A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 
generally all that remain; these are constantly found near the wrist, 
and a pair at Sleaford, Lincolnshire,’ were still attached to the original 
material when found. 
In three or four of the graves shell fragments of combs and possibly 
of an armlet were found but they are in the last stages of decay ; 
unlike a fine buckle (fig. 9) of the same material, which both for size 
and decoration may be compared with specimens of crystal found in 
Frankish graves on the continent.’ Bracelets and perhaps armlets of 
beads had also been worn ; and large numbers of beads, probably in the 
form of necklaces or festoons, had been deposited in many of the graves 
of women. With the exception of a remarkable barrel-shaped specimen 
(fig. 12), the bronze partitions of which are filled with some kind of 
shell, they are of the usual kind, the majority being of variegated glass 
and many of roughly-shaped amber, while the central bead of a necklace 
was often a large crystal. A sphere of this material (fig. 10) was 
recovered in its double loop of silver, but the loop was more probably 
for attaching this amulet to the girdle than to the necklace. These 
mysterious crystals again are mostly found in Kent, but examples are by 
no means uncommon in the Frankish graves of Normandy and the 
Rhine. As long ago as 1793 Rev. James Douglas, the author of Nenia 
Britannica, considered that they were used for purposes of divination or 
crystal-gazing ; and against the view that they were merely ornaments 
attached to the girdle is the fact that more than once they have been 
found lying in metal spoons with perforated bowls.’ 
A list of known specimens has been prepared in recent years in 
connection with Scottish charms and amulets.“ The assistant keeper of 
the museum at Edinburgh states that balls of rock crystal have been 
found in various parts of Europe, and especially in England, mostly in 
connection with interments of the (Scandinavian) Iron age, that is, 
from about the fifth century of our era. ‘ Many of these balls when 
found were enclosed within narrow bands of metal, chiefly of silver, but 
sometimes of gold or bronze. Formerly these balls were considered by 
archeologists to have been used for magical purposes, but the general 
opinion now is that they were worn on the person as ornaments. At a 
much later period however the use of crystal balls for magical purposes 
appears to have been common in England.’ The C/ach Dearg, or stone 
of Ardvoirlich, much resembles the Anglo-Saxon specimens, and is 
figured along with the C/ach-na-Bratach, or stone of the Standard, and 
another in a mount of the seventeenth century, in the papers referred to. 
The graves of warriors are marked by the spearhead and remains 
of the shield, such as the iron boss and handle ; while to one shield had 
been affixed by rivets a tin-plate device in the form of a fish (see fig.), 
1 Arch. \. 3873 other examples have been found at Warren Hill, Suffolk, and at Marston 
Northants. 
2 Lindenschmit, Averthimer unserer heidnischen Vorzeit, iii. pt. x. pl. 6. 
3 V.C.H. Hants, i. 388, figs. 18, 22. 
4 Mr. G. F. Black, in Proc. Soc. Antig. Scot. 1892-3, p. 522; cf. 1894-5, p. 439. 
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