132 



Northern Antiquities. 



[No. 2. 



and so forth of the same general character as that of the far-famed 

 Nimroud obelisk, though of infinitely inferior execution ; of warlike 

 encounters where we have on the Aberlemno stone, in Mr. Chalmers' 

 collection for example, horsemen charging a phalanx of foot soldiers, 

 where the front and second rank men stand with presented spears, the 

 third rank having theirs erect, ready to be used should the enemy 

 burst through the foremost ranks. On several stones we have the 

 representation of a bard playing on a harp, and on several others an 

 encounter betwixt men and animals. In three cases a man is repre- 

 sented tearing open the jaws of a creature like a wolf or lion. 



By far the most interesting sculpture I have had the fortune to exa- 

 mine — Suenos' pillar I have never seen — is that on the St. Andrew's 

 stone coffin, the character of which I was the first to point out. I 

 had the pieces, which were in the act of being carried away piecemeal, 

 collected and arranged together, and got a cast in plaster made of the 

 whole in 1839, for the County Museum in Cupar, then under my 

 charge : a drawing of the principal tablet, furnished by me from an 

 excellent sketch by the Rev. Mr. Lyon, is published in the Pictorial 

 History of England. You will find a drawing of it in the MS. volume, 

 with a bad lithograph in the Bombay Transactions. At the one end is 

 represented a man in rich flowing garments, and with a full-bottomed 

 wig, showing a rich belt, and ornamented sword sheath, tearing open 

 the jaws of a lion — the character of the animal is clearly brought out 

 by his short snout, his mane, and tuft at the end of his tail. The 

 wig, the belt, and the sword sheath closely resemble those of the 

 figures on the Assyrian marbles. Further on is a dog-like quadruped 

 with wings, pouncing on a deer, and then a huntsman with a spear in 

 his right hand, and a small ornamented shield in his left arm : three 

 grey-hounds, what seems a wolf or fox, with a couple of deer, are 

 before him. In the corner above these are some other dogs and deer, 

 with bad representations of two monkeys. On the upper and middle 

 portion of the stone is a man on horseback : he is richly attired, wears 

 a full-bottomed wig, and his sword-sheath, seen from under his 

 mantle, is richly and elaborately sculptured. On his left wrist he 

 holds a hawk — a lion, in this case represented with considerable fidelity 

 and spirit, has sprung on the neck of his horse, the attack being much 

 more coolly received than such things are in modern times. 



