480 
coper, wrapped up in lynin scant perishid, nere the mount 
in St. Hilaries paroch in the tynne workes." Here we find 
the manufactures of these articles actually brought into 
relation with the mining districts from which the metals 
were derived. 
Now here, I think, the whole mystery of these bronze 
implements is solved. It is evident, from the frequency 
of these discoveries, that the makers were rather a numerous 
class throughout the Roman empire. They travelled about 
with their melting pot, and a certain quantity of material, 
to which was added the broken bronze they found at the 
places where they stopped to work, and which had, no doubt, 
been carefully preserved until their arrival, perhaps, to be 
taken in part payment. The actual moulds in which the 
celts were cast are found commonly enough. These 
" celts," with the chisels and gouges, appear to have 
been the articles made in greatest quantities within the 
civilised parts of the empire, because they were articles for 
domestic purposes ; but we see that the same manu- 
facturers did make the leaf-shaped swords, and the spear- 
heads. There were various reasons why bronze should be 
used for such purposes. In the first place, it is far more easily 
fusible than iron, or any other hard metal ; and it is evident 
that an itinerant manufacture like this could not be carried on 
conveniently with a metal which was not easily fusible. I 
think we may trace, also, among the Romans themselves, a 
sort of superstitious reverence for bronze as a metal ; and 
it was probably considered by the barbarians themselves as 
handsome, and more valuable than iron. After this state- 
ment of facts, no one will, I think, be surprised when I 
state that on the Continent these leaf-shaped swords have 
been found, under circumstances which leave little doubt of 
their being Roman. In France, one of these swords was 
found at Heilly, in the department of the Somme, with 
