34 
EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 
most ancient of the kjokkenmoddings we have in our 
vicinity is that one which lies within a small wood on 
the old margin of the Loch of Spynie^ and on a sort of 
promontory formed of those raised shingle beaches so 
well developed in that quarter. This mound, or rather 
two mounds (for there is an intervening portion of the 
ground which has no shells), must have been of consi- 
derable extent. A rough measurement gives 80 by 30 
yards for the larger, and 26 by 30 for the smaller por- 
tion. The most abundant shell is the periwinkle ; next 
in order as to frequency is the oyster, which, as well as 
those who had it as a large item in their bill of fare, 
has passed away from our coasts. Save in some of the 
nooks of our Firth, as at Cromarty, Altirlie, and Avoch, 
we know not where a small dish of them could be .pro- 
cured. As third in order, in this mound, is the mus- 
sel, and then the cockle.^^ 
Mr. Gordon further adds that similar refuse-heaps are 
found all round the shores of the Moray Firth, and that 
the farmers gradually cart them away to serve as manure 
or topdressings. 
These shell-mounds. Sir John Lubbock states, are 
actually called shelly-meddings ” by the fishermen of 
that district. 
Sir Gardner Wilkinson found large masses of cockle- 
shells embedded in the ditches of an old British camp 
or earthwork, called ^^Nottle Tor,^^ in the seignory of 
Gower, in Glamorganshire. This camp stands on a high 
rock above the sea, and at some distance from any dwell- 
ing-house j the shells therefore are from fish eaten by 
the ancient Britons. 
Cockle, mussel, and oyster shells are often discovered 
in great quantities on the sites of Koman stations. 
