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ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Copyright,  1915,  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons 

HEAD   OF  A   CRO-MAGNON   MAN 

After  the  restoration  modelled  by  J.  H.  McGregor.     Reproduced  by  permission 
from  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age  by  Henry  Fairfield  Osborn. 


ANCIENT    MAN 
IN    BRITAIN 


BY 


DONALD   A.    MACKENZIE 

Author  of  "  Egyptian  Myth  and  Legend  " 
"  Myths  of  Crete  and  Prc-Hcllcnic  Europe  "  "  Colour  Symbolism  "  i&c. 


WITH    FOREWORD   BY 
G.  ELLIOT   SMITH,  F.R.S. 


BLACKIE  AND   SON  LIMITED 

so  OLD  BAILEY,  LONDON;    GLASGOW.  BOMBAY 
Printed  in  Great  Britain 

1922 


FOREWORD 


In  his  Presidential  Address  to  the  Royal  An- 
thropological Institute  this  year  the  late  Dr. 
Rivers  put  his  finger  upon  the  most  urgent  need 
for  reform  in  the  study  of  Man,  when  he  appealed 
for  **the  Unity  of  Anthropology  ".  No  true  con- 
ception of  the  nature  and  the  early  history  of  the 
human  family  can  be  acquired  by  investigations, 
however  carefully  they  may  be  done,  of  one  class 
of  evidence  only.  The  physical  characters  of  a 
series  of  skulls  can  give  no  reliable  information 
unless  their  exact  provenance  and  relative  age  are 
known.  But  the  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of 
these  characters  cannot  be  made  unless  we  know 
something  of  the  movements  of  the  people  and  the 
distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
foreign  lands  from  which  they  may  have  come. 
No  less  important  than  the  study  of  their  physical 
structure  is  the  cultural  history  of  peoples.  The 
real  spirit  of  a  population  is  revealed  by  its 
social   and    industrial   achievements,    and    by   its 


vi  FOREWORD 

customs  and  beliefs,  rather  than  by  the  shape  of 
the  heads  and  members  of  its  units.  The  revival 
of  the  belief  in  the  widespread  diffusion  of  culture 
in  early  times  has,  as  one  of  its  many  important 
effects,  directed  attention  to  the  physical  peculiar- 
ities of  the  mixed  populations  of  important  foci  of 
civilization  throughout  the  world.  Such  inquiries 
have  not  only  enabled  the  student  of  human 
structure  to  detect  racial  affinities  where  he  might 
otherwise  have  neglected  to  look  for  them,  but  on 
the  other  hand  they  have  been  able  to  give  the 
investigator  of  cultural  diffusion  evidence  of  the 
most  definite  and  irrefutable  kind  in  corroboration 
of  the  reality  of  his  inferences. 

At  the  present  time  students  are  just  awakening 
to  the  fact  that  no  adequate  idea  of  the  anthro- 
pology of  any  area  can  be  acquired  unless  every 
kind  of  evidence,  somatic  and  cultural,  be  taken 
into  account,  and  the  problems  of  the  particular 
locality  are  integrated  with  those  worldwide  move- 
ments of  men  and  of  civilization  of  which  the 
people  and  culture  of  that  locality  form  a  part. 

The  great  merit  of  Mr.  Donald  Mackenzie's 
book  is  due  in  the  main  to  the  fact  that  he  has 
taken  this  wider  vision  of  his  subject  and  inter- 
preted the  history  of  early  man  in  Britain,  not 
simply  by  describing  the  varieties  of  head-form 
or  of  implements,  customs  and  beliefs,  but  rather 


FOREWORD  vii 

by  indicating  how  these  different  categories  of 
information  can  be  put  into  their  appropriate 
setting  in  the  history  of  mankind  as  a  whole. 
There  is  nothing  of  technical  pedantry  about  Mr. 
Mackenzie's  writing.  He  has  made  himself 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  customs  and  beliefs 
of  the  whole  world,  as  his  remarkable  series  of 
books  on  mythology  has  revealed,  and  in  the 
process  of  acquiring  this  mass  of  information  he 
has  not  sacrificed  his  common  sense  and  powers 
of  judgment.  He  has  been  able  to  see  clearly 
through  this  amazing  jumble  of  confusing  state- 
ments the  way  in  which  every  phase  of  civilization 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  is  closely  correlated  with 
the  rest;  and  he  has  given  luminous  expression 
to  this  clear  vision  of  the  history  of  man  and 
civilization  as  it  affects  Britain. 

G.   Elliot  Smith, 

The  University  of  London. 


PREFACE 


This  volume  deals  with  the  history  of  man  in  Britain 
from  the  Ice  Age  till  the  Roman  period.  The  evidence 
is  gleaned  from  the  various  sciences  which  are  usually- 
studied  apart,  including  geology,  archaeology,  philology, 
ethnology  or  anthropology,  &c.,  and  the  writer  has  set 
himself  to  tell  the  story  of  Ancient  Man  in  a  manner 
which  will  interest  a  wider  circle  of  readers  than  is  usu- 
ally reached  by  purely  technical  books.  It  has  not  been 
assumed  that  the  representatives  of  Modern  Man  who 
first  settled  in  Europe  were  simple-minded  savages. 
The  evidence  afforded  by  the  craftsmanship,  the  burial 
customs,  and  the  art  of  the  Cro-Magnon  races,  those 
contemporaries  of  the  reindeer  and  the  hairy  mammoth  in 
South-western  France,  suggests  that  they  had  been  influ- 
enced by  a  centre  of  civilization  in  which  considerable 
progress  had  already  been  achieved.  There  is  absolutely 
no  evidence  that  the  pioneers  were  lacking  in  intelli- 
gence or  foresight.  If  we  are  to  judge  merely  by 
their  skeletons  and  the  shapes  and  sizes  of  their  skulls, 
it  would  appear  that  they  were,  if  anything,  both  phy- 
sically and  mentally  superior  to  the  average  present-day 
inhabitants  of  Europe.  Nor  were  they  entirely  isolated 
from  the  ancient  culture  area  by  which  they  had  been 
originally  influenced.  As  is  shown,  the  evidence 
afforded  by  an  Indian  Ocean  sea-shell,  found  in  a  Cro- 


X 


PREFACE 


Magnon  burial  cavern  near  Mentone,  indicates  that 
much  has  yet  to  be  discovered  regarding  the  activities 
of  the  early  people. 

In  writing  the  history  of  Ancient  Man  in  Britain,  it 
has  been  found  necessary  to  investigate  the  Continental 
evidence.  When  our  early  ancestors  came  from  some- 
where, they  brought  something  with  them,  including 
habits  of  life  and  habits  of  thought.  The  story  unfolded 
by  British  finds  is  but  a  part  of  a  larger  story;  and  if 
this  larger  story  is  to  be  reconstructed,  our  investigations 
must  extend  even  beyond  the  continent  of  Europe.  The 
data  afforded  by  the  "Red  Man  of  Paviland",  who 
was  buried  with  Cro-Magnon  rites  in  a  Welsh  cave, 
not  only  emphasize  that  Continental  and  North  African 
cultural  influences  reached  Britain  when  the  ice-cap  was 
retreating  in  Northern  Europe,  but  that  from  its  very 
beginnings  the  history  of  our  civilization  cannot  be 
considered  apart  from  that  of  the  early  civilization  of  the 
world  as  a  whole.  The  writer,  however,  has  not  assumed 
in  this  connection  that  in  all  parts  of  the  world  man  had  of 
necessity  to  pass  through  the  same  series  of  evolutionary 
stages  of  progress,  and  that  the  beliefs,  customs,  crafts, 
arts,  &c.,  of  like  character  found  in  different  parts  of  the 
world  were  everywhere  of  spontaneous  generation. 
There  were  inventors  and  discoverers  and  explorers  in 
ancient  times  as  there  are  at  present,  and  many  new 
contrivances  were  passed  on  from  people  to  people. 
The  man  who,  for  instance,  first  discovered  how  to 
'^make  fire"  by  friction  of  fire-sticks  was  undoubtedly 
a  great  scientist  and  a  benefactor  of  his  kind.  It  is 
shown  that  shipbuilding  had  a  definite  area  of  origin. 

The  "Red  Man  of  Paviland"  also  reveals  to  us  minds 
pre-occupied  with  the  problems  of  life  and  death.  It  is 
evident  that  the  corpse  of  the  early  explorer  was  smeared 
with  red  earth  and  decorated  with  charms  for  very 
definite   reasons.      That  the  people  who  thus  interred 


PREFACE  xi 

their  dead  with  ceremony  were  less  intelligent  than  the 
Ancient  Egyptians  who  adopted  the  custom  of  mummi- 
fication, or  the  Homeric  heroes  who  practised  cremation, 
we  have  no  justification  for  assuming. 

At  the  very  dawn  of  British  history,  which  begins 
when  the  earliest  representatives  of  Modern  Man  reached 
our  native  land,  the  influences  of  cultures  which  had 
origin  in  distant  areas  of  human  activity  came  drifting 
northward  to  leave  an  impress  which  does  not  appear  to 
be  yet  wholly  obliterated.  We  are  the  heirs  of  the  Ages 
in  a  profounder  sense  than  has  hitherto  been  supposed. 

Considered  from  this  point  of  view,  the  orthodox 
scheme  of  Archceological  Ages,  which  is  of  comparatively 
recent  origin,  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  If  anthropo- 
logical data  have  insisted  upon  one  thing  more  than 
another,  it  is  that  modes  of  thought,  which  govern 
action,  were  less  affected  by  a  change  of  material  from 
which  artifacts  (articles  made  by  man)  were  manufactured 
than  they  were  by  religious  ideas  and  by  new  means  for 
obtaining  the  necessary  food  supply.  A  profounder 
change  was  effected  in  the  habits  of  early  man  in 
Britain  by  the  introduction  of  the  agricultural  mode  of 
life,  and  the  beliefs,  social  customs,  &c.,  connected  with 
it,  than  could  possibly  have  been  effected  by  the  intro- 
duction of  edged  implements  of  stone,  bone,  or  metal. 

As  a  substitute  for  the  Archaeological  Ages,  the  writer 
suggests  in  this  volume  a  new  system,  based  on  habits 
of  life,  which  may  be  found  useful  for  historical  pur- 
poses. In  this  system  the  terms  *'  Palaeolithic  ",  "  Neo- 
lithic", &c.,  are  confined  to  industries.  ^'Neolithic 
man",  ** Bronze  Age  man",  ^*Iron  Age  man",  and  other 
terms  of  like  character  may  be  favoured  by  some 
archaeologists,  but  they  mean  little  or  nothing  to  most 
anatomists,  who  detect  different  racial  types  in  a  single 
'*Age".  A  history  of  ancient  man  cannot  ignore  one 
set  of  scientists  to  pleasure  another. 


Xll 


PREFACE 


Several  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  religious  beliefs 
and  customs  of  our  ancestors,  and  it  is  shown  that  there 
is  available  for  study  in  this  connection  a  mass  of 
evidence  which  the  archaeological  agnostics  are  too  prone 
to  ignore.  The  problem  of  the  megalithic  monuments 
must  evidently  be  reconsidered  in  the  light  of  the  fuller 
anthropological  data  now  available.  Indeed,  it  would 
appear  that  a  firmer  basis  than  that  afforded  by  ** crude 
evolutionary  ideas  "  must  be  found  for  British  archaeol- 
ogy as  a  whole.  The  evidence  of  surviving  beliefs  and 
customs,  of  Celtic  philology  and  literature,  of  early  Chris- 
tian writings,  and  of  recent  discoveries  in  Spain,  Meso- 
potamia, and  Egypt,  cannot,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  be 
wholly  ignored. 

In  dealing  with  the  race  problem,  the  writer  has  sifted 
the  available  data  which  throw  light  on  its  connection 
with  the  history  of  British  culture,  and  has  written  as  he 
has  written  in  the  hope  that  the  growth  of  fuller  know- 
ledge on  the  subject  will  be  accompanied  by  the  growth 
of  a  deeper  sympathy  and  a  deeper  sense  of  kinship  than 
has  hitherto  prevailed  in  these  islands  of  ours,  which  were 
colonized  from  time  to  time  by  groups  of  enterprising 
pioneers,  who  have  left  an  enduring  impress  on  the 
national  character.  The  time  is  past  for  beginning  a 
history  of  Britain  with  the  Roman  invasion,  and  for  the 
too-oft- repeated  assertion  that  before  the  Romans 
reached  Britain  our  ancestors  were  isolated  and  half 
civilized. 

DONALD  A.  MACKENZIE. 


CONTENTS 


Chap.  Pag« 

I.  Britons  of  the  Stone  Age  -        -        -        -        -        -  i 

II.  Earliest  Traces  of  Modern  Man        .        -        -        -  8 

III.  The  Age  of  the  "Red  Man"  of  Wales    -        -        -  19 

IV.  Shell  Deities  and  Early  Trade          -        -        -        -  35 
V.  New  Races  in  Europe 49 

VI.  The  Faithful  Dog -  61 

VII.  Ancient  Mariners  Reach  Britain        -        -                -  67 

VIII.  Neolithic  Trade  and  Industries         -        -        -        -  79 

IX.  Metal  Workers  and  Megalithic  Monuments  -        -  87 

X.  Celts  and  Iberians  as  Intruders  and  Traders       -  109 

XI.  Races  of  Britain  and  Ireland     -        -        -        -        -  121 

XII.  Druidism  in  Britain  and  Gaul    -        -        -        -        -  140 

XIII.  The  Lore  of  Charms -  i57 

XIV.  The  World  of  Our  Ancestors 167 

XV.  Why  Trees  and  Wells  were  Worshipped         -  176 

XVI.  Ancient  Pagan  Deities 195 

XVII.  Historical  Summary        -                                         -        -  209 

Index 231 

xiii 


LIST    OF    PLATES 


Page 
Head  of  a  Cro-Magnon  Man         -        -        -      Frontispiece 

Examples  of  Lower  Palaeolithic  Industries  found  in 

England 12 

Western  Europe  during  the  Third  Inter-glacial  Epoch  16 

Examples  of  Paleolithic  Art      - 56 

Flint  Lance  Heads  from  Ireland 80 

Chipped  and  Polished  Artifacts  from  Southern  England  80 

The  Ring  of  Stennis,  Orkney 96 

Megaliths— Kit's  Coty  House,  Kent;   Trethevy  Stone, 

Cornwall 100 

Enamelled  Bronze  Shield 116 

European  Types 124 

Ruins  of  Pictish  Tower  at  Carloway,  Lewis  -        -        -  128 

A  Scottish  *'  Broch  "  (Mousa,  Shetland  Isles)         -        -  132 

A  Sardinian  Nuraghe 136 

Megaliths— Dolmen,  near  Birori,  Sardinia;   Tynewydd 

Dolmen 160 

One  of  the  Great  Trilithons,  Stonehenge      -        -        -  172 

Bronze  Urn  and  Cauldron -  204 

Bronze  Bucklers  or  Shields 324 

XV 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN 
BRITAIN 


CHAPTER    I 
Britons  of  the  Stone  Age 

Caricatures  of  Early  Britons — Enterprising  Pioneers — Diseases  and 
Folk-cures — Ancient  Surgical  Operations — Expert  Artisans — Organized 
Communities — Introduction  of  Agriculture — Houses  and  Cooking  Utensils 
—Spinning  and  Weaving— Different  Habits  of  Life— The  Seafarers. 

The  Early  Britons  of  the  Stone  Age  have  suffered 
much  at  the  hands  of  modern  artists,  and  especially  the 
humorous  artists.  They  are  invariably  depicted  as  rude 
and  irresponsible  savages,  with  semi-negroid  features, 
who  had  perforce  to  endure  our  rigorous  and  uncertain 
climate  clad  in  loosely  fitting  skin  garments,  and  to  go 
about,  even  in  the  depth  of  winter,  barefooted  and  bare- 
headed, their  long  tangled  locks  floating  in  the  wind. 

As  a  rule,  the  artists  are  found  to  have  confused  ideas 
regarding  the  geological  periods.  Some  place  the  white 
savages  in  the  age  when  the  wonderful  megalithic 
monuments  were  erected  and  civilization  was  well  ad- 
vanced, while  others  consign  them  to  the  far-distant 
Cretaceous  Age  in  association  with  the  monstrous  reptiles 
that  browsed  on  tropical  vegetation,  being  unaware, 
apparently,  that  the  reptiles  in  question  ceased  to  exist 

(D217)  1  2 


2  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

before  the  appearance  of  the  earliest  mammals.  Not 
unfrequently  the  geological  ages  and  the  early  stages  of 
human  culture  are  hopelessly  mixed  up,  and  monsters 
that  had  been  extinct  for  several  million  years  are  shown 
crawling  across  circles  that  were  erected  by  men  pos- 
sessed of  considerable  engineering  skill. 

It  is  extremely  doubtful  if  our  remote  ancestors  of  the 
Stone  Age  were  as  savage  or  as  backward  as  is  gener- 
ally supposed.  They  were,  to  begin  with,  the  colonists 
who  made  Britain  a  land  fit  for  a  strenuous  people  to 
live  in.  We  cannot  deny  them  either  courage  or  enter- 
prise, nor  are  we  justified  in  assuming  that  they  were 
devoid  of  the  knowledge  and  experience  required  to 
enable  them  to  face  the  problems  of  existence  in  their 
new  environment.  They  came  from  somewhere,  and 
brought  something  with  them;  their  modes  of  life  did 
not  have  origin  in  our  native  land. 

Although  the  early  people  lived  an  open-air  life,  it  is 
doubtful  if  they  were  more  physically  fit  than  are  the 
Britons  of  the  twentieth  century.  They  were  certainly 
not  immune  from  the  ravages  of  disease.  In  their 
graves  are  found  skeletons  of  babies,  youths,  and 
maidens,  as  well  as  those  of  elderly  men  and  women ; 
some  spines  reveal  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  effects 
of  rheumatism,  and  worn-down  teeth  are  not  uncommon. 
It  is  possible  that  the  diseases  associated  with  marshy 
localities  and  damp  and  cold  weather  were  fairly  preva- 
lent, and  that  there  were  occasional  pestilences  with 
heavy  death-rates.  Epidemics  of  influenza  and  measles 
may  have  cleared  some  areas  for  periods  of  their  inhabi- 
tants, the  survivors  taking  flight,  as  did  many  Britons 
of  the  fifth  century  of  our  own  era,  when  the  country 
was  swept  by  what  is  referred  to  in  a  Welsh  book  ^  as 
**the  yellow  plague",  because  **it  made  yellow  and 
bloodless   all   whom    it  attacked".      At  the  same  time 

^  Book  of  Llan  Daf. 


BRITONS   OF   THE   STONE   AGE  3 

recognition  must  be  given  to  the  fact  that  the  early 
people  were  not  wholly  ignorant  of  medical  science. 
There  is  evidence  that  some  quite  effective  *^  folk  cures  " 
are  of  great  antiquity — that  the  '^medicine-men "  and 
sorcerers  of  Ancient  Britain  had  discovered  how  to  treat 
certain  diseases  by  prescribing  decoctions  in  which  herbs 
and  berries  utilized  in  modern  medical  science  were 
important  ingredients.  More  direct  evidence  is  avail- 
able regarding  surgical  knowledge  and  skill.  On  the 
Continent  and  in  England  have  been  found  skulls  on 
which  the  operation  known  as  trepanning — the  removing 
of  a  circular  piece  of  skull  so  as  to  relieve  the  brain  from 
pressure  or  irritation  —  was  successfully  performed,  as 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  severed  bones  had  healed 
during  life.  The  accomplished  primitive  surgeons  had 
used  flint  instruments,  which  were  less  liable  than  those 
of  metal  to  carry  infection  into  a  wound.  One  cannot 
help  expressing  astonishment  that  such  an  operation 
should  have  been  possible — that  an  ancient  man  who 
had  sustained  a  skull  injury  in  a  battle,  or  by  accident, 
should  have  been  again  restored  to  sanity  and  health. 
Sprains  and  ordinary  fractures  were  doubtless  treated 
with  like  skill  and  success.  In  some  of  the  incantations 
and  charms  collected  by  folk-lorists  are  lines  which 
suggest  that  the  early  medicine- men  were  more  than 
mere  magicians.  One,  for  instance,  dealing  with  the 
treatment  of  a  fracture,  states: 

**  He  put  marrow  to  marrow;  he  put  pith  to  pith;  he  put 
bone  to  bone ;  he  put  membrane  to  membrane ;  he  put  tendon 
to  tendon;  he  put  blood  to  blood;  he  put  tallow  to  tallow; 
he  put  flesh  to  flesh ;  he  put  fat  to  fat ;  he  put  skin  to  skin ; 
he  put  hair  to  hair ;  he  put  warm  to  warm ;  he  put  cool  to 
cool." 

**  This,"  comments  a  medical  man,  **is  quite  a  wonder- 
ful statement  of  the  aim  of  modern  surgical  *  co-aptation  ', 


4  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

and  we  can  hardly  believe  such  an  exact  form  of  words 
imaginable  without  a  very  clear  comprehension  of  the 
natural  necessity  of  correct  and  precise  setting."^ 

The  discovery  that  Stone  Age  man  was  capable  of 
becoming  a  skilled  surgeon  is  sufficient  in  itself  to  make 
us  revise  our  superficial  notions  regarding  him.  A  new 
interest  is  certainly  imparted  to  our  examination  of  his 
flint  instruments.  Apparently  these  served  him  in  good 
stead,  and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that,  after  all,  a 
stone  tool  may,  for  some  purposes,  be  quite  as  adequate 
as  one  of  metal.  It  certainly  does  not  follow  that  the 
man  who  uses  a  sharper  instrument  than  did  the  early 
Briton  is  necessarily  endowed  with  a  sharper  intellect, 
or  that  his  ability  as  an  individual  artisan  is  greater. 
The  Stone  Age  man  displayed  wonderful  skill  in  chip- 
ping flint — a  most  difficult  operation — and  he  shaped 
and  polished  stone  axes  with  so  marked  a  degree  of 
mathematical  precision  that,  when  laid  on  one  side,  they 
can  be  spun  round  on  a  centre  of  gravity.  His  saws 
were  small,  but  are  still  found  to  be  quite  serviceable  for 
the  purposes  they  were  constructed  for,  such  as  the 
cutting  of  arrow  shafts  and  bows,  and  the  teeth  are  so 
minute  and  regular  that  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  use  a 
magnifying  glass  in  order  to  appreciate  the  workmanship. 
Some  flint  artifacts  are  comparable  with  the  products  of 
modern  opticians.  The  flint  workers  must  have  had 
wonderfully  keen  and  accurate  eyesight  to  have  produced, 
for  instance,  little  ^'saws"  with  twenty-seven  teeth  to  the 
inch,  found  even  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  In  Ancient 
Egypt  these  *'saws"  were  used  as  sickles. 

Considerable  groups  of  the  Stone  Age  men  of  Britain 
had  achieved  a  remarkable  degree  of  progress.  They 
lived  in  organized  communities,  and  had  evidently  codes 
of  laws  and  regularized  habits  of  life.     They  were  not 

1  Dr.  Hugh  Cameron  Gillies  in  Home  Life  of  the  Highlanders,  Glasgow,  ign,  pp.  8$ 
et  seq. 


^ 


BRITONS   OF   THE   STONE   AGE  5 

entirely  dependent  for  their  food  supply  on  the  fish  they 
caught  and  the  animals  they  slew  and  snared.  Patches 
of  ground  were  tilled,  and  root  and  cereal  crops  culti- 
vated with  success.  Corn  was  ground  in  handmills;^ 
the  women  baked  cakes  of  barley  and  wheat  and  rye. 
A  rough  but  serviceable  pottery  was  manufactured  and 
used  for  cooking  food,  for  storing  grain,  nuts,  and 
berries,  and  for  carrying  water.  Houses  were  con- 
structed of  wattles  interwoven  between  wooden  beams 
and  plastered  over  with  clay,  and  of  turf  and  stones; 
these  were  no  doubt  thatched  with  heather,  straw,  or 
reeds.  Only  a  small  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Ancient  Britain  could  have  dwelt  in  caves,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  caves  were  not  numerous.  Underground 
dwellings,  not  unlike  the  "dug-outs"  made  during  the 
recent  war,  were  constructed  as  stores  for  food  and  as 
winter  retreats. 

As  flax  was  cultivated,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
comfortable  under-garments  were  worn,  if  not  by  all,  at 
any  rate  by  some  of  the  Stone  Age  people.  Wool  was 
also  utilized,  and  fragments  of  cloth  have  been  found  on 
certain  prehistoric  sites,  as  well  as  spindle-whorls  of 
stone,  bone,  and  clay,  wooden  spindles  shaped  so  as  to 
serve  their  purpose  without  the  aid  of  whorls,  bone 
needles,  and  crochet  or  knitting-pins.  Those  who  have 
assumed  that  the  Early  Britons  were  attired  in  skin 
garments  alone,  overlook  the  possibility  that  a  people 
who  could  sew,  spin,  and  weave,  might  also  have  been 
skilled  in  knitting,  and  that  the  jersey  and  jumper  may 
have  a  respectable  antiquity.  The  art  of  knitting  is 
closely  related  to  that  of  basket-making,  and  some  would 
have  it  that  many  of  the  earliest  potters  plastered  their 
clay  inside  baskets  of  reeds,  and  that  the  decorations  of 
the  early  pots  were  suggested  by  the  markings  impressed 

1  A  pestle  or  ttone  was  used  to  pound  grain  in  hollowed  slabs  or  rocks  before  the 
mechanical  mill  was  invented. 


6  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

by  these.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
some  Roman  wares  were  called  bascaudcey  or  '* baskets", 
and  that  the  Welsh  basged — basgy  from  which  our  word 
*' basket"  is  derived,  signify  **  network"  and  *' plait- 
ing ".  The  decoration  of  some  pots  certainly  suggests 
the  imitation  of  wickerwork  and  knitting,  but  there  are 
symbols  also,  and  these  had,  no  doubt,  a  religious 
significance. 

It  does  not  follow,  of  course,  that  all  the  Early  Britons 
of  the  so-called  Stone  Age  were  in  the  same  stage  of 
civilization,  or  that  they  all  pursued  the  same  modes  of 
life.  There  were  then,  as  there  are  now,  backward  as 
well  as  progressive  communities  and  individuals,  and 
there  were  likewise  representatives  of  different  races — 
tall  and  short,  spare  and  stout,  dark  and  fair  men  and 
women,  who  had  migrated  at  different  periods  from 
different  areas  of  origin  and  characterization.  Some 
peoples  clung  to  the  sea-shore,  and  lived  mainly  on 
deep-sea  fish  and  shell-fish;  others  were  forest  and 
moorland  hunters,  who  never  ventured  to  sea  or  culti- 
vated the  soil.  There  is  no  evidence  to  indicate  that 
conflicts  took  place  between  different  communities.  It 
may  be  that  in  the  winter  season  the  hunters  occasionally 
raided  the  houses  and  barns  of  the  agriculturists.  The 
fact,  however,  that  weapons  were  not  common  during 
the  Stone  Age  cannot  be  overlooked  in  this  connection. 
The  military  profession  had  not  come  into  existence. 

Certain  questions,  however,  arise  in  connection  with 
even  the  most  backward  of  the  Stone  Age  peoples. 
How  did  they  reach  Britain,  and  what  attracted  them 
from  the  Continent?  Man  did  not  take  to  the  sea  except 
under  dire  necessity,  and  it  is  certain  that  large  numbers 
could  not  possibly  have  crossed  the  English  Channel  on 
logs  of  wood.  The  boatbuilder's  craft  and  the  science 
of  navigation  must  have  advanced  considerably  before 
large  migrations  across  the  sea  could  have  taken  place. 


BRITONS   OF   THE   STONE   AGE  7 

When  the  agricuhural  mode  of  life  was  introduced,  the 
early  people  obtained  the  seeds  of  wheat  and  barley, 
and,  as  these  cultivated  grasses  do  not  grow  wild  in 
Britain,  they  must  have  been  introduced  either  by  traders 
or  settlers. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  term  **  Stone  Age"  is 
inadequate  in  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the  habits  of  life 
pursued  by  the  early  inhabitants  of  our  native  land. 
Nor  is  it  even  sufficient  in  dealing  with  artifacts,  for 
some  people  made  more  use  of  horn  and  bone  than  of 
stone,  and  these  were  represented  among  the  early 
settlers  in  Britain. 


CHAPTER   II 
Earliest  Traces  of  Modern  Man 

The  Culture  Ages— Ancient  Races — The  Neanderthals— CrS-Magnon 
Man — The  Evolution  Theory — Palseolithic  Ag-es — The  Transition  Period 
— Neanderthal  Artifacts— Birth  of  Cr6-Mag-non  Art— Occupations  of  Flint- 
yielding  Stations — Ravages  of  Disease — Duration  of  Glacial  and  Inter- 
glacial  Periods. 

In  1865,  Sir  John  Lubbock  (afterwards  Lord  Ave- 
bury),  writing  in  the  Prehistoric  TimeSy  suggested  that 
the  Stone  Age  artifacts  found  in  Western  Europe  should 
be  classified  into  two  main  periods,  to  which  he  applied 
the  terms  Palaeolithic  (Old  Stone)  and  Neolithic  (New 
Stone).  The  foundations  of  the  classification  had  pre- 
viously been  laid  by  the  French  antiquaries  M.  Boucher 
de  Perthes  and  Edouard  Lartet.  It  was  intended  that 
Palaeolithic  should  refer  to  rough  stone  implements,  and 
Neolithic  to  those  of  the  period  when  certain  artifacts 
were  polished. 

At  the  time  very  little  was  known  regarding  the  early 
peoples  who  had  pursued  the  flint-chipping  and  polish- 
ing industries,  and  the  science  of  geology  was  in  its 
infancy.  A  great  controversy,  which  continued  for  many 
years,  was  being  waged  in  scientific  circles  regarding 
the  remains  of  a  savage  primitive  people  that  had  been 
brought  to  light.  Of  these  the  most  notable  were  a 
woman*s  skull  found  in  1848  in  a  quarry  at  Gibraltar, 
the  Cannstadt  skull,  found  in  1700,  which  had  long 
been  lying  in  Stuttgart  Museum  undescribed  and  un- 
studied, and  portions  of  a  male  skeleton  taken  from  a 


EARLIEST  TRACES  OF   MODERN   MAN      9 

limestone  cave  in  Neanderthal,  near  Dusseldorf,  in  1857. 
Some  refused  to  believe  that  these,  and  other  similar 
remains  subsequently  discovered,  were  human  at  all ; 
others  declared  that  the  skulls  were  those  of  idiots  or 
that  they  had  been  distorted  by  disease.  Professor 
Huxley  contended  that  evidence  had  been  forthcoming 
to  prove  the  existence  in  remote  times  of  a  primitive 
race  from  which  modern  man  had  evolved. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  review  the  prolonged  con- 
troversy. One  of  its  excellent  results  was  the  stimula- 
tion of  research  work.  A  number  of  important  finds 
have  been  made  during  the  present  century,  which  have 
thrown  a  flood  of  light  on  the  problem.  In  1908  a 
skeleton  was  discovered  in  a  grotto  near  La  Chapel le-aux- 
Saints  in  France,  which  definitely  established  the  fact 
that  during  the  earlier  or  lower  period  of  the  Palaeolithic 
Age  a  Neanderthal  race  existed  on  the  Continent,  and, 
as  other  remains  testify,  in  England  as  well.  This  race 
became  extinct.  Some  hold  that  there  are  no  living 
descendants  of  Neanderthal  man  on  our  globe;  others 
contend  that  some  peoples,  or  individuals,  reveal 
Neanderthaloid  traits.  The  natives  of  Australia  display 
certain  characteristics  of  the  extinct  species,  but  they  are 
more  closely  related  to  Modern  Man  {Homo  sapiens). 
There  were  pre-Neanderthal  peoples,  including  Piltdown 
man  and  Heidelberg  man. 

During  the  Palaeolithic  Age  the  ancestors  of  modern 
man  appeared  in  Western  Europe.  These  are  now 
known  as  the  Cro-Magnon  races. 

In  dealing  with  the  Palaeolithic  Age,  therefore,  it  has 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  artifacts  classified  by  the 
archaeologists  represent  the  activities,  not  only  of  different 
races,  but  of  representatives  of  different  species  of 
humanity.  Neanderthal  man,  who  differed  greatly  from 
Modern  man,  is  described  as  follows  by  Professor  Elliot 
Smith : 


io  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

**  His  short,  thick-set,  and  coarsely  built  body  was  carried 
in  a  half-stooping  slouch  upon  short,  powerful,  and  half- 
flexed  legs  of  peculiarly  ungraceful  form.  His  thick  neck 
sloped  forward  from  the  broad  shoulders  to  support  the 
massive  flattened  head,  which  protruded  forward,  so  as  to 
form  an  unbroken  curve  of  neck  and  back,  in  place  of  the 
alteration  of  curves,  which  is  one  of  the  graces  of  the  truly 
erect  Hoino  sapiens.  The  heavy  overhanging  eyebrow  ridges, 
and  retreating  forehead,  the  great  coarse  face,  with  its  large 
eye-sockets,  broad  nose,  and  receding  chin,  combined  to 
complete  the  picture  of  unattractiveness,  which  it  is  more 
probable  than  not  was  still  further  emphasized  by  a  shaggy 
covering  of  hair  over  most  of  the  body.  The  arms  were 
relatively  short,  and  the  exceptionally  large  hands  lacked  the 
delicacy  and  the  nicely  balanced  co-operation  of  thumb  and 
fingers,  which  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  distinctive  of 
human  characteristics."^ 

As  Professor  Osborn  says:  **  the  structure  of  the  hand 
is  a  matter  of  the  highest  interest  in  connection  with  the 
implement-making  powers  of  the  Neanderthals ".  He 
notes  that  in  the  large  and  robust  Neanderthal  hand, 
'*the  joint  of  the  metacarpal  bone  which  supports  the 
thumb  is  of  peculiar  form,  convex,  and  presenting  a 
veritable  convex  condyle,  whereas  in  the  existing  human 
races  the  articular  surface  of  the  upper  part  of  the  thumb 
joint  is  saddle-shaped,  that  is  concave  from  within  back- 
ward, and  convex  from  without  inward".  The  Nean- 
derthal fingers  were  **  relatively  short  and  robust  ".^ 

The  Cro-Magnons  present  a  sharp  contrast  to  the 
Neanderthals.  In  all  essential  features  they  were  of 
modern  type.  They  would,  dressed  in  modern  attire, 
pass  through  the  streets  of  a  modern  city  without  par- 
ticular notice  being  taken  of  them.  One  branch  of  the 
Cro-Magnons  was  particularly  tall  and  handsome,  with 
an  average  height  for  the  males  of  6  feet  \\  inches,  with 

1  Primitive  Man.  2  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age  (1916),  pp.  340-1. 


EARLIEST  TRACES  OF   MODERN   MAN    ii 

chests  very  broad  in  the  upper  part,  and  remarkably 
long  shin-bones  that  indicate  swiftness  of  foot.  The 
Neanderthals  had  short  shins  and  bent  knees,  and  their 
gait  must  have  been  slow  and  awkward.  The  Cro- 
Magnon  hand  was  quite  like  that  of  the  most  civilized 
men  of  to-day. 

It  is  of  importance  to  bring  out  these  facts  in  con- 
nection with  the  study  of  the  development  of  early 
civilization  in  our  native  land,  because  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  theory  that  in  collections  of  stone  implements, 
dating  from  remote  Palasolithic  times  till  the  Neolithic 
Age,  a  complete  and  orderly  series  of  evolutionary  stages 
can  be  traced.  **  As  like  needs  ",  says  one  writer  in  this 
connection,  "produce  like  means  of  satisfaction,  the 
contrivances  with  which  men  in  similar  stages  of  pro- 
gress overcome  natural  obstacles  are  in  all  times  very 
much  the  same."^  Hugh  Miller,  the  Cromarty  stone- 
mason and  geologist,  was  one  of  the  first  to  urge  this 
view.  In  1835,  he  wrote  in  his  Scenes  and  Legends^ 
(ist  edition,  pp.  3r,  32): 

''Man  in  a  savage  stage  is  the  same  animal  everywhere, 
and  his  constructive  powers,  whether  employed  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  legendary  story  or  of  a  battleaxe,  seem  to  expatiate 
almost  everywhere  in  the  same  rugged  track  of  invention. 
For  even  the  traditions  of  this  first  stage  may  be  identified, 
like  its  weapons  of  war,  all  the  world  over."  ^ 

He  had  written  in  this  vein  after  seeing  the  collection 
of  stone  weapons  and  implements  in  the  Northern  Insti- 
tution at  Inverness.  **The  most  practised  eye",  he 
commented,  **can  hardly  distinguish  between  the 
weapons  of  the   Old    Scot  and    the   New  Zealander." 

1  British  Museum — A  Guide  to  the  Antiquities  of  the  Stone  Age,  p.  76  (1902). 

2  Miller  had  adopted  the  "stratification  theory"  of  Professor  William  Robertson  of 
Edinburgh  University,  who,  in  his  The  History  of  America  {^^iii),  wrote:  "Men  in  their 
savage  state  pass  their  days  like  the  animals  round  them,  without  knowledge  or  venera- 
tion of  any  superior  power  ". 


12  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Eyes  have  become  more  practised  in  dealing  with  flints 
since  Miller's  time.  Andrew  Lang  remembered  his 
Miller  when  he  wrote: 

**  Now  just  as  the  flint  arrowheads  are  scattered  everywhere, 
in  all  the  continents  and  isles — and  everywhere  are  much 
alike,  and  bear  no  very  definite  marks  of  the  special  influence 
of  race — so  it  is  with  the  habits  and  legends  investigated  by 
the  student  of  folk-lore  ".^ 

The  recent  discovery  that  the  early  flints  found  in 
Western  Europe  and  in  England  were  shaped  by  the 
Neanderthals  and  the  pre-Neanderthals  compels  a  re- 
vision of  this  complacent  view  of  an  extraordinarily 
difficult  and  complex  problem.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
needs  and  constructive  powers  of  the  Neanderthals, 
whose  big  clumsy  hands  lacked  "the  delicate  play  be- 
tween the  thumb  and  fingers  characteristic  of  modern 
races ",  could  not  have  been  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Cro-Magnons,  and  that  the  finely  shaped  implements  of 
the  Cro-Magnons  could  not  have  been  evolved  from  the 
rough  implements  of  the  Neanderthals.  The  craftsmen 
of  one  race  may,  however,  have  imitated,  or  attempted 
to  imitate,  the  technique  of  those  of  another. 

There  was  a  distinct  break  in  the  continuity  of  culture 
during  the  Palaeolithic  Age,  caused  by  the  arrival  in 
Western  Europe  of  the  ancestors  of  Modern  Man.  The 
advent  of  the  Cro-Magnons  in  Europe  **  represents  on 
the  cultural  side",  as  Professor  Elliot  Smith  says  in 
Primitive  Matty  **the  most  momentous  event  in  its 
history  ". 

Some  urge  that  the  term  **  Palaeolithic"  should  now 
be  discarded  altogether,  but  its  use  has  become  so  firmly 
established  that  archaeologists  are  loth  to  dispense  with 
it.  The  first  period  of  human  culture  has,  however, 
had  to  be  divided  into  **  Lower"  and  "Upper  Palaeo- 

1  Citst0m  and  Afyth  (tgto  edition),  p.  13.     Lang''s  Tiews  rrg^ardiag  flints  are  worthiest. 


Mousterian  type 
(from  Suffolk) 


Photos.  Oxford  University  Press 

Chellean  type 
(from  the  Tliames  g-ravel) 


EXAMPLES   OF   LOWER    PALEOLITHIC 
FOUND    IN    ENGLAND 

(British   Museuni) 


Photo.  Mansell 

NDUSTRIES 


EARLIEST  TRACES  OF  MODERN  MAN    13 

lithic" — Lower  closing  with  the  disappearance  of  the 
Neanderthals,  and  Upper  beginning  with  the  arrival  of 
the  Cro-Magnons.  These  periods  embrace  the  sub- 
divisions detected  during  the  latter  half  of  last  century 
by  the  French  archaeologists,  and  are  now  classified  as 
follows: 

Lower  Palaeolithic — 

1.  Pre-Chellean. 

2.  Chellean  (named  after  the  town  of  Chelles,  east 

of  Paris). 

3.  Acheulian  (named  after  St.   Acheul  in  Somme 

valley). 

4.  Mousterian  (named  after  the  caves  of  Le  Moustier 

in  the  valley  of  the  River  Vezere). 

Upper  Palaeolithic — 

1.  Aurignacian     (named     after     Aurignac,     Haute 

Garonne). 

2.  Solutrean  (named  after  Solutre,  Saone-et- Loire). 

3.  Magdalenian  (named  after  La  Madeleine  in  the 

valley  of  the  River  Vezere). 

Then  follows,  in  France,  the  Azilian  stage  (named 
after  Mas  d'Azil,  a  town  at  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees) 
which  is  regarded  as  the  link  between  Upper  Palaeo- 
lithic and  Neolithic.  But  in  Western  Europe,  including 
Britain,  there  were  really  three  distinct  cultures  during 
the  so-called  ** Transition  Period".  These  are  the 
Azilian,  the  Tardenoisian,  and  the  Maglemosian.  These 
cultures  were  associated  with  the  movements  of  new 
peoples  in  Europe. 

The  pre-Chellean  flints  (also  called  Eoliths)  were 
wrought  by  the  pre-Neanderthals.  Chellean  probably 
represents  the  earliest  work  in  Europe  of  a  pre-Nean- 
derthal  type  like  Piltdown  man.     The  most  characteristic 


14 


ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


implement  of  this  phase  is  the  coup  de  poing^  or  pear- 
shaped  **hand  axe",  which  was  at  first  roughly  shaped 
and  unsymmetrical.  It  was  greatly  improved  during 
the  Acheulian  stage,  and  after  being  finely  wrought  in 
Mousterian  times,  when  it  was  not  much  used,  was 
supplanted  by  smaller  and  better  chipped  implements. 
The  Neanderthals  practised  the  Mousterian  industry. 

A  profound  change  oc- 
curred when  the  Auri- 
gnacian  stage  of  culture 
was  inaugurated  by  the 
intruding  Cro-Magnons. 
Skilled  workers  chipped 
flint  in  a  new  way,  and, 
like  the  contemporary  in- 
habitants of  North  Africa, 
shaped  artifacts  from 
bone ;  they  also  used  rein- 
deer horn,  and  the  ivory 
tusks  of  mammoths.  The 
birth  of  pictorial  art  took 
place  in  Europe  after  the 
Cro-Magnons  arrived. 
It  would  appear  that 
the  remnants  of  the  Neanderthals  in  the  late  Mousterian 
stage  of  culture  were  stimulated  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Cro-Magnons  to  imitate  new  flint  forms  and  adopt  the 
new  methods  of  workmanship.  There  is  no  other  evi- 
dence to  indicate  that  the  Cro-Magnons  came  into  con- 
tact with  communities  of  the  Neanderthals.  In  these 
far-off  days  Europe  was  thinly  peopled  by  hunters  who 
dwelt  in  caves.  The  climate  was  cold,  and  the  hairy 
mammoth  and  the  reindeer  browsed  in  the  lowlands  of 
France  and  Germany.  Italy  was  linked  with  Africa; 
the  grass-lands  of  North  Africa  stretched  southward 
across  the  area  now  known  as  the  Sahara  desert,  and 


Chellean  Coup  de  Poing  or  "  Hand  Axe" 
Rig^ht-hand  view  shows  sinuous  cutting  edge. 


EARLIEST  TRACES  OF  MODERN  MAN    15 

dense  forests  fringed  the  banks  of  the  River  Nile  and 
extended  eastward  to  the  Red  Sea. 

Neanderthal  man  had  originally  entered  Europe  when 
the  climate  was  much  milder  than  it  is  in  our  own  time. 
He  crossed  over  from  Africa  by  the  Italian  land-bridge, 
and  he  found  African  fauna,  including  species  of  the 
elephant,  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  lion,  and  the 
hyasna,  jackal,  and  sabre-tooth  tiger  in  Spain,  France, 
Germany.  Thousands  of  years  elapsed  and  the  summers 
became  shorter,  and  the  winters  longer  and  more  severe, 
until  the  northern  fauna  began  to  migrate  southward, 
and  the  African  fauna  deserted  the  plains  and  decaying 
forests  of  Europe.  Then  followed  the  Fourth  Glacial 
phase,  and  when  it  was  passing  away  the  Neanderthals, 
who  had  long  been  in  the  Mousterian  phase  of  culture, 
saw  bands  of  Cro-Magnons  prospecting  and  hunting  in 
southern  Europe.  The  new-comers  had  migrated  from 
some  centre  of  culture  in  North  Africa,  and  appear  to 
have  crossed  over  the  Italian  land-bridge.  It  is  unlikely 
that  many,  if  any,  entered  Europe  from  the  east.  At 
the  time  the  Black  Sea  was  more  than  twice  its  present 
size,  and  glaciers  still  blocked  the  passes  of  Asia 
Minor.  .    . 

A  great  contrast  was  presented  by  the  two  types  of 
mankind.  The  short,  powerfully  built,  but  slouching 
and  slow-footed  Neanderthals  were,  in  a  conflict,  no 
match  for  the  tall,  active,  and  swift-footed  Cro-Magnons, 
before  whom  they  retreated,  yielding  up  their  flint-work- 
ing stations,  and  their  caves  and  grottoes.  It  may  be, 
as  some  suggest,  that  fierce  battles  were  fought,  but 
there  is  no  evidence  of  warfare;  it  may  be  that  the 
Neanderthals  succumbed  to  imported  diseases,  as  did  so 
many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Amazon  Valley, 
when  measles  and  other  diseases  were  introduced  by 
the  Spaniards.  The  fact  remains  that  the  Neander- 
thals died   out  as  completely  as  did  the  Tasmanians 


i6  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

before  the  advance  of  British  settlers.  We  do  not  know 
whether  or  not  they  resisted,  for  a  time,  the  intrusion  of 
strangers  on  their  hunting-grounds.  It  may  be  that  the 
ravages  of  disease  completed  the  tragic  history  of  such 
relations  as  they  may  have  had  with  the  ancestors  of 
Modern  Man. 

At  this  point,  before  we  deal  with  the  arrival  in 
Britain  of  the  representatives  of  the  early  races,  it 
should  be  noted  that  differences  of  opinion  exist  among 
scientists  regarding  the  geological  horizons  of  the  Palaeo- 
lithic culture  stages.  In  the  Pleistocene  Age  there  ap- 
pear to  have  been  four  great  glacial  epochs  and  two 
minor  ones.  Geological  opinion  is,  however,  divided 
in  this  connection. 

During  the  First  Glacial  epoch  the  musk-ox,  now 
found  in  the  Arctic  regions,  migrated  as  far  south  as 
Sussex.  The  Pliocene^  mammals  were  not,  however, 
completely  exterminated ;  many  of  them  survived  until 
the  First  Interglacial  epoch,  which  lasted  for  about 
75,000  years — that  is  three  times  longer  than  the  First 
Glacial  epoch.  The  Second  Glacial  epoch  is  believed 
to  have  extended  over  25,000  years.  It  brought  to  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea  the  reindeer  and  the 
hairy  mammoth.  Then  came  the  prolonged  Second 
Interglacial  stage  which  prevailed  for  about  200,000 
years.  The  climate  of  Europe  underwent  a  change 
until  it  grew  warmer  than  it  is  at  the  present  day, 
and  trees,  not  now  found  farther  north  than  the  Canary 
Islands,  flourished  in  the  forests  of  southern  France. 
The  Third  Glacial  stage  gradually  came  on,  grew  in 
intensity,  and  then  declined  during  a  period  estimated 
at  about  25,000  years.  It  was  followed  by  the  Third 
Interglacial  epoch  which  may  have  extended  over  at 
least  100,000  years.  African  animals  returned  to  Europe 
and  mingled  with  those  that  wandered  from  Asia  and 

1  The  last  division  of  the  Tertiary  period. 


WESTERN    EUROPE    DURING   THE   THIRD 
INTER-GLACIAL   EPOCH 

(According  to  the  Ahb6  Breuil  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  was  open  and  the 
Balearic  group  a  great  island.) 


EARLIEST  TRACES  OF  MODERN  MAN    17 

the  survivors  in  Europe  of  the  Second  Interglacial  fauna. 
The  Fourth  Glacial  epoch,  which  is  believed  to  have 
lasted  for  about  25,000  years,  was  very  severe.  All  the 
African  or  Asiatic  mammals  either  migrated  or  became 
extinct  with  the  exception  of  lions  and  hyasnas,  and  the 
reindeer  found  the  western  plains  of  Europe  as  con- 
genial as  it  does  the  northern  plains  at  the  present 
time. 

During  the  Fourth  Post-glacial  epoch  there  were  for 
a  period  of  about  25,000  years  ^  partial  glaciations  and 
milder  intervals,  until  during  the  Neolithic  Age  of  the 
archaeologists  the  climate  of  Europe  reached  the  phase 
that  at  present  prevails. 

When,  then,  did  man  first  appear  in  Europe?  Ac- 
cording to  some  geologists,  and  especially  Penck  and 
James  Geikie,  the  Chellean  phase  of  culture  originated 
in  the  Second  Interglacial  epoch  and  the  Mousterian 
endured  until  the  Third  Interglacial  stage,  when  the 
Neanderthals  witnessed  the  arrival  of  the  Cro-Magnon 
peoples.  Boule,  Breuil,  and  others,  however,  place  the 
pre-Chellean,  Chellean,  Acheulian,  and  early  Mousterian 
stages  of  Lower  (or  Early)  Palccolithic  culture  in  the 
Third  Interglacial  epoch,  and  fix  the  extermination  of 
Neanderthal  man,  in  his  late  Mousterian  culture  stage, 
at  the  close  of  the  Fourth  Glacial  epoch.  This  view  is 
now  being  generally  accepted.  It  finds  favour  with  the 
archaeologists,  and  seems  to  accord  with  the  evidence 
they  have  accumulated.  The  Upper  Palaeolithic  culture 
of  Cro-Magnon  man,  according  to  some,  began  in  its 
Aurignacian  phase  about  25,000  years  ago ;  others  con- 
sider, however,  that  it  began  about  five  or  six  thousand 
years  ago,  and  was  contemporaneous  with  the  long  pre- 
Dynastic  civilization  of  Egypt.  At  the  time  England 
was  connected  with   the  Continent  by  a  land -bridge, 

1  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  lengths  of  these  periods  are  subject  to  revision. 
Opinion  is  growing-  that  they  were  not  nearly  so  long-  as  here  stated, 

( D  217 )  3 


i8  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

and  as  the  climate  grew  milder  the  ancestors  of  modern 
man  could  walk  across  from  France  to  the  white  cliffs  of 
Dover  which  were  then  part  of  a  low  range  of  moun- 
tains. As  will  be  shown,  there  is  evidence  that  the 
last  land  movement  in  Britain  did  not  begin  until  about 
3000  B.C. 


CHAPTER   III 

The  Age  of  the  «  Red  Man " 
of  Wales 

An  Ancient  Welshman — Aurignacian  Culture  in  Britain — Coloured 
Bones  and  Luck  Charms — The  Cave  of  Aurignac — Discovery  at  Cr6- 
Magnon  Village — An  Ancient  Tragedy — Significant  Burial  Customs — 
Cr6-Magnon  Characters — New  Race  Types  in  Central  Europe — Galley 
Hill  Man — The  Piltdown  Skull — Ancient  Religious  Beliefs — Life  Principle 
in  Blood — Why  Body-painting  was  practised — "Sleepers"  in  Caves — 
Red  Symbolism  in  different  Countries — The  Heart  as  the  Seat  of  Life — 
The  Green  Stone  Talisman — '*Soul  Substance". 

The  earliest  discovery  of  a  representative  of  the  Cro- 
Magnons  was  made  in  1823,  when  Dr.  Buckland  ex- 
plored the  ancient  cave-dwelling  of  Paviland  in  the 
vicinity  of  Rhossilly,  Gower  Peninsula,  South  Wales. 
This  cave,  known  as  ** Goat's  Hole",  is  situated  between 
30  and  40  feet  above  the  present  sea-level,  on  the  face 
of  a  steep  sandstone  cliff  about  100  feet  in  height;  it  is 
60  feet  in  length  and  200  feet  broad,  while  the  roof 
attains  an  altitude  of  over  25  feet.  When  this  com- 
modious natural  shelter  was  occupied  by  our  remote 
ancestors  the  land  was  on  a  much  lower  level  than  it 
is  now,  and  it  could  be  easily  reached  from  the  sea- 
shore. Professor  Sollas  has  shown  that  the  Paviland 
cave-dwellers  were  in  the  Aurignacian  stage  of  culture, 
and  that  they  had  affinities  with  the  tall  Cro-Magnon 
peoples  on  the  Continent.^ 

'^  Journal  of  tlie  Royal  Anthropological  Institute,  Vol.  XLIII,  1913. 
19 


20  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

A  human  skeleton  of  a  tall  man  was  found  in  the 
cave  deposit  in  association  with  the  skull  and  tusks  of  a 
hairy  mammoth,  and  with  implements  of  Aurignacian 
type.  Apparently  the  Aurignacian  colonists  had  walked 
over  the  land-bridge  connecting  England  with  France 
many  centuries  before  the  land  sank  and  the  Channel 
tides  began  to  carve  out  the  white  cliffs  of  Dover. 

In  his  description  of  the  bones  of  the  ancient  cave- 
man, who  has  been  wrongly  referred  to  as  the  **  Red 
Lady  of  Paviland ",   Dr.  Buckland  wrote: 

**They  were  all  of  them  stained  superficially  with  a  dark 
brick-red  colour,  and  enveloped  by  a  coating  of  a  kind  of 
ruddle,  composed  of  red  micaceous  oxide  of  iron,  which 
stained  the  earth,  and  in  some  parts  extended  itself  to  the 
distance  of  about  half  an  inch  around  the  surface  of  the 
bones.  The  body  must  have  been  entirely  surrounded  or 
covered  over  at  the  time  of  its  interment  with  this  red 
substance." 

Near  the  thighs  were  about  two  handfuls  of  small 
shells  {Nerita  litoralis)  which  had  evidently  formed  a 
waist  girdle.  Over  forty  little  rods  of  ivory,  which  may 
have  once  formed  a  long  necklace,  lay  near  the  ribs. 
A  few  ivory  rings  and  a  tongue-shaped  implement  or 
ornament  lay  beside  the  body,  as  well  as  an  instrument 
or  charm  made  of  the  metacarpal  bone  of  a  wolf. 

The  next  great  discovery  of  this  kind  was  made 
twenty-nine  years  later.  In  1852  a  French  workman 
was  trying  to  catch  a  wild  rabbit  on  a  lower  slope  of  the 
Pyrenees,  near  the  town  of  Aurignac  in  Haute  Garonne, 
when  he  made  a  surprising  find.  From  the  rabbit's 
burrow  he  drew  out  a  large  human  bone.  A  slab  of 
stone  was  subsequently  removed,  and  a  grotto  or  cave 
shelter  revealed.  In  the  debris  were  found  portions  of 
seventeen  skeletons  of  human  beings  of  different  ages 
and  both  sexes.     Only  two  skulls  were  intact. 


upper  Palaeolithic  Implements 

1,  Aurignacian  (Chatelperron  point).  2,  3,  Aurignacian  (keeled  scrapers).  4.  Auri- 
gnacian  point.  5,  Magdalenian  ("parrot-beak"  graving  tool).  6,  Solutrean  (laurel- 
leaf  point).   7, 8, 9,  Solutrean  (drill,  awl,  and  "shouldered"  point).    10, 11, 12,  Magdalenian* 

21 


22  ANCIENT  MAN  IN   BRITAIN 

This  discovery  created  a  stir  in  the  town  of  Aurignac, 
and  there  was  much  speculation  regarding  the  tragedy 
that  was  supposed  to  have  taken  place  at  some  distant 
date.  A  few  folks  were  prepared  to  supply  circumstantial 
details  by  connecting  the  discovery  with  vague  local 
traditions.  No  one  dreamt  that  the  burial-place  dated 
back  a  few  thousand  years,  or,  indeed,  that  the  grotto 
had  really  been  a  burial-place,  and  the  mayor  of  the 
town  gave  instructions  that  the  bones  should  be  interred 
in  the  parish  cemetery. 

Eight  years  elapsed  before  the  grotto  was  visited  by 
M.  Louis  Lartet,  the  great  French  archaeologist.  Out- 
side the  stone  slab  he  found  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
hearth,  and  a  stone  implement  which  had  been  used 
for  chipping  flints.  In  the  outer  debris  were  dis- 
covered, too,  the  bones  of  animals  of  the  chase,  and 
about  a  hundred  flint  artifacts,  including  knives,  pro- 
jectiles, and  sling-stones,  besides  bone  arrows,  tools 
shaped  from  reindeer  horns,  and  an  implement  like 
a  bodkin  of  roe -deer  horn.  It  transpired  that  the 
broken  bones  of  animals  included  those  of  the  cave- 
lion,  the  cave-bear,  the  hysena,  the  elk,  the  mammoth, 
and  the  woolly-haired  rhinoceros — all  of  which  had 
been  extinct  in  that  part  of  the  world  for  thousands  of 
years. 

As  in  the  Paviland  cave,  there  were  indications  that 
the  dead  had  been  interred  with  ornaments  or  charms 
on  their  bodies.  Inside  the  grotto  were  found  **  eighteen 
small  round  and  flat  plates  of  a  white  shelly  substance, 
made  of  some  species  of  cockle  (Cardium)  pierced 
through  the  middle,  as  if  for  being  strung  into  a  brace- 
let". Perforated  teeth  of  wild  animals  had  evidently 
been  used  for  a  like  purpose. 

The  distinct  industry  revealed  by  the  grotto  finds  has 
been  named  Aurignacian,  after  Aurignac.  Had  the 
human  bones  not  been  removed,  the  scientists  would 


THE   ^'RED   MAN"  OF   WALES  23 

have  definitely  ascertained  what  particular  race  of  ancient 
men  they  represented. 

It  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1868  that  a  flood  of  light 
was  thrown  on  the  Aurignacian  racial  problem.  A 
gang  of  workmen  were  engaged  in  the  construction  of 
a  railway  embankment  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village  of 
Cro-Magnon,  near  Les  Eyzies,  in  the  valley  of  the  River 
Vez^re,  when  they  laid  bare  another  grotto.  Intimation 
was  at  once  made  to  the  authorities,  and  the  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction  caused  an  investigation  to  be  made 
under  the  direction  of  M.  Louis  Lartet.  The  remains  of 
five  human  skeletons  were  found.  At  the  back  of  the 
grotto  was  the  skull  of  an  old  man — now  known  as  **  the 
old  man  of  Cro-Magnon  " — and  its  antiquity  was  at  once 
emphasized  by  the  fact  that  some  parts  of  it  were  coated 
by  stalagmite  caused  by  a  calcareous  drip  from  the  roof 
of  rock.  Near  **the  old  man"  was  found  the  skeleton 
of  a  woman.  Her  forehead  bore  signs  of  a  deep  wound 
that  had  been  made  by  a  cutting  instrument.  As  the 
inner  edge  of  the  bone  had  partly  healed,  it  was  apparent 
she  had  survived  her  injury  for  a  few  weeks.  Beside 
her  lay  the  skeleton  of  a  baby  which  had  been  prema- 
turely born.  The  skeletons  of  two  young  men  were 
found  not  far  from  those  of  the  others.  Apparently  a 
tragic  happening  had  occurred  in  ancient  days  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Cro-Magnon  grotto.  The  victims  had 
been  interred  with  ceremony,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  religious  rites  prevailing  at  the  time.  Above  three 
hundred  pierced  marine  shells,  chiefly  of  the  periwinkle 
species  {Littorina  littorea)^  which  are  common  on  the 
Atlantic  coasts,  and  a  few  shells  of  Purpura  lapillus  (a 
purple-yielding  shell),  Turitella  communis ^  &c.,  were 
discovered  besides  the  skeletons.  These,  it  would  ap- 
pear, had  been  strung  to  form  necklaces  and  other 
ornamental  charms.  M.  Lartet  found,  too,  a  flat  ivory 
pendant  pierced  with  two  holes,  and  was  given   two 


24 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


other  pendants  picked  up  by  young  people.  Near  the 
skeletons  were  several  perforated  teeth,  a  split  block  of 
gneiss  with  a  smooth  surface,  the  worked  antlers  of  a 
reindeer  that  may  have  been  used  as  a  pick  for  excavat- 
ing flint,  and  a  few  chipped  flints.  Other  artifacts  of 
Aurignacian  type  were  unearthed  in  the  debris  associated 
with  the  grotto,  which  appears  to  have  been  used  as  a 
dwelling-place  before  the  interments  had  taken  place. 


Skull  of  a  Cr6-Magnon  Man  :  front  and  side  views 
From  the  Grotte  dcs  Enfants,  Mentone.    (After  Verneau.) 


The  human  remains  of  the  Cro-Magnon  grotto  were 
those  of  a  tall  and  handsome  race  of  which  the  **Red 
Man  "  of  Paviland  was  a  representative.  Other  finds 
have  shown  that  this  race  was  widely  distributed  in 
Europe.  The  stature  of  the  men  varied  from  5  feet  io| 
inches  to  6  feet  4J  inches  on  the  Riviera,  that  of  the  women 
being  slightly  less.  That  the  Cro-Magnons  were  people 
of  high  intelligence  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  skulls 
of  the  men  and  women  were  large,  and  remarkably  well 
developed  in  the  frontal  region.  According  to  a  prominent 
anatomist  the  Cro-Magnon  women  had  bigger  brains 
than  has  the  average  male  European  of  to-day.  All 
these  ancient  skulls  are  of  the  dolichocephalic  (long- 
headed) type.     The  faces,  however,  were  comparatively 


THE   **RED   MAN"  OF    WALES  25 

broad,  and  shorter  than  those  of  the  modern  fair  North- 
Europeans,  while  the  cheek  bones  were  high — a  charac- 
teristic, by  the  way,  of  so  many  modern  Scottish  faces. 

This  type  of  head — known  as  the  **disharmonic", 
because  a  broad  face  is  usually  a  characteristic  of  a 
broad  skull,  and  a  long  face  of  a  long  skull — has  been 
found  to  be  fairly  common  among  the  modern  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Dordogne  valley.  These  French  descendants 
of  the  Cro-Magnons  are,  however,  short  and  *' stocky", 
and  most  of  them  have  dark  hair  and  eyes.  Cro-Magnon 
types  have  likewise  been  identified  among  the  Berbers 
of  North  Africa,  and  the  extinct  fair-haired  Guanches 
of  the  Canary  Islands,  in  Brittany,  on  the  islands  of 
northern  Holland,  and  in  the  British  Isles.^ 

A  comparatively  short  race,  sometimes  referred  to  as 
the  **  Combe-Capelle  ",  after  the  rock-shelter  at  Combe- 
Capelle,  near  Montferrand,  Perigord,  was  also  active 
during  the  stage  of  Aurignacian  culture.  An  adult 
skeleton  found  in  this  shelter  was  that  of  a  man  only 
5  feet  3  inches  in  height.  The  skull  is  long  and  narrow, 
with  a  lofty  forehead,  and  the  chin  small  and  well  de- 
veloped. It  has  some  similarity  to  modern  European 
skulls.  The  skeleton  had  been  subjected  for  thousands 
of  years  to  the  dripping  of  water  saturated  with  lime, 
and  had  consequently  been  well  preserved.  Near  the 
head  and  neck  lay  a  large  number  of  perforated  marine 
shells  (Littorina  and  Nassa),  A  collection  of  finely- 
worked  flints  of  early  Aurignacian  type  also  lay  beside 
the  body. 

Reference  may  also  be  made  here  to  the  finds  in 
Moravia.  Fragmentary  skull  caps  from  Briix  and  Briinn 
are  regarded  as  evidence  of  a  race  which  differed  from 
the   tall   Cro-Magnons,   and    had   closer  affinities  with 

»  For  principal  references  see  Th^  Races  of  Europe,  W.  Z.  Ripley,  pp.  172  et  seq.,  and 
The  Anthropological  History  of  EttroPe,  John  Beddoe  (Rhind  lectures  for  1891;  revised 
edition,  191a),  p.  47. 


26  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Combe-Capelle  man.  Some  incline  to  connect  the  Briinn 
type  with  England,  the  link  being  provided  by  a  skele- 
ton called  the  ^'Galley  Hill"  after  the  place  of  its  dis- 
covery below  Gravesend  and  near  Northfleet  in  Kent. 
Scientists  regard  him  as  a  contemporary  of  the  Auri- 
gnacian  flint-workers  of  Combe-Capelle  and  Briinn. 
'*Both  the  Briix  and  Briinn  skulls",  writes  Professor 
Osborn,  *'are  harmonic;  they  do  not  present  the  very 
broad,  high  cheek-bones  characteristic  of  the  Cro-Ma- 
gnon race,^  the  face  being  of  a  narrow  modern  type,  but 
not  very  long.  There  is  a  possibility  that  the  Briinn 
race  was  ancestral  to  several  later  dolichocephalic  groups 
which  are  found  in  the  region  of  the  Danube  and  of 
middle  and  southern  Germany."  ^ 

The  Galley  Hill  man  had  been  buried  in  the  gravels 
of  the  **  high  terrace  ",  90  feet  above  the  Thames.  His 
bones  when  found  were  much  decayed  and  denuded, 
and  the  skull  contorted.  The  somewhat  worn  *'  wisdom 
tooth"  indicates  that  he  was  a  ** fully-grown  adult, 
though  probably  not  an  aged  individual  ".  Those  who 
think  he  was  not  as  old  as  the  flints  and  the  bones  of 
extinct  animals  found  in  the  gravels,  regard  him  as  a 
pioneer  of  the  Briinn  branch  of  the  Aurignacians. 

The  Piltdown  skull  appears  to  date  back  to  a  period 
vastly  more  ancient  than  Neanderthal  times. 

Our  special  interest  in  the  story  of  early  man  in 
Britain  is  with  the  **  Red  Man "  of  Paviland  and 
Galley  Hill  man,  because  these  were  representatives  of 
the  species  to  which  we  ourselves  belong.  The  Nean- 
derthals and  pre  -  Neanderthals,  who  have  left  their 
Eoliths  and  Palaeoliths  in  our  gravels,  vanished  like  the 
glaciers  and  the  icebergs,  and  have  left,  as  has  been 
indicated,  no  descendants  in  our  midst.  Our  history 
begins  with  the  arrival  of  the  Cro-Magnon  races,  who 

1  That  Is,  the  tall  representatives  of  the  Crd-Magnon  races 
'  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age,  pp.  335-6. 


THE   ''RED    MAN"  OF   WALES  27 

were  followed  in  time  by  other  peoples  to  whom  Europe 
offered  attractions  during  the  period  of  the  great  thaw, 
when  the  ice-cap  was  shrinking  towards  the  north,  and 
the  flooded  rivers  were  forming  the  beds  on  which  they 
now  flow. 

We  have  little  to  learn  from  Galley  Hill  man.  His 
geological  horizon  is  uncertain,  but  the  balance  of  the 
available  evidence  tends  to  show  he  was  a  pioneer  of 
the  medium-sized  hunters  who  entered  Europe  from  the 
east,  during  the  Aurignacian  stage  of  culture.  It  is 
otherwise  with  the  ''Red  Man"  of  Wales.  We  know 
definitely  what  particular  family  he  belonged  to;  he  was 
a  representative  of  the  tall  variety  of  Cro-Magnons.  We 
know  too  that  those  who  loved  him,  and  laid  his  life- 
less body  in  the  Paviland  Cave,  had  introduced  into 
Europe  the  germs  of  a  culture  that  had  been  radiated 
from  some  centre,  probably  in  the  ancient  forest  land  to 
the  east  of  the  Nile,  along  the  North  African  coast  at 
a  time  when  it  jutted  far  out  into  the  Mediterranean  and 
the  Sahara  was  a  grassy  plain. 

The  Cro-Magnons  were  no  mere  savages  who  lived 
the  life  of  animals  and  concerned  themselves  merely 
with  their  material  needs.  They  appear  to  have  been 
a  people  of  active,  inventive,  and  inquiring  minds,  with 
a  social  organization  and  a  body  of  definite  beliefs, 
which  found  expression  in  their  art  and  in  their  burial 
customs.  The  "Red  Man"  was  so  called  by  the 
archaeologists  because  his  bones  and  the  earth  beside 
them  were  stained,  as  has  been  noted,  by  "red  mica- 
ceous oxide  of  iron  ".  Here  we  meet  with  an  ancient 
custom  of  high  significance.  It  was  not  the  case,  as 
some  have  suggested,  that  the  skeleton  was  coloured 
after  the  flesh  had  decayed.  There  was  no  indication 
when  the  human  remains  were  discovered  that  the  grave 
had  been  disturbed  after  the  corpse  was  laid  in  it.  The 
fact  that  the  earth  as  well  as  the  bones  retained  the 


28  AiNCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

coloration  affords  clear  proof  that  the  corpse  had  been 
smeared  over  with  red  earth  which,  after  the  flesh  had 
decayed,  fell  on  the  skeleton  and  the  earth  and  gravel 
beside  it.  But  why,  it  will  be  asked,  was  the  corpse  so 
treated?  Did  the  Cro-Magnons  paint  their  bodies  dur- 
ing life,  as  do  the  Australians,  the  Red  Indians,  and 
others,  to  provide  '*a  substitute  for  clothing"?  That 
cannot  be  the  reason.  They  could  not  have  concerned 
themselves  about  a  ** substitute"  for  something  they  did 
not  possess.  In  France,  the  Cro-Magnons  have  left 
pictorial  records  of  their  activities  and  interests  in  their 
caves  and  other  shelters.  Bas  reliefs  on  boulders  within 
a  shelter  at  Laussel  show  that  they  did  not  wear  cloth- 
ing during  the  Aurignacian  epoch  which  continued  for 
many  long  centuries.  We  know  too  that  the  Austra- 
lians and  Indians  painted  their  bodies  for  religious  and 
magical  purposes — to  protect  themselves  in  battle  or 
enable  them  to  perform  their  mysteries — rain-getting, 
food-getting,  and  other  ceremonies.  The  ancient  Egyp- 
tians painted  their  gods  to  **make  them  healthy". 
Prolonged  good  health  was  immortality. 

The  evidence  afforded  by  the  Paviland  and  other  Cro- 
Magnon  burials  indicates  that  the  red  colour  was  freshly 
applied  before  the  dead  was  laid  in  the  sepulchre. 
No  doubt  it  was  intended  to  serve  a  definite  purpose, 
that  it  was  an  expression  of  a  system  of  beliefs  regard- 
ing life  and  the  hereafter. 

Apparently  among  the  Cro-Magnons  the  belief  was 
already  prevalent  that  the  **  blood  is  the  life".  The 
loss  of  life  appeared  to  them  to  be  due  to  the  loss  of  the 
red  vitalizing  fluid  which  flowed  in  the  veins.  Strong 
men  who  received  wounds  in  conflict  with  their  fellows, 
or  with  wild  animals,  were  seen  to  faint  and  die  in  con- 
sequence of  profuse  bleeding;  and  those  who  were 
stricken  with  sickness  grew  ashen  pale  because,  as  it 
seemed,  the  supply  of  blood  was  insufficient,  a  condition 


THE   '*RED    MAN"  OF   WALES  29 

they  may  have  accounted  for,  as  did  the  Babylonians  of 
a  later  period,  by  conceiving  that  demons  entered  the 
body  and  devoured  the  flesh  and  blood.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  suppose  that  they  feared  death,  and  that  like 
other  Pagan  religions  of  antiquity  theirs  was  deeply  con- 
cerned with  the  problem  of  how  to  restore  and  prolong 
life.  Their  medicine-men  appear  to  have  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  active  principle  in  blood  was  the 
substance  that  coloured  it,  and  they  identified  this  sub- 
stance with  red  earth.  If  cheeks  grew  pale  in  sickness, 
the  flush  of  health  seemed  to  be  restored  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a  red  face  paint.  The  patient  did  not  invariably 
regain  strength,  but  when  he  did,  the  recovery  was  in 
all  likelihood  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  blood 
substitute.  Rest  and  slumber  were  required,  as  experi- 
ence showed,  to  work  the  cure.  When  death  took  place, 
it  seemed  to  be  a  deeper  and  more  prolonged  slumber, 
and  the  whole  body  was  smeared  over  with  the  vitalizing 
blood  substitute  so  that,  when  the  spell  of  weakness  had 
passed  away,  the  sleeper  might  awaken,  and  come  forth 
again  with  renewed  strength  from  the  cave-house  in 
which  he  had  been  laid. 

The  many  persistent  legends  about  famous  ** sleepers" 
that  survive  till  our  own  day  appear  to  have  originally 
been  connected  with  a  belief  in  the  return  of  the  dead, 
the  antiquity  of  which  we  are  not  justified  in  limiting, 
especially  when  it  is  found  that  the  beliefs  connected 
with  body  paint  and  shell  ornaments  and  amulets  were 
introduced  into  Europe  in  early  post-glacial  times. 
Ancient  folk  heroes  might  be  forgotten,  but  from  Age 
to  Age  there  arose  new  heroes  to  take  their  places;  the 
habit  of  placing  them  among  the  sleepers  remained. 
Charlemagne,  Frederick  of  Barbarossa,  William  Tell, 
King  Arthur,  the  Fians,  and  the  Irish  Brian  Boroimhe, 
are  famous  sleepers.  French  peasants  long  believed 
that  the  sleeping  Napoleon   would   one  day  return    to 


30  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

protect  their  native  land  from  invaders,  and  during  the 
Russo-Japanese  war  it  was  whispered  in  Russia  that 
General  Skobeleff  would  suddenly  awake  and  hasten  to 
Manchuria  to  lead  their  troops  to  victory.  For  many 
generations  the  Scots  were  convinced  that  James  IV, 
whofellatFlodden,wasa  ''sleeper".  His  place  was  taken 
in  time  by  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  who  slept  in  a  cave 
and  occasionally  awoke  to  visit  markets  so  that  he  might 
purchase  horses  for  the  great  war  which  was  to  redden 
Tweed  and  Clyde  with  blood.  Even  in  our  own  day 
there  were  those  who  refused  to  believe  that  General 
Gordon,  Sir  Hector  MacDonald,  and  Lord  Kitchener, 
were  really  dead.  The  haunting  belief  in  sleeping 
heroes  dies  hard. 

Among  the  famous  groups  of  sleeping  heroes  are  the 
Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus  —  the  Christians  who  had 
been  condemned  to  death  by  the  Emperor  Decius  and 
concealed  themselves  in  a  cave  where  they  slept  for 
three  and  a  half  centuries.  An  eighteenth  century 
legend  tells  of  seven  men  in  Roman  attire,  who  lay 
in  a  cave  in  Western  Germany.  In  Norse  Mythology, 
the  seven  sons  of  Mimer  sleep  in  the  Underworld  await- 
ing the  blast  of  the  horn,  which  will  be  blown  at 
Ragnarok  when  the  gods  and  demons  will  wage  the 
last  battle.  The  sleepers  of  Arabia  once  awoke  to  for- 
tell  the  coming  of  Mahomet,  and  their  sleeping  dog, 
according  to  Moslem  beliefs,  is  one  of  the  ten  animals 
that  will  enter  Paradise. 

A  representative  Scottish  legend  regarding  the 
sleepers  is  located  at  the  Cave  of  Craigiehowe  in  the 
Black  Isle,  Ross-shire,  a  few  miles  distant  from  the 
Rosemarkie  cave.  It  is  told  that  a  shepherd  once 
entered  the  cave  and  saw  the  sleepers  and  their  dog. 
A  horn,  or  as  some  say,  a  whistle,  hung  suspended  from 
the  roof.  The  shepherd  blew  it  once  and  the  sleepers 
shook  themselves;    he  blew  a  second   time,   and   they 


THE  ''RED   MAN"  OF   WALES  31 

opened  their  eyes  and  raised  themselves  on  their  elbows. 
Terrified  by  the  forbidding  aspect  of  the  mighty  men, 
the  shepherd  refrained  from  blowing  a  third  time,  but 
turned  and  fled.  As  he  left  the  cave  he  heard  one  of  the 
heroes  call  after  him:  **Alas!  you  have  left  us  worse 
than  you  found  us."  As  whistles  are  sometimes  found 
in  Magdalenian  shelters  in  Western  and  Central  Europe, 
it  may  be  that  these  were  at  an  early  period  connected 
with  the  beliefs  about  the  calling  back  of  the  Cro- 
Magnon  dead.  The  ancient  whistles  were  made  of  hare- 
and  reindeer-foot  bone.  The  clay  whistle  dates  from 
the  introduction  of  the  Neolithic  industry  in  Hungary. 

The  remarkable  tendency  on  the  part  of  mankind  to 
cling  to  and  perpetuate  ancient  beliefs  and  customs,  and 
especially  those  connected  with  sickness  and  death,  is 
forcibly  illustrated  by  the  custom  of  smearing  the  bodies 
of  the  living  and  dead  with  red  ochre.  In  every  part 
of  the  world  red  is  regarded  as  a  particularly  **  lucky 
colour",  which  protects  houses  and  human  beings,  and 
imparts  vitality  to  those  who  use  it.  The  belief  in  the 
protective  value  of  red  berries  is  perpetuated  in  our 
own  Christmas  customs  when  houses  are  decorated  with 
holly,  and  by  those  dwellers  in  remote  parts  who  still 
tie  rowan  berries  to  their  cows'  tails  so  as  to  prevent 
witches  and  fairies  from  interfering  with  the  milk  supply. 
Egyptian  women  who  wore  a  red  jasper  in  their  waist- 
girdles  called  the  stone  **  a  drop  of  the  blood  of  Isis  (the 
mother  goddess) ". 

Red  symbolism  is  everywhere  connected  with  life- 
blood  and  the  **  vital  spark"  —  the  hot  *' blood  of 
life  ".  Brinton  ^  has  shown  that  in  the  North  American 
languages  the  word  for  blood  is  derived  from  the  word 
for  red  or  the  word  for  fire.  The  ancient  Greek  custom 
of  painting  red  the  wooden  images  of  gods  was  evi- 
dently connected  with  the  belief  that  a  supply  of  life- 

1  Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  163. 


32  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

blood  was  thus  assured,  and  that  the  colour  animated 
the  Deity,  as  Homer's  ghosts  were  animated  by  a  blood 
offering  when  Odysseus  visited  Hades.  *'The  anoint- 
ing of  idols  with  blood  for  the  purpose  of  animating 
them  is",  says  Farnell,  **a  part  of  old  Mediterranean 
magic. "^  The  ancient  Egyptians,  as  has  been  indi- 
cated, painted  their  gods,  some  of  whom  wore  red 
garments;  a  part  of  their  underworld  Dewat  was  **  Red 
Land",  and  there  were  **red  souls"  in  it.^  In  India 
standing  stones  connected  with  deities  are  either  painted 
red  or  smeared  with  the  blood  of  a  sacrificed  animal. 
The  Chinese  regard  red  as  the  colour  of  fire  and  light, 
and  in  their  philosophy  they  identify  it  with  Yang,  the 
chief  principle  of  life;^  it  is  believed  *^to  expel  per- 
nicious influences,  and  thus  particularly  to  symbolize 
good  luck,  happiness,  delight,  and  pleasure".  Red 
coffins  are  favoured.  The  **red  gate"  on  the  south 
side  of  a  cemetery  **is  never  opened  except  for  the 
passage  of  an  Emperor".*  The  Chinese  put  a  powdered 
red  stone  called  hun^hongm  a  drink  or  in  food  to  destroy 
an  evil  spirit  which  may  have  taken  possession  of  one. 
Red  earth  is  eaten  for  a  similar  reason  by  the  Poly- 
nesians and  others.  Many  instances  of  this  kind  could 
be  given  to  illustrate  the  widespread  persistence  of  the 
belief  in  the  vitalizing  and  protective  qualities  asso- 
ciated with  red  substances.  In  Irish  Gaelic,  Professor 
W.  J.  Watson  tells  me,  ''ruadh"  means  both  **red" 
and  *' strong". 

The  Cro-Magnons  regarded  the  heart  as  the  seat  of 
life,  having  apparently  discovered  that  it  controls  the 
distribution  of  blood.  In  the  cavern  of  Pindal,  in  south- 
western France,  is  the  outline  of  a  hairy  mammoth 
painted  in  red  ochre,  and  the  seat  of  life  is  indicated  by 

»  Cults  of  the  Greek  States,  Vol.  V,  p.  243. 

2  Budge,  Gods  of  the  Egyptians,  Vol.  I,  p.  203. 

'  De  Groot,  The  Religious  System  of  China,  Book  T,  pp.  216-7. 

*  Ibid.,  Book  I,  pp.  38  and  333. 


THE   *'RED   MAN"  OF   WALES 


33 


a  large  red  heart.  The  painting  dates  back  to  the  early 
Aurignacian  period.  In  other  cases,  as  in  the  drawing 
of  a  large  bison  in  the  cavern  of  Niaux,  the  seat  of  life 
and  the  vulnerable  parts  are  indicated  by  spear-  or 
arrow-heads  incised  on  the  body.  The  ancient  Egyp- 
tians identified  the  heart  with  the  mind.  To  them  the 
heart  was  the  seat  of  intelligence  and  will-power  as  well 
as  the  seat  of  life.  The  germ  of  this  belief  can  appar- 
ently be  found  in  the 
pictorial  art  and  burial 
customs  of  the  Auri- 
gnacian Cro-Magnons. 
Another  interesting 
burial  custom  has  been 
traced  in  the  Grimaldi 
caves.  Some  of  the 
skeletons  were  found  to 
have  small  green  stones 
between  their  teeth  or 
inside  their  mouths.^ 
No  doubt  these  were 
amulets.  Their  colour 
suggests  that  green  sym- 
bolism has  not  neces- 
sarily a  connection  with  agricultural  religion,  as  some 
have  supposed.  The  Cro-Magnons  do  not  appear  to 
have  paid  much  attention  to  vegetation.  In  ancient 
Egypt  the  green  stone  (Khepera)  amulet  **  typified  the 
germ  of  life".  A  text  says,  **  A  scarab  of  green  stone 
.  .  .  shall  be  placed  in  the  heart  of  a  man,  and  it  shall 
perform  for  him  the  *  opening  of  the  mouth'" — that  is,  it 
will  enable  him  to  speak  and  eat  again.  The  scarab  is 
addressed  in  a  funerary  text,  *' My  heart,  my  mother. 
My  heart  whereby  I  came  into  being."    It  is  believed  by 


Outline  of  a  Mammoth  painted  in  red  ochre  in 
the  Cavern  of  Pindal,  France 

The  seat  of  life  is  indicated  by  a  large  red 
heart.     (After  Breuil.) 


1 1  am  indebted  to  the  Ahh6  Breuil  for  this  information  which  he  gave  me  during  the 
course  of  a  conversation. 

(D217)  4 


34  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Budge  that  the  Egyptian  custom  of  **  burying  green 
basalt  scarabs  inside  or  on  the  breasts  of  the  dead  "  is  as 
old  as  the  first  Dynasty  {c.  3400  b.c.).^  How  much  older 
it  is  one  can  only  speculate.  *'  The  Mexicans  ",  accord- 
ing to  Brinton,  "were  accustomed  to  say  that  at  one 
time  all  men  have  been  stones,  and  that  at  last  they 
would  all  return  to  stones,  and  acting  literally  on  this 
conviction  they  interred  with  the  bones  of  the  dead  a 
small  green  stone,  which  was  called  *  the  principle  of 
life'."^  In  China  the  custom  of  placing  jade  tongue 
amulets  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  dead  from 
decay  and  stimulating  the  soul  to  take  flight  to  Paradise 
is  of  considerable  antiquity.^  Crystals  and  pebbles  have 
been  found  in  ancient  British  graves.  It  may  well  be 
that  these  pebbles  were  regarded  as  having  had  an 
intimate  connection  with  deities,  and  perhaps  to  have 
been  coagulated  forms  of  what  has  been  called  *Mife 
substance ".  Of  undoubted  importance  and  signifi- 
cance was  the  ancient  custom  of  adorning  the  dead  with 
shells.  As  we  have  seen,  this  was  a  notable  feature  of 
the  Paviland  cave  burial.  The  **  Red  Man  "was  not 
only  smeared  with  red  earth,  but  "charmed"  or  pro- 
tected by  shell  amulets.  In  the  next  chapter  it  will  be 
shown  that  this  custom  not  only  affords  us  a  glimpse 
of  Aurignacian  religious  beliefs,  but  indicates  the  area 
from  which  the  Cro-Magnons  came. 

Professor  G.  Elliot  Smith  was  the  first  to  emphasize 
the  importance  attached  in  ancient  times  to  the  beliefs 
associated  with  the  divine  "  giver  of  life  ". 

1  Budge,  Gods  of  the  Egyptians,  Vol.  I,  p.  358.  These  scarabs  have  not  been  found  in 
the  early  Dynastic  graves.  Green  malachite  charms,  however,  were  used  in  even  the  pre- 
Dynastic  period. 

a  The  Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  094.  According  to  IJancroft  the  green  stones  were 
often  placed  in  the  mouths  of  the  dead. 

*  Laufcr,  Jade,  pp.  394  et  seq.  (Chicago,  191a), 


CHAPTER    IV 
Shell  Deities  and  Early  Trade 

Early  Culture  and  Early  Races — Did  Civilization  originate  in  Europe? 
— An  Important  Clue — Trade  in  Shells  between  Red  Sea  and  Italy — 
Traces  of  Early  Trade  in  Central  Europe — Relig^ious  Value  of  Personal 
Ornaments — Importance  of  Shell  Lore — Links  between  Far  East  and 
Europe— Shell  Deities— A  Hebridean  Shell  Goddess— "  Milk  of  Wisdom" 
— Ancient  Goddesses  as  Providers  of  Food — Gaelic  "Spirit  Shell"  and 
Japanese  "God  Body" — Influence  of  Deities  in  Jewels,  &c. — A  Shake- 
spearean Reference — Shells  in  Cr6-Mag-non  Graves — Early  Sacrifices — 
Hand  Colours  in  Palaeolithic  Caves — Finger  Lore  and  "  Hand  Spells". 

When  the  question  is  asked,  ''Whence  came  the  Cro- 
Magnon  people  of  the  Aurignacian  phase  of  culture?" 
the  answer  usually  given  is,  ''Somewhere  in  the  East". 
The  distribution  of  the  Aurignacian  sites  indicates  that 
the  new-comers  entered  south-western  France  by  way 
of  Italy — that  is,  across  the  Italian  land -bridge  from 
North  Africa.  Of  special  significance  in  this  connec- 
tion is  the  fact  that  Aurignacian  culture  persisted  for 
the  longest  period  of  time  in  Italy.  The  tallest  Cro- 
Magnons  appear  to  have  inhabited  south-eastern 
France  and  the  western  shores  of  Italy.  "It  is  prob- 
able ",  says  Osborn,  referring  to  the  men  six  feet  four 
and  a  half  inches  in  height,  "that  in  the  genial 
climate  of  the  Riviera  these  men  obtained  their  finest 
development;  the  country  was  admirably  protected 
from  the  cold  winds  of  the  north,  refuges  were  abun- 
dant, and  game  by  no  means  scarce,  to  judge  from  the 
quantity  of  animal  bones  found  in  the  caves.     Under 

35 


36  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

such  conditions  of  life  the  race  enjoyed  a  fine  physical 
development  and  dispersed  widely."^ 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  tall  people 
originated  Aurignacian  culture.  As  has  been  indicated, 
the  stumpy  people  represented  by  Combe-Capelle  skele- 
tons were  likewise  exponents  of  it.  **It  must  not  be 
assumed",  as  Elliot  Smith  reminds  us,  *Uhat  the  Auri- 
gnacian culture  was  necessarily  invented  by  the  same 
people  who  introduced  it  into  Europe,  and  whose  re- 
mains were  associated  with  it  .  .  .  for  any  culture  can 
be  transmitted  to  an  alien  people,  even  when  it  has  not 
been  adopted  by  many  branches  of  the  race  which  was 
responsible  for  its  invention,  just  as  gas  illumination, 
oil  lamps,  and  even  candles  are  still  in  current  use  by 
the  people  who  invented  the  electric  light,  which  has  been 
widely  adopted  by  many  foreign  peoples.  This  elemen- 
tary consideration  is  so  often  ignored  that  it  is  necessary 
thus  to  emphasize  it,  because  it  is  essential  for  any  proper 
understanding  of  the  history  of  early  civilization."* 

No  trace  of  Aurignacian  culture  has,  so  far,  been 
found  outside  Europe.  '*  May  it  not,  therefore,"  it  may 
be  asked,  ^'have  originated  in  Italy  or  France?"  In 
absence  of  direct  evidence,  this  possibility  might  be 
admitted.  But  an  important  discovery  has  been  made 
at  Grimaldi  in  La  Grotte  des  Enfants  (the  "grotto  of 
infants  " — so  called  because  of  the  discovery  there  of  the 
skeletons  of  young  Cro-Magnon  children).  Among  the 
shells  used  as  amulets  by  those  who  used  the  grotto  as 
a  sepulchre  was  one  (Cassis  riifd)  that  had  been  carried 
either  by  a  migrating  folk,  or  by  traders,  along  the 
North  African  coast  and  through  Italy  from  some  south- 
western Asian  beach.  The  find  has  been  recorded  by 
Professor  Marcellin  Boule.^ 

1  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age,  pp.  297-8. 

2  Primitive  Man  {Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy,  Vol.  VH). 

^Les  Grottes  de  Grimaldi  {Baousse-Rousse),  Tome  I,  fasc.  \l— Geologic  et  Paldontologie 
(Monaco.  1906),  p.  133. 


SHELL   DEITIES  AND   EARLY   TRADE   37 

In  a  footnote,  G.  Dollfus  writes: 

"  Cassis  rufuy  Z.,  an  Indian  ocean  shell,  is  represented  in 
the  collection  at  Monaco  by  two  fragments;  one  was  found 
in  the  lower  habitation  level  D,  the  other  is  probably  of  the 
same  origin.  The  presence  of  this  shell  is  extraordinary,  as 
it  has  no  analogue  in  the  Mediterranean,  neither  recent  nor 
fossil;  there  exists  no  species  in  the  North  Atlantic  or  off 
Senegal  with  which  it  could  be  confounded.  The  fragments 
have  traces  of  the  reddish  colour  preserved,  and  are  not 
fossil ;  one  of  them  presents  a  notch  which  has  determined  a 
hole  that  seems  to  have  been  made  intentionally.  The  species 
has  not  yet  been  found  in  the  Gulf  of  Suez  nor  in  the  raised 
beaches  of  the  Isthmus.  M.  Jousseaume  has  found  it  in  the 
Gulf  of  Tadjoura  at  Aden,  but  it  has  not  yet  been  encountered 
in  the  Red  Sea  nor  in  the  raised  beaches  of  that  region. 
The  common  habitat  of  Cassis  rufa  is  Socotra,  besides  the 
Seychelles,  Madagascar,  Mauritius,  New  Caledonia,  and 
perhaps  Tahiti.  The  fragments  discovered  at  Mentone  have 
therefore  been  brought  from  a  great  distance  at  a  very 
ancient  epoch  by  prehistoric  man." 

After  the  Cro-Magnon  peoples  had  spread  into  Western 
and  Central  Europe  they  imported  shells  from  the 
Mediterranean.  At  Laugerie  Basse  in  the  Dordogne, 
for  instance,  a  necklace  of  pierced  shells  from  the  Medi- 
terranean was  found  in  association  with  a  skeleton. 
Atlantic  shells  could  have  been  obtained  from  a  nearer 
seashore.  It  may  be  that  the  Rhone  valley,  which  later 
became  a  well-known  trade  route,  was  utilized  at  an 
exceedingly  remote  period,  and  that  cultural  influences 
occasionally  "flowed"  along  it.  "Prehistoric  man" 
had  acquired  some  experience  as  a  trader  even  during 
the  "hunting  period",  and  he  had  formulated  definite 
religious  beliefs. 

It  has  been  the  habit  of  some  archaeologists  to  refer  to 
shell  and  other  necklaces,  &c.,  as  "  personal  ornaments  ". 
The  late  Dr.  Robert  Munro  wrote  in  this  connection: 


-,8  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 


v) 


'<We  have  no  knowledge  of  any  phase  of  humanity  in 
which  the  love  of  personal  ornament  does  not  play  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  The  savage  of  the 
present  day,  who  paints  or  tattoos  his  body,  and  adorns  it 
with  shells,  feathers,  teeth,  and  trinkets  made  of  the  more 
gaudy  materials  at  his  disposal,  may  be  accepted  as  on  a 
parallel  with  the  Neolithic  people  of  Europe.  .  .  .  Teeth 
are  often  perforated  and  used  as  pendants,  especially  the 
canines  of  carnivorous  animals,  but  such  ornaments  are  not 
peculiar  to  Neolithic  times,  as  they  were  equally  prevalent 
among  the  later  Palaeolithic  races  of  Europe."  ^ 

Modern  savages  have  very  definite  reasons  for  wearing 
the  so-called  ** ornaments",  and  for  painting  and  tattoo- 
ing their  bodies.  They  believe  that  the  shells,  teeth, 
&c.,  afford  them  protection,  and  bring  them  luck.  Ear- 
piercing,  distending  the  lobe  of  the  ear,  disfiguring  the 
body,  the  pointing,  blackening,  or  knocking  out  of  teeth, 
are  all  practices  that  have  a  religious  significance. 
Even  such  a  highly  civilized  people  as  the  Chinese  per- 
petuate, in  their  funerary  ceremonies,  customs  that  can 
be  traced  back  to  an  exceedingly  remote  period  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  It  is  not  due  to  ^^  love  of  personal 
ornament"  that  they  place  cowries,  jade,  gold,  &c.,  in 
the  mouth  of  the  dead,  but  because  they  believe  that  by 
so  doing  the  body  is  protected,  and  given  a  new  lease 
of  life.  The  Far  Eastern  belief  that  an  elixir  of  ground 
oyster  shells  will  prolong  life  in  the  next  world  is 
evidently  a  relic  of  early  shell  lore.  Certain  deities  are 
associated  with  certain  shells.  Some  deities  have,  like 
snails,  shells  for  '^houses";  others  issue  at  birth  from 
shells.  The  goddess  Venus  (Aphrodite)  springs  from 
the  froth  of  the  sea,  and  is  lifted  up  by  Tritons  on  a 
shell;  she  wears  a  love-girdle.  Hathor,  the  Egyptian 
Venus,  had  originally  a  love-girdle  of  shells.  She 
appears  to  have  originated  as  the  personification  of  a 

1  Prehistoric  Britain,  pp.  142-3. 


SHELL   DEITIES   AND   EARLY   TRADE    39 

shell,  and  afterwards  to  have  personified  the  pearl  within 
the  shell.  In  early  Egyptian  graves  the  shell-amulets 
have  been  found  in  thousands.  The  importance  of  shell 
lore  in  ancient  religious  systems  has  been  emphasized 
by  Mr.  J.  Wilfrid  Jackson  in  his  Shells  as  Evidence  of 
the  Migrations  of  Early  Culture.^     He  shows  why  the 


Necklace  of  Sea  Shells,  from  the  cave  of  Cro-Magnon.    (After  E.  Lartet.) 


cowry  and  snail  shells  were  worn  as  amulets  and 
charms,  and  why  men  were  impelled  '*to  search  for 
them  far  and  wide  and  often  at  great  peril".  **The 
murmur  of  the  shell  was  the  voice  of  the  god,  and  the 
trumpet  made  of  a  shell  became  an  important  instrument 
in  initiation  ceremonies  and  in  temple  worship."  Shells 
protected  wearers  against  evil,  including  the  evil  eye. 
In  like  manner  protection  was  afforded  by  the  teeth  and 
claws  of  carnivorous  animals.     In  Asia  and  Africa  the 

1  London,  191 7. 


40  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

belief  that  tigers,  lions,  &c.,  will  not  injure  those  who 
are  thus  protected  is  still  quite  widespread. 

It  cannot  have  been  merely  for  love  of  personal  orna- 
ments that  the  Cro-Magnons  of  southern  France  im- 
ported Indian  Ocean  shells,  and  those  of  Central  and 
Western  Europe  created  a  trade  in  Mediterranean  shells. 
Like  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley  who  in 
remote  pre-dynastic  times  imported  shells,  not  only 
from  the  Mediterranean  but  from  the  Red  Sea,  along 
a  long  and  dangerous  desert  trade-route,  they  evidently 
had  imparted  to  shells  a  definite  religious  significance. 
The  *  Muck-girdle"  of  snail-shells  worn  by  the  *' Red 
Man  of  Paviland  "  has,  therefore,  an  interesting  history. 
When  the  Cro-Magnons  reached  Britain  they  brought 
with  them  not  only  implements  invented  and  developed 
elsewhere,  but  a  heritage  of  religious  beliefs  connected 
with  shell  ornaments  and  with  the  red  earth  with  which 
the  corpse  was  smeared  when  laid  in  its  last  resting- 
place. 

The  ancient  religious  beliefs  connected  with  shells 
appear  to  have  spread  far  and  wide.  Traces  of  them 
still  survive  in  districts  far  separated  from  one  another 
and  from  the  area  of  origin — the  borderlands  of  Asia 
and  Africa.  In  Japanese  mythology  a  young  god, 
Ohonamochie — a  sort  of  male  Cinderella — is  slain  by 
his  jealous  brothers.  His  mother  makes  appeal  to  a  sky 
deity  who  sends  to  her  aid  the  two  goddesses  Princess 
Cockleshell  and  Princess  Clam.  Princess  Cockleshell 
burns  and  grinds  her  shell,  and  with  water  provided  by 
Princess  Clam  prepares  an  elixir  called  '*  nurse's  milk" 
or  **  mother's  milk  ".  As  soon  as  this  **milk  "  is  smeared 
over  the  young  god,  he  is  restored  to  life.  In  the 
Hebrides  it  is  still  the  custom  of  mothers  to  burn  and 
grind  the  cockle-shell  to  prepare  a  lime-water  for  children 
who  suffer  from  what  in  Gaelic  is  called  ''wasting".  In 
North  America  shells  of  Ufiio  were  placed  in  the  graves 


SHELL  DEITIES  AND  EARLY  TRADE  41 

of  Red  Indians  '*  as  food  for  the  dead  during  the  journey 
to  the  land  of  spirits".  The  pearls  were  used  in  India 
as  medicines.  *'  The  burnt  powder  of  the  gems,  if  taken 
with  water,  cures  hsemorrhages,  prevents  evil  spirits 
working  mischief  in  men's  minds,  cures  lunacy  and  all 
mental  diseases,  jaundice,  &c.  .  .  .  Rubbed  over  the 
body  with  other  medicines  it  cures  leprosy  and  all  skin 
diseases."^  The  ancient  Cretans,  whose  culture  was 
carried  into  Asia  and  through  Europe  by  their  enterpris- 
ing sea-and-land  traders  and  prospectors,  attached  great 
importance  to  the  cockle-shell  which  they  connected 
with  their  mother  goddess,  the  source  of  all  life  and  the 
giver  of  medicines  and  food.  Sir  Arthur  Evans  found 
a  large  number  of  cockle-shells,  some  in  Faeince,  in  the 
shrine  of  the  serpent  goddess  in  the  ruins  of  the  Palace 
of  Knossos.  The  fact  that  the  Cretans  made  artificial 
cockle-shells  is  of  special  interest,  especially  when  we 
find  that  in  Egypt  the  earliest  use  to  which  gold  was 
put  was  in  the  manufacture  of  models  of  snail-shells  in 
a  necklace.*  In  different  countries  cowrie  shells  were 
similarly  imitated  in  stone,  ivory,  and  metal. ^ 

Shells  were  thought  to  impart  vitality  and  give 
protection,  not  only  to  human  beings,  but  even  to 
the  plots  of  the  earliest  florists  and  agriculturists. 
*'Mary,  Mary,  quite  contrairie",  who  in  the  nursery 
rhyme  has  in  her  garden  ** cockle-shells  all  in  row", 
was  perpetuating  an  ancient  custom.  The  cockle-shell 
is  still  favoured  by  conservative  villagers,  and  may  be 
seen  in  their  garden  plots  and  in  graveyards.  Shells 
placed  at  cottage  doors,  on  window-sills,  and  round 
fire-places  are  supposed  to  bring  luck  and  give  security, 
like  the  horse-shoe  on  the  door. 

The  mother  goddess,  remembered  as  the  fairy  queen, 

1  Shells  as  Evidence  of  the  Migrations  of  Early  Culture,  pp.  84-91. 

2  G.  A.  Reisner,  Early  Dynastic  Cemeteries  of  Naga-ed-Der,  Vol.  I,  1908,  Plates  6  and  7. 
»  Jackson's  Shells,  pp.  laS,  174,  176,  178. 


42  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

is  still  connected  with  shells  in  Hebridean  folk-lore. 
A  Gaelic  poet  refers  to  the  goddess  as  **the  maiden 
queen  of  wisdom  who  dwelt  in  the  beauteous  bower 
of  the  single  tree  where  she  could  see  the  whole  world 
and  where  no  fool  could  see  her  beauty".  She  lamented 
the  lack  of  wisdom  among  women,  and  invited  them  to 
her  knoll.  When  they  were  assembled  there  the  god- 
dess appeared,  holding  in  her  hand  the  copan  Moire 
(''Cup  of  Mary"),  as  the  blue-eyed  limpet  shell  is  called. 
The  shell  contained  **the  ais  (milk)  of  wisdom",  which 
she  gave  to  all  who  sought  it.  '*Many",  we  are  told, 
*'came  to  the  knoll  too  late,  and  there  was  no  wisdom 
left  for  them."^  A  Gaelic  poet  says  the  ''maiden 
queen"  was  attired  in  emerald  green,  silver,  and  mother- 
of-pearl. 

Here  a  particular  shell  is  used  by  an  old  goddess  for 
a  specific  purpose.  She  imparts  knowledge  by  provid- 
ing a  magic  drink  referred  to  as  "  milk  ".  The  question 
arises,  however,  if  a  deity  of  this  kind  was  known  in 
early  times.  Did  the  Cro-Magnons  of  the  Aurignacian 
stage  of  culture  conceive  of  a  god  or  goddess  in  human 
form  who  nourished  her  human  children  and  instructed 
them  as  do  human  mothers?  The  figure  of  a  woman, 
holding  in  her  hand  a  horn  which  appears  to  have  been 
used  for  drinking  from,  is  of  special  interest  in  this  con- 
nection. As  will  be  shown,  the  Hebridean  "maiden" 
links  with  other  milk-providing  deities. 

The  earliest   religious  writings  in  the  world  are  the 

1  Dr.  Alexander  Carmichael,  Carmina  Gadelica,  Vol.  II,  pp.  247  et  seq.  Mr.  Wilfrid 
Jackson,  author  of  Shells  as  Evidence  of  the  Migrations  of  Early  Culture,  tells  me  that 
the  "blue-eyed  limpet"  is  our  common  limpet — Patella  vulgata — the  Lepas,  Patelle, 
Jambe,  CEil  de  boue,  Bernicle,  or  Flie  of  the  French.  In  Cornwall  it  is  the  "Crogan", 
the  *' Bornigan ",  and  the  "Brennick".  It  is  "flither"  of  the  English,  "flia"  of  the 
Faroese,  and  "lapa"  of  the  Portuguese.  A  Cornish  giant  was  once,  according  to  a 
folk-tale,  set  to  perform  the  hopeless  task  of  emptying  a  pool  with  a  single  limpet  which 
had  a  hole  in  it.  Limpets  are  found  in  early  British  graves  and  in  the  "kitchen  middens". 
They  are  met  with  in  abundance  in  cromlechs,  on  the  Channel  Isles  and  in  Brittany, 
covering  the  bones  and  the  skulls  of  the  dead.  Mr.  Jackson  thinks  they  were  used  like 
cowries  for  vitalizing  and  protecting  the  dead. 


SHELL  DEITIES  AND  EARLY  TRADE  43 

Pyramid  Texts  of  ancient  Egypt  which,  as  Professor 
Breasted  so  finely  says,  **  vaguely  disclose  to  us  a 
vanished  world  of  thought  and  speech".  They  abound 
**  in  allusions  to  lost  myths,  to  customs  and  usages  long 
since  ended".  Withal,  they  reflect  the  physical  con- 
ditions of  a  particular  area — the  Nile  Valley,  in  which 
the  sun  and  the  river  are  two  outstanding  natural 
features.  There  was,  however,  a  special  religious  reason 
for  connecting  the  sun  and  the  river. 

In  these  old  Pyramid  Texts  are  survivals  from  a  period 
apparently  as  ancient  as  that  of  early  Aurignacian  civil- 
ization in  Europe,  and  perhaps,  as  the  clue  afforded  by 
the  Indian  shell  found  in  the  Grimaldi  cave,  not  un- 
connected with  it.  The  mother  goddess,  for  instance, 
is  prayed  to  so  that  she  may  suckle  the  soul  of  the  dead 
Pharaoh  as  a  mother  suckles  her  child  and  never  wean 
him.^  Milk  was  thus  the  elixir  of  life,  and  as  the  mother 
goddess  of  Egypt  is  found  to  have  been  identified  with  the 
cowrie — indeed  to  have  been  the  spirit  or  personification 
of  the  shell — the  connection  between  shells  and  milk 
may  have  obtained  even  in  Aurignacian  times  in  south- 
western Europe.  That  the  mother  goddess  of  Cro- 
Magnons  had  a  human  form  is  suggested  by  the 
representations  of  mothers  which  have  been  brought 
to  light.  An  Aurignacian  statuette  of  limestone  found 
in  the  cave  of  Willendorf,  Lower  Austria,  has  been 
called  the  **  Venus  of  Willendorf".  She  is  very  cor- 
pulent— apparently  because  she  was  regarded  as  a  giver 
of  life.  Other  statues  of  like  character  have  been  un- 
earthed near  Mentone,  and  they  have  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  figurines  of  fat  women  found  in  the 
pre-dynastic  graves  of  Egypt  and  in  Crete  and  Malta. 
The  bas-relief  of  the  fat  woman  sculptured  on  a  boulder 
inside  the  Aurignacian  shelter  of  Laussel  may  similarly 
have  been  a  goddess.     In  her  right  hand  she  holds  a 

1  Breasted,  Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  130. 


44  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

bison's  horn — perhaps  sl  drinking  horn  containing  an 
elixir.  Traces  of  red  colouring  remain  on  the  body. 
A  notable  fact  about  these  mysterious  female  forms  is 
that  the  heads  are  formal,  the  features  being  scarcely, 
if  at  all,   indicated. 

Even  if  no  such  "idols"  had  been  found,  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  early  people  had  no  ideas  about  super- 
natural beings.  There  are  references  in  Gaelic  to  the 
cotch  anama  (the  ** spirit  case",  or  *'soul  shell",  or 
"soul  husk").  In  Japan,  which  has  a  particularly  rich 
and  voluminous  mythology,  there  are  no  idols  in  Shinto 
temples.  A  deity  is  symbolized  by  the  shintai  (God 
body),  which  may  be  a  mirror,  a  weapon,  or  a  round 
stone,  a  jewel  or  a  pearl.  A  pearl  is  a  tama\  so  is  a 
precious  stone,  a  crystal,  a  bit  of  worked  jade,  or  a  neck- 
lace of  jewels,  ivory,  artificial  beads,  &c.  The  soul  of 
a  supernatural  being  is  called  mt-tama — mi  being  now 
a  honorific  prefix,  but  originally  signifying  a  water 
serpent  (dragon  god).  The  shells,  of  which  ancient 
deities  were  personifications,  may  well  have  been  to 
the  Cro-Magnons  pretty  much  what  a  tama  is  to  the 
Japanese,  and  what  magic  crystals  were  to  mediaeval 
Europeans  who  used  them  for  magical  purposes.  It 
may  have  been  believed  that  in  the  shells,  green  stones, 
and  crystals  remained  the  influence  of  deities  as  the 
power  of  beasts  of  prey  remained  in  their  teeth  and 
claws.  The  ear-rings  and  other  Pagan  ornaments 
which  Jacob  buried  with  Laban's  idols  under  the  oak 
at  Shechem  were  similarly  supposed  to  be  god  bodies 
or  coagulated  forms  of  "  life  substance".  All  idols  were 
temporary  or  permanent  bodies  of  deities,  and  idols 
were  not  necessarily  large.  It  would  seem  to  be  a 
reasonable  conclusion  that  all  the  so-called  ornaments 
found  in  ancient  graves  were  supposed  to  have  had  an 
intimate  connection  with  the  supernatural  beings  who 
gave  origin  to  and  sustained  life.     These  ornaments,  or 


SHELL   DEITIES   AND   EARLY   TRADE    45 

charms,  or  amulets,  imparted  vitality  to  human  beings, 
because  they  were  regarded  as  the  substance  of  life 
itself.  The  red  jasper  worn  in  the  waist  girdles  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians  was  reputed,  as  has  been  stated,  to 
be  a  coagulated  drop  of  the  blood  of  the  mother  goddess 
Isis.     Blood  was  the  essence  of  life. 

The  red  woman  or  goddess  of  the  Laussel  shelter 
was  probably  coloured  so  as  to  emphasize  her  vitalizing 
attributes ;  the  red  colour  animated  the  image. 

An  interesting  reference  in  Shakespeare's  Hamlet  to 
ancient  burial  customs  may  here  be  quoted,  because  it 
throws  light  on  the  problem  under  discussion.  When 
Ophelia's  body  is  carried  into  the  graveyard^  one  of 
the  priests  says  that  as  **  her  death  was  doubtful"  she 
should  have  been  buried  in  'Aground  unsanctified " — 
that  is,  among  the  suicides  and  murderers.  Having 
taken  her  own  life,  she  was  unworthy  of  Christian 
burial,  and  should  be  buried  in  accordance  with  Pagan 
customs.  In  all  our  old  churchyards  the  takers  of  life 
were  interred  on  the  north  side,  and  apparently  in 
Shakespeare's  day  traditional  Pagan  rites  were  observed 
in  the  burials  of  those  regarded  as  Pagans.  The  priest 
in  Hamlety  therefore,  says  of  Ophelia: 

She  should  in  ground  unsanctified  have  lodged 
Till  the  last  trumpet ;  for  charitable  prayers^ 
Shards,  flints  J  and  pebbles  sJiould  be  thrown  on  her. 

There  are  no  shards  (fragments  of  pottery)  in  the 
Cro-Magnon  graves,  but  flints  and  pebbles  mingle  with 
shells,  teeth,  and  other  charms  and  amulets.  Vast 
numbers  of  perforated  shells  have  been  found  in  the 
burial  caves  near  Mentone.  In  one  case  the  shells  are 
so  numerous  that  they  seem  to  have  formed  a  sort  of 
burial  mantle.  **  Similarly,"  says  Professor  Osborn, 
describing  another  of  these  finds,  **the  female  skeleton 

1  Hamlet,  V,  i. 


46  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

was  enveloped  in  a  bed  of  shells  not  perforated;  the 
legs  were  extended,  while  the  arms  were  stretched 
beside  the  body;  there  were  a  few  pierced  shells  and 
a  few  bits  of  silex.  One  of  the  large  male  skeletons 
of  the  same  grotto  had  the  lower  limbs  extended,  the 
upper  limbs  folded,  and  was  decorated  with  a  gorget 
and  crown  of  perforated  shells;  the  head  rested  on  a 
block  of  red  stone."  In  another  case  **  heavy  stones 
protected  the  body  from  disturbance;  the  head  was 
decorated  with  a  circle  of  perforated  shells  coloured  in 
redy  and  implements  of  various  types  were  carefully 
placed  on  the  forehead  and  chest".  The  body  of  the 
Combe-Capelle  man  *'was  decorated  with  a  necklace 
of  perforated  shells  and  surrounded  with  a  great  number 
of  fine  Aurignacian  flints.  It  appears",  adds  Osborn, 
"that  in  all  the  numerous  burials  of  these  grottos  of 
Aurignacian  age  and  industry  of  the  Cro-Magnon  race 
we  have  the  burial  standards  which  prevailed  in  western' 
Europe  at  this  time."^ 

It  has  been  suggested  by  one  of  the  British  archaeolo- 
gists that  the  necklaces  of  perforated  cowrie  shells  and 
the  red  pigment  found  among  the  remains  of  early  man 
in  Britain  were  used  by  children.  This  theory  does  not 
accord  with  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  Grimaldi  caves, 
in  which  the  infant  skeletons  are  neither  coloured  nor 
decorated.  Occasionally,  however,  the  children  were 
interred  in  burial  mantles  of  small  perforated  shells, 
while  female  adults  were  sometimes  placed  in  beds  of 
unperforated  shells.  Shells  have  been  found  in  early 
British  graves.  These  include  Nerita  litoralisy  and  even 
Patella  vulgata,  the  common  limpet.  Holes  were  rubbed 
in  them  so  that  they  might  be  strung  together.  In  a 
megalithic  cist  unearthed  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  in 
1838,  two  male  skeletons  had  each  beside  them  perfor- 
ated shells  {Nerita  litoralis).    During  the  construction  of 

1  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age,  pp.  304-5. 


SHELL   DEITIES   AND   EARLY   TRADE    47 

the  Edinburgh  and  Granton  railway  there  was  found 
beside  a  skeleton  in  a  stone  cist  a  quantity  of  cockle- 
shell rings.  Two  dozen  perforated  oyster-shells  were 
found  in  a  single  Orkney  cist.  Many  other  examples 
of  this  kind  could  be  referred  to.^ 

In  the  Cro-Magnon  caverns  are  imprints  of  human 
hands  which  had  been  laid  on  rock  and  then  dusted 
round  with  coloured  earth.  In  a  number  of  cases  it  is 
shown  that  one  or  more  finger  joints  of  the  left  hand  had 
been  cut  off. 

The  practice  of  finger  mutilation  among  Bushman, 
Australian,  and  Red  Indian  tribes,  is  associated  with 
burial  customs  and  the  ravages  of  disease.  A  Bushman 
woman  may  cut  off  a  joint  of  one  of  her  fingers  when 
a  near  relative  is  about  to  die.  Red  Indians  cut  off 
finger-joints  w^hen  burying  their  dead  during  a  pes- 
tilence, so  as  *'  to  cut  off  deaths";  they  sacrificed  a  part 
of  the  body  to  save  the  whole.  In  Australia  finger 
mutilation  is  occasionally  practised.  Highland  Gaelic 
stories  tell  of  heroes  who  lie  asleep  to  gather  power 
which  will  enable  them  to  combat  with  monsters  or 
fierce  enemies.  Heroines  awake  them  by  cutting  off 
a  finger  joint,  a  part  of  the  ear,  or  a  portion  of  skin  from 
the  scalp.  2 

The  colours  used  in  drawings  of  hands  in  Palaeolithic 
caves  are  black,  white,  red,  and  yellow,  as  the  Abbe 
Breuil  has  noted.  In  Spain  and  India,  the  hand  prints 
are  supposed  to  protect  dwellings  from  evil  influences. 
Horse-shoes,  holly  with  berries,  various  plants,  shells, 
&c.,  are  used  for  a  like  purpose  among  those  who  in 
our  native  land  perpetuate  ancient  customs. 

The  Arabs  have  a  custom  of  suspending  figures  of  an 

» A  Red  Sea  cowry  shell  {Cyjireea  minor)  found  on  the  site  of  Hurstbourne  station 
(L.  &  S.  W.  Railway,  main  line)  in  Hampshire,  was  associated; with  "Early  Iron  Age" 
artifacts.     (Paper  read  by  J.  R.  le  B.  Tomlin  at  meeting  of  Linnasan  Society,  June  14, 

2  For  references  see  my  Myths  of  Crete  and  Pre-Hellenic  Europe,  pp.  30-31. 


48  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

open  hand  from  the  necks  of  their  children,  and  the 
Turks  and  Moors  paint  hands  upon  their  ships  and 
houses,  **  as  an  antidote  and  counter  charm  to  an  evil  eye ; 
for  five  is  with  them  an  unlucky  number;  and  *  five 
(fingers,  perhaps)  in  your  eyes '  is  their  proverb  of 
cursing  and  defiance".  In  Portugal  the  hand  spell  is 
called  the  figa,  Southey  suggests  that  our  common 
phrase  ^*a  fig  for  him"  was  derived  from  the  name  of 
the  Portuguese  hand  amulet.^ 

**The  figo  for  thy  friendship"  is  an  interesting  refer- 
ence by  Shakespeare.^      Fig  or  figo  is  probably  from 
fico^  a  snap  of  the  fingers,  which  in  French  \s  fatre  la 
figucy  and  in  Italian  y«r  le  fiche.     Finger  snapping  had 
no  doubt  originally  a  magical  significance. 

1  Notes  to  Thalaba,  Book  V,  Canto  36.  »  Henry  V,  V,  iii,  6. 


CHAPTER  V 
New  Races  in  Europe 

The  Solutrean  Industry — A  Racial  and  Cultural  Intrusion — Decline 
of  Aurignacian  Art — A  God-cult — The  Solutrean  Thor— Open-air  Life — 
Magdalenian  Culture  —  Decline  of  Flint  Working- — Horn  and  Bone 
Weapons  and  Implements  —  Revival  of  Cr6-Magnon  Art  —  The  Lamps 
and  Palettes  of  Cave  Artists — The  Domesticated  Horse — Eskimos  in 
Europe — Magdalenian  Culture  in  England — The  Vanishing  Ice — Rein- 
deer migrate  Northward  —  New  Industries  —  Tardenoisian  and  Azilian 
Industries — Pictures  and  Symbols  of  Azilians  —  "Long-heads"  and 
**  Broad-heads  "  —  Maglemosian  Culture  of  Fair  Northerners  —  Pre- 
Neolithic  Peoples  in  Britain. 

In  late  Aurignacian  times  the  influence  of  a  new 
industry  was  felt  in  Western  Europe.  It  first  came  from 
the  south,  and  reached  as  far  north  as  England  where 
it  can  be  traced  in  the  caverns.  Then,  in  time,  it  spread 
westward  and  wedge-like  through  Central  Europe  in  full 
strength,  with  the  force  and  thoroughness  of  an  invasion, 
reaching  the  northern  fringe  of  the  Spanish  coast.  This 
was  the  Solutrean  industry  which  had  distinctive  and 
independent  features  of  its  own.  It  was  not  derived  from 
Aurignacian  but  had  developed  somewhere  in  Africa — 
perhaps  in  Somaliland,  whence  it  radiated  along  the 
Libyan  coast  towards  the  west  and  eastward  into  Asia. 
The  main  or  **true"  Solutrean  influence  entered  Europe 
from  the  south-east.  It  did  not  pass  into  Italy,  which 
remained  in  the  Aurignacian  stage  until  Azilian  times, 
nor  did  it  cross  the  Pyrenees  or  invade  Spain  south  of 
the  Cantabrian  Mountains.  The  earlier  *' influence"  is 
referred  to  as  '*  proto-Solutrean  ". 

( D  217 )  i9  S 


50  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Solutrean  is  well  represented  in  Hungary  where  no 
trace  of  Aurignacian  culture  has  yet  been  found. 
Apparently  that  part  of  Europe  had  offered  no  attrac- 
tions for  the  Cro-Magnons. 

Who  the  carriers  of  this  new  culture  were  it  is  as  yet 
impossible  to  say  with  confidence.  They  may  have 
been  a  late  ''wave"  of  the  same  people  who  had  first 
introduced  Aurignacian  culture  into  Europe,  and  they 
may  have  been  representative  of  a  different  race.  Some 
ethnologists  incline  to  connect  the  Solutrean  culture 
with  a  new  people  whose  presence  is  indicated  by  the 
skulls  found  at  Briinn  and  Briix  in  Bohemia.  These 
intruders  had  lower  foreheads  than  the  Cro-Magnons, 
narrower  and  longer  faces,  and  low  cheek-bones.  It 
may  be  that  they  represented  a  variety  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean race.  Whoever  they  were,  they  did  not  make 
much  use  of  ivory  and  bone,  but  they  worked  flint  with 
surpassing  skill  and  originality.  Their  technique  was 
quite  distinct  from  the  Aurignacian.  With  the  aid  of 
wooden  or  bone  tools,  they  finished  their  flint  artifacts 
by  pressure,  gave  them  excellent  edges  and  points,  and 
shaped  them  with  artistic  skill.  Their  most  character- 
istic flints  are  the  so-called  laurel-leaf  (broad)  and  willow- 
leaf  (narrow)  lances.  These  were  evidently  used  in  the 
chase.  There  is  no  evidence  that  they  were  used  in 
battle.  Withal,  their  weapons  had  a  religious  signifi- 
cance. Fourteen  laurel-leaf  spear-heads  of  Solutrean 
type  which  were  found  together  at  Volgu,  Saone-et- 
Loire,  are  believed  to  have  been  a  votive  offering  to  a 
deity.  At  any  rate,  these  were  too  finely  worked  and 
too  fragile,  like  some  of  the  peculiar  Shetland  and 
Swedish  knives  of  later  times,  to  have  been  used  as 
implements.  One  has  retained  traces  of  red  colouring. 
It  may  be  that  the  belief  enshrined  in  the  Gaelic  saying, 
'*  Every  weapon  has  its  demon  ",  had  already  come  into 
existence.     In  Crete  the  double-axe  was  in  Minoan  times 


NEW   RACES   IN   EUROPE  51 

a  symbol  of  a  deity  ;^  and  in  northern  Egypt  and  on  the 
Libyan  coast  the  crossed  arrows  symboh'zed  the  god- 
dess Neith;  while  in  various  countries,  and  especially  in 
India,  there  are  ancient  stories  about  the  spirits  of 
weapons  appearing  in  visions  and  promising  to  aid 
great  hunters  and  warriors.  The  custom  of  giving 
weapons  personal  names,  which  survived  for  long  in 
Europe,  may  have  had  origin  in  Solutrean  times. 

Art  languished  in  Solutrean  times.  Geometrical 
figures  were  incised  on  ivory  and  bone;  some  engrav- 
ing of  mammoths,  reindeer,  and  lions  have  been  found 
in  Moravia  and  France.  When  the  human  figure  was 
depicted,  the  female  was  neglected  and  studies  made  of 
males.  It  may  be  that  the  Solutreans  had  a  god-cult  as 
distinguished  from  the  goddess-cult  of  the  Aurignacians, 
and  that  their  *' flint-god"  was  an  early  form  of  Zeus, 
or  of  Thor,  whose  earliest  hammer  was  of  flint.  The 
Romans  revered  '* Jupiter  Lapis"  (silex).  When  the 
solemn  oath  was  taken  at  the  ceremony  of  treaty-making, 
the  representative  of  the  Roman  people  struck  a  sacri- 
ficial pig  with  the  silex  and  said,  *'  Do  thou,  Diespiter, 
strike  the  Roman  people  as  I  strike  this  pig  here  to-day, 
and  strike  them  the  more,  as  thou  art  greater  and 
stronger".  Mr.  Cyril  Bailey  (The  Religion  of  Ancient 
Romey  p.  7)  expresses  the  view  that  '*  in  origin  the  stone 
is  itself  the  god  ". 

During  Solutrean  times  the  climate  of  Europe, 
although  still  cold,  was  drier  that  in  Aurignacian  times. 
It  may  be  that  the  intruders  seized  the  flint  quarries  of 
the  Cro-Magnons,  and  also  disputed  with  them  the 
possession  of  hunting-grounds.  The  cave  art  declined 
or  was  suspended  during  what  may  have  been  a  military 
regime  and  perhaps,  too,  under  the  influence  of  a  new 
religion    and    new    social    customs.       Open-air    camps 

1  For  other  examples  see  Mr.  Leg:ge's  article  in  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archceology,  1899,  p.  310. 


52  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

beside  rock-shelters  were  greatly  favoured.  It  may 
be,  as  has  been  suggested,  that  the  Solutreans  were  as 
expert  as  the  modern  Eskimos  in  providing  clothing  and 
skin-tents.  Bone  needles  were  numerous.  They  fed 
well,  and  horse-flesh  was  a  specially  favoured  food. 

In  their  mountain  retreats,  the  Aurignacians  may 
have  concentrated  more  attention  than  they  had  pre- 
viously done  on  the  working  of  bone  and  horn ;  it  may 
be  that  they  were  reinforced  by  new  races  from  north- 
eastern Europe,  who  had  been  developing  a  distinctive 
industry  on  the  borders  of  Asia.  At  any  rate,  the  in- 
dustry known  as  Magdalenian  became  widespread  when 
the  ice-fields  crept  southward  again,  and  southern  and 
central  Europe  became  as  wet  and  cold  as  in  early 
Aurignacian  times.  Solutrean  culture  gradually  declined 
and  vanished  and  Magdalenian  became  supreme. 

The  Magdalenian  stage  of  culture  shows  affinities 
with  Aurignacian  and  betrays  no  influence  of  Solutrean 
technique.  The  method  of  working  flint  was  quite  dif- 
ferent. The  Magdalenians,  indeed,  appear  to  have 
attached  little  importance  to  flint  for  implements  of  the 
chase.  They  often  chipped  it  badly  in  their  own  way  and 
sometimes  selected  flint  of  poor  quality,  but  they  had 
beautiful  ''scrapers'*  and  **  gravers"  of  flint.  It  does 
not  follow,  however,  that  they  were  a  people  on  a  lower 
stage  of  culture  than  the  Solutreans.  New  inventions 
had  rendered  it  unnecessary  for  them  to  adopt  Solutrean 
technique.  Most  effective  implements  of  horn  and  bone 
had  come  into  use  and,  if  wars  were  waged — there  is  no 
evidence  of  warfare — the  Magdalenians  were  able  to 
give  a  good  account  of  themselves  with  javelins  and 
exceedingly  strong  spears  which  were  given  a  greater 
range  by  the  introduction  of  spear-throwers — ** cases" 
from  which  spears  were  thrown.  The  food  supply  was 
increased  by  a  new  method  of  catching  fish.  Barbed 
harpoons  of  reindeer-horn  had  been  invented,  and  no 


NEW    RACES   IN    EUROPE  53 

doubt  many  salmon,  &c.,  were  caught  at  river-side 
stations. 

The  Cro-Magnons,  as  has  been  found,  were  again  in 
the  ascendant,  and  their  artistic  genius  was  given  full 
play  as  in  Aurignacian  times,  and,  no  doubt,  as  a  result 
of  the  revival  of  religious  beliefs  that  fostered  art  as  a 
cult  product.  Once  again  the  painters,  engravers,  and 
sculptors  adorned  the  caves  with  representations  of  wild 
animals.  Colours  were  used  with  increasing  skill  and 
taste.  The  artists  had  palettes  on  which  to  mix  their 
colours,  and  used  stone  lamps,  specimens  of  which  have 
been  found,  to  light  up  their  **  studios"  in  deep  cave 
recesses.  During  this  Magdalenian  stage  of  culture  the 
art  of  the  Cro-Magnons  reached  its  highest  standard  of 
excellence,  and  grew  so  extraordinarily  rich  and  varied 
that  it  compares  well  with  the  later  religious  arts  of 
ancient  Egypt  and  Babylonia. 

The  horse  appears  to  have  been  domesticated.  There 
is  at  Saint  Michel  d'Arudy  a  *' Celtic"  horse  depicted 
with  a  bridle,  while  at  La  Madeleine  was  found  a  **  baton 
de  commandement "  on  which  a  human  figure,  with  a 
stave  in  his  right  hand,  walks  past  two  horses  which 
betray  no  signs  of  alarm. 

Our  knowledge  is  scanty  regarding  the  races  that 
occupied  Europe  during  Magdalenian  times.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  Cro-Magnons  there  were  other  distinctive 
types.  One  of  these  is  represented  by  the  Chancelade 
skeleton  found  at  Raymonden  shelter.  Some  think  it 
betrays  Eskimo  affinities,  and  represents  a  racial  ''drift" 
from  the  Russian  steppes.  In  his  Ancient  Hunters 
Professor  Sollas  shows  that  there  are  resemblances  be- 
tween Eskimo  and  Magdalenian  artifacts. 

The  Magdalenian  culture  reached  England,  although 
it  never  penetrated  into  Italy,  and  was  shut  out  from  the 
greater  part  of  Spain.  It  has  been  traced  as  far  north 
as  Derbyshire,  on  the  north-eastern  border  of  which  the 


54  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Cresswell  caves  have  yielded  Magdalenian  relics,  in- 
cluding flint-borers,  engravers,  &c.,  and  bone  imple- 
ments, including  a  needle,  an  awl,  chisels,  an  engraving 
of  a  horse  on  bone,  &c.  Kent's  Cavern,  near  Torquay 
in  Devonshire,  has  also  yielded  Magdalenian  flints  and 
implements  of  bone,  including  pins,  awls,  barbed  har- 
poons, &c. 

During  early  Magdalenian  times,  however,  our  native 
land  did  not  offer  great  attractions  to  Continental  people. 
The  final  glacial  epoch  may  have  been  partial,  but  it 
was  severe,  and  there  was  a  decided  lowering  of  the 
temperature.  Then  came  a  warmer  and  drier  spell, 
which  was  followed  by  the  sixth  partial  glaciation. 
Thereafter  the  *' great  thaw"  opened  up  Europe  to  the 
invasion  of  new  races  from  Asia  and  Africa. 

Three  distinct  movements  of  peoples  in  Europe  can 
be  traced  in  post-Magdalenian  times,  and  during  what 
has  been  called  the  *' Transition  Period",  between  the 
Upper  Palaeolithic  and  Lower  Neolithic  Ages  or  stages. 
The  ice-cap  retreated  finally  from  the  mountains  of  Scot- 
land and  Sweden,  and  the  reindeer  migrated  northward. 
Magdalenian  civilization  was  gradually  broken  up,  and 
the  cave  art  suffered  sharp  decline  until  at  length  it 
perished  utterly.  Trees  flourished  in  areas  where 
formerly  the  reindeer  scraped  the  snow  to  crop  moss 
and  lichen,  and  rich  pastures  attracted  the  northward 
migrating  red  deer,  the  roe-deer,  the  ibex,  the  wild  boar, 
wild  cattle,  &c. 

The  new  industries  are  known  as  the  Tardenoisian, 
the  Azilian,  and  the  Maglemosian. 

Tardenoisian  flints  are  exceedingly  small  and  beauti- 
fully worked,  and  have  geometric  forms ;  they  are  known 
as  ^^microliths"  and  '*  pygmy  flints".  They  were 
evidently  used  in  catching  fish,  some  being  hooks  and 
others  spear-heads;  and  they  represent  a  culture  that 
spread  round  the  Mediterranean  basin:  these  flints  are 


NEW   RACES    IN   EUROPE 


55 


found  in  northern  Egypt,  Tunis,  Algeria,  and  Italy ;  from 
Italy  they  passed  through  Europe  into  England  and 
Scotland.  A  people  who  decorated  with  scenes  of  daily 
life  rock  shelters  and  caves  in  Spain,  and  hunted  red 
deer  and  other  animals  with  bows  and  arrows,  were 
pressing  northward  across  the  new  grass-lands  towards 
the   old   Magdalenian  stations.     Men   wore   pants   and 


l<iyiki^Hill 


e^ 


AH<^^ 


Gcoineiric  or  "  Pygmy"  Flints.     (After  Breuil.) 

I,  From  Tunis  and  Southern  Spain,    a.  From  Portugal.     3,  4,  Azilian  types. 
S.  6,  7,  Tardenoisian  types. 

feather  head-dresses;  women  had  short  gowns,  blouses, 
and  caps,  as  had  the  late  Magdalenians,  and  both  sexes 
wore  armlets,  anklets,  and  other  ornaments  of  magical 
potency.  Females  were  nude  when  engaged  in  the 
chase.  The  goddess  Diana  had  evidently  her  human 
prototypes.  There  were  ceremonial  dances,  as  the  rock 
pictures  show ;  women  lamented  over  graves,  and  affec- 
tionate couples — at  least  they  seem  to  have  been  affec- 
tionate— walked  hand  in  hand  as  they  gradually  migrated 
towards  northern  Spain,  and  northern  France  and  Bri- 
tain.    The  horse  was  domesticated,  and  is  seen  being 


56  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

led  by  the  halter.  Wild  animal  ''drives"  were  organ- 
ized, and  many  victims  fell  to  archer  and  spearman. 
Arrows  were  feathered;  bows  were  large  and  strong. 
Symbolic  signs  indicate  that  a  script  similar  to  those  of 
the  ^gean  area,  the  northern  African  coast,  and  pre- 
dynastic  Egypt  was  freely  used.  Drawings  became 
conventional,  and  ultimately  animals  and  human  beings 
were  represented  by  signs.  This  culture  lasted  after  the 
introduction  of  the  Neolithic  industry  in  some  areas,  and 
in  others  after  the  bronze  industry  had  been  adopted  by 
sections  of  the  people. 

When  the  Magdalenian  harpoon  of  reindeer  horn  was 
imitated  by  the  flat  harpoon  of  red-deer  horn,  this  new 
culture  became  what  is  known  as  Azilian.  It  met  and 
mingled  with  Tardenoisian,  which  appears  to  have 
arrived  later,  and  the  combined  industries  are  referred 
to  as  Azilian-Tardenoisian. 

While  the  race-drifts,  represented  by  the  carriers  of 
the  Azilian  and  Tardenoisian  industries,  were  moving 
into  France  and  Britain,  another  invasion  from  the  East 
was  in  progress.  It  is  represented  in  the  famous  Ofnet 
cave  where  long-heads  and  broad-heads  were  interred. 
The  Asiatic  Armenoids  (Alpine  type)  had  begun  to 
arrive  in  Europe,  the  glaciers  having  vanished  in  Asia 
Minor.  Skulls  of  broad-heads  found  in  the  Belgian  cave 
of  Furfooz,  in  which  sixteen  human  skeletons  were  un- 
earthed in  1867,  belong  to  this  period.  The  early 
Armenoids  met  and  mingled  with  representatives  of  the 
blond  northern  race,  and  were  the  basis  of  the  broad- 
headed  blonds  of  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Belgium. 

Maglemosian  culture  is  believed  to  have  been  intro- 
duced by  the  ancestors  of  the  fair  peoples  of  Northern 
Europe.  It  has  been  so  named  after  the  finds  at  Magle- 
mose  in  the  "Great  Moor",  near  Mullerup,  on  the 
western  coast  of  Zeeland.  A  lake  existed  at  this  place 
at  a  time  when  the  Baltic  was  an  inland  water  completely 


EXAMPLES  OF   PALEOLITHIC   ART 

The  objects  include:  handles  of  knives  and  daggfers  carved  in  ivory  and  bone,  line 
drawings  of  wild  animals,  faces  of  masked  men,  of  animal-headed  deity  or  masked  man 
with  arms  uplifted  (compare  Egyptian  "Ka"  attitude  of  adoration),  of  wild  horses  on 
perforated  bdion  de  commandement,  of  man  stalking  a  bison,  of  seal,  cow,  reindeer, 
cave  bear,  &c.,  and  perforated  amulets. 


NEW   RACES   IN   EUROPE  57 

shut  off  from  the  North  Sea.  In  a  peat  bog,  formerly 
the  bed  of  the  lake,  were  found  a  large  number  of  flint 
and  bone  artifacts.  These  included  Tardenoisian  micro- 
liths,  barbed  harpoons  of  bone,  needles  of  bone,  spears 
of  bone,  &c.  Bone  was  more  freely  used  than  horn  for 
implements  and  weapons.  The  animals  hunted  included 
the  stag,  roe-deer,  moose,  wild  ox,  and  wild  boar. 
Dogs  were  domesticated.  It  appears  that  the  Magle- 
mosians  were  lake-dwellers.  Their  houses,  however, 
had  not  been  erected  on  stilts,  but  apparently  on  a 
floating  platform  of  logs,  which  was  no  doubt  anchored 
or  moored  to  the  shore.  There  are  traces  of  Magdalenian 
influence  in  Maglemosian  culture.  Although  many 
decorative  forms  on  bone  implements  and  engravings 
on  rocks  are  formal  and  symbolic,  there  are  some  fine 
and  realistic  representations  of  animals  worthy  of  the 
Magdalenian  cave  artists.  Traces  of  the  Maglemosian 
racial  drift  have  been  obtained  on  both  sides  of  the 
Baltic  and  in  the  Danish  kitchen  middens.  Engravings 
on  rocks  at  Lake  Onega  in  Northern  Russia  closely 
resemble  typical  Maglemosian  work.  Apparently  the 
northern  fair  peoples  entered  Europe  from  Western 
Siberia,  and  in  time  were  influenced  by  Neolithic  culture. 
But  before  the  Europeans  began  to  polish  their  stone 
implements  and  weapons,  the  blond  hunters  and  fisher- 
men settled  not  only  in  Denmark  and  Southern  Sweden 
and  Norway  but  also  in  Britain. 

At  the  time  when  the  Baltic  was  an  inland  fresh-water 
lake,  the  southern  part  of  the  North  Sea  was  dry  land, 
and  trees  grew  on  Dogger  Bank,  from  which  fishermen 
still  occasionally  lift  in  their  trawls  lumps  of  **  moor-log  " 
(peat)  and  the  bones  of  animals,  including  those  of  the 
reindeer,  the  red  deer,  the  horse,  the  wild  ox,  the  bison, 
the  Irish  elk,  the  bear,  the  wolf,  the  beaver,  the  woolly 
rhinoceros,  the  mammoth,  and  the  walrus.  No  doubt 
the   Maglemosians   found   their  way  over  this   *Mand- 


58 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


bridge",  crossing  the  rivers  in  rude  boats,  and  on  foot 
when  the  rivers  were  frozen.  Evidence  has  been  forth- 
coming that  they  also  followed  the  present  coast  line 
towards  Boulogne,  near  which  a  typical  Maglemosian 
harpoon  has  been  discovered. 

Traces  of  Maglemosian   influence   have   been  found 
as  far  north  as  Scotland  on  the  Hebridean  islands  of 


^  ,1,1-1  i-f*—^'!  ■  •■  •  i-«  «v^  .''-~"^'^'*«y' '  •■  •/! 


m 'j.w 


////  "    ^  " 


*.'>':«'.V  ■•*■ 


i^t^g- -->.:: 


0^ 


A  Notable  Example  of  late  Magdalenian  Culture:  engraving  on  bone  of  browsing 
reindeer.     From  Kesserloch,  Switzerland.     (After  Heim.) 


Oronsay  and  Risga.  The  MacArthur  cave  at  Oban 
reveals  Azilian  artifacts.  In  the  Victoria  cave  near 
Settle  in  Yorkshire  a  late  Magdalenian  or  proto-Azilian 
harpoon  made  of  reindeer-horn  is  of  special  interest, 
displaying,  as  it  does,  a  close  connection  between  late 
Magdalenian  and  early  Azilian.  Barbed  harpoons, 
found  at  the  shelter  of  Druimvargie,  near  Oban,  are 
Azilian,  some  displaying  Maglemosian  features.  Barbed 
harpoons  of  bone,  and  especially  those  with  barbs  on 
one  side  only,  are  generally  Maglemosian,  while  those 
of  horn  and  double-barbed  are  typically  Azilian. 


) 


13 


Horn  and  Bone  Implements 

Harpoons;  i  and  2,  from  MacArthur  Cave,  Oban;  3,  from  Laug:erie  Basse  rock-shelter, 
France;  4,  from  shell-heap,  Oronsaj",  Hebrides;  5,  from  bed  of  River  Dee  near  Kirk- 
cudbright; 6,  from  Palude  Brabbie,  Italj'— all  of  Azilian  type.  8,  Reindeer-horn  harpoon 
of  late  Magdalenian,  or  proto-Azilian,  type  from  Victoria  Cave,  near  Settle,  Yorks. 
9,  Maglemosian,  or  Azilian-Maglemosian,  harpoon  from  rock-shelter,  Druimvargie,  Oban. 
7,  10,  II,  13,  13,  and  141  bone  and  deer-horn  implements  from  MacArthur  Cave,  Oban. 


6o  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Apparently  the  fair  Northerners,  the  carriers  of  Magle- 
mosian  culture,  and  the  dark  Iberians,  the  carriers  of 
Azilian  culture,  met  and  mingled  in  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land long  before  the  Neolithic  industry  was  introduced. 
There  were  also,  it  would  appear,  communities  in  Britain 
of  Cro-Magnons,  and  perhaps  of  other  racial  types  that 
existed  on  the  Continent  and  in  late  Magdalenian  times. 
The  fair  peoples  of  England  and  Wales,  Scotland  and 
Ireland  are  not  therefore  all  necessarily  descendants  of 
Celts,  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Vikings.  The  pioneer 
settlers  in  the  British  Isles,  in  all  probability,  included 
blue  and  grey-eyed  and  fair  or  reddish-haired  peoples 
who  in  Scotland  may  have  formed  the  basis  of  the  later 
Caledonian  type,  compared  by  Tacitus  to  the  Germans, 
but  bearing  an  undoubted  Celtic  racial  name,  the  mili- 
tary aristocrats  being  Celts.^ 

1  The  Abb6  Breuil,  having  examined  the  artifacts  associated  with  the  Western  Scottish 
harpoons,  inclines  to  refer  to  the  culture  as  "  Aailian-Tardenoisian  ".  At  the  same  time  he 
considers  the  view  that  Maglemosian  influence  was  operating^  is  worthy  of  consideration. 
He  notes  that  traces  of  Maglemosian  culture  have  been  reported  from  England.  The 
Abbi  has  detected  Magdalenian  influence  in  artifacts  from  Campbeltown,  Argyllshire 
{Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in  Scotland,  1921-2). 


CHAPTER   VI 
The  Faithful  Dog 


Transition  Period  between  Palaeolithic  and  Neolithic  Ag-es — Theory 
of  the  Neolithic  Edge— Cr&-Magnon  Civilization  was  broken  up  by  Users 
of  Bow  and  Arrow — Domesticated  Dog  of  Fair  Northerners — Dogs  as 
Guides  and  Protectors  of  Man — The  Dog-  in  Early  Religion — Dog-  Guides 
of  Souls— The  Dog  of  Hades — Dogs  and  Death — The  Scape-dog  in  Scot- 
land— Souls  in  Dog  Form — Traces  of  Early  Domesticated  Dogs — Romans 
imported  British  Dogs. 

The  period  we  have  now  reached  is  regarded  by  some 
as  that  of  transition  between  the  Palaeolithic  and  Neo- 
lithic Ages,  and  by  others  as  the  Early  Neolithic  period. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  we  should  keep  in  mind 
that  these  terms  have  been  to  a  great  extent  divested  of 
the  significance  originally  attached  to  them.  The  tran- 
sition period  was  a  lengthy  one,  extending  over  many 
centuries  during  which  great  changes  occurred.  It  was 
much  longer  than  the  so-called  **  Neolithic  Age  ".  New 
races  appeared  in  Europe  and  introduced  new  habits  of 
life  and  thought,  new  animals  appeared  and  animals 
formerly  hunted  by  man  retreated  northward  or  became 
extinct;  the  land  sank  and  rose;  a  great  part  of  the 
North  Sea  and  the  English  Channel  was  for  a  time  dry 
land,  and  trees  grew  on  the  plateau  now  marked  by  the 
Dogger  Bank  during  this  ** Transition  Period",  and 
before  it  had  ended  the  Strait  of  Dover  had  widened 
and  England  was  completely  cut  off  from  the  Continent. 

Compared  with  these  great  changes  the  invention  of 
the  polished  axe  edge  seems  almost  trivial.     Yet  some 

61 


62  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

wntcis  have  regarded  this  change  as  being  all-important. 
'*On  the  edge  ever  since  its  discovery",  writes  one  of 
them  with  enthusiasm,  **has  depended  and  probably 
will  depend  to  the  end  of  time  the  whole  artistic  and 
artificial  environment  of  human  existence,  in  all  its 
infinite  varied  complexity.  ...  By  this  discovery  was 
broken  down  a  wall  that  for  untold  ages  had  dammed 
up  a  stagnant,  unprogressive  past,  and  through  the 
breach  were  let  loose  all  the  potentialities  of  the  future 
civilization  of  mankind.  It  was  entirely  due  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  edge  that  man  was  enabled,  in  the  course 
of  time,  to  invent  the  art  of  shipbuilding."^ 

This  is  a  very  sweeping  claim  and  hardly  justified  by 
the  evidence  that  of  late  years  has  come  to  light.  Much 
progress  had  been  achieved  before  the  easy  method  of 
polishing  supplanted  that  of  secondary  working.  The 
so-called  Palaeolithic  implements  were  not  devoid  of 
edges.  What  really  happened  was  that  flint-working 
was  greatly  simplified.  The  discovery  was  an  impor- 
tant one,  but  it  was  not  due  to  it  alone  that  great  changes 
in  habits  of  life  were  introduced.  Long  before  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Neolithic  industry,  the  earliest  traces 
of  which  in  Western  Europe  have  been  obtained  at 
Campigny  near  the  village  of  Blangy  on  the  River 
Bresle,  the  Magdalenian  civilization  of  the  Cro-Magnons 
had  been  broken  up  by  the  Azilian-Tardenoisian  in- 
truders in  Central  and  Western  Europe  and  by  the 
Maglemosians  in  the  Baltic  area. 

The  invading  hordes  in  Spain,  so  far  as  can  be 
gathered  from  rock  pictures,  made  more  use  of  bows 
and  arrows  than  of  spears,  and  it  may  be  that  their  social 
organization  was  superior  to  that  of  the  Magdalen ians. 
Their  animal  ^* drives"  suggest  as  much.  It  may  be 
that  they  were  better  equipped  for  organized  warfare — 
if  there  was  warfare — and  for  hunting   by  organizing 

1  Eirikr  Magnusson  in  Notes  on  Shipbuilding  and  Nautical  Terms,  London,  igo6. 


THE   FAITHFUL   DOG  63 

drives  than  the  taller  and  stronger  Cro-Magnons. 
When  they  reached  the  Magdalenian  stations  they 
adopted  the  barbed  harpoon,  imitating  reindeer-horn 
forms  in  red-deer  horn. 

The  blond  Maglemosians  in  the  Baltic  area  introduced 
from  Asia  the  domesticated  dog.  They  were  thus  able 
to  obtain  their  food  supply  with  greater  ease  than  did 
the  Solutreans  with  their  laurel-leaf  lances,  or  the  Mag- 
dalenians  with  their  spears  tipped  with  bone  or  horn. 
When  man  was  joined  by  his  faithful  ally  he  met  with 
more  success  than  when  he  pursued  the  chase  unaided. 
Withal,  he  could  take  greater  risks  when  threatened  by 
the  angry  bulls  of  a  herd,  and  operate  over  more  extended 
tracks  of  country  with  less  fear  of  attack  by  beasts  of 
prey.  His  dogs  warned  him  of  approaching  peril  and 
guarded  his  camp  by  night. 

Hunters  who  dwelt  in  caves  may  have  done  so  partly 
for  protection  against  lions  and  bears  and  wolves  that 
were  attracted  to  hunters'  camps  by  the  scent  of  flesh 
and  blood.  No  doubt  barriers  had  to  be  erected  to 
shield  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  darkness;  and 
it  may  be  that  there  were  fires  and  sentinels  at  cave 
entrances. 

The  introduction  of  the  domesticated  dog  may  have 
influenced  the  development  of  religious  beliefs.  Cro- 
Magnon  hunters  appear  to  have  performed  ceremonies 
in  the  depths  of  caverns  where  they  painted  and  carved 
wild  animals,  with  purpose  to  obtain  power  over  them. 
Their  masked  dances,  in  which  men  and  women  repre- 
sented wild  animals,  chiefly  beasts  of  prey,  may  have 
had  a  similar  significance.  The  fact  that,  during  the 
Transition  Period,  a  cult  art  passed  out  of  existence,  and 
the  caves  were  no  longer  centres  of  culture  and  political 
power,  may  have  been  directly  or  indirectly  due  to  the 
domestication  of  the  dog  and  the  supremacy  achieved  by 
the  intruders  who  possessed  it. 


64  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  dog  played  its  part  in 
the  development  of  civilization.  As  much  is  suggested 
by  the  lore  attaching  to  this  animal.  It  occupies  a 
prominent  place  in  mythology.  The  dog  which  guided 
and  protected  the  hunter  in  his  wanderings  was  supposed 
to  ofuide  his  soul  to  the  other  world. 

He  thought  admitted  to  that  equal  sky, 
His  faithful  dog  would  bear  him  company. 

In  Ancient  Egypt  the  dog-headed  god  Anubis  was  the 
guide  and  protector  of  souls.  Apuatua,  an  early  form 
of  Osiris,  was  a  dog  god.  Yama,  the  Hindu  god  of 
death,  as  Dharma,  god  of  justice,  assumed  his  dog  form 
to  guide  the  Panadava  brothers  to  Paradise,  as  is  related 
in  the  Sanskrit  epic  the  Mahd-bhdrata}.  The  god  Indra, 
the  Hindu  Jupiter,  was  the  ''  big  dog",  and  the  custom 
still  prevails  among  primitive  Indian  peoples  of  torturing 
a  dog  by  pouring  hot  oil  into  its  ears  so  that  the  **big 
dog"  may  hear  and  send  rain.  In  the  Mahd-bhdrata 
there  is  a  story  about  Indra  appearing  as  a  hunter  fol- 
lowed by  a  pack  of  dogs.  As  the  '*  Wild  Huntsman  " 
the  Scandinavian  god  Odin  rides  through  the  air  fol- 
lowed by  dogs.  The  dog  is  in  Greek  mythology  the 
sentinel  of  Hades;  it  figures  in  a  like  capacity  in  the 
Hades  of  Northern  Mythology.  Cuchullin,  the  Gaelic 
hero,  kills  the  dog  of  Hades  and  takes  its  place  until 
another  dog  is  found  and  trained,  and  that  is  why  he  is 
called  "  Cu  "  (the  dog)  of  Culann.  A  pool  in  Kildonan, 
Sutherland,  which  was  reputed  to  contain  a  pot  of  gold, 
was  supposed  to  be  guarded  by  a  big  black  dog  with 
two  heads.  A  similar  legend  attaches  to  Hound's  Pool 
in  the  parish  of  Dean  Combe,  Devonshire.  In  different 
parts  of  the  world  the  dog  is  the  creator  and  ancestor  of 
the  human  race,  the  symbol  of  kinship,  &c.  The  star 
Sirius  was  associated  with  the  dog.     In   Scotland  and 

1  Pronounced  ma-haw '-baw'-rata  (the  two  final  as  are  short). 


THE    FAITHFUL    DOG  65 

Ireland  "dog  stones"  were  venerated.  A  common  sur- 
viving belief  is  that  dogs  howl  by  night  when  a  sudden 
death  is  about  to  occur.  This  association  of  the  dog 
with  death  is  echoed  by  Theocritus.  **Hark!"  cries 
Simaetha,  **the  dogs  are  barking  through  the  town. 
Hecate  is  at  the  crossways.  Haste,  clash  the  brazen 
cymbals."  The  dog-god  of  Scotland  is  remembered  as 
an  cii  sith  (**the  supernatural  dog");  it  is  as  big  as 
a  calf,  and  by  night  passes  rapidly  over  land  and  sea. 
A  black  demon-dog — the  "  Moddey  Dhoo" — referred  to 
by  Scott  in  Peveril  of  the  Peak  was  supposed  to  haunt  Peel 
Castle  in  the  Isle  of  Man.  A  former  New  Year's  day 
custom  in  Perthshire  was  to  send  away  from  a  house 
door  a  scape-dog  with  the  words,  ^^Get  away  you  dog! 
Whatever  death  of  men  or  loss  of  cattle  would  happen 
in  this  house  till  the  end  of  the  present  year,  may  it  all 
light  on  your  head."  A  similar  custom  obtained  among 
Western  Himalayan  peoples.  Early  man  appears  to 
have  regarded  his  faithful  companion  as  a  supernatural 
being.  There  are  Gaelic  references  to  souls  appearing 
in  dog  form  to  assist  families  in  time  of  need.  Not  only 
did  the  dog  attack  beasts  of  prey ;  in  Gaelic  folk-tales  it 
is  the  enemy  of  fairies  and  demons,  and  especially  cave- 
haunting  demons.  Early  man's  gratitude  to  and  depen- 
dence on  the  dog  seems  to  be  reflected  in  stories  of  this 
kind. 

When  the  Baltic  peoples,  who  are  believed  to  be  the 
first  '*wave"  of  blond  Northerners,  moved  westward  to- 
wards Denmark  during  the  period  of  the  *'  great  thaw  ", 
they  must  have  been  greatly  assisted  by  the  domesticated^ 
dog,  traces  of  which  are  found  in  Maglemosian  stations. 
Bones  of  dogs  have  been  found  in  the  Danish  kitchen 
middens  and  in  the  MacArthur  cave  at  Oban.  It  may 
be  that  the  famous  breed  of  British  hunting  dogs  which 
were  in  Roman  times  exported  to  Italy  were  descended 
from   those   introduced    by   the    Maglemosian    hunters. 

(1)217)  6 


66  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Seven  Irish  dogs  were  in  the  fourth  century  presented 
to  Symmachus,  a  Roman  consul,  by  his  brother.  ^*  All 
Rome",  the  grateful  recipient  wrote,  **view  them  with 
wonder  and  thought  they  must  have  been  brought  hither 
in  iron  cages." 

Great  dogs  were  kept  in  Ancient  Britain  and  Ireland 
for  protection  against  wolves  as  well  as  for  hunting  wild 
animals.  The  ancient  Irish  made  free  use  in  battle  of 
large  fierce  hounds.  In  the  folk-stories  of  Scotland  dogs 
help  human  beings  to  attack  and  overcome  supernatural 
beings.  Dogs  were  the  enemies  of  the  fairies,  mer- 
maids, &c. 

Dog  gods  figure  on  the  ancient  sculptured  stones  of 
Scotland.  The  names  of  the  Irish  heroes  Cuchullin 
and  Con-chobar  were  derived  from  those  of  dog  deities. 
'*  Con  "  is  the  genitive  of  *'  Cu  "  (dog). 


CHAPTER   VII 
Ancient   Mariners  Reach   Britain 

Reindeer  in  Scotland — North  Sea  and  English  Channel  Land-bridges 
—  Early  River  Rafts  and  River  Boats — Breaking  of  Land-bridges — Coast 
Erosion  —  Tilbury  Man — Where  were  first  Boats  Invented?  —  Ancient 
Boats  in  Britain — "Dug-out"  Canoes — Imitations  of  Earlier  Papyri 
and  Skin  Boats  —  Cork  Plug  in  Ancient  Clyde  Boat  —  Early  Swedish 
Boats — An  African  Link — Various  Types  of  British  Boats — Daring 
Ancient  Mariners — The  Veneti  Seafarers — Attractions  of  Early  Britain 
for  Colonists. 

The  Maglemosian(Baltic)and  Azilian  (Iberian)  peoples, 
who  reached  and  settled  in  Britain  long  before  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Neolithic  industry,  appear,  as  has  been 
shown,  to  have  crossed  the  great  land-bridge,  which  is 
now  marked  by  the  Dogger  Bank,  and  the  narrowed 
land-bridge  that  connected  England  and  France.  No 
doubt  they  came  at  first  in  small  bands,  wandering  along 
the  river  banks  and  founding  fishing  communities,  fol- 
lowing the  herds  of  red  deer  and  wild  cows  that  had 
moved  northward,  and  seeking  flints,  &c.  The  Cro- 
Magnons,  whose  civilization  the  new  intruders  had 
broken  up  on  the  Continent,  were  already  in  Britain, 
where  the  reindeer  lingered  for  many  centuries  after 
they  had  vanished  from  France.  The  reindeer  moss 
still  grows  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  Bones  and  horns 
of  the  reindeer  have  been  found  in  this  area  in  associa- 
tion with  human  remains  as  late  as  of  the  Roman  period. 
In  the  twelfth  century  the  Norsemen  hunted  reindeer  in 

67 


68  ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Caithness.^  Caesar  refers  to  the  reindeer  in  the  Her- 
cynian  forest  of  Germany  {Gallic  War^  VI,  26). 
'  The  early  colonists  of  fair  Northerners  who  introduced 
the  Maglemosian  culture  into  Britain  from  the  Baltic 
area  could  not  have  crossed  the  North  Sea  land-bridge 
without  the  aid  of  rafts  or  boats.  Great  broad  rivers 
were  flowing  towards  the  north.  The  Elbe  and  the 
Weser  joined  one  another  near  the  island  of  Heligoland, 
and  received  tributaries  from  marshy  valleys  until  a  long 
estuary  wider  than  is  the  Wash  at  present  was  formed. 
Another  long  river  flowed  northward  from  the  valley  of 
the  Zuyder  Zee,  the  mouth  of  which  has  been  traced  on 
the  north-east  of  the  Dogger  Bank.  The  Rhine  reached 
the  North  Sea  on  the  south-west  of  the  Dogger  Bank, 
off  Flamborough  Head;  its  tributaries  included  the 
Meuse  and  the  Thames.  The  Humber  and  the  rivers 
flowing  at  present  into  the  Wash  were  united  before 
entering  the  North  Sea  between  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  coast  of  East  Riding. 

The  Dogger  Bank  was  then  a  plateau.  Trawlers,  as 
has  been  stated,  sometimes  lift  from  its  surface  in  their 
trawl  nets  lumps  of  peat,  which  they  call  **  moor-log", 
and  also  the  bones  of  wild  animals,  including  the  wild 
ox,  the  wild  horse,  red  deer,  reindeer,  the  elk,  the  bear, 
the  wolf,  the  hyaena,  the  beaver,  the  walrus  the  woolly 
rhinoceros,  and  the  hairy  mammoth.  In  the  peat  have 
been  found  the  remains  of  the  white  birch,  the  hazel, 
sallow,  and  willow,  seeds  of  bog-bean,  fragments  of  fern, 
&c.  All  the  plants  have  a  northern  range.  In  some 
pieces  of  peat  have  been  found  plants  and  insects  that 
still  flourish  in  Britain.^ 

The  easiest  crossing  to  Britain  was  over  the  English 
Channel  land-bridge.     It  was  ultimately  cut  through  by 

1  The  Orkneyinga  Saga,  p.  iSa,  Edinburgh,   1873,  and   Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  Vol.  VIII. 

2  Clement  Reid,  Submerged  Forests,  pp.  45-7.  London,  1913. 


ANCIENT  MARINERS  REACH   BRITAIN    69 

the  English  Channel  river,  so  that  the  dark  Azilian- 
Tardenoisian  peoples  from  Central  and  Western  Europe 
and  the  fair  Maglemosians  must  have  required  and  used 
rafts  or  boats  before  polished  implements  of  Neolithic 
type  came  into  use.  In  time  the  North  Sea  broke 
through  the  marshes  of  the  river  land  to  the  east  of  the 
Thames  Estuary  and  joined  the  waters  of  the  English 
Channel.  The  Strait  of  Dover  was  then  formed.  At 
first  it  may  have  been  narrow  enough  for  animals  to 
swim  across  or,  at  any  rate,  for  the  rude  river  boats  or 
rafts  of  the  early  colonists  to  be  paddled  over  in  safety 
between  tides.  Gradually,  however,  the  strait  grew 
wider  and  wider;  the  chalk  cliffs,  long  undermined  by 
boring  molluscs  and  scouring  shingle,  were  torn  down 
by  great  billows  during  winter  storms,  v 

It  may  be  that  for  a  long  period  after  the  North  Sea 
and  English  Channel  were  united,  the  Dogger  Bank 
remained  an  island,  and  that  there  were  other  islands 
between  Heligoland  and  the  English  coast.  Pliny,  who 
had  served  with  the  Roman  army  in  Germany,  writing 
in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  refers  to  twenty-three 
islands  between  the  Texel  and  the  Eider  in  Schleswig- 
Holstein.  Seven  of  these  have  since  vanished.  The 
west  coast  of  Schleswig  has,  during  the  past  eighteen 
hundred  years,  suffered  greatly  from  erosion,  and  alluvial 
plains  that  formerly  yielded  rich  harvests  are  now  repre- 
sented by  sandbanks.  The  Goodwin  Sands,  which 
stretch  for  about  ten  miles  off  the  Kentish  coast,  were 
once  part  of  the  fertile  estate  of  Earl  Godwin  which  was 
destroyed  and  engulfed  by  a  great  storm  towards  the 
end  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  Gulf  of  Zuyder  Zee 
was  formerly  a  green  plain  with  many  towns  and  villages. 
Periodic  inundations  since  the  Roman  period  have  de- 
stroyed flourishing  Dutch  farms  and  villages  and  eaten 
far  into  the  land.  There  are  records  of  storm-floods  that 
drowned  on  one  occasion   20,000,   and  on  another   no 


70  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

fewer  than  100,000  inhabitants.^  It  is  believed  that  large 
tracts  of  land,  the  remnants  of  the  ancient  North  Sea 
land-bridge,  have  been  engulfed  since  about  3000  B.C., 
as  a  result  not  merely  of  erosion  but  the  gradual  sub- 
mergence of  the  land.  This  date  is  suggested  by  Mr. 
Clement  Reid. 

"The  estimate",  he  says,  **may  have  to  be  modified 
as  we  obtain  better  evidence;  but  it  is  as  well  to  realize 
clearly  that  we  are  not  dealing  with  a  long  period  of 
great  geological  antiquity;  we  are  dealing  with  times 
when  the  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  and  Minoan  (Cretan) 
civilizations  flourished.  Northern  Europe  was  then 
probably  barbarous,  and  metals  had  not  come  into  use;^ 
but  the  amber  trade  of  the  Baltic  was  probably  in  full 
swing.  Rumours  of  any  great  disaster,  such  as  the 
submergence  of  thousands  of  square  miles  and  the  dis- 
placement of  large  populations,  might  spread  far  and 
wide  along  the  trade  routes."  It  may  be  that  the  legend 
of  the  Lost  Atlantis  was  founded  on  reports  of  such  a 
disaster,  that  must  have  occurred  when  areas  like  the 
Dogger  Bank  were  engulfed.  It  may  be  too  that  the 
gradual  wasting  away  of  lands  that  have  long  since 
vanished  propelled  migrations  of  peoples  towards  the 
smiling  coasts  of  England.  According  to  Ammianus 
the  Druids  stated  that  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul 
were  descendants  of  refugees  from  sea-invaded  areas. 

The  gradual  sinking  of  the  land  and  the  process  of 
coast  erosion  has  greatly  altered  the  geography  of  Eng- 
land. The  beach  on  which  Julius  Caesar  landed  has 
long  since  vanished,  the  dwellings  of  the  ancient  Azilian 
and  Maglemosian  colonists,  who  reached  England  in 
post-Glacial  times,  have  been  sunk  below  the  English 
Channel.     When  Tilbury  Docks  were  being  excavated 

1  The  dates  of  the  greatest  disasters  on  record  are  1421,  iS3*>  and  1570.     There  were 
also  terrible  inundations  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  in  1825  and  1855. 

2  It  was  not  necessarily  barbarous  because  metal  weapons  had  not  been  invented. 


ANCIENT  MARINERS   REACH   BRITAIN    71 

Roman  remains  were  found  embedded  in  clay  several 
feet  below  high-water  mark.  Below  several  layers  of 
peat  and  mud,  and  immediately  under  a  bank  of  sand 
in  which  were  fragments  of  decomposed  wood,  Avas 
found  the  human  skeleton  known  as  "Tilbury  man". 
The  land  in  this  area  was  originally  80  feet  above  its 
present  level. ^  But  while  England  was  sinking  Scot- 
land was  rising.  The  MacArthur  cave  at  Oban,  in 
which  Azilian  hunters  and  fishermen  made  their  home 
on  the  sea-beach,  is  now  about  30  feet  above  the  old 
sea-level. 

Before  Dover  Strait  had  been  widened  by  the  gradual 
sinking  of  the  land  and  the  process  of  coast  erosion,  and 
before  the  great  islands  had  vanished  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  North  Sea,  the  early  hunters  and  fishermen 
could  have  experienced  no  great  difficulty  in  reaching 
England.  It  is  possible  that  the  Azilian,  Tardenoisian, 
and  Maglemosian  peoples  had  made  considerable  pro- 
gress in  the  art  of  navigation.  Traces  of  the  Tarde- 
noisian industry  have  been  obtained  in  Northern  Egypt, 
along  the  ancient  Libyan  coast  of  North  Africa  where  a 
great  deal  of  land  has  been  submerged,  and  especially 
at  Tunis,  and  in  Algiers,  in  Italy,  and  in  England  and 
Scotland,  as  has  been  noted.  There  were  boats  on  the 
Mediterranean  at  a  very  early  period.  The  island  of 
Crete  was  reached  long  before  the  introduction  of  copper- 
working  by  seafarers  who  visited  the  island  of  Melos, 
and  there  obtained  obsidian  (natural  glass)  from  which 
sharp  implements  were  fashioned.  Egyptian  mariners, 
who  dwelt  on  the  Delta  coast,  imported  cedar,  not  only 
from  Lebanon  but  from  Morocco,  as  has  been  found 
from  the  evidence  afforded  by  mummies  packed  with  the 
sawdust  of  cedar  from  the  Atlas  Mountains.^  When 
this  trade  with  Morocco  began  it  is  impossible  to  say 

1  Submerged  Forests,  p.  120. 

2  The  Cairo  Scientific  Journal ,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  32  (May,  1909),  p.  105. 


72  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

with  certainty.  Long  before  3000  B.C.,  however,  the 
Egyptians  were  building  boats  that  were  fitted  with 
masts  and  sails.  The  ancient  mariners  were  active  as 
explorers  and  traders  before  implements  of  copper  came 
into  use. 

Here  we  touch  on  a  very  interesting  problem.  Where 
were  boats  first  invented  and  the  art  of  navigation  de- 
veloped? Rafts  and  floats  formed  by  tying  together  two 
trees  or,  as  in  Egypt,  two  bundles  of  reeds,  were  in  use 
at  a  very  early  period  in  various  countries.  In  Baby- 
lonia the  **kufa",  a  great  floating  basket  made  water- 
tight with  pitch  or  covered  with  skins,  was  an  early 
invention.  It  was  used  as  it  still  is  for  river  ferry  boats. 
But  ships  were  not  developed  from  **kufas  ".  The  dug- 
out canoe  is  one  of  the  early  prototypes  of  the  modern 
ocean-going  vessel.  It  reached  this  country  before  the 
Neolithic  industry  was  introduced,  and  during  that 
period  when  England  was  slowly  sinking  and  Scotland 
was  gradually  rising.  Dug-out  canoes  continued  to 
come  during  the  so-called  "Neolithic"  stage  of  culture 
ere  yet  the  sinking  and  rising  of  land  had  ceased. 
"That  Neolithic  man  lived  in  Scotland  during  the 
formation  of  this  beach  (the  45-  to  50-foot  beach)  is 
proved",  wrote  the  late  Professor  James  Geikie,  "by 
the  frequent  occurrence  in  it  of  his  relics.  At  Perth,  for 
example,  a  dug-out  canoe  of  pine  was  met  with  towards 
the  bottom  of  the  carse  clays;  and  similar  finds  have 
frequently  been  recorded  from  the  contemporaneous 
deposits  in  the  valleys  of  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde. "^ 

How  did  early  man  come  to  invent  the  dug-out?  Not 
only  did  he  hollow  out  a  tree  trunk  by  the  laborious  pro- 
cess of  burning  and  by  chipping  with  a  flint  adze,  he 
dressed  the  trunk  so  that  his  boat  could  be  balanced  on 
the  water.      The  early  shipbuilders  had  to  learn,   and 

1  Antiquity  of  Man  in  Europe,  p.  374,  Edinburgh,  1914.     The  term  "  Neolithic  "  is  here 
rather  vague.     It  applies  to  the  Azilians  and  Maglemosians  as  well  as  to  later  people*. 


ANCIENT  MARINERS  REACH  BRITAIN    73 

did  learn,  for  themselves,  ''the  values  of  length  and 
beam,  of  draught  and  sweet  lines,  of  straight  keel ;  with 
high  stem  to  breast  a  wave  and  high  stern  to  repel 
a  following  sea  ".  The  fashioning  of  a  sea-worthy,  or 
even  a  river-worthy  boat,  must  have  been  in  ancient 
times  as  difficult  a  task  as  was  the  fashioning  of  the  first 
aeroplane  in  our  own  day.  Many  problems  had  to  be 
solved,  many  experiments  had  to  be  made,  and,  no 
doubt,  many  tragedies  took  place  before  the  first  safe 
model-boat  was  paddled  across  a  river.  The  early 
experimenters  may  have  had  shapes  of  vessels  suggested 
to  them  by  fish  and  birds,  and  especially  by  the  aquatic 
birds  that  paddled  past  them  on  the  river  breast  with 
dignity  and  ease.  But  is  it  probable  that  the  first 
experiments  were  made  with  trees?  Did  early  man 
undertake  the  laborious  task  of  hewing  down  tree  after 
tree  to  shape  new  models,  until  in  the  end  he  found  on 
launching  the  correctly  shaped  vessel  that  its  balance 
was  perfect?  Or  was  the  dug-out  canoe  an  imitation  of 
a  boat  already  in  existence,  just  as  a  modern  ship  built 
of  steel  or  concrete  is  an  imitation  of  the  earlier  wooden 
ships?  The  available  evidence  regarding  this  important 
phase  of  the  shipping  problem  tends  to  show  that,  before 
the  dug-out  was  invented,  boats  were  constructed  of 
light  material.  Ancient  Egypt  was  the  earliest  ship- 
building country  in  the  world,  and  all  ancient  ships  were 
modelled  on  those  that  traded  on  the  calm  waters  of  the 
Nile.  Yet  Egypt  is  an  almost  treeless  land.  There  the 
earliest  boats — broad,  light  skiffs — were  made  by  bind- 
ing together  long  bundles  of  the  reeds  of  papyrus. 
Ropes  were  twisted  from  papyrus  as  well  as  from  palm 
fibre.^  It  would  appear  that,  before  dug-outs  were  made, 
the  problems  of  boat  construction  were  solved  by  those 
who  had  invented  papyri  skiffs  and  skin  boats.  In  the 
case  of  the  latter  the  skins  were  stretched  round  a  frame- 

1  Breasted,  A  History  of  Egypt,  pp.  96-7, 


74  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

work,  sewed  together  and  made  watertight  with  pitch. 
We  still  refer  to  the  "  seams  "  and  the  **  skin  "  of  a  boat. 

The  art  of  boat-building  spread  far  and  wide  from  the 
area  of  origin.  Until  recently  the  Chinese  were  building 
junks  of  the  same  type  as  they  did  four  or  five  hundred 
years  earlier.  These  junks  have  been  compared  by 
more  than  one  writer  to  the  deep-sea  boats  of  the 
Egyptian  Empire  period.  The  Papuans  make  **  dug- 
outs "  and  carve  eyes  on  the  prows  as  did  the  ancient 
Egyptians  and  as  do  the  Maltese,  Chinese,  &c.,  in  our 
own  day.  Even  when  only  partly  hollowed,  the 
Papuan  boats  have  perfect  balance  in  the  water  as  soon 
as  they  are  launched.^  The  Polynesians  performed 
religious  ceremonies  when  cutting  down  trees  and  con- 
structing boats.^  In  their  incantations,  &c.,  the  lore  of 
boat-building  was  enshrined  and  handed  down.  The 
Polynesian  boat  was  dedicated  to  the  mo-o  (dragon-god). 
We  still  retain  a  relic  of  an  ancient  religious  ceremony 
when  a  bottle  of  wine  is  broken  on  the  bows  of  a  vessel 
just  as  it  is  being  launched. 

After  the  Egyptians  were  able  to  secure  supplies  of 
cedar  wood  from  the  Atlas  Mountains  or  Lebanon,  by 
drifting  rafts  of  lashed  trees  along  the  coast. line,  they 
made  dug-out  vessels  of  various  shapes,  as  can  be  seen 
in  the  tomb  pictures  of  the  Old  Kingdom  period.  These 
dug-outs  were  apparently  modelled  on  the  earlier  papyri 
and  skin  boats.  A  ship  with  a  square  sail  spread  to  the 
wind  is  depicted  on  an  Ancient  Egyptian  two-handed 
jar  in  the  British  Museum,  which  is  of  pre-dynastic  age 
and  may  date  to  anything  like  4000  or  5000  B.C.  At 
that  remote  period  the  art  of  navigation  was  already  well 
advanced,  no  doubt  on  account  of  the  experience  gained 
on  the  calm  waters  of  the  Nile. 


1  WoUaston,  Pygmies  and  Papuans  {The  Stone  Age  To-day  in  Dutch  Ne^v  Guinea), 
London,  1912,  pp.  53  et  seg. 
-  Westervelt,  Legends  of  Old  Honolulu,  pp.  97  et  seg. 


ANCIENT   MARINERS   REACH   BRITAIN    75 


The  existence  of  these  boats  on  the  Nile  at  a  time 
when  great  race  migrations  were  in  progress  may  well 
account  for  the  early  appearance  of  dug-outs  in  Northern 
Europe.  One  of  the  Clyde  canoes,  found  embedded  in 
Clyde  silt  twenty-five  feet  above  the  present  sea-level, 
was  found  to  have  a  plug  of  cork  which  could  only  have 

-Spain, 


come  from  the  area  in  which  cork  trees  grow- 


Wi\\W\\\V^Wr^ 


(«) 


(a)  Sketch  of  a  boat  from  Victoria  Nyanza,  after  the  drawing-  in  Sir  Henry  Stanley's 
Darkest  Africa.  Only  the  handles  of  the  oars  are  shown.  In  outline  the  positions  of 
some  of  the  oarsmen  are  roughly  represented. 

{b)  Crude  drawing  of  a  similar  boat  carved  upon  the  rocks  in  Sweden  during  the  Early 
Bronze  Age,  after  Montelius,  By  comparison  with  (a)  it  will  be  seen  that  the  vertical 
projections  were  probably  intended  to  represent  the  oarsmen. 

The  upturned  hook-like  appendage  at  the  stern  is  found  in  ancient  Egyptian  and 
Mediterranean  ships,  but  is  absent  in  the  modern  African  vessel  shown  in  (a). 

These  figures  are  taken  from  Elliot  Smith's  Ancient  Mariners  (1918). 

Southern  France,  or  Italy.^  It  may  have  been  manned 
by  the  Azilians  of  Spain  whose  rock  paintings  date  from 
the  Transition  period.  Similar  striking  evidence  of  the 
drift  of  culture  from  the  Mediterranean  area  towards 
Northern  Europe  is  obtained  from  some  of  the  rock 
paintings  and  carvings  of  Sweden.  Among  the  canoes 
depicted  are  some  with  distinct  Mediterranean  character- 
istics. One  at  Tegneby  in  Bohuslan  bears  a  striking 
resemblance  to  a  boat  seen  by  Sir  Henry  Stanley  on 

1  Lyell,  Antiquity  of  Man,  p.  48. 


76  ANCIENT    xMAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Lake  Victoria  Nyanza.  It  seems  undoubted  that  the 
designs  are  of  common  origin,  although  separated  not 
only  by  centuries  but  by  barriers  of  mountain,  desert,  and 
sea  extending  many  hundreds  of  miles.  From  the 
Maglemosian  boat  the  Viking  ship  was  ultimately 
developed;  the  unprogressive  Victoria  Nyanza  boat- 
builders  continued  through  the  Ages  repeating  the 
design  adopted  by  their  remote  ancestors.  In  both 
vessels  the  keel  projects  forward,  and  the  figure-head  is 
that  of  a  goat  or  ram.  The  northern  vessel  has  the 
characteristic  inward  curving  stern  of  ancient  Egyptian 
ships.  As  the  rock  on  which  it  was  carved  is  situated 
in  a  metal-yielding  area,  the  probability  is  that  this  type 
of  vessel  is  a  relic  of  the  visits  paid  by  searchers  for 
metals  in  ancient  times,  who  established  colonies  of 
dark  miners  among  the  fair  Northerners  and  introduced 
the  elements  of  southern  culture. 

The  ancient  boats  found  in  Scotland  are  of  a  variety 
of  types.  One  of  those  at  Glasgow  lay,  when  discovered, 
nearly  vertical,  with  prow  uppermost  as  if  it  had  foundered ; 
it  had  been  built  *' of  several  pieces  of  oak,  though  with- 
out ribs ".  Another  had  the  remains  of  an  outrigger 
attached  to  it:  beside  another,  which  had  been  partly 
hollowed  by  fire,  lay  two  planks  that  appear  to  have 
been  wash-boards  like  those  on  a  Sussex  dug-out.  A 
Clyde  clinker-built  boat,  eighteen  feet  long,  had  a  keel 
and  a  base  of  oak  to  which  ribs  had  been  attached.  An 
interesting  find  at  Kinaven  in  Aberdeenshire,  several 
miles  distant  from  the  Ythan,  a  famous  pearling  river, 
was  a  dug-out  eleven  feet  long,  and  about  four  feet 
broad.  It  lay  embedded  at  the  head  of  a  small  ravine 
in  five  feet  of  peat  which  [appears  to  have  been  the  bed 
of  an  ancient  lake.  Near  it  were  the  stumps  of  big  oaks, 
apparently  of  the  Upper  Forestian  period. 

Among  the  longest  of  the  ancient  boats  that  have  been 
discovered  are  one  forty-two  feet  long,  with  an  animal 


ANCIENT  MARINERS  REACH   BRITAIN    77 

head  on  the  prow,  from  Loch  Arthur,  near  Dumfries, 
one  thirty-five  long  from  near  the  River  Arun  in  Sussex, 
one  sixty-three  feet  long  excavated  near  the  Rother  in 
Kent,  one  forty -eight  feet  six  inches  long,  found  at 
Brigg,  Lincolnshire,  with  wooden  patches  where  she  had 
sprung  a  leak,  and  signs  of  the  caulking  of  cracks  and 
small  holes  with  moss. 

These  vessels  do  not  all  belong  to  the  same  period. 
The  date  of  the  Brigg  boat  is,  judging  from  the  geo- 
logical strata,  between  iioo  and  700  B.C.  It  would 
appear  that  some  of  the  Clyde  vessels  found  at  twenty- 
five  feet  above  the  present  sea-level  are  even  older. 
Beside  one  Clyde  boat  was  found  an  axe  of  polished 
greenstone  similar  to  the  axes  used  by  Polynesians  and 
others  in  shaping  dug-outs.  This  axe  may,  however, 
have  been  a  religious  object.  To  the  low  bases  of  some 
vessels  were  fixed  ribs  on  which  skins  were  stretched. 
These  boats  were  eminently  suitable  for  rough  seas, 
being  more  buoyant  than  dug-outs.  According  to 
Himilco  the  inhabitants  of  the  CEstrymnides,  the  islands 
"rich  in  tin  and  lead",  had  most  sea-worthy  skiffs. 
*' These  people  do  not  make  pine  keels,  nor",  he  says, 
'*  do  they  know  how  to  fashion  them ;  nor  do  they  make 
fir  barks,  but,  with  wonderful  skill,  fashion  skiffs  with 
sewn  skins.  In  these  hide-bound  vessels,  they  skim 
across  the  ocean."  Apparently  they  were  as  daring 
mariners  as  the  Oregon  Islanders  of  whom  Washington 
Irving  has  written: 

•'It  is  surprising  to  see  with  what  fearless  unconcern  these 
savages  venture  in  their  light  barks  upon  the  roughest  and 
most  tempestuous  seas.  They  seem  to  ride  upon  the  wave 
like  sea-fowl.  Should  a  surge  throw  the  canoe  upon  its  side, 
and  endanger  its  over  turn,  those  to  the  windward  lean  over 
the  upper  gunwale,  thrust  their  paddles  deep  into  the  wave, 
and  by  this  action  not  merely  regain  an  equilibrium,  but  give 
their  bark  a  vigorous  impulse  forward." 


78  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

The  ancient  mariners  whose  rude  vessels  have  been 
excavated  around  our  coasts  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
Celtic  sea-traders,  who,  as  the  Gaelic  evidence  shows, 
had  names  not  only  for  the  North  Sea  and  the  English 
Channel  but  also  for  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  They 
cultivated  what  is  known  as  the  *'sea  sense",  and  de- 
veloped shipbuilding  and  the  art  of  navigation  in  accord- 
ance with  local  needs.  When  Julius  Caesar  came  into 
conflict  with  the  Veneti  of  Brittany  he  tells  that  their 
vessels  were  greatly  superior  to  those  of  the  Romans. 
**The  bodies  of  the  ships",  he  says,  "were  built  en- 
tirely of  oak,  stout  enough  to  withstand  any  shock  or 
violence.  .  .  .  Instead  of  cables  for  their  anchors  they 
used  iron  chains.  .  .  .  The  encounter  of  our  fleet  with 
these  ships  was  of  such  a  nature  that  our  fleet  excelled 
in  speed  alone,  and  the  plying  of  oars;  for  neither  could 
our  ships  injure  theirs  with  their  rams,  so  great  was 
their  strength,  nor  was  a  weapon  easily  cast  up  to  them 
owing  to  their  height.  .  .  .  About  220  of  their  ships  .  .  . 
sailed  forth  from  the  harbour."  In  this  great  allied  fleet 
were  vessels  from  our  own  country.^ 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  "sea  sense"  was 
cultivated  because  man  took  pleasure  in  risking  the 
perils  of  the  deep.  It  was  stern  necessity  that  at  the 
beginning  compelled  him  to  venture  on  long  voyages. 
After  England  was  cut  off  from  France  the  peoples  who 
had  adopted  the  Neolithic  industry  must  have  either 
found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  seek  refuge  in  Britain, 
or  were  attracted  towards  it  by  reports  of  prospectors 
who  found  it  to  be  suitable  for  residence  and  trade. 

1  Caesar's  Gallic  War,  Book  III,  c.  13-15. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Neolithic  Trade  and  Industries 

Attractions  of  Ancient  Britain — Romans  search  for  Gold,  Silver, 
Pearls,  &c. — The  Lure  of  Precious  Stones  and  Metals — Distribution  of 
Ancient  British  Population — Neolithic  Settlements  in  Flint-yielding:  Areas 
— Trade  in  Flint — Settlements  on  Lias  Formation — Implements  from 
Basic  Rocks — Trade  in  Body-painting-  Materials — Search  for  Pearls — 
Gold  in  Britain  and  Ireland— Agriculture — The  Story  of  Barley — Neolithic 
Settlers  in  Ireland — Scottish  Neolithic  Traders — Neolithic  Peoples  not 
Wanderers — Trained  Neolithic  Craftsmen. 

The  '*  drift"  of  peoples  into  Britain  which  began  in 
Aurignacian  times  continued  until  the  Roman  period. 
There  were  definite  reasons  for  early  intrusions  as  there 
were  for  the  Roman  invasion.  **  Britain  contains  to 
reward  the  conqueror",  Tacitus  wrote, ^  ''mines  of  gold 
and  silver  and  other  metals.  The  sea  produces  pearls." 
According  to  Suetonius,  who  at  the  end  of  the  first 
century  of  our  era  wrote  the  Lives  of  the  Ccesars^  Julius 
Caesar  invaded  Britain  with  the  desire  to  enrich  himself 
with  the  pearls  found  on  different  parts  of  the  coast. 
On  his  return  to  Rome  he  presented  a  corselet  of  British 
pearls  to  the  goddess  Venus.  He  was  in  need  of  money 
to  further  his  political  ambitions.  He  found  what  he 
required  elsewhere,  however.  After  the  death  of  Queen 
Cleopatra  sufficient  gold  and  silver  flowed  to  Rome 
from  Egypt  to  reduce  the  loan  rate  of  interest  from  12 
to  4  per  cent.  Spain  likewise  contributed  its  share  to 
enrich  the  great  predatory  state  of  Rome.^ 

Long  ages  before  the  Roman  period  the  early  peoples 

1  Agricola,  Chap.  XII.  ^  Smith,  Roman  Empire. 

79 


NEOLITHIC  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES    8i 

known  to  the  ancient  mariners  who  reached  our  shores 
in  vessels  of  Mediterranean  type. 

The  colonists  who  were  attracted  to  Britain  at  various 
periods  settled  in  those  districts  most  suitable  for  their 
modes  of  life.  It  was  necessary  that  they  should  obtain 
an  adequate  supply  of  the  materials  from  which  their 
implements  and  weapons  were  manufactured.  The  dis- 
tribution of  the  population  must  have  been  determined 
by  the  resources  of  the  various  districts. 

At  the  present  day  the  population  of  Britain  is  most 
dense  in  those  areas  in  which  coal  and  iron  are  found 
and  where  commerce  is  concentrated.  In  ancient  times, 
before  metals  were  used,  it  must  have  been  densest  in 
those  areas  where  flint  was  found — that  is,  on  the  upper 
chalk  formations.  If  worked  flints  are  discovered  in 
areas  which  do  not  have  deposits  of  flint,  the  only  con- 
clusion that  can  be  drawn  is  that  the  flint  was  obtained 
by  means  of  trade,  just  as  Mediterranean  shells  were  in 
Aurignacian  and  Magdalenian  times  obtained  by  hunters 
who  settled  in  Central  Europe.  In  Devon  and  Cornwall, 
for  instance,  large  numbers  of  flint  implements  have 
been  found,  yet  in  these  counties  suitable  flint  was 
exceedingly  scarce  in  ancient  times,  except  in  East 
Devon,  where,  however,  the  surface  flint  is  of  inferior 
character.  In  Wilts  and  Dorset,  however,  the  finest 
quality  of  flint  was  found,  and  it  was  no  doubt  from 
these  areas  that  the  early  settlers  in  Cornwall  and  Devon 
received  their  chief  supplies  of  the  raw  material,  if  not  of 
the  manufactured  articles. 

In  England,  as  on  the  Continent,  the  most  abundant 
finds  of  the  earliest  flint  implements  have  been  made  in 
those  areas  where  the  early  hunters  and  fishermen  could 
obtain  their  raw  materials.  River  drift  implements  are 
discovered  in  largest  numbers  on  the  chalk  formations 
of  south-eastern  England  between  the  Wash  and  the 
estuary  of  the  Thames. 

(D217)  7 


82  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

The  Neolithic  peoples,  who  made  less  use  of  horn  and 
bone  than  did  the  Azilians  and  Maglemosians,  had 
many  village  settlements  on  the  upper  chalk  in  Dorset 
and  Wiltshire,  and  especially  at  Avebury  where  there 
were  veritable  flint  factories,  and  near  the  famous  flint 
mines  at  Grimes  Graves  in  the  vicinity  of  Weeting  in 
Norfolk  and  at  Cissbury  Camp  not  far  from  Worthing 
in  Sussex.  Implements  were  likewise  made  of  basic 
rocks,  including  quartzite,  ironstone,  greenstone,  horn- 
blende schist,  granite,  mica-schist,  &c.;  while  ornaments 
were  made  of  jet,  a  hydrocarbon  compound  allied  to 
cannel  coal,  which  takes  on  a  fine  polish,  Kimeridge 
shale  and  ivory.  Withal,  like  the  Aurignacians  and 
Magdalenians,  the  Neolithic-industry  people  used  body 
paint,  which  was  made  with  pigments  of  ochre,  haema- 
tite, an  ore  of  iron,  and  ruddle,  an  earthy  variety  of 
iron  ore. 

In  those  districts,  where  the  raw  materials  for  stone 
implements,  ornaments,  and  body  paint  were  found, 
traces  survive  of  the  activities  of  the  Neolithic  peoples. 
Their  graves  of  long-barrow  type  are  found  not  only  in 
the  chalk  areas  but  on  the  margins  of  the  lias  formations. 
Haematite  is  found  in  large  quantities  in  West  Cumber- 
land and  north  Lancashire  and  in  south-western  Eng- 
land, while  the  chief  source  of  jet  is  Whitby  in  Yorkshire, 
where  it  occurs  in  large  quantities  in  beds  of  the  Upper 
Lias  shale. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Perry,  of  Manchester  University,  who  has 
devoted  special  attention  to  the  study  of  the  distribution 
of  megalithic  monuments,  has  been  drawing  attention 
to  the  interesting  association  of  these  monuments  with 
geological  formations.^  In  the  Avebury  district  stone 
circles,  dolmens,  chambered  barrows,  long  barrows,  and 
Neolithic  settlements  are  numerous;  another  group  of 
megalithic  monuments  occurs  in  Oxford  on  the  margin 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  1921. 


84  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

of  the  lias  formation,  and  at  the  south-end  of  the  great 
iron  field  extending  as  far  as  the  Clevelands.  Accord- 
ing to  the  memoir  of  the  geological  survey,  there  are 
traces  of  ancient  surface  iron-workings  in  the  Middle 
Lias  formation  of  Oxfordshire,  where  red  and  brown 
haematite  were  found.  Mr.  Perry  notes  that  there  are 
megalithic  monuments  in  the  vicinity  of  all  these  sur- 
face workings,  as  at  Fawler,  Adderbury,  Hook  Norton, 
Woodstock,  Steeple  Aston,  and  Hanbury.  Apparently 
the  Neolithic  peoples  were  attracted  to  the  lias  formation 
because  it  contains  haematite,  ochre,  shale,  &c.  There 
are  significant  megaliths  in  the  Whitby  region  where 
the  jet  is  so  plentiful.  Amber  was  obtained  from  the 
east  coast  of  England  and  from  the  Baltic. 

The  Neolithic  peoples  appear  to  have  searched  for 
pearls,  which  are  found  in  a  number  of  English,  Welsh, 
Scottish,  and  Irish  rivers,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  most,  if 
not  all,  of  these  megaliths  occur.  Gold  was  the  first 
metal  worked  by  man,  and  it  appears  to  have  attracted 
some  of  the  early  peoples  who  settled  in  Britain.  The 
ancient  seafarers  who  found  their  way  northward  may 
have  included  searchers  for  gold  and  silver.  The  latter 
metal  was  at  one  time  found  in  great  abundance  in 
Spain,  while  gold  was  at  one  time  fairly  plentiful  in 
south-western  England,  in  North  Wales,  in  various 
parts  of  Scotland  and  especially  in  Lanarkshire,  and  in 
north-eastern,  eastern,  and  western  Ireland.  That  there 
was  a  ** drift"  of  civilized  peoples  into  Britain  and 
Ireland  during  the  period  of  the  Neolithic  industry  is 
made  evident  by  the  fact  that  the  agricultural  mode  of  life 
was  introduced.  Barley  does  not  grow  wild  in  Europe. 
The  nearest  area  in  which  it  grew  wild  and  was  earliest 
cultivated  was  the  delta  area  of  Egypt,  the  region  from 
which  the  earliest  vessels  set  out  to  explore  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean.  It  may  be  that  the  barley  seeds 
were  carried  to  Britain  not  by  the  overland  routes  alone 


NEOLITHIC  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES    85 

to  Channel  ports,  but  also  by  the  seafarers  whose  boats, 
like  the  Glasgow  one  with  the  cork  plug,  coasted  round 
by  Spain  and  Brittany,  and  crossed  the  Channel  to  south- 
western England  and  thence  went  northward  to  Scot- 
land. As  Irish  flints  and  ground  axe-heads  occur  chiefly 
in  Ulster,  it  may  be  that  the  drift  of  early  Neolithic 
settlers  into  County  Antrim,  in  which  gold  was  also 
found,  was  from  south-western  Scotland.  The  Neolithic 
settlement  at  Whitepark  Bay,  five  miles  from  the  Giant's 
Causeway,  was  embedded  at  a  considerable  depth,  show- 
ing that  there  has  been  a  sinking  of  the  land  in  this  area 
since  the  Neolithic  industry  was  introduced. -> 

Neolithic  remains  are  widely  distributed  over  Scot- 
land, but  these  have  not  received  the  intensive  study 
devoted  to  similar  relics  in  England.  Mr.  Ludovic 
Mann,  the  Glasgow  archaeologist,  has,  however,  com- 
piled interesting  data  regarding  one  of  the  local  indus- 
tries that  bring  out  the  resource  and  activities  of  early 
man.  On  the  island  of  Arran  is  a  workable  variety  of 
the  natural  volcanic  glass,  called  pitch-stone,  that  of 
other  parts  of  Scotland  and  of  Ireland  being  **too  much 
cracked  into  small  pieces  to  be  of  use  ".  It  was  used  by 
the  Neolithic  settlers  in  Arran  for  manufacturing  arrow- 
heads, and  as  it  was  imported  into  Bute,  Ayrshire,  and 
Wigtownshire,  a  trade  in  this  material  must  have  existed. 
'*If",  writes  Mr.  Mann,  **the  stone  was  not  locally 
worked  up  into  implements  in  Bute,  it  was  so  manipu- 
lated on  the  mainland,  where  workshops  of  the  Neolithic 
period  and  the  immediately  succeeding  overlap  period 
yielded  long  fine  flakes,  testifying  to  greater  expertness 
in  manufacturing  there  than  is  shown  by  the  remains  in 
the  domestic  sites  yet  awaiting  adequate  exploration  in 
Arran.  The  explanation  may  be  that  the  Wigtownshire 
flint  knappers,  accustomed  to  handle  an  abundance  of 
flint,  were  more  proficient  than  in  most  other  places,  and 
that  the  pitch-stone  was  brought  to  them  as  experts, 


86  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

because  the  material  required  even  more  skilful  hand- 
ling than  flint  ".^  In  like  manner  obsidian,  as  has  been 
noted,  was  imported  into  Crete  from  the  island  of  Melos 
by  seafarers,  long  before  the  introduction  of  metal 
working.  2 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Neolithic  peoples  were  no 
mere  wandering  hunters,  as  some  have  represented 
them  to  have  been,  but  they  had  their  social  organiza- 
tion, their  industries,  and  their  system  of  trading  by 
land  and  sea.  They  settled  not  only  in  those  areas 
where  they  could  procure  a  regular  food  supply,  but 
those  also  in  which  they  obtained  the  raw  materials  for 
implements,  weapons,  and  the  colouring  material  which 
they  used  for  religious  purposes.  They  made  pottery 
for  grave  offerings  and  domestic  use,  and  wooden  imple- 
ments regarding  which,  however,  little  is  known. 
Withal,  they  had  their  spinners  and  weavers.  The 
conditions  prevailing  in  Neolithic  settlements  must  have 
been  similar  to  those  of  later  times.  There  must  have 
been  systems  of  laws  to  make  trade  and  peaceful  social 
intercourse  possible,  and  no  doubt  these  had,  as  else- 
where, a  religious  basis.  Burial  custorns  indicate  a 
uniformity  of  beliefs  over  wide  areas.  The  skill  dis- 
played in  working  stone  was  so  great  that  it  cannot  now 
be  emulated.  Ripple-flaking  has  long  been  a  lost  art. 
Craftsmen  must  have  undergone  a  prolonged  period  of 
training  which  was  intelligently  controlled  under  settled 
conditions  of  life.  It  is  possible  that  the  so-called  Neo- 
lithic folk  were  chiefly  foreigners  who  exploited  the 
riches  of  the  country.  The  evidence  in  this  connection 
will  be  found  in  the  next  chapter. 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  1917-18,  pp.  149  et  seq. 

2  See  my  Myths  of  Crete  and  fre-Hellenic  Eurofe  under  **  Obsidian"  in  Index. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Metal  Workers  and   Megalithic 
Monuments 

"Broad-heads"  of  Bronze  Age — The  Irish  Evidence — Bronze  Intro- 
duced by  Traders— How  Metals  were  Traced — A  Metal  Working  Tribe — 
Damnonii  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland — Miners  as  Slaves — The  Lot 
of  Women  Workers — Megalithic  Monuments  in  English  Metal-yielding 
Areas — Stone  Circles  in  Barren  Localities — Early  Colonies  of  Easterners 
in  Spain — Egyptian  and  Babylonian  Relics  associated  with  British  Jet  and 
Baltic  Amber — A  New  Flint  Industry  of  Eastern  Origin — British  Bronze 
identical  with  Continental — Ancient  Furnaces  of  Common  Origin — 
"Stones  of  Worship"  adorned  with  Metals — The  **  Maggot  God  "  of  Stone 
Circles — Ancient  Egyptian  Beads  at  Stonehenge — Earliest  Authentic  Date 
in  British  History — The  Aim  of  Conquests. 

It  used  to  be  thought  that  the  introduction  of  metal 
working  into  Britain  was  the  result  of  an  invasion  of 
alien  peoples,  who  partly  exterminated  and  partly  en- 
slaved the  long-headed  Neolithic  inhabitants.  This  view 
was  based  on  the  evidence  afforded  by  a  new  type  of 
grave  known  as  the  *' Round  Barrow".  In  graves  of 
this  class  have  been  found  Bronze  Age  relics,  a  distinc- 
tive kind  of  pottery,  and  skulls  of  broad-heads.  The 
invasion  of  broad-heads  undoubtedly  took  place,  and 
their  burial  customs  suggest  that  their  religious  beliefs 
were  not  identical  with  those  of  the  long -heads. 
But  it  remains  to  be  proved  that  they  were  the  actual 
introducers  of  the  bronze  industry.  They  do  not  appear 
to  have  reached  Ireland,  where  bronze  relics  are  as- 
sociated with  a  long-headed  people  of  comparatively  low 
stature. 

87 


88 


ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


The  early  Irish  bronze  forms  were  obviously  obtained 
from  Spain,  while  early  English  bronze  forms  resemble 
those  of  France  and  Italy.  Cutting  implements  were 
the  first  to  be  introduced.      This  fact  does  not  suggest 


Long-head  (Dolichocephalic)  Skull 


Broad-head  (Brachycephalic)  Skull 

Both  these  specimens  were  found  in  "  Round  "  Barrows  in  the  East  Riding 
of  Yorkshire 


that  a  conquest  took  place.     The  implements  may  have 
been  obtained  by  traders.     Britain  apparently  had  in 
those  ancient  times  its  trading  colonies,  and  was  visited 
by  active  and  enterprising  seafarers. 
The  discovery  of  metals  in  Britain  and  Ireland  was, 


METAL   WORKERS  89 

no  doubt,  first  made  by  prospectors  who  had  obtained 
experience  in  working  them  elsewhere.  They  may 
have  simply  come  to  exploit  the  country.  How  these 
men  conducted  their  investigations  is  indicated  by  the 
report  found  in  a  British  Museum  manuscript,  dating 
from  about  1603,  in  which  the  prospector  gives  his 
reason  for  believing  that  gold  was  to  be  found  on 
Crawford  Moor  in  Lanarkshire.  He  tells  that  he  saw 
among  the  rocks  what  Scottish  miners  call  ''mothers" 
and  English  miners  ''leaders"  or  "metalline  fumes". 
It  was  believed  that  the  "fumes"  arose  from  veins  of 
metal  and  coloured  the  rocks  as  smoke  passing  upward 
through  a  tunnel  blackens  it,  and  leaves  traces  on  the 
outside.  He  professed  to  be  able  to  distinguish  between 
the  colours  left  by  "fumes"  of  iron,  lead,  tin,  copper,  or 
silver.  On  Crawford  Moor  he  found  "sparr,  keel,  and 
brimstone  "  between  rocks,  and  regarded  this  discovery  as 
a  sure  indication  that  gold  was  in  situ.  The  "  mothers  " 
or  "leaders"  were  more  pronounced  than  any  he  had 
ever  seen  in  Cornwall,  Somersetshire,  about  Keswick,  or 
"  any  other  mineral  parts  wheresoever  I  have  travelled  ".^ 
Gold  was  found  in  this  area  of  Lanarkshire  in  consider- 
able quantities,  and  was  no  doubt  worked  in  ancient 
times.  Of  special  interest  in  this  connection  is  the  fact 
that  it  was  part  of  the  territory  occupied  by  Damnonians,^ 
who  appear  to  have  been  a  metal-working  people. 
Besides  occupying  the  richest  metal-yielding  area  in 
Scotland,  the  Damnonians  were  located  in  Devon  and 
Cornwall,  and  in  the  east-midland  and  western  parts  of 
Ireland,  in  which  gold,  copper,  and  tin-stone  were  found 
as  in  south-western  England.  The  Welsh  Dyfneint 
(Devon)  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  connected  with  a  form 
of  this  tribal  name.  Another  form  in  a  Yarrow  inscrip- 
tion is  Dumnogeni.     In  Ireland  Inber  Domnann  is  the 

1  R.  W,  Cochrane  Patrick,  Early  Records  relating  to  Mining  in  Scotland,  Edinburgh, 
1878,  p.  xxviii.  2  The  Damnonii  or  Dumnonii. 


90  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

old  name  of  Malahide  Bay  north  of  Dublin.  Domnu, 
the  genitive  of  which  is  Domnann,  was  the  name  of  an 
ancient  goddess.  In  the  Irish  manuscripts  these  people 
are  referred  to  as  Fir-domnann/  and  associated  with  the 
Fir-bolg  (the  men  with  sacks).  A  sack-carrying  people 
are  represented  in  Spanish  rock  paintings  that  date  from 
the  Azilian  till  early  ''  Bronze  Age  "  times.  In  an  Irish 
manuscript  which  praises  the  fair  and  tall  people,  the 
Fir-bolg  and  Fir-domnann  are  included  among  the 
black-eyed  and  black-haired  people,  the  descendants  of 
slaves  and  churls,  and  *'the  promoters  of  discord  among 
the  people". 

The  reference  to  ^*  slaves  "  is  of  special  interest  because 
the  lot  of  the  working  miners  was  in  ancient  days  an 
extremely  arduous  one.  In  one  of  his  collected  records 
which  describes  the  method  **of  the  greatest  antiquity" 
Diodorus  Siculus  (a.d.  first  century)  tells  how  gold- 
miners,  with  lights  bound  on  their  foreheads,  drove 
galleries  into  the  rocks,  the  fragments  of  which  were 
carried  out  by  frail  old  men  and  boys.  These  were 
broken  small  by  men  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  pounded 
stone  was  then  ground  in  handmills  by  women:  three 
women  to  a  mill  and  *'to  each  of  those  who  bear  this 
lot,  death  is  better  than  life ".  Afterwards  the  milled 
quartz  was  spread  out  on  an  inclined  table.  Men  threw 
water  on  it,  work  it  through  their  fingers,  and  dabbed 
it  with  sponges  until  the  lighter  matter  was  removed  and 
the  gold  was  left  behind.  The  precious  metal  was  placed 
in  a  clay  crucible,  which  was  kept  heated  for  five  days 
and  five  nights.  It  may  be  that  the  Scandinavian 
references  to  the  nine  maidens  who  turn  the  handle  of 
the  *^ world  mill"  which  grinds  out  metal  and  soil,  and 
the  Celtic  references  to  the  nine  maidens  who  are  associ- 

1  The  Fir-domnann  were  known  as  "the  men  who  used  to  deepen  the  earth",  or  "dig 
pits"  Professor  J.  MacNeil  in  Labor  Gabula,  p.  119.  They  were  thus  called  "  Diggers" 
like  the  modern  Australians.  The  name  of  the  goddess  referred  to  the  depths  (the  Under- 
world).    It  is  probable  she  was  the  personification  of  the  metal-yielding  earth. 


METAL    WORKERS  91 

ated  with  the  Celtic  cauldron,  survive  from  beliefs  that 
reflected  the  habits  and  methods  of  the  ancient  metal 
workers. 

It  is  difficult  now  to  trace  the  various  areas  in  which 
gold  was  anciently  found  in  our  islands.  But  this  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  In  Egypt  there  were  once  rich 
goldfields,  especially  in  the  Eastern  Desert,  where  about 
100  square  miles  were  so  thoroughly  worked  in  ancient 
times  that  "only  the  merest  traces  of  gold  remain  ".^ 
Gold,  as  has  been  stated,  was  formerly  found  in  south- 
western England,  North  Wales,  and,  as  historical  records, 
archaeological  data,  and  place  names  indicate,  in  various 
parts  of  Scotland  and  Ireland.  During  the  period  of  the 
**  Great  Thaw  "  a  great  deal  of  alluvial  gold  must  have 
distributed  throughout  the  country.  Silver  was  found 
in  various  parts.  In  Sutherland  it  is  mixed  with  gold 
as  it  is  elsewhere  with  lead.  Copper  was  worked  in  a 
number  of  districts  where  the  veins  cannot  in  modern 
times  be  economically  worked,  and  tin  was  found  in 
Ireland  and  Scotland  as  well  as  in  south-western  England, 
where  mining  operations  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
begun,  as  Principal  Sir  John  Rhys  has  shown, ^  until 
after  the  supplies  of  surface  tin  were  exhausted.  Of 
special  interest  in  connection  with  this  problem  is  the 
association  of  megalithic  monuments  with  ancient  mine 
workings.  An  interesting  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind  in 
connection  with  these  relics  of  the  activities  and  beliefs 
of  the  early  peoples  is  that  they  represent  a  distinct 
culture  of  complex  character.  Mr.  T.  Eric  Peet^  shows 
that  the  megalithic  buildings  "occupy  a  very  remark- 
able position  along  a  vast  seaboard  which  includes  the 
Mediterranean  coast  of  Africa  and  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
Europe.      In    other  words,    they   lie   entirely   along  a 

1  Alford,   A  Report  on  Ancient  and  Prospective  Gold  Mining  in  Egypt,   1900,  and 
Mining  in  Egypt  (by  Egyptologist). 

2  Celtic  Britain,  pp.  44  et  seq.  (4th  edition). 

'  Rough  Stone  Monuments,  London,  191 2,  pp.  -147-8. 


92  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

natural  sea  route."  He  gives  forcible  reasons  for  arriv- 
ing at  the  conclusion  that  "it  is  impossible  to  consider 
megalithic  building  as  a  mere  phase  through  which 
many  nations  passed,  and  it  must  therefore  have  been  a 
system  originating  with  one  race,  and  spreading  far  and 
wide,  owing  either  to  trade  influence  or  migration". 
He  adds : 

"  Great  movements  of  races  by  sea  were  not  by  any  means 
unusual  in  primitive  days.  In  fact,  the  sea  has  always  been 
less  of  an  obstacle  to  early  man  than  the  land  with  its  deserts, 
mountains,  and  unfordable  rivers.  There  is  nothing  in- 
herently impossible  or  even  improbable  in  the  suggestion  that 
a  great  immigration  brought  the  megalithic  monuments  from 
Sweden  to  India  or  vice  versa.  History  is  full  of  instances 
of  such  migrations." 

But  there  must  have  been  a  definite  reason  for  these 
race  movements.  It  cannot  be  that  in  all  cases  they 
were  forced  merely  by  natural  causes,  such  as  changes 
of  climate,  invasions  of  the  sea,  and  the  drying  up  of 
once  fertile  districts,  or  by  the  propelling  influences  of 
stronger  races  in  every  country  from  the  British  Isles  to 
Japan — that  is,  in  all  countries  in  which  megalithic 
monuments  of  similar  type  are  found.  The  fact  that 
the  megalithic  monuments  are  distributed  along  **a  vast 
seaboard  "  suggests  that  they  were  the  work  of  people 
who  had  acquired  a  culture  of  common  origin,  and 
were  attracted  to  different  countries  for  the  same  reason. 
What  that  attraction  was  is  indicated  by  studying  the 
elements  of  the  megalithic  culture.  In  a  lecture  delivered 
before  the  British  Association  in  Manchester  in  191 5, 
Mr.  W.  J.  Perry  threw  much  light  on  the  problem  by 
showing  that  the  carriers  of  the  culture  practised  weaving 
linen,  and  in  some  cases  the  use  of  Tyrian  purple,  pearls, 
precious  stones,  metals,  and  conch-shell  trumpets,  as 
well  as  curious  beliefs  and  superstitions  attached  to  the 


METAL   WORKERS  93 

latter,  while  they  **  adopted  certain  definite  metallurgical 
methods,  as  well  as  mining".  Mr.  Perry's  paper  was 
subsequently  published  by  the  Manchester  Literary  and 
Philosophical  Society.  It  shows  that  in  Western  Europe 
the  megalithic  monuments  are  distributed  in  those  areas 
in  which  ancient  pre-Roman  and  pre-Greek  mine  work- 
ings and  metal  washings  have  been  traced.  ''  The  same 
correspondence",  he  writes,  **  seems  to  hold  in  the  case 
of  England  and  Wales.  In  the  latter  country  the 
counties  where  megalithic  structures  abound  are  pre- 
cisely those  where  mineral  deposits  and  ancient  mine- 
workings  occur.  In  England  the  grouping  in  Cumber- 
land, Westmorland,  Northumberland,  Durham,  and 
Derbyshire  is  precisely  that  of  old  mines;  in  Cornwall 
the  megalithic  structures  are  mainly  grouped  west  of 
Falmouth,  precisely  in  that  district  where  mining  has 
always  been  most  active." 

Pearls,  amber,  coral,  jet,  &c.,  were  searched  for  as  well 
as  metals.  The  megalithic  monuments  near  pearling 
rivers,  in  the  vicinity  of  Whitby,  the  main  source  of 
jet,  and  in  Denmark  and  the  Baltic  area  where  amber 
was  found  were,  in  all  likelihood,  erected  by  people  who 
had  come  under  the  spell  of  the  same  ancient  culture. 

When,  therefore,  we  come  to  deal  with  groups  of 
monuments  in  areas  which  were  unsuitable  for  agricul- 
ture and  unable  to  sustain  large  populations,  a  reasonable 
conclusion  to  draw  is  that  precious  metals,  precious 
stones,  or  pearls  were  once  found  near  them.  The 
pearling  beds  may  have  been  destroyed  or  greatly  re- 
duced in  value,^  or  the  metals  may  have  been  worked 
out,  leaving  but  slight  if  any  indication  that  they  were 
ever  in  situ.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the  traces 
left  by  ancient  miners  in  Egypt  where  no  gold  is  now 

*  The  Scottish  pearling  beds  have  suflfered  great  injury  in  historic  times.  They  are  th* 
property  of  the  "Crown",  and  no  one  takes  any  interest  in  them  except  the  "pearl 
poachers  ". 


94  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

found.  In  our  own  day  rich  goldfields  in  Australia  and 
North  America  have  been  exhausted.  It  would  be 
unreasonable  for  us  to  suppose  that  the  same  thing  did 
not  happen  in  our  country,  even  although  but  slight 
traces  of  the  precious  metal  can  now  be  obtained  in  areas 
which  were  thoroughly  explored  by  ancient  miners. 

When  early  man  reached  Scotland  in  search  of  suit- 
able districts  in  which  to  settle,  he  was  not  likely  to  be 
attracted  by  the  barren  or  semi-barren  areas  in  which 
nature  grudged  soil  for  cultivation,  where  pasture  lands 
were  poor  and  the  coasts  were  lashed  by  great  billows 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  the  tempests  of  winter 
and  spring  were  particularly  severe.  Yet  in  such  places 
as  Carloway,  fronting  the  Atlantic  on  the  west  coast  of 
Lewis,  and  at  Stennis  in  Orkney,  across  the  dangerous 
Pentland  Firth,  are  found  the  most  imposing  stone 
circles  north  of  Stonehenge  and  Avebury.  Traces  of 
tin  have  been  found  in  Lewis,  and  Orkney  has  yielded 
traces  of  lead,  including  silver-lead,  copper  and  zinc,  and 
has  flint  in  glacial  drift.  Traces  of  tin  have  likewise 
been  found  on  the  mainlands  of  Ross-shire  and  Argyll- 
shire, in  various  islands  of  the  Hebrides  and  in  Stirling- 
shire. The  great  Stonehenge  circle  is  like  the  Callernish 
and  Stennis  circles  situated  in  a  semi-barren  area,  but  it 
is  an  area  where  surface  tin  and  gold  were  anciently 
obtained.  One  cannot  help  concluding  that  the  early 
people,  who  populated  the  wastes  of  ancient  Britain  and 
erected  megalithic  monuments,  were  attracted  by  some- 
thing more  tangible  than  the  charms  of  solitude  and 
wild  scenery.  They  searched  for  and  found  the  things 
they  required.  If  they  found  gold,  it  must  be  recognized 
that  there  was  a  psychological  motive  for  the  search  for 
this  precious  metal.  They  valued  gold,  or  whatever 
other  metal  they  worked  in  bleak  and  isolated  places, 
because  they  had  learned  to  value  it  elsewhere. 

Who  were  the  people  that  first  searched  for,  found. 


METAL   WORKERS  95 

and  used  metals  in  Western  Europe?  Some  have 
assumed  that  the  natives  themselves  did  so  **as  a  matter 
of  course ".  Such  a  theory  is,  however,  difficult  to 
maintain.  Gold  is  a  useless  metal  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses. It  is  too  soft  for  implements.  Besides,  it  cannot 
be  found  or  worked  except  by  those  who  have  acquired 
a  great  deal  of  knowledge  and  skill.  The  men  who  first 
**  washed  "  it  from  the  soil  in  Britain  must  have  obtained 
the  necessary  knowledge  and  skill  in  a  country  where 
it  was  more  plentiful  and  much  easier  to  work,  and 
where — and  this  point  is  a  most  important  one — the 
magical  and  religious  beliefs  connected  with  gold  have 
a  very  definite  history.  Copper,  tin,  and  silver  were 
even  more  difficult  to  find  and  work  in  Britain.  The 
ancient  people  who  reached  Britain  and  first  worked 
metals  or  collected  ores  were  not  the  people  who  were 
accustomed  to  use  implements  of  bone,  horn,  and  flint, 
and  had  been  attracted  to  its  shores  merely  because  fish, 
fowl,  deer,  and  cows,  were  numerous.  The  searchers  for 
metals  must  have  come  from  centres  of  Eastern  civiliza- 
tion, or  from  colonies  of  highly  skilled  peoples  that 
had  been  established  in  Western  Europe.  They  did 
not  necessarily  come  to  settle  permanently  in  Britain, 
but  rather  to  exploit  its  natural  riches. 

This  conclusion  is  no  mere  hypothesis.  Siret,^  the 
Belgian  archaeologist,  has  discovered  in  southern  Spain 
and  Portugal  traces  of  numerous  settlements  of  Easterners 
who  searched  for  minerals,  &c.,  long  before  the  introduc- 
tion of  bronze  working  in  Western  Europe.  They  came 
during  the  archaeological  **  Stone  Age";  they  even 
introduced  some  of  the  flint  implements  classed  as 
Neolithic  by  the  arch^ologists  of  a  past  generation. 

These  Eastern  colonists  do  not  appear  to  have  been  an 
organized  people.  Siret  considers  that  they  were  merely 
groups  of  people  from  Asia — probably  the  Syrian  coast 

1  L' Anthropologie,  igai,  contains  a  long:  account  of  his  discoveries. 


96  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

— who  were  in  contact  with  Egypt.  During  the  Empire 
period  of  Egypt,  the  Egyptian  sphere  of  influence 
extended  to  the  borders  of  Asia  Minor.  At  an  earlier 
period  Babylonian  influence  permeated  the  Syrian  coast 
and  part  of  Asia  Minor.  The  religious  beliefs  of  seafarers 
from  Syria  were  likely  therefore  to  bear  traces  of  the 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian  religious  systems.  Evidence 
that  this  was  the  case  has  been  forthcoming  in  Spain. 
•ijE.  These  Eastern  colonists  not  only  operated  in  Spain 
and  Portugal,  but  established  contact  with  Northern 
Europe.  They  exported  what  they  had  searched  for 
and  found  to  their  Eastern  markets.  No  doubt,  they 
employed  native  labour,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
instructed  the  natives  how  to  make  uise  of  the  ores  they 
themselves  valued  so  highly.*  In  time  they  were 
expelled  from  Spain  and  Portugal  by  the  people  or 
mixed  peoples  who  introduced  the  working  of  bronze 
and  made  use  of  bronze  weapons.  These  bronze  carriers 
and  workers  came  from  Central  Europe,  where  colonies 
of  peoples  skilled  in  the  arts  of  mining  and  metal  work- 
ing had  been  established.  In  the  Central  European 
colonies  -^gean  and  Danubian  influences  have  been 
detected. 

Among  the  archaeological  finds,  which  prove  that  the 
Easterners  settled  in  Iberia  before  bronze  working  was 
introduced  among  the  natives,  are  idol-like  objects  made 
of  hippopotamus  ivory  from  Egypt,  a  shell  {Dentalmm 
elephantum)  from  the  Red  Sea,  objects  made  from 
ostrich  eggs  which  must  have  been  carried  to  Spain 
from  Africa,  alabaster  perfume  flasks,  cups  of  marble 
and  alabaster  of  Egyptian  character  which  had  been 
shaped  with  copper  implements.  Oriental  painted  vases 
with  decorations  in  red,  black,  blue,  and  green, ^  mural 
paintings  on  layers  of  plaster,  feminine  statuettes  in 
alabaster  which  Siret  considers  to  be  of  Babylonian  type, 

*  The  colours  blue  and  green  were  obtained  from  copper. 


METAL  WORKERS  97 

for  they  differ  from  JEgesLn  and  Egyptian  statuettes,  a 
cult  object  (found  in  graves)  resembling  the  Egyptian 
ded  amulet,  &c.  The  Iberian  burial  places  of  these 
Eastern  colonists  have  arched  cupolas  and  entrance 
corridors  of  Egyptian-Mycenaean  character. 

Of  special  interest  are  the  beautifully  worked  flints 
associated  with  these  Eastern  remains  in  Spain  and 
Portugal.  Siret  draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  no  trace 
has  been  found  of  *' flint  factories".  This  particular 
flint  industry  was  an  entirely  new  one.  It  was  not  a 
development  of  earlier  flint-working  in  Iberia.  Appar- 
ently the  new  industry,  which  suddenly  appears  in  full 
perfection,  was  introduced  by  the  Eastern  colonists.  It 
afterwards  spread  over  the  whole  maritime  west,  includ- 
ing Scandinavia  where  the  metal  implements  of  more 
advanced  countries  were  imitated  in  flint.  This  impor- 
tant fact  emphasizes  the  need  for  caution  in  making  use 
of  such  a  term  as  **  Neolithic  Age  ".  Siret's  view  in  this 
connection  is  that  the  Easterners,  who  established  trading 
colonies  in  Spain  and  elsewhere,  prevented  the  local  use 
of  metals  which  they  had  come  to  search  for  and  export. 
It  was  part  of  their  policy  to  keep  the  natives  in  ignor- 
ance of  the  uses  to  which  metals  could  be  put. 

Evidence  has  been  forthcoming  that  the  operations  of 
the  Eastern  colonies  in  Spain  and  Portugal  were  ex- 
tended towards  the  maritime  north.  Associated  with 
the  Oriential  relics  already  referred  to,  Siret  has  dis- 
covered amber  from  the  Baltic,  jet  from  Britain  (appar- 
ently from  Whitby  in  Yorkshire)  and  the  green-stone 
called  '^callais"  usually  found  in  beds  of  tin.  The 
Eastern  seafarers  must  have  visited  Northern  Europe  to 
exploit  its  virgin  riches.  A  green-stone  axe  was  found, 
as  has  been  stated,  near  the  boat  with  the  cork  plug,  which 
lay  embedded  in  Clyde  silt  at  Glasgow.  Artifacts  of 
callais  have  been  discovered  in  Brittany,  in  the  south  of 
France,  in  Portugal,  and  in  south-eastern  Spain.     In  the 

(  D  217 )  8 


98  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

latter  area,  as  Siret  has  proved,  the  Easterners  worked 
silver-bearing  lead  and  copper. 

The  colonists  appear  to  have  likewise  searched  for  and 
found  gold.  A  diadem  of  gold  was  discovered  in  a 
necropolis  in  the  south  of  Spain,  where  some  eminent 
ancient  had  been  interred.  This  find  is,  however,  an 
exception.  Precious  metals  do  not  as  a  rule  appear  in 
the  graves  of  the  period  under  consideration. 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  Easterners  who  exploited 
the  wealth  of  ancient  Iberia  kept  the  natives  in  ignor- 
ance. ''  This  ignorance",  Siret  says,  ''was  the  guarantee 
of  the  prosperity  of  the  commerce  carried  on  by  the 
strangers.  .  .  .  The  first  action  of  the  East  on  the 
West  was  the  exploitation  for  its  exclusive  and  personal 
profit  of  the  virgin  riches  of  the  latter."  These  early 
Westerners  had  no  idea  of  the  use  and  value  of  the 
metals  lying  on  the  surface  of  their  native  land,  while 
the  Orientals  valued  them,  were  in  need  of  them,  and 
were  anxious  to  obtain  them.     As  Siret  puts  it: 

•'The  West  was  a  cow  to  be  milked,  a  sheep  to  be  fleeced, 
a  field  to  be  cultivated,  a  mine  to  be  exploited." 

In  the  traditions  preserved  by  classical  writers,  there 
are  references  to  the  skill  and  cunning  of  the  Phoenicians 
in  commerce,  and  in  the  exploitation  of  colonies  founded 
among  the  ignorant  Iberians.  They  did  not  inform 
rival  traders  where  they  found  metals.  "Formerly", 
as  Strabo  says,  "the  Phoenicians  monopolized  the  trade 
from  Gades  (Cadiz)  with  the  islanders  (of  the  Cassiter- 
ides);  and  they  kept  the  route  a  close  secret."  A  vague 
ancient  tradition  is  preserved  by  Pliny,  who  tells  that 
"tin  was  first  fetched  from  Cassiteris  (the  tin  island)  by 
Midacritus".^  We  owe  it  to  the  secretive  Phoenicians 
that  the  problem  of  the  Cassiterides  still  remains  a 
difficult  one  to  solve. 

I  Nat.  Hist,  VU.  56(57),  f>  197' 


METAL   WORKERS  99 

To  keep  the  native  people  ignorant  the  Easterners, 
Siret  believes,  forbade  the  use  of  metals  in  their  own 
colonies.  A  direct  result  of  this  policy  was  the  great 
development  which  took  place  in  the  manufacture  of  the 
beautiful  flint  implements  already  referred  to.  These 
the  natives  imitated,  never  dreaming  that  they  were  imi- 
tating some  forms  that  had  been  developed  by  a  people 
who  used  copper  in  their  own  country.  When,  therefore, 
we  pick  up  beautiful  Neolithic  flints,  we  cannot  be  too 
sure  that  the  skill  displayed  belongs  entirely  to  the 
"Stone  Age",  or  that  the  flints  "evolved"  from  earlier 
native  forms  in  those  areas  in  which  they  are  found. 

The  Easterners  do  not  appear  to  have  extracted  the 
metals  from  their  ores  either  in  Iberia  or  in  Northern 
Europe.  Tin-stone  and  silver-bearing  lead  were  used 
for  ballast  for  their  ships,  and  they  made  anchors  of 
lead.  Gold  washed  from  river  beds  could  be  easily 
packed  in  small  bulk.  A  people  who  lived  by  hunting 
and  fishing  were  not  likely  to  be  greatly  interested  in 
the  laborious  process  of  gold-washing.  Nor  were  they 
likely  to  attach  to  gold  a  magical  and  religious  value  as 
did  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Sumerians. 

So  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  Iberian  evidence, 
the  period  of  exploitation  by  the  colonists  from  the  East 
was  a  somewhat  prolonged  one.  How  many  centuries 
it  covered  we  can  only  guess.  It  is  of  interest  to  find, 
in  this  connection,  however,  that  something  was  known 
in  Mesopotamia  before  2000  B.C.  regarding  the  natural 
riches  of  Western  Europe.  Tablets  have  recently  been 
found  on  the  site  of  Asshur,  the  ancient  capital  of  Assyria, 
which  was  originally  a  Sumerian  settlement.  These 
make  reference  to  the  Empire  of  Sargon  of  Akkad  (c. 
2600  B.C.),  which,  according  to  tradition,  extended  from 
the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Syrian  coast.  Sargon  was  a 
great  conqueror.  "He  poured  out  his  glory  over  the 
world  ",  declares  a  tablet  found  a  good  many  years  ago. 


METAL   WORKERS  loi 

Druids  the  statement  that  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul 
were  indigenous,  but  that  some  had  come  from  the 
farthest  shores  and  districts  across  the  Rhine,  *' having 
been  expelled  from  their  own  lands  by  frequent  wars 
and  the  encroachments  of  the  ocean  ". 

The  bronze-using  peoples  who  established  overland 
trade  routes  in  Europe,  displacing  in  some  localities  the 
colonies  of  Easterners  and  isolating  others,  must  have 
instructed  the  natives  of  Western  Europe  how  to  mine 
and  use  metals.  Bronze  appears  to  have  been  introduced 
into  Britain  by  traders.  That  the  ancient  Britons  did 
not  begin  quite  spontaneously  to  work  copper  and  tin 
and  manufacture  bronze  is  quite  evident,  because  the 
earliest  specimens  of  British  bronze  which  have  been 
found  are  made  of  ninety  per  cent  of  copper  and  ten  per 
cent  of  tin  as  on  the  Continent.  '*  Now,  since  a  know- 
ledge of  the  compound ",  wrote  Dr.  Robert  Munro, 
"implies  a  previous  acquaintance  with  its  component 
elements,  it  follows  that  progress  in  metallurgy  had 
already  reached  the  stage  of  knowing  the  best  combina- 
tion of  these  metals  for  the  manufacture  of  cutting  tools 
before  bronze  was  practically  known  in  Britain."^ 

The  furnaces  used  were  not  invented  in  Britain.  Pro- 
fessor Gowland  has  shown  that  in  Europe  and  Asia  the 
system  of  working  mines  and  melting  metals  was  iden- 
tical in  ancient  times.  Summarizing  Professor  Gow- 
land's  articles  in  Archceologia  and  the  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Anthropological  Institute^  Mr.  W.  J.  Perry  writes 
in  this  connection: 2  "The  furnaces  employed  were 
similar;  the  crucibles  were  of  the  same  material,  and 
generally  of  the  same  form ;  the  process  of  smelting, 
first  on  the  surface  and  then  in  the  crucibles  was  found 
everywhere,  even  persisting  down  to  present  times  in 

1  Prehistoric  Britain,  p.  145. 

*  The  Relationship  between  the  Geographical  Distribution  of  Megalithic  Monuments 
and  Ancient  Mines,  pp.  21  et  seq. 


I02  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

the  absence  of  any  fresh  cultural  influence.  The  study 
of  the  technique  of  mining  and  smelting  has  served  to 
consolidate  the  floating  mass  of  facts  which  we  have 
accumulated,  and  to  add  support  for  the  contention  that 
one  cultural  influence  is  responsible  for  the  earliest 
mining  and  smelting  and  washing  of  metals  and  the 
getting  of  precious  stones  and  metals.  ^  The  cause  of 
the  distribution  of  the  megalithic  culture  was  the  search 
for  certain  forms  of  material  wealth." 

That  certain  of  the  megalithic  monuments  were  in- 
timately connected  with  the  people  who  attached  a 
religious  value  to  metals  is  brought  out  very  forcibly  in 
the'^'references  to  pagan  customs  and  beliefs  in  early 
Christian  Gaelic  literature.  There  are  statements  in  the 
Lives  of  St.  Patrick  regarding  a  pagan  god  called  **  Cenn 
Cruach"  and  ^'Crom  Cruach  "  whose  stone  statue  was 
'*  adorned  with  gold  and  silver,  and  surrounded  by 
twelve  other  statues  with  bronze  ornaments".  The 
**  statue"  is  called  *'the  king  idol  of  Erin",  and  it  is 
stated  that  *^the  twelve  idols  were  made  of  stone,  but  he 
(*  Crom  Cruach  ')  was  of  gold  ".  To  this  god  of  a  stone 
circle  were  offered  up  ''the  firstlings  of  every  issue  and 
the  chief  scions  of  every  clan  ".  Another  idol  was  called 
Crom  Dubh  (''Black  Crom"),  and  his  name  "is  still 
connected  ",  O'Curry  has  written,  "  with  the  first  Sunday 
of  August  in  Munster  and  Connaught".  An  Ulster 
idol  was  called  Crom  Chonnaill,  which  was  either  a 
living  animal  or  a  tree,  or  was  "  believed  to  have  been 
such ",  O'Curry  says.  De  Jubainville  translates  Cenn 
Cruach  as  "Bloody  Head"  and  Crom  Cruach  as 
"Bloody  Curb"  or  "Bloody  Crescent".  O'Curry,  on 
the  other  hand,  translates  Crom  Cruach  as  "Bloody 
Maggot"  and  Crom  Dubh  as  "Black  Maggot".  In 
Gaelic  legends  "  maggots  "or  "  worms  "  are  referred  to 
as  forms  of  supernatural  beings.  The  maggot  which 
appeared  on  the  flesh  of  a  slain  animal  was  apparently 


METAL    WORKERS  103 

regarded  as  a  new  form  assumed  by  the  indestructible 
soul,  just  as  in  the  Egyptian  story  of  Bata  the  germ  of 
life  passes  from  his  bull  form  in  a  drop  of  blood  from 
which  two  trees  spring  up,  and  then  in  a  chip  from  one 
of  the  trees  from  which  the  man  is  restored  in  his 
original  form.^  A  similar  belief,  which  is  widespread, 
is  that  bees  have  their  origin  as  maggots  placed  in  trees. 
One  form  of  the  story  was  taken  over  by  the  early 
Christians,  which  tells  that  Jesus  was  travelling  with 
Peter  and  Paul  and  asked  hospitality  from  an  old 
woman.  The  woman  refused  it  and  struck  Paul  on  the 
head.  When  the  wound  putrified  maggots  were  pro- 
duced. Jesus  took  the  maggots  from  the  wound  and 
placed  them  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree.  When  next  they 
passed  that  way,  *' Jesus  directed  Paul  to  look  in  the 
tree  hollow  where,  to  his  surprise,  he  found  bees  and 
honey  sprung  from  his  own  head".^  The  custom  of 
placing  crape  on  hives  and  "telling  the  bees"  when  a 
death  takes  place,  which  still  survives  in  the  south  of 
England  and  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  appears  to  be 
connected  with  the  ancient  belief  that  the  maggot,  bee, 
and  tree  were  connected  with  the  sacred  animal  and  the 
sacred  stone  in  which  was  the  spirit  of  a  deity.  Sacred 
trees  and  sacred  stones  were  intimately  connected. 
Tacitus  tells  us  that  the  Romans  invaded  Mona  (Angle- 
sea),  they  destroyed  the  sacred  groves  in  which  the 
Druids  and  black-robed  priestesses  covered  the  altars 
with  the  blood  of  captives.^  There  are  a  number  of 
dolmens  on  this  island  and  traces  of  ancient  mine- 
workings,  indicating  that  it  had  been  occupied  by  the 
early  seafarers  who  colonized  Britain  and  Ireland  and 
worked  metals.v  A  connection  between  the  tree  cult  of 
the  Druids  and  the  cult  of  the  builders  of  megaliths  is 

1  A  worm  crept  from  the  heart  of  a  dead  Phosnix,  and  gave  origin  to  a  new  Phoenix. — 
Herodotus,  II,  73. 

2  Rendel  Harris,  The  Ascent  of  Olympus,  p.  2. 
'^Annals  of  Tacitus,  Book  XIV,  Chapter  29-30. 


I04  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

thus  suggested  by  Tacitus,  as  well  as  by  the  Irish 
evidence  regarding  the  Ulster  idol  Crom  Chonnaill, 
referred  to  above  (see  also  Chapter  XII). 
^  Who  were  the  people  that  followed  the  earliest 
Easterners  and  visited  our  shores  to  search  like  them 
for  metals  and  erect  megalithic  monuments?  \  It  is  impos- 
sible to  answer  that  question  with  certaiiity.  There 
were  after  the  introduction  of  bronze  working,  as  has  been 
indicated,  intrusions  of  aliens.  These  included  the  intro- 
ducers of  the  short-barrow  method  of  burial  and  the  later 
introducers  of  burial  by  cremation.  It  does  not  follow 
that  all  intrusions  were  those  of  conquerorsr  Traders 
and  artisans  may  have  come  with  their  families  in  large 
numbers  and  mingled  with  the  earlier  peoples.  Some 
intruders  appear  to  have  come  by  overland  routes  from 
southern  and  central  France  and  from  Central  Europe 
and  the  Danube  valley,  while  others  came  across  the  sea 
from  Spain.  That  a  regular  over-seas  trade-route  was 
in  existenc*^  is  indicated  by  the  references  made  by 
classical  writers  to  the  Cassiterides  (Tin  Islands). 
Strabo  tells  that  the  natives  ''bartered  tin  and  hides 
with  merchants  for  pottery,  salt,  and  articles  of  bronze  ". 
The  Phoenicians,  as  has  been  noted,  ''monopolized  the 
trade  from  Gades  (Cadiz)  with  the  islanders  and  kept  the 
route  a  close  secret ".  It  was  probably  along  this  sea- 
route  that  Egyptian  blue  beads  reached  Britain.  Pro- 
fessor Sayce  has  identified  a  number  of  these  in  Devizes 
Museum,  and  writes: 

"They  are  met  with  plentifully  in  the  Early  Bronze  Age 
tumuli  of  Wiltshire  in  association  with  amber  beads  and 
barrel-shaped  beads  of  jet  or  lignite.  Three  of  them  come 
from  Stonehenge  itself.  Similar  beads  of  ivory  have  been 
found  in  a  Bronze  Age  cist  near  Warminster :  if  the  material 
is  really  ivory  it  must  have  been  derived  from  the  East.  The 
cylindrical  faience  beads,  it  may  be  added,  have  been  dis- 
covered in  Dorsetshire  as  well  as  in  Wiltshire." 


METAL   WORKERS  105 

Professor  Sayce  emphasizes  that  these  blue  beads 
''belong  to  one  particular  period  in  Egyptian  history, 
the  latter  part  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  and  the  earlier 
part  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  .  .  .  The  period  to 
which  they  belong  may  be  dated  1450- 1250  B.C.,  and  as 


Beads  from  Bronze  Age  Barrows  on  Salisbury  Plain 

The  large  central  bead  and  the  small  round  ones  are  of  amber;  the  long  plain 
ones  are  of  jet;  and  the  long  segmented  or  notched  beads  are  of  an  opaque  blue 
substance  (faience). 

we  must  allow  some  time  tor  their  passage  across  the 
trade  routes  to  Wiltshire  an  approximate  date  for  their 
presence  in  the  British  barrows  will  be  1300  B.C." 

Dr.  H.  R.  Hall,  of  the  British  Museum,  who  dis- 
covered, at  Deir  el-Bahari  in  Egypt,  'thousands  of  blue 
glaze  beads  of  the  exact  particular  type  of  those  found 
in  Britain",  says  that  they  date  back  till  ** about  1500 
B.C. ".       He    noted    the   resemblance    before   Professor 


io6  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

Sayce  had  written.  "It  is  gratifying",  he  comments, 
''that  the  Professor  agrees  that  the  Devizes  beads  are 
undoubtedly  Egyptian,  as  an  important  voice  is  thereby 
added  to  the  consensus  of  opinion  on  the  subject.'* 
Similar  beads  have  been  found  in  the  ''Middle  Bronze 
Age  in  Crete  and  in  Western  Europe".  Dr.  Hall 
thinks  the  Egyptian  beads  may  have  reached  Britain 
as  early  as  "about  1400  B.C.  ".^  We  have  thus  provided 
for  us  an  early  date  in  British  history,  based  on  the 
well  authenticated  chronology  of  the  Empire  period  of 
Ancient  Egypt.  Easterners,  or  traders  in  touch  with 
Easterners,  reached  our  shores  carrying  Egyptian  beads 
shortly  before  or  early  in  the  fourteenth  century  B.C. 
At  this  time  amber  was  being  imported  into  the  south 
of  England  from  the  Baltic,  while  jet  was  being  carried 
from  Whitby  in  Yorkshire. 

After  the  introduction  of  bronze  working  in  Western 
Europe  the  natives  began  to  work  and  use  metals.^ 
These  could  not  have  been  Celts,  for_in  the  fourteenth 
century  B.C.  the  Celts  had  not  yet  reached  Western 
Europe. 2  The  earliest  searchers  for  metals  who  visited 
Britain  must  therefore  have  been  the  congeners  of  those 
who  erected  the  megalithic  monuments  in  the  metal- 
yielding  areas  of  Spain  and  Portugal  and  north-western 
France. 

It  would  appear  that  the  early  Easterners  exploited 
the  virgin  riches  of  Western  Europe  for  a  long  period — 
perhaps  for  over  a  thousand  years — and  that,  after  their 
Spanish  colonies  were  broken  up  by  a  bronze-using 
people  from  Central  Europe,  the  knowledge  of  how  to 
work  metals  spread  among  the  natives.  Overland  trade 
routes  were  then  opened  up.  At  first  these  were  controlled 
in  Western  Europe  by  the  Iberians.     In  time  the  Celts 

1  The  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archceology,  Vol.  I,  part  I,  pp.  18-19. 

2  It  may  be  that  Celtic  chronology  will  have  to  be  readjusted  in  the  light  of  recent 
discoveries. 


METAL   WORKERS  107 

jwept  westward  and  formed  with  the  natives  mixed 
communities  of  Celtiberians.  The  Easterners  appear  to 
have  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  Western  European  com- 
merce after  the  introduction  of  iron  working.  They  had 
colonies  in  the  south  and  west  of  Europe  and  on  the 
North  African  coast,  and  obtained  supplies  of  metals, 
&c.,  by  sea.  They  kept  the  sea-routes  secret.  British 
ores,  &c.,  were  carried  to  Spain  and  Carthage.  After 
Pytheas  visited  Britain  (see  next  chapter)  the  overland 
trade-route  to  Marseilles  was  opened  up.  Supplies  of 
surface  tin  having  become  exhausted,  tin-mines  were 
opened  in  Cornwall.  The  trade  of  Britain  then  came 
under  the  control  of  Celtiberian  and  Celtic  peoples,  who 
had  acquired  their  knowledge  of  shipbuilding  and 
navigation  from  the  Easterners  and  the  mixed  descen- 
dants of  Eastern  and  Iberian  peoples. 

It  does  not  follow  that  the  early  and  later  Easterners 
were  all  of  one  physical  type.  They,  no  doubt,  brought 
with  them  their  slaves,  including  miners  and  seamen, 
drawn  from  various  countries  where  they  had  been  pur- 
chased or  abducted. 

The  men  who  controlled  the  ancient  trade  were  not 
necessarily  permanent  settlers  in  Western  Europe. 
When  the  carriers  of  bronze  from  Central  Europe 
obtained  control  of  the  Iberian  colonies,  many  traders 
may  have  fled  to  other  countries,  but  many  colonists,  and 
especially  the  workers,  may  have  become  the  slaves  of 
the  intruders,  as  did  the  Firbolgs  of  Ireland  who  were 
subdued  by  the  Celts.  The  Damnonians  of  Britain  and 
Ireland  who  occupied  mineral  areas  may  have  been  a 
'^wave"  of  early  Celtic  or  Celtiberian  people.  Ulti- 
mately the  Celts  came,  as  did  the  later  Normans,  and 
formed  military  aristocracies  over  peoples  of  mixed 
descent.  The  idea  that  each  intrusion  involved  the 
extermination  of  earlier  peoples  is  a  theory  which  does 
not  accord  with  the  evidence  of  the  ancient  Gaelic  manu- 


io8  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

scripts,  of  classical  writers,  of  folk  tradition,  and  of  exist- 
ing race  types  in  different  areas  in  Britain  and  Ireland. 
A  people  who  exterminated  those  they  conquered 
would  have  robbed  themselves  of  the  chief  fruits  of 
conquest.  In  ancient  as  in  later  times  the  aim  of 
conquest  was  to  obtain  the  services  of  a  subject  people 
and  the  control  of  trade. 


CHAPTER   X 

Celts  and  Iberians  as   Intruders  and 
Traders 

Few  Invasions  in  looo  Years  —  Broad-heads  —  The  Cremating- 
People — A  New  Relig-ion — Celtic  People  in  Britain — The  Continental 
Celts — Were  Celts  Dark  or  Fair? — Fair  Types  in  Britain  and  Ireland — 
Celts  as  Pork  Traders — The  Ancient  Tin  Trade— Early  Explorers — 
Pytheas  and  Himilco — The  Cassiterides — Tin  Mines  and  Surface  Tin — 
Cornish  Tin  —  Metals  in  Hebrides  and  Ireland  —  Lead  in  Orkney  —  Dark 
People  in  Hebrides  and  Orkney — Celtic  Art — Homeric  Civilization  in 
Britain  and  Ireland — Why  Romans  were  Conquerors. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Bronze  and  Iron  Ages  in  Britain 
are,  according  to  the  chronology  favoured  by  archae- 
ologists, separated  by  about  a  thousand  years.  During 
this  long  period  only  two  or  three  invasions  appear  to 
have  taken  place,  but  it  is  uncertain,  as  has  been  indicated, 
whether  these  came  as  sudden  outbursts  from  the  Con- 
tinent or  were  simply  gradual  and  peaceful  infiltrations 
of  traders  and  settlers.  We  really  know  nothing  about 
the  broad-headed  people  who  introduced  the  round- 
barrow  system  of  burial,  or  of  the  people  who  cre- 
mated their  dead.  The  latter  became  predominant  in 
south-western  England  and  part  of  Wales.  In  the  north 
of  England  the  cremating  people  were  less  numerous. 
If  they  were  conquerors  they  may  have,  as  has  been  sug- 
gested, represented  military  aristocracies.  It  may  be, 
however,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  cremation  custom 
had  in  some  areas  more  a  religious  than  a  racial  signifi- 

109 


no  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

cance.  The  beliefs  associated  with  cremation  of  the 
dead  may  have  spread  farther  than  the  people  who  in- 
troduced the  new  religion.  It  would  appear  that  the  habit 
of  burning  the  dead  was  an  expresssion  of  the  beliefs 
that  souls  were  transported  by  means  of  fire  to  the  Other- 
world  paradise.  As  much  is  indicated  by  Greek  evidence. 
Homer's  heroes  burned  their  dead,  and  when  the  ghost 
of  Patroklos  appeared  to  his  friend  Achilles  in  a  dream, 
he  said:  *'Thou  sleepest,  and  hast  forgotten  me,  O 
Achilles.  Not  in  my  life  wast  thou  unmindful  of  me, 
but  in  my  death.  Bury  me  with  all  speed,  that  I  may 
pass  the  gates  of  Hades.  Far  off  the  spirits  banish  me, 
the  phantoms  of  men  outworn,  nor  suffer  me  to  mingle 
with  them  beyond  the  River,  but  vainly  I  wander  along 
the  wide-gated  dwelling  of  Hades.  Now  give  me,  I  pray 
pitifully  of  thee,  thy  hand,  for  never  more  again  shall 
I  come  back  from  Hades,  when  ye  have  given  me  my 
due  of  fire."^  The  Arab  traveller  Ibn  Haukal,  who 
describes  a  tenth-century  cremation  ceremony  at  Kieff, 
was  addressed  by  a  Russ,  who  said:  *'  As  for  you  Arabs 
you  are  mad,  for  those  who  are  the  most  dear  to  you, 
and  whom  you  honour  most,  you  place  in  the  ground, 
where  they  will  become  a  prey  to  worms,  whereas  with 
us  they  are  burned  in  an  instant  and  go  straight  to 
Paradise."  ^ 

The  cremating  people,  who  swept  into  Greece  and 
became  the  over-lords  of  the  earlier  settlers,  were  repre- 
sented in  the  western  movement  of  tribes  towards  Gaul 
and  Britain.  It  is  uncertain  where  the  cremation 
custom  had  origin.  Apparently  it  entered  Europe  from 
Asia.  The  Vedic  Aryans  who  invaded  Northern  India 
worshipped  the  fire-god  Agni,  who  was  believed  to  carry 
souls  to  Paradise;  they  cremated  their  dead  and  com- 

1  Iliad,  XXni,  75  (Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myers'  translation,  p.  453). 

2  The  Mythology  of  the  Eddas,  pp.  538-9  ( Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Litera- 
ture, second  series,  Vol.  XII). 


CELTS   AND    IBERIANS  iii 

Mned  with  it  the  practice  of  suttee^  that  is,  of  burning 
le  widows  of  the  dead.  In  Gaul,  however,  as  we 
rather  from  Julius  Caesar,  only  those  widows  suspected  of 
>eing  concerned  in  the  death  of  their  husbands  were 
►urned.  The  Norsemen,  however,  were  acquainted 
rith  suttee.  In  one  of  the  Volsung  lays  Brynhild  rides 
►wards  the  pyre  on  which  Sigurd  is  being  burned,  and 
"casts  herself  into  the  flames.  The  Russians  strangled 
and  burned  widows  when  great  men  were  cremated. 

The  cremating  people  erected  megalithic  monuments, 
some  of  which  cover  their  graves  in  Britain  and  else- 
where. 

In  some  districts  the  intruders  of  the  Bronze  Age 
were  the  earliest  settlers.  The  evidence  of  the  graves  in 
Buchan,  Aberdeenshire,  for  instance,  shows  that  the 
broad-heads  colonized  that  area.  It  may  be  that,  like 
the  later  Norsemen,  bands  of  people  sought  for  new 
homes  in  countries  where  the  struggle  for  existence 
would  be  less  arduous  than  in  their  own,  which  suffered 
from  over  population,  and  did  not  land  at  points  where 
resistance  was  offered  to  them.  Agriculturists  would,  no 
doubt,  select  areas  suitable  for  their  mode  of  life  and 
favour  river  valleys,  while  seafarers  and  fishermen 
would  cling  to  the  coasts.  The  tendency  of  fishermen 
and  agriculturists  to  live  apart  in  separate  communities 
has  persisted  till  our  own  time.  There  are  fishing 
villages  along  the  east  coast  of  Scotland  the  inhabitants 
of  which  rarely  intermarry  with  those  who  draw  their 
means  of  sustenance  from  the  land. 

During  the  Bronze  Age  Celtic  peoples  were  filter- 
ing into  Britain  from  Gaul.  They  appear  to  have  come 
originally  from  the  Danube  area  as  conquerors  who 
imposed  their  rule  on  the  people  they  subjected.  Like 
the  Achasans  who  overran  Greece  they  seem  to  have 
originally  been  a  vigorous  pastoral  people  who  had 
herds  of  pigs,  were  ''horse-tamers",  used  chariots,  and 


112  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

were  fierce  and  impetuous  in  battle.  In  time  they 
crossed  the  Rhine  and  occupied  Gaul.  They  overcame 
the  Etruscans.  In  390  B.C.  they  sacked  Rome.  Their 
invasion  of  Greece  occurred  in  the  third  century,  but 
their  attempt  to  reach  Delphi  was  frustrated.  Crossing 
into  Asia  Minor  they  secured  a  footing  in  the  area 
subsequently  known  as  Galatia,  and  their  descendants 
there  were  addressed  in  an  epistle  by  St.  Paul. 

Like  the  Achaeans,  the  Celts  appear  to  have  absorbed 
the  culture  of  the  ^gean  area  and  that  of  the  ^gean 
colony  at  Hallstatt  in  Austria.  They  were  withal  the 
*' carriers"  of  the  La  Tene  Iron  Age  culture  to  Britain 
and  Ireland.  The  potter's  wheel  was  introduced  by 
them  into  Britain  during  the  archaeological  early  Iron 
Age.  It  is  possible  that  the  cremating  people  of  the 
Bronze  Age  were  a  Celtic  people.  But  later  ** waves" 
of  the  fighting  charioteers  did  not  cremate  their  dead. 

Sharp  difference  of  opinion  exists  between  scholars 
regarding  the  Celts.  Some  identify  them  with  the  dark- 
haired,  broad-headed  Armenoids,  and  others  with  the 
tall  and  fair  long-headed  people  of  Northern  Europe. 
It  is  possible  that  the  Celts  were  not  a  pure  race,  but 
rather  a  confederacy  of  peoples  who  were  influenced  at 
different  periods  by  different  cultures.  That  some  sec- 
tions were  confederacies  or  small  nations  of  blended 
people  is  made  evident  by  classic  references  to  the 
Celtiberians,  the  Celto-Scythians,  the  Celto-Ligyes,  the 
Celto-Thracians,  and  the  Celtillyrians.  On  reaching 
Britain  they  mingled  with  the  earlier  setders,  forming 
military  aristocracies,  and  dominating  large  areas.  The 
fair  Caledonians  of  Scotland  had  a  Celtic  tribal  name, 
and  used  chariots  in  battle  like  the  Continental  Celts. 
Two  Caledonian  personal  names  are  known — Calgacus 
(**  swordsman  ")  and  Argentocoxus  ('^  white  foot").  In 
Ireland  the  predominant  tribes  before  and  during  the 
early  Roman  period  were  of  similar  type.     Queen  Meave 


Weapons   and    Religious   Objects   (British  Museum) 

Bronre  socketed  celts,  bronze  dag-ger,  sword  and  spear-heads  from  Thames;  two  bronze 

boars  with    "sun-disc"  ears,   which   were   worn   on  armour;    bronze   "sun-disc"   from 

Ireland;    "chalk  drum"  from  grave  (Yorkshire),  with  ornamentation  showing  butterfly 

and  St.  Andrew's  Cross  symbols;  warrior  with  shield,  from  rock  carving  (Denmark). 

(P217)  113  9 


114  ANCIENT  MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

of  Connaught  was  like  Queen  Boadicea^  of  the  Iceni,  a 
fair-haired  woman  who  rode  to  battle  in  a  chariot. 

The  Continental  trade  routes  up  the  Danube  and 
Rhone  valleys  leading  towards  Britain  were  for  some 
centuries  under  the  control  of  the  Celts.  It  was  no 
doubt  to  obtain  a  control  over  trade  that  they  entered 
Britain  and  Ireland.  On  the  Continent  they  engaged 
in  pork  curing,  and  supplied  Rome  and  indeed  the 
whole  of  Italy  with  smoked  and  salted  bacon.  Dr. 
Sullivan  tells  that  among  the  ancient  Irish  the  general 
name  for  bacon  was  tini.  Smoke-cured  hams  and 
flitches  were  called  tineiccaSy  which  *Ms  almost  identical 
in  form  with  the  Gallo-Roman  word  taniaccae  or  tanacae 
used  by  Varro  for  hams  imported  from  Transalpine 
Gaul  into  Rome  and  other  parts  of  Italy  ".  Puddings 
prepared  from  the  blood  of  pigs — now  known  as  *'  black 
puddings" — were,  we  learn  from  Varro,  likewise  ex- 
ported from  Gaul  to  Italy.  The  ancient  Irish  were 
partial  to  ^*  black  puddings".^  It  would  appear,  therefore, 
that  the  so-called  dreamy  Celt  was  a  greasy  pork 
merchant. 

According  to  Strabo  the  exports  from  Britain  in  the 
early  part  of  the  first  century  consisted  of  gold,  silver, 
and  iron,  wheat,  cattle,  skins,  slaves,  and  dogs;  while 
the  imports  included  ivory  ornaments,  such  as  bracelets, 
amber  beads,  and  glass.  Tin  was  exported  from  Corn- 
wall to  Gaul,  and  carried  overland  to  Marseilles,  but 
this  does  not  appear  to  have  been  the  earliest  route. 
As  has  been  indicated,  tin  appears  to  have  been  carried, 
before  the  Celts  obtained  control  of  British  trade,  by  the 
sea  route  to  the  Carthaginian  colonies  in  Spain. 

The  Carthaginians  had  long  kept  secret  the  sources 
of  their  supplies  of  tin  from  the  group  of  islands  known 


1  Boudicca  was  her  real  name. 

2  Introduction  to  O'Curry's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Aticieiit  Irish,  Vol.   I,   pp. 
ccclxix  et  seq. 


CELTS   AND    IBERIANS  115 

as  the  Cassiterides.  About  322  B.C.,  however,  the 
Greek  merchants  at  Marseilles  fitted  out  an  expedition 
which  was  placed  in  charge  of  Pytheas,  a  mathematician, 
for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  northern  area.  This 
scholar  wrote  an  account  of  his  voyage,  but  only  frag- 
ments of  it  quoted  by  different  ancient  authors  have 
come  down  to  us.  He  appears  to  have  coasted  round 
Spain  and  Brittany,  and  to  have  sailed  up  the  English 
Channel  to  Kent,  to  have  reached  as  far  north  as  Orkney 
and  Shetland,  and  perhaps,  as  some  think,  Iceland,  to 
have  crossed  the  North  Sea  towards  the  mouth  of  the 
Baltic,  and  explored  a  part  of  the  coast  of  Norway.  He 
returned  to  Britain,  which  he  appears  to  have  partly 
explored  before  crossing  over  to  Gaul.  In  an  extract 
from  his  diary,  quoted  by  Strabo,  he  tells  that  the  Britons 
in  certain  districts  not  detailed  grew  corn,  millet,  and 
vegetables.  Such  of  them  as  had  corn  and  honey  made 
a  beverage  from  these  materials.  They  brought  the 
corn  ears  into  great  houses  (barns)  and  threshed  them 
there,  for  on  account  of  the  rain  and  lack  of  sunshine 
out-door  threshing  floors  were  of  little  use  to  them. 
Pytheas  noted  that  in  Britain  the  days  were  longer  and 
the  nights  brighter  than  in  the  Mediterranean  area.  In 
the  horthern  parts  he  visited  the  nights  were  so  short  that 
the  interval  between  sunset  and  sunrise  was  scarcely 
perceptible.  The  farthest  north  headland  of  Britain  was 
Cape  Orcas.^  Six  days  sail  north  of  Britain  lay  Thule, 
which  was  situated  near  the  frozen  sea.  There  a  day 
lasted  six  months  and  a  night  for  the  same  space  of 
time. 

Another  extract  refers  to  hot  springs  in  Britain,  and  a 
presiding  deity  identified  with  Minerva,  in  whose  temple 
*'the  fires  never  go  out,  yet  never  whiten  into  ashes; 
when  the  fire  has  got  dull  it  turns  into  round  lumps  like 
stones  ".     Apparently  coal  was  in  use  at  a  temple  situated 

1  Orcas  is  a  Celtic  word  signifying  "young  boar". 


ii6  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

at  Bath.  Timaeus,  a  contemporary  of  Pytheas,  quoting 
from  the  lost  diary  of  the  explorer,  states  that  tin  was 
found  on  an  island  called  Mictis,  lying  inwards  (north- 
ward) at  a  distance  of  six  days'  sail  from  Britain.  The 
natives  made  voyages  to  and  from  the  island  in  their 
canoes  of  wickerwork  covered  with  hides.  Mictis  could 
not  have  been  Cornwall  or  an  island  in  the  English 
Channel.  Strabo  states  that  Crassus,  who  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Cassiterides,  announced  that  the  distance 
to  them  was  greater  than  that  from  the  Continent  to 
Britain,  and  he  found  that  the  tin  ore  lay  on  the  surface. 
Evidently  tin  was  not  mined  on  the  island  of  Mictis  as 
it  was  in  Cornwall  in  later  times. 

An  earlier  explorer  than  Pytheas  was  Himilco,  the 
Carthaginian.  He  reached  Britain  about  500  B.C.  A 
Latin  metrical  rendering  of  his  lost  work  was  made  by 
Rufus  Festus  Avienus  in  the  fourth  century  of  our  era. 
Reference  is  made  to  the  islands  called  the  CEstrymnides 
that  *'  raise  their  heads,  lie  scattered,  and  are  rich  in  tin 
and  lead  ".  These  islands  were  visited  by  Himilco,  and 
were  distant  *^two  days  voyage  from  the  Sacred  Island 
(Ireland)  and  near  the  broad  Isle  of  the  Albiones  ".  As 
Rufus  Festus  Avienus  refers  to  "the  hardy  folk  of 
Britain ",  his  Albiones  may  have  been  the  people  of 
Scotland.  The  name  Albion  was  originally  applied  to 
England  and  Scotland.  In  the  first  century,  however, 
Latin  writers  never  used  "  Albion  "  except  as  a  curiosity, 
and  knew  England  as  Britain.  According  to  Himilco, 
the  Tartessi  of  Spain  were  wont  to  trade  with  the  natives 
of  the  northern  tin  islands.  Even  the  Carthaginians 
'^were  accustomed  to  visit  these  seas".  From  other 
sources  we  learn  that  the  Phoenicians  carried  tin  from  the 
Cassiterides  direct  to  the  Spanish  port  of  Corbilo,  the 
exact  location  of  which  is  uncertain. 

It  is  of  special  importance  to  note  that  the  tin-stone 
was  collected  on  the  surface  of  the  islands  before  mining 


ENAMELLED  BRONZE  SHIELD  (from  the  Thames  near  Battersea) 
(British  Museum) 


CELTS   AND    IBERIANS  117 

operations  were  conducted  elsewhere.  In  all  probability 
the  laborious  work  of  digging  mines  was  not  commenced 
before  the  available  surface  supplies  became  scanty. 
According  to  Sir  John  Rhys^  the  districts  in  southern 
England,  where  surface  tin  was  first  obtained,  were 
**  chiefly  Dartmoor,  with  the  country  round  Tavistock 
and  that  around  St.  Austell,  including  several  valleys 
looking  towards  the  southern  coast  of  Cornwall.  In 
most  of  the  old  districts  where  tin  existed,  it  is  supposed 
to  have  lain  too  deep  to  have  been  worked  in  early 
times."  When,  however,  Poseidonius  visited  Cornwall 
in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  he  found  that  a  beginning 
had  been  made  in  skilful  mining  operations.  It  may  be 
that  the  trade  with  the  Cassiterides  was  already  languish- 
ing on  account  of  changed  political  conditions  and  the 
shortage  of  supplies. 

Where  then  were  the  Cassiterides?  M.  Reinach 
struck  at  the  heart  of  the  problem  when  he  asked,  "In 
what  western  European  island  is  tin  found?"  Those 
writers  who  have  favoured  the  group  of  islands  off"  the 
north-western  coast  of  Spain  are  confronted  by  the  diffi- 
culty that  these  have  failed  to  yield  traces  of  tin,  while 
those  writers  who  favour  Cornwall  and  the  Scilly  Islands 
cannot  ignore  the  precise  statements  that  the  ''tin 
islands"  were  farther  distant  from  the  Continent  than 
Britain,  and  that  in  the  time  of  Pytheas  tin  was  carried 
from  Mictis,  which  was  six  days'  sail  from  Britain.  The 
fact  that  traces  of  tin,  copper,  and  lead  have  been  found 
in  the  Hebrides  is  therefore  of  special  interest.  Copper, 
too,  has  been  found  in  Shetland,  and  lead  and  zinc  in 
Orkney.  Withal  there  are  Gaelic  place-names  in  which 
staoin  (tin)  is  referred  to,  in  Islay,  Jura  (where  there  are 
traces  of  old  mine-workings),  in  lona,  and  on  the  main- 
land of  Ross-shire.  Traces  of  tin  are  said  to  have  been 
found  in  Lewis  where  the  great  stone  circle  of  Callernish 

1  Celtic  Britain,  p.  44. 


ii8  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

in  a  semi-barren  area  indicates  the  presence  at  one  time 

in  its  area  of  a  considerable  population.     The  Hebrides 

may  well  have  been  the  CEstrymnides  of  Himilco  and 

the  Cassiterides  of  classical  writers.     Jura  or  lona  may 

have  been  the  Mictis  of  Pytheas.     Tin-stone  has  been 

found  in  Ireland  too,  near  Dublin,  in  Wicklow,  and  in 

Killarney. 

<^t  "^  The  short  dark  people  in  the  Hebrides  and  Orkney 

f '      may  well  be,  like  the  Silurians  of  Wales,  the  descendants 

'    of  the  ancient  mine  workers.     They  have  been  referred 

to  by  some  as  descendants  of  the  crews  of  wrecked  ships 

of  the  Spanish  Armada,  and  by  others  as  remnants  of 

the  Lost  Ten  Tribes. 

In  Irish  Gaelic  literature,  however,  there  is  evidence 
that  the  dark  people  were  in  ancient  times  believed  to  be 
the  descendants  of  the  Fir-bolgs  (men  with  sacks),  the 
Fir-domnann  (the  men  who  dug  the  ground),  and  the 
Galioin  (Gauls).  Campbell  in  his  West  Highland  Tales 
has  in  a  note  referred  to  the  dark  Hebrideans.  "Behind 
the  fire",  he  wrote,  "sat  a  girl  with  one  of  those 
strange  faces  which  are  occasionally  to  be  seen  in  the 
Western  Isles,  a  face  which  reminded  me  of  the  Nineveh 
sculptures,  and  of  faces  seen  in  San  Sebastian.  Her  hair 
was  black  as  night,  and  her  clear  dark  eyes  glittered 
through  the  peat  smoke.  Her  complexion  was  dark, 
and  her  features  so  unlike  those  who  sat  about  her  that 
I  asked  if  she  were  a  native  of  the  island  (of  Barra),  and 
learned  that  she  was  a  Highland  girl."  It  may  be  that 
the  dark  Eastern  people  were  those  who  introduced  the 
Eastern  and  non-Celtic,  non-Teutonic  prejudice  against 
pork  as  food  into  Scotland.  In  Ireland  the  Celtic  people 
apparently  obliterated  the  "taboo"  at  an  early  period. 

It  was  during  the  Archaeological  Late  Bronze  and 
Early  Iron  Ages  that  the  Celtic  artistic  patterns  reached 
England.  These  betray  affinities  with  ^gean  motifs, 
and   they  were   afterwards  developed    in    Ireland   and 


CELTS   AND    IBERIANS  119 

Scotland.    In  both  countries  they  were  fused  with  symbols 
of  Egyptian  and  Anatolian  origin. 

Like  the  Celts  and  the  pre-Hellenic  people  of  Greece 
and  Crete,  the  Britons  and  the  Irish  wore  breeches. 
The  Roman  poet,  Martial, ^  satirizes  a  life  *'as  loose  as 
the  old  breeches  of  a  British  pauper".  Claudian,  the 
poet,  pictures  Britannia  with  her  cheeks  tattoed  and 
wearing  a  sea-coloured  cloak  and  a  cap  of  bear-skin. 
The  fact  that  the  Caledonians  fought  with  scanty  cloth- 
ing, as  did  the  Greeks,  and  as  did  the  Highlanders  in 
historic  times,  must  not  be  taken  as  proof  that  they 
could  not  manufacture  cloth.  According  to  Rhys, 
Briton  means  a  *' cloth  clad"-  person.  The  bronze 
fibulae  found  at  Bronze  Age  sites  could  not  have  been 
used  to  fasten  heavy  skins. 

When  the  Romans  reached  Britain,  the  natives,  like 
the  heroes  of  Homer,  used  chariots,  and  had  weapons 
of  bronze  and  iron.  The  archaeology  of  the  ancient 
Irish  stories  is  of  similar  character. 

In  the  Bronze  Age  the  swords  were  pointed  and 
apparently  used  chiefly  for  thrusting.  The  conquerors 
who  introduced  the  unpointed  iron  swords  were  able 
to  shatter  the  brittle  bronze  weapons.  These  iron 
swords  were  in  turn  superseded  by  the  pointed  and 
well-tempered  swords  of  the  Romans.  But  it  was  not 
only  their  superior  weapons,  their  discipline,  and  their 
knowledge  of  military  strategy  that  brought  the  Romans 
success.  England  was  broken  up  into  a  number  of 
petty  kingdoms.  ''Our  greatest  advantage",  Tacitus 
confessed,  ''in  dealing  with  such  powerful  people  is 
that  they  cannot  act  in  concert;  it  is  seldom  that  even 
two  or  three  tribes  will  join  in  meeting  a  common 
danger;  and  so  while  each  fights  for  himself  they  are 
all  conquered  together."^ 

1  Ep.  X,  22.  2  Celtic  Britain  (4th  edition),  p.  212. 

'  Tacitus,  Agricola,  Chap.  XII. 


I20 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


When  the  Britons,  under  Agricola,  began  to  adopt 
Roman  civilization  they  "rose  superior'*,  Tacitus  says, 
*'by  the  forces  of  their  natural  genius,  to  the  attain- 
ments of  the  Gauls  ".  In  time  they  adopted  the  Roman 
dress, ^  which  may  have  been  the  prototype  of  the  kilt. 
The  Roman  language  supplanted  the  Celtic  dialects 
in  certain  parts  of  England.  ^ 

1  Agricola,  Chap.  XXI. 


CHAPTER   XI 
Races  of  Britain  and   Ireland 

Colours  of  Ancient  Races  and  Mythical  Ages — Caucasian  Race 
Theory — The  Aryan  or  Indo-European  Theory — Races  and  Languages 
— Celts  and  Teutons — Fair  and  Dark  Palaeolithic  Peoples  in  Modern 
Britain — Mediterranean  Man — The  Armenoid  or  Alpine  Broad-heads 
—  Ancient  British  Tribes  —  Cruithne  and  Picts  —  The  Picts  of  the 
"  Brochs  "  as  Pirates  and  Traders — Picts  and  Fairies — Scottish  Types — 
Racial  '*  Pockets  ". 

The  race  problem  has  ever  been  one  of  engrossing 
interest  to  civilized  peoples.  In  almost  every  old 
mythology  we  meet  with  theories  that  were  formulated 
to  account  for  the  existence  of  the  different  races  living 
in  the  world,  and  for  the  races  that  were  supposed  to 
have  existed  for  a  time  and  became  extinct.  An  out- 
standing feature  of  each  racial  myth  is  that  the  people 
among  whom  it  grew  up  are  invariably  represented  to 
be  the  finest  type  of  humanity. 

A  widespread  habit,  and  one  of  great  antiquity,  was 
to  divide  the  races,  as  the  world  was  divided,  into 
four  sections,  and  to  distinguish  them  by  their  colours. 
The  colours  were  those  of  the  cardinal  points  and  chiefly 
Black,  White,  Red,  and  Yellow.  The  same  system  was 
adopted  in  dealing  with  extinct  races.  Each  of  these  were 
coloured  according  to  the  Age  in  which  they  had  exis- 
tence, and  the  colours  were  connected  with  metals. 
In  Greece  and  India,  for  instance,  the  *' Yellow  Age" 
was  a  ''Golden  Age",  the  ''White  Age"  a  "Silver 

121  I 


122  ANCIENT  MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Age",  the  ''Red  Age"  a  "Bronze  Age",  and  the 
"Black  Age"  an  "Iron  Age". 

Although  the  old  theories  regarding  the  mythical 
ages  and  mythical  races  have  long  been  discarded, 
the  habit  of  dividing  mankind  and  their  history  into 
four  sections,  according  to  colours  and  the  metals  chiefly 
used  by  them,  is  not  yet  extinct.  We  still  speak  of 
the  "Black  man",  the  "Yellow  man",  the  "Red 
man",  and  the  "White  man".  Archaeologists  have 
divided  what  they  call  the  "pre-history  of  mankind" 
into  the  two  "  Stone  Ages  ",  the  "  Bronze  Age  "  and  the 
"Iron  Age".  The  belief  that  certain  races  have  be- 
come extinct  as  the  result  of  conquest  by  invaders  is 
still  traceable  in  those  histories  that  refer,  for  instance, 
to  the  disappearance  of  "Stone  Age  man  "  or  "Bronze 
Age  man  ",  or  of  the  British  Celts,  or  of  the  Picts  of 
Scotland. 

That  some  races  have  completely  disappeared  there 
can  be  no  shadow  of  a  doubt.  As  we  have  seen, 
Neanderthal  man  entirely  vanished  from  the  face  of  the 
globe,  and  has  not  left  a  single  descendant  among  the 
races  of  mankind.  In  our  own  day  the  Tasmanians 
have  become  extinct.  These  cases,  however,  are  ex- 
ceptional. The  complete  extinction  of  a  race  is  an 
unusual  thing  in  the  history  of  mankind.  A  section 
may  vanish  in  one  particular  area  and  yet  persist  in 
another.  As  a  rule,  in  those  districts  where  races  are 
supposed  to  have  perished,  it  is  found  that  they  have 
been  absorbed  by  intruders.  In  some  cases  the  chief 
change  has  been  one  of  racial  designation  and  nation- 
ality. 

Cro-Magnon  man,  who  entered  Europe  when  the 
Neanderthals  were  hunting  the  reindeer  and  other 
animals,  is  still  represented  in  our  midst.  Dr.  Col- 
lignon,  the  French  ethnologist,  who  has  found  many 
representatives   of  this  type   in   the   Dordogne    valley 


RACES   OF   BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND    123 

where  their  ancestors  lived  in  the  decorated  cave-dwell- 
ings before  their  organization  was  broken  up  by  the 
Azilian  and  other  intruders,  shows  that  the  intrusion 
of  minorities  of  males  rarely  leaves  a  permanent  change 
in  a  racial  type.  The  alien  element  tends  to  dis- 
appear. *'When",  he  writes,  ^'a  race  is  well  seated 
in  a  region,  fixed  to  the  soil  by  agriculture,  accli- 
matized by  natural  selection  and  sufficiently  dense,  it 
opposes,  for  the  most  precise  observations  confirm  it, 
an  enormous  resistance  to  newcomers,  whoever  they 
may  be."  Intruders  of  the  male  sex  only  may  be  bred 
out  in  time. 

Our  interest  here  is  with  the  races  of  Britain  and 
Ireland,  but,  as  our  native  islands  were  peopled  from 
the  Continent,  we  cannot  ignore  the  evidence  afforded 
by  Western  and  Northern  Europe  when  dealing  with 
our  own  particular  phase  of  the  racial  problem. 

It  is  necessary  in  the  first  place  to  get  rid  of  certain 
old  theories  that  were  based  on  imperfect  knowledge 
or  wrong  foundations.  One  theory  applies  the  term 
^*  Caucasian  Man"  to  either  a  considerable  section  or 
the  majority  of  European  peoples.  ''The  utter  absur- 
dity of  the  misnomer  Caucasian,  as  applied  to  the 
blue-eyed  and  fair-haired  Aryan  (?)  race  of  Western 
Europe,  is  revealed",  says  Ripley,^  '*by  two  indis- 
putable facts.  In  the  first  place,  this  ideal  blond  type 
does  not  occur  within  many  hundred  miles  of  Caucasia  i 
and,  secondly,  nowhere  along  the  great  Caucasian  chain 
is  there  a  single  native  tribe  making  use  of  a  purely 
inflectional  or  Aryan  language." 

The  term  ''Aryan"  is  similarly  a  misleading  one. 
It  was  invented  by  Professor  Max  Miiller  and  applied 
by  him  chiefly  to  a  group  of  languages  at  a  time 
when  races  were  being  identified  by  the  languages 
they  spoke.     These  peoples — with  as  different  physical 

1  Races  0/  Europe,  p.  436. 


124  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

characteristics  as  have  Indians  and  Norseman,  or 
Russians  and  Spaniards,  who  spoke  Indo-European,  or, 
as  German  scholars  have  patriotically  adapted  the  term, 
Indo-Germanic  languages — were  regarded  by  ethnolo- 
gists of  the  "philological  school"  as  members  of  the 
one  Indo-European  or  Aryan  race  or  '*  family". 
Language,  however,  is  no  sure  indication  of  race.  The 
spread  of  a  language  over  wide  areas  may  be  accounted 
for  by  trade  or  political  influence  or  cultural  contact. 
In  our  own  day  the  English  language  is  spoken  by 
"Black",  "Yellow",  and  "Red",  as  well  as  by 
"White"  peoples. 

A  safer  system  is  to  distinguish  racial  types  by  their 
physical  peculiarities.  When,  however,  this  system  is 
applied  in  Europe,  as  elsewhere,  we  shall  still  find 
differences  between  peoples.  Habits  of  thought  and 
habits  of  life  exercise  a  stronger  influence  over  indi- 
viduals, and  groups  of  individuals,  than  do,  for  in- 
stance, the  shape  of  their  heads,  the  colours  of  their 
hair,  eyes,  and  skin,  or  the  length  and  strength  of 
their  limbs.  Two  particular  individuals  may  be 
typical  representatives  of  a  distinct  race  and  yet  not 
only  speak  different  languages,  but  have  a  different 
outlook  on  life,  and  different  ideas  as  to  what  is  right 
and  what  is  wrong.  Different  types  of  people  are  in 
different  parts  of  the  world  united  by  their  sense  of 
nationality.  They  are  united  by  language,  traditions, 
and  beliefs,  and  by  their  love  of  a  particular  locality 
in  which  they  reside  or  in  which  their  ancestors  were 
wont  to  reside.  A  sense  of  nationality,  such  as  unites 
the  British  Empire,  may  extend  to  far-distant  parts  of 
the  world. 

But,  while  conscious  of  the  uniting  sense  of  nation- 
ality, our  people  are  at  the  same  time  conscious  of  and 
interested  in  their  physical  differences  and  the  histories 
of  different  sections  of  our  countrymen.    The  problem  as 


EUROPEAN   TYPES 

I,  Mediterranean.     II,  Cr6-Magnon.     Ill,  Armenoid  (Alpine). 
IV,  Northern. 


RACES   OF    BRITAIN   AND    IRELAND    125 

to  whether  we  are  mainly  Celtic  or  mainly  Teutonic  is 
one  of  perennial  interest. 

Here  again,  when  dealing  with  the  past,  we  meet  with 
the  same  condition  of  things  that  prevail  at  the  present 
day.  Both  the  ancient  Celts  and  the  people  they  called 
Teutons  ('^strangers")  were  mixed  peoples  with  different 
physical  peculiarities.  The  Celts  known  to  the  Greeks 
were  a  tall,  fair-haired  people.  In  Western  Europe,  as 
has  been  indicated,  they  mingled  with  the  dark  Iberians, 
and  a  section  of  the  mingled  races  was  known  to  the 
Romans  as  Celtiberians.  The  Teutons  included  the 
tall,  fair,  long-headed  Northerners,  and  the  dark,  medium- 
sized,  broad-headed  Central  Europeans.  Both  the  fair 
Celts  and  the  fair  Teutons  appear  to  have  been  sections 
of  the  northern  race  known  to  antiquaries  as  the  **  Baltic 
people",  or  **  Maglemosians ",  who  entered  Europe 
from  Siberia  and  *' drifted"  along  the  northern  and 
southern  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea — the  ancient  *^  White 
Sea"  of  the  ''White  people"  of  the  "White  North". 
As  we  have  seen,  other  types  of  humanity  were  "drift- 
ing" towards  Britain  at  the  same  time — that  is,  before 
the  system  of  polishing  stone  implements  and  weapons 
inaugurated  what  has  been  called  the  "Neolithic 
Age". 

>'  As  modern-day  ethnologists  have  found  that  the 
masses  of  the  population  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
are  of  the  early  types  known  to  archaeologists  as  Palaeo- 
lithic, Neolithic,  and  Bronze  Age  men,  the  race  history 
of  our  people  may  be  formulated  as  follows : 

The  earliest  inhabitants  of  our  islands  whose  physical 
characteristics  can  be  traced  among  the  living  popula- 
tion were  the  Cro-Magnon  peoples.  These  were  followed 
by  the  fair  Northerners,  the  "  carriers  "  of  Maglemosian 
culture,  and  the  dark,  medium-sized  Iberians,  who  were 
the  "carriers"  of  Azilian-Tardenoisian  culture.  There 
were  thus  fair  people  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland 


126  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

thousands  of  years  before  the  invasions  of  Celts,  Angles, 
Saxons,  Jutes,   Norsemen,  or  Danes. 

For  a  long  period,  extending  over  many  centuries, 
the  migration  **  stream"  from  the  Continent  appears  to 
have  been  continuously  flowing.  The  carriers  of 
Neolithic  culture  were  in  the  main  Iberians  of  Medi- 
terranean racial  type — the  descendants  of  the  Azilian- 
Tardenoisian  peoples  who  used  bows  and  arrows, 
and  broke  up  the  Magdalenian  civilization  of  Cro- 
Magnon  man  in  western  and  central  Europe.  This 
race  appears  to  have  been  characterized  in  north  and 
north-east  Africa.  *'So  striking",  writes  Professor 
Elliot  Smith,  *'is  the  family  likeness  between  the  early 
Neolithic  peoples  of  the  British  Isles  and  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  bulk  of  the  population,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  of  Egypt  and  East  Africa,  that  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  bones  of  an  Early  Briton  of  that  remote 
epoch  might  apply  in  all  essential  details  to  an  inhabi- 
tant of  Somaliland."^ 

This  proto-Egyptian  (Iberian)  people  were  of  medium 
stature,  had  long  skulls  and  short  narrow  faces,  and 
skeletons  of  slight  and  mild  build;  their  complexions 
were  as  dark  as  those  of  the  southern  Italians  in  our 
own  day,  and  they  had  dark-brown  or  black  hair  with  a 
tendency  to  curl ;  the  men  had  scanty  facial  hair,  except 
for  a  chin-tuft  beard. 

These  brunets  introduced  the  agricultural  mode  of  life, 
and,  as  they  settled  on  the  granite  in  south-western 
England,  appear  to  have  searched  for  gold  there,  and 
imported  flint  from  the  settlers  on  the  upper  chalk 
formation. 

In  time  Europe  was  invaded  from  Asia  Minor  by 
increasing  numbers  of  an  Asiatic,  broad  -  headed, 
long-bearded  people  of  similar  type  to  those  who  had 
filtered  into  Central  Europe  and  reached  Belgium  and 

1  The  Ancient  Egyptians!,  p.  58. 


RACES   OF   BRITAIN   AND    IRELAND    127 

Denmark  before  Neolithic  times.  This  type  is  known 
as  the  **Armenoid  race"  (the  ^'Alpine  race"  of  some 
writers).  It  was  quite  different  from  the  long-headed 
and  fair  Northern  type  and  the  short,  brunet  Mediter- 
ranean (proto- Egyptian  and  Iberian)  type.  The  Ar- 
menoid  skeletons  found  in  the  early  graves  indicate  that 
the  Asiatics  were  a  medium-sized,  heavily-built  people, 
capable,  as  the  large  bosses  on  their  bones  indicate,  of 
considerable  muscular  development. 

During  the  archaeological  Bronze  Age  these  Ar- 
menoids  reached  Britain  in  considerable  numbers,  and 
introduced  the  round-barrow  method  of  burial.  They 
do  not  appear,  however,  as  has  been  indicated,  to  have 
settled  in  Ireland. 

At  a  later  period  Britain  was  invaded  Ipy  a  people 
who  cremated  their  dead.  As  they  thus  destroyed  the 
evidence  that  would  have  afforded  us  an  indication  of 
their  racial  affinities,  their  origin  is  obscure. 

While  these  overland  migrations  were  in  progress, 
considerable  numbers  of  peoples  appear  to  have  reached 
Britain  and  Ireland  by  sea  from  northern  and  north- 
western France,  Portugal,  and  Spain.  They  settled 
chiefly  in  the  areas  where  metals  and  pearls  were  once 
found  or  are  still  found.  ^'Kitchen  middens"  and 
megalithic  remains  are  in  Ireland  mainly  associated  with 
pearl-yielding  rivers. 

The  fair  Celts  and  the  darker  Celtiberians  were  invad- 
ing and  settling  in  Britain  before  and  after  the  Romans 
first  reached  its  southern  shores.  During  the  Roman 
period,  the  ruling  caste  was  mainly  of  south-European 
type,  but  the  Roman  legions  were  composed  of  Gauls, 
Germans,  and  Iberians,  as  well  as  Italians.  No  per- 
manent change  took  place  in  the  ethnics  of  Britain 
during  the  four  centuries  of  Roman  occupation.  The 
Armenoid  broad-heads,  however,  became  fewer:  '*the 
disappearance ",    as   Ripley   puts   it,     **  of   the    round- 


128  ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

barrow  men  is  the  last  event  of  the  prehistoric  period 
which  we  are  able  to  distinguish  ".  The  inhabitants 
of  the  British  Isles  are,  on  the  whole,  long-headed. 
**  Highland  and  lowland,  city  or  country,  peasant  or 
philosopher,  all  are",  says  Ripley,  '*  practically  alike 
in  respect  to  this  fundamental  racial  characteristic." 
Broad-headed  types  are,  of  course,  to  be  found,  but 
they  are  in  the  minority. 

The  chief  source  of  our  knowledge  regarding  the  early 
tribes  or  little  nations  of  Britain  and  Ireland  is  the  work 
of  Ptolemy,  the  geographer,  who  lived  between  a.d.  50 
and  150,  from  which  the  earliest  maps  were  compiled  in 
the  fourth  century.  He  shows  that  England,  Wales, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland  were  divided  among  a  number  of 
peoples.  The  Dumnonii,^  as  has  been  stated,  were  in 
possession  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  as  well  as  of  a  large 
area  in  the  south-western  and  central  lowlands  of  Scot- 
land. Near  them  were  the  Durotriges,  who  were  also  in 
Ireland.  Sussex  was  occupied  by  the  Regni  and  Kent 
by  the  Cantion.  The  Atrebates,  the  Belgas,  and  the 
Parisii  were  invaders  from  Gaul  during  the  century  that 
followed  Csesar's  invasion.  The  Belgae  lay  across  the 
neck  of  the  land  between  the  Bristol  Channel  and  the| 
Isle  of  Wight;  the  Atrebates  clung  to  the  River  Thames, 
while  the  Parisii,  who  gave  their  name  to  Paris,  occupied 
the  east  coast  between  the  Wash  and  the  Humber. 
Essex  was  the  land  of  the  Iceni  or  Eceni,  the  tribe  of 
Boadicea  (Boudicca).  Near  them  were  the  Catuvellauni 
(men  who  rejoiced  in  battle)  who  were  probably  rulers 
of  a  league,  and  the  Trinovantes,  whose  name  is  said  to 
signify  '*very  vigorous".  The  most  important  tribe 
of  the  north  and  midlands  of  England  was  the  Brigantes,^ 
whose  sphere  of  influence  extended  to  the  Firth  of  Forth, 


1  Englished  "  Damnonians  "  (Chapter  IX). 

2  Tacitus  saj-s  that  the  Brigantes  were  in  point  of  numbers  thr  most  considerable  folk 
in  Britain  {Agricola,  Chapter  XVII). 


i 


RACES  OF   BRITAIN   AND   IRELAND    129 

where  they  met  the  Votadini,  who  were  probably  kins- 
men or  allies.  On  the  north-west  were  the  Setantii, 
who  appear  to  have  been  connected  with  the  Brigantes 
in  England  and  Ireland.  Cuchullin,  the  hero  of  the  Red 
Branch  of  Ulster,  was  originally  named  Setanta.^  In 
south  Wales  the  chief  tribe  was  the  Silures,  whose 
racial  name  is  believed  to  cling  to  the  Scilly  (Silura) 
Islands.  They  were  evidently  like  the  Dumnonii  a 
metal -working  people.  South-western  Wales  was 
occupied  by  the  Demet^  (the  *'firm  folk").  In  south- 
western Scotland,  the  Selgovce  ('*  hunters")  occupied 
Galloway,  their  nearest  neighbours  being  the  Novantas 
of  Wigtownshire.  The  Selgovae  may  have  been  those 
peoples  known  later  as  the  Atecotti.  From  Fife  to 
southern  Aberdeenshire  the  predominant  people  on  the 
east  were  the  Vernicones.  In  north-east  Aberdeenshire 
were  the  Tsexali.  To  the  west  of  these  were  the  Vaco- 
magi.  The  Caledonians  occupied  the  Central  High- 
lands from  Inverness  southward  to  Loch  Lomond. 
In  Ross-shire  were  the  Decantce,  a  name  resembling 
Novantas  and  Setantii.  The  Lugi  and  Smertse  (smeared 
people)  were  farther  north.  The  Cornavii  of  Caithness 
and  North  Wales  were  those  who  occupied  the  ^*  horns" 
or  ''capes  ".  Along  the  west  of  Scotland  were  peoples 
called  the  Cerones,  Creones,  and  Carnonacas,  or  Carini, 
perhaps  a  sheep-rearing  people.  The  Epidii  were  an 
Argyll  tribe,  whose  name  is  connected  with  that  of  the 
horse — perhaps  a  horse-god.^  Orkney  enshrines  the 
tribal  name  of  the  boar — perhaps  that  of  the  ancient 
boar-god  represented  on  a  standing  stone  near  Inverness 
with  the  sun  symbol  above  its  head.     The  Gaelic  name 

1  Evidently  Cuchullin  and  other  heroes  of  the  "Red  Branch"  in  Ireland  were  descended 
from  peoples  who  had  migrated  into  Ireland  from  Britain.  Their  warriors  in  the  old 
manuscript  tales  receive  their  higher  military  training  in  Alba.  It  is  unlikely  they  would 
have  been  trained  in  a  colony. 

*  Ancient  sacred  stones  with  horses  depicted  on  them  survive  in  Scotland.  In  Harris 
one  horse-stone  remains  in  an  old  church  tower. 

(D217)  10 


130  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

of  the  Shetlanders  is  "Cat".  Caithness  is  the  county 
of  the  "Cat"  people,  too.  Professor  Watson  reminds 
us  that  the  people  of  Sutherland  are  still  "Cats"  in 
Gaelic,  and  that  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  is  referred  to  as 
"Duke  of  the  Cats". 

The  Picts  are  not  mentioned  by  Ptolemy.  They 
appear  to  have  been  an  agricultural  and  sea-faring 
people  who  {c,  a.d.  300)  engaged  in  trade  and  piracy. 
A  flood  of  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  Pictish  problem 
by  Professor  W.  J.  Watson,  Edinburgh.^  He  shows 
that  when  Agricola  invaded  Scotland  (a.d.  85)  the  pre- 
dominant people  were  the  Caledonians.  Early  in  the 
third  century  the  Caledonians  and  Masatse  —  names 
which  included  all  the  tribes  north  of  Hadrian's 
Wall — were  so  aggressive  that  Emperor  Septimus 
Severus  organized  a  great  expedition  against  them. 
He  pressed  northward  as  far  as  the  southern  shore  of 
the  Moray  Firth,  and,  although  he  fought  no  battle,  lost 
50,000  men  in  skirmishes,  &c.  The  Caledonians  and 
Maeatag  rose  again,  and  Severus  was  preparing  a  second 
expedition  when  he  died  at  York  in  a.d.  211.  His  son, 
Caracalla,  withdrew  from  Scotland  altogether.  The 
Emperor  Constantius,  who  died  at  York  in  a.d.  306, 
had  returned  from  an  expedition,  not  against  the  Cale- 
donians, but  against  the  Picts.  The  Picts  were  begin- 
ning to  become  prominent.  In  360  they  had  again  to 
be  driven  back.  They  had  then  become  allies  of  the 
Scots  from  Ulster,  who  were  mentioned  in  a.d.  297 
by  the  orator  Eumenius,  as  enemies  of  the  Britons 
in  association  with  the  Picti.  Professor  Watson,  draw- 
ing on  Gaelic  evidence,  dates  the  first  settlement  of  the 
Scots  in  Argyll  "about  a.d.   180". 

In  368  the  Caledonians  were,  like  the  Verturiones,  a 
division  of  the  Picts.     Afterwards  their  tribal  name  dis- 

1  The  Picts,  Inverness,  1921  (lecture  delivered  to  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Inverness  and 
reprinted  from  The  Inverness  Courier). 


RACES   OF   BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND    131 

appeared.  That  the  Picts  and  Caledonians  were  origin- 
ally separate  peoples  is  made  clear  by  the  statement  of 
a  Roman  orator  who  said:  ''I  do  not  mention  the  woods 
and  marshes  of  the  Caledonians,  the  Picts,  and  others". 
In  365  the  Pecti,  Saxons,  Scots,  and  Atecotti  harassed 
the  Britons.  Thus  by  the  fourth  century  the  Picts  had 
taken  the  place  of  the  Caledonians  as  the  leading  tribe, 
or  as  the  military  aristocrats  of  a  great  part  of  Scotland, 
the  name  of  which,  formerly  Caledonia,  came  to  be 
Pictland,  Pictavia. 

Who  then  were  the  Picts?  Professor  Watson  shows 
that  the  racial  name  is  in  old  Norse  *'Pettr",  in  Old 
English  ♦'  Peohta",  and  in  old  Scots  ''  Pecht  '.^  These 
forms  suggest  that  the  original  name  was  ''Pect". 
Ammianus  refers  to  the  *^ Pecti".  In  old  Welsh  **Peith- 
wyr"  means  '*Pict-men"  and  ^'Peith"  comes  from 
''Pect".  The  derivation  from  the  Latin  ''pictus" 
(painted)  must  therefore  be  rejected.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  in  this  connection  that  the  Ancient  Britons 
stained  their  bodies  with  woad.  The  application  of 
the  term  ''painted"  to  only  one  section  of  them  seems 
improbable.  "Pecti",  says  Professor  Watson,  "can- 
not be  separated  etymologically  from  Pictones,  the 
name  of  a  Gaulish  tribe  on  the  Bay  of  Biscay  south  of 
the  Loire,  near  neighbours  of  the  Veneti.     Their  name 

1  The  fact  that  in  the  Scottish  Lowlands  the  fairies  were  sometimes  called  "  Pechts  "  has 
been  made  much  of  by  those  who  contend  that  the  prototypes  of  the  fairies  were  the  original 
inhabitants  of  Western  Europe.  This  theory  ignores  the  well-established  custom  of  giving- 
human  names  to  supernatural  beings.  In  Scotland  the  hill-giants  (Fomorians)  have  been 
re-named  after  Arthur  (as  in  Arthur's  Seat,  Edinburgh),  Patrick  (Inverness),  Wallace 
(Eildon  Hills),  Samson  (Ben  Ledi),  &c.  In  like  manner  fairies  were  referred  to  as  Pechts. 
The  Irish  evidence  is  of  similar  character.  The  Danann  deities  were  consigned  to  fairy- 
land. Donald  Gorm,  a  West  Highland  chief,  gave  his  name  to  an  Irish  fairy.  Fairyland 
was  the  old  Paradise.  Arthur,  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  Finn-mac-Coul,  &c.,  became  "fairy- 
men"  after  death.  A  good  deal  of  confusion  has  been  caused  by  mistranslating  the 
Scottish  Gaelic  word  st'ih  (Irish  sidhe)  as  "fairy".  The  word  sith  (pronounced  shee') 
means  anything  unearthly  or  supernatural,  and  the  "peace  "of  supernatural  life — of  death 
after  life,  as  well  as  the  silence  of  the  movements  of  supernatural  beings.  The  cuckoo 
was  supposed  to  dwell  for  a  part  of  the  year  in  the  underworld,  and  was  called  eun  sith 
("supernatural  bird  ").  Mysterious  epidemics  were  sith  diseases.  Tiiere  were  sith  (super- 
natural) dogs,  cats,  mice,  cows,  &c.,  as  well  as  sith  men  and  sith  women. 


132  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

shows  the  same  variation  between  Pictones  and  Pectones. 
We  may  therefore  claim  Pecti  as  a  genuine  Celtic  word. 
It  is  of  the  Cymric  or  Old  British  and  Gaulish  type,  not 
of  the  Gaelic  type,  for  Gaelic  has  no  initial  P,  while  those 
others  have."  Gildas  (c.  a.d.  570),  Bede  (c,  a.d.  730),  and 
Nennius  {c,  a.d.  800)  refer  to  the  Picts  as  a  people  from 
the  north  of  Scotland.  Nennius  says  they  occupied 
Orkney  first.  The  legends  which  connect  the  Picts 
with  Scythia  and  Hercules  were  based  on  Virgil's  men- 
tion of  **picti  Agathyrsi "  and  ^'picti  Geloni "  {^neid 
IV,  146,  GeorgicSy  II,  115)  combined  with  the  account  by 
Herodotus  (IV,  10)  of  the  descent  of  Gelonus  and  Aga- 
thyrsus  from  Hercules.  Of  late  origin  therefore  was 
the  Irish  myth  that  the  Picts  from  Scythia  were  called 
Agathyrsi  and  were  descended  from  Gelon,  son  of 
Hercules. 

There  never  were  Picts  in  Ireland,  except  as  visitors. 
The  theory  about  the  Irish  Picts  arose  by  mistranslating 
the  racial  name  **Cruithne"  as  "  Picts".  Communities 
of  Cruithne  were  anciently  settled  in  the  four  provinces 
of  Ireland,  but  Cruithne  means  Britons  not  Picts. 

The  ancient  name  of  Great  Britain  was  Albion,  while 
Ireland  was  in  Greek  **  lerne",  and  in  Latin  '*  lubernia" 
(later  **  Hibernia").      The  racial  name  was  applied  by 
Pliny  to  Albion  and  Hibernia  when  he  referred  to  the 
island  group  as  **Britanniae".     Ptolemy  says  that  Albion 
is  **a  Britannic  isle"  and  further  that  Albion  (England 
and  Scotland)  was  an  island  **  belonging  to  the  Britan- 
nic Isles".     Ireland  was  also   a  Britannic  isle.      It  isl 
therefore  quite  clear  that  the  Britons  were  regarded  as  th< 
predominant  people  in  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  am 
Ireland,  and  that  the  verdict  of  history  includes  Irelan( 
in  the  British   Isles.     The   Britons  were  P-Celts,  an< 
their  racial  name  *'  Pretan-Pritan  "  became  in  the  Gaelic 
languageof  the  Q-Celts  ^'Cruithen",  plural  ^^Cruithne". 

In  Latin  the  British  Isles  are  called  after  their  inhabi- 


o   I 

O     13 


RACES   OF   BRITAIN   AND   IRELAND    133 

tants,  the  rendering  being  *'  Britanni  ",  while  in  Greek  it 
is  ''Pretannoi"  or  "  Pretanoi ".  As  Professor  W.  J. 
Watson  and  Professor  Sir  J.  Morris  Jones,  two  able  and 
reliable  philologists,  have  insisted,  the  Greek  form  is  the 
older  and  more  correct,  and  the  Latin  form  is  merely  an 
adaptation  of  the  Greek  form. 

In  the  early  centuries  of  our  era  the  term  **Britannus'* 
was  shortened  in  Latin  to  '^  Britto"  plural  *'  Brittones". 
This  diminutive  form,  which  may  be  compared  with 
**Scotty"  for  Scotsman,  became  popular.  In  Gaelic  it 
originated  the  form  *^Breatain",  representing  **  Brittones" 
(Britons),  which  was  applied  to  the  Britons  of  Strath- 
clyde,  Wales,  and  Cornwall,  who  retained  their  native 
speech  under  Roman  rule;  in  Welsh,  the  rendering  was 
'^Brython".  The  Welsh  name  for  Scotland  became 
**Prydyn".  The  northern  people  of  Scotland,  having 
come  under  the  sway  of  the  Picts,  were  referred  to  as 
Picts  just  as  they  became  "Scots"  after  the  tribe  of 
Scots  rose  into  prominence.  In  this  sense  the  Scottish 
Cruithne  were  Picts.  But  the  Cruithne  (Britons)  of 
Ireland  were  never  referred  to  as  Picts.  Modern  scholars 
who  have  mixed  up  Cruithne  and  Picts  are  the  inventors 
of  the  term  *^  Irish  Picts  ". 

^  The  Picts  of  Scotland  have  been  traditionally  associated 
with  the  round  buildings  known  as  *'  brochs  ",  which  are 
all  built  on  the  same  plan. , '*  Of  490  known  brochs  ",  says 
Professor  W.  J.  Watson,  **  Orkney  and  Shetland  possess 
145,  Caithness  has  150,  and  Sutherland  67 — a  total  of 
362.  On  the  mainland  south  of  Sutherland  there  are  10 
in  Ross,  6  Inverness-shire,  2  in  Forfar,  i  in  Stirling, 
Midlothian,  Selkirk,  and  ^erwick-shires,  3  in  Wigtown- 
shire. In  the  Isles  there  are  28  in  Lewis,  10  in  Harris, 
30  in  Skye,  i  in  Raasay,  and  at  least  5  in  the  isles  of 
Argyll.  The  inference  is  that  the  original  seat  of  the 
broch  builders  must  have  been  in  the  far  north,  and  that 
their  influence   proceeded   southwards.      The  masonry 


134  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

and  contents  of  the  brochs  prove  them  to  be  the  work 
of  a  most  capable  people,  who  lived  partly  at  least  by 
agriculture  and  had  a  fairly  high  standard  of  civilization. 
.  .  .  The  distribution  of  the  brochs  also  indicate  that 
their  occupants  combined  agriculture  with  seafaring.  .  .  . 
The  Wigtown  brochs,  like  the  west  coast  ones  generally, 
are  all  close  to  the  sea,  and  in  exceedingly  strong 
positions." 

These  Scottish  brochs  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  nuraghi  of  the  island  of  Sardinia.  Both  the  broch 
and  the  nuraghe  have  low  doorways  which  **  would  at 
once  put  an  enemy  at  a  disadvantage  in  attempting  to 
enter". 

Describing  the  Sardinian  structures,  Mr.  T.  Eric 
Peet  writes:^  *'A11  the  nuraghi  stand  in  commanding 
situations  overlooking  large  tracts  of  country,  and  the 
more  important  a  position  is  from  a  strategical  point  of 
view  the  stronger  will  be  the  nuraghe  which  defends  it ". 
Ruins  of  villages  surround  these  structures.  ''There 
cannot  be  the  least  doubt",  says  Peet,  **  that  in  time  of 
danger  the  inhabitants  drove  their  cattle  into  the  fortified 
enclosure,  entered  it  themselves,  and  then  closed  the 
gates. " 

In  the  Balearic  Islands  are  towers  called  talayots  which 
''resemble  rather  closely",  in  Peet's  opinion,  xh^nuraghi 
of  Sardinia.  The  architecture  of  the  talayots^  the  nuraghi^ 
and  the  brochs  resembles  that  of  the  bee-hive  tombs  of 
Mycenae  (pre-Hellenic  Greece).  There  are  no  brochs  in 
Ireland.  The  "round  towers"  are  of  Christian  origin 
(between  ninth  and  thirteenth  centuries  a.d.).  A  tomb 
at  Labbamologa,  County  Cork,  however,  resembles  the 
tombs  of  the  Balearic  Isles  and  Sardinia  (Peet,  Rough 
Stone  Monuments^  pp.  43-4). 
^  The  Picts  appear  to  have  come  to  Scotland  from  the 
country  of  the  ancient  Pictones,  whose  name  survives  in 

1  Rough  Stone  Monuments,  pp.  82  et  seq. 


RACES   OF    BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND    135 

Poitiers  (Poictiers)  and  the  province  of  Poitou  in 
France.  These  Pictones  were  anciently  rivals  of  the 
Veneti,  the  chief  sea-traders  in  Western  and  Northern 
Europe  during  the  pre-Roman  period.  We  gather 
from  Caesar  that  the  Pictones  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Romans  when  the  Veneti  and  their  allies  revolted. 
They  and  their  near  neighbours,  the  Santoni,  supplied 
Ccesar  with  ships. ^  These  were  apparently  skifts  which 
were  much  lighter  and  smaller  than  the  imposing  vessels 
of  the  Veneti.  As  the  big  vessels  of  the  Armada  were 
no  match  for  the  smaller  English  vessels,  so  were  the 
Veneti  ships  no  match  for  the  skiffs  of  the  Pictones. 

The  Picts  who  settled  in  Orkney  appear  to  have 
dominated  the  eastern  and  western  Scottish  sea-routes. 
It  is  possible  that  they  traded  with  Scandinavia  and 
imported  Baltic  amber.  Tacitus  states  that  the  Baltic 
people,  who  engaged  in  the  amber  trade,  spoke  a  dialect 
similar  to  that  of  Britain,  worshipped  the  mother-god- 
dess, and  regarded  the  boar  as  the  symbol  of  their  deity.^ 
Orkney,  as  has  been  noted,  is  derived  from  the  old 
Celtic  word  for  boar.  The  boar-people  of  Orkney  who 
came  under  the  sway  of  the  Picts  may  have  been  related 
to  the  amber  traders. 

The  Scottish  broch-people,  associated  in  tradition  with 
the  Picts,  were  notorious  for  their  piratic  habits.  In 
those  ancient  days,  however,  piracy  was  a  common 
occupation.  The  later  Vikings,  who  seized  the  naval 
base  of  Orkney  for  the  same  reason  we  may  conclude 
as  did  the  Picts,  occupied  the  brochs.  Viking  means 
**  pirate",  as  York  Powell  has  shown.  In  EgiVs  Saga 
(Chapter  XXXII)  the  hero  Bjorn  *'was  sometimes  in 
Viking  but  sometimes  on  trading  voyages  ".^ 

It  may  be  that  the  term  pictus  was  confused  with  the 

»  De  Bello  Gallico,  Book  III.  Chapter  II. 

'*  Manners  of  the  Germans,  Chapter  XLV.     The  boar  was  the  son  of  a  sow-goddess. 
Demeter  had  originally  a  sow  form. 
*  Scandinavian  Britain  (London,  1908),  pp.  61-3. 


136  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

racial  name  Pecti,  because  the  Picts  had  adopted  the 
sailor-like  habit  of  tattoing  their  skins — a  habit  which  pro- 
bably had  a  religious  significance.  Claudian,  the  fourth- 
century  Roman  poet,  refers  to  '*the  fading  steel-wrought 
figures  on  the  dying  Pict".  Like  the  seafaring  Scots 
of  northern  Ireland  who  harried  the  Welsh  coast  between 
the  second  and  fifth  centuries  of  our  era,  the  Picts  of 
Scotland  had  skiffs  (scaphce)  with  sails  and  twenty  oars 
a  side.  Vessels,  masts,  ropes,  and  sails  were  painted 
a  neutral  tint,  and  the  crews  were  attired  in  the  same 
colour.  Thus  ''camouflaged  ",  the  Picts  and  Scots  were 
able  to  harry  the  coasts  of  Romanized  Britain.  They 
appear  to  have  turned  Hadrian's  wall  from  the  sea.  The 
Pictish  seafaring  tribes,  the  Keiths  or  Cats  and  the 
Maeatse,  have  left  their  names  in  Caithness,  Inchkeith, 
Dalkeith,  &c.,  and  in  the  Isle  of  May,  &c.^ 

A  glimpse  of  piratical  operations  in  the  first  century 
before  the  Christian  era  is  obtained  in  an  Irish  manu- 
script account  of  certain  happenings  in  the  reign  of 
King  Conaire  the  Great  of  Ireland.  So  strict  was 
this  monarch's  rule  that  several  lawless  and  discon- 
tented persons  were  forced  into  exile. 

"Among  the  most  desperate  of  the  outlaws  were  the 
monarch's  own  foster  brothers,  the  four  sons  of  Dond  Dess, 
an  important  chieftain  of  Leinster.  These  refractory  youths, 
with  a  large  party  of  followers,  took  to  their  boats  and  ships 
and  scoured  the  coasts  of  Britain  and  Scotland,  as  well  as  of 
their  own  country.  Having  met  on  the  sea  with  Ingcel,  the 
son  of  the  King  of  Britain,  who,  for  his  misdeeds,  had  been 
likewise  banished  by  his  own  father,  both  parties  entered 
into  a  league,  the  first  fruits  of  which  were  the  plunder  and 
devastation  of  a  great  part  of  the  British  coast." 

They  afterwards  made  a  descent  on  the  coast  of  Ire- 
land, and  when  King  Conaire  returned  from  a  visit  to 

1  Rhys,  Celtic  Britain  (4th  ed.),  pp.  15a,  317. 


RACES   OF    BRITAIN    AND    IRELAND     137 

Clare,  *'he  found  the  whole  country  before  him  one 
sheet  of  fire,  the  plunderers  having  landed  in  his  ab- 
sence and  carried  fire  and  sword  wherever  they  went".^ 

In  his  description  of  Britain,  Tacitus  says  that  the 
inhabitants  varied  in  their  physical  traits.  Different 
conclusions  were  drawn  concerning  their  origin.  He 
thought  the  Caledonians  were,  because  of  their  ruddy 
hair  and  muscular  limbs,  of  German  descent,  and  that 
the  dark  Silures  of  Wales  were  descendants  of  Iberian 
colonists.  He  noted  that  the  inhabitants  of  southern 
England  resembled  those  of  Gaul.^ 

Later  writers  have  expressed  divergent  views  regard- 
ing the  ethnics  of  the  British  Isles.  One  theory  is  that 
the  fair  Teutonic  peoples,  who  invaded  Britain  during 
the  post-Roman  period,  drove  the  "dark  Celts  "west- 
ward, and  that  that  is  the  reason  why  in  England  and 
Scotland  the  inhabitants  of  western  areas  are  darker 
than  those  in  the  eastern.  As  we  have  seen,  however, 
the  early  metal  workers  settled  in  the  western  areas 
for  the  reason  that  the  minerals  they  sought  for  were 
located  there.  In  south-western  Scotland  the  inhabi- 
tants are  darker  than  those  on  the  east,  except  in 
Aberdeenshire,  where  there  are  distinctive  megalithic 
remains  and  two  farhous  pearling  rivers,  the  Ythan  and 
Ugie,  as  well  as  deposits  of  flint  and  traces  of  gold. 

The  people  of  Scotland  are,  on  the  whole,  the  tallest 
and  heaviest  people  in  Europe.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  their  great  average  stature  is  due  to  the  settlement 
in  their  country  of  the  hardy  Norsemen  of  the  Viking 
period,  but  this  is  improbable,  because  the  average 
stature  of  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark  is  lower 
than  that  of  Scotland.  A  distinctive  feature  of  the 
Scottish  face  is  the  high  cheek-bone.  The  Norse 
cheek-bone   is   distinctly   flatter.     It   may   be   that   the 

^  O'Curry,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Irish,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  136. 
2  Agricola,  Chap.  XI. 


138  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

tall  Cro-Magnons,  who  had  high  cheek-bones,  have 
contributed  to  Scottish  physical  traits.  That  all  the 
fair  peoples  of  Britain  and  Ireland  are,  as  has  been 
indicated,  not  necessarily  descendants  of  the  fair  Celts 
and  Anglo-Saxons  is  evident  from  the  traces  that  have 
been  found  of  the  early  settlement  in  these  islands  of 
the  proto-Scandinavians,  who  introduced  the  Magle- 
mosian  culture  long  before  the  introduction  of  the 
Neolithic  industry.  Modern  ethnologists  lean  to  the 
view  that  the  masses  of  the  present-day  population  of 
Europe  betray  Palaeolithic  racial  affinities.  In  no 
country  in  Europe,  other  than  our  own,  have  there  been 
fewer  ethnic  changes.  As  we  have  seen,  there  were 
only  two  or  three  intrusions  from  the  Continent  between 
the  periods  when  the  bronze  and  iron  industries  were 
introduced — that  is,  during  about  a  thousand  years. 
The  latter  invasions  were  those  of  types  already  settled 
in  Britain.  As  in  other  countries,  the  tendency  to  revert 
to  the  early  types  represented  by  the  masses  of  the 
people  has  not  been  absent  in  our  native  land.  The 
intrusions  of  energetic  minorities  may  have  caused 
changes  of  languages  and  habits  of  life,  but  in  time  the 
alien  element  has  been  absorbed.^  Withal,  the  influences 
of  climate  and  of  the  diseases  associated  with  localities 
have  ever  been  at  work  in  eliminating  the  physically 
unfit — that  is,  those  individuals  who  cannot  live  in  a 
climate  too  severe  for  their  constitutions.  In  large 
industrial  cities  the  short,  dark  types  are  more  numerous 
than  the  tall,  fair,  and  large-lunged  types.  The  latter 
appear  to  be  more  suited  for  an  open-air  life. 

**  Pockets"  of  peoples  of  distinctive  type  are  to  be 
found  in  different  parts  of  the  British  Isles.  In  Barvas, 
Lewis,  and  elsewhere  in  the  Hebrides,  pockets  of  dark 
peoples  of  foreign  appearance  are  reputed  by  theorists, 

*  "The  rule  is",  writes  Beddoe  in  this  connection  {The  Anthrofiological  History  of 
Europe,  p.  53),  "  that  an  anthropological  type  is  never  wholly  dispossessed  or  extirpated  ". 


RACES   OF    BRITAIN   AND    IRELAND    139 

as  has  been  indicated,  to  be  descendants  of  the  sailors 
of  the  Spanish  Armada.  They  resemble,  however,  the 
Firbolgs  of  Ireland  and  the  Silures  of  Wales.  Hert- 
fordshire has  a  dark,  short  people  too.  Galloway,  the 
country  of  the  ancient  Selgovas  (hunters),  is  noted  for 
its  tall  people.  It  may  be  that  there  is  a  Cro-Magnon 
strain  in  Galloway,  and  that  among  the  short,  dark 
peoples  are  descendants  of  the  ancient  metal  workers, 
including  the  Easterners  who  settled  in  Spain.  (See 
Chaps.  IX  and  XII.)  Beddoe  thinks  that  the  Phoenician 
type  *^ occasionally  crops  up"  in  Cornwall.^ 

*  The  Anthropological  History  of  Europe  (new  edition,  Paisley,  191a),  p.  50. 


CHAPTER   XII 
Druidism  in  Britain  and  Gaul 

Culture  Mixing- — Classical  Evidence  regarding  Druids — Doctrine  of 
Transmigration  of  Souls— Celtic  Paradises:  Isles  of  the  Blest,  Land- 
under-waves,  Fairyland,  and  **  Loveless  Land  " — Paradise  as  Apple-land 
— Apples,  Nuts,  and  Pork  of  Longevity — Mistletoe  connected  with  the 
Oak,  Apple,  and  Other  Trees — Druids  and  Oracular  Birds — Druids  as 
Soothsayers — Thomas  the  Rhymer  as  '*  True  Thomas  " — Christ  as  the 
Druid  of  St  Columba — Stones  of  Worship — Druid  Groves  and  Dolmens 
in  Anglesea — Early  Christians  denounce  Worship  of  Stones,  Trees, 
Wells,  and  Heavenly  Bodies — Vows  over  Holy  Objects— Bull  Sacrifices, 
Stone  Worship,  &c.,  in  Highlands — "Cup-marked"  Stones — Origin  of 
Druidism  —  Milk-Goddesses  and  Milk-yielding  Trees  —  European  and 
Oriental  Milk  Myths — Tree  Cults  and  Megalithic  Monuments. 

When  the  question  is  asked  **  What  was  the  religion 
of  the  ancient  Britons?"  the  answer  generally  given 
is  **  Druidism ".  But  such  a  term  means  little  more 
than  **  Priestism  ".  It  would  perhaps  be  better  not  to 
assume  that  the  religious  beliefs  of  our  remote  ancestors 
were  either  indigenous  or  homogeneous,  or  that  they 
were  ever  completely  systematized  at  any  period  or  in 
any  district.  Although  certain  fundamental  beliefs  may 
have  been  widespread,  it  is  clear  that  there  existed  not 
a  few  local  or  tribal  cults.  '*  I  swear  by  the  gods  of  my 
people"  one  hero  may  declare  in  a  story,  while  of 
another  it  may  be  told  that  **Coir'  (the  hazel)  or 
**  Fire  "was  his  god.  Certain  animals  were  sacred  in 
some  districts  and  not  in  others,  or  were  sacred  to  some 
individuals  only  in  a  single  tribe. 

In   a  country  like  Britain,   subjected  in  early  times 

140 


DRUIDISM    IN   BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    141 

to  periodic  intrusions  of  peoples  from  different  areas, 
the  process  of  **  culture  mixing"  must  have  been  active 
and  constant.  Imported  beliefs  were  fused  with  native 
beliefs,  or  beliefs  that  had  assumed  local  features,  while 
local  pantheons  no  doubt  reflected  local  politics — the 
gods  of  a  military  aristocracy  being  placed  over  the 
gods  of  the  subject  people.  At  the  same  time,  it  does 
not  follow  that  when  we  find  a  chief  deity  bearing  a 
certain  name  in  one  district,  and  a  different  name  in 
another,  that  the  religious  rites  and  practices  differed 
greatly.  Nor  does  it  follow  that  all  peoples  who  gave 
recognition  to  a  political  deity  performed  the  same 
ceremonies  or  attached  the  same  importance  to  all 
festivals.  Hunters,  seafarers,  and  agriculturists  had 
their  own  peculiar  rites,  as  surviving  superstitions  (the 
beliefs  of  other  days)  clearly  indicate,  while  the  workers 
in  metals  clung  to  ceremonial  practices  that  differed 
from  those  performed  by  representatives  of  a  military 
aristocracy  served  by  the  artisans. 

Much  has  been  written  about  tic  Druids,  but  it  must 
be  confessed  that  our  knowledge  regarding  them  is 
somewhat  scanty.  Classical  writers  have  made  con- 
tradictory statements  about  their  beliefs  and  ceremonies. 
Pliny  alone  tells  that  they  showed  special  reverence 
for  the  mistletoe  growing  on  the  oak,  and  suggests 
that  the  name  Druid  was  connected  with  the  Greek 
word  drus  (an  oak).  Others  tell  that  there  were  Druids, 
Seers,  and  Bards  in  the  Celtic  priesthood.  In  his 
book  on  divination,  Cicero  indicates  that  the  Druids 
had  embraced  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras,  the  Greek 
philosopher,  who  was  born  about  586  B.C.,  including 
that  of  the  transmigration  of  souls. ^  Julius  Cassar  tells 
that  the  special  province  of  the  Druids  in  Gaulish 
society  was  religion  in  all  its  aspects;  they  read  oracles, 

1  Caesar  {De  Bella  Gallico,  VI,  XIV,  4)  says  the  Druids  believed  the  soul  passed  from 
one  individual  to  another. 


142  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

and  instructed  large  numbers  of  the  nation*s  youth. 
Pomponius  Mela^  says  the  instruction  was  given  in 
caves  and  in  secluded  groves.  Cassar  records  that  once 
a  year  the  Druids  presided  over  a  general  assembly 
of  the  Gauls  at  a  sacred  spot  in  the  country  of  the 
Carnutes,  which  was  supposed  to  be  the  centre  of  Gaul. 
It  is  not  known  whether  this  holy  place  was  marked 
by  a  mound,  a  grove,  a  stone  circle,  or  a  dolmen.  The 
Archdruid  was  chief  of  the  priesthood.  Cassar  notes 
that  the  Germans  had  no  Druids  and  paid  no  attention 
to  sacrifices. 

Of  special  interest  is  the  statement  that  the  Druids 
believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Transmigration  of  Souls — 
that  is,  they  believed  that  after  death  the  soul  passed 
from  one  individual  to  another,  or  into  plants  or  animals 
before  again  passing  into  a  human  being  at  birth. 
According  to  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  lived  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  first  century  a.d.,  the  Gauls  took  little 
account  of  the  end  of  life,  believing  they  would  come 
to  life  after  a  certain  term  of  years,  entering  other 
bodies.  He  also  refers  to  the  custom  of  throwing  letters 
on  the  funeral  pyre,  so  that  the  dead  might  read  them.^ 
This  suggests  a  belief  in  residence  for  a.  period  in  a 
Hades. 

The  doctrine  of  Transmigration  of  Souls  did  not, 
however,  prevail  among  all  Celtic  peoples  even  in 
Gaul.  Valerius  Maximus,  writing  about  a.d.  30,  says 
that  the  Gauls  were  in  the  habit  of  lending  sums  of 
money  on  the  promise  that  they  would  be  repaid  in  the 
next  world.  Gaelic  and  Welsh  literature  contains  little 
evidence  of  the  doctrine  of  Transmigration  of  Souls. 
A  few  myths  suggest  that  re-birth  was  a  privilege  of 
certain  specially  famous  individuals.  Mongan,  King 
of  Dalriada  in  Ulster,  and  the  Welsh  Taliessin,  for 
instance,  were  supposed  to   have  lived   for  periods  in 

1  A  Spaniard  of  the  first  century  A.D.  2  Book  V,  Chap.  XXVIII. 


DRUIDISM    IN    BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    143 

various  forms,  including  animal,  plant,  and  human 
forms,  while  other  heroes  were  incarnations  of  deities. 
The  most  persistent  British  belief,  however,  was  that 
after  death  the  soul  passed  to  an  Otherworld. 

Julius  Caesar  says  that  Druidism  was  believed  to  have 
originated  in  Britain.^  This  cannot  apply,  however,  to 
the  belief  in  transmigration  of  souls,  which  was  shared 
in  common  by  Celts,  Greeks,  and  Indians.  According 
to  Herodotus,  ''the  Egyptians  are  the  first  who  have 
affirmed  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  and  that  when  the 
body  decays  the  soul  invariably  enters  another  body  on 
the  point  of  death  ".  The  story  of  "The  Two  Brothers  " 
(Anpu  and  Bata)  indicates  that  the  doctrine  was  known 
in  Egypt.  There  are  references  in  the  "Book  of  the 
Dead  "  to  a  soul  becoming  a  lily,  a  golden  falcon,  a 
ram,  a  crocodile,  &c.,  but  this  doctrine  was  connected, 
according  to  Egyptologists,  with  the  belief  that  souls 
could  assume  different  shapes  in  the  Otherworld.  In 
India  souls  are  supposed  to  pass  through  animal  or 
reptile  forms  only.  The  Greek  doctrine,  like  the  Celtic, 
includes  plant  forms.  Certain  African  tribes  believe  in 
the  transmigration  of  souls. 

In  ancient  Britain  and  Ireland  the  belief  obtained,  as 
in  Greece  and  elsewhere,  that  there  was  an  Underworld 
Paradise  and  certain  Islands  of  the  Blest  (in  Gaelic 
called  ''The  Land  of  Youth",  "The  Plain  of  Bliss", 
&c.)  The  Underworld  was  entered  through  caves,  wells, 
rivers  or  lakes,  or  through  the  ocean  cavern  from  which 
the  moon  arose.  There  are  references  in  Scottish  folk- 
tales to  "The  Land-Under- Waves ",  and  to  men  and 
women  entering  the  Underworld  through  a  "fairy" 
mound,  and  seeing  the  dead  plucking  fruit  and  reaping 
grain  as  in  the  Paradise  of  the  Egyptian  god  Osiris.     It 

I  Pliny  (Book  XXX)  says  Britain  seems  to  have  taught  Druidism  to  the  Persians, 
I  Siret's  view,  given  in  the  concluding  part  of  this  chapter,  that  Druidism  was  of  Eastern 
i        origin,  is  of  special  interest  in  this  connection. 


144  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

is  evident  that  Fairyland  was  originally  a  Paradise, 
and  the  fairy  queen  an  old  mother  goddess.  There  are 
references  in  Welsh  to  as  gloomy  an  Underworld  as  the 
Babylonian  one.  **  In  addition  to  Annw/ity  a  term 
which",  according  to  the  late  Professor  Anwyl,  ** seems 
to  mean  the  '  Not-world ',  we  have  other  names  for  the 
world  below,  such  as  anghar^  *  the  loveless  place'; 
difant^  the  unrimmed  place  (whence  the  modern  Welsh 
word  difancoll^  *  lost  for  ever ') ;  affwys^  the  abyss ;  affan^ 
*  the  land  invisible  '."  In  a  Welsh  poem  a  bard  speaks 
of  the  Otherworld  as  **the  cruel  prison  of  earth,  the 
abode  of  death,  the  loveless  land  ".^ 

The  Border  Ballads  of  Scotland  contain  references  to 
the  Fairyland  Paradise  of  the  Underworld,  to  the  islands 
or  continent  of  Paradise,  and  to  the  dark  Otherworld  of 
the  grave  in  which  the  dead  lie  among  devouring  worms. 

In  one  Celtic  Elysium,  known  to  the  Welsh  and  Irish, 
the  dead  feast  on  pork  as  do  the  heroes  in  the  Paradise 
of  the  Scandinavian  god  Odin.  There  is  no  trace  in 
Scotland  of  a  belief  or  desire  to  reach  a  Paradise  in 
which  the  pig  was  eaten.  The  popularity  of  the  apple 
as  the  fruit  of  longevity  was,  however,  widespread.  It 
is  uncertain  when  the  beliefs  connected  with  it  were 
introduced  into  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  and  Ireland. 
As  they  were  similar  to  those  connected  with  the  hazel- 
nut, the  acorn,  the  rowan,  &c.,  there  may  have  simply 
been  a  change  of  fruit  rather  than  a  religious  change, 
except  in  so  far  as  new  ceremonies  may  have  been 
associated  with  the  cultivated  apple  tree. 

A  Gaelic  story  tells  of  a  youth  who  in  Paradise  held  a 
fragrant  golden  apple  in  his  right  hand.  **  A  third  part 
of  it  he  would  eat  and  still,  for  all  he  consumed,  never 
a  whit  would  it  be  diminished."  As  long  as  he  ate  the 
apple  **nor  age  nor  dimness  could  affect  him".  Para- 
dise was  in  Welsh  and  Gaelic  called  "Apple  land".' 

I  Celtic  Religion,  p.  6a.  2  Avalon,  Eniain  Ablach,  &c. 


DRUIDISM    IN   BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    145 

Its  **tree  of  life"  always  bore  ripe  fruit  and  fresh  blos- 
soms. One  of  the  Irish  St.  Patrick  legends  pictures  a 
fair  youth  coming  from  the  south  ^  clad  in  crimson 
mantle  and  yellow  shirt,  carrying  a  *' double  armful  of 
round  yellow-headed  nuts  and  of  most  beautiful  golden- 
yellow  apples  ".  There  are  stories,  too,  about  the  hazel 
with  its  ''good  fruit",  and  of  holy  fire  being  taken  from 
this  tree,  and  withal  a  number  of  hazel  place-names  that 
probably  indicate  where  sacred  hazel  groves  once  existed. 
Hallowe'en  customs  connected  with  apples  and  nuts  are 
evidently  relics  of  ancient  religious  beliefs  and  cere- 
monies. 

The  Druids  are  reported  by  Pliny  (as  has  been  stated) 
to  have  venerated  the  mistletoe,  especially  when  it  was 
found  growing  on  an  oak.  But  the  popular  parasitic 
plant  is  very  rarely  found  associated  with  this  tree. 
In  France  and  England  it  grows  chiefly  on  firs  and 
pines  or  on  apple  trees,  but  never  on  the  plane,  beech, 
or  birch. ^  It  is  therefore  doubtful  if  the  name  Druid 
was  derived  from  the  root  dru  which  is  found  in  the 
Greek  word  drus  (oak)j  In  Gaelic  the  Druids  are  **  wise 
men  "  who  read  oractes,  worked  spells,  controlled  the 
weather,  and  acted  as  intercessors  between  the  gods  and 
men.  Like  the  dragon-slayers  of  romance,  they  under- 
stood ''the  language  of  birds",  and  especially  that  of 
the  particular  bird  associated  with  the  holy  tree  of  a 
cult.  One  sacred  bird  was  the  wren.  According  to  Dr. 
Whitley  Stokes  the  old  Celtic  names  of  wren  and  Druid 
were  derived  from  the  root  dreOy  which  is  cognate  with 
the  German  word  treu  and  the  English  true.  The  Druid 
was  therefore,  as  one  who  understood  the  language  of 
the   wren,    a   soothsayer,    a   truth-sayer — a    revealer   of 

1  The  south  was  on  the  right  and  signified  heaven,  while  the  north  was  on  the  left  and 
signified  hell. 

'  Bacon  wrote:  "Mistletoe  groweth  chiefly  upon  crab  trees,  apple  trees,  sometimes  upon 
hazels,  and  rarely  upon  oaks;  the  mistletoe  whereof  is  counted  very  medicinal.  It  is 
evergreen  in  winter  and  summer,  and  beareth  a  white  glistening  berry ;  and  it  is  a  plant 
utterly  differing  from  the  plant  on  which  it  groweth." 

(  D  217  )  11 


146  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

divine  truth.  A  judgment  pronounced  by  Druid  or 
king  was  supposed  to  be  inspired  by  the  deity.  It  was 
essentially  a  divine  decree.  The  judge  wore  round  his 
neck  the  symbol  of  the  deity.  *' When  what  he  said 
was  true,  it  was  roomy  for  his  neck;  when  false,  it  was 
narrow."  This  symbol  according  to  Cormac's  Glossary 
was  called  sin  (sheen).  Some  seers  derived  their  power 
to  reveal  the  truth  by  tasting  the  blood  or  juice  of  a  holy 
animal  or  reptile,  or,  like  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  by  eating 
of  an  apple  plucked  from  the  tree  of  life  in  the  Paradise 
of  Fairyland.  In  an  old  ballad  it  is  told  that  when 
Thomas  was  carried  off  to  the  Underworld  by  the  fairy 
queen  he  was  given  an  inspiring  apple  that  made  him  a 
*  *  truth-sayer  "  (a  prophet). 

Syne  they  came  to  a  garden  green 
And  she  pu'd  an  app'e  frae  a  tree; 
**  Take  this  for  thy  wages,  True  Thomas; 

It  will  give  thee  the  tongue  that  can  never  lee  (He)." 

''True  Thomas "  was  ''  Druid  Thomas ". 

An  interesting  reference  to  Druidism  is  found  in  a 
Gaelic  poem  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  St. 
Columba,  in  which  the  missionary  says: 

The  voices  of  birds  I  do  not  reverence, 

Nor  sneezing,  nor  any  charm  in  this  wide  world. 

Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  my  Druid. 

There  are  Gaelic  stories  about  Druids  who  read  the 
omens  of  the  air  and  foretell  the  fates  of  individuals  at 
birth,  fix  the  days  on  which  young  warriors  should  take 
arms,  &c. 

In  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales  not  only 
trees  and  birds  were  reverenced,  but  also  standing  stones, 
which  are  sometimes  referred  to  even  in  modern  Gaelic 
as  ** stones  of  worship".  Some  stories  tell  of  standing 
stones  being  transformed  into  human  beings  when  struck 


DRUIDISM    IN    BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    147 

by  a  magician's  wand.  The  wand  in  one  story  is  pos- 
sessed by  a  ''wise  woman".  Other  traditions  relate 
that  once  a  year  the  stones  become  maidens  who  visit  a 
neighbouring  stream  and  bathe  in  it.  A  version  of  this 
myth  survives  in  Oxfordshire.  According  to  Tacitus 
there  were  on  the  island  of  Mona  (Anglesea),  which  was 
a  centre  of  religious  influence,  not  only  Druids,  but 
''women  in  black  attire  like  Furies" — apparently  priest- 
esses. As  has  been  noted,  a  large  number  of  dolmens 
existed  on  Mona,  in  which  there  were  also  "groves 
devoted  to  inhuman  superstitions  ".^ 

The  early  Christian  writers  refer  to  the  "worship  of 
stones"  in  Ireland.  In  the  seventh  century  the  Council 
at  Rouen  denounced  all  those  who  offer  vows  to  trees, 
or  wells,  or  stones,  as  they  would  at  altars,  or  offer 
candles  or  gifts,  as  if  any  divinity  resided  there  capable 
of  conferring  good  or  evil.  The  Council  at  Aries  (a.d. 
452)  and  the  Council  at  Toledo  (a.d.  681)  dealt  with 
similar  pagan  practices.  That  sacred  stones  were  asso- 
ciated with  sacred  trees  is  indicated  in  a  decree  of  an 
early  Christian  Council  held  at  Nantes  which  exhorts 
"bishops  and  their  servants  to  dig  up  and  remove  and 
hide  in  places  where  they  cannot  be  found  those  stones 
which  in  remote  and  woody  places  are  still  worshipped 
and  where  vows  are  still  made".  This  worship  of  stones 
was  in  Britain,  or  at  any  rate  in  part  of  England,  con- 
nected with  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  A 
statute  of  the  time  of  King  Canute  forbids  the  barbarous 
adoration  of  the  sun  and  moon,  fire,  fountains,  stones, 
and  all  kinds  of  trees  and  wood.  In  the  Confession 
attributed  to  St.  Patrick,  the  Irish  are  warned  that  all 
those  who  adore  the  sun  shall  perish  eternally.     Cormac's 

1  The  Annals  of  Tacitus,  XIV,  30.  The  theory  that  mediaeval  witches  were  the 
priestesses  of  a  secret  cult  that  perpetuated  pre-Roman  British  religion  is  not  supported 
by  Gaelic  evidence.  The  Gaelic  "witches"  had  no  meetings  with  the  devil,  and  never 
rode  on  broomsticks.  The  Gaelic  name  for  witchcraft  is  derived  from  English  and  is 
not  old. 


148  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Glossary  explains  that  Indelha  signified  Images  and 
that  this  name  was  applied  to  the  altars  of  certain  idols. 
**They  (the  pagans)  were  wont  to  carve  on  them  the 
forms  of  the  elements  they  adored:  for  example,  the 
figure  of  the  sun."  Irish  Gaels  swore  by  *'the  sun, 
moon,  water,  and  air,  day  and  night,  sea  and  land  ".  In 
a  Scottish  story  some  warriors  lift  up  a  portion  of  earth 
and  swear  on  it.  The  custom  of  swearing  on  weapons 
was  widespread  in  these  islands.  In  ancient  times 
people  swore  by  what  was  holiest  to  them.^ 

One  of  the  latest  references  to  pagan  religious  customs 
is  found  in  the  records  of  Dingwall  Presbytery  dating 
from  1649  to  1678.  In  the  Parish  of  Gairloch,  Ross- 
shire,  bulls  were  sacrificed,  oblations  of  milk  were  poured 
on  the  hills,  wells  were  adored,  and  chapels  were  **  cir- 
culated " — the  worshippers  walked  round  them  sun-wise. 
Those  who  intended  to  set  out  on  journeys  thrust  their 
heads  into  a  hole  in  a  stone.^  If  a  head  entered  the  hole, 
it  was  believed  the  man  would  return ;  if  it  did  not,  his 
luck  was  doubtful.  The  reference  to  ** oblations  of  milk" 
is  of  special  interest,  because  milk  was  offered  to  the 
fairies.  A  milk  offering  was  likewise  poured  daily  into 
the  '*cup"  of  a  stone  known  as  Clach-na-Gruagach  (the 
stone  of  the  long-haired  one).  A  bowl  of  milk  v/as,  in 
the  Highlands,  placed  beside  a  corpse,  and,  after  burial 
took  place,  either  outside  the  house  door  or  at  the  grave. 
The  conventionalized  Azilian  human  form  is  sometimes 
found  to  be  depicted  by  small  **cups"  on  boulders  or 
rocks.  Some  **cups"  were  formed  by  **  knocking" 
with  a  small  stone  for  purposes  of  divination.  The 
** cradle  stone"  at  Burghead  is  a  case  in  point.  It  is 
dealt  with  by  Sir  Arthur  Mitchell  (The  Past  in  tlie 
Present y  pp.  263-5),  who  refers  to  other  *^ cup-stones" 

1  "Every  weapon  has  its  demon"  is  an  old  Gaelic  saying-. 

2  According  to  the  Dingwall  records  knowledge  of  "future  events  in  reference  especialle 
to  lyfe  and  death"  was  obtained  by  performing  a  ceremony  in  connection  with  the 
hollowed  stone. 


DRUIDISM    IN   BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    149 

that  were  regarded  as  being  '^  efficacious  in  cases  of 
barrenness".  In  some  hollowed  stones  Highland 
parents  immersed  children  suspected  of  being  change- 
lings. 

^  A  flood  of  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  origin  of 
Druidism  by  Siret,^  the  discoverer  of  the  settlements  of 
Easterners  in  Spain  which  have  been  dealt  with  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  He  shows  that  the  colonists  were  an 
intensely  religious  people,  who  introduced  the  Eastern 
Palm-tree  cult  and  worshipped  a  goddess  similar  to  the 
Egyptian  Hathor,  a  form  of  whom  was  Nut.  After  they 
were  expelled  from  Spain  by  a  bronze-using  people,  the 
refugees  settled  in  Gaul  and  Italy,  carrying  with  them 
the  science  and  religious  beliefs  and  practices  associated 
with  Druidism.  Commercial  relations  were  established 
between  the  Etruscans,  the  peoples  of  Gaul  and  the  south 
of  Spain,  and  with  the  Phoenicians  of  Tyre  and  Carthage 
during  the  archaeological  Early  Iron  Age.  Some  of  the 
megalithic  monuments  of  North  Africa  were  connected 
with  this  later  drift.  - 

The  goddess  Hathor  of  Egypt  was  associated  with 
the  sycamore  fig  which  exudes  a  milk-like  fluid,  with 
a  sea-shell,  with  the  sky  (as  Nut  she  was  depicted  as 
a  star-spangled  woman),  and  with  the  primeval  cow. 
The  tree  cult  was  introduced  into  Rome.  The  legend 
of  the  foundation  of  that  city  is  closely  associated  with 
the  **  milk  "-yielding  fig  tree,  under  which  the  twins 
Romulus  and  Remus  were  nourished  by  the  wolf.  The 
fig-milk  was  regarded  as  an  elixir  and  was  given  by  the 
Greeks  to  newly  born  children. 

Siret  shows  that  the  ancient  name  of  the  Tiber  was 
Rumon,  which  was  derived  from  the  root  signifying 
milk.  It  was  supposed  to  nourish  the  earth  with 
terrestrial  milk.  From  the  same  root  came  the  name  of 
Rome.     The  ancient  milk-providing  goddess  of  Rome 

1  L Anthropologie,  19a i,  Tome  XXX,  pp.  335  et  seq. 


I50  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

was  Deva  Rumina.  Offerings  of  milk  instead  of  wine 
were  made  to  her.  The  starry  heavens  were  called 
**  Juno's  milk"  by  the  Romans,  and  '*  Hera's  milk"  by 
the  Greeks,  and  the  name  *^  Milky  Way  "  is  still  retained. 
The  milk  tree  of  the  British  Isles  is  the  hazel.  It 
contains  a  milky  fluid  in  the  green  nut,  which  Highland 
children  of  a  past  generation  regarded  as  a  fluid  that 
gave  them  strength.  Nut-milk  was  evidently  regarded  in 
ancient  times  as  an  elixir  like  fig-milk.^  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  Gaelic  lore  connected  with  the  hazel.  In  Keat- 
ing's  History  of  Ireland  (Vol.  I,  section  12)  appears  the 
significant  statement,  ''Coll  (the  hazel)  indeed  was  god 
to  MacCuil  ".  "  Coll  "  is  the  old  Gaelic  word  for  hazel ; 
the  modern  word  is  "Call".  "  Calltuinn  "  (Englished 
"Calton")  is  a  '* hazel  grove".  There  are  Caltons  in 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  and  well-worn  forms  of  the 
ancient  name  elsewhere.  In  the  legends  associated  with 
the  Irish  Saint  Maedog  is  one  regarding  a  dried-up 
stick  of  hazel  which  "sprouted  into  leaf  and  blossom 
and  good  fruit".  It  is  added  that  this  hazel  "endures 
yet  (a.d.  624),  a  fresh  tree,  undecayed,  unwithered,  nut- 
laden  yearly  ".^  The  sacred  hazel  was  supposed  to  be 
impregnated  with  the  substance  of  life.  Another  refer- 
ence is  made  to  Collna  nothar  ("  hazel  of  the  wounded  "). 
Hazel-nuts  of  longevity,  as  well  as  apples  of  longevity, 
were  supposed  to  grow  in  the  Gaelic  Paradise.  In  a  St. 
Patrick  legend  a  youth  comes  from  the  south  ("south" 
is  Paradise  and  "north"  is  hell)  carrying  "a  double  arm- 
ful of  round  yellow-headed  nuts  and  of  beautiful  golden- 
yellow  apples  ".  Dr.  Joyce  states  that  the  ancient  Irish 
"  attributed  certain  druidical  or  fairy  virtues  to  the  yew, 
the  hazel,  and  the  quicken  or  rowan  tree  ",  and  refers  to 
"innumerable  instances  in  tales,  poems,  and  other  old 

1  "  Comb  of  the  honey  and  milk  of  the  nut"  (in  Gaelic  c\r  na  meala  'is  hainne  nan  end) 
w^s  given  as  a  tonic  to  weakly  children,  and  is  still  remembered,  the  Rev.  Kenneth 
MacLeod,  Colonsay,  informs  me. 

'  Standish  H.  O'Grady,  Silva  Gadelica,  p,  505. 


DRUIDISM    IN    BRITAIN   AND    GAUL    151 

records,  in  such  expressions  as  '  Cruachan  of  the  fair 
hazels ',  '  Derry-na-nath,  on  which  fair-nutted  hazels  are 
constantly  found'.  .  .  .  Among  the  blessings  a  good 
king  brought  on  the  land  was  plenty  of  hazel-nuts: — 
*  O'Berga  (the  chief)  for  whom  the  hazels  stoop ',  *  Each 
hazel  is  rich  from  the  hero'."  Hazel-nuts  were  like  the 
figs  and  dates  of  the  Easterners,  largely  used  for  food.^ 

Important  evidence  regarding  the  milk  elixir  and  the 
associated  myths  and  doctrines  is  preserved  in  the 
ancient  religious  literature  of  India  and  especially  in 
the  Mahd-hhdrata,  The  Indian  Hathor  is  the  cow- 
mother  Surabhi,  who  sprang  from  Amrita  (Soma)  in  the 
mouth  of  the  Grandfather  (Brahma).  A  single  jet  of 
her  milk  gave  origin  to  **  Milky  Ocean".  The  milk 
*' mixing  with  the  water"  appeared  as  foam,  and  was 
the  only  nourishment  of  the  holy  men  called  **Foam 
drinkers  ".  Divine  milk  was  also  obtained  from  **  milk- 
yielding  trees",  which  were  the  '* children"  of  one  of 
her  daughters.  These  trees  included  nut  trees.  Another 
daughter  was  the  mother  of  birds  of  the  parrot  species 
(oracular  birds).  In  the  Vedic  poems  somay  a.  drink 
prepared  from  a  plant,  is  said  to  have  been  mixed  with 
milk  and  honey,  and  mention  is  made  of  ^^  Susoma^^ 
(**  river  of  Soma  ").  Madhu  (mead)  was  a  drink  identi- 
fied with  soma^  or  milk  and  honey.^ 

There  are  rivers  of  mead  in  the  Celtic  Paradise. 
Certain  trees  are  in  Irish  lore  associated  with  rivers  that 
were  regarded  as  sacred.  These  were  not  necessarily 
milk-yielding  trees.  In  Gaul  the  plane  tree  took  the 
place  of  the  southern  fig  tree.  The  elm  tree  in  Ireland 
and  Scotland  was  similarly  connected  with  the  ancient 
milk  cult.  One  of  the  old  names  for  new  milk,  found  in 
*'Cormac's  Glossary",  is  lemlacht,  the  later  form  of 
which  is  leamhnacht.     From  the  same  root  (lem)  comes 

*  A  Smaller  Social  History  of  Ancient  Ireland,  pp.  100-2  and  367-8. 
'  Macdonell  and  Keith,  Vedic  Index,  under  Soma  and  Madhu. 


152  ANCIENT   xMAN    IN    BRITAIN 

leamhy  the  name  of  the  elm.  The  River  Laune  in  Kil- 
larney  is  a  rendering  of  the  Gaelic  name  leamhain^ 
which  in  Scotland  is  found  as  Leven,  the  river  that 
gave  its  name  to  the  area  known  as  Lennox  (ancient 
Leamhna),  Milk  place-names  in  Ireland  include  *'new 
milk  lake"  (Lough  Alewnaghta)  in  Galway,  ''which", 
Joyce  suggests,  "  may  have  been  so  called  from  the 
softness  of  its  water".  A  mythological  origin  of  the 
name  is  more  probable.  Wounds  received  in  battle 
were  supposed  to  be  healed  in  baths  of  the  milk  of  white 
hornless  cows.^  In  Irish  blood-covenant  ceremonies 
new  milk,  blood,  and  wine  were  mixed  and  drunk  by 
warriors. 2  As  late  as  the  twelfth  century  a  rich  man's 
child  was  in  Ireland  immersed  immediately  after  birth 
in  new  milk.^  In  Rome,  in  the  ninth  century,  at  the 
Easter-eve  baptism  the  chalice  was  filled  ''not  with 
wine  but  with  milk  and  honey,  that  they  may  under- 
stand .  .  .  that  they  have  entered  already  upon  the 
promised  land  ".* 

The  beliefs  associated  with  the  apple,  rowan,  hazel, 
and  oak  trees  were  essentially  the  same.  These  trees 
provided  the  fruits  of  longevity  and  knowledge,  or  the 
wine  which  was  originally  regarded  as  an  elixir  that 
imparted  new  life  and  inspired  those  who  drank  it  to 
prophecy  ^  The  oak  provided  acorns  which  were  eaten. 
Although  it  does  not  bear  red  berries  like  the  rowan, 
a  variety  of  the  oak  is  greatly  favoured  by  the  insect 
KermeSy  "which  yields  a  scarlet  dye  nearly  equal  to 
cochineal,  and  is  the  '  scarlet  *  mentioned  in  Scripture  ". 
This  fact  is  of  importance  as  the  early  peoples  attached 

1  Joyce,  Irish  Names  of  Places,  Vol.  I,  pp.  507-9,  Vol.  II,  pp.  206-7  ^"d  345.  Marsh 
mallows  (leamh)  appear  to  have  been  included  among  the  herbals  of  the  milk-cult  as  the 
soma-plant  was  in  India. 

2  Revue  Celttgue,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  75. 

8  Warren,  Liturgy  and  Ritual  of  the  Celtic  Church,  p.  67. 
*  Henderson's  Survivals,  p.  218. 

6  Rowan-berry  wine  was  greatly  favoured.  There  are  Gaelic  references  to  "  the  wine  of 
the  apple  (cider) ". 


DRUIDISM   IN   BRITAIN   AND   GAUL    153 

much  value  to  colour  and  especially  to  red,  the  colour  of 
life  blood.  Withal,  acorn-cups  "are  largely  imported 
from  the  Levant  for  the  purposes  of  tanning,  dyeing, 
and  making  ink".^  A  seafaring  people  like  the  ancient 
Britons  must  have  tanned  the  skins  used  for  boats  so  as 
to  prevent  them  rotting  on  coming  into  contact  with 
water.  Dr.  Joyce  writes  of  the  ancient  Irish  in  this 
connection,  **Curraghs^  or  wicker -boats  Were  often 
covered  with  leather.  A  jacket  of  hard,  tough,  tanned 
leather  was  sometimes  worn  in  battle  as  a  protecting 
corslet.  Bags  made  of  leather,  and  often  of  undressed 
skins,  were  pretty  generally  used  to  hold  liquids.  There 
was  a  sort  of  leather  wallet  or  bag  called  crioll^  used  like 
a  modern  travelling  bag,  to  hold  clothes  and  other  soft 
articles.  The  art  of  tanning  was  well  understood  in 
ancient  Ireland.  The  name  for  a  tanner  was  sudaire, 
which  is  still  a  living  word.  Oak  bark  was  employed, 
and  in  connection  with  this  use  was  called  coirteach 
(Latin,  cortex).''  The  oak-god  protected  seafarers  by 
making  their  vessels  sea-worthy. 

Mistletoe  berries  may  have  been  regarded  as  milk- 
berries  because  of  their  colour,  and  the  ceremonial  cut- 
ting of  the  mistletoe  with  the  golden  sickle  may  well 
have  been  a  ceremony  connected  with  the  fertilization 
of  trees  practised  in  the  East.  The  mistletoe  was  reputed 
to  be  an  "all-heal",  although  really  it  is  useless  for 
medicinal  purposes. 

That  complex  ideas  were  associated  with  deities  im- 
ported into  this  country,  the  history  of  which  must  be 
sought  for  elsewhere,  is  made  manifest  when  we  find 
that,  in  the  treeless  Outer  Hebrides,  the  goddess  known 
as  the  "maiden  queen"  has  her  dwelling  in  a  tree  and 
provides  the  "milk  of  knowledge"  from  a  sea-shell.  She 
could  not  possibly  have  had  independent  origin  in  Scot- 

1  George  Nicholson,  Encyclopcedta  of  Horticulture,  under  "Oak"'. 
'  Curragh  is  connected  with  the  Latin  corium,  a  hide. 


154  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

land.  Her  history  is  rooted  in  ancient  Egypt,  where 
Hathor,  the  provider  of  the  milk  of  knowledge  and 
longevity,  was,  as  has  been  indicated,  connected  with 
the  starry  sky  (the  Milky  Way),  a  sea-shell,  the  milk- 
yielding  sycamore  fig,  and  the  primeval  cow. 

The  cult  animal  of  the  goddess  was  in  Egypt  the  star- 
spangled  cow;  in  Troy  it  was  a  star-spangled  sow\ 
The  cult  animal  of  Rome  was  the  wolf  which  suckled 
Romulus  and  Remus.  In  Crete  the  local  Zeus  was 
suckled,  according  to  the  belief  of  one  cult,  by  a  horned 
sheep  ^,  and  according  to  another  cult  by  a  sow.  There 
were  various  cult  animals  in  ancient  Scotland,  including 
the  tabooed  pig,  the  red  deer  milked  by  the  fairies,  the 
wolf,  and  the  cat  of  the  **  Cat"  tribes  in  Shetland,  Caith- 
ness, &c.  The  cow  appears  to  have  been  sacred  to 
certain  peoples  in  ancient  Britain  and  Ireland.  It  would 
appear,  too,  that  there  was  a  sacred  dog  in  Ireland.^ 

It  is  evident  that  among  the  Eastern  beliefs  anciently 
imported  into  the  British  Isles  were  some  which  still 
bear  traces  of  the  influence  of  cults  and  of  culture 
mixing.  That  religious  ideas  of  Egyptian  and  Baby- 
lonian origin  were  blended  in  this  country  there  can 
be  little  doubt,  for  the  Gaelic-speaking  peoples,  who 
revered  the  hazel  as  the  Egyptians  revered  the  sycamore, 
regarded  the  liver  as  the  seat  of  life,  as  did  the  Baby- 
lonians, and  not  the  heart,  as  did  the  Egyptians.  In 
translations  of  ancient  Gaelic  literature  "liver  "  is  always 
rendered  as  ** vitals".  ., 

It  is  of  special  interest  to  note  that  Siret  has  found 
evidence  to  show  that  the  Tree  Cult  of  the  Easterners 
was  connected  with  the  early  megalithic  monuments. 
The  testimony  of  tradition  associates  the  stone  circles, 

1  Schliemann,  Troy  and  Its  Remains,  p.  233. 

^  Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies,  Vol.  XXI,  p.  139. 

8  It  was  because  Zeus  had  been  suckled  by  a  sow  that  the  Cretans,  as  Athenaeus  records, 
"will  not  taste  its  flesh"  (Farnell,  Cults  of  the  Greek  States,  Vol.  I,  p.  37).  In  Ireland 
the  dog  was  taboo  to  Cuchullin,  There  is  a  good  deal  of  Gaelic  lore  about  the  sacred 
cow. 


Cult  Animals  and  "  Wonder  Beasts"  (dragons  or  makaras)  on  Scottish 
Sculptured  Stones 

165 


156  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

&c.,  with  the  Druids.  ''We  are  now  obliged",  he 
writes  ^  '*to  go  back  to  the  theory  of  the  archaeologists 
of  a  hundred  years  ago  who  attributed  the  megalithic 
monuments  to  the  Druids.  The  instinct  of  our  pre- 
decessors has  been  more  penetrating  than  the  scientific 
analysis  which  has  taken  its  place."  In  Gaelic,  as  will 
be  shown,  the  words  for  a  sacred  grove  and  the  shrine 
within  a  grove  are  derived  from  the  same  root  nem. 
(See  also  Chapter  IX  in  this  connection.) 

1  L Anthropologic  (192 1),  pp.  268  et  seq. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
The  Lore  of  Charms 

The  Meaning  of  "  Luck" — Symbolism  of  Charms— Colour  Symbolism 
— Death  as  a  Change — Food  and  Charms  for  the  Dead — The  Lucky- 
Pearl — Pearl  Goddess — Moon  as  '*  Pearl  of  Heaven  " — Sky  Goddess  con- 
nected with  Pearls,  Groves,  and  Wells — Night-shining  Jewels — Pearl  and 
Coral  as  "Life  Givers" — The  Morrigan  and  Morgan  le  Fay — Goddess 
Freyja  and  Jewels — Amber  connected  with  Goddess  and  Boar — "  Soul 
Substance"  in  Amber,  Jet,  Coral,  &c.  — Enamel  as  Substitute  for  Coral, 
&c. — Precious  Metal  and  Precious  Stones — Goddess  of  Life  and  Law — 
Pearl  as  a  Standard  of  Value  in  Gaelic  Trade. 

Our  ancestors  were  greatly  concerned  about  their 
luck.  They  consulted  oracles  to  discover  what  luck 
was  in  store  for  them.  To  them  luck  meant  everything 
they  most  desired — good  health,  good  fortune,  an 
abundant  food  supply,  and  protection  against  drowning, 
wounds  in  battle,  accidents,  and  so  on.  Luck  was 
ensured  by  performing  ceremonies  and  wearing  charms. 
Some  ceremonies  were  performed  round  sacred  bon- 
fires (bone  fires),  when  sacrifices  were  made,  at  holy 
wells,  in  groves,  or  in  stone  circles.  Charms  included 
precious  stones,  coloured  stones,  pearls,  and  articles 
of  silver,  gold,  or  copper  of  symbolic  shape,  or  bearing 
an  image  or  inscription.  Mascots,  "lucky  pigs",  &c., 
are  relics  of  the  ancient  custom  of  wearing  charms. 

The  colour  as  well  as  the  shape  of  a  charm  revealed 
its  particular  influence.  Certain  colours  are  still  re- 
garded as  being  lucky  or  unlucky  (''yellow  is  forsaken" 
some  say).  In  ancient  times  colours  meant  much  to 
the  Britons,  as  they  did  to  other  peoples.      This  fact 

157 


158  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

is  brought  out  in  many  tales  and  customs.  A  Welsh 
story,  for  instance,  which  refers  to  the  appearance  of 
supernatural  beings  attired  in  red  and  blue,  says,  *'The 
red  on  the  one  part  signifies  burning,  and  the  blue 
on  the  other  signifies  coldness".^ 

On  their  persisting  belief  in  luck  were  based  the 
religious  ideas  and  practices  of  the  ancient  Britons. 
Their  chief  concern  was  to  protect  and  prolong  life  in 
this  world  and  in  the  next.  When  death  came  it 
was  regarded  as  *'a  change".  The  individual  was 
supposed  either  to  fall  asleep,  or  to  be  transported  in 
the  body  to  Paradise,  or  to  assume  a  new  form.  In 
Scottish  Gaelic  one  can  still  hear  the  phrase  chaochail  e 
(**he  changed")  used  to  signify  that  **he  died".^  But 
after  death  charms  were  as  necessary  as  during  life. 
As  in  Aurignacian  times,  luck-charms  in  the  form  of 
necklaces,  armlets,  &c.,  were  placed  in  the  graves  of 
the  dead  by  those  who  used  flint,  or  bronze,  or  iron 
to  shape  implements  and  weapons.  The  dead  had  to 
receive  nourishment,  and  clay  vessels  are  invariably 
found  in  ancient  graves,  some  of  which  contain  dusty 
deposits.  The  writer  has  seen  at  Fortrose  a  deposit  in 
one  of  these  grave  urns,  which  a  medical  man  identified 
as  part  of  the  skeleton  of  a  bird. 

Necklaces  of  shells,  of  wild  animals'  teeth,  and  orna- 
ments of  ivory  found  in  Palasolithic  graves  or  burial 
caves  were  connected  with  the  belief  that  they  contained 
the  animating  influence  or  'Mife  substance"  of  the 
mother  goddess.  In  later  times  the  pearl  found  in 
the  shell  was  regarded  as  being  specially  sacred. 

Venus  (Aphrodite)  is,  in  one  of  her  phases,  the  per- 
sonification of  a  pearl,  and  is  lifted  from  the  sea  seated 
on  a  shell.     As  a  sky  deity  she  was   connected  with 


1  Lady  Charlotte  Guest,  The  Mahinogion  (Story  of  "Kilwch  and  Olwcn"  and  note  on 
Gwyn  the  son  of  Nudd  "). 

2  Also  shiubhaile  which  signifies  "he  went  off"  (as  when  walking). 


THE   LORE   OF   CHARMS  159 

the  planet  that  bears  her  name  ^  and  also  with  the  moon. 
The  ancients  connected  the  moon  with  the  pearl.  In 
some  languages  the  moon  is  the  ''pearl  of  heaven". 
Dante,  in  his  Inferno^  refers  to  the  moon  as  "the 
eternal  pearl ".  One  of  the  Gaelic  names  for  a  pearl 
is  neamhnuid.  The  root  is  netn  of  neamhy  and  neamh 
is  "heaven",  so  that  the  pearl  is  "  a  heavenly  thing" 
in  Gaelic,  as  in  other  ancient  languages.  It  was  asso- 
ciated not  only  with  the  sky  goddess  but  with  the 
sacred  grove  in  which  the  goddess  was  worshipped. 
The  Gaulish  name  nemeton^  of  which  the  root  is  like- 
wise nem^  means  "shrine  in  a  grove".  In  early  Chris- 
tian times  in  Ireland  the  name  was  applied  as  nemed 
to  a  chapel,  and  in  Scottish  place- names^  it  survives 
in  the  form  of  neimhidh^  "church-land",  the  Englished 
forms  of  which  are  Navity^  near  Cromarty,  Navaty  in 
Fife,  "Rosneath",  formerly  Rosneveth  (the  promon- 
tory of  the  nemed)y  "Dalnavie"  (dale  of  the  nemed)y 
"Cnocnavie"  (hillock  of  the  nemed)^  Inchnavie  (island 
of  the  neined)y  &c.  The  Gauls  had  a  nemetomarus 
("great  shrine"),  and  when  in  Roman  times  a  shrine 
was  dedicated  to  Augustus  it  was  called  Augustonemeton, 
The  root  nem  is  in  the  Latin  word  nemus  (a  grove). 
It  was  apparently  because  the  goddess  of  the  grove 
was  the  goddess  of  the  sky  and  of  the  pearl,  and  the 
goddess  of  battle  as  well  as  the  goddess  of  love,  that 
Julius  Cagsar  made  a  thanksgiving  offering  to  Venus 
in  her  temple  at  Rome  of  a  corslet  of  British  pearls. 
The  Irish  goddess  Nemon  was  the  spouse  of  the  war 
god  Neit.  A  Roman  inscription  at  Bath  refers  to  the 
British  goddess  Nemetona.  The  Gauls  had  a  goddess 
of  similar  name.  In  Galatia,  Asia  Minor,  the  particular 
tree  connected  with  the  sky  goddess  was  the  oak,  as  is 


I  When  depicted  with  star-spangled  garments  she  was  the  goddess  of  the  starry  sky 
(••  Milky  Way  ")  like  the  Egyptian  Hathor  or  Nut. 
'  Professor  W.  J.  Watson,  Place-names  of  Ross  and  Cromarty,  pp.  62-3. 


i6o  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

shown  by  the  name  of  their  religious  centre  which 
was  Dru-nemeton  (**  Oak-grove ").  It  will  be  shown 
in  a  later  chapter  that  the  sacred  tree  was  connected 
with  the  sky  and  the  deities  of  the  sky,  with  the  sacred 
wells  and  rivers,  with  the  sacred  fish,  and  with  the  fire, 
the  sun,  and  lightning.  Here  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
sacred  well  is  connected  with  the  holy  grove,  the  sky,  the 
pearl,  and  the  mother  goddess  in  the  Irish  place-name 
Neamhnach  (Navnagh),^  applied  to  the  well  from  which 
flows  the  stream  of  the  Nith.  The  well  is  thus,  like  the 
pearl,  **the  heavenly  one".  The  root  nem  of  neamh 
(heaven)  is  found  in  the  name  of  St.  Brendan's  mother, 
who  was  called  Nea?nhnat  (Navnat),  which  means 
^Mittle"  or  *Mear  heavenly  one  ".  In  neamhan  ('^raven" 
and  ^*  crow  ")  the  bird  form  of  the  deity  is  enshrined. 

Owing  to  its  connection  with  the  moon,  the  pearl 
was  supposed  to  shine  by  night.  The  same  peculiarity 
was  attributed  to  certain  sacred  stones,  to  coral,  jade, 
&c.,  and  to  ivory.  Munster  people  perpetuate  the 
belief  that  *'  at  the  bottom  of  the  lower  lake  of  Killarney 
there  is  a  diamond  of  priceless  value,  which  sometimes 
shines  so  brightly  that  on  certain  nights  the  light  bursts 
forth  with  dazzling  brilliancy  through  the  dark  waters".^ 
Night-shining  jewels  are  known  in  Scotland.  One  is 
suppose  to  shine  on  Arthur's  Seat,  Edinburgh,  and 
another  on  the  north  '*souter"  of  the  Cromarty  Firth. ^ 
Another  sacred  stone  connected  with  the  goddess  was 
the  onyx,  which  in  ancient  Gaelic  is  called  nevi. 
Night-shining  jewels  are  referred  to  in  the  myths  of 
Greece,  Arabia,  Persia,  India,  China,  Japan,  &c. 
Laufer  has  shown  that  the  Chinese  received  their  lore 
about  the  night-shining  diamond  from  ''Fu-lin"  (the 
Byzantine  Empire).* 

1  Dr.  Joyce,  Irish  Names  of  Places,  Vol.  I,  p.  375.  2  Ibid,  Vol.  II,  p.  378. 

'  The  two  headlands,  the  "souters"  or  "sutors",  are  supposed  to  have  been  so  called 
because  they  were  sites  of  tanneries.  *  The  Diamond  (Chicago,  1915). 


Upper  picture  by  courtesy  of  Director,  Britisli  School  of  Rome 

MEGALITHS 
Upper:   Dolmen  near  Birori,  Sardinia.       Lower:  Tynewjdd  Dolmen. 


THE    LORE   OF   CHARMS  i6i 

The  ancient  pearl-fishers  spread  their  pearl-lore  far 
and  wide.  It  is  told  in  more  than  one  land  that  pearls 
are  formed  by  dew-drops  from  the  sky.  Pliny  says  the 
dew-  or  rain-drops  fall  into  the  shells  of  the  pearl- 
oyster  when  it  gapes.^  In  modern  times  the  belief  is 
that  pearls  are  the  congealed  tears  of  the  angels.  In 
Greece  the  pearl  was  called  margaritoey  a  name  which 
survives  in  Margaret,  anciently  the  name  of  a  goddess. 
The  old  Persian  name  for  pearl  is  margan^  which 
signifies  'Mife  giver".  It  is  possible  that  this  is  the 
original  meaning  of  the  name  of  Morgan  le  Fay  (Morgan 
the  Fairy),  who  is  remembered  as  the  sister  of  King 
Arthur,  and  of  the  Irish  goddess  Morrigan,  usually 
Englished  as  ''Sea-queen"  (the  sea  as  the  source  of 
life),  or  *' great  queen".  At  any  rate,  Morgan  le  fay 
and  the  Morrigan  closely  resemble  one  another.  In 
Italian  we  meet  with  Fata  Morgana. 

The  old  Persian  word  for  coral  is  likewise  margan. 
Coral  was  supposed  to  be  a  tree,  and  it  was  regarded 
as  the  sea-tree  of  the  sea  and  sky  goddess.  Amber 
was  connected,  too,  with  the  goddess.  In  northern 
mythology,  amber,  pearls,  precious  stones,  and  precious 
metals  were  supposed  to  be  congealed  forms  of  the  tears 
of  the  goddess  Freyja,  the  Venus  of  the  Scandinavians. 

Amber,  like  pearls,  was  sacred  to  the  mother  goddess 
because  her  life  substance  (the  animating  principle)  was 
supposed  to  be  concentrated  in  it.  The  connection 
between  the  precious  or  sacred  amber  and  the  goddess 
and  her  cult  animal  is  brought  out  in  a  reference  made 
by  Tacitus  to  the  amber  collectors  and  traders  on  the 
southern  shore  of  the  Baltic.  These  are  the  -^styans, 
who,  according  to  Tacitus,  were  costumed  like  the 
Swedes,  but  spoke  a  language  resembling  the  dialect 
of  the  Britons.  '*  They  worship  ",  the  historian  records, 
*'the  mother  of  the  gods.     The  figure  of  a  wild  boar 

1  Natural  History,  Book  IX,  Chap.  LIV. 
(D217)  12 


i62  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

is  the  symbol  of  their  superstition ;  and  he  who  has 
that  emblem  about  him  thinks  himself  secure  even  in 
the  thickest  ranks  of  the  enemy  without  any  need  of 
arms  or  any  other  mode  of  defence."^  The  animal  of 
the  amber  goddess  was  thus  the  boar,  which  was  the 
sacred  animal  of  the  Celtic  tribe,  the  Iceni  of  ancient 
Britain,  which  under  Boadicea  revolted  against  Roman 
rule.  The  symbol  of  the  boar  (remembered  as  the 
'Mucky  pig")  is  found  on  ancient  British  armour.  On 
the  famous  Witham  shield  there  are  coral  and  enamel. 
Three  bronze  boar  symbols  found  in  a  field  at  Hounslow 
are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  In  the  same 
field  was  found  a  solar-wheel  symbol.  ''The  boar 
frequently  occurs  in  British  and  Gaulish  coins  of  the 
period,  and  examples  have  been  found  as  far  off  as 
Gurina  and  Transylvania."  2  Other  sacred  cult  animals 
were  connected  with  the  goddess  by  those  people  who 
fished  for  pearls  and  coral  or  searched  for  sacred 
precious  stones  or  precious  metals. 

At  the  basis  of  the  ancient  religious  system  that  con- 
nected coral,  shells,  and  pearls  with  the  mother  goddess 
of  the  sea,  wells,  rivers,  and  lakes,  was  the  belief  that  all 
life  had  its  origin  in  water.  Pearls,  amber,  marsh  plants, 
and  animals  connected  with  water  were  supposed  to 
be  closely  associated  with  the  goddess  who  herself  had 
had  her  origin  in  water.  Tacitus  tells  that  the  Baltic 
worshippers  of  the  mother  goddess  called  amber  glesse. 
According  to  Pliny  ^  it  was  called  glessum  by  the  Ger- 
mans, and  he  tells  that  one  of  the  Baltic  islands  famous 
for  its  amber  was  named  Glessaria,  The  root  is  the 
Celtic  word  glas^  which  originally  meant  "water"  and 
especially  life  -  giving  water.  Boece  {Cosmographies 
Chapter  XV)  tells  that  in  Scotland  the  belief  prevailed 

1  Tacitus,  Manners  of  the  Gertnans,  Chap.  XLV. 

-  British  Museum  Guide  to  the  Antiquities  of  the  Early  Iron  Age,  pp.  135-6. 

3  Natural  History,  Book  XXXVIII.  Chapter  III. 


THE    LORE   OF   CHARMS  163 

that  amber  was  generated  of  sea-froth.  It  thus  had  its 
origin  like  Aphrodite.  Glas  is  now  a  colour  term  in 
Welsh  and  Gaelic,  signifying  green  or  grey,  or  even 
a  shade  of  blue.  It  was  anciently  used  to  denote 
vigour,  as  in  the  term  Gaidheal  glas  (*'the  vigorous 
Gael  "or  ''  the  ambered  Gael  ",  the  vigour  being  derived 
from  the  goddess  of  amber  and  the  sea);  and  in  the 
Latinized  form  of  the  old  British  name  Cuneglasos, 
which  like  the  Irish  Conglas  signified  '^vigorous  hound ".^ 
Here  the  sacred  hound  figures  in  place  of  the  sacred 
boar. 

From  the  root  glas  comes  also  glaisin^  the  Gaelic  name 
for  woad,  the  blue  dyestuff  with  which  ancient  Britons 
and  Gaels  stained  or  tattooed  their  bodies  with  figures 
of  sacred  animals  or  symbols,^  apparently  to  secure 
protection  as  did  those  who  had  the  boar  symbol  on 
their  armour.  For  the  same  reason  Cuchullin,  the 
Irish  Achilles,  wore  pearls  in  his  hair,  and  the  Roman 
Emperor  Caligula  had  a  pearl  collar  on  his  favourite 
horse.  Ice  being  a  form  of  water  is  in  French  glace, 
which  also  means  **  glass".  When  glass  beads  were 
first  manufactured  they  were  regarded,  like  amber,  as 
depositories  of  'Mife  substance"  from  the  water  goddess 
who,  as  sky  goddess,  was  connected  with  sun  and  fire. 
Her  fire  melted  the  constituents  of  glass  into  liquid 
form,  and  it  hardened  like  jewels  and  amber.  These 
beads  were  called  ''adder  stones"  {W eXsh.  glain  neidre 
and  ''Druid's  gem"  or  "glass" — in  Welsh  Gleini  na 
Droedh  and  in  Gaelic  Glaine  nan  Druidhe). 

A  special  peculiarity  about  amber  is  that  when  rubbed 
vigorously  it  attracts  or  lifts  light  articles.  That  is  why 
it  is  called  in  Persian  Kahruba  {Kah,  straw;  ruha,  to 
lift).     This  name  appears  in  modern  French  as  carabe 


1  Rhys  rejects  the  view  of  Gildas  that  "Cuneglasos"  meant  "  tawny  butcher". 
*  Herodian,  Lib.  Ill,  says  of  the  inhabitants  of  Caledonia,  "  They  mark  their  bodies  with 
various  pictures  of  all  manner  of  animals  ". 


i64  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

(yellow  amber).  In  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portugese  it 
is  carahe.  No  doubt  the  early  peoples,  who  gathered 
Adriatic  and  Baltic  amber  and  distributed  it  and  its  lore 
far  and  wide,  discovered  this  peculiar  quality  in  the 
sacred  substance.  In  Britain,  jet  was  used  in  the  same 
way  as  amber  for  luck  charms  and  ornaments.  Like 
amber  it  becomes  negatively  electric  by  friction.  Bede 
appears  to  have  believed  that  jet  was  possessed  of  special 
virture.  ''When  heated",  he  says,  "it  drives  away 
serpents."^  The  Romans  regarded  jet  as  a  depository 
of  supernatural  power  ^  and  used  it  for  ornaments.  Until 
comparatively  recently  jet  was  used  in  Scotland  as  a 
charm  against  witchcraft,  the  evil  eye,  &c.  "A  ring 
of  hard  black  schistus  found  in  a  cairn  in  the  parish  of 
Inchinan  ",  writes  a  local  Scottish  historian,  "has  per- 
formed, if  we  believe  report,  many  astonishing  cures."  ^ 
Albertite,  which,  like  jet  and  amber,  attracts  light 
articles  when  vigorously  rubbed,  was  made  into  orna- 
ments. It  takes  on  a  finer  lustre  than  jet  but  loses  it 
sooner. 

The  fact  that  jet,  albertite,  and  other  black  substances 
were  supposed  to  be  specially  efficacious  for  protecting 
black  horses  and  cattle  is  of  peculiar  interest.  Hathor, 
the  cow  goddess  of  Egypt,  had  a  black  as  well  as  a 
white  form  as  goddess  of  the  night  sky  and  death. 
She  was  the  prototype  of  the  black  Aphrodite  (Venus). 
In  Scotland  a  black  goddess  (the  nigra  dea  in  Adam  nan's 
Life  of  Columhd)  was  associated  with  Loch  Lochy. 

The  use  of  coral  as  a  sacred  substance  did  not  begin 
in  Britain  until  the  knowledge  of  iron  working  was 
introduced.  Coral  is  not  found  nearer  than  the  Medi- 
terranean. The  people  who  first  brought  it  to  Britain 
must  have  received  it  and  the  beliefs  attached  to  it  from 
the  Mediterranean  area.     Before  reaching  Britain  they 

1  Book  I.  Chapter  I.  "-  Pliny,  Lib.  XXXVI.  cap.  34. 

8  Ure's  History  of  Rutherglen  and  Kilbride,  p.  319. 


THE   LORE   OF   CHARMS  165 

had  begun  to  make  imitation  coral.  The  substitute  was 
enamel,  which  required  for  its  manufacture  great  skill 
and  considerable  knowledge,  furnaces  capable  of  gener- 
ating an  intense  heat  being  necessary.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  so  expensive  a  material  could  have  been 
produced  except  for  religious  purposes.  The  warriors 
apparently  believed  that  coral  and  its  substitutes  pro- 
tected them  as  did  amber  and  the  boar  symbol  of  the 
mother  goddess. 

At  first  red  enamel  was  used  as  a  substitute  for  red 
coral,  but  ultimately  blue,  yellow,  and  white  enamels 
were  produced.  Sometimes  we  find,  as  at  Traprain  in 
Scotland,  that  silver  took  the  place  of  white  enamel. 
It  is  possible  that  blue  enamel  was  a  substitute  for 
turquoise  and  lapis  lazuli,  the  precious  stones  associated 
with  the  mother  goddesses  of  Hathor  type,  and  that 
yellow  and  white  enamels  were  substitutes  for  yellow 
and  white  amber.  The  Greeks  called  white  amber 
'*electrum".  The  symbolism  of  gold  and  silver  links 
closely  with  that  of  amber.  Possibly  the  various  sacred 
substances  and  their  substitutes  were  supposed  to  pro- 
tect different  parts  of  the  body.  As  much  is  suggested, 
for  instance,  by  the  lingering  belief  that  amber  protects 
and  strengthens  the  eyes.  The  solar  cult  connected  the 
ear  and  the  ear-ring  with  the  sun,  which  was  one  of  the 
**eyes"  of  the  world-deity,  the  other  '*eye"  being  the 
moon.  When  human  ears  were  pierced,  the  blood 
drops  were  offered  to  the  sun-god.  Sailors  of  a  past 
generation  clung  to  the  ancient  notion  that  gold  ear- 
rings exercised  a  beneficial  influence  on  their  eyes. 
Not  only  the  colours  of  luck  objects,  but  their  shapes 
were  supposed  to  ensure  luck.  The  Swashtika  symbol, 
the  U-form,  the  S-form,  and  8-form  symbols,  the  spiral, 
the  leaf-shaped  and  equal -limbed  crosses,  &c.,  were 
supposed  to  '*  attract"  and  ''radiate"  the  influence  of 
the  deity.     Thus  Buddhists  accumulate  religious  ** merit" 


i66  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

not  only  by  fasting  and  praying,  but  by  making  collec- 
tions of  jewels  and  symbols. 

In  Britain,  as  in  other  countries,  the  deity  was  closely 
associated  as  an  influence  with  law.  A  Roman  inscrip- 
tion on  a  slab  found  at  Carvoran  refers  to  the  mother 
goddess  *' poising  life  and  laws  in  a  balance".  This 
was  Ceres,  whose  worship  had  been  introduced  during 
the  Roman  period,  but  similar  beliefs  were  attached  to 
the  ancient  goddesses  of  Britain.  Vows  were  taken 
over  objects  sacred  to  her,  and  sacred  objects  were  used 
as  mediums  of  exchange.  In  old  Gaelic,  for  instance, 
a  jewel  or  pearl  was  called  a  set;  in  modern  Gaelic  it  is 
sed  (pronounced  shade).  A  set  (pearl)  was  equal  in 
value  to  an  ounce  of  gold  and  to  a  cow.  An  ounce  of 
gold  was  therefore  a  set  and  a  cow  was  a  sety  too. 
Three  sets  was  the  value  of  a  bondmaid.  The  value  of 
three  sets  was  one  cumal.  Another  standard  of  value 
was  a  sack  of  corn  {miach),^ 

The  value  attached  to  gold  and  pearls  was  originally 
magical.  Jewels  and  precious  metals  were  searched  for 
for  to  bring  wearers  *Muck" — that  is,  everything  their 
hearts  desired.  The  search  for  these  promoted  trade, 
and  the  sets  were  used  as  a  standard  of  value  between 
traders.  Thus  not  only  religious  systems,  but  even 
the  early  systems  of  trade  were  closely  connected  with 
the  persistent  belief  in  luck  and  the  deity  who  was  the 
source  of  luck.^  -JU 

1  Joyce,  A  Smaller  Social  History  of  Ancient  Ireland,  p.  478. 

2  Professor  W.  J.  Watson  has  drawn  my  attention  to  an  interesting  reference  to  amber. 
In  the  Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy,  Vol.  H,  p.  18,  under  "  Celtic  Inscriptions  of 
France  and  Italy  ",  Sir  John  Rhys  deals  with  Vebrumaros,  a  man's  name.  The  second 
element  in  this  name  is  mdros  (great);  the  first,  uebru,  "is  perhaps  to  be  explained  by 
reference  to  theJWelsh  word  g-wefr  (amber) ".  Rhys  thought  the  name  meant  that  the 
man  was  distinguished  for  his  display  of  amber  "in  the  adornment  of  his  person".  The 
name  had  probably  a  deeper  significance.  Amber  was  closely  associated  with  the  mother 
goddess.     One  of  her  names  may  have  been  "  Uebru  ".     She  personified  amber. 


CHAPTER   XIV 
The  World  of  Our  Ancestors 

"All  Heals" — Influences  of  Cardinal  Points — The  Four  Red  Divi- 
sions of  the  World — The  Black  North,  White  South,  Purple  East,  and 
Dun  or  Pale  East — Good  and  Bad  Words  connected  with  South  and 
North — North  the  left.  South  the  right.  East  in  front,  and  West  behind — 
Cardinal  Points  Doctrine  in  Burial  Customs — Stone  Circle  Burials — 
Christian  and  Pagan  Burial  Rites — Sunwise  Customs — Raising  the  Devil 
in  Stone  Circle — Coloured  Winds — Coloured  Stones  raise  Winds — The 
"God  Body"  and  "Spirit  Husk" — Deities  and  Cardinal  Points — Axis 
of  Stonehenge  Avenue — God  and  Goddesses  of  Circle — Well  Worship — 
Lore  of  Druids. 

The  ancient  superstitions  dealt  with  in  the  previous 
chapter  afford  us  glimpses  of  the  world  in  which  our 
ancestors  lived,  and  some  idea  of  the  incentives  that 
caused  them  to  undertake  long  and  perilous  journeys  in 
search  of  articles  of  religious  value.  They  were  as 
greatly  concerned  as  are  their  descendants  about  their 
health  and  their  fate.  Everything  connected  with  the 
deity,  or  possessing,  as  was  believed,  the  influence  of 
the  deity,  was  valuable  as  a  charm  or  as  medicine. 
The  mistletoe  berry  was  a  famous  medicine  because  it 
was  the  fruit  of  a  parasite  supposed  to  contain  the  ''  life 
substance ''  of  a  powerful  deity.  It  was  an  ''  All  Heal  " 
or  ''Cure  AU'V  yet  it  was  a  quack  medicine  and  quite 
useless.  Red  earth  was  ''blood  earth";  it  contained 
the  animating  principle  too.  Certain  herbs  were  sup- 
posed to  be  curative.      Some  herbs  were,   and  in  the 

1  Richard  of  Cirencester  (fourteenth  century)  says  the  mistletoe  increased  the  number  of 
animals,  and  was  considered  as  a  specific  against  all  poisons  (Book  I,  Chap.  IV). 

167 


i68  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

course  of  time  their  precise  qualities  were  identified. 
But  many  of  them  continued  in  use,  although  quite 
useless,  because  of  the  colour  of  their  berries,  the  shape 
of  their  leaves,  or  the  position  in  which  they  grew.  If 
one  red-berried  plant  was  'Mucky"  or  curative,  all  red- 
berried  plants  shared  in  its  reputation.  It  was  because 
of  the  lore  attached  to  colours  that  dusky  pearls  were 
preferred  to  white  pearls,  just  as  in  Ceylon  yellow  pearls 
are  chiefly  favoured  because  yellow  is  the  sacred  colour 
of  the  Buddhists.  Richard  of  Cirencester,^  referring  to 
Bede,  says  that  British  pearls  are  ^*  often  of  the  best 
kind  and  of  every  colour:  that  is,  red,  purple,  violet, 
green,  but  principally  white  ". 

In  the  lore  of  plants,  in  religious  customs,  including 
burial  customs,  and  in  beliefs  connected  with  the  seasons, 
.weather,  and  sacred  sites,  there  are  traces  of  a  doctrine 
based  on  the  belief  that  good  or  bad  influences  **  flowed  " 
from  the  cardinal  points,  just  as  good  or  bad  influences 
'*  flowed  "  from  gems,  metals,  wood,  and  water.  When, 
for  instance,  certain  herbs  were  pulled  from  the  ground, 
it  was  important  that  one  should  at  the  time  of  the 
operation  be  facing  the  south.  A  love-enticing  plant 
had  to  be  plucked  in  this  way,  and  immediately  before 
sunrise. 

There  was  much  superstition  in  weather  lore,  as  the 
beliefs  connected  with  St.  Swithin's  Day  indicate.  Cer- 
tain days  were  lucky  for  removals  in  certain  directions. 
Saturday  was  the  day  for  flitting  northward,  and  Monday 
for  flitting  southward.  Monday  was  "the  key  of  the 
week".  An  old  Gaelic  saying,  repeated  in  various 
forms  in  folk  stories,  runs: 

Shut  the  north  window, 

And  quickly  close  the  window  to  the  south; 
And  shut  the  window  facing  west, 

Evil  never  came  from  the  east. 

I  Book  I.  Chap.  V. 


THE  WORLD  OF  OUR  ANCESTORS     169 

South-running  water  was  *' powerful"  for  working  pro- 
tective charms;  north-running  water  brought  evil. 

The  idea  behind  these  and  other  similar  beliefs  v/as 
that  *'the  four  red  divisions"  or  the  '^four  brown  divi- 
sions "  of  the  world  were  controlled  by  deities  or  groups 
of  deities,  whose  influences  for  good  or  evil  were  con- 
tinually   *' flowing",  and   especially  when  winds   were 

BLACK 
(Left) 
N 


DUN 
(Behind)  W 


PURPLE 
E    (Before) 


Blue 
or 
gy^    Blue-green 


s 

WHITE 
(Bight) 

Diagram  of  the  Gaelic  Airts  (Cardinal  Points)  and  their  Associated  Colours 

referred  to  in  the  text 

Spring  was  connected  with  the  east,  summer  with  the  south,  aut\imn  with  the  west, 

and  winter  with  the  north. 

blowing.  A  good  deity  sent  a  good  wind,  and  a  bad 
deity  sent  a  bad  wind.  Each  wind  was  coloured.  The 
north  was  the  airt^  (cardinal  point)  of  evil,  misfortune, 
and  bad  luck,  and  was  coloured  black;  the  south  was 
the  source  of  good  luck,  good  fortune,  summer,  and 
longevity,  and  was  coloured  white;  the  east  was  a 
specially  sacred  airt,  and  was  coloured  purple-red,  while 

1  This  excellent  Gaelic  word  is  current  in  Scotland.    Burns  use»  it  in  the  line,  "  O*  a'  the 
airts  the  wind  can  blaw  ". 


I70  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

the  west  was  the  airt  of  death,  and  was  coloured  dun  or 
pale.  East  and  south  and  north  and  west  were  con- 
nected. There  were  various  colours  for  the  subsidiary 
points  of  the  compass. 

This  doctrine  was  a  very  ancient  one,  because  we  find 
that  in  the  Gaelic  language  the  specially  good  words 
are  based  on  the  word  for  the  south,  and  the  specially 
bad  ones  on  the  name  for  the  north.  In  Welsh  and 
Gaelic  the  north  is  on  the  left  hand  and  the  south  on  the 
right  hand,  the  east  in  front,  and  the  west  behind.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  the  colour  scheme  of  the  cardinal 
points  had  a  connection  with  sun  worship.  A  man  who 
adored  the  rising  sun  faced  the  east,  and  had  the  north 
on  his  left  and  the  south  on  his  right.  In  early  Christian 
Gaelic  literature  it  is  stated  that  on  the  Day  of  Judgment 
the  goats  (sinners)  will  be  sent  to  the  north  (the  left 
hand)  and  the  sheep  (the  justified)  to  the  south  (the  right 
hand). 

The  same  system  can  be  traced  in  burial  customs. 
Many  of  the  ancient  graves  lie  east  and  west.  Graves 
that  lie  north  and  south  may  have  been  those  of  the 
members  of  a  different  religious  cult,  but  in  some  cases 
it  is  found  that  the  dead  were  placed  in  position  so  that 
they  faced  the  east.  In  the  most  ancient  graves  in 
Egypt  men  were  laid  on  their  right  sides  with  their  feet 
directed  towards  the  *'  red  north  "  and  their  faces  towards 
the  golden  east.  Women  were  laid  on  the  left  sides 
facing  the  east.  Red  was  in  ancient  Egypt  the  male 
colour,  and  white  and  yellow  the  female  colours;  the 
feet  of  the  men  were  towards  the  red  north  and  those  of 
women  towards  the  white  or  yellow  south. 

All  ancient  British  burials  were  not  made  in  accord- 
ance with  solar-cult  customs.  It  can  be  shown,  however, 
in  some  cases  that,  although  a  burial  custom  may  appear 
to  be  either  of  local  or  of  independent  origin,  the  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  which  it  was  an  expression  was  the 


THE  WORLD  OF   OUR  ANCESTORS     171 

same  as  that  behind  other  burial  customs.  Reference 
may  be  made,  by  way  of  illustration,  to  the  graves  at 
the  stone  circle  of  Hakpen  Hill  in  the  Avebury  area. 
In  the  seventeenth  century  a  large  number  of  skeletons 
were  here  unearthed.  Dr.  Toope  of  Oxford,  writing  in 
1685,  has  recorded  in  this  connection:^ 

"About  80  yards  from  where  the  bones  were  found  is  a 
temple,^  40  yards  diameter,  with  another  15  yards;  round 
about  bones  layd  so  close  that  scul  (skull)  toucheth  scul. 
Their  feet  all  round  turned  towards  the  temple,  one  foot 
below  the  surface  of  the  ground.  At  the  feet  of  the  first 
order  lay  the  head  of  the  next  row,  the  feet  always  tending 
towards  the  temple." 

Here  the  stone  circle  is  apparently  the  symbol  of  the 
sun  and  the  "Mecca"  from  which  the  good  influence 
or  *Muck"  of  the  sun  emanated  and  gave  protection. 
One  seems  to  come  into  touch  with  the  influence  of 
an  organized  priesthood  in  this  stone  circle  burial 
custom. 

The  more  ancient  custom  of  burying  the  dead  so  that 
the  influences  of  the  airts  might  be  exercised  upon  them 
according  to  their  deserts  seems,  however,  to  have  been 
deep-rooted  and  persistent.  In  England,  Wales,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland  the  custom  obtained  until  recently  of 
reserving  the  north  side  of  a  churchyard  for  suicides 
and  murderers;  the  **  black  north  "  was  the  proper  place 
for  such  wrong-doers,  who  were  refused  Christian  rites 
of  burial,  and  were  interred  according  to  traditional 
pagan  customs.  The  east  was  reserved  chiefly  for 
ecclesiastics,  the  south  for  the  upper  classes,  and  the 
west  for  the  poorer  classes.  Funeral  processions  still 
enter  the  older  churchyards  from  the  east,  and  proceed 
in  the  direction  of  the  sun  towards  the  open  graves. 
Suicides  and  murderers  were   carried    in    the   opposite 

'  Quoted  by  Sir  H.  Colt  Hoare  in  Ancteni  Wiltshire,  II,  p,  63.  "  Stone  circle. 


172  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

direction  (**  withershins  about  ").^  The  custom  of  dealing 
out  cards  *' sunwise",  of  stirring  food  ^'sunwise",  and 
other  customs  in  which  turning  to  the  right  (the  south) 
is  observed,  appear  to  be  relics  of  the  ancient  belief  in 
the  influences  of  the  airts.  Some  fishermen  still  consider 
it  unlucky  to  turn  their  boats  ''against  the  sun  ".  It 
was  anciently  believed,  as  references  in  old  ballads  indi- 
cate, that  a  tempest-stricken  vessel  turned  round  three 
times  against  the  sun  before  it  sank.  According  to  a 
belief  that  has  survival  in  some  parts  of  the  north  of 
Scotland,  the  devil  will  appear  in  the  centre  of  a  stone 
circle  if  one  walks  round  it  three  times  "against  the  sun" 
at  midnight.  Among  the  ancient  Irish  warriors.  Pro- 
fessor W.  J.  Watson  tells  me,  it  was  a  mark  of  hostile 
intent  to  drive  round  a  fort  keeping  the  left  hand  towards 
it.  The  early  Christian  custom  of  circulating  chapels 
and  dwelling-houses  "sunwise"  was  based  on  the 
pagan  belief  that  good  influences  were  conjured  in  this 
way. 

As  the  winds  were  coloured  like  the  airts  from  which 
they  blew,  it  was  believed  that  they  could  be  influenced 
by  coloured  objects.  In  his  description  of  the  Western 
Isles,  Martin,  a  seventeenth  century  writer,  referring  to 
the  Fladda  Chuan  Island,  relates: 

"There  is  a  chapel  in  the  isle  dedicated  to  St.  Columba. 
It  has  an  altar  in  the  east  end  and  therein  a  blue  stone  of 
a  round  form  on  it,  which  is  always  moist.  It  is  an  ordinary 
custom,  when  any  of  the  fishermen  are  detained  in  the  isle  by 
contrary  winds,  to  wash  the  blue  stone  with  water  all  round, 
expecting  thereby  to  procure  a  favourable  wind.  .  .  .  And  so 
great  is  the  regard  they  have  for  this  stone,  that  they  swear 
decisive  oaths  upon  it." 

The  moist  stone  had  an  indwelling  spirit,  and  was  there- 

1  In  Gaelic  deis-iuil  means  a  turning  sunwise  (by  the  right  or  south)  from  east  to  west, 
and  tual,  i.e.  tuath-iuil,  a  turning  by  the  north  or  left  from  east  to  west.  Deis  is  the 
genitive  oi  Deas  (south,  right  hand),  and  Tuath  is  north  or  left  hand. 


Valentine 

ONE   OF   THE   GREAT   TRI-LITHONS,    STONEHENGE 
(see  page  174) 


THE  WORLD  OF  OUR  ANCESTORS     173 

fore  a  holy  object  which  made  vows  and  agreements  of 
binding  character.  In  Japan  a  stone  of  this  kind  is 
called  shintai  (''god  body").  The  Gaelic  name  for  a 
god  body  is  *•''  cuach  anama  "  (*'  soul  shrine  ",  or  *'  spirit- 
case  ",  or  ''spirit-husk").  Coich  na  cno  is  the  shell  of  a 
nut.  The  Chinese  believe  that  moist  and  coloured 
stones  are  the  *'  eggs  "  of  weather-controlling  dragons. 

The  connection  between  blue  and  the  mother  goddess 
is  of  great  antiquity.  Imitation  cowries  and  other  shells 
in  blue  enamelled  terra-cotta  have  been  found  in  Egyptian 
graves.  Blue  was  the  colour  of  the  'Muck  stone"  of 
Hathor,  the  sky  and  water  goddess  whose  symbols  in- 
cluded the  cowrie.  The  Brigantes  of  ancient  Britain 
had,  according  to  Seneca,  blue  shields.  Shields  were 
connected  with  the  goddess  of  war.  In  Gaelic,  blue  is 
the  luck  colour  for  womens'  clothing.^  English  and 
Scottish  fishermen  still  use  blue  as  a  mourning  colour. 
When  a  death  takes  place,  a  blue  line  is  painted  round 
a  fishing-boat.  The  desire  for  protection  by  invoking  the 
blue  goddess  probably  gave  origin  to  this  custom. 

As  influences  came  from  the  coloured  airts,  so  did  the 
great  deities  and  the  groups  of  minor  deities  associated 
with  them.  The  god  Lugh,  for  instance,  always  comes 
in  the  old  stories  from  the  north-east,  while  the  goddess 
Morrigan  comes  from  the  north-west. ^  The  fierce  wind- 
raising  Scottish  goddess  of  spring  comes  from  the  south- 
west. All  over  Britain  the  fairies  come  from  the  west 
and  on  eddies  of  wind  like  the  Greek  nereids.  In  Scot- 
land the  evil-working  giants  come  from  the  black  north. 
It  was  believed  that  the  dead  went  westward  or  south- 

1  The  following  stanza  is  from  the  "  Book  of  Ballymote" : 

Mottled  to  simpletons;  b!ue  to  women  ;  • 

Crimson  to  kings  of  every  host ; 
Green  and  black  to  noble  laymen  ; 
White  to  clerics  of  proper  devotion. 

2  In  the  Cuchullin  Saga  Lugh  is  "  a  lone  man  out  of  the  north-eastern  quarter  ".  When 
the  cry  of  another  supernatural  being  is  heard,  Cuchullin  asks  from  which  direction  it  came. 
He  is  told  "  from  the  north-west  ".     The  goddess  Morrigan  then  appeared. 


174  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

westward  towards  Paradise.  The  fact  that  the  axis  of 
Stonehenge  circle  and  avenue  points  to  the  north-east  is 
of  special  interest  when  we  find  that  the  god  Lugh,  a 
Celtic  Apollo,  came  from  that  airt.  Either  Lugh,  or  a 
god  like  him,  may  have  been  invoked  to  come  through 
the  avenue  or  to  send  his  influence  through  it,  while  the 
priests  walked  in  procession  round  the  circle  sunwise. 
Apparently  the  south-west  part  of  the  circle,  with  its 
great  trilithons,  resembling  the  portals  of  the  goddess 
Artemis,  was  specially  consecrated  to  a  goddess  like  the 
Scottish  Cailleach  ('*  Old  Wife")  who  had  herds  of  wild 
animals,  protected  deer  from  huntsmen,  raised  storms, 
and  transformed  herself  into  a  standing  stone.  The 
Gaulish  goddess  Ro-smerta  ("very  smeared")  is  regu- 
larly associated  with  the  god  identified  with  Mercury. 
The  god  Smertullis  is  equated  with  Essus  (the  war  god) 
by  d'Arbois  de  Jubainville. 

The  differently  coloured  winds  were  divine  influences 
and  revealed  their  characters  by  their  colours.     It  was^ 
apparently   because   water  was    impregnated   with    the 
influences  of  the  deities  that  wind  and  water  beliefs  were 
closely  associated.     Holy  and  curative  wells  and  sacredj 
rivers  and  lakes  were  numerous  in  ancient  Britain  an( 
Ireland.      Offerings  made  at  wells  were  offerings  made 
to  a  deity.     These  offerings  might  be  gold  and  silver,! 
as  was  the  case  in  Gaul,  or  simply  pins  of  copper.     A] 
good  many  wells  are  still  knoAvn  as   **pin  wells"  and] 
''penny  wells".     The  metals  and  pearls  and  precious 
stones  supposed  to  contain  vital  substance  were  offeree 
to  the  deities  so  as  to  animate  them.     The  images  of 
gods  were  painted  red  for  the  same  reason,  or  sacrificej 
were  offered  and  their  altars  drenched  with  blood.     Ii 
Ireland  children  were  sacrificed  to  a  god  called  Crom' 
Cruach  and  exchanged  for  milk  and  corn.     As  a  Gaelic 
poem  records: 

Great  was  the  horror  and  the  scare  of  him. 


THE  WORLD  OF  OUR  ANCESTORS     175 

The  ancient  doctrines  of  which  faint  or  fragmentary 
traces  survive  in  Britain  and  Ireland  may  have  been 
similar  to  those  taught  by  the  Druids  in  Gaul.  Accord- 
ing to  Pomponius  Mela,  these  sages  professed  to  know 
the  secrets  of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and 
the  will  of  the  gods.^  Strabo's  statement  that  the  Druids 
believed  that  **  human  souls  and  the  world  were  im- 
mortal, but  that  fire  and  water  would  sometime  prevail" 
is  somewhat  obscure.  It  may  be,  however,  that  light  is 
thrown  on  the  underlying  doctrine  by  the  evidence  given 
in  the  next  chapter  regarding  the  beliefs  that  fire,  water, 
and  trees  were  intimately  connected  with  the  chief 
deity. 

ijn  a  Cuchullin  saga  the  hero,  addressing'  the  charioteer,  says:  "Go  out,  my  friend, 
observe  the  stars  of  the  air,  and  ascertain  when  midnight  comes".  The  Irish  Gaelic 
grien-tairisem  is  given  in  an  eighth-  or  ninth-century  gloss.  It  means  "sun-standing", 
and  refers  to  the  summer  solstice. 


CHAPTER  XV 
Why  Trees  and  Wells  were  Worshipped 

Ancient  British  Idols — Pagan  Temples — Animism  and  Goddess  Wor- 
ship— Trees  and  Wells  connected  with  Sky — Life  Principle  in  Water — 
Sacred  Berries,  Nuts,  and  Acorns — Parasite  as  "King-  of  Trees  " — Fire- 
making-  Beliefs — Tree  and  Thunder-god — The  Sacred  Fish — Salmon  as 
form  of  the  Dragon — The  Dragon  Jewel — Celtic  Dragon  Myth — The 
Salmon  and  the  Solar  Ring — Polycrates  Story — The  St.  Mungo  Legends — 
Glasgow  Coat  of  Arms — Holy  Fire  from  the  Hazel — Hunting  the  Wren, 
Robin,  and  Mouse — Mouse  Lore  and  Mouse  Deity  —  Mouse-Apollo  in 
Britain — Goddess  Bride  or  Brigit — The  Brigantian  Chief  Deity— God- 
dess of  Fire,  Healing,  Smith-work,  and  Poetry — Bride's  Bird,  Tree,  and 
Well — Mythical  Serpents — Soul  Forms — Souls  in  Reptiles,  Animals,  and 
Trees — Were-animals — The  Butterfly  Deity  —Souls  as  Butterflies — Souls 
as  Bees — A  Hebridean  Sea-god. 

Gildas,  a  sixth-century  churchman,  tells  us  that  the 
idols  in  ancient  Britain  *' almost  surpassed  in  number 
those  of  Egypt".  That  he  did  not  refer  merely  to 
standing  stones,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  '*  idols" 
to  the  Gaels,  is  evident  from  his  precise  statements  that 
some  idols  could  be  seen  in  his  day  '*  mouldering  away 
within  or  without  the  deserted  temples",  and  that  they 
had  ''stiff  and  deformed  features".  '*  Mouldering  "  sug- 
gests wood.  Gildas  states  further  that  besides  worship- 
ping idols  the  British  pagans  were  wont  to  pay  "divine 
honour"  to  hills  and  wells  and  rivers.  Reference  is 
made  in  the  Life  of  Columba  to  a  well  which  was  wor- 
shipped as  a  god. 

The  British  temples  are  referred  to  also  by  Pope 
Gregory  the  Great,  who  in  a.d.  6oi  addressed  a  letter 
to  Abbot  Mellitus,  then  on  a  mission  to  England,  giving 

176 


WORSHIP   OF   TREES   AND   WELLS     177 

him  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  Augustine  of 
Canterbury.  The  Pope  did  not  wish  to  have  the 
heathen  buildings  destroyed,  "for",  he  wrote,  *' if  those 
are  well  constructed,  it  is  requisite  that  they  can  be  con- 
verted from  the  worship  of  demons  to  the  service  of  the 
true  God.  .  .  .  Let  the  idols  that  are  in  them  be  des- 
troyed."^ 

The  temples  in  question  may  have  been  those  erected 
during  the  Romano-British  period.  One  which  stood 
at  Canterbury  was  taken  possession  of  by  St.  Augustine 
after  the  conversion  of  King  Ethelbert,  who  had  wor- 
shipped idols  in  it.  The  Celtic  peoples  may,  however, 
have  had  temples  before  the  Roman  invasion.  At  any 
rate  there  were  temples  as  well  as  sacred  groves  in  Gaul. 
Poseidonius  of  Apamea  refers  to  a  temple  at  Toulouse 
which  was  greatly  revered  and  richly  endowed  by  the 
gifts  of  numerous  donors.  These  gifts  included  "large 
quantities  of  gold  consecrated  to  the  gods  ".  The  Druids 
crucified  human  victims  who  were  sacrificed  within  their 
temples. 

Diodorus  Siculus  refers  as  follows  to  a  famous  temple 
in  Britain: 

"There  is  in  that  island  a  magnificent  temple  of  Apollo 
and  a  circular  shrine,  adorned  with  votive  offerings  and  tablets 
with  Greek  inscriptions  suspended  by  travellers  upon  the 
walls.  The  kings  of  that  city  and  rulers  of  the  temples  are 
the  Boreads  who  take  up  the  government  from  each  other 
according  to  the  order  of  their  tribes.  The  citizens  are  given 
up  to  music,  harping  and  chaunting  in  honour  of  the  sun." 

Some  writers  have  identified  this  temple  with  Stone- 
henge  circle.  Layamon  informs  us  in  his  Brute^  how- 
ever, that  the  temple  of  Apollo  was  situated  in  London. 
Of  course  there  may  have  been  several  temples  to  this 
god  or  the  British  deity  identified  with  him. 

1  Bede,  Historia  Ecclesiasttca,  Lib.  I,  cap.  30. 
(D217)  13 


178  ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

It  may  be  that  the  stone  circles  were  regarded  as 
temples.  It  may  be,  too,  that  temples  constructed  of 
wattles  and  clay  were  associated  with  the  circles.  In 
Pope  Gregory's  letter  reference  is  made  to  the  custom  of 
constructing  on  festival  days  "tabernacles  of  branches 
of  trees  around  those  churches  which  have  been  changed 
from  heathen  temples ",  and  to  the  pagan  custom  of 
slaying  ''  oxen  in  sacrifices  to  demons  ".  Pytheas  refers 
to  a  temple  on  an  island  opposite  the  moulhof  the  Loire. 
This  island  was  inhabited  by  women  only,  and  once  a 
year  they  unroofed  and  reroofed  their  temple.  In  the 
Hebrides  the  annual  custom  of  unroofing  and  reroofing 
thatched  houses  is  not  yet  obsolete;  it  may  originally 
have  had  a  religious  significance. 

Gildas's  reference  to  the  worship  of  hills,  wells,  and 
rivers  is  by  some  writers  regarded  as  evidence  of  the 
existence  in  ancient  Britain  of  the  "primitive  belief" 
in  spirits.  This  stage  of  religious  culture  is  called 
Animism  (Spiritism),  The  discovery,  however,  that  a 
goddess  was  worshipped  in  Aurignacian  times  by  the 
Cro-Magnon  peoples  in  Western  Europe  suggests  that 
Animistic  beliefs  were  not  necessarily  as  ancient  as  has 
been  assumed.  It  may  be  that  what  we  know  as  Animism 
was  a  product  of  a  later  period  when  there  arose  some- 
what complex  ideas  about  the  soul  or  the  various  souls 
in  man,  and  the  belief  became  widespread  that  souls 
could  not  only  transform  themselves  into  animal  shapes, 
but  could  enter  statues  and  gravestones.  This  concep- 
tion may  have  been  confused  with  earlier  ideas  about 
stones,  shells,  &c.,  being  impregnated  with  "life  sub- 
stance" (the  animating  principle)  derived  from  the 
mother  goddess.  Backward  peoples,  who  adopted  com- 
plex religious  beliefs  that  had  grown  up  in  centres  of 
civilization,  may  not  always  have  had  a  complete  under- 
standing of  their  significance.  It  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  even  savages,  who  adopted  the  boats  invented  in 


WORSHIP   OF  TREES   AND   WELLS     179 

Egypt  from  those  peoples  that  came  into  touch  with  them, 
were  always  entirely  immune  to  other  cultural  influences, 
and  retained  for  thousands  of  years  the  beliefs  supposed 
to  be  appropriate  for  those  who  were  in  the  '* Stone  Age  ". 

Our  concern  here  is  with  the  ancient  Britons.  It  is 
unnecessary  for  us  to  glean  evidence  from  Australia, 
South  America,  or  Central  Africa  to  ascertain  the  char- 
acter of  their  early  religious  conceptions  and  practices. 
There  is  sufficient  local  evidence  to  show  that  a  definite 
body  of  beliefs  lay  behind  their  worship  of  trees,  rivers, 
lakes,  wells,  standing  stones,  and  of  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars.  Our  ancestors  do  not  appear  to  have  worshipped 
natural  objects  either  because  they  were  beautiful  or 
impressive,  but  chiefly  because  they  were  supposed  to 
contain  influences  which  affected  mankind  either  directly 
or  indirectly.  These  influences  were  supposed  to  be 
under  divine  control,  and  to  emanate,  in  the  first  place, 
from  one  deity  or  another,  or  from  groups  of  deities.  A 
god  or  goddess  was  worshipped  whether  his  or  her 
influence  was  good  or  bad.  The  deity  who  sent  disease, 
for  instance,  was  believed  to  be  the  controller  of  disease, 
and  to  him  or  her  offerings  were  made  so  that  a  plague 
might  cease.  Thus  in  the  Iliad  off"erings  are  made  to 
the  god  Mouse-Apollo,  who  had  caused  an  epidemic  of 
disease. 

Trees  and  wells  were  connected  with  the  sky  and  the 
heavenly  bodies.  The  deity  who  caused  thunder  and 
lightning  had  his  habitation  at  times  in  the  oak,  the  fir, 
the  rowan,  the  hazel,  or  some  other  tree.  He  was  the 
controller  of  the  elements.  There  are  references  in 
Gaelic  charms  to  ''the  King  of  the  Elements". 

The  belief  in  an  intimate  connection  between  a  well, 
a  tree,  and  the  sky  appears  to  have  been  a  product  of 
a  quaint  but  not  unintelligent   process   of  reasoning.^ 

1  Of  course  it  does  not  follow  that  the  reasoning  originally  took  place  in  these  islands. 
Complex  beliefs  were  imported  at  an  early  period.     These  were  localized. 


i8o  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

The  early  folk  were  thinkers,  but  their  reasoning  was 
confined  within  the  limits  of  their  knowledge,  and 
biassed  by  preconceived  ideas.  To  them  water  was  the 
source  of  all  life.  It  fell  from  the  sky  as  rain,  or  bubbled 
up  from  the  underworld  to  form  a  well  from  which  a 
stream  flowed.  The  well  was  the  mother  of  the  stream, 
and  the  stream  was  the  mothei  of  the  lake.  It  was 
believed  that  the  well-water  was  specially  impregnated 
with  the  influences  that  sustained  life.  The  tree  that 
grew  beside  the  well  was  nourished  by  it.  If  this  tree 
was  a  rowan,  its  red  berries  were  supposed  to  contain  in 
concentrated  form  the  animating  influence  of  the  deity; 
the  berries  cured  diseases,  and  thus  renewed  youth,  or 
protected  those  who  used  them  as  charms  against  evil 
influences.  They  were  luck-berries.  If  the  tree  was  a 
hazel,  its  nuts  were  similarly  efficacious;  if  an  oak,  its 
acorns  were  regarded  likewise  as  luck-bringers.  The 
parasitic  plant  that  grew  on  the  tree  was  supposed  to  be 
stronger  and  more  influential  than  the  tree  itself.  This 
belief,  which  is  so  contrary  to  our  way  of  thinking,  is 
accounted  for  in  an  old  Gaelic  story  in  which  a  super- 
natural being  says : 

**  O  man  that  for  Fergus  of  the  feasts  dost  kindle  fire  .  .  . 
never  burn  the  King  of  the  Woods.  Monarch  of  Innisfail's 
forest  the  woodbine  is,  whom  none  may  hold  captive;  no 
feeble  sovereign's  effort  it  is  to  hug  all  tough  trees  in  his 
embrace." 

The  weakly  parasite  was  thus  regarded  as  being  very 
powerful.  That  may  be  the  reason  why  the  mistletoe 
was  reverenced,  and  why  its  milk-white  berries  were 
supposed  to  have  curative  and  life-prolonging  qualities. 
Although  the  sacred  parasite  was  not  used  for  fire- 
wood, it  served  as  a  fire-producer.  Two  fire-sticks,  one 
from  the  soft  parasite  and  one  from  the  hard  wood  of  the 
tree  to  which  it  clung,  were  rubbed  together  until  sparks 


WORSHIP   OF   TREES   AND   WELLS     i8i 

issued  forth  and  fell  on  dry  leaves  or  dry  grass.  The 
sparks  were  blown  until  a  flame  sprang  up.  At  this 
flame  of  holy  fire  the  people  kindled  their  brands,  which 
they  carried  to  their  houses.  The  house  fires  were  ex- 
tinguished once  a  year  and  relit  from  the  sacred  flames. 
Fire  was  itself  a  deity,  and  the  deity  was  ^'fed"  with 
fuel.  **  Need  fires  "  (new  fires)^  were  kindled  at  festivals 
so  that  cattle  and  human  beings  might  be  charmed 
against  injury.  These  festivals  were  held  four  times  a 
year,  and  the  **  new-fire"  custom  lingers  in  those  dis- 
tricts where  New  Year's  Day,  Midsummer,  May  Day, 
and  Hallowe'en  bonfires  are  still  being  regularly  kindled. 

The  fact  that  fire  came  from  a  tree  induced  the  early 
people  to  believe  that  it  was  connected  with  lightning, 
and  therefore  with  the  sky  god  who  thundered  in  the 
heavens.  This  god  was  supposed  to  wield  a  thunder- 
axe  or  thunder-hammer  with  which  he  smote  the  sky 
(believed  to  be  solid)  or  the  hills.  With  his  axe  or 
hammer  he  shaped  the  '* world  house". 

In  Scotland,  a  goddess,  who  is  remembered  as  '*the 
old  wife ",^  was  supposed  to  wield  the  hammer,  or  to  ride 
across  the  sky  on  a  cloud  and  throw  down  ** fire-balls" 
that  set  the  woods  in  flame.  Here  we  find,  probably  as 
a  result  of  culture  mixing,  a  fusion  of  beliefs  connected 
with  the  thunder  god  and  the  mother  goddess. 

Rain  fell  when  the  sky  deity  sent  thunder  and  light- 
ning. To  early  man,  who  took  fire  from  a  tree  which 
was  nourished  by  a  well,  fire  and  water  seemed  to  be 
intimately  connected.^  The  red  berries  on  the  sacred 
tree  were  supposed  to  contain  fire,  or  the  essence  of  fire. 
When  he  made  rowan-berry  wine,  he  regarded  it  as 
"fire  water"  or  *'the  water  of  life".     He  drank  it,  and 

iln  Gaelic  these  are  called  "  friction  fires". 

'According'  to  some,  Isis  is  a  rendering  of  a  Libyan  name  meaning  "  old  wife". 

»  This  connection  can  be  traced  in  ancient  Egypt.  The  sun  and  fire  were  connected, 
and  the  sun  originally  rose  from  the  primordial  waters.  The  sun's  rays  were  the  "  tears  " 
of  Ra  (the  sun  god).     Herbs  and  trees  sprang  up  where  Ra's  tears  fell. 


i82  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

thus  introduced  into  his  blood  fire  which  stimulated  him. 
In  his  blood  was  ''  the  vital  spark".  When  he  died  the 
blood  grew  cold,  because  the  **  vital  spark  "  had  departed 
from  it. 

In  the  water  fire  lived  in  another  form.  Fish  were 
found  to  be  phosphorescent.  The  fish  in  the  pool  was 
at  any  rate  regarded  as  a  form  of  the  deity  who  nourished 
life  and  was  the  origin  of  life.  A  specially  sacred  fish 
was  the  salmon.  It  was  observed  that  this  fish  had  red 
spots,  and  these  were  accounted  for  by  the  myth  that  the 
red  berries  or  nuts  from  the  holy  tree  dropped  into  the 
well  and  were  swallowed  by  the  salmon.  The  '*  chief" 
or  '^king"  of  the  salmon  was  called  ''the  salmon  of 
wisdom  ".  If  one  caught  the  ''  salmon  of  wisdom  "  and, 
when  roasting  it,  tasted  the  first  portion  of  juice  that 
came  from  its  body,  one  obtained  a  special  instalment  of 
concentrated  wisdom,  and  became  a  seer,  or  magician,  or 
Druid. 

The  salmon  was  reverenced  also  because  it  was  a 
migratory  fish.  Its  comings  and  goings  were  regular 
as  the  seasons,  and  seemed  to  be  controlled  by  the  ruler 
of  the  elements  with  whom  it  was  intimately  connected. 
One  of  its  old  Gaelic  names  was  ore  (pig)^  It  was  evi- 
dently connected  with  that  animal;  the  sea-pig  was 
possibly  a  form  of  the  deity.  The  porpoise  was  also  an 
orc,^ 

Hidden  in  the  well  lay  a  great  monster  which  in 
Gaelic  and  Welsh  stories  is  referred  to  as  *'the  beast", 
''the  serpent",  or  "the  great  worm".  Ultimately  it 
was  identified  with  the  dragon  with  fiery  breath.  An 
Irish  story  connects  the  salmon  and  dragon.  It  tells 
that  a  harper  named  Cliach,  who  had  the  powers  of  a 
Druid,  kept  playing  his  harp  until  a  lake  sprang  up. 

1  So  was  a  whale.     The  Latin  orca  is  a  Celtic  loan-word.     Milton  uses  the  Celtic  whale- 
name  in  the  line 

The  haunt  of  seals,  and  ores,  and  sea-mews'  clang. 

— Paradise  Lost,  Book  XI,  line  835. 


WORSHIP   OF   TREES   AND    WELLS     183 

This  lake  was  visited  by  a  goddess  and  her  attendants, 
who  had  assumed  the  forms  of  beautiful  birds.  It  was 
called  Loch  Bel  Sead  ('Make  of  the  jewel  mouth")  be- 
cause pearls  were  found  in  it,  and  Loch  Crotto  Cliach 
('Make  of  Cliach's  harps").  Another  name  was  Loch 
Bel  Dragain  (*' dragon-mouth  lake"),  because  Ternog's 
nurse  caught  ''a  fiery  dragon  in  the  shape  of  a  salmon  " 
and  she  was  induced  to  throw  this  salmon  into  the 
loch.  The  early  Christian  addition  to  the  legend  runs: 
''And  it  is  that  dragon  that  will  come  in  the  festival  of 
St.  John,  near  the  end  of  the  world,  in  the  reign  of  Flann 
Cinaidh.  And  it  is  of  it  and  out  of  it  shall  grow  the 
fiery  bolt  which  will  kill  three-fourth  of  the  people  of  the 
world."  ^     Here  fire  is  connected  with  the  salmon. 

The  salmon  which  could  transform  itself  into  a  great 
monster  guarded  the  tree  and  its  life-giving  berries  and 
the  treasure  offered  to  the  deity  of  the  well.  Apparently 
its  own  strength  was  supposed  to  be  derived  from  or 
concentrated  in  the  berries.  The  queen  of  the  district 
obtained  the  supernatural  power  she  was  supposed  to 
possess  from  the  berries  too,  and  stories  are  told  of 
a  hero  who  was  persuaded  to  enter  the  pool  and  pluck 
the  berries  for  the  queen.  He  was  invariably  attacked 
by  the  "beast",  and,  after  handing  the  berries  to  the 
queen,  he  fell  down  and  died.  There  are  several  ver- 
sions of  this  story.  In  one  version  a  specially  valued 
gold  ring,  a  symbol  of  authority,  is  thrown  into  the 
pool  and  swallowed  by  the  salmon.  The  hero  catches 
and  throws  the  salmon  on  to  the  bank.  When  he 
plucks  the  berries,  he  is  attacked  by  the  monster  and 
kills  it.  Having  recovered  the  ring,  he  gives  it  to  the 
princess,  who  becomes  his  wife.  Apparently  she  will  be 
chosen  as  the  next  queen,  because  she  has  eaten  the 
salmon  and  obtained  the  gold  symbol. 

It  may  be  that  this  story  had  its  origin  in  the  practice 

1  O'Curry,  Manuscript  Materials,  pp.  426-7, 


i84  ANCIENT   xMAN    IN    BRITAIN 

of  offering  a  human  sacrifice  to  the  deity  of  the  pool,  so 
that  the  youth-renewing  red  berries  might  be  obtained 
for  the  queen,  the  human  representative  of  the  deity. 
Her  fate  was  connected  with  the  ring  of  gold  in  which, 
as  in  the  berries,  the  influence  of  the  deity  was  con- 
centrated. 

Polycrates  of  Samos,  a  Hellenic  sea-king,  was  simi- 
larly supposed  to  have  his  *Muck"  connected  with  a 
beautiful  seal-stone,  the  most  precious  of  his  jewels. 
On  the  advice  of  Pharaoh  Amasis  of  Egypt  he  flung 
it  into  the  sea.  According  to  Herodotus,  it  was  to  avert 
his  doom  that  he  disposed  of  the  ring.  But  he  could 
not  escape  his  fate.  The  jewel  came  back;  it  was  found 
a  few  days  later  in  the  stomach  of  a  big  fish. 

In  India,  China,  and  Japan  dragons  or  sea  monsters 
are  supposed  to  have  luck  pearls  which  confer  great  power 
on  those  who  obtain  possession  of  them.  The  famous 
''jewel  that  grants  all  desires"  and  the  jewels  that 
control  the  ebb  and  flow  of  tides  are  obtained  from, 
and  are  ultimately  returned  to,  sea-monsters  of  the 
dragon  order. 

The  British  and  Irish  myths  about  sacred  gold  orj 
jewels  obtained  from  the  dragon  or  one  of  its  forms  werej 
taken  over  with  much  else  by  the  early  Christian  mis-] 
sionaries,  and  given  a  Christian  significance.  Among! 
the  legends  attached  to  the  memory  of  the  Irish  Saintj 
Moling  is  one  that  tells  how  he  obtained  treasure  for] 
Christian  purposes.  His  fishermen  caught  a  salmon^ 
and  found  in  its  stomach  an  ingot  of  gold.  Molingj 
divided  the  gold  into  three  parts-^"one  third  for  thej 
poor,  another  for  the  ornamenting  of  shrines,  a  third  toj 
provide  for  labour  and  work  *'. 

The  most  complete  form  of  the  ancient  myth  is,  how-j 
ever,  found  in  the  life  of  Glasgow's  patron  saint,  St. 
Kentigern  (St.  Mungo).     A  queen's  gold  ring  had  been 
thrown  into  the  River  Clyde,  and,  as  she  was  unable, 


WORSHIP   OF  TREES   AND   WELLS     185 

when  asked  by  the  king,  to  produce  it,  she  was  con- 
demned to  death  and  cast  into  a  dungeon.  The -queen 
appealed  to  St.  Kentigern,  who  instructed  her  messenger 
to  catch  a  fish  in  the  river  and  bring  it  to  him.  A 
large  fish  *' commonly  called  a  salmon"  was  caught. 
In  its  stomach  was  found  the  missing  ring.  The  grate- 
ful queen,  on  her  release,  confessed  her  sins  to  the  saint 
and  became  a  Christian.     St.   Mungo's  seal,  now  the 


Seal  of  City  of  Glasgow,  1647-1793,  showing  Tree,  Bird,  Salmon, 
and  Bell 


coat  of  arms  of  Glasgow,  shows  the  salmon  with  a  ring 
in  its  mouth,  below  an  oak  tree,  in  the  branches  of 
which  sits,  as  the  oracle  bird,  a  robin  red-breast.  A 
Christian  bell  dangles  from  a  branch  of  the  tree. 

That  the  Glasgow  saint  took  the  place  of  a  Druid, ^  so 
that  the  people  might  say  **  Kentigern  is  my  Druid  "  as 
St.  Columba  said  *^  Christ  is  my  Druid",  is  suggested 
by  his  intimate  connection,  as  shown  in  his  seal,  with 
the  sacred  tree  of  the  **King  of  the  Elements",    the 

1  ProfessOT  W.  J.  Watson  says  in  this  connection:  "The  Celtic  clerics  stepped  in  to  the 
shoes  of  the  Druids.     The  people  regarded  them  as  superior  Druids." 


i86  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

oracular  bird  (the  thunder  bird),  the  salmon  form  of  the 
deity,  and  the  power-conferring  ring.  As  the  Druids 
produced  sacred  fire  from  wood,  so  did  St.  Kentigern. 
It  is  told  that  when  a  youth  his  rivals  extinguished  the 
sacred  fire  under  his  care.  Kentigern  went  outside  the 
monastery  and  obtained  "a  bough  of  growing  hazel  and 
prayed  to  the  *  Father  of  Lights ' ".  Then  he  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  blessed  the  bough,  and  breathed 
on  it. 

"  A  wonderful  and  remarkable  thing  followed.  Straightway 
fire  coming  forth  from  heaven,  seizing  the  bough,  as  if  the 
boy  had  exhaled  flames  for  breath,  sent  forth  fire,  vomiting 
rays,  and  banished  all  the  surrounding  darkness.  .  .  .  God 
therefore  sent  forth  His  light,  and  led  him  and  brought  him 
into  the  monastery.  .  .  .  That  hazel  from  which  the  little 
branch  was  taken  received  a  blessing  from  St.  Kentigern, 
and  afterwards  began  to  grow  into  a  wood.  If  from  that 
grove  of  hazel,  as  the  country  folks  say,  even  the  greenest 
branch  is  taken,  even  at  the  present  day,  it  catches  fire  like 
the  driest  material  at  the  touch  of  fire.   ..." 

A  redbreast,  which  was  kept  as  a  pet  at  the  monastery, 
was  hunted  by  boys,  who  tore  off  its  head.  Kentigern 
restored  the  bird  to  life.  The  robin  was  hunted  down 
in  some  districts  as  was  the  wren  in  other  districts.  An 
old  rhyme  runs: 

A  robin  and  a  wren 

Are  God's  cock  and  hen. 

In  Pagan  times  the  oracular  bird  connected  with  the 
holy  tree  was  sacrificed  annually.  The  robin  repre- 
sented the  god  and  the  wren  (Kitty  or  Jenny  Wren)  the 
goddess  in  some  areas.  In  Gaelic,  Spanish,  Italian, 
and  Greek  the  wren  is  '^the  little  King"  or  ^^the  King 
of  Birds".  A  Gaelic  folk-tale  tells  that  the  wren  flew 
highest  in  a  competition  held  by  the  birds  for  the  king- 
ship, by  concealing  itself  on  an  eagle's  back.     When 


WORSHIP   OF   TREES   AND   WELLS     187 

the  eagle  reached  its  highest  possible  altitude,  the  wren 
rose  above  it  and  claimed  the  honour  of  kingship.  In 
the  Isle  of  Man  the  wren  used  to  be  hunted  on  St. 
Stephen's  Day.  Elsewhere  it  was  hunted  on  Christmas 
Eve  or  Christmas  Day.  The  dead  bird  was  carried  on 
a  pole  at  the  head  of  a  procession  and  buried  with  cere- 
mony in  a  churchyard. 

In  Scotland  the  shrew  mouse  was  hunted  in  like  man- 
ner, and  buried  under  an  apple  tree.  A  standing  stone 
in  Perthshire  is  called  in  Gaelic  ''stone  of  my  little 
mouse".  As  there  were  mouse  feasts  in  ancient  Scot- 
land, it  would  appear  that  a  mouse  god  like  Smintheus 
(Mouse-Apollo)  was  worshipped  in  ancient  times.  Mouse 
cures  were  at  one  time  prevalent.  The  liver  of  the 
mouse  ^  was  given  to  children  who  were  believed  to  be 
on  the  point  of  death.  They  rallied  quickly  after  swal- 
lowing it.  Roasted  mouse  was  in  England  and  Scotland 
a  cure  for  whooping-cough  and  smallpox.  The  Boers 
in  South  Africa  are  perpetuating  this  ancient  folk-cure. ^ 
In  Gaelic  folk-lore  the  mouse  deity  is  remembered  as 
liicha  sith  (''the  supernatural  mouse "). 

There  still  survive  traces  of  the  worship  of  a  goddess 
who  is  remembered  as  Bride  in  England  and  Scotland, 
and  as  Brigit  in  Ireland.  A  good  deal  of  the  lore 
connected  with  her  has  been  attached  to  the  memory 
of  St.  Brigit  of  Ireland. 

February  ist  (old  style)  was  known  as  Bride's  Day. 
Her  birds  were  the  wood  linnet,  which  in  Gaelic  is  called 
*'Bird  of  Bride",  and  the  oyster  catcher  called  "Page 
of  Bride  ",  while  her  plant  was  the  dandelion  {am  bearnan 
bride)^  the  "milk"  of  which  was  the  salvation  of  the 
early  lamb.  On  Bride's  Day  the  serpent  awoke  from  its 
winter  sleep  and  crept  from  its  hole.     This  serpent  is 

1  In  old  Gaelic  the  liver  is  the  seat  of  life. 

a  Mrs.  E.  Tawse  JoUie,  Hervetia,  S.  Melsetter,  S.  Rhodesia,  writes  me  under  October 
19,  1918,  in  answer  to  my  query,  that  the  Boers  regard  striep  muis  (striped  mice)  as  a 
cure  for  "  weakness  of  the  bowel "  in  children,  &c. 


i88  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

called  in  Gaelic  ** daughter  of  Ivor",  an  ribhinn  (*' the 
damsel "),  &c. 

The  white  serpent  was,  like  the  salmon,  a  source  of 
wisdom  and  magical  power.  It  was  evidently  a  form  of 
the  goddess.  Brigit  was  the  goddess  of  the  Brigantes, 
a  tribe  whose  territory  extended  from  the  Firth  of  Forth 
to  the  midlands  of  England.^  The  Brigantes  took 
possession  of  a  part  of  Ireland  where  Brigit  had  three 
forms  as  the  goddess  of  healing,  the  goddess  of  smith- 
work,  and  the  goddess  of  poetry,  and  therefore  of 
metrical  magical  charms.  Some  think  her  name  signifies 
** fiery  arrow".  She  was  the  source  of  fire,  and  was 
connected  with  different  trees  in  different  areas.  The 
Bride-wells  were  taken  over  by  Saint  Bride. 

The  white  serpent,  referred  to  in  the  legends  associated 
with  Farquhar,  the  physician,  and  Michael  Scott,  some- 
times travelled  very  swiftly  by  forming  itself  into  a  ring 
with  its  tail  in  its  mouth.  This  looks  like  the  old  Celtic 
solar  serpent.  If  the  serpent  were  cut  in  two,  the  parts 
wriggled  towards  a  stream  and  united  as  soon  as  they 
touched  water.  If  the  head  were  not  smashed,  it  would 
become  a  heithis^  the  biggest  and  most  poisonous  variety 
of  serpent. 2  The  **  Deathless  snake  "  of  Egypt,  referred 
to  in  an  ancient  folk-tale,  was  similarly  able  to  unite  its 
severed  body.  Bridals  serpent  links  with  the  serpent 
dragons  of  the  Far  East,  which  sleep  all  winter  and 
emerge  in  spring,  when  they  cause  thunder  and  send 
rain,  spit  pearls,  &c.  Dr.  Alexander  Carmichael  trans- 
lates the  following  Gaelic  serpent-charm : 

To-day  is  the  day  of  Bride, 

The  serpent  shall  come  from  his  hole; 


1  In  a  Roman  representation  of  her  at  Birrens,  in  Perthshire,  she  is  shown  as  a  wioged 
figure  holding-  a  spear  in  her  right  hand  and  a  globe  in  her  left.  An  altar  in  Chester  is 
dedicated  to  " De  Nymphae  Brig".  Her  name  is  enshrined  in  Bregentz  (anciently 
Brigantium),  a  town  in  Switzerland. 

2  The  beithis  lay  hidden  in  arms  of  the  sea  and  came  ashore  to  devour  animals. 


WORSHIP  OF   TREES   AND   WELLS     189 

I  will  not  molest  the  serpent 

And  the  serpent  wiU  not  molest  me. 

De  Visser^  quotes  the  following  from  a  Chinese  text 
referring  to  the  dragons: 

If  we  offer  a  deprecatory  service  to  them, 
They  will  leave  their  abodes ; 
If  we  do  not  seek  the  dragons 
They  will  also  not  seek  us. 

The  serpent,  known  in  Scotland  as  nathair  challtuinn 
(** snake  of  the  hazel  grove"),  had  evidently  a  mytho- 
logical significance.  Leviathan  is  represented  by  the 
Gaelic  cirein  crbin  (sea-serpent),  also- called  mial  mhbr 
a  chuain  (*'the  great  beast  of  the  sea")  and  cuairtag 
mhbr  a  chuain  ("the  great  whirlpool  of  the  sea");  a 
sea-snake  was  supposed  to  be  located  in  Corryvreckan 
whirlpool.  Kelpies  and  water  horses  and  water  bulls 
are  forms  assumed  by  the  Scottish  dragon.  There  are 
Far  Eastern  horse-  and  bull-dragons. 

In  ancient  British  lore  there  are  references  to  souls  in 
serpent  form.  A  serpent  might  be  a  '^double"  like  the 
Egyptian  *'  Ka".  It  was  believed  in  Wales  that  snake- 
souls  were  concealed  in  every  farm-house.  When  one 
crept  out  from  its  hiding-place  and  died,  the  farmer  or 
his  wife  died  soon  afterwards.  Lizards  were  supposed 
to  be  forms  assumed  by  women  after  death. ^  The  otter, 
called  in  Scottish  Gaelic  Dobhar-chu  ('Svater  dog")  and 
Righ  nan  Dobhran  ("king  of  the  water"  or  "river"), 
appears  to  have  been  a  soul  form.  When  one  was 
killed  a  man  or  a  woman  died.  The  king  otter  was 
supposed  to  have  a  jewel  in  its  head  like  the  Indian 
ndga  (serpent  deity),  the  Chinese  dragon,  the  toad,  &c. 
The  king  otter  was  invulnerable  except  on  one  white 

I  1  The  Dragon  in  China  and  Japan  (19x3). 

'  '  Trevclyan,  Folk-lore  and  Folk-stories  of  Wales,  p.  165. 


igo  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

spot  below  its  chin.  Those  who  wore  a  piece  of  its 
skin  as  a  charm  were  supposed  to  be  protected  against 
injury  in  battle.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  otter  was 
originally  a  god  like  the  boar^  the  image  of  which,  as 
Tacitus  records,  was  worn  for  protection  by  the  Baltic 
amber  searchers  of  Celtic  speech.  The  hiasd  na  srogaig 
("the  beast  of  the  lowering  horn")  was  a  Hebridean 
loch  dragon  with  a  single  horn  on  its  head;  this  unicorn 
was  tall  and  clumsy. 

The  ** double"  or  external  soul  might  also  exist  in 
a  tree.  Both  in  England  and  Scotland  there  are  stories 
of  trees  withering  when  some  one  dies,  or  of  some  one 
dying  when  trees  are  felled.  Aubrey  tells  that  when 
the  Earl  of  Winchelsea  began  to  cut  down  an  oak  grove 
near  his  seat  at  Eastwell  in  Kent,  the  Countess  died 
suddenly,  and  then  his  eldest  son.  Lord  Maidstone,  was 
killed  at  sea.  Allan  Ramsay,  the  Scottish  poet,  tells 
that  the  Edgewell  tree  near  Dalhousie  Castle  was  fatal 
to  the  family  from  which  he  was  descended,  and  vSir 
Walter  Scott  refers  to  it  in  his  *' Journal",  under  the 
date  13th  May,  1829.  When  a  branch  fell  from  it  in 
July,  1874,  ^"  o^d  forester  exclaimed  *'The  laird's  deed 
noo!"  and  word  was  received  not  long  afterwards  of  the 
death  of  the  eleventh  Earl  of  Dalhousie.  Souls  of  giants 
were  supposed  to  be  hidden  in  thorns,  eggs,  fish,  swans, 
&c.  At  Fasnacloich,  in  Argyllshire,  the  visit  of  swans 
to  a  small  loch  is  supposed  to  herald  the  death  of  a 
Stewart. 

*^  External  souls",  or  souls  after  death,  assumed  the 
forms  of  cormorants,  cuckoos,  cranes,  eagles,  gulls, 
herons,  linnets,  magpies,  ravens,  swans,  wrens,  &c., 
or  of  deer,  mice,  cats,  dogs,  &c.  Fairies  (supernatural 
beings)  appeared  as  deer  or  birds.  Among  the  Scottish 
were-animals  are  cats,  black  sheep,  mice,  hares,  gulls, 
crows,  ravens,  magpies,  foxes,  dogs,  &c.  Children 
were  sometimes   transformed  by  magicians  into  white 


WORSHIP   OF   TREES   AND   WELLS     191 

dogs,  and  were  restored  to  human  form  by  striking 
them  with  a  magic  wand  or  by  supplying  shirts  of  bog- 
cotton.  The  floating  lore  regarding  were-animals  was 
absorbed  in  witch-lore  after  the  Continental  beliefs  re- 
garding witches  were  imported  into  this  country.  In 
like  manner  a  good  deal  of  floating  lore  was  attached 
to  the  devil.  In  Scotland  he  is  supposed  to  appear  as 
a  goat  or  pig,  as  a  gentleman  with  a  pig's  or  horse's 
foot,  or  as  a  black  or  green  man  riding  a  black  or  green 
horse  followed  by  black  or  green  dogs.  Eels  were 
*' devil-fish  ",  and  were  supposed  to  originate  from  the 
hairs  of  horses'  manes  or  tails.  Men  who  ate  eels  became 
insane,  and  fought  horses. 

In  Scotland  butterflies  and  bees  were  not  only  soul- 
forms  but  deities,  and  there  are  traces  of  similar  beliefs 
in  England,  Wales,  and  Ireland.  Scottish  Gaelic  names 
of  the  butterfly  include  dealbhan-de  ("  image  "  or  *^  form 
of  God"),  fl?^«/M  signifying  ^^image",  **form",  *^picture", 
"idol",  or  "statue";  dearhadan-de  ("manifestation  of 
God  ");  eunan-de  ("small  bird  of  God  ");  teine-de  ("fire 
of  God");  and  ^^^/«w-^<?  ("  brightness  of  God").  The 
word  dealan  refers  to  (i)  lightning,  (2)  the  brightness  of 
the  starry  sky,  (3)  burning  coal,  (4)  the  wooden  bar  of  a 
door,  and  (5)  to  a  wooden  peg  fastening  a  cow-halter 
round  the  neck.  The  bar  and  peg,  which  gave  security, 
were  evidently  connected  with  the  deity. 

In  addition  to  meaning  butterfly,  dealan-de  ("the 
dealan  of  God ")  refers  to  a  burning  stick  which  is 
shaken  to  and  fro  or  whirled  round  about.  When 
"need  fires"  (new  fires)  were  lit  at  Beltain  festival 
(ist  May) — "Beltain"  is  supposed  to  mean  "bright 
fires"  or  "white  fires",  that  is,  luck-bringing  or  sacred 
fires — burning  brands  were  carried  from  them  to  houses, 
all  domestic  fires  having  previously  been  extinguished. 
The  "new  fire"  brought  luck,  prosperity,  health,  in- 
crease, protection,  &c.     Until   recently  Highland  boys 


1 


192  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 


who  perpetuated  the  custom  of  lighting  bon-fires  to 
celebrate  old  Celtic  festivals  were  wont  to  snatch  burn- 
ing sticks  from  them  and  run  homewards,  whirling  the 
dealan-de  round  about  so  as  to  keep  it  burning. 

Souls  took  the  form  of  a  dealan-de  (butterfly).  Lady 
Wilde  relates  in  Ancient  Legends  (Vol.  I,  pp.  66-7) 
the  Irish  story  of  a  child  who  saw  the  butterfly  form 
of  the  soul  —  *'a  beautiful  living  creature  with  four 
snow-white  wings  '* ;  it  rose  from  the  body  of  a  man 
who  had  just  died  and  went  '^fluttering  round  his 
head ".  The  child  and  others  watched  the  winged 
soul  "until  it  passed  from  sight  into  the  clouds".  The 
story  continues:  *'This  was  the  first  butterfly  that  was 
ever  seen  in  Ireland;  and  now  all  men  know  that  the 
butterflies  are  the  souls  of  the  dead  waiting  for  the 
moment  when  they  may  enter  Purgatory,  and  so  pass 
through  torture  to  purification  and  peace  ". 

In  England  and  Scotland  moths  were  likewise  souls 
of  the  dead  that  entered  houses  by  night  or  fluttered 
outside  windows,  as  if  attempting  to  return  to  former 
haunts. 

The  butterfly  god  or  soul-form  was  known  to  the 
Scandinavians.  Freyja,  the  northern  goddess,  appears 
to  have  had  a  butterfly  avatar.  At  any  rate,  the  butter- 
fly was  consecrated  to  her.  In  Greece  the  nymph 
Psyche,  beloved  by  Cupid,  was  a  beautiful  maiden  with 
the  wings  of  a  butterfly;  her  name  signifies  **  the  soul ". 
Greek  artistes  frequently  depicted  the  human  soul  as 
a  butterfly,  and  especially  the  particular  species  called 
V^^X'?  (''the  soul").  On  an  ancient  tomb  in  Italy  a 
butterfly  is  shown  issuing  from  the  open  mouth  of 
a  death-mask.  The  Serbians  believed  that  the  butter- 
fly souls  of  witches  arose  from  their  mouths  when  they 
slept.  They  died  if  their  butterfly  souls  did  not  return.^ 
Evidence  of  belief  in  the  butterfly  soul  has  been  forth- 

1  W.  R.  S.  Ralston,  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  pp.  117  et  seq. 


WORSHIP   OF  TREES   AND   WELLS     193 

coming  in  Burmah,  where  ceremonies  are  performed  to 
prevent  the  baby's  butterfly  soul  following  that  of  a 
dead  mother.^  The  pre-Columbian  Americans,  and 
especially  the  Mexicans,  believed  in  butterfly  souls 
and  butterfly  deities.  In  China  the  butterfly  soul  was 
carved  in  jade  and  associated  with  the  plum  tree;^  the 
sacred  butterfly  was  in  Scotland  associated  apparently 
with  the  honeysuckle  (deoghalag),  a  plant  containing 
*Mife-substance"  in  the  form  of  honey  (lus  a  mheal: 
"honey  herb")  and  milk  (another  name  of  the  plant 
being  bainne-gharnhnachi  "milk  of  the  heifer").  As 
we  have  seen,  the  honeysuckle  was  supposed  to  be 
more  powerful  than  the  tree  to  which  it  clung;  like  the 
ivy  and  mistletoe,  it  was  the  plant  of  a  powerful  deity. 
Its  milk  and  honey  names  connect  it  with  the  Great 
Mother  goddess  who  was  the  source  of  life  and  nourish- 
ment, and  provided  the  milk-and-honey  elixir  of  life. 

Bee-souls  figure  in  Scottish  folk-stories.  Hugh  Miller 
relates  a  story  of  a  sleeping  man  from  whose  mouth  the 
soul  issued  in  the  form  of  the  bee.^  Another  of  like 
character  is  related  by  a  clergyman.*  Both  are  located 
in  the  north  of  Scotland,  where,  as  in  the  south  of  Eng- 
land, the  custom  was  prevalent  of  "telling  the  bees" 
when  a  death  took  place,  and  of  placing  crape  on  hives. 
The  bee-mandible  symbol  appears  on  Scottish  sculp- 
tured stones.  Both  the  bee  and  the  butterfly  were 
connected  with  the  goddess  Artemis.  Milk -yielding 
fig  trees  were  fertilized  by  bees  or  wasps,  and  the  god- 
dess, especially  in  her  form  as  Diana  of  the  Ephesians, 
was  connected  with  the  fig  tree,  the  figs  being  "teats". 

Little  is  known  regarding  the  Hebridean  sea- god 
Seonaidh  (pronounced  "shony"),  who  may  have  been 


1  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  XXVI  (1897),  p.  23. 

2  Laufcr,  Jade,  p.  310. 

3  Afy  Schools  and  Schoolmasters,  Chapter  VI. 

*  Rev.  W.  Forsyth,  Dornoch,  in  Folk-lore  Journal,  VI,  171. 
(D217)  14 


194  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

a  form  of  the  sea-god  known  to  the  Irish  as  Lir  and 
to  the  Welsh  as  Llyr.  His  name  connects  him  with 
the  word  seonadhj  signifying  ^'augury",  '^sorcery", 
**druidism".  According  to  Martin,  the  inhabitants  of 
Lewis  contributed  the  malt  from  which  ale  was  brewed 
for  an  offering  to  the  gods.  At  night  a  man  waded 
into  the  sea  up  to  his  middle  and  cried  out,  **  Seonaidh! 
I  give  thee  this  cup  of  ale,  hoping  that  thou  wilt  be 
so  good  as  to  send  us  plenty  of  sea-ware  for  enriching 
our  ground  during  the  coming  year."  He  then  poured 
the  ale  into  the  sea.  The  people  afterwards  gathered 
in  the  church  of  St.  Mulway,  and  stood  still  for  a  time 
before  the  altar  on  which  a  candle  was  burning.  When 
a  certain  signal  was  given  the  candle  was  extinguished. 
The  people  then  made  merry  in  the  fields,  drinking  ale. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
Ancient  Pagan  Deities 

Deities  as  Birds  —  Triads  of  Gaelic  Goddesses  —  Shape-shifting* 
Goddesses — Black  Annis  of  Leicestershire — The  Scottish  Black  Annis — 
Black  Kali  and  Black  Demeter — Cat  Goddess  and  Witches — A  Scottish 
Artemis— Celtic  Adonis  Myth — The  Cup  of  Healing- — Myths  of  Gaelic 
Calendar — Irish  and  Scottish  Mythologies  Different — Scottish  Pork  Taboo 
—  Eel  tabooed  in  Scotland  but  not  in  England — Ancient  English  Food 
Taboos — Irish  Danann  Deities — Ancient  Deities  of  England  and  Wales — 
The  Apple  Cult — English  Wassaillingf  Custom — The  Magic  Cauldron — 
The  Holy  Grail — Cauldron  a  Goddess  Symbol — Pearls  and  Cows  of  the 
Cauldron — Goddess — Romano-British  Deities — Grouped  Goddesses — The 
Star  Goddess — Sky  and  Sea  Spirits. 

Many  of  the  old  British  and  Irish  deities  had  bird 
forms,  and  might  appear  as  doves,  swallows,  swans, 
cranes,  cormorants,  scald  crows,  ravens,  &c.  The  cor- 
morant, for  instance,  is  still  in  some  districts  called  the 
Cailleach  duhh  (''the  black  old  wife").  Some  deities,  like 
Brigit  and  Morrigan,  had  triple  forms,  and  appeared  as 
three  old  hags  or  as  three  beautiful  girls,  or  assumed 
the  forms  of  women  known  to  those  they  visited.  In 
the  Cuchullin  stories  the  Morrigan  appears  with  a 
supernatural  cow,  the  milk  of  which  heals  wounds  and 
prolongs  life.  When  in  conflict  with  Cuchullin,  she 
takes  alternately  the  forms  of  an  eel,  a  grey  wolf,  and  a 
white  cow  with  red  ears.  On  one  occasion  she  changes 
from  human  form  to  that  of  a  dark  bird.  An  old  west 
of  England  goddess  was  remembered  until  recently  in 
Leicestershire  as  "Black  Annis",  "Black  Anny",  or 
"Cat   Anna".     She   frequented   a  cave   on   the    Dane 

195 


196  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Hills,^  above  which  grew  an  oak  tree.  In  the  branches  of 
the  tree  she  concealed  herself,  so  that  she  might  pounce 
unawares  on  human  beings.  Shepherds  attributed  to 
her  the  loss  of  lambs,  and  mothers  their  loss  of  children. 
The  supernatural  monster  had  one  eye  in  her  blue  face, 
and  talons  instead  of  hands.  Round  her  waist  she  wore 
a  girdle  of  human  skins. 

A  Scottish  deity  called  *' Yellow  Muilearteach "  was 
similarly  one-eyed  and  blue-faced,  and  had  tusks  pro- 
truding from  her  mouth.  An  apple  dangled  from  her 
waist  girdle.  The  Indian  goddess  Black  Kali  is  depicted 
as  a  ferocious  being  of  like  character,  with  a  forehead 
eye,  in  addition  to  ordinary  eyes,  and  a  waist  girdle  of 
human  heads.  Greece  had  its  Black  Demeter  with 
animal-head  (a  horse's  or  pig's),  and  snakes  in  her 
hair.  She  haunted  a  cave  in  Phigalia.  The  Egyptian 
goddess  Hathor  in  her  cat  form  (Bast)  was  kindly, 
and  in  her  Sekhet  form  was  a  fierce  slayer  of  man- 
kind.2 

Witches  assume  cat  forms  in  Scottish  witch  lore,^  and 
appear  on  the  riggings  and  masts  of  ships  doomed  to 
destruction.  There  are  references,  too,  to  cat  roasting, 
so  as  to  compel  the  **  Big  Cat"  to  appear.  The  '*  Big 
Cat"  is  evidently  the  deity.  In  northern  India  dogs  are 
tortured  to  compel  the  "Big  Dog"  (the  god  Indra)  to 
send  rain.  "  Lapus  Cati "  (the  cat  stone)  is  referred  to 
in  early  Christian  records.  As  a  mouse  was  buried 
under  an  apple  tree  to  make  it  fruitful,  a  cat  was  buried 
under  a  pear  tree. 

The  Scottish  **  Yellow  Muilearteach"  revels  in  the 
slaughter  of  human  beings,  and  folk  poems,  describing 
a  battle  waged  against  her,  have  been  collected.  In  the 
end  she  is  slain,  and  her  consort  comes  from  the  sea  to 

1  It  has  been  suggested  that  "  Dane  "  stands  for  "  Danann  ". 
3  A  text  states:  "  Kindly  is  she  as  Bast:  terrible  is  she  as  Sekhet." 

8  The  Gaelic  word  for  "  witch"  comes  from  English.     Gaelic  "  witch  lore  "  is  distinctive, 
having  retained  more  ancient  beliefs  than  those  connected  with  the  orthodox  witches. 


ANCIENT   PAGAN   DEITIES  197 

lament  her  death.  A  similar  hag  is  remembered  as  the 
Cailleach  (''the  old  wife").  She  had  a  ''blue-black 
face"  and  one  eye  "on  the  flat  of  her  forehead",  and 
she  carried  a  magic  hammer.  During  the  period  of 
"the  little  sun"  (the  winter  season)  she  held  sway  over 
the  world.  Her  blanket  was  washed  in  the  whirlpool  of 
Corryvreckan,  which  kept  boiling  vigorously  for  several 
days.  Ben  Nevis  was  her  chief  dwelling-place,  and  in 
a  cave  in  that  mountain  she  kept  as  a  prisoner  all  winter 
a  beautiful  maiden  who  was  given  the  task  of  washing 
a  brown  fleece  until  it  became  white.  When  wandering 
among  the  mountains  or  along  the  sea-shore  she  is 
followed,  like  Artemis,  by  herds  of  deer,  goats,  swine, 
&c.  The  venomous  black  boar  is  in  some  of  the  stories 
under  her  special  protection.  Apparently  this  animal 
was  her  symbol  as  it  was  that  of  the  Baltic  amber  traders. 
The  hero  who  hunts  and  slays  the  boar  is  himself  killed 
by  it,  as  was  the  Syrian  god  Adonis  by  the  boar  form  of 
Ares  (Mars).  In  Gaul  the  boar-god  Moccus  was  identi- 
fied by  the  Romans  with  Mars. 

In  Gaelic  stories  the  hero  who  hunts  and  slays  the 
boar  is  remembered  as  Diarmid,  the  eponymous  ancestor 
of  the  Campbell  clan.  Apparently  the  goddess  was  the 
ugly  hag  to  whom  he  once  gave  shelter.  She  trans- 
formed herself  into  a  beautiful  maiden  who  touched  his 
forehead  and  left  on  it  a  "  love  spot  ".^ 

When  she  vanished  he  followed  her  to  the  "  Land- 
Under- Waves  ".  There  he  finds  her  as  a  beautiful  girl 
who  is  suffering  from  a  wasting  disease.  To  cure  her 
he  goes  on  a  long  journey  to  obtain  a  draught  of  water 
from  a  healing  well.  This  water  he  carries  in  the  "  Cup 
of  Healing". 

1  The  "  fairy  "  Queen  (the  queen  of  enchantment),  who  carried  off  Thomas  the  Rhymer, 
appeared  as  a  beautiful  woman,  but  was  afterwards  transformed  into  an  ugly  hag. 
Thomas  laments : 

How  art  thou  faded  thus  in  the  face, 

That  shone  before  as  the  sun  so  bricht  (bright). 


198  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

The  winter  hag  has  a  son  who  falls  in  love  with  the 
beautiful  maiden  of  Ben  Nevis.  When  he  elopes  with 
her,  his  mother  raises  storms  in  the  early  spring  season 
to  keep  the  couple  apart  and  prevent  the  grass  growing. 
These  storms  are  named  in  the  Gaelic  Calendar  as  **the 
Pecker",  '*the  Whistle",  ''the  Sweeper",  ''the  Com- 
plaint", &c.  In  the  end  her  son  pursues  heron  horse- 
back, until  she  transforms  herself  into  a  moist  grey  stone 
"looking  over  the  sea".  The  story  tells  that  the  son's 
horse  leapt  over  arms  of  the  sea.  On  Loch  Etiveside 
a  place-name  "Horseshoes"  is  attached  to  marks  on  a 
rock  supposed  to  have  been  caused  by  his  great  steed. 
In  the  Isle  of  Man  the  place  of  the  giant  son  is  taken 
by  St.  Patrick.  He  rides  from  Ireland  on  horseback 
like  the  ancient  sea  god.  He  cursed  a  monster,  which 
was  turned  into  solid  rock.  St.  Patrick's  steed  left  the 
marks  of  its  hoofs  on  the  cliffs.^ 

In  Arthurian  romance  King  Arthur  pursues  Morgan 
le  Fay,  who  likewise  transforms  herself  into  a  stone.  A 
Welsh  folk  story  tells  that  Arthur's  steed  leapt  across 
the  Bristol  Channel,  and  left  the  marks  of  its  hoofs  on  a 
rock. 

It  appears  that  Morgan  le  Fay  is  the  same  deity  as 
the  Irish  Morrigan.  Both  appear  to  link  with  Anu,  or 
Danu,  the  Irish  mother  goddess,  and  with  Black  Anna 
or  Annis  of  Leicestershire.  The  Irish  Danann  deities 
wage  war  against  the  Fomorians,  who  are  referred  to  in 
one  instance  as  the  gods  of  the  Fir  Domnann  (Dumnonii), 
the  mineral  workers  or  "diggers"  of  Cornwall  and 
Devon,  of  the  south-western  and  central  lowlands  of 
Scotland,  and  central  and  south-western  Ireland.  In 
Scotland  the  Fomorians  are  numerous;  they  are  hill 
and  cave  giants  like  the  giants  of  Cornwall.  But  there 
are  no  Scottish  Dananns  and  no  "war  of  the  gods". 
The  Fomorians  of  Scotland  wage  war  against  the  fairies 

1  Wm.  Cashen,  Manx  Folk-lore  (Douglas,  1912),  p.  48. 


ANCIENT   PAGAN    DEITIES  199 

(as  in  Wester  Ross)  or  engage  in  duels,  throwing  great 
boulders  at  one  another. 

The  intruding  people  who  in  Ireland  formulated  the 
Danann  mythology  do  not  appear  to  have  reached  Scot- 
land before  the  Christian  period. 

An  outstanding  difference  between  Scottish  and  Irish 
beliefs  and  practices  is  brought  out  by  the  treatment  of 
the  pig  in  both  countries.  Like  the  Continental  Celts, 
the  Irish  Celts,  who  formed  a  military  aristocracy  over 
the  Firbolgs,  the  Fir  Domnann,  and  the  Fir  Gailian 
(Gauls),  kept  pigs  and  ate  pork.  In  Scotland  the  pig 
was  a  demon  as  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  pork  was  tabooed 
over  wide  areas.  The  prejudice  against  pork  in  Scotland 
is  not  yet  extinct.  It  is  referred  to  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
in  a  footnote  in  The  Fortunes  of  Nigel  ^  which  states: 

"The  Scots  (Lowlanders),  till  within  the  last  generation, 
disliked  swine's  flesh  as  an  article  of  food  as  much  as  the 
Highlanders  do  at  present.  Ben  Jonson,  in  drawing  James's 
character,^  says  he  loved  no  part  of  a  swine."  ^ 

Dr.  Johnson  wrote  in  his  A  Journey  to  the  Western 
Highlands  in  /^J^J : 

"Of  their  eels  I  can  give  no  account,  having  never  tasted 
them,  for  I  believe  they  are  not  considered  as  wholesome 
food.  .  .  .  The  vulgar  inhabitants  of  Skye,  I  know  not 
whether  of  the  other  islands,  have  not  only  eels,  but  pork 
and  bacon  in  abhorrence;  and,  accordingly,  I  never  saw  a 
hog  in  the  Hebrides,  except  one  at  Dunvegan." 

**  In  the  year  1691  a  question  was  put,  '  Why  do 
Scotchmen  hate  swine's  flesh?'  and  ",  says  J.  G.  Dal- 
yell,3  •*  unsatisfactorily  answered,  ^They  might  borrow 
it  of  the  Jews '. "     As  the  early  Christians  of  E  ngland  and 

1  King  James  VI  of  Scotland  and  I  of  England, 

2  Ben  Jonson's  reference  is  in  A  Masque  of  the  Metamorphosed  Gipsies. 

»  The  Darker  Superstitions  of  Scotland  (London,  1834),  p.  423,  and  Athenian  Mer- 
cury^  V,  I,  No.  ao,  p.  13. 


2CX)  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

Ireland  did  not  abhor  pork,  the  prejudice  could  not 
have  been  of  Christian  origin.  It  was  based  on  super- 
stition, and  as  the  superstitions  of  to-day  were  the 
religious  beliefs  of  yesterday,  the  prejudice  appears  to 
be  a  survival  from  pagan  times.  An  ancient  religious 
cult,  which  may  have  originally  been  small,  became 
influential  in  Scotland,  and  the  taboo  spread  even  after 
its  original  significance  was  forgotten.  The  Scottish 
prejudice  against  pork  existed  chiefly  among  ''the 
common  people",  as  Dr.  Johnson  found  when  in  Skye. 
Proprietors  of  alien  origin  and  monks  ate  pork,  but  the 
old  taboo  persisted.  Pig-dealers,  &c.,  in  the  Highlands 
in  the  nineteenth  century  refused  to  eat  pork.  They 
exported  their  pigs.^ 

Traces  of  ancient  food  taboos,  which  were  connected 
evidently  with  religious  beliefs,  have  been  obtained 
by  archaeologists  in  England.  In  some  districts  pork 
appears  to  have  been  more  favoured  than  the  beef  or 
mutton  or  goat  flesh  preferred  in  other  districts.  Evi- 
dence has  been  forthcoming  that  horse  flesh  was  eaten 
in  ancient  England.  A  reference  in  the  Life  of  St. 
Columha  to  a  relapsing  Christian  returning  to  horse 
flesh  suggests  that  it  was  a  favoured  food  of  a  Pagan 
cult. 

As  the  devil  is  called  in  Scottish  Gaelic  the  *'Big 
Black  Pig"  and  in  Wales  is  associated  with  the  *'  Black 
Sow  of  All  Hallows ",  it  may  be  that  the  Welsh  had 
once  their  pig  taboo  too.  The  association  of  the  pig 
with  Hallowe'en  is  of  special  interest. 

In  Scotland  the  eel  is  still  tabooed,  although  it  is 
eaten  freely  in  England.     The  reason  may  be  that  an 

1  The  south-western  Scottish  pork  trade  dates  only  from  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  There  was  trouble  at  Carlisle  custom  house  when  the  Lowland  Scots 
began  to  export  cured  pork,  because  of  the  difference  between  the  English  and  Scottish 
salt  duty.  "  For  some  time",  complained  a  Scottish  writer  on  agriculture,  in  June,  1811, 
"a  duty  of  2s.  per  hunderweight  has  been  charged."  Dublin  was  exporting  pork  to 
London  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL  A  small  trade  in  pork  was  conducted  in  eastern 
Scotland  but  was  sporadic. 


ANCIENT   PAGAN   DEITIES  201 

ancient  goddess,  remembered  longest  in  Scotland,  had 
an  eel  form.  Julius  Csesar  tells  that  the  ancient  Britons 
with  whom  he  came  into  contact  did  not  regard  it  lawful 
to  eat  the  hare,  the  domestic  fowl,  or  the  goose.  In 
Scotland  and  England  the  goose  was,  until  recently, 
eaten  only  once  a  year  at  a  festival.  The  tabooed  pig 
was  eaten  once  a  year  in  Egypt.  It  was  sacrificed  to 
Osiris  and  the  moon.  An  annual  sacrificial  pig  feast 
may  have  been  observed  in  ancient  Scotland.  It  is  of 
special  interest  to  find  in  this  connection  that  in  the 
Statistical  Account  of  Scotland  (1793)  the  writer  on  the 
parishes  of  Sandwick  and  Stromness,  Orkney,  says: 
"  Every  family  that  has  a  herd  of  swine,  kills  a  sow  on 
the  17th  day  of  December,  and  thence  it  is  called  *  Sow- 
day '."  Orkney  retains  the  name  of  the  Ores  (Boars),  a 
Pictish  tribe. 

There  are  still  people  in  the  Highlands  who  detest 
** feathered  flesh"  or  ** white  flesh"  (birds),  and  refuse 
to  eat  hare  and  rabbit.  Fish  taboos  have  likewise  per- 
sisted in  the  north  of  Scotland,  where  mackerel,  ling,^ 
and  skate  are  disliked  in  some  areas,  while  in  some 
even  the  wholesome  haddock  is  not  eaten  in  the  winter 
or  spring,  and  is  supposed  not  to  be  fit  for  food  until 
it  gets  three  drinks  of  May  water — that  is,  after  the 
first  three  May  tides  have  ebbed  and  flowed. 

The  Danann  deities  of  Ireland  were  the  children  of 
descendants  of  the  goddess  Danu,  whose  name  is  also 
given  as  Ana  or  Anu.  She  was  the  source  of  abun- 
dance and  the  nourisher  of  gods  and  men.  As  **  Buan- 
ann"  she  was  "nurse  of  heroes".  As  Aynia,  a 
*' fairy  "2  queen,    she    is   still    remembered    in    Ulster, 

1  King  James  I  of  England  and  VI  of  Scotland  detested  ling  as  he  detested  pork. 
The  food  prejudices  of  the  common  people  thus  influenced  royalty,  although  earlier  kings 
and  Norman  nobles  ate  pork,  eels,  &c. 

2 The  Gaelic  word  sidh  (Irish)  or  sith  (Scottish)  means  "supernatural"  and  the 
"peace"  and  "silence"  of  supernatural  beings.  "Fairy",  as  Skeat  has  emphasized, 
means  "enchantment".  It  has  taken  the  place  of  "fay",  which  is  derived  from  fate. 
The  "fay"  was  a  supernatural  being. 


202  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

while  as  Aine,  a  Munster  ''fairy",  she  was  formerly 
honoured  on  St.  John's  Eve,  when  villagers,  circulat- 
ing a  mound,  carried  straw  torches  which  were  after- 
wards waved  over  cattle  and  crops  to  give  protection 
and  increase. 

A  prominent  Danann  god  was  Dagda,  whose  name 
is  translated  as  ''  the  good  god  ",  **  the  good  hand  ",  by 
some,  and  as  "  the  fire  god  "  or  ''  fire  of  god  "  by  others. 
He  appears  to  have  been  associated  with  the  oak.  By 
playing  his  harp,  he  caused  the  seasons  to  follow  one 
another  in  their  proper  order.  One  of  his  special 
possessions  was  a  cauldron  called  ''The  Undry",  from 
which  an  inexhaustible  food  supply  could  be  obtained. 
He  fed  heavily  on  porridge,  and  was  a  cook  (supplier  of 
food)  as  well  as  a  king.  In  some  respects  he  resembles 
Thor,  and,  like  him,  he  was  a  giant  slayer.  His  wife 
was  the  goddess  Boann,  whose  name  clings  to  the 
River  Boyne,  which  was  supposed  to  have  had  its 
origin  from  an  overflowing  well.  Above  this  well  were 
nine  hazel  trees ;  the  red  nuts  of  these  fell  into  the  well  to 
be  devoured  by  salmon  and  especially  by  the  "salmon 
of  knowledge ".  Here  again  we  meet  with  the  tree 
and  well  myth.  Brigit  was  a  member  of  the  Dagda's 
family.     Another  was  Angus,  the  god  of  love. 

Diancecht  was  the  Danann  god  of  healing.  His 
grandson  Lugh  (pronounced  loo)  has  been  called  the 
"Gaelic  Apollo".     Goibniu  was  a  Gaelic  Vulcan. 

Neit,  whose  wife  was  Nemon,^  was  a  Fomorian  god 
of  battle.  The  sea  god  was  Manannan  mac  Lir.  He 
was  known  to  the  Welsh  as  Manawydan  ab  Llyr,  who 
was  not  only  a  sea  god  but  "lord  of  headlands"  and 
a  patron  of  traders.  Llyr  has  come  down  as  the 
legendary  King  Lear,  and  his  name  survives  in 
Leicester,  originally  Llyr-cestre  of  Caer-Llyr  (walled 
city   of   Llyr).      His    famous   and    gigantic   son    Bran 

1  From  the  root  nem  in  neamh,  heaven,  nemus,  a  grove,  &c. 


ANCIENT   PAGAN    DEITIES  203 

became,  in  the  process  of  time,  the  ^'Blessed  Bran" 
who  introduced  Christianity  into  Britain. 

Another  group  of  Welsh  gods,  known  as  ''the 
children  of  Don ",  resemble  somewhat  the  Danann 
deities  of  Ireland.  The  closest  link  is  Govannon,  the 
smith,  who  appears  to  be  identical  with  the  Irish 
Goibniu.  As  Irish  pirates  invaded  and  settled  in 
Wales  between  the  second  and  fifth  centuries  of  our 
era,  it  may  be  that  the  process  of  "culture  mixing" 
which  resulted  can  be  traced  in  the  mythological 
elements  embedded  in  folk  and  manuscript  stories. 
The  Welsh  deities,  however,  were  connected  with  cer- 
tain constellations  and  may  have  been  "intruders" 
from  the  Continent.  Cassiopea's  chair  was  Llys  Don 
(the  court  of  the  goddess  Don).  Arianrod  (silver  circle), 
a  goddess  and  wife  of  Govannon,  had  for  her  castle 
the  Northern  Crown  (Corona  Borealis).  She  is,  in 
Arthurian  romance,  the  sister  of  Arthur.  Her  brother 
Gwydion  had  for  his  castle  the  "Milky  Way",  which 
in  Irish  Gaelic  is  "the  chain  of  Lugh ".  The  Irish 
Danann  god  Nuada  has  been  identified  with  the  British 
Nudd  whose  children  formed  the  group  of  "  the  children 
of  Nudd  ". 

There  were  three  groups  of  Welsh  deities,  the  others 
being  "the  children  of  Lyr"  and  "the  children  of  Don". 
Professor  Rhys  has  identified  Nudd  with  Lud,  the  god 
whose  name  survives  in  London  (originally  Cagr  Lud) 
and  in  Ludgate,  which  may,  as  has  been  suggested, 
have  originally  been  "the  way  of  Lud",  leading  to  his 
holy  place  now  occupied  by  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  Lud 
had  a  sanctuary  at  Lidney  in  Gloucestershire,  where  he 
was  worshipped  in  Roman  times  as  is  indicated  by  in- 
scriptions. A  bronze  plaque  shows  a  youthful  god, 
with  solar  rays  round  his  head,  standing  in  a  four-horsed 
chariot.  Two  winged  genii  and  two  Tritons  accompany 
him.     Apparently  he  was  identified  with  Apollo.     The 


204  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

Arthurian  Lot  or  Loth  was  Lud  or  Ludd.  His  name 
lingers  in  *'  Lothian  ". 

Gwydion,  the  son  of  Don,  was  a  prominent  British 
deity  and  has  been  compared  to  Odin.  He  was  the 
father  of  the  god  Lieu,  whose  mother  was  Arianrod. 
The  rainbow  was  "  Lleu's  rod-sling".  Dwynwen,  the 
so-called  British  Venus,  was  Christianized  as  *^the 
blessed  Dwyn  "  and  the  patron  saint  of  the  church  of 
Llanddwyn  in  Anglesey.  The  magic  cauldron  was 
possessed  by  the  Welsh  goddess  Kerridwen. 

A  prominent  god  whose  worship  appears  to  have 
been  wide- spread  was  connected  with  the  apple  tree, 
which  in  the  Underworld  and  Islands  of  the  Blest 
was  the  **Tree  of  Life".  Ancient  beliefs  and  cere- 
monies connected  with  the  apple  cult  survive  in  those 
districts  in  southern  England  where  the  curious  custom 
is  observed  of  **  wassailing"  the  apple  trees  on  Christ- 
mas Eve  or  Twelfth  Night.^  The  **  wassailers"  visit 
the  tree  and  sing  a  song  in  which  each  apple  is 
asked   to   bear 

Hat-fulls,  lap-fulls, 
Sack-fulls,  pocket-fulls. 

Cider  is  poured  about  the  roots  of  apple  trees.  This 
ceremony  appears  to  have  been  originally  an  elaborate 
one.  The  tom-tit  or  some  other  small  bird  was  con- 
nected with  the  apple  tree,  as  was  the  robin  or  wren 
of  other  cults  with  the  oak  tree.  At  the  wassailing 
ceremony  a  boy  climbed  up  into  a  tree  and  impersonated 
the  bird.  It  may  be  that  in  Pagan  times  a  boy  was 
sacrificed  to  the  god  of  the  tree.  That  the  bird  (in 
some  cases  it  was  the  robin  red-breast)  was  hunted 
and  sacrificed  is  indicated  by  old  English  folk-songs 
beginning  like  the  following: 

1  Rendel  Harris,  Apple  Cults,  and  The  Ascent  of  Olympus. 


BRONZE    URN   AND    CAULDRON  {circa  500  B.C.) 

(British  Museum) 

Vessels  such  as  these  are  unknown  outside  the  British  Isles. 


ANCIENT   PAGAN   DEITIES  205 

Old  Robin  is  dead  and  gone  to  his  grave, 

Hum!   Ha!  gone  to  his  grave; 
They  planted  an  apple  tree  over  his  head, 

Hum!  Ha!  over  his  head. 

In  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  a  deity, 
or  a  group  of  deities  in  the  Underworld,  was  asso- 
ciated with  a  magic  cauldron,  or  as  it  is  called  in 
Gaelic  a  *'pot  of  plenty".  Heroes  or  gods  obtain 
possession  of  this  cauldron,  which  provides  an  inex- 
haustible food  supply  and  much  treasure,  or  is  used 
for  purposes  of  divination.  It  appears  to  have  been 
Christianized  into  the  *' Holy  Grail",  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  which  Arthurian  knights  set  out  on  perilous 
journeys. 

Originally  the  pot  was  a  symbol  of  the  mother  god- 
dess, who  renewed  youth,  provided  food  for  all,  and  was 
the  source  of  treasure,  luck,  victory,  and  wisdom.  This 
goddess  was  associated  with  the  mother  cow  and  the 
life-prolonging  pearls  that  were  searched  for  by  early 
Eastern  prospectors.  There  are  references  to  cows  and 
pearls  in  Welsh  and  Gaelic  poems  and  legends  regarding 
the  pot.  An  old  Welsh  poem  in  the  Book  of  Taliesin 
says  of  the  cauldron : 

By  the  breath  of  nine  maidens  it  would  be  kindled. 

The  head  of  Hades'  cauldron — what  is  it  like? 

A  rim  it  has,  with  pearls  round  its  border : 

It  boils  not  coward's  food:  it  would  not  be  perjured. 

This  extract  is  from  the  poem  known  as  *'Preidden 
Annwfn  "  (''Harryings  of  Hades"),  translated  by  the  late 
Professor  Sir  John  Rhys.  Arthur  and  his  heroes  visit 
Hades  to  obtain  the  cauldron,  and  reference  is  made  to 
the  *^  Speckled  Ox".  Arthur,  in  another  story,  obtains 
the  cauldron  from  Ireland.  It  is  full  of  money.  The 
Welsh  god  Bran  gives  to  a  king  of  Ireland  a  magic 
cauldron  which  restores  to  life  those  dead  men  who  are 


2o6  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

placed  in  it.  A  Gaelic  narrative  relates  the  story  of 
Cuchullin's  harrying  of  Hades,  which  is  called  ''Dun 
Scaith  ".  Cuchullin's  assailants  issue  from  a  pit  in  the 
centre  of  Dun  Scaith  in  forms  of  serpents,  toads,  and 
sharp-beaked  monsters.  He  wins  the  victory  and  carries 
away  three  magic  cows  and  a  cauldron  that  gives  in- 
exhaustible supplies  of  food,  gold,  and  silver. 

The  pot  figures  in  various  mythologies.  It  was  a 
symbol  of  the  mother  goddess  Hathor  of  ancient  Egypt 
and  of  the  mother  goddess  of  Troy,  and  it  figures  in 
Indian  religious  literature.  In  Gaelic  lore  the  knife 
which  cuts  inexhaustible  supplies  of  flesh  from  a  dry 
bone  is  evidently  another  symbol  of  the  deity. 

The  talismans  possessed  by  the  Dananns  were  the 
cauldron,  the  sword  and  spear  of  Lugh,  and  the  Lia 
Fail  (or  Stone  of  Destiny)^  which  reminds  one  of  the 
three  Japanese  symbols,  the  solar  mirror,  the  dragon 
sword,  and  the  tama  (a  pearl  or  round  stone)  kept  in 
a  Shinto  shrine  at  Ise.  The  goddess's  "life  substance" 
was  likewise  in  fruits  like  the  Celestial  apples,  nuts, 
rowan  berries,  &c.,  of  the  Celts,  and  the  grapes,  pome- 
granates, &c.,  of  other  peoples,  and  in  herbs  like  the 
mugwort  and  mandrake.  Her  animals  were  associated 
with  rivers.  The  name  of  the  River  Boyne  signifies 
"white  cow".  Tarf  (bull)  appears  in  several  river 
names,  as  also  does  the  goddess  name  Deva  (Devona) 
in  the  Devon,  Dee,  &c.  Philologists  have  shown  that 
Ness,  the  Inverness-shire  river,  is  identical  with  Nestos 
in  Thrace  and  Neda  in  Greece.  The  goddess  Belisama 
(the  goddess  of  war)  was  identified  with  the  Mersey. 

Goddess  groups,  usually  triads,  were  as  common  in 
Gaul  as  they  were  in  ancient  Crete.  These  deities  were 
sometimes  called  the  "Mothers",  as  in  Marne,  the 
famous  French  river,  and  in  the  Welsh  Y  MamaUy  one 
of  the  names  of  the  "  fairies  ". 

1  Called  also  clach  na  cineamhuinn  (the  fatal  stone). 


ANCIENT   PAGAN   DEITIES  207 

Other  names  of  goddess  groups  include  Proximce 
(kinswoman),  Niskai  (water  spirits),  and  Dervonnae  (oak 
spirits).  The  Romans  took  over  these  and  other  groups 
of  ancient  deities  and  the  beliefs  about  their  origin  in 
the  mythical  sea  they  were  supposed  to  cross  or  rise 
from.  Gaelic  references  to  **the  coracle  of  the  fairy 
woman"  or  '^supernatural  woman"  are  of  special  in- 
terest in  this  connection,  especially  when  it  is  found  that 
the  ** coracle"  is  a  sea-shell  which,  by  the  way,  figures  as 
a  canopy  symbol  in  some  of  the  sculptured  groups  of 
Romano-British  grouped  goddesses  who  sometimes  bear 
baskets  of  apples,  sheafs  of  grain,  &c.  When  the  shell 
provides  inexhaustible  supplies  of  curative  or  knowledge- 
conferring  milk,  it  links  with  the  symbolic  pot. 

Most  of  the  ancient  deities  had  local  names,  and  con- 
sequently a  number  of  Gaulish  gods  were  identified  by 
the  Romans  with  Apollo,  including  Borvo,  whose  name 
lingers  in  Bourbon,  Grannos  of  Aquae  Granni  (Aix  la 
Chapelle),  Mogounus,  whose  name  has  been  shortened  to 
Mainz,  &c.  The  gods  Taranucus  (thunderer),  Uxellimus 
(the  highest),  &c.,  were  identified  with  Jupiter;  Dunatis 
(fort  god),  Albiorix  (world  king),  Caturix  (battle  king), 
Belatucadros  (brilliant  in  war),  Cocidius,  &c.,  were 
identified  with  Mars.  The  name  of  the  god  Camulos 
clings  to  Colchester  (Camulodunun).  There  are 
Romano-British  inscriptions  that  refer  to  the  ancient 
gods  under  various  Celtic  names.  A  popular  deity  was 
the  god  of  Silvanus,  who  conferred  health  and  was,  no 
doubt,  identified  with  a  tree  or  herb. 

It  is  uncertain  at  what  period  beliefs  connected  with 
stars  were  introduced  into  the  British  Isles.^  As  we  have 
seen,  the  Welsh  deities  were  connected  with  certain  star 
groups.       '* Three    Celtic    goddesses",    writes    Anwyl, 

1  There  is  evidence  in  the  Gaelic  manuscripts  that  time  was  measured  by  the  apparent 
movements  of  the  stars.  Cuchullin,  while  sitting  at  a  feast,  says  to  his  charioteer: 
"  Laeg,  my  friend,  go  out,  observe  the  stars  of  the  air,  and  ascertain  when  midnight 


2o8  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

referring  to  Gaul,  **  whose  worship  attained  to  highest 
development  were  Damona  (the  goddess  of  cattle),  Sirona 
(the  aged  one  or  the  star  goddess),  and  Epona  (the  god- 
dess of  horses).  These  names  are  Indo-European." 
An  Irish  poem  by  a  bard  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived 
in  the  ninth  century  refers  to  the  Christian  saint  Ciaran 
of  Saigir  as  a  man  of  stellar  origin : 

Liadaine  (his  mother)  was  asleep 

On  her  bed. 

When  she  turned  her  face  to  heaven 

A  star  fell  into  her  mouth. 

Thence  was  born  the  marvellous  child 

Ciaran  of  Saigir  who  is  proclaimed  to  thee. 

In  the  north  and  north-west  Highlands  the  aurora 
borealis  is  called  Na  Fir  Chits  ("  the  nimble  men  ")  and 
*Hhe  merry  dancers".  They  are  regarded  as  fairies 
(supernatural  beings)  like  the  sea  ** fairies"  Na  Fir  Ghorm 
('*  blue  men  "),  who  were  probably  sea  gods. 

The  religious  beliefs  of  the  Romans  were  on  no 
higher  a  level  than  those  of  the  ancient  Britons  and 
Gaels. 


CHAPTER   XVII 
Historical   Summary 

The  evidence  dealt  with  in  the  foregoing  chapters 
throw^  considerable  light  on  the  history  of  early  man 
in  Britain.  We  really  know  more  about  pre-Roman 
times  than  about  that  obscure  period  of  Anglo-Saxon 
invasion  and  settlement  which  followed  on  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Roman  army  of  occupation,  yet  historians, 
as  a  rule,  regard  it  as  **  pre-historic"  and  outside  their 
sphere  of  interest.  As  there  are  no  inscriptions  and  no 
documents  to  render  articulate  the  archaeological  Ages 
of  Stone  and  Bronze,  they  find  it  impossible  to  draw  any 
definite  conclusions. 

It  can  be  urged,  however,  in  criticism  of  this  attitude, 
that  the  relics  of  the  so-called  **pre-historic  age"  may  be 
found  to  be  even  more  reliable  than  some  contemporary 
documents  of  the  '*  historic  "  period.  Not  a  few  of  these 
are  obviously  biassed  and  prejudiced,  while  some  are  so 
vague  and  fragmentary  that  the  conclusions  drawn  from 
them  cannot  be  otherwise  than  hypothetical  in  character. 
A  plainer,  clearer,  and  more  reliable  story  is  revealed 
by  the  bones  and  the  artifacts  and  the  surviving  relics 
of  the  intellectual  life  of  our  remote  ancestors  than  by 
the  writings  of  some  early  chroniclers  and  some  early 
historians.  It  is  possible,  for  instance,  in  consequence 
of  the  scanty  evidence  available,  to  hold  widely  diverg- 
ing views  regarding  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Celtic  pro- 
blems. Pro-Teutonic  and  pro-Celtic  protagonists  involve 
us  invariably  in  bitter  controversy.     That  contemporary 

(D217)  209  15 


2IO  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

documentary  evidence,  even  when  somewhat  voluminous, 
may  fail  to  yield  a  clear  record  of  facts  is  evident  from 
the  literature  that  deals,  for  instance,  with  the  part 
played  by  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  in  the  Darnley  con- 
spiracy and  in  the  events  that  led  to  her  execution. 

The  term  ' '  pre-historic"  is  one  that  should  be  discarded. 
It  is  possible,  as  has  been  shown,  to  write,  although  in 
outline,  the  history  of  certain  ancient  race  movements, 
of  the  growth  and  decay  of  the  civilization  revealed  by 
the  cavern  art  of  Aurignacian  and  Magdalenian  times, 
of  early  trade  and  of  early  shipping.  The  history  of  art 
g^oes  back  for  thousands  of  years  before  the  Classic  Age 
dawned  in  Greece ;  the  history  of  trade  can  be  traced  to 
that  remote  period  when  Red  Sea  shells  were  imported 
into  Italy  by  Cro-Magnon  man;  and  the  history  of  British 
shipping  can  be  shown  to  be  as  old  as  those  dug-outs 
that  foundered  in  ancient  Scottish  river  beds  before  the 
last  land  movement  had  ceased. 

The  history  of  man  really  begins  when  and  where  we 
find  the  first  clear  traces  of  his  activities,  and  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  write  not  only  regarding  the  movements  of  the 
Cro-Magnon  races,  but  of  their  beliefs  as  revealed  by 
burial  customs,  their  use  of  body  paint,  the  importance 
attached  to  shell  and  other  talismans,  and  their  wonderful 
and  high  attainments  in  the  arts  and  crafts,  the  European 
historical  period  can  be  said  to  begin  in  the  post-Glacial 
epoch  when  tundra  conditions  prevailed  in  Central  and 
Western  Europe  and  Italy  was  connected  with  the  North 
African  coast. 

In  the  case  of  ancient  Egypt,  historical  data  have 
been  gleaned  from  archceological  remains  as  well  as 
from  religious  texts  and  brief  records  of  historical  events. 
The  history  of  Egyptian  agriculture  has  been  traced 
back  beyond  the  dawn  of  the  Dynastic  Age  and  to  that 
inarticulate  period  before  the  hieroglyphic  system  of  writ- 
ing had  been  invented,  by  the  discovery  in  the  stomachs 


HISTORICAL   SUMMARY  211 

of  the  bodies  of  proto-Egyptians,  naturally  preserved  in 
hot  dry  sands,  of  husks  of  barley  and  of  millet  native  to 
the  land  of  Egypt.^ 

The  historical  data  so  industriously  accumulated  in 
Egypt  and  Babylonia  have  enabled  excavators  to  date 
certain  finds  in  Crete,  and  to  frame  a  chronological 
system  for  the  ancient  civilization  of  that  island.  Other 
relics  afford  proof  of  cultural  contact  between  Crete  and 
the  mainland,  as  far  westward  as  Spain,  where  traces  of 
Cretan  activities  have  been  discovered.  With  the  aid 
of  comparative  evidence,  much  light  is  thrown,  too,  on 
the  history  of  the  ancient  Hittites,  who  have  left  in- 
scriptions that  have  not  yet  been  deciphered.  The 
discoveries  made  by  Siret  in  Spain  and  Portugal  of 
unmistakable  evidence  of  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
cultural  influence,  trade,  and  colonization  are,  therefore, 
to  be  welcomed.  The  comparative  evidence  in  this  con- 
nection provides  a  more  reliable  basis  than  has  hitherto 
been  available  for  Western  European  archseology.  It 
is  possible  for  the  historian  to  date  approximately  the 
beginning  of  the  export  trade  in  jet  from  England — 
apparently  from  Whitby  in  Yorkshire — and  of  the  export 
trade  in  amber  from  the  Baltic,  and  the  opening  of  the 
sea  routes  between  Spain  and  Northern  Europe.  The 
further  discovery  of  Egyptian  beads  in  south-western 
England,  in  association  with  relics  of  the  English 
**  Bronze  Age  ",  is  of  far-reaching  importance.  A  **  pre- 
historic" period  surely  ceases  to  be  *'  prehistoric"  when 
its  relics  can  be  dated  even  approximately.  The  English 
jet  found  in  Spain  takes  us  back  till  about  2500  B.C., 
and  the  Egyptian  beads  found  in  England  till  about 
1300  B.C. 

The  dating  of  these  and  other  relics  raises  the  question 
whether  historians  should  accept,  without  qualification, 
or  at  all,  the  system  of  ^'Ages"  adopted  by  archseolo- 

^  Elliot  Smith,  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  p.  42. 


212  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

gists.  Terms  like  ^ '  Palseolithic "  (Old  Stone)  and  ' '  Neo- 
lithic" (New  Stone)  are,  in  most  areas,  without  precise 
chronological  significance.  As  applied  in  the  historical 
sense,  they  tend  to  obscure  the  fact  that  the  former  applies 
to  a  most  prolonged  period  during  which  more  than  one 
civilization  arose,  flourished,  and  decayed.  In  the  so- 
called  **  Old  Stone  Age  "  flint  was  worked  with  a  degree 
of  skill  never  surpassed  in  the  **New  vStone  Age",  as 
Aurignacian  and  Solutrean  artifacts  testify;  it  was  also 
sometimes  badly  worked  from  poorly  selected  material, 
as  in  Magdalenian  times,  when  bone  and  horn  were 
utilized  to  such  an  extent  that  archaeologists  would  be 
justified  in  referring  to  a  "Bone  and  Horn  Age". 

Before  the  Neolithic  industry  was  introduced  into 
Western  Europe  and  the  so-called  "Neolithic  Age" 
dawned,  as  it  ended,  at  various  periods  in  various  areas, 
great  climatic  changes  took  place,  and  the  distribution 
of  sea  and  land  changed  more  than  once.  Withal, 
considerable  race  movements  took  place  in  Central  and 
Western  Europe.  In  time  new  habits  of  life  were  intro- 
duced into  our  native  land  that  influenced  more  pro- 
foundly the  subsequent  history  of  Britain  than  could 
have  been  possibly  accomplished  by  a  new  method  of 
working  flint.  The  most  important  cultural  change  was 
effected  by  the  introduction  of  the  agricultural  mode  of 
life. 

It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  in  this  connection  that 
the  ancient  civilizations  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia  were 
based  on  the  agricultural  mode  of  life,  and  that  when 
this  mode  of  life  passed  into  Europe  a  complex  culture 
was  transported  with  it  from  the  area  of  origin.  It  was 
the  early  agriculturists  who  developed  shipbuilding  and 
the  art  of  navigation,  who  first  worked  metals,  and  set 
a  religious  value  on  gold  and  silver,  on  pearls,  and  on 
certain  precious  stones,  and  sent  out  prospectors  to 
search  for  precious  metals  and  precious  gems  in  distant 


HISTORICAL   SUMMARY  213 

lands.  The  importance  of  agriculture  in  the  history  of 
civilization  cannot  be  overestimated.  In  so  far  as  our 
native  land  is  concerned,  a  new  epoch  was  inaugurated 
when  the  first  agriculturist  tilled  the  soil,  sowed  imported 
barley  seeds,  using  imported  implements,  and  practising 
strange  ceremonies  at  sowing,  and  ultimately  at  harvest 
time,  that  had  origin  in  a  far-distant  *' cradle"  of  civiliz- 
ation, and  still  linger  in  our  midst  as  folk-lore  evidence, 
testifies  to  the  full.  In  ancient  times  the  ceremonies 
were  regarded  as  being  of  as  much  importance  as  the 
implements,  and  the  associated  myths  were  connected 
with  the  agriculturists'  Calendar,  as  the  Scottish  Gaelic 
Calendar  bears  testimony. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  dividing  the  early  history  of 
man  in  Britain  into  periods,  named  after  the  materials 
from  which  he  made  implements  and  weapons,  these 
should  be  divided  so  as  to  throw  light  on  habits  of 
life  and  habits  of  thought.  The  early  stages  of  civiliza- 
tion can  be  referred  to  as  the  '*  Pre-Agricultural ",  and 
those  that  follow  as  the  '*  Early  Agricultural  ". 

Under  **  Pre-Agricultural "  come  the  culture  stages, 
or  rather  the  industries  known  as  (i)  Aurignacian,  (2) 
Solutrean,  and  (3)  Magdalenian.  These  do  not  have 
the  same  chronological  significance  everywhere  in 
Europe,  for  the  Solutrean  industry  never  disturbed  or 
supplemented  the  Aurignacian  in  Italy  or  in  Spain  south 
of  the  Cantabrian  Mountains,  nor  did  Aurignacian  pene- 
trate into  Hungary,  where  the  first  stage  of  Modern  Man's 
activities  was  the  Solutrean.  The  three  stages,  however, 
existed  during  the  post-Glacial  period,  when  man  hunted 
the  reindeer  and  other  animals  favouring  similar  climatic 
conditions.  The  French  archaeologists  have  named  this 
the  '*  Reindeer  Age".  Three  later  industries  were  in- 
troduced into  Europe  during  the  Pre-Agricultural  Age. 
These  are  known  as  (i)  Azilian,  (2)  Tardenoisian,  and 
(3)  Maglemosian.     The  ice-cap  was  retreating,  the  rein- 


214  ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 

deer  and  other  tundra  animals  moved  northward,  and 
the  red  deer  arrived  in  Central  and  Western  Europe. 
We  can,  therefore,  refer  to  the  latter  part  of  the  Pre- 
Agricultural  times  as  the  **  Early  Red  Deer  Age". 

There  is  Continental  evidence  to  show  that  the  Neo- 
lithic industry  was  practised  prior  to  the  introduction  of 
the  agricultural  mode  of  life.  The  ^'  Early  Agricultural 
Age",  therefore,  cuts  into  the  archaeological  "Neolithic 
Age  "  in  France.  Whether  or  not  it  does  so  in  Britain 
is  uncertain. 

At  the  dawn  of  the  British  *' Early  Agricultural  Age" 
cultural  influences  were  beginning  to  ''flow"  from 
centres  of  ancient  civilization,  if  not  directly,  at  any  rate 
indirectly.  As  has  been  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  the  Neolithic  industry  was  practised  in  Britain  by 
a  people  who  had  a  distinct  social  organization  and 
engaged  in  trade.  Some  Neolithic  flints  were  of  Eastern 
type  or  origin.  The  introduction  of  bronze  from  the 
Continent  appears  to  have  been  effected  by  sea-faring 
traders,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  changed  the 
prevailing  habits  of  thought  and  life.  Our  ancestors 
did  not  change  their  skins  and  their  ideas  when  they 
began  to  use  and  manufacture  bronze.  A  section  of 
them  adopted  a  new  industry,  but  before  doing  so  they 
had  engaged  in  the  search  for  gold.  This  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  they  settled  on  the  granite  in  Devon  and 
Cornwall,  while  yet  they  were  using  flints  of  Neolithic 
form  which  had  been  made  elsewhere.  Iron  working 
was  ultimately  introduced.  The  Bronze  and  Iron 
*'Ages"  of  the  archaeologists  can  be  included  in  the 
historian's  "Early  Agricultural  Age",  because  agricul- 
ture continued  to  be  the  most  important  factor  in  thei 
economic  life  of  Britain.  It  was  the  basis  of  its  civiliza- 
tion; it  rendered  possible  the  development  of  mining; 
and  of  various  industries,  and  the  promotion  of  trade| 
by  land  and  sea.     In  time  the  Celtic  peoples — that  is, 


HISTORICAL   SUMiMARY  215 

peoples  who  spoke  Celtic  dialects — arrived  in  Britain. 
The  Celtic  movement  was  in  progress  at  500  B.C.,  and 
had  not  ended  after  Julius  Csesar  invaded  southern  Eng- 
land. It  was  finally  arrested  by  the  Roman  occupation, 
but  continued  in  Ireland.  When  it  really  commenced  is 
uncertain ;  the  earliest  Celts  may  have  used  bronze  only. 
The  various  Ages,  according  to  the  system  suggested, 
are  as  follows : — 

1.  The  Pre- Agricultural  Age. 

Sub-divisions :  (A)  the  Reindeer  Age  with  the  Auri- 
gnacian,  Solutrean,  and  Magdalenian  industries ; 
(B)  the  Early  Red  Deer  Age  with  the  Azilian, 
Tardenoisian,  and  Maglemosian  industries. 

2.  The  Early  Agricultural  Age. 

Sub-divisions:  (A)  the  Pre-Celtic  Age  with  the  Neo- 
lithic, copper  and  bronze  industries;  (B)  the  Celtic 
Age  with  the  bronze,  iron,  and  enamel  industries. 

3.  The  Romano-British  Age. 

Including  in  Scotland  (A)  the  Caledojiian  Age  and 
(B)  the  Early  Scoto-Pictish  Age;  and  in  Ireland  the 
Cuchullin  Age^  during  which  bronze  and  iron  were 
used. 

The  view  favoured  by  some  historians  that  our  ances- 
tors were,  prior  to  the  Roman  invasion,  mere  '*  savages" 
can  no  longer  obtain.  It  is  clearly  without  justification. 
Nor  are  we  justified  in  perpetuating  the  equally  hazard- 
ous theory  that  early  British  culture  was  of  indigenous 
origin,  and  passed  through  a  series  of  evolutionary 
stages  in  isolation  until  the  country  offered  sufficient 
attractions  to  induce  first  the  Celts  and  afterwards  the 
Romans  to  conquer  it.  The  correct  and  historical  view 
appears  to  be  that  from  the  earliest  times  Britain  was 
subjected  to  racial  and  cultural  *' drifts"  from  the  Con- 
tinent, and  that  the  latter  outnumbered  the  former. 


2i6  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

In  the  Pre-Agricultural  Age  Cro-Magnon  colonists 
reached  England  and  Wales  while  yet  in  the  Aurignacian 
stage  of  civilization.  As  much  is  indicated  by  the 
evidence  of  the  Paviland  cave  in  South  Wales.  At  a 
later  period,  proto-Solutrean  influence,  which  had 
entered  Western  Europe  from  North  Africa,  filtered  into 
England,  and  can  be  traced  in  those  caverns  that  have 
yielded  evidence  of  occupation.  The  pure  Solutrean 
culture  subsequently  swept  from  Eastern  Europe  as  far 
westward  as  Northern  Spain,  but  Britain,  like  Southern 
Spain  and  Italy,  remained  immune  to  it.  Magdalenian 
culture  then  arose  and  became  widespread.  It  had 
relations  with  the  earlier  Aurignacian  and  owed  nothing 
to  Solutrean.  England  yields  undoubted  traces  of  its 
influence,  which  operated  vigorously  at  a  time  when 
Scotland  was  yet  largely  covered  with  ice.  Certain 
elements  in  Aurignacian  and  Magdalenian  cultures 
appear  to  have  persisted  in  our  midst  until  comparatively 
recent  times,  especially  in  connection  with  burial  customs 
and  myths  regarding  the  *^ sleeping  heroes"  in  burial 
caverns. 

The  so-called  "Transition  Period  "  between  the  Upper 
Palaeolithic  and  Neolithic  Ages  is  well  represented, 
especially  in  Scotland,  where  the  land  rose  after  early 
man*s  arrival,  and  even  after  the  introduction  of  shipping. 
As  England  was  sinking  when  Scotland  was  rising, 
English  traces  of  the  period  are  difficult  to  find.  This 
** Transition  Period"  was  of  greater  duration  than  the 
archaeological  **  Neolithic  Age". 

Of  special  interest  is  the  light  thrown  by  relics  of  the 
"Transition  Period"  on  the  race  problem.  Apparently 
the  Cro-Magnons  and  other  peoples  of  the  Magdalenian 
Age  were  settled  in  Britain  when  the  intruders,  who  had 
broken  up  Magdalenian  civilization  on  the  Continent, 
began  to  arrive.  These  were  (i)  the  Azilians  of  Iberian 
(Mediterranean)  type;  (2)  the  Tardenoisians,  who  came 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  217 

through  Italy  from  North  Africa,  and  were  likewise,  it 
would  appear,  of  Mediterranean  racial  type ;  and  (3)  the 
Maglemosians,  who  were  mainly  a  fair,  tall  people  of 
Northern  type.  The  close  proximity  of  Azilian  and 
Maglemosian  stations  in  western  Scotland — at  the  Mac- 
Arthur  cave  (Azilian)  and  the  Drumvaragie  shelter 
(Maglemosian)  at  Oban,  for  instance — suggests  that  in 
the  course  of  time  racial  intermixture  took  place.  That 
all  the  fair  peoples  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland 
are  descended  from  Celts  or  Norwegians  is  a  theory 
which  has  not  taken  into  account  the  presence  in  these 
islands  at  an  early  period,  and  before  the  introduction 
of  the  Neolithic  industry,  of  the  carriers  from  the  Baltic 
area  of  Maglemosian  culture. 

We  next  pass  to  the  so-called  Neolithic  stage  of 
culture,^  and  find  it  affords  fuller  and  more  definite 
evidence  regarding  the  early  history  of  our  native  land. 
As  has  been  shown,  there  are  data  which  indicate  that 
there  was  no  haphazard  distribution  of  the  population 
of  England  when  the  Neolithic  industry  and  the  agri- 
cultural mode  of  life  were  introduced.  The  theory  must 
be  discarded  that  **  Neolithic  man"  was  a  wanderer, 
whose  movements  depended  entirely  on  those  of  the 
wild  animals  he  hunted,  as  well  as  the  further  theory 
that  stone  implements  and  weapons  were  not  used  after 
the  introduction  of  metals.  There  were,  as  can  be 
gathered  from  the  evidence  afforded  by  archaeological 
remains,  settled  village  communities,  and  centres  of  in- 
dustry in  the  Age  referred  to  by  archaeologists  as  **  Neo- 
lithic". The  Early  Agricultural  Age  had  dawned. 
Sections  of  the  population  engaged  in  agriculture,  sec- 
tions were  miners  and  workers  of  flint,  sections  were 
hunters  and  fishermen,  sections  searched  for  gold,  pig- 
ments for  body  paint,  material  for  ornaments  of  religious 

1  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  among  the  producers  and  users  of  Neolithic  artifacts 
were  the  Easterners  who  collected  and  exported  ores. 


2i8  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

value,  &c.,  and  sections  engaged  in  trade,  not  only  with 
English  and  Scottish  peoples,  but  with  those  of  the 
Continent.  The  English  Channel,  and  probably  the 
North  Sea,  were  crossed  by  hardy  mariners  who  engaged 
in  trade. 

At  an  early  period  in  the  Early  Agricultural  Age  and 
before  bronze  working  was  introduced,  England  and 
Wales,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  were  influenced  more 
directly  than  had  hitherto  been  the  case  by  the  high 
civilizations  of  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia,  and  especially 
by  their  colonies  in  South-western  Europe.  The  recent 
Spanish  finds  indicate  that  a  great  **wave"  of  high 
Oriental  culture  was  in  motion  in  Spain  as  far  back  as 
2500  B.C.,  and  perhaps  at  an  even  earlier  period.  In- 
cluded among  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  relics  in  Spain 
are,  as  has  been  stated,  jet  from  Whitby,  Yorkshire, 
and  amber  from  the  Baltic.  Apparently  the  colonists 
had  trading  relations  with  Britain.  Whether  the  "Tin 
Land  ",  which  was  occupied  by  a  people  owing  allegiance 
to  Sargon  of  Akkad,  was  ancient  Britain  is  quite  un- 
certain. It  was  more  probably  some  part  of  Western 
Europe.  That  Western  European  influence  was  reaching 
Britain  before  the  last  land  movement  had  ceased  is 
made  evident  by  the  fact  that  the  ancient  boat  with  a 
cork  plug,  which  was  found  in  Clyde  silt  at  Glasgow, 
lay  25  feet  above  the  present  sea-level.  The  cork  plug 
undoubtedly  came  from  Spain  or  Italy,  and  the  boat  is 
of  Mediterranean  type.^  It  is  evident  that  long  before 
the  introduction  of  bronze  working  the  coasts  of  Britain 
were  being  explored  by  enterprizing  prospectors,  and  that 
the  virgin  riches  of  our  native  land  were  being  exploited. 
In  this  connection  it  is  of  importance  to  find  that  the 
earliest  metal  artifacts  introduced  into  our  native  islands 
were  brought  by  traders,  and  that  those  that  reached 
England  were  mainly  of  Gaulish  type,  while  those  that 

1  The  boat  dates  the  silting-  process  rather  than  the  silting  process  the  boat. 


I 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  219 


reached  Ireland  were  Spanish.  The  Neolithic  industry 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  widespread  in  Ireland, 
where  copper  artifacts  were  in  use  at  a  very  early  period. 

A  large  battle-axe  of  pure  copper,  described  by  Sir 
David  Brewster  in  1822  {Edinburgh  Philosophical 
Journal^  Vol.  VI,  p.  357),  was  found  at  a  depth  of  20 
feet  in  Ratho  Bog,  near  Edinburgh.  Above  it  were 
9  feet  of  moss,  7  feet  of  sand,  and  4  feet  of  hard  black 
till-clay.  '^  It  must  have  been  deposited  along  with  the 
blue  clay",  wrote  Brewster,  ^* prior  to  the  formation  of 
the  superincumbent  stratum  of  sand,  and  must  have 
existed  before  the  diluvial  operations  by  which  that 
stratum  was  formed.  This  opinion  of  its  antiquity  is 
strongly  confirmed  by  the  peculiarity  of  its  shape,  and 
the  nature  of  its  composition."  The  Spanish  discoveries 
have  revived  interest  in  this  important  find. 

As  has  been  indicated,  jet,  pearls,  gold,  and  tin  appear 
to  have  been  searched  for  and  found  before  bronze 
working  became  a  British  industry.  That  the  early 
prospectors  had  experience  in  locating  and  working 
metals  before  they  reached  this  country  there  can  be 
little  doubt.  There  was  a  psychological  motive  for  their 
adventurous  voyages  to  unknown  lands.  The  distribu- 
tion of  the  megalithic  monuments  and  graves  indicates 
that  metals  were  found  and  worked  in  south-western 
England,  in  Wales,  in  Derbyshire,  and  Cumberland, 
that  jet  was  worked  at  Whitby,  and  that  metals  were 
located  in  Ireland  and  Scotland.  Gold  must  have  been 
widely  distributed  during  the  period  of  the  great  thaw. 
It  is  unlikely  that  traces  of  alluvial  gold,  which  had 
been  located  and  well  worked  in  ancient  times,  should 
remain  until  the  present  time.  In  Scotland  no  traces 
of  gold  can  now  be  found  in  a  number  of  districts  where, 
according  to  the  records,  it  was  worked  as  late  as  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  Some  of  the  surviving 
Scottish  megalithic  monuments  may  mark  the  sites  of 


220  ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 

ancient  goldfields  that  were  abandoned  in  early  times 
when  the  supplies  of  precious  metal  became  exhausted. 
The  great  circles  of  Callernish  in  Lewis  and  Stennis  in 
Orkney  are  records  of  activity  in  semi-barren  areas. 
Large  communities  could  not  have  been  attracted  to 
these  outlying  islands  to  live  on  the  produce  of  land  or 
sea.  Traces  of  metals,  &c.,  indicate  that,  in  both  areas 
in  ancient  times,  the  builders  of  megalithic  monuments 
settled  in  remote  areas  in  Britain  for  the  same  reason  as 
they  settled  on  parts  of  the  Continent.  A  gold  rod  has 
been  discovered  in  association  with  the  '^  Druid  Temple  " 
at  Leys,  near  Inverness.  The  Inverness  group  of  circles 
may  well  have  been  those  of  gold-seekers.  In  Aber- 
deenshire a  group  of  megalithic  monuments  appears  to 
have  been  erected  by  searchers  for  pearls.  Gold  was 
found  in  this  county  in  the  time  of  the  Stuart  kings. 

The  close  association  of  megalithic  monuments  with 
ancient  mine  workings  makes  it  impossible  to  resist 
the  conclusion  that  the  worship  of  trees  and  wells  was 
closely  connected  with  the  religion  of  which  the  mega- 
lithic monuments  are  records.  Siret  shows  that  the 
symbolic  markings  on  typical  stone  monuments  are 
identical  with  those  of  the  tree  cult.  Folk-lore  and 
philological  data  tend  to  support  this  view.  From  the 
root  nem  are  derived  the  Celtic  names  of  the  pearl, 
heaven,  the  grove,  and  the  shrine  within  the  grove 
(see  Chap.  XIII).  The  Celts  appear  to  have  embraced 
the  Druidic  system  of  the  earlier  Iberians  in  Western 
Europe,  whose  culture  had  been  derived  from  that  of 
the  Oriental  colonists. 

The  Oriental  mother  goddess  was  connected  with 
the  sacred  tree,  with  gold  and  gems,  with  pearls, 
with  rivers,  lakes,  and  the  sea,  with  the  sky  and 
with  the  heavenly  bodies,  long  centuries  before  the 
Palm-tree  cult  was  introduced  into  Spain  by  Oriental 
colonists.     The  symbolism  of  pearls  links  with  that  of 


I 


I 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  221 

jet,  the  symbolism  of  jet  with  that  of  Baltic  amber, 
and  the  symbolism  of  Baltic  amber  with  that  of  Adriatic 
amber  and  of  Mediterranean  coral.  All  these  sacred 
things  were  supposed  to  contain,  like  jasper  and  tur- 
quoise in  Egypt,  the  *' life  substance"  of  the  mother  god- 
dess who  had  her  origin  in  water  and  her  dwelling  in 
a  tree,  and  was  connected  with  the  sky  and  **the  waters 
above  the  firmament ".  Coral  was  supposed  to  be  her 
sea  tree,  and  jet,  amber,  silver,  and  gold  were  supposed 
to  grow  from  her  fertilizing  tears.  Beliefs  about  '*  grown 
gold  "  were  quite  rife  in  mediaeval  Britain.^ 
y  It  should  not  surprise  us,  therefore,  to  find  traces 
of  Oriental  religious  conceptions  in  ancient  Britain  and 
Ireland.  These  have  apparently  passed  from  country 
to  country,  from  people  to  people,  from  language  to 
language,  and  down  the  Ages  without  suffering  great 
change.  Even  when  mixed  with  ideas  imported  from 
other  areas,  they  have  preserved  their  original  funda- 
mental significance.  The  Hebridean  "maiden-queen" 
goddess,  who  dwells  in  a  tree  and  provides  milk  from 
a  sea-shell,  has  a  history  rooted  in  a  distant  area  of 
origin,  where  the  goddess  who  personified  the  life- 
giving  shell  was  connected  with  the  cow  and  the  sky 
(the  Milky  Way),  as  was  the  goddess  Hathor,  the 
Egyptian  Aphrodite.  The  tendency  to  locate  imported 
religious  beliefs  no  doubt  provides  the  reason  why  the 
original  palm  tree  of  the  goddess  was  replaced  in 
Britain  by  the  hazel,  the  elm,  the  rowan,  the  apple  tree, 
the  oak,  &c. 

On  the  Continent  there  were  displacements  of  peoples 
after  the  introduction  of  bronze,  and  especially  of  bronze 
weapons.  There  was  wealth  and  there  was  trade  to 
attract  and  reward  the  conqueror.  The  Eastern 
traders  of  Spain  were  displaced.     Some  appear  to  have 

1  The  ancient  belief  is  enshrined  in  Milton's  lines  referring  to  "  ribs  of  gold  "  that  "  grow 
in  Hell "  and  are  dug  out  of  its  hill  {Paradise  Lost,  Book  I,  lines  688-go). 


222  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

migrated  into  Gaul  and  North  Italy;  others  may  have 
found  refuge  in  Ireland  and  Britain.  The  sea-routes 
were  not,  however,  closed,  ^gean  culture  filtered  into 
Western  Europe  from  Crete,  and  through  the  Hallstatt 
culture  centre  from  the  Danubian  area.  The  culture 
of  the  tribes  who  spoke  Celtic  dialects  was  veined  with 
^gean  and  Asiatic  influences.  In  time  Continental 
Druidism  imbibed  ideas  regarding  the  Transmigration 
of  Souls  and  the  custom  of  cremation  from  an  area  in 
the  East  which  had  influenced  the  Aryan  invaders  of 
India. 

The  origin  of  the  Celts  is  obscure.  Greek  writers 
refer  to  them  as  a  tall,  fair  people.  They  were  evidently 
a  branch  of  the  fair  Northern  race,  but  whether  they 
came  from  Northern  Europe  or  Northern  Asia  is  un- 
certain. In  Western  Europe  they  intruded  themselves 
as  conquerors  and  formed  military  aristocracies.  Like 
other  vigorous,  intruding  minorities  elsewhere  and  at 
different  periods,  they  were  in  certain  localities  absorbed 
by  the  conquered.  In  Western  Europe  they  were 
fused  with  Iberian  communities,  and  confederacies  of 
Celtiberians  came  into  existence. 

Before  the  great  Celtic  movements  into  Western  Europe 
began — that  is,  before  500  B.C.  —  Britain  was  invaded 
by  a  broad-headed  people,  but  it  is  uncertain  whether 
they  came  as  conquerors  or  as  peaceful  traders.  In 
time  these  intruders  were  absorbed.  The  evidence 
afforded  by  burial  customs  and  surviving  traces  of 
ancient  religious  beliefs  and  practices  tends  to  show 
that  the  culture  of  the  earlier  peoples  survived  over 
large  tracts  of  our  native  land.  An  intellectual  con- 
quest of  conquerors  or  intruders  was  effected  by  the 
indigenous  population  which  was  rooted  to  the  soil 
by  agriculture  and  to  centres  of  industry  and  trade 
by  undisturbed  habits  of  life. 

Although  the   pre-Celtic   languages  were  ultimately 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  223 

displaced  by  the  Celtic — it  is  uncertain  when  this  process 
was  completed — the  influence  of  ancient  Oriental  culture 
remained.  In  Scotland  the  pig-taboo,  with  its  history 
rooted  in  ancient  Egypt,  has  had  tardy  survival  until 
our  own  times.  It  has  no  connection  with  Celtic 
culture,  for  the  Continental  Celts  were  a  pig-rearing 
and  pork-eating  people,  like  the  ^gsean  invaders  of 
Greece.  The  pig-taboo  is  still  as  prevalent  in  Northern 
Arcadia  as  in  the  Scottish  Highlands,  where  the  de- 
scendants not  only  of  the  ancient  Iberians  but  of 
intruders  from  pork-loving  Ireland  and  Scandinavia 
have  acquired  the  ancient  prejudice  and  are  now  per- 
petuating it. 

'  Some  centuries  before  the  Roman  occupation,  a 
system  of  gold  coinage  was  established  in  England. 
Trade  with  the  Continent  appears  to  have  greatly  in- 
creased in  volume  and  complexity.  England,  Wales, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland  were  divided  into  small  king- 
doms. The  evidence  afforded  by  the  Irish  Gaelic 
manuscripts,  which  refer  to  events  before  and  after  the 
Roman  conquest  of  Britain,  shows  that  society  was 
well  organized  and  that  the  organization  was  of  non- 
Roman  character.  Tacitus  is  responsible  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  Irish  manners  and  customs  were  similar 
to  those  prevailing  in  Britain,  and  he  makes  reference 
to  Irish  sea-trade  and  the  fact  that  Irish  sea-ports  were 
well  known  to  merchants.  England  suffered  more  from 
invasions  before  and  after  the  arrival  of  Julius  Caesar 
than  did  Scotland  or  Ireland.  It  was  consequently 
incapable  of  united  action  against  the  Romans,  as 
Tacitus  states  clearly.  The  indigenous  tribes  refused 
to  be  allies  of  the  intruders.^ 

In  Ireland,  which  Pliny  referred  to  as  one  of  the 
British  Isles,  the  pre-Celtic  Firbolgs  were  subdued  by 
Celtic  invaders.     The  later  ''waves"  of  Celts  appeared 

1  Agri'cola,  Chap.  XH. 


224  ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

to  have  subdued  the  earlier  conquerors,  with  the  result 
that  '^Firbolg"  ceased  to  have  a  racial  significance 
and  was  applied  to  all  subject  peoples.  There  were 
in  Ireland,  as  in  England,  upper  and  lower  classes, 
and  military  tribes  that  dominated  other  tribes.  Withal, 
there  were  confederacies,  and  petty  kings,  who  owed 
allegiance  to  '*high  kings".  The  *'Red  Branch"  of 
Ulster,  of  which  Cuchullin  was  an  outstanding  re- 
presentative, had  their  warriors  trained  in  Scotland. 
It  may  be  that  they  were  invaders  who  had  passed 
through  Scotland  into  Northern  Ireland;  at  any  rate, 
it  is  unlikely  that  they  would  have  sent  their  warriors 
to  a  ** colony"  to  acquire  skill  in  the  use  of  weapons. 
There  were  Cruithne  (Britons)  in  all  the  Irish  provinces. 
Most  Irish  saints  were  of  this  stock. 

The  pre-Roman  Britons  had  ships  of  superior  quality, 
as  is  made  evident  by  the  fact  that  a  British  squadron 
was  included  in  the  great  Veneti  fleet  which  Cassar 
attacked  and  defeated  with  the  aid  of  Pictones  and 
other  hereditary  rivals  of  the  Veneti  and  their  allies. 
In  early  Roman  times  Britain  thus  took  an  active  part 
in  European  politics  in  consequence  of  its  important 
commercial  interests. 

When  the  Romans  reached  Scotland  the  Caledonians, 
a  people  with  a  Celtic  tribal  name,  were  politically 
predominant.  Like  the  English  and  Irish  pre-Roman 
peoples,  they  used  chariots  and  ornamented  these  with 
finely  worked  bronze.  Enamel  was  manufactured  or 
imported.  Some  of  the  Roman  stories  about  the  savage 
condition  of  Scotland  may  be  dismissed  as  fictions. 
Who  can  nowadays  credit  the  statement  of  Herodian^ 
that  the  warriors  of  Scotland  in  Roman  times  passed 
their  days  in  the  water,  or  Dion  Cassius's^  story  that 
they  were  wont  to  hide  in  mud  for  several  days  with 
nothing  but  their  heads  showing,  and  that  despite  their 

1  Herodian,  III,  14.  3  Dion  Cassms  {Xiphilinus)  LXXVI,  12. 


BRONZE   BUCKLERS   OR   SHIELDS 
(British  Museum) 

Upper:  from  the  Thames.       Lower:  from  Wales. 


I 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  225 

fine  physique  they  fed  chiefly  on  herbs,  fruit,  nuts, 
and  the  bark  of  trees,  and,  withal,  that  they  had  dis- 
covered a  mysterious  earth-nut  and  had  only  to  eat 
a  piece  no  larger  than  a  bean  to  defy  hunger  and 
thirst.  The  further  statement  that  the  Scottish  '^sav- 
ages "  were  without  state  or  family  organization  hardly 
accords  with  historical  facts.  Even  Agricola  had  cause 
to  feel  alarm  when  confronted  by  the  well-organized 
and  well-equipped  Caledonian  army  at  the  battle  of 
Mons  Grampius,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  retreat 
afterwards,  although  he  claimed  to  have  won  a  com- 
plete victory.  His  retreat  appears  to  have  been  as 
necessary  as  that  of  Napoleon  from  Moscow.  The 
later  invasion  of  the  Emperor  Severus  was  a  dis- 
astrous one  for  him,  entailing  the  loss  of  50,000  men. 

A  people  who  used  chariots  and  horses,  and  arti- 
facts displaying  the  artistic  skill  of  those  found  in 
ancient  Britain,  had  reached  a  comparatively  high  state 
of  civilization.  Warriors  did  not  manufacture  their 
own  chariots,  the  harness  of  their  horses,  their  own 
weapons,  armour,  and  ornaments;  these  were  provided 
for  them  by  artisans.  Such  things  as  they  required 
and  could  not  obtain  in  their  own  country  had  to  be 
imported  by  traders.  The  artisans  had  to  be  paid  in 
kind,  if  not  in  coin,  and  the  traders  had  to  give  some- 
thing in  return  for  what  they  received.  Craftsmen 
and  traders  had  to  be  protected  by  laws,  and  the  laws 
had  to  be  enforced. 

The  evidence  accumulated  by  archaeologists  is  suffi- 
cient to  prove  that  Britain  had  inherited  from  seats 
of  ancient  civilization  a  high  degree  of  culture  and 
technical  skill  in  metal-working,  &c.,  many  centuries 
before  Rome  was  built.  The  finest  enamel  work  on 
bronze  in  the  world  was  produced  in  England  and 
Ireland,  and  probably,  although  definite  proof  has  not 
yet  been  forthcoming,  in  Scotland,  the  enamels  of  which 

(  D  217  )  16 


226  ANCIENT  MAN   IN   BRITAIN 

may  have  been  imported  and  may  not.  Artisans  could 
not  have  manufactured  enamel  without  furnaces  capable 
of  generating  a  high  degree  of  heat.  The  process  was 
a  laborious  and  costly  one.  It  required  technical  know- 
ledge and  skill  on  the  part  of  the  workers.  Red,  white, 
yellow,  and  blue  enamels  were  manufactured.  Even  the 
Romans  were  astonished  at  the  skill  displayed  in 
enamel  work  by  the  Britons.  The  people  who  pro- 
duced these  enamels  and  the  local  peoples  who  pur- 
chased them,  including  the  Caledonians,  were  far 
removed  from  a  state  of  savagery. 

Many  writers,  who  have  accepted  without  question  the 
statements  of  certain  Roman  writers  regarding  the  early 
Britons  and  ignored  the  evidence  that  archaeological 
relics  provide  regarding  the  arts  and  crafts  and  social 
conditions  of  pre-Roman  times,  have  in  the  past  written 
in  depreciatory  vein  regarding  the  ancestors  of  the  vast 
majority  of  the  present  population  of  these  islands,  who 
suffered  so  severely  at  the  altar  of  Roman  ambition. 
Everything  Roman  has  been  glorified ;  Roman  victories 
over  British  *' barbarians "  have  been  included  among 
the  "blessings"  of  civilization.  Yet  "there  is",  as 
Elton  says,  "something  at  once  mean,  and  tragical 
about  the  story  of  the  Roman  conquest.  .  .  .  On  the  one 
side  stand  the  petty  tribes,  prosperous  nations  in  mina- 
ture,  already  enriched  by  commerce  and  rising  to  a 
homely  culture;  on  the  other  the  terrible  Romans  strong 
in  their  tyranny  and  an  avarice  which  could  never  be 
appeased."  ^ 

It  was  in  no  altruistic  spirit  that  the  Romans  invaded 
Gaul  and  broke  up  the  Celtic  organization,  or  that  they 
invaded  Briton  and  reduced  a  free  people  to  a  state  of 
bondage.  The  life  blood  of  young  Britain  was  drained 
by  Rome,  and,  for  the  loss  sustained,  Roman  institutions, 
Roman  villas  and  baths,  and  the  Latin  language  and 

1  Ofigins  of  English  History,  pp.  303-3. 


HISTORICAL   SUMMARY  227 

literature  were  far  from  being  compensations.  Rome 
was  a  predatory  state.  When  its  military  organization 
collapsed,  its  subject  states  fell  with  it.  Gaul  and  Britain 
had  been  weakened  by  Roman  rule;  the  ancient  spirit  of 
independence  had  been  undermined;  native  initiative 
had  been  ruthlessly  stamped  out  under  a  system  more 
thorough  and  severe  than  modern  Prussianism.  At  the 
same  time,  there  is,  of  course,  much  to  admire  in  Roman 
civilization. 

During  the  obscure  post-Roman  period  England 
was  occupied  by  Angles  and  Saxons  and  Jutes,  who 
have  been  credited  with  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
masses  of  the  Britons.  The  dark-haired  survivors  were 
supposed  to  have  fled  westward,  leaving  the  fair  intruders 
in  undisputed  occupation  of  the  greater  part  of  England. 
But  the  indigenous  peoples  of  the  English  mining  areas 
were  originally  a  dark-haired  and  sallow  people,  and  the 
invading  Celts  were  mainly  a  fair  people.  Boadicea 
was  fair-haired  like  Queen  Meave  of  Ireland.  The 
evidence  collected  of  late  years  by  ethnologists  shows 
that  the  masses  of  the  English  population  are  descended 
from  the  early  peoples  of  the  Pre-Agricultural  and  Early 
Agricultural  Ages.  The  theory  of  the  wholesale  exter- 
mination by  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the  early  Britons  has 
been  founded  manifestly  on  very  scant  and  doubtful 
evidence. 

What  the  Teutonic  invasions  accomplished  in  reality 
was  the  destruction  not  of  a  people  but  of  a  civilization. 
The  native  arts  and  crafts  declined,  and  learning  was 
stamped  out,  when  the  social  organization  of  post-Roman 
Britain  was  shattered.  On  the  Continent  a  similar  state 
of  matters  prevailed.  Roman  civilization  suffered  decline 
when  the  Roman  soldier  vanished. 

Happily,  the  elements  of  ''Celtic"  civilization  had 
been  preserved  in  those  areas  that  had  escaped  the 
blight    of    Roman    ambition.      The    peoples    of    Celtic 


I 


228  ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 

speech  had  preserved,  as  ancient  Gaelic  manuscripts 
testify,  a  love  of  the  arts  as  ardent  as  that  of  Rome, 
and  a  fine  code  of  chivalry  to  which  the  Romans  were 
strangers.  The  introduction  of  Christianity  had  advanced 
this  ancient  Celtic  civilization  on  new  and  higher  lines. 
When  the  Columban  missionaries  began  their  labours 
outside  Scotland  and  Ireland,  they  carried  Christianity 
and  "a  new  humanism"  over  England  and  the  Con- 
tinent, "and  became  the  teachers  of  whole  nations,  the 
counsellors  of  kings  and  emperors".  Ireland  and 
Scotland  had  originally  received  their  Christianity  from 
Romanized  England  and  Gaul.  The  Celtic  Church 
developed  on  national  lines.  Vernacular  literature  was 
promoted  by  the  Celtic  clerics. 

In  England,  as  a  result  of  Teutonic  intrusions  and 
conquests,  Christianity  and  Romano-British  culture  had 
been  suppressed.  The  Anglo-Saxons  were  pagans.  In 
time  the  Celtic  missionaries  from  Scotland  and  Ireland 
spread  Christianity  and  Christian  culture  throughout 
England. 

It  is  necessary  for  us  to  rid  our  minds  of  extreme  pro- 
Teutonic  prejudices.  Nor  is  it  less  necessary  to  avoid 
the  equally  dangerous  pitfall  of  the  Celtic  hypothesis. 
Christianity  and  the  associated  humanistic  culture 
entered  these  islands  during  the  Roman  period.  In 
Ireland  and  Scotland  the  new  religion  was  perpetuated 
by  communities  that  had  preserved  pre-Roman  habits 
of  life  and  thought  which  were  not  necessarily  of  Celtic 
origin  or  embraced  by  a  people  who  can  be  accurately 
referred  to  as  the  "Celtic  race".  The  Celts  did  not 
exterminate  the  earlier  settlers.  Probably  the  Celts 
were  military  aristocrats  over  wide  areas. 

Before  the  fair  Celts  had  intruded  themselves  in 
Britain  and  Ireland,  the  seeds  of  pre-Celtic  culture, 
derived  by  trade  and  colonization  from  centres  of  ancient 
civilization  through  their  colonies,  had  been  sown  and 


HISTORICAL  SUMMARY  229 

had  borne  fruit.  The  history  of  British  civilization 
begins  with  neither  Celt  nor  Roman,  but  with  those 
early  prospectors  and  traders  who  entered  and  settled 
in  the  British  Isles  when  mighty  Pharaohs  were  still 
reigning  in  Egypt,  and  these  and  the  enterprising 
monarchs  in  Mesopotamia  were  promoting  trade  and 
extending  their  spheres  of  influence.  The  North  Syrian 
or  Anatolian  carriers  of  Eastern  civilization  who  founded 
colonies  in  Spain  before  2500  B.C.  were  followed  by 
Cretans  and  Phoenicians.  The  sea-trade  promoted  by 
these  pioneers  made  possible  the  opening  up  of  pverland 
trade  routes.  It  was  after  Pytheas  had  (about  300  B.C.) 
visited  Britain  by  coasting  round  Spain  and  Northern 
France  from  Marseilles  that  the  volume  of  British  trade 
across  France  increased  greatly  and  the  sea-routes 
became  of  less  importance.  When  Carthage  fell,  the 
Romans  had  the  trade  of  Western  Europe  at  their 
mercy,  and  their  conquests  of  Gaul  and  Britain  were 
undoubtedly  effected  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  subject  peoples.  We  owe  much 
to  Roman  culture,  but  we  owe  much  also  to  the  culture 
of  the  British  pre-Roman  period. 


I 


INDEX 


Achaeans,  Celts  and,  iii,  112. 
[.'     Acheulian  culture,  13,  14. 
Adonis,  killed  by  boar,  197. 
lEgean    culture,    Celts    absorbed, 
112. 

in  Central  Europe,  96. 

i^styans,  the,  amber  traders,  161. 

—  worship  of  mother  goddess  and 
boar  god,  161,  162. 

Africa,  Cro-Magnon  peoples  en- 
tered Europe  from,  35. 

—  ostrich  eggs,  ivory,  &c.,  from, 
found  in  Spain,  96. 

—  transmigration     of     souls     in, 

143 
Age,    the    Agricultural    and    pre- 
Agricultural,  213. 

—  the  Early  Red  Deer,  214,  215. 

—  the  Prehistoric,  217. 

—  the  Historic,  217. 

—  the  Reindeer,  213. 
Ages,  Archaeological,  new  system 

of,  215. 

problem  of  Scottish  copper 

axe,  219. 

—  the  Mythical,  colours  and  metals 
of,  121.  See  also  Geological  and 
Archceological  Ages. 

Agriculture,  beginning  of,  in  Bri- 
tain, 217. 

—  importance  of  introduction  of, 
212. 

—  history  of,  210. 

—  Neolithic  sickles,  4. 

—  barley,  wheat,  and  rye  culti- 
vated, 5. 

Aine,  the  Munster  fairy,  202. 

Airts  (Cardinal  Points),  the,  doc- 
trine of,  145.  See  also  Cardinal 
Points. 


Akkad,  Sargon  of,  his  knowledge 

of  Western  Europe,  96,  218. 
Alabaster,  Eastern  perfume  flasks 

of,  in  Neolithic  Spain,  96. 
Albertite,  jet  and,  164. 
Albiorix,  the  Gaulish  god,  207. 
All  Hallows,  Black  Sow  of,  200. 
Amber,    associated    with   jet    and 

Egyptian  blue  beads  in  England, 

104,  105  {ill.),  106. 

—  Celtic  and  German  names  of, 
162, 

—  as  magical  product  of  water, 
162,  163. 

—  eyes  strengthened  by,  165, 

—  imported  into  Britain  at  1400 
B.C.,  106;  and  in  first  century  a.d., 
114. 

—  jet  and  pearls  and,  22. 

—  as  "  life  substance  ",  80. 

—  Megalithic  people  searched  for, 

93-.  . 

—  origin  of,  in  Scottish  lore,  162. 

—  Persian,  &c,,  names  of,  163,  164. 

—  Tacitus  on  the  Baltic  i^styans, 
161. 

—  connection  of,  with  boar  god 
and  mother  goddess,  161. 

—  as  "  tears  "  of  goddess,  161. 

—  trade  in,  219. 

—  the  "  vigorous  Gael  "  and,  163. 

—  connection  of,  with  Woad,  163. 

—  white  enamel  as  substitute  for, 

America,  green  stone  symbolism  in, 

34. 
Angles,  126. 

—  Celts  and,  227. 
Anglo-Saxon  intruders,  our  scanty 

knowledge  of,  209. 


231 


232 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 


Angus,  the  Irish  god  of  love,  202. 
Animism,  not  the  earliest  stage  in 

religion,  178. 
Annis,  Black  (also  "  Black  Anny  " 

and  "  Cat  Anna  "),  195. 

Irish  Anu  (Danu),  and,  198. 

Anthropology,  stratification  theory, 

II,  12. 
Anu  (Ana),  the  goddess,  198,  201. 
Aphrodite,  221. 

—  amber  and,  163. 

—  the  black  form  of,  164. 

—  connection  of,  with  pearl  and 
moon,  158. 

—  Julius  Caesar's  pearl  offering  to, 
159- 

—  myth  of  origin  of,  38. 

—  Egyptian  Hathor  and,  38. 

—  the  Scandinavian,  161. 
Apollo,  British  temples  of,  177. 

—  the  Gaelic,  202. 

—  the  Gaulish,  207. 

—  god  of  London,  203. 

—  mouse  connection  of,  179. 

—  mouse  feasts,  187. 
Apple,  221. 

—  connection  of  mouse  with,  196, 

—  as  fruit  of  longevity,  144. 

—  Scottish  hag-goddess  and,  196. 

—  Thomas  the  Rhymer  and  apple 
of  knowledge  and  longevity,  146. 

—  "  wassailing  ",  204. 

Apple  land  (Avalon),  the  Celtic 
Paradise,  144. 

Apples,  life  substance  in,  206. 

Apple  tree,  God  of,  204. 

Archaeological  Ages,  1400  B.C.,  a 
date  in  British  history,  106. 

"  Broad-heads  "    in    Britain 

and  "  Long-heads  "  in  Ireland 
♦use  bronze,  87. 

climate  in  Upper  Palaeo- 
lithic, 14. 

Egyptian     and     Babylonian 

relics  in  Neolithic  Spain,  96. 

Egyptian  Empire  beads  asso- 
ciated with  bronze  industry  in 
south  -  western  England,  104, 
105  (ill.),  106. 

few  intrusions  between  Bronze 

and  Iron  Ages,  109. 

in  humorous  art,  1 . 

"Stone  Age  "  man  not  neces- 
sarily a  savage,  2. 


Archaeological  Ages,  influences  of 
Neanderthal  and  Cro-Magnon 
races,  12. 

Irish  sagas  and,  119. 

bronze  and  iron  swords,  119. 

— . —  Lord  Avebury's  system,  8. 

Neolithic  industry  intro- 
duced by  metal  workers  in 
Spain,  95,  99. 

relations  of  Neanderthal  and 

Cro-Magnon  races,  14,  15,  16. 

"  Transition  Period  "  longer 

than  "  Neolithic  Age  ",  61. 

Western     European    metals 

reached  Mesopotamia  between 
3000  B.C.  and  2000  B.C.,  99,  100. 
See  also  Palceolithic  and  Neo- 
lithic. 

Archaeology,  stratification  theory, 
II,  12. 

Argentocoxus ,  the  Caledonian  .112. 

Armenoid  (Alpine)  races,  early 
movements  of,  56. 

Armenoids  in  Britain,  222.  ^ 

—  intrusions  of,  in  Europe,  126.  f 

—  partial   disappearance  of,  from         ^ 
Britain,  127. 

Armlets,  in  graves,  158. 

Arrow,     the    fiery,    and    goddess 

Brigit,  188. 
Arrows,  Azilians  introduced,  into 

Europe,  55. 

—  as  symbols  of  deity,  51. 

Art,  ancient  man  caricatured  in 
modern,  i. 

Artemis,  bee  and  butterfly  con- 
nected with,  193. 

—  myth  of  the  Scottish,  174,  197. 
Arthur,  King,  Celtic  myth  attached 

to,  198. 

Arthur's  Seat,  Edinburgh,  night- 
shining  gem  of,  160. 

giant  of,  131,  and  also  note  i . 

Aryans,  The,  123. 

Astronomy  in  Ancient  Britain  and 
Ireland,  175,  and  also  note  i. 

—  Welsh  and  Gaelic  names  of 
constellations,  203. 

Atlantis,  The  Lost,  70. 
Atrebates,  The,  in  Britain,  128. 
Augustine    of    Canterbury,    Pope 

Gregory's  letter,  176. 
Canterbury  temple  occupied 

by,  177. 


INDEX 


233 


Augustonemcton  (shrine  of  Augus- 
tus), 159. 

Aurignac,  Cro-Magnon  cave-tomb 
of,  20,  22. 

Aurignacian,  African  source  of 
culture  called,  27,  35. 

—  custom  of  smearing  bodies  with 
red  earth,  27. 

—  animism  and  goddess  worship, 
178. 

—  influence  in  Britain,  19,  216. 

—  burial  customs,  45. 

—  cave  hand-prints,  47. 

—  "  Combe- Capelle  "'  man,  25. 

—  Briix  and  Briinn  race,  26. 

—  Cro-Magnons  and,  14. 

—  culture  of  Cr6-Magnon  grotto, 
23,24. 

—  heart  as  seat  of  life,  32. 

—  green  stone  symbolism,  33. 

—  Indian  Ocean  shell  at  Grimaldi, 
36. 

—  Magdalenians  and,  52. 

—  the  Mother-goddess,  42,  178. 

—  Egyptian  milk  and  shells  link, 

43. 

—  "  Tama  "  belief,  44. 

—  origin  of  term,  22. 

—  pre- Agricultural,  213. 

—  Proto-Solutrean  influence  on, 
49. 

—  no  trace  of,  in  Hungary,  50. 
Aurignacian  Age,  13. 
Aurignacian  implements  (ill.),  21. 
Australian     natives.     Neanderthal 

man  and,  9. 
Avalon    (Apple  land),    the   Celtic 

Paradise,  144. 
Ave  bury,  megaliths  of,  82. 

burial  customs,  171. 

Axe,  Chellean  (ill.),  14. 

—  double,  as  "  god-body  ",  50. 

—  Glasgow  and  Spanish  green- 
stone axes,  97. 

—  as  religious  object,  77 

Axes,  Neolithic,  distribution  of 
population  and,  82,  84. 

—  Neolithic,  mathematical  skill  in 
manufacture  of,  4. 

Aynia,  Irish  fairy  queen,  201. 
Azilian  culture,  62. 

artifacts,  13. 

English  Channel  land-bridge 

crossed  by  carriers  of,  58,  67,  69. 


Azilian  culture,  Iberian  carriers  of> 
216. 

pre- Agricultural,  213. 

rock  paintings,  55. 

customs  of,  revealed  in  art, 

55. 

script  used,  56. 

in    Scotland    and    England, 

58,  60. 

—  boats,  75. 

Azilians  in  Britain,  70,  125. 

Babylonia,  goddess  of,  in  Neolithic 
Spain,  96. 

—  influence  of,  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Syria,  95. 

—  influence  of  culture  of,  212. 

—  influence  of,  in  Britain,  218. 

—  knowledge  of  European  metal- 
fields  in,  99. 

—  religious    ideas   of,   in    Britain. 

^54. 
Baptism,  milk  and  honey  used  in, 

152- 
Eurley,  cultivation  of,  5. 

—  the  Egyptian,  reaches   Britain, 
84,85. 

Basket-making,     relation     of,     to 

pottery  and  knitting,  6. 
Beads,    as    "  adder    stones  "    and 

"  Druid's  gems  ",  163. 

—  Egyptian   blue   beads   in   Eng- 
land, 104,  105  (ill.),  106. 

—  Egyptian,  in  Britain,  211. 
Bede,  on  jet  symbolism,  164. 

Bee,  connection  of,  with  Artemis 
and  fig  tree,  193. 

—  as  soul  form  in  legends,  193. 
Bees,  connection  of,  with  maggot 

soul  form,  102. 

—  "  Telling    the    bees  "    custom, 

103,  193. 
Belatucadros,  a  Gaulish  Mars,  207. 
Belgae,  The,  in  Britain,  128. 
Belisama,  goddess  of  Mersey,  206. 
Beltain  festival,  fires  at,  191. 
Berries,  fire  in,  181. 

—  life  substance  in,  206. 

—  "  the  luck  ",  180. 

—  salmon  and  red,  183. 
Berry  charms,  47. 

Birds,  butterfly  as  "  bird  of  god  *', 

—  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 


234 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Birds,    language    of,    Druids    and 
wren,  145. 

—  language  of,  in  India,  151. 

—  language  of,  St.  Columba  and, 
146. 

—  oyster  catcher  and  wood  linnet 
as  birds  of  goddess  Bride,  187. 

—  swan  form  of  soul,  190. 

—  taboo  in  Ancient  Britain,  201. 

—  taboo  in  Highlands,  201. 

—  tom-tit,  robin,  wren,  and  apple 
cults,  204. 

—  wren  as  king  of,  186. 

^  Black  Annis,  Irish  Anu  (Danu)  and, 
198. 

Leicestershire  hag-deity,  195, 

196. 
Black  Demeter,  196. 
^-  Black  goddesses,  Greek  and  Scot- 
tish, 164. 
^  Black  Kali,  Indian  goddess,  196. 
^  Black  Pig,  Devil  as,  200. 
^  Black  Sow,  Devil  as,  200. 
Blood  Covenant,  152. 
Boadicea,  162,  227. 

—  (Boudicca),  Queen,  114. 

—  Iceni  tribe  of,  128. 
Boann,  the  goddess,  202. 

Boar,  Adonis  and  Diarmid  slain  by, 
197. 

—  in  Orkney,   129. 

—  salmon  and  porpoise  as,  182. 
Boar  god  on  British  and  Gaulish 

coins,  162. 
connection  of,  with  amber, 

161. 

the  Gaulish,  197. 

Mars  as,  197. 

The  Inverness,  129,  155  {ill.). 

Boats,  ancient  migrations  by  sea, 

92. 

—  axe  of  Clyde  boat,  77. 

—  Himilco's    references    to    skin- 
boats,  77. 

—  sea- worthiness  of  skin-boats.  77. 

—  how   sea-sense   was   cultivated, 
78. 

—  Veneti  vessels,  78. 

—  Azilian-Tardenoisians  and  Ma- 
glemosians  required,  69. 

—  Britain  reached  by,  before  last 
land  movement  ceased,  72. 

—  Perth     dug-out,     under     carse 
clays,  72. 


Boats,  Forth  and  Clyde  dug-outs, 
72. 

—  dug-outs    not   the  earliest,  72, 

73-    . 

—  Ancient  Egyptian  papyri  and 
skin-boats,  73, 

—  "  seams  "  and  "  skins  "  of,  74. 

—  Egyptian  models  in  Europe  and 
Asia,  74. 

—  religious  ceremonies  at  con- 
struction of  dug-outs,  74. 

—  Polynesian,  dedicated  to  gods, 

74- 

—  earliest  Egyptian,  74. 

—  Britons  and  Veneti,  224. 

—  Celtic  pirates,  136. 

—  earliest,  in  Britain,  218. 

—  early  builders  of,  6. 

—  Easterners  exported  ores  by, 
from  Western  Europe,  99, 

—  Egyptian  barley  carried  by  early 
seafarers  to  Britain,  84. 

—  exports  from  early  Britain,  104. 

—  Glasgow  discoveries  of  ancient, 
75,  76. 

—  cork  plug  in  Glasgow  boat,  75, 
76. 

—  invention  of,  72. 

—  oak  god  and  skin  boats,  153. 

—  outrigger  at  Glasgow,  76. 

—  ancient  Clyde  clinker-built  boat, 
76. 

—  Aberdeenshire  dug-out,  76. 

—  Sussex,  Kentish,  and  Dumfries 
finds  of,  77. 

—  Brigg  boat,  77. 

—  Pictish,  136. 

—  pre-Roman  British,  224. 

—  similar  types  in  Africa  and 
Scandinavia  (///.),  75- 

—  why  early  seafarers  visited  Bri- 
tain, 80,  81, 

Bodies  painted  for  religious  reasons, 
28. 

Boers,  the  mouse  cure  of,  187,  and 
also  note  2. 

Bone  implements,  82. 

Magdalenians  favoured,  52. 

Bonfires,  at  Pagan  festivals,  181. 

Borvo,  the  Gaulish  Apollo,  207. 

Bows  and  arrows,  Azilians  intro- 
duced, into  Europe,  55. 

Boyne,  River  goddess  of,  202. 

Boyne,  The  *'  white  cow  ",  206. 


INDEX 


235 


Bran,  the  god  and  saint,  202. 
Bride,  The  goddess.  Bird  of,  and 

Page  of,  187. 
dandelion    as    milk-yielding 

plant  of,  187. 

—  serpent  of,  as  "  daughter  of 
Ivor  "  and  the  "  damsel  ",  187, 
188.     See  Brigit. 

—  Saint,  Goddess  Bride  and,  188. 
Bride's  Day,  187. 

Bridewells,  188. 

Brigantes,  blue  shields  of,  173. 

—  Brigit  (Bride)  goddess  of,  187. 

—  territory  occupied  by,  188. 

—  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land, 128,  188. 

Brigitv  Dagda  and,  202. 

—  as  "  fiery  arrow  ",  188. 

—  the  goddess  (also  Bride),  Bri- 
gantes and,  187. 

—  three  forms  of,  188,  195. 

—  as  hag  or  girl,  195. 
Britain,  Stone  Age  man  in,  i. 

—  early  races  in,  16. 

—  date  of  last  land  movement  in, 
18. 

Briton,  "  cloth  clad  ",  119. 
Britons,  the,  Cruithne  of  Ireland 
were,  131,  132. 

—  chief  people  in  ancient  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  and  Scotland,  132. 

Brittany,  Easterners  in,  100. 
Bronze,  Celts  and,  106. 

—  Gaelic  gods  connected  with, 
102. 

—  knowledge  of,  introduced  into 
Britain  by  traders,  loi. 

—  British,    same    as    Continental, 

lOI. 

—  Spanish  Easterners  displaced  by 
carriers  of,  221. 

Bronze  Age,  The  Archaeological, 
British  "  broad  -  heads  "  and 
Irish  *'  long-heads  "  as  bronze 
users,  87. 

French  forms  in  Britain  and 

Spanish  in  Ireland,  88, 

conquest  theory,  88. 

prospectors  discovered 

metals  in  Britain,  89, 

how  metals  were  located,  89. 

bronze  carriers  reached  Spain 

from  Central  Europe,  96. 

carriers    of    bronze    earliest 


settlers  in  Buchan,  Aberdeen- 
shire, III. 

Bronze  Age,  Celtic  horse-tamers  as 
bronze  carriers,  iii. 

carriers  expel  Easterners  from 

Spain,  100,  loi. 

Druidism  and,  149. 

Egyptian  relics  of,  104. 

relics  of  {ill.),  113. 

Bronze  industry,  fibulae  and  cloth- 
ing, 119. 

Briinn  and  Briix  races,  50. 

skull  caps,  25,  26. 

Brut,  The,  reference  in,  to  Apollo's 
temple,  177. 

Bull,  rivers  and,  206. 

Bulls,  The  Sacred,  155  {ill). 

—  sacrifice  of,  in  Ross-shire  in 
seventeenth  century,  148. 

Burial  Customs,  Avebury  evidence 
regarding,    171. 

body  painting,  27. 

Seven  Sleepers  myth,  29. 

British  Pagan  survivals,  17. 

Cro-Magnon  Aurignacian,  in 

Wales,  19. 

doctrine  of  Cardinal  Points 

and,  168,  170. 

Egyptian  pre-dynastic  cus- 
toms, 170. 

food  for  the  dead,  158. 

urns  in  graves,  158. 

green   stones   in  mouths   of 

Cro-Magnon  dead,  33. 

Egyptian  and  American  use 

of  green  stones,  33,  34. 

long  -  barrow  folk  in  Eng- 
land, 82. 

milk  offerings  to  dead,  148. 

in  Neolithic  Britain,  86. 

Palaeolithic,  158. 

"  Round  Barrow  "  folk,  87. 

Shakespeare's    reference    to 

Pagan,  45. 

Cro-Magnon  rites,  45. 

shell  and  other  ornaments,  36. 

short-barrow  and  cremation 

intruders,  104. 

solar  aspect  of  ancient  Bri- 
tish, 170. 

Welsh  ideas  about  destiny  of 

soul,  144. 

why    dead    were    cremated. 

109,  no,  III. 


236 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


Butterfly;  connection  of,  with  jade 
and  soul  in  China,  193. 

—  connection  with  plum  tree  in 
China  and  honeysuckle  in  Scot- 
land, 193. 

—  as  fire  god  in  Gaelic,  191. 

—  Gaelic  names  of,  191. 

—  goddess  Freyja  and,  192. 

—  Psyche  as,  192. 

—  as  Italian  soul  form,  192. 

—  Serbian  witches  and,  192. 

—  Burmese  soul  as,  193. 

—  Mexican  soul  and  fire  god  as, 
194. 

Byzantine  Empire,  The,  Chinese 
lore  from,  160. 

Cailleach,    The,    174,    197.       See 

Artemis. 
Caithness,  the  "  cat  "  country,  130. 
Caledonians,  The,  129. 

—  Celtic  tribal  name  of,  112. 

—  personal  names  of,  112. 

—  clothing  of,  119. 

—  the  Picts  and,  130. 

—  Romans  and,  224. 

—  Tacitus 's  theory  regarding,  137. 
Calendar,  the  Gaelic,  198. 
Calgacus,  112. 

Callernish  stone  circle,  94. 
Calton  (hazel  grove),  150. 
Camulos,  god  of  Colchester,  207. 
Canoes.     See  Boats. 
Canterbury     Pagan     temple,     St. 

Augustine  used,  177. 
Cantion,  the,  Kent  tribe,  128. 
Cardinal  Points,  doctrine  of,   145, 

168. 
south  as  road  to  heaven,  145, 

and  also  note  i. 

Gaelic  colours  of,  168. 

• goddesses     and    gods   come 

from  their  own,  173. 
giants  of  north  and  fairies  of 

west,  173. 
in  modern    burial  customs, 

171. 
"  sunwise  "    and    "  wither- 

shins  ",  172,  and  also  note  i. 
Carnonacae  Carini,  the,  129. 
Carthage,  Britain  and,  229. 

—  British  and  Spanish  connection 
with,  107. 

—  megalithic  monuments  and,  149. 


Carthage,  trade  of,  with  Britain,  1 14. 
Cassiterides,  The,  98. 

—  Carthagenians'  trade  with,  114. 

—  Pytheas  and,  115. 

—  Crassus  visits,  116. 

—  exports  and  imports  of,  104. 

—  OEstrymnides  of  Himilco  and, 
116. 

—  the  Hebrides  and,  117. 
Cat,  the  Big,  196. 

—  as  goddess,  154. 

—  pear  tree  and,  196. 
Cat-Anna,  Leicestershire  hag-god- 
dess, 195. 

'^Cat  goddess  of  Egypt,  196. 
Cat  stone,  196. 

Cats,  the,  peoples  of  Shetland, 
Caithness,  and  Sutherland  as, 
129,  130. 

—  witches  as,  196. 
Caturix,  the  Gaulish  god,  207. 
Catuvellauni,  The,  in  England,  128. 
Cauldron.     See  Pot. 
Cauldron,  the  Celtic,  90,  91. 
Welsh  goddess  of,  204. 

—  of  Dagda,  202. 

—  Holy  Grail  and,  205. 

—  myth  of,  205. 

Celts,  Achseans  and,  iii. 

—  as  carriers  of  La  Tene  culture, 
112. 

—  confederacies  formed  by,  112. 

—  as  conquerors  of  earlier  settlers 
in  Britain  and  Ireland,  107. 

—  as  military  aristocrats  in  Britain. 
107. 

—  conquests  of,  1 1 1 . 

—  Etruscans  overcome  by,  112. 

—  Sack  of  Rome,  112. 

—  Danube  valley  and  Rhone  val- 
ley trade  routes  controlled  by, 
114. 

—  as  pig  rearers  and  pork  curers, 
114,  223. 

—  destiny  of  soul,  144.     See  Soul. 

—  displacement  theory  regarding, 

137. 

—  earlier  fair  folks  in  Britain,  125. 

—  ethnics  of,  112. 

—  the  fair  in  Britain  and  Ireland, 
227. 

—  fair  queens  of,  112. 

—  gold  and  silver  offered  to  deities 
bv.  80. 


INDEX 


237 


Celts,  Maglemosians  and,  138. 

—  origin  of,  obscure,  222. 

—  as  Fair  Northerners,  222. 

—  Pictish  problem,  130.   See  Picts. 

—  as  pirates,  136. 

—  references  to  clothing  of,  119. 

—  British  breeches,  119. 

—  settlement  of,   in  Asia   Minor, 
112. 

—  Tacitus    on    the    Caledonians, 
&c.,  137. 

—  Teutons  and,  125. 

—  Iberians  and,  125. 

—  Teutons  did  not  exterminate,  in 
England,  227. 

—  early  Christian  influence  of,  228. 

—  theory  of  extermination  of,  in 
Britain,  122. 

—  as  traders  in  Britain,  107. 

—  and  transmigration  of  souls,  143. 

—  tribes    of,    in     ancient    Britain, 
128. 

—  tribal    rivalries    of,    in    Britain, 
119. 

—  westward  movement  of,  214. 
Celtic  art,   i^gean   affinities,    118, 

119. 

—  cauldron,  205,  206. 

—  gods,  connection  of,  with  metals, 
102. 

Cenn  Cruach,  Irish  god,  102,  103. 

Cereals,  5. 

Cerones,  Creones,  the,  129. 

Chancelade  Man,  53. 

Chariots,    in    pre-Roman    Britain, 

119. 
Charms,  hand-prints,  horse-shoes, 

and  berries  as,  47. 

—  herbs  and  berries  as,  167. 

—  lore  of,  1 57  et  seq.     See  Shells, 
Necklaces,  Pearls. 

—  otter  skin  charm,  189. 
Chellean  culture,  13. 
artifacts  of,  13,  14. 

—  Coup  de  Poing  (ill.),  14. 
Children  sacrificed,  174. 
China,  butterfly  soul  of,  193. 
Chinese    dragon,    Scottish    Bride 

serpent  and,  188,  189. 
Churchyards,  Pagan  survivals,  171. 
Cocidius,  a  Gaulish  Mars,  207. 
Cockle-shell   elixir,   in  Japan   and 

Scotland,  40,  41. 
in  Crete,  41. 


Coinage,  ancient  British,  223. 
""  Colour  symbolism,  black  and  white 
goddesses,  164. 

blue  artificial  shells,  173. 

blue    shields    of    Brigantes, 

173- 

blue  as  female  colour,  173. 

blue  as  fishermen's  mourn- 
ing colour,  173. 

blue  stone  raises  wind,  172. 

body  paint  used  by  Neolithic 

industry  peoples,  82. 
Celtic    root   glas    as    colour 

term,  and  in  amber,  &c.,   162, 

163. 
coloured     pearls     favoured, 

168. 
— ' —  coloured  races  and  coloured 

ages,  121,  124. 
coloured  stones  as  amulets, 

80. 

Dragon's  Eggs,  173. 

enamel  colours,  165. 

four  colours  of  Aurignacian 

hand  impressions  in  caves,  47. 
Gaelic    colours    of   seasons, 

169. 
Gaelic  colours  of  winds  and 

of  Cardinal  Points,  168. 
green  stones   used   by  Cro- 
Magnon,  Ancient  Egyptian,  and 

pre    -    Columbian        American 

peoples,  33,  34. 
how      prospectors      located 

metals  by  rock  colours,  89. 
Irish  rank  colours,  173,  and 

also  note  i. 
jade  tongue  amulets  in  China, 

34- 

luck  objects,  165. 

lucky  and  unlucky  colours, 

157- 
painted    vases    in    Neolithic 

Spain,  96. 

painting  of  god,  174. 

red  berries  as  "  fire  berries  ", 

181. 

red  berries,  31, 

Greek  gods  painted  red,  31. 

Indian  megaliths  painted,  32. 

Chinese  evidence,  32. 

red  earth  devoured,  32. 

Ruadh  (red)  means  "  strong  " 

in  Gaelic,  32. 


238 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Colour  symbolism,  red  and  blue 
supernaturals  in  Wales,  158. 

red    body    paint    in    Welsh 

Aurignacian  cave  burial,  20. 

red  earth  and  blood,  167. 

herbs  and  berries,  167. 

red  jasper  as  blood  of  god- 
dess, 45. 

red  stone  in  Aurignacian  cave 

tomb,  46. 

shells  coloured,  in  Mentone 

cave,  46. 

Red  symbolism,  31, 

red  blood  and  red  fire,  31,32. 

blood  as  food  of  the  dead,  32. 

red  souls  in  "  Red  Land  ", 

32. 

red  woman  as  goddess,  45. 

scarlet-yielding  insect,  152. 

sex  colours,  170. 

significance  of  wind  colours, 

174. 

Solutrean  flint-offerings  col- 
oured red,  50. 

white  serpent,  188. 

why    Cro  -  Magnon    bodies 

were  smeared  with  red  earth,  27. 

Woad  dye,  163. 

Columba,  Saint,  Christ  as  his 
Druid,  146. 

"  Combe-Capelle  "  man,  25,  26, 
36. 

shells  worn  by,  46. 

Conchobar,  dog  god  and,  66. 

Copper,  axe  of,  in  Scotland,  219. 

—  in  Britain,  91. 

—  difficult  to  find  and  work  in 
Britain,  95. 

—  Easterners  worked,  in  Spain,  97, 
98. 

—  as  variety  of  gold.  80. 

—  offered  to  water  deity,  174. 
Coral,  enamel  and,  162. 

—  as  "  life-giver  "  (margan),  161. 

—  as  "  life  substance  ",  80. 

—  Megalithic  people  searched  for, 

93- 

—  symbolism  of,  221. 

—  use  of,  in  Britain,  164,  165. 

—  enamel  as  substitute  for,  165. 
Cormorants,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Cprnavii,  The,  in  England  and  Scot- 
land,  129. 

Cornwall,  Damnonians  in,  89. 


Cow,  The  Sacred,  in  Britain  and 
Ireland,  152,  154,  195,  206. 

—  connected  with  River  Boyne, 
206. 

—  Damona,  Celtic  goddess  of 
cattle,  208. 

—  Indian,  and  milk-yielding  trees, 
151. 

—  Morrigan  as,  195. 

—  The  Primeval,  in  Egypt,  149. 

—  white,  sacred  in  Ireland,  152. 
Cranes,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Cremation,  in  Britain,  127. 

—  significance  of,  109. 
Cresswell  caves,   Magdalenian  art 

in,  53-        . 

Cromarty,  night-shining  gem  of, 
160. 

Crom  Cruach,  Irish  god,  102;  chil- 
dren sacrificed  to,  174. 

as  maggot  god,  102. 

Cro-Magnon,  animism,  178. 

Cro-Magnon  Grotto,  discovery  of, 

23. 

skeletons  in,  23. 

Cro-Magnon  Races,  advent  of,  in 
Europe,  12. 

ancestors  of  "  modern  man  ", 

10,  II. 

archaeological  horizon  of,  9. 

Aurignacian  culture  of  the, 

14. 

Briix  and  Briinn  types  dif- 
ferent from,  26.. 

burial  customs  of,  45. 

cultural     influence     of,     on 

Neanderthals,  14. 

discovery     of     Cro-Magnon 

grotto  skeletons,  23. 

first   discovery  of  traces  of, 

in  France,  20. 

history  of  modern  man  be- 
gins with,  26. 
' as  immigrants  from  Africa, 

35. 

Indian  Ocean  shell  at  Men- 
tone,  36,  37. 

inventive      and       inquiring 

minds  of,  27. 

Magdalenian    culture    stage 

of,  53. 

domestication  of  horse,  53. 

modern    representatives    of, 


INDEX 


239 


Cro-Magnon  Races,  Mother-god- 
dess of,  42. 

"  Tama  "  belief,  44. 

not  in  Hungary,  50. 

"  Red  Man  "  of  Wales,  19. 

Red  Sea  shells  imported  by, 

210. 

history  of,  210. 

relations  of,  with  Neander- 
thal man,  14. 

in  Wales,  19. 

sea-shell  necklace  {ill.)y  39. 

trade  of,  in  shells,  40. 

tall  types,  24. 

high  cheek  bones  of,  25. 

tallest  types  in  Riviera,  35, 36. 

Cr6-Magnon  skulls  {ill.),  24. 

Cro-Magnons,  Azilian  intruders 
and,  62. 

—  heart  as  seat  of  life,  among,  32. 

—  in  Britain,  67,  125,  216. 

—  English  Channel  land  -  bridge 
crossed  by,  67. 

—  hand-prints  and  mutilation  of 
fingers,  47. 

—  modern  Scots  and,  137. 

—  Selgovae  and,  139. 

Crow,  and  goddess  of  grove  and 

sky,  160. 
Crows,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Cruithne,  in  Ireland,  224. 

—  the  Irish,  not  Picts,  132. 

—  the  Q-Celtic  name  of  Britons, 
132. 

Cuchullin,  and  Scotland,  224. 

—  dog  god  and,  64. 

—  goddess  Morrigan  and,  195. 

—  his  knowledge  of  astronomy, 
175,  and  also  note  i. 

—  pearls  in  hair  of,  163. 

Dagda,  the  god,  202. 

—  connection  with  oak  and  fire, 
202. 

—  cauldron  of,  202. 

—  Thor  and,  202. 

—  a  giant-slayer,  202. 
Damnonians.     See  Dumnonii. 

—  an  early  Celtic  "  wave  ",  107. 

—  Fomorians  as  gods  of,  198. 

—  settlements  of,  in  metal-yielding 
areas,  89. 

Damona,  Celtic  goddess  of  cattle, 
208. 


Danann  deities,  201. 

not  in  Scotland,  199. 

talismans  of,  205. 

Japanese  talismans,  205. 

war  against  Fomorians,  198. 

Welsh  "  Children  of  Don  " 

and,  203. 
Dandelion,  as  milk-yielding  plant 

of  goddess  Bride,  187. 
Danes,  in  Britain,  126. 
Dante,  moon  called  "  eternal  pearl  " 

by,  159- 
Danu,  the  goddess,  198. 
Danube  valley  trade  route,  114. 
Danubian      culture      in      Central 

Europe,  96. 

Celts  as  carriers  of,  m,  112. 

Decantag,  The,  129. 
Deer,  as  goddess,  154. 
Demetae,  The,  in  Wales,  129. 
-Demeter,  The  black,  196. 
Demons,  dogs  as  enemies  of,  65. 
Derbyshire,    Magdalenian    art    in, 

53- 
Deva,  Devona,  Dee,  Rivers,  206. 
■  Devil  as  "  Big  Black  Pig  "  in  Scot- 
land, 200. 

—  as  Black  Sow  in  Wales,  200. 

—  as  pig,  goat,  and  horse,  191. 
Devon,  Damnonians  in,  89. 

—  Magdalenian  art  in,  54. 
Diamond,  The  night-shining,  160. 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians,   fig  tree 

and,  193. 

Diancecht,  Irish  god  of  healing, 
202. 

Diarmid,  Gaelic  Adonis,  197. 

Diodorus  Siculus,  on  gold  mining, 
90. 

reference  to  British  temple  to 

Apollo,  177. 

Disease,  deity  who  sends  also  with- 
draws, 179. 

—  ancient  man  suffered  from,  2. 

—  "  Yellow  Plague  ",2. 

Dog,  The  Big,  god  Indra  as,  196. 

—  The  Sacred,  154,  i55  («V/.). 

—  taboo  to  Cuchullin,  154,  and 
also  note  3.     See  Dogs. 

Dogger  Bank,  ancient  plateau,  68. 

animal  bones,  &c.,  from,  57, 

61. 

Island,  69. 

Dog  gods,  64. 


240 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


Dogs,  children  transformed  into, 
190. 

—  domesticated  by  Maglemosians, 
57,63. 

—  religious  beliefs  regarding,  63. 

—  early  man's  dependence  on,  65. 

—  in  ancient  Britain  and  Ireland,  66. 

—  in  warfare,  66. 

—  exported  from  Britain   in   first 
century  a.d.,  114. 

Dog  Star,  The,  64. 

Dolmen,    The.       See    Megalithic 

monuments. 
Domnu,   tribal  goddess   of  Dam- 

nonians,  90. 
Don,  the  Children  of,  203. 
Doves,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Dragon,   Bride's    Scottish  serpent 

charm  and  Chinese  charm,  188. 

—  Hebridean,  190. 

—  Irish,  and  the  salmon,  182, 

—  otter  and,  189. 

—  on  sculptured  stone,  155  {ill.). 

—  luck  pearls  of,  184. 

—  stones  as  eggs  of,  173. 
Dragon-mouth  Lake,  The  Irish,  1 83 . 
Dragon  Slayers,  the,  Druids  and, 

145. 
Druid  Circle,  the  Inverness,  220. 
Druidism,  140. 

—  belief  in  British  origin  of,  142. 

—  doctrines  absorbed  by,  222. 

—  eastern  orgin  of,  149. 

—  in  ancient  Spain,  149, 

—  Pliny  on  Persian  religion  and, 
143,  and  also  note  i. 

—  oak  cult,  145. 

—  tree  cults  and,  141. 
Druids,  in  Anglesea,  103. 

—  human  sacrifices  of,  103. 

—  "  Christ  is  my  Druid  ",  146. 

—  the  collar  of  truth,  146. 

—  connection  of,  with  megalithic 
monuments,  103,  154. 

—  and  oak,  141. 

—  classical  references  to,  141. 

—  "  Druid's  gem  ",  163. 

—  evidence  of,  regarding  races  in 
Gaul,  100, 

—  Tacitus  on  Anglesea  Druids,  147. 

—  -  temples  of,  177. 

—  "  True  Thomas  "  (the  Rhymer) 
as  *'  Druid  Thomas  ",  146. 

—  sacred  salmon  and,  182. 


Druids,  salmon  and  dragon  myth, 
182. 

—  star  lore  of,  175, 

—  Kentigern  of  Glasgow  as  Chris- 
tian Druid,  185. 

—  wren  connection,  145. 

—  soothsayers,  145,  146. 
Dug-out  canoes,  origin  of,  72.   See 

Boats. 

Dumnogeni,  The,  in  Yarrow  in- 
scription, 89. 

Dumnonii,  128.   See  Damnonians. 

—  Fomorians  as  gods  of,  198. 

—  Silures  and,  129. 
Dunatis,  Gaulish  Mars,  207. 
Durotriges,  in  Britain  and  Ireland, 

128. 
Dwyn,   St.,    formerly    a    goddess, 

204. 
Dwynwen,  British  Venus,  204. 

Eagle,  the  Sacred,  155  {ill.). 

—  wren  and,  in  myth,  186. 
Ear-rings,  as  solar  symbols,  165. 
East,    The,     "  Evil    never    came 

from  ",     168.         See     Cardinal 
Points. 
Easterners,   colonies   of,   in   Spain 
and  Portugal,  95,  100,  211,  218, 
229. 

—  descendants     of,     in     Britain, 
118. 

—  displacement  of,  in  Spain,  100, 
221. 

—  Druidism       introduced       into 
Europe  by,  149. 

—  as  exploiters  of  Western  Europe, 
98. 

—  settlements  of,  in   France  and 
Etruria,  100. 

—  in  Hebrides,  139. 

—  influence  of,  in  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, 221. 

—  iron  industry  and,  107. 

—  not  all  of  one  race,  107. 

—  Neolithic  industry  of,  214. 

—  in  touch  with  Britain  at  1400 
B.C.,  106. 

—  in  Western  Europe,  218,  229. 
Eel,  Morrigan  as,  195. 

Eels,  as  "  devil  fish  "  in  Scotland, 
190. 

—  tabooed  in  Scotland,  199. 
Eggs,  Dragons',  stones  as,  173. 


INDEX 


241 


Egypt,  alabaster  flasks,  &c.,  from, 
in  Neolithic  Spain,  96. 

—  artificial  shells  in,  41,  173. 

—  barley  of,  carried  to  Europe,  84. 
^  —  black  and  white  goddesses  of, 

164. 

—  blue  beads   from,  in  England, 
104,  105  {ill.),  106,  211. 

—  Cat  goddess  of,  196. 

—  culture     of,     transferred     with 
barley  seeds,  212. 

—  "  Deathless     snake  "    of,    and 
Scottish  serpent,  188. 

—  dog-headed  god  of,  64. 

—  earliest  sailing  ship  in,  74. 

—  earliest  use  of  gold  in,  80. 

—  malachite  charms  in,  80. 

—  flint  sickles  of,  4. 

—  furnaces    and    crucibles   of,    in 
Western  Europe,  loi. 

—  Hathor  and  Aphrodite,  38. 

—  shell  amulets  in  early  graves  in, 

39- 

—  Isis  as  "  Old  Wife  ",  181,  and 
also  note  2. 

—  gods  in  weapons,  51. 

—  gold  in,  90,  93. 

—  gold  diadem  from,  in  Spanish 
Neolithic  tomb,  98. 

—  gold  models  of  shells  in,  41. 

—  green  stone  symbolism,  33. 

—  Hathor  as  milk  goddess,  149. 

—  history  of  agriculture  in,  210. 

—  ideas  regarding  soul  in,  103. 

—  influence  of,  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Europe,  95. 

—  influence  of,  in  Britain,  218. 

—  invention  of  boats  in,  72. 

—  ivory  from,  found  in  Spain,  96. 

—  Ka  and  serpent,  189. 

—  milk  elixir  in  Pyramid  Texts,  43. 

—  milk  goddess  of,  in  Scotland, 
221. 

—  Mother    Pot    of,    and     Celtic 
cauldron,  206. 

—  Osirian    Underworld    Paradise, 
143. 

—  pork  taboo  in,  201. 

—  annual  sacrifice  of  pigs  in  Scot- 
land and,  201. 

—  Post-Glacial  forests  of,  15. 

—  pre -dynastic    burial    customs, 
170. 

—  sex  colours  in,  170, 

(D217) 


Egypt,  proto-Egyptians  and  British 
Iberians,  126. 

—  red  jasper  as  "  Blood  of  Isis  ", 

—  "  Red  Souls  "  in  "  Red  Land  ", 

32. 

—  why  gods  of,  were  painted,  32. 

—  religious    ideas    of,    in    Britain, 
154,  201,  206,  218,  221. 

—  stones,  pearls,  metals,  &c.,  and 
deities  of,  80. 

—  symbols  of,  in  Celtic  art,  118. 

—  transmigration  of  souls,  143. 
Elk,  on  Dogger  Bank,  57,  68. 
Elm,  221. 

Enamel,  224. 

—  British,  the  finest,  225. 

—  coral  and,  162. 

—  as  substitute  for  coral,  165. 

—  turquoise,    lapis    lazuli,    white 
amber  and,  165. 

Enamels,   colours   of  the   British, 

226. 
Eoliths,  13,  26. 
Epidii,  The,  129. 
Ep6na,  Celtic  goddess   of  horses, 

208. 
Eskimo,  the  Chancelade  skull,  53. 

—  Magdalenian  art  of,  53. 
Etruscans,  149. 

—  Celts  as  conquerors  of,  112. 

—  civilization  of,  origin  of,  100. 
European  metal-yielding  areas,  99. 
Evil  Eye,  The,  shells  as  protection 

against,  39. 

Fairies,  associated  with  the  west, 

173. 

—  dogs  as  enemies  of,  65. 

—  on    eddies    of    western    wind, 

173. 

—  Greek  nereids  and,  173. 

—  Fomorians  (giants)  at  war  with, 
198. 

—  goddess    as    "  fairy    woman  ", 
207. 

—  shell  boat  of,  207. 

—  Irish  "  queens  "  of,  201. 

—  as  milkers  of  deer,  154. 

—  as   "  the   mothers  "   in  Wales, 
206. 

—  Picts  and,  131,  and  also  note  i. 

—  Scottish  "  Nimble  Men  "  and 
"  Blue  Men  ",  208. 

17a 


242 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Fairies,  as  supernatural  beings,  201, 

and  also  note  2. 
Fairy  dogs,  64. 
Fairyland,  as  Paradise,  144. 
— Thomas  the  Rhymer  in  Paradise 

of,  146. 
Fata  Morgana,  161, 
Fauna,  Post-Glacial,  in   Southern 

and  Western  Europe,  14. 
Festus  Avienus,  116. 
Figs,  hazel-nuts  and,  151. 
Fig  milk,  149. 

—  trees,  bees  and  wasps  fertilize, 

193- 

—  tree,  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  and, 

193. 
Finger  charms,  47. 
Finger  -  mutilation,      Aurignacian 

custom,  47. 

—  Australian,    Red    Indian,    and 
Scottish  customs,  47. 

Fir,  The  Sacred,  179. 
Fir-bolgs,  The,  188. 

—  as  miners,  90,  and  also  note  i. 

—  as  slaves.  90. 

—  Celts  as  subduers  of,  107. 

—  subject  peoples  called,  223. 
Fir-domnan,  90,  and  also  note  i. 
Fir-domnann,  118. 

—  Fomorians  as  gods  of,  198.    See 
Damnonians  and  Dumnonii. 

Fire,  Beltain  need  fires,  191. 

—  Brigit  and,  188. 

—  butterfly  as  god  of,  in  Gaelic, 
191. 

—  God  Dagda  and,  202. 

—  goddess  and,  163. 

—  Mexican  god  of,   as   butterfly, 

193- 

—  pool  fish  and,  182. 

—  salmon  and,  183. 

—  Scottish  goddess  of,  181. 

—  in  red  berries,  181. 

—  in  St.  Mungo  myth,  186. 

—  from  trees,  180. 

—  lightning  and,  181. 

—  worshipped  in  ancient  Britain, 
147. 

Fire-sticks,  The,  180. 

"  Fire  water  "  as  "  water  of  life  ", 

181. 
Fish  taboo,  201. 
Flax,  Stone  Age  people  cultivated, 

5. 


Flint,  as  god,  51. 

Flints,  in  Aurignacian  cave- tomb, 
45. 

—  as  offerings  to  deity,  50. 
Flint  deposits,  English,  81. 
early  peoples  settled  beside, 

81. 
river-drift  man  in  England 

near,  81. 
Flint  industry,  Tardenoisian  micro- 

liths  used  by  Maglemosians,  57. 

—  working,   ancient   English   flint 
factories,  82. 

Auri^acian,    13,    14.       See 

Palceolithic. 
Aurignacian,  Solutrean,  and 

Magdalenian   implements    («"//.)> 

21. 
Chellean  coup  de  poing  (tll.)^ 

14. 
"  Combe  -  Capelle  "    man's, 

25. 
early  English  trade  in  worked 

flints,  81. 
eastern    influence    in    Neo- 
lithic industry,  214. 
Egyptian  origin  of  Spanish 

Neolithic  industry,  97. 

the  evolution  theory,  99. 

Hugh  Miller's  and  Andrew 

Lang's  theories  regarding,  11. 
Neanderthal  and  pre-Nean- 

derthal,  12. 

Neolithic  saws  or  sickles,  4. 

Palaeolithic    and    Neolithic, 

212. 
Tardenoisian    microliths    or 

"  pygmy  flints  ",  54,  55  (ill.). 
proto-Solutrean  and  "  true  " 

Solutrean,  49. 
Flint-god,  the  Solutrean,  51. 

—  Zeus  and  Thor  as,  51. 
Foam,  as  milk,  151. 
Fomorians,  duels  of,  in  Scotland, 

199. 

—  as  gods  of  Dumnonii,  198. 

—  Neit  as  war  god,  202. 

—  Nemon  as  goddess  of,  202. 

—  war  of,  with  fairies,  198,  199. 
Fowl  taboo  in  ancient  Britain,  201. 
Freyja,  Scandinavian  V^enus,  161. 

—  pearls,  amber,  &c.,  as  tears  of, 
161. 

Furfooz  man,  56. 


INDEX 


^43 


Gaelic  Calendar,  198. 
Galatia,  Celts  in,  112. 
Galley  Hill  man,  26. 
Gaul,  Celts  of,  in  Roman  army, 
127. 

—  early  inhabitants  of,  100. 

—  refugees  from  sea-invaded  areas    ' 
in,  70. 

Gaulish  gods,  207. 

Gems,  "  Druid's  gem  ",  163. 

—  night-shining,  160. 

—  as  soul-bodies,  44. 
Geological  Ages,  breaking  of  North 

Sea  and  English  Channel  land- 
bridges,  69. 

confusion      regarding,      in 

modern  art,  i. 

date  of  last  land  movement, 

100. 

megalithic  monuments  sub- 
merged, 100. 

early  boats  and,  72. 

England     in      Magdalenian 

times,  54. 

: sixth    glaciation    and    race 

movements,  54. 

England  sinking  when  Scot- 
land was  rising,  71. 

last  land  movement,  70,  100. 

horizon      of      Cr6-Magnon 

races,  26. 

Pleistocene  fauna  in  Europe, 

14. 

Archaeological  Ages  and,  14. 

Post- Glacial  and    the    early 

Archaeological,  13,  14,  15. 

—  —  theories  of  durations  of,  16, 
17,  18. 

Giants,  associated  with  the  north, 

173. 

—  (Fomorians)  as  gods,  198. 

—  war  of,  with  fairies,  198. 

—  Scottish,    named    after    heroes, 
131,  and  also  note  i . 

Glas,  as  "  water  ",  "  amber  ",  &c., 

162,  163. 
Glasgow,  seal  of  city  of,  185. 
Glass,  connection  of,  with  goddess, 

163. 

—  imported   into   Britain   in   first 
century  a.d.,  114. 

Goat,  Devil  as,  191. 
God,  in  stone,  173. 
God-cult,  Solutreans  and,  51. 

(D217) 


God-cult,  stone  as  god,  51,  173. 
Goddess,  Anu  (Danu),  198,  201. 

as  "  fairy  queen  "  in  Ireland, 

201,  202. 

—  bird  forms  of,  195. 

—  Black  Annis,  195. 

—  Black  Aphrodite.  164. 

—  Black  goddess  of  Scotland,  164. 

—  The  Blue,  173. 

—  Bride  (Brigit)  and  her  serpent, 

—  Brigit  as  goddess  of  healing, 
smith- work,  and  poetry,  188. 

—  cat  forms  of,  196. 

—  connection  of,  with  amber  and 
swine  deities,  161. 

—  connection  of,  with  glass,  163. 

—  connection  of,  with  grove,  sky, 
pearl,  &c.,  in  Celtic  religion, 
158-60,  162,  179,  206. 

—  animals  and  plants  of,  162. 

—  cult  animals  of,  154,  161,  162, 
195,  196,  200. 

—  eel  and,  200. 

—  eel,  wolf,  &c.,  forms  of,  195. 
• —  Egyptian  milk  goddess,  149. 

—  Indian  milk  goddess,  151. 

—  Gaulish     goddess     Ro-smerta, 

174- 

—  influences  of,  179. 

—  groups  of  "  mothers  ",  206. 

—  Hebridean  "  maiden  queen  ", 
221. 

—  honeysuckle  as  milk  -  yielding 
plant,  193. 

—  bee  and,  193. 

—  luck  and,  167. 

—  Morrigan  comes  from  north- 
west, 173. 

—  wind  goddess  from  south-west, 

173. 

—  Scottish  Artemis,  174,  196. 

—  The  Mother,  Aurignacians 
favoured,  51. 

connection  of,  with  law  and 

trade,  166. 

Cro-Magnon  form  of,  42,  51. 

jasper  as  blood  of,  45 . 

—  —  her  life-giving  shells,  40. 
shell-milk    Highland    myth, 

42. 

—  The  mother-pot,  205. 

—  rivers  and,  206. 

—  Oriental,  in  Spain,  220. 

17a2 


244 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Goddess,  pearl,  &c.,  offerings  to, 

174. 

—  precious  stones  of,  221. 

—  Scottish  hag  goddess,  174,  196. 

—  Indian  Kali,  196. 

—  shell  and  milk  Hebridean  god- 
dess, 153. 

Gods,  animal  forms  of,  196. 

—  Danann  deities,  198. 

—  deity  who  sends  diseases  with- 
draws them,  179, 

—  influences  of,  179. 

—  Gaelic  references  to,  140,  179. 

—  Hazel  god,  140,  150. 

—  Gaelic  fire  god,  140. 

—  "  King  of  the  Elements  ",  179. 

—  Romano-Gaulish,  207. 
Goibniu,  Irish  god  and  the  Welsh 

Govannan,  203. 
Gold,  amber  and,  165. 

—  coins  of,  in  pre-Roman  Britain, 
223. 

—  deposits  of,  in  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, 79,  84,  89,  91,  95,  114,  219, 
220. 

—  mixed  with  silver  in  Sutherland, 
91- 

—  earliest  use  of,  in  Egypt,  80. 

—  copper  used  like,  80. 

—  Egyptian  diadem  of,  found  in 
Neolithic  Spain,  98. 

—  in  England  (map),  83. 

—  exported  from  Britain  in  first 
century  a.d.,  114. 

—  finds  of,  in  Scotland,  220. 

—  first  metal  worked,  84. 

—  as  a  "  form  of  the  gods  ",  80. 

—  as  "  fire,  light,  and  immorta- 
lity ",  80. 

—  as  "  life  giver  ",  80. 

—  Gaelic  god  and,  102. 

—  Gauls  offered,  to  water  deity, 

174. 

—  how  miners  worked,  90. 

—  "  World  Mill  "  myth,  90. 

—  ingot  of,  from  salmon,  184. 

—  luck  of,  166. 

—  no  trace  of  where  worked  out, 

93- 

—  not  valued  by  hunting  peoples  in 
Europe,  99. 

—  offered  to  deities  by  Celts,  80. 

—  psychological  motive  for 
searches  for,  94. 


Gold,  knowledge  and  skill  of 
searchers  for,  in  Britain,  95. 

—  ring  in  St.  Mungo  legend, 
185. 

—  rod  of,  at  Inverness  stone  circle, 
220. 

—  in  salmon  myths,  183. 

—  Scottish  deposits  of,  89. 

—  search  for,  in  Britain,  214,  217, 

—  shells  imitated  in,  41,  80. 

—  trade  in,  219. 

—  as  tree,  221. 
Goodwin  Sands,  69. 

Goose,   taboo   in   ancient   Britain, 

201. 
Govannan.     See  Goibniu. 
Grail,  The  Holy,  205. 
Grannos,  Gaulish  Apollo,  207. 
Gregory  the  Great,  letter  from,  to 

Mellitus,  176. 
Grimaldi,   Indian   Ocean  shell   in 

Aurignacian  cave  at,  36. 
Grove,  The  sacred,  Celtic  names  of, 

159- 

Latin  "  nemus  ",  159. 

Gwydion,  the  god,  Odin  and,  204. 

Hades,  dog  and,  64. 

Hallowe'en,    pig    associated    with, 

200. 
Hallstatt  culture,  Celts  influenced 

by,  112. 
Hand-prints,  in  Aurignacian  caves, 

47. 

—  four  colours  used,  47. 

—  dwellings  protected  by,  in  India 
and  Spain,  47. 

—  Arabian,  Turkish,  &c.,  customs, 

47. 
Hare,  taboo  in  ancient  Britain,  201 
Harpoon,  62. 

—  Victoria  cave,  late  Magdalenian 
or  proto-Azilian,  58. 

—  finds  of,  in  England  and  Scot- 
land, 58. 

—  Azilians  imitated  Magdalenian 
reindeer  horn  in  red  deer  horn, 
56. 

—  Magdalenians  introduced,  52. 
Hazel,  nut  of,  as  fruit  of  longevity, 

144. 

—  as  god,  150,  179. 

—  in  early  Christian  legends,  150. 

—  as  milk-yielding  tree,  150. 


INDEX 


245 


Hazel,  as  sacred  tree,  150. 

—  nuts  of,  as  food.  151. 

—  palm  tree  and,  221. 

—  The  Sacred,  150,  179. 

—  connection  of,  with  sky,  wells, 
&c.,  179. 

—  snakes  and,  189. 

—  in  St.  Mungo  (St.  Kentigern) 
myth,  186. 

—  sacred  fire  from,  186. 

—  Groves,     Sacred,     "  Caltons  " 
were,  150. 

Heart,  as  seat  of  life,  154. 

—  as  seat  of  life  to  Cr6-Magnons 
and  Ancient  Egyptians,  32. 

Heaven  as  South,  170. 
Hebrides,  dark  folks  in,  138. 

—  descendants   of   Easterners   in, 
118. 

—  "  Maiden  Queen  "  of,  221. 

—  reroofing  custom  in,  178. 

—  Sea  god  of,  193, 

—  traces  of  metals  in,  117. 

—  as  the  CEstrymnides,  118. 
Heifer,   milk  of,   in   honeysuckle, 

193- 
Hell,  as  North.  See  Cardinal  Points. 
Herbs,  ceremonial  gathering  of,  168. 

—  life  substance  in,  206. 

—  lore  of,  167. 

—  from  tears  of  sun  god,  181,  and 
also  note  3. 

—  Silvanus,  god  of,  207. 

Hills,  Gildas  on  worship  of,  176, 

178. 
Himilco,  voyage  of,  116. 
Homer,  reference  of,  to  cremation, 

no. 
Honey,  in  baptisms,  152. 

—  as  life-substance,  193. 

—  nut   milk   and,    150,    and   also 
note  I. 

—  in  "  soma  "  and  "  mead  ",  151. 
Honeysuckle,  butterfly  and,  193. 

—  honey  and  milk  of,  193. 
Horn  implements,  82. 

Magdalenians  favoured,  52. 

Horse,  Demeter  and,  196. 

—  domesticated  by  Azilians,  55. 

—  domesticated  by  Cro-Magnons, 
53. 

—  eaten  in  Scotland,  200. 

—  Ep6na,    Celtic    horse    goddess, 
208. 


Horse,  The  Sacred,  155  (ill.). 

—  god,  129,  and  also  note  2. 
Horse-shoe  charms,  47. 
Hound's  Pool,  64. 
Houses,  Neolithic,  5. 

Human  sacrifices,  children  as,  174. 

Iberians,  Armenoids  and,  127. 

—  as  carriers  of  Neolithic  culture, 
126. 

—  Celts  and,  125. 

—  Silurians  as,  137. 

Ice,  connection  of,  with  amber,  &c., 

163. 
Ice  Age.     See  Geological  Ages. 
Iceni,  The,  of  Essex,  128. 

—  boar  god  of,  162. 

Idols,  in  ancient  Britain,  147,  176. 

—  Pope  Gregory's  reference  to 
ancient  English,  176. 

Indo-European  theory,  124. 
Indo- Germanic  theory,  124. 
Indra,  dog  and,  64. 
Ireland,  as  a  British  island,  132. 
Iron,    exported    from    Britain    in 

first  century,  A.D.,  114. 
Iron  Age,  Celts  in,  112. 
Iron  industry.  Easterners  and,  in 

Western  Europe,  107. 
Island  of  Women,  178. 
Isles  of  the  Blest,  Gaelic,  143, 
Ivory,  associated  with  bronze,  jet, 

and  Egyptian  beads  in  England, 

104. 

—  in  Cro-Magnon  grotto,  23. 

—  Egyptian,  in  Neolithic  Spain, 
96. 

—  imported  into  Britain  in  first 
century  a.d.,  114. 

—  in  Welsh  cave-tomb,  20. 

Jade,  butterfly  soul  in,  193. 
Japan,  the  shintai  (god  body)  and 
Gaelic  "  soul  case  ",  173. 

—  talismans  of,  and  the  Irish,  206. 
Jasper,  symbolism  of,  221. 

Jet,  amber  and,  164. 

—  British  and  Roman  beliefs  re- 
garding, 164. 

—  as  article  of  trade  at  1400  B.C., 
106. 

—  associated  in  Stonehenge  area 
with  Egyptian  blue  beads,  104, 
105  (i//.),  106. 


246 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN   BRITAIN 


Jet,  early  trade  in,  219. 

—  early  working  of,  82. 

—  megalithic  people  searched  for, 

93- 

—  pearls  and  amber  and,  221. 
Jupiter,  The  Gaulish,  207. 

—  Lapis,  51. 
Jutes,  126. 

—  Celts  and,  227. 

Kali,  the  Black,  196. 
Kentigern,  St.,  as  Druid,  185. 

in  salmon  and  ring  legend, 

184. 
Kent's  Cavern,  Magdalenian  art  in, 

54. 
Kerridiwen,  the  goddess,  cauldron 

of,  204. 
Knife  of  deity,  206. 
Knitting,  Stone  Age  people  and,  5. 

—  relation  to   basket-making  and 
pottery,  5. 

Lake,  the  Sacred,  goddess  and,  180. 
Lanarkshire,  Damnonians  in,  89. 
Land-bridges,  breaking  of  North 

Sea  and  English  Channel  bridges, 

69. 

—  Dogger  Bank,  57,  61,  67,  68. 

—  English  Channel,  17,  67. 

—  Italian,  14,  35. 

Land  movement,  the  last,  216. 
Language  and  race,  123,  124,  222. 
Language  of  birds.     See  Birds. 
La  Tene  culture,  Celts  as  carriers 

of,  to  Britain,  112. 
'Leicestershire,  Black  Annis,  a  hag 

deity  of,  195. 
Lewis,  Callernish  stone  circle,  94. 
Lightning,  butterfly  form  of  god  of, 

191. 

—  as  heavenly  fire,  181. 

—  and  trees,  181. 

Lir,  sea  god,  202.     See  Llyr. 

—  sea  god,  "  Shony  "  and,  194. 
Liver  as  seat  of  life  in  Gaelic,  154, 

187. 

—  cure  from  mouse's,  187. 
Lizard  as  soul -form,  189. 
Lieu,  the  god,  204. 

Llyr,  sea  god,  202.     See  Lir. 

—  the  sea  god,  **  Shony  "  and,  194. 
I-K>ndon,  god's  name  in,  203. 
Love-enticing  plants,  168. 


Luck,  belief  in,  157. 

—  berries  and,  180. 

—  fire  as  bringer  of,  191. 

—  lucky  and  unlucky  days,  168. 

—  pearls  and,  166,  167. 
Lud,  god  of  London,  203. 

—  form  of,  203 . 

Lugh,  Celtic  god,  associated  with 
north-east,  173. 

—  Gaelic  Apollo,  202. 
Lugi,  The,  129. 

Maeatae,  The,  Picts  and  Caledonians 
and,  130. 

Magdalenian  culture,  13. 

Azilian  and,  62. 

Eskimo  art  and,  53. 

in  Britain,  53. 

origin  of,  52. 

new  implements,  52. 

traces    of    influence    of,    in 

Scotland,  60. 

Victoria  cave  reindeer  har- 
poon, 58. 

—  cave  art  revival  and  progress,  53. 

—  implements,  21  {ill.). 

—  pre- Agricultural,  213. 
Maggot  god,  early  Christian  myth 

of,  103. 

bees  and,  103. 

Gaelic,  102. 

Magic  wands,  146,  191. 

Etruscan,  French  and  Scot- 
tish, ICO. 

Maglemosian  culture,  54,  56. 

art  and,  57. 

Magdalenian  influence  on,  57. 

Siberian  origin  of,  57. 

artifacts  and,  13. 

in  Britain,  125. 

Northerners    as   carriers   of, 

217. 

pre- Agricultural,  213. 

Maglemosians,  boats  of,  76. 

—  animals  hunted,  57. 

—  land-bridges  crossed  by,  57. 

—  in  France  and  Britain,  58. 

—  in  Britain,  70. 

—  Celts  and,  138. 

—  Dogger  Bank  land  -  bridge 
crossed  by,  57,  67. 

—  dogs  domesticated  by,  63. 

—  Tardenoisian  microliths  used 
by,  58. 


INDEX 


247 


Malachite  charms,  80. 
Mammoth,  bones  of,  from  Dogger 
Bank,  68. 

—  evidence    (ill.)    that   heart   was 
regarded  as  seat  of  life,  33. 

—  in  Western  Europe,  14.       See 
Fauna. 

Man,  the  Red,  of  Wales,  ornaments 

of,  80. 
Mars,  the  Gaulish,  207. 

—  Greek  and  Gaulish  boar  forms 
of,  197. 

Marsh  plants,  goddess  and,  162. 
Mead,  milk  and  honey  in,  151. 
Meave,  Queen,  112,  114,  227. 
Mediterranean  race  in  North  Africa 
and  Britain,  126. 

—  Sea,   divided    by   Italian   land- 
bridge,  14. 

Megalithic    culture,    Egyptian    in- 
fluence in  Britain,  &c.,  loi. 

—  monuments,  burial  customs  and, 
170. 

connection  of,  with  ancient 

mine  workings,  &c.,  92,  93. 

connection    of,    with    metal 

deposits,  82. 

connection   of,   with   sacred 

groves,  103. 

cult    animals    on    Scottish, 

155  (m. 

"  cup-marked  "  stones,  148. 

knocking  stones,  148. 

Gruagach  stone,  148. 

**  cradle  stone  ",  148. 

child- getting  stones,  148. 

distributed   along   vast   sea- 
board. 91. 
searchers  for  metals,  gems, 

&c.,  erected,  92. 

distribution  of,  82,  83  (ill.). 

distribution  of  Scottish,  219. 

Druids  and,  103,  154. 

Easterners  and  followers  of, 

as  builders  of,  104,  149. 
— •  —  Egyptian  Empire  beads  ancj 

Stonehenge  circle,  104,  105  (ill.), 

106. 

Gaelic  gods  and,  102. 

Gaelic  metal  symbolism  and, 

102. 
Gaelic  name  of  sacred  shrine, 

159. 
Phoenicians  and,  149. 


Megalithic  monuments,  their  rela- 
tion to  exhausted  deposits  of 
metals,  94. 

problem  of  Lewis  and  Ork- 
ney circles,  94. 

Standing  Stones  as  maidens 

147. 

Tacitus   on   Anglesea  altars 

and  Druids,  147. 

Stonehenge  as  temple,  177. 

Heathen  temples  and,  178. 

stone  circle  as  sun  symbol, 

170. 

stones  submerged  in  Brittany, 

100. 

Tree  Cult  and,  220. 

worship  of  stones,  147,  179. 

connection  of,  with  trees  and 

wells,  147. 

Mentone,  Aurignacian  Mother- 
goddess,  43. 

—  Indian  Ocean  shell  in  Aurigna- 
cian cave  at,  36. 

Mersey,  the,  goddess  of,  206. 
Mesopotamia,  influence  of,  in  Wes- 
tern Europe,  218. 

—  knowledge  of  European  metal 
fields  in,  99. 

Metals,  eastern  colonists  worked,  in 
Spain,  95. 

—  Egyptian  furnaces  and  crucibles 
in  Britain,  loi. 

—  megalithic  monuments  and  de- 
posits of,  82. 

—  searchers  for,  in  Britain,  89. 

—  searchers  for;  how  prospectors 
located  deposits  of  gold,  &c., 
89. 

—  traces  of,  in  Scotland,  93. 
Metal  symbolism,  Gaelic  gods  and 

metals,   102.     See  Gold,  Silver, 

Copper,  and  Bronze. 
Metal  working,  after  introduction 

of  bronze  working,  106. 
Mictis,  tin  from,  1 16. 
Milk,  baptisms  of,  152. 

—  in  the  blood  covenant,  152. 

—  children  sacrificed  for  corn  and 
milk,  174. 

—  cult  animals  of  milk  goddess, 

'54- 

—  dandelion  as  milk-yielding  plant 
of  goddess  Bride,  187. 

—  in  elixirs,  151. 


248 


ANCIENT    MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Milk,  "soma"  and  "mead"  and, 
151. 

—  elm  as  milk  tree,  151. 

—  foam  as  milk,  151. 

—  goddess-cow  gives  healing  milk, 
195. 

—  Hebridean  milk  goddess,  153. 
221. 

—  honeysuckle  as  milk-yielding 
plant,  193. 

—  Indian  evidence  regarding 
"  river  milk  "  and  milk-yielding 
trees,  151. 

—  Irish  milk  lake,  152. 

—  healing  baths  of,  152. 

—  marsh  mallows  and,  152,  and 
also  note  i. 

—  mistletoe  berries  as  milk  berries, 
153. 

—  Oblations  of,  in  Ross-shire,  148. 

—  offerings  of,  to  dead,  148. 

—  elixir.  Highland  shell  -  goddess 
myth,  42. 

Egyptian  evidence  regarding, 

43. 
prepared     from     shells     in 

Japan  and  Scotland,  40. 

—  goddess,  Hathor  as,  149. 
Milky  Way,  The,  154,  221. 

in  ancient  religion,  150. 

in  Welsh  and  Gaelic,  203. 

Mind,  heart  as,  33. 

Mining,  Egyptian  methods  in  Wes- 
tern Europe,  102. 
Mistletoe,  as  "  All  Heal  ",  153, 167. 

—  milk  berries,  153. 

—  trees  on  which  it  grows  in  Bri- 
tain, 145,  and  also  note  2. 

Modern  man,  9.    See  Crd-Magnon 

Races. 
Mogounus,  a  Gaulish  Apollo,  207. 
Moon,  Aphrodite   as   goddess  of, 

159. 

—  Dante  refers  to,  as  pearl,  159. 

—  Gaels  swore  by,  148. 

—  as  "  Pearl  of  Heaven  ",  159. 

—  worship  of,  in  ancient  Britain, 
147. 

Morgan  le  Fay,  Arthur's  pursuit  of, 

198. 

goddess  Anu  and,  198. 

as  "  life  giver  ",  161. 

Morrigan,    The    (Irish    goddess), 

Anu  and,  198. 


Morrigan,  associated  with  north- 
west, 173. 

—  as  the  "  life  giver  ",  161. 

—  forms  of,  195. 

Mother  goddess.     See  Goddess. 
Moths  as  soul  forms,  192. 
Mouse,  buried  under  apple  tree, 
196. 

—  hunting  of,  in  Scotland,  187. 

—  mouse  cures,  187. 

—  Scottish  supernatural,  187. 

—  Apollo  and,  179. 
mouse  feasts,  187. 

—  cures,  Boers  have,  187,  and  also 
note  2. 

—  feasts  in  Scotland  and  the 
Troad,  187. 

Mousterian  Age,  13. 

artifacts  of,  14. 

Neanderthal  races  of,  14. 

Mungo,  St.,  as  Druid,  185,  186. 
salmon  legend  of,  184. 

Navigation.     See  Boats. 

Neanderthal  man,  Cro-Magnon  in- 
fluence on,  14. 

disappearance  of,  15,  16,  122. 

European  climates  experi- 
enced by,  14. 

relations  of,  with  Crd-Mag- 
non races,  14. 

first  discovery  of  bones  of, 

8,9. 

skeleton  of,  found,  9. 

Australian  natives  and,  9. 

description  of,  9,  10. 

flint  working  of,  12. 

Mousterian  artifacts  of,  14. 

Piltdown  man  and,  26. 

Necklaces  in  Cro-Magnon  grotto, 

23- 

—  Cro  -  Magnon    sea    shells,    39 

—  Egyptian  blue  beads  in  British 
"  Bronze  Age  "  necklace,  104, 
104,  IDS  (tV/.),  106. 

—  as  gods,  44. 

—  in  graves,  158. 

—  shell,  in  Welsh  Aurignacian  cave- 
tomb,  20. 

—  why  worn,  37. 
Need  fires,  181. 

butterfly  and,  191. 

Neit,  god  of  battle,  202. 


INDEX 


249 


Nem^  the  root  in  neamh  (heaven), 
neamhnuid  (pearl),  nemeton 
(shrine  in  a  grove),  wewe^ (chapel), 
neimhidh  (church-land),  nemii^ 
(a  grove),  Nemon  (goddess),  and 
Nemetdna  (goddess),  159,  160. 

Nemgtona,  British  goddess,  159. 

Nemon,  the  goddess,  a  Fomorian, 
202. 

—  Irish  goddess,  and  pearl,  heaven, 
&c.,  159- 

Neolithic,   chronological   problem, 
212. 

—  Egyptian  diadem  of  gold  found 
in  Spanish  Neolithic  tomb,  98. 

—  Egyptian  origin  of  Spanish  Neo- 
lithic industry,  97,  214. 

—  metal  workers  as  flint  users,  98. 

—  Scottish    copper    axe    problem, 
219. 

—  why  ornaments  were  worn,  37, 

—  Age,    transition    period    longer 
than, 61. 

—  Culture,  Iberians  as  carriers  of, 
126. 

—  Industry,  carriers  of,  attracted 
to  Britain,  78. 

distribution     of    population 

and, 81-4. 

"  Edge  "  theory,  61. 

Campigny  find,  62. 

in  Ireland,  85. 

in  Scotland,  85. 

Scottish  pitch-stone  artifacts, 

85. 
carriers   of,   not   wanderers, 

86. 

a  lost  art,  86. 

Nereids,  the,  fairies  and,  173. 
Ness,  the  River,  206. 
Night-shining  gems,  160. 
Norsemen,  126. 

—  modern  Scots  and,  137. 
Northern  fair  race,  125. 
Northerners,  Armenoids  and,  127. 
Novantae,  The,  129. 
Nudd,  the  god,  203. 
Nut,  as  "  soul  case  ",  173. 
Nut-milk,  150. 

—  — honey    and,    as    elixir,    ii^o, 
and  also  note  i . 

Nuts,  life  substance  in,  206. 

—  of  longevity,  150. 


Oak,  221. 

—  acorn    as    fruit    of    longevity, 
144. 

—  Druids  and,  141,  145. 

—  Black  Annis  and,  196. 

—  Galatian  oak  grove  and  shrine, 
159. 

—  on  Glasgow  seal,  185. 

—  god  of,  and  seafarers    153. 

—  god  Dagda  and,  202. 

—  the  Sacred,  179. 

—  use  of  acorns,  153. 

—  in  tanning,  153. 

—  Spirits,  207. 

Oaths,  Sacred,  Gaels  swore  by  sun, 

moon,  &c.,  148. 
Oban,  Mac  Arthur  Cave,  58,  217. 
Obsidian  artifacts,  86. 
Odin,  the  dog  and,  64. 

—  pork  feasts  of,  144. 

—  Welsh  Gwydion  and,  204. 
(Estrymnides,    The,  Himilco's  tin 

islands,  116,  118. 
Onyx,    same    name    as    pearl    in 

Gaelic,  160. 
Oracles,  Druids  and,  145. 
Ore  (young  boar),  salmon  as,  182. 
Ores,  The  Picts  as,  201. 
Orkney,  boar  name  of,  129. 

—  megalithic  remains  in,  94. 

—  "  Sow  day  "  in,  201. 
Ornaments,   "  adder  stones  ", 

"  Druid  gems  ",  &c.,  163. 

—  jet  charms,  164. 

—  in  Cro-Magnon  grotto,  23. 

—  as  gods  or  god-cases,  44. 

—  in  grotto  at  Aurignac,  22. 

—  in  Mentone  cave-tombs,  45. 

—  religious  value  of,  80,  165. 

—  in    Welsh    Aurignacian    cave- 
tomb,  20. 

—  why  worn  by  early  peoples,  37, 
38. 

Ostrich  eggs,  found  in  Spain,  96. 
Otter,  skin  charm  of,  189. 

—  as  god,  190. 

■ —  as  soul-form,  189. 

—  the  king,  189. 

—  jewel  of,  189. 

Palaeolithic,  chronological  problem, 
212. 

—  implements    of   Upper    Palaeo- 
lithic, 21  (ill.). 


250 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Palgeolithic    Age,   why   ornaments 

were  worn,  37,  38. 

break  in  culture  of,  12. 

origin  of  term,  8. 

races  of,  8. 

sub-divisions  of,  12,  13.   See, 

Chellean,  Acheiilian,  Mousterian, 

Aurignacian,      Solutrean,      and 

Magdalenian. 
Palm  tree,  British  substitutes  for, 

221. 

cult  of,  in  ancient  Spain,  149. 

Paradise,  as  "  Apple  land  "  (Avalon) 

144. 

—  Celtic  ideas  regarding,  143. 

—  fairyland  as,  143. 

—  pork  feasts  in,  144. 

—  Welsh  ideas  regarding,  144. 

—  in  Border  Ballads,  144. 
Parisii,  The,  in  Britain,  128, 
Patrick,  St.,  Pagan  myth  attached 

to,  198. 
Paviland  cave,  Cro-Magnon  burial 

in  Welsh,  19. 
Pearl,  Aphrodite  (Venus)  as  pearl, 

158. 

—  as  life  substance,  80,  158. 

—  moon   as   "  Eternal   Pearl  "   in 
Dante's  Inferno,  159. 

—  Gaelic  name  of,  159. 

—  nocturnal  luminosity  of,  160. 
Pearls,  British,  attracted  Romans, 

79. 

—  and  sacred  grove,  &c.,  159. 

—  Caesar's  pearl  offering  to  Venus, 

159- 

—  in  Cuchullin's  hair,  163. 

—  on  Roman  emperor's  horse,  163. 

—  dragons  possess,  184. 

—  in  England  (map),  83,  84. 

—  fabulous  origin  of,  161. 

—  Irish   standard  of   value   a  set 
(pearl),  166. 

—  luck  of,  166. 

—  jet  and  amber  and,  221. 

—  as  "  life  substance  ",  80,  158. 

—  as  margan  (life-giver),  161. 

—  as  medicine  in  India,  41 . 

—  searched     for     by     megalithic 
people,  92. 

—  soul  in,  206. 

—  as  tama  in  Japan,  44. 

—  as  "  tears  "  of  goddess  Freyja, 
161. 


Pearls,   why    offered    to    goddess, 

174. 

—  Ythan     River,     Aberdeenshire, 
yields,  76. 

Pear  tree,  cat  and,  196. 
Peat,  from  Dogger  Bank,  57,  68. 
Penny  Wells,  174. 
Phoenicians,  the  Cassiterides  mono- 
poly of,  104. 

—  eastern  colonists  in  Spain  and 
98. 

—  methods  of,  as  exploiters,  98. 

—  in  Iron  Age,  107. 

—  megalithic  monuments  and,  149. 

—  in  modern  Cornwall,  139. 
Pictones,  The,  as  allies  of  Romans, 

224. 

—  Scottish  Picts  and,  131. 

Picts,  The,  agriculturists  and  sea- 
farers, 130. 

—  Caledonians  and,  130. 

—  allies  of  the  Scots,  130. 

—  Cruithne  were  Britons,  132. 

—  fairy  theory,  1:^1,  and  also  note 
I. 

—  as  Pechts  and  Pecti,  131. 

—  Gildas,  Bede,  and  Nennius  on, 
132. 

—  Irish  myth  regarding,  132. 

—  Irish  Cruithne  not  Picts,  132. 

—  Saxon  allies  of,  131. 

—  Roman,    Scottish,    and    Welsh 
names  of,  131. 

—  as  branch  of  the  Pictones,  131. 

—  tattooing  habit  of,  136. 

—  vessels  of,  136. 

—  tribes  of,  136. 

—  as  pirates,  136. 
Pig,  Demeter  and,  196. 

—  Devil  as,  191,  200. 

—  in  Roman  religious  ceremony, 

51- 
— Scottish  and  Irish  treatment  of 
199. 

—  taboo  in  Scotland,  199. 

—  the  Sow  goddess,  154. 

Pigs,  Achaeans  and  Celts  as  rearers 
of,  III,  199. 

—  Adonis  and  Diarmid  and,  197. 

—  Celts  rearers  of,  114. 

—  and  amber,  161. 

—  as  food  of  the  dead,  144. 

—  "  lucky  pigs  ",  157. 

—  Orkney  a  boar  name,  1 29. 


INDEX 


251 


Pigs,  salmon  as,   182.      See  Pork 

taboo. 
Piltdown  man,  26. 
Pin  Wells,  174. 
Pirates,  ancient,  Picts  as,  136. 

Gaelic  reference  to,  136, 

Pliocene  mammals,  16. 
Poetry,  goddess  of,  188. 
Polycrates  of  Samos,  luck  of,  in 

seal,  184. 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  letter  on 

Pagans  in  England,  176. 
Pork.     See  Pigs  and  Swine. 

—  taboo  in  Arcadia,  223. 

why  Cretans  detested,   154, 

and  also  note  3. 

Scottish,  199  et  seq.,  223. 

Celts  ate  pork,  199. 

Porpoise  as  sea-boar,  182. 
Portugal,  colonists  from,  in  Britain, 

106. 

—  early  eastern  influence  in,  211. 

—  settlements  of  Easterners  in,  95. 

—  settlers  from,  in  Britain,  127. 
Pot,  the,  shell  as,  207. 

—  as  symbol  of  Mother-goddess, 
205. 

—  the  Mother,  Celtic  cauldron  as, 
90. 

"  Pot  of  Plenty  ",  Celtic  cauldron 

as,  205. 
Potter's  wheel,  112. 
Pottery,  Neolithic,  5. 

—  relation  to  basket-making  and 
knitting,  5,  6. 

Priestesses,  ancient  British,  Tacitus 
refers  to,  147. 

—  witches  and,  147,  and  also  note 
I. 

Ptolemy,  evidence  of,  regarding 
British  tribes,  128. 

Purple-yielding  shells,  in  Cro- 
Magnon  grotto,  23. 

searched   for   by  megalithic 

people,  92. 

Pytheas,  229. 

—  exploration  of  Britain  by,  115. 

—  the  Mictis  problem,  116. 

—  voyage  of,  107. 

Races,  alien  elements  may  vanish, 
123. 

—  "  Caucasian  Man  ",  123. 

—  Aryan  theory,  1 23 . 


Races,  animal  names  of  Scoto- 
Celtic  tribes,  129. 

—  Azilian  and  Tardenoisian,  55. 

—  Maglemosian,  56. 

—  Britain  in  Roman  period,  127. 

—  Britain  mainly  "  long-headed  ', 
128. 

—  Ptolemy's  evidence  regarding 
British  tribes,  128. 

—  British  extermination  theory, 
227. 

—  British  Iberians  and  proto- 
Egyptians,  126. 

—  Armenoid  intrusions,  87,  126, 
222. 

—  Spanish  settlers  in  Britain,  127. 

—  bronze  carriers  displace  eastern 
metal  searchers  in  Western 
Europe,  100. 

—  bronze  users  as  earliest  settlers 
in  Aberdeenshire,  1 1 1 . 

—  Briinn  and  Briix,  50. 

—  Celts  and  Armenoids,  112. 

—  Celts  and  Northerners,  112,  222. 

—  Celts  as  conquerors  of  early 
settlers  in  Britain,  107. 

—  colours  of  the  mythical,  121, 
125. 

—  extermination  theory,  122. 

—  Celts  as  Fair  Northerners,  222. 

—  "  broad  heads  "  in  Britain,  56, 
87,  126,  222. 

—  Celts  and  Teutons,  125. 

—  Chancelade  skull  and  Eskimos, 

53- 

—  Cr6-Magnons  in  Wales,  19. 

—  first  discovery  of  Cro-Magnons 
in  France,  20. 

—  CuchuUin  and  Scotland,  224. 

—  Britons  in  Ireland,  224. 

—  Damnonians  as  metal  workers, 
89. 

—  Damnonians  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland,  89,  90. 

—  dark  and  fair  peoples  in  England, 
227. 

—  descendants  of  Easterners  in 
Britain,  118, 

—  drifts  of,  into  Britain,  79. 

—  early  settlers  in  Britain,  125,  216. 

—  eastern  colonists  in  Spain,  95. 

—  Easterners  reached  ancient  Bri- 
tain from  Spain,  97. 

—  fair    and    dark    among   earliest 


252 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN   BRITAIN 


settlers  in  Post- Glacial  Britain, 
60. 
Races,  fair  Celts  and  Teutons,  60. 

—  Fir-bolgs  in  Ireland,  223. 

—  Furfooz  type,  56. 

—  broad-headed  fair  types,  56. 

—  Gaelic   Fir-domnann  and   Fir- 
bolg,  90,  and  also  note  i . 

—  Gibraltar  man,  8. 

—  Cannstadt  man,  8. 

—  Neanderthal  man,  9.  See  Nean- 
derthal Man. 

—  great  migrations  by  sea,  92. 

—  high  and  heavy  Scots,  137. 

—  intrusion  of  "  Round  Barrow  ", 
broad-headed  people,  87,  126. 

—  "  Long  heads  "  use  bronze  in 
Ireland,  87. 

—  megalithic  intruders,  94. 

—  mixed  peoples  among  Easterners 
in  Western  Europe,  107. 

—  modern  Cro-Magnons  in  Africa, 
British  Isles,  and  France,  25. 

—  "  Combe-Capelle  "  man,  25. 

—  Briix  and  Briinn  skulls,  25. 

—  "  Galley  Hill  "  man,  26,  27. 

—  modern  man,  9. 

—  Cr6-Magnon,  9,  19.     See  Cro- 
Magnon  Races. 

—  Piltdown  man,  9,  26. 

—  Heidelberg  man,  9. 

—  Phoenician    type    in    Cornwall, 

139- 

—  physical  characters  of,  124. 

—  "  pockets  "  in  British  Isles,  138. 

—  Post- Glacial  movements  of,  54. 

—  pre-Celtic  extermination  theory, 
107. 

—  few  intrusions  in  ancient  Bri- 
tain, 109. 

—  settlements     of     traders     and 
workers,  109. 

—  "  short  barrow  "  intruders,  104. 

—  cremating  intruders,  104. 

—  Solutrean  intrusion,  49. 

—  Tacitus 's  references  to  British 
races,  137. 

—  transition  period  and  Neolithic, 
61. 

Rainbow  as  god's  rod-sling,  204. 
Raven  and  goddess  of  grove  and 

sky,  160. 
Ravens,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Red  deer  on  Dogger  Bank,  68, 


"  Red  Man  ",  The  Welsh,  19,  27. 
Regni,  The,  Sussex  tribe,  128. 
Reindeer  on  Dogger  Bank,  68. 

—  French  and  German,  in  early, 
Aurignacian  times,  14.  See 
Fauna. 

—  in  Scotland  till  twelfth  century, 

67. 

—  in  Germany  in  Roman  times, 
68. 

—  Age,  the,  213. 

Rhodesia,  mouse  cure  in,  187,  and 
also  note  2. 

Rhone  valley  trade  route,  114. 

Rivers,  goddesses  and,  206. 

River- worship,  176,  178,  179. 

Robin,  apple  cult  and,  204. 

Robin  Red-breast,  on  Glasgow 
seal,  185. 

in  St.  Mungo  legend,  186. 

Romans,  how  Britain  was  con- 
quered by,  119,  120. 

—  Celtic  boats  superior  to  boats  of, 
224. 

—  as  exploiters  of  conquered  coun- 
tries, 79. 

—  how  loan-rate  of  interest  was 
reduced,  79. 

—  goddess,  groups  of,  207. 

—  Gauls  in  army  of,  127. 

—  mean  and  tragical  conquest  of 
Britain  by,  226,  227. 

—  myths  of,  regarding  savages  in 
ancient  Britain,  224. 

—  references  of,  to  Picts  and  Cale- 
donians, 130. 

—  religious  beliefs  of,  no  higher 
than  those  of  Gaels,  208. 

—  Tacitus  on  rewards  of,  in  Bri- 
tain, 79. 

—  wars  for  trade,  229. 

Rome,  connection  of,  with  milk 
goddess  cult,  149,  150. 

—  sacked  by  Celts,  112. 
Ro-smerta,   the    Gaulish   goddess 

174- 
Rowan,  221. 

—  berry  of,  as  fruit  of  longevity, 
144. 

—  the  sacred,  179,  180.  See  Tree 
Cults. 

Rye,  cultivation  of,  5. 

Sacred    stones    and    sacred    trees. 


INDEX 


253 


103.     See  Megalithic  Monuments 
and  Tree  Cults. 
Sacrifices,    annual    pig    sacrifices, 
201. 

—  oxen  sacrificed  to  demons  in 
England,  178. 

—  at  "  wassailing  ",  204,  205. 
Sahara,  27. 

—  grasslands  of  the,  14. 
St.  Swithin's  Day,  168. 

Salmon  on  city  of  Glasgow  seal, 
185. 

—  as  form  of  dragon,  182. 

—  fire  and,  183. 

—  Gaelic  names  of,  182. 

—  Irish  saint  finds  gold  in  stomach 
of,  184. 

—  in  St.  Mungo  legend,  184. 

—  the  ring  myth,  183. 

—  the  sacred  "  salmon  of  wis- 
dom ",  182. 

Sargon  of  Akkad,  his  knowledge  of 
Western  European  metal-yielding 
areas,  99  et  seq.,  218. 

Saxons,  126. 

—  Celts  and,  227. 

—  the,  Picts  as  allies  of,  131. 
Scape-dog,  the,  65. 

Scots,  The,  Cro-Magnons  and,  137. 

—  Picts  and,  130. 

—  first  settlement  of,  in  Scotland, 
130. 

Scott,  Michael,  in  serpent  myth, 

188. 
Seafaring.     See  Boats. 
Sea  god,  the  Hebridean  Seonaidh 

(Shony),  193. 
Seasons,  Gaelic  colours  of,  169. 
Selgovae,  The,  139. 

—  in  Galloway,  129. 

Serpent,  Bride's  serpent  and  dra- 
gon, 188. 

—  as  "  daughter  of  Ivor  ",  the 
"  damsel  ",  &c.,  187. 

—  dragon  as,  182. 

—  goddess  Bride  and,  187. 

—  jet  drives  away,  164. 

—  sacred  white,  188. 

—  on  sculptured  stones,  155  {ill.). 

—  "  snake  of  hazel  grove  ",  189. 

—  sea-serpent,  189. 

—  as  soul,  189. 

—  the  white,  in  Michael  Scott 
legend,  188. 


Setantii,  The,  in  England  and  Ire- 
land, 128. 

—  Cuchullin  and,  128. 
Severus,     disastrous     invasion    of 

Scotland  by,  130,  225. 
Sheep,  goddess  as,  154. 

—  in    Scoto-Celtic    tribal    names, 
129. 

Shells,  as  amulets,  34,  80. 

—  Aphrodite  as  pearl  in,  158. 

—  in  British  graves,  46. 

—  finds  of,  in  Ireland  and  Scot- 
land, 46. 

—  coloured,  in  Aurignacian  cave- 
tomb,  46. 

—  wearing  of,  not  a  juvenile  cus- 
tom, 46. 

—  Combe-Capelle  man  wore,  25. 

—  in  Cro-Magnon  grotto,  23. 

—  Cro-Magnon  trade  in,  40. 

—  Japanese  and   Scottish  "  shell- 
milk  "  elixirs,  40,  221. 

—  "Cup     of    Mary"     Highland 
myth,  42. 

—  limpet  lore,  42,  and  also  note  i. 

—  Egyptian  artificial,  173. 

—  Egyptian  gold  models  of,  41. 

—  stone,  ivory,  and  metal  jnodels 
of,  41. 

—  as  "  life-givers  ",  41. 

—  "  Evil  Eye  "  charms,  39. 

—  Cr6-Magnon  necklace,  39  (///.). 

—  as  food  for  dead,  41. 

—  Cretan  artificial,  41, 

—  fairy  woman's  coracle  a  shell, 
207. 

—  in  grotto  at  Aurignac,  22. 

—  ground  shells  as  elixir,  38. 

—  as  "  houses  "  of  gods,  38. 

—  love  girdle  of,  38. 

—  Hebridean    tree    goddess    and, 

153- 

—  Indian    Ocean    shell   in    Auri- 
gnacian cave,  36. 

—  as  "  life  substance  ",  80, 158, 178. 

—  mantle  of,  in  Aurignacian  cave- 
tomb,  45. 

—  milk  from,  40,  221. 

—  "personal   ornaments  "   theory, 

37. 

—  Red  Sea  shell  in  Hampshire,  47, 
and  also  note  i . 

—  Red    Sea    shell    in    Neolithic 
Spain,  96. 


254 


ANCIENT   MAN    IN    BRITAIN 


Shells,  Red  Sea  shell  at  Mentone, 

2IO. 

—  searched     for     by     megalithic 
people,  92  et  seq. 

—  in  Welsh  cave-tomb,  20. 
Ships.     See  Boats. 

Silures,  The,  Hebrideans  and,  139. 

—  Tacitus  on,  137. 

—  in   Wales    and    Scilly    Islands, 
129. 

Silurians,  as  miners,  118. 
Silvanus,  British  deity,  207. 
Silver,  amber  and,  165. 

—  in  Britain,  9 1 . 

—  difficult   to    find   and   work  in 
Britain,  95. 

—  exported  from   Britain  in  first 
century  a.d.,  114. 

—  Easterners  worked,  in  Spain,  97. 

—  Gaelic  god  connected  with,  102. 

—  offered  to  water  deity  by  Gauls, 

174. 

—  offered  to  deities  by  Celts,  80. 

—  lead,    as    ballast    for    boats    of 
Easterners,  99. 

Sin  (pronounced  sheen),  the  Druid's 

judgment  collar,  146. 
Skins,    exported    from    Britain   in 

first  century,  a.d.,  114. 
Sky,  connection  of  sacred  trees  and 

wells  with,  179. 
Slaves,   exported   from   Britain   in 

first  century  A.D.,  114.    See  Fir- 

bolgs. 
Sleepers  myth,  in  Highland  story, 

47. 
— '  the  Seven,  antiquity  of  myth  of, 

29. 
Smerta*,  The,  129. 
Smertullis,    the    god,    Ro -smerta 

and,  174. 
Smintheus    Apollo.      See    Mouse 

Apollo. 
Solutrean  Age,  13. 

—  pre- Agricultural,  213. 

—  proto-Solutrean  influence,  216. 

—  culture,  cave  art  declines,  51. 

characteristic  artifacts,  50. 

climate,  51. 

open-air  camps,  51. 

bone  needles  numerous,  52. 

decline  of,  in  Europe,  52. 

earliest     influence     of,     in 

Europe,  49. 


Solutrean  culture,  *'  true  "  wave  of, 

49. 
carriers  of,  50. 

—  Implements,  21  {ill.). 

Soul,  animal  shapes  of,  65, 178, 190. 

—  bee  and  butterfly  forms  of,  191. 

—  bee  forms  of,  in  folk  tales,  193. 

—  beliefs  regarding.  Sleepers  myth, 
29. 

—  soul-case  in  Scotland  and  Japan 

44. 

—  butterfly  as,  in  Greece,  Italy, 
Serbia,  Burmah,  Mexico,  China, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  &c.,  192,  193. 

—  the  "  change  "  in  Gaelic,  158. 

—  nourishment  of,  158. 

—  cremation  customs  and  destiny 
of,  109. 

—  dead  go  west,  173. 

—  dog  form  of,  65. 

—  Druids  and  transmigration,  142. 
• —  heart  and  liver  as  seats  of  life, 

154- 

—  maggot  as,  102. 

—  Eg^'ptian  Bata  myth,  103. 

—  moth  form  of,  192. 

—  serpent  form  of,  189. 

—  lizard  and  other  forms  of,  189. 

—  star  as,  208. 

—  in  stone  or  husk,  173. 

—  in  trees,  190. 

—  in  egg,  fish,  swans,  &c.,  190. 

—  in  weapons,  50. 

—  Welsh  ideas  regarding  destiny 
of,  144. 

Sow-day  in  Orkney,  201. 

Sow  goddess,  the,  154.  See  Pigs. 

Spain,  British  trade  with,  114,  116, 

—  colonists  from,  in  Britain,  106. 

—  displacement  of  Easterners  in, 
221. 

—  Druidism  in,  149. 

—  early  trade  of,  with  Britain,  218. 

—  Easterners  in,  95,  211,  218,  229. 

—  Easterners  kept  natives  of, 
ignorant  of  uses  of  metals,  99. 

—  Egyptian  gold  diadem  in  Neo- 
lithic tomb,  98. 

—  Egyptian  origin  of  Neolithic 
industry  in,  97. 

—  expulsion  of  Easterners  from, 
100. 

—  in  pre- Agricultural  Age,  213. 

—  settlers  from,  in  Britain,  127. 


INDEX 


255 


Spear  of  god  Lugh,  206.  j 

Spinning,  5.  ^  ] 

Spirit  worship.     See  Animism. 
Standing  Stones.     See  Megalithic   I 
Monuments.  j 

Star,  St.  Ciaran's  stellar  origin,  208.   ! 

—  the  Dog,  64. 

Stars,  Druid  lore  of,  175. 

—  Gaels  measured  time  by,   175,   ' 
and  also  note  i. 

—  Sir6na,  star  goddess,  208. 

—  Milky  Way  and  milk  goddess 
cult,  149. 

—  Welsh    and    Gaelic    names    of, 
203. 

Stennis,  Standing  Stones  of,  94. 
Stone  of  Danann  deities,  206. 

—  as  god,  51. 

Stonehenge,  doctrine  of  Cardinal 
Points  and,  174. 

—  and    Egyptian    Empire    beads, 
104,  105  \ill.),  106. 

—  Temple  theory,  177. 
Stones,  in  graves,  33,  34. 

—  wind   raised   by,   in   Hebrides, 
172. 

—  as  "  god  body  ",  173. 

—  as  dragon's  eggs,  173. 
Sumeria.     See  Babylonia. 

Sun,  ancient  British  solar  symbol, 
162. 

—  circulating  chapels,  &c.,  148, 

—  ear-rings  and,  165. 

—  fire  and,  181. 

—  rays  of,  as  tears,  181,  and  also 
note  3. 

—  Gaelic  worship  of,  170. 

—  Gaels  swore  by,  148. 

—  goddess  and,  163. 

—  modem    and    ancient    sunwise 
customs,  171. 

Sun-worship     in     Britain,     King 

Canute  and,  147. 
Surgery,  ancient  man's  skill  in,  2. 

—  folk-lore  evidence  regarding,  3,4. 
Surrogate  of  life  blood,  28. 
Sussex  dug-out,  76,  77. 
Swallows,  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Swans,  as  souls,  190. 

—  as  oracles,  190. 

—  Celtic  deities  as,  195. 
Swine.     See  Pork  Taboo. 

—  Celts  rearers  of,  114. 

—  Devil  and,  200. 


Swine,  Maglemosian  hunters  of,  57. 

—  Orkney  a  boar  name,  129. 

—  in  Roman  religious  ceremony,  5 1 . 

—  Scottish  taboo  of,  199. 
Sword  of  god  Lugh,  206. 
Symbols,  swashtika,  &c.,  165,  166. 

See  Colour  Symbolism. 

Taexali,  The,  129. 

Talismans,    Irish    and     Japanese, 

206. 
TaranGcus    (Thunderer),    Gaulish 

god,  207. 
Tardehoisian,  54,  62. 

—  artifacts,  13. 

—  Iberian  carriers  of,  216. 

—  pre- Agricultural,  213. 

—  pygmy  flints,  54,  55  (///.). 
Tardenoisians,  The,  in  Britain,  125. 

—  English  Channel  land-bridge 
crossed  by,  69. 

—  Industry,  traces  of,  in  Africa, 
Asia,  and  Europe,  71. 

—  Maglemosians  and,  57. 
Temples,  pagan,  used  as  Christian 

churches,  177. 

—  the  Gaulish,  177. 

—  Apollo's  temple  in  England,  177. 

—  Stonehenge,  177. 

—  Pytheas  refers  to,  178. 

—  reroofing  custom,  178. 
Ten  Tribes,  The  Lost,  118. 
Teutons,    British    Celts'    relations 

with,  137. 

—  Celts  and,  125. 

Thomas  the  Rhyrner,  "  True 
Thomas  "  as  "  Druid  Thomas  ", 
146. 

Thor,  Dagda  and,  202. 

Tilbury  man,  70,  71. 

Tin,  loi. 

—  beginning  of  mining  In  Corn- 
wall, 116. 

—  Scottish  and  Irish,  94,  117. 

—  in  Britain  and  Ireland,  91. 

—  surface  tin  collected  in  Britain, 

9. 

—  English  mines  of,  opened  after 
surface  tin  was  exhausted,  91. 

—  the  Mictis  problem,  116. 

—  descendants  of  ancient  miners  in 
Britain,  118. 

—  exported  from  Cornwall  in  first 
century  a.d.,  114. 


256 


ANCIENT   MAN   IN    BRITAIN 


Tin,  Phoenicians  and  the  Cassiter- 
ides,  104. 

—  search  for,  in  Britain,  95. 

—  traces  of,  in  Scotland,  94'. 

—  trade  in,  219. 

—  voyage  of  Pytheas,  107. 

—  Cornish  mines  opened,  107. 
See  Cassiterides  and  CEstrymnides. 

Tin  Land,  Sargon  of  Akkad's 
knowledge  of  the  Western  Euro- 
pean, 99,  218. 

Tin-stone  as  ballast  for  boats  of 
Easterners,  99. 

Toad,  The,  Jewel  cf,  189. 

Tom-tit,  apple  cult  of,  204. 

Toothache,  ancient  man  suffered 
from,  2. 

Torquay,    Magdalenian    art    near, 

54- 
Trade,  early  British  exports,  104. 

—  Red  Sea  shell  in  Hampshire, 
47,  and  also  note  i. 

—  routes,  British  and  Irish,  223. 
British  trade  with  Spain  and 

Carthage,  114. 
Danube   valley   and    Rhone 

valley,  114. 
early    trade    between    Spain 

and  Britain,  218. 
exports  from  Britain  in  first 

century  a.d.,  114. 
when  overland  routes  were 

opened,  106. 

Celts  and,  106,  107. 

Phoenicians    kept   sea-routes 

secret,  107. 

voyage  of  Pytheas,  107. 

Transition   Period.      See   Azilian, 

Tardenoisian,  and  Maglemosian. 
longer  than  Neolithic  Age, 

61. 
race  movements  in,  54. 

—  in  Scotland,  216. 
Transmigration,     Druidism     and, 

142,  222. 
Traprain,  silver  as  substitute  for 

white  enamel  at,  165. 
Tree    cults,    apple    of   knowledge 

eaten  by  Thomas  the  Rhymer, 

146. 
apple  tree  as  "  Tree  of  Life  " 

204. 

birds  and  apple  trees,  204. 

Artemis  and  the  fig,  193. 


Tree   cults,  bee  and  maggot  soul 

forms  in  trees,  103. 
and    standing    stones,     103, 

104. 

coral  as  sea  tree,  221. 

grown  gold,  221. 

and     standing    stones     and 

wells,  147. 
trees  and  wells  and  heavenly 

bodies,  180. 

Druidism  and,  141. 

fig  as  milk-yielding  tree,  149. 

Gaelic  and  Latin  names  of 

sacred  groves,  159. 

Galatian  sacred  oak,  159. 

Gaulish,  151. 

elm  as  milk  tree,  151. 

plane  as  milk  tree,  151. 

grove   goddess   as   raven   or 

crow,  160. 

the  hazel  god,  140,  144. 

apple  of  longevity,  144. 

Hebridean    shell    and    milk 

goddess  and,  153. 
Indian    milk-vielding    trees, 

151. 

mouse  and  apple  tree,  196. 

mistletoe  and  Druidism,  145. 

megalithic  monuments  and, 

220. 

and  pearls,  &c.,  220. 

palm  tree  cult  in  Spain,  220. 

oak  on  Glasgow  seal,  185. 

sacred     groves     and     stone 

shrines,  156. 

sacred  rowan,  180. 

Silvanus,    British   tree   god, 

207. 

souls  in  trees,  190. 

St.  Mungo  takes  fire  from 

the  hazel,  186. 

stone  circles  and,  178. 

Trees     of     Longevity     and 

Knowledge,  152. 
woodbine  as  "  King  of  the 

Woods  "  in  Gaelic,  180. 

fire-producing  trees,  180. 

Trepanning  in  ancient  times,  2. 
Trinovantes,  The,  in  England,  128. 
Turquoise,  symbolism  of,  221. 
Twelfth  Night,  204. 

Underworld,  Gaelic  ideas  regard- 
ing, 143- 


INDEX 


257 


Underworld,  Egyptian  paradise  of, 

143. 

—  fairyland  as  Paradise,  144. 

—  Welsh  ideas  of,  144. 

—  "  Well  of  healing  "  in,  197. 
Urns,  burial,  food  and   drink  in, 

158. 
Uxellimus,  Gaulish  god,  207. 

Vacomagi,  The,  129. 
Veneti,The,  Pictones  assist  Romans 
against,  224. 

—  Picts  and,  131. 
Venus.     See  Aphrodite. 

—  the  British,  204. 

—  Caesar  offered  British  pearls  to, 

79-.  . 

—  origin  of,  38. 

—  the  Scandinavian,  161. 
Vernicones,  The,  in  Scotland,  129. 
Viking  ship,  origin  of,  76. 
Votadini,  in  Scotland,  129. 
Vulcan,  the  Celtic,  202,  203. 

Warfare,  Neolithic  weapons  rare,  6. 
Water,  fire  in,  182. 

—  as  source  of  all  life,  180. 

—  spirits,  207. 

"  Water  of  Life  ",  "  fire  water  "  as, 

181,  182. 
Weapons,  Celts  swore  by,  148. 

—  demons  in,  50. 

—  as  sacred  symbols  in  Ireland  and 
Japan,  206. 

Well,  "  Beast  "  (dragon)  in,  182. 
Wells,  Bride  (Brigit)  and,  188. 

—  connection  of,  with  trees,  stones, 
and  sky,  180. 

—  goddess  and,  180. 

—  "  well  of  healing  "  in   Under- 
world, 197. 

Well-worship    and    sacred    grove, 
heaven,  &c.,  160.  , 


Well -worship,  Dingwall  Presbytery 
deals  with,  148. 

—  Gildas  refers  to,  176. 

—  well  as  a  god,  176-9. 

—  trees,  standing  stones,  and,  147. 

—  winds  and,  174. 

—  offerings  of  gold,  &c.,  174. 
Welsh  gods,  203. 
Were-animals,  Scottish,  190. 

—  witches  and,  191. 
Wheat,  cultivation  of,  5. 
Whistle,  the,  antiquity  of,  31. 
Widow-burning,  no. 

Wind,  fairies  come  on  eddies  of,  173 . 
Wind  and  water  beliefs,  174. 
Wind  goddess,  Scottish,  associated 

with  south-west,  173. 
Winds,  colours  of,  169  et  seq. 

—  Gaelic  names  of,  in  spring,  198. 

—  Hebridean  wind-stone,  172. 
Witches,  cat  forms  of,  196. 

—  priestesses  and,  147. 

—  were-animals  and,  191. 
Withershins,  172. 

Woad,  Celtic  connection  of,  with 

water,  amber,  &c.,  163. 
Wolf,  goddess  as,  154. 
■ —  goddess  Morrigan  as,  195. 
Woodbine     as      "  King     of     the 

Woods  ",  180. 
"  World  Mill  ",  The,  metal  workers 

and,  90. 
Wren,  apple  cult  of,  204. 

—  Druids  and,  145. 

—  hunting  of,  187. 

—  the  sacred,  i86. 

—  as  king  of  birds,  186. 

Yellow  Muilearteach,  the,  Scottish 
deity,  196,  197. 

Zuyder  Zee,  formerly  a  plain,  69. 
disasters  of,  69,  70. 


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