occur. 

 Near one end on each side there is a small perforation of no 

 great depth, the size of a gimlet hole. The use of this diminu- 

 tive article is unknown. It might have sharpened needles or 

 prickers. 



The small, thin, neat knife-blade is of a grey-brown flint, and 

 had no marks of ever having been in use. It is 3f inches long, 

 and f of an inch broad ; semi- elliptical in shape, with a blunt 

 point, and a truncate base. It is formed of a chip, of which one 

 side shews the smooth original fracture ; the convex side is finely 

 chipped to a serrate cutting edge. It is thinned out by chipping 

 at the base, where it would enter the haft, the edge there being 

 blunted. 



It is unfortunate that the articles had been confused, because 

 we have here probably (1) a burial of the Stone Period; the 

 body being placed in a folded up position, with stone imple- 

 ments ; and (2 ) an urn of a subsequent age, introduced as a 

 secondary interment ; the one surrounded with stones from the 

 calcareous sandstone, and the other with red-sandstone slabs. 



Everything suggestive is gone now; the venerable tumulus 

 with its mysterious consignments ; the sprightly assemblages of 

 rural fays with the belief in them ; the tasselled broom and 

 golden-bloomed furze ; and the linnet-nest which they sheltered 

 and concealed. The ploughshare has crossed the place, and the 

 field is now one dead level. 



The objects described have been deposited in the Museum of 

 the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 



