A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE generally all that remain ; these are constantly found near the wrist, and a pair at Sleaford, Lincolnshire, 1 were still attached to the original material when found. In three or four of the graves shell fragments of combs and possibly of an armlet were found but they are in the last stages of decay ; unlike a fine buckle (fig. 9) of the same material, which both for size and decoration may be compared with specimens of crystal found in Frankish graves on the continent. 2 Bracelets and perhaps armlets of beads had also been worn ; and large numbers of beads, probably in the form of necklaces or festoons, had been deposited in many of the graves of women. With the exception of a remarkable barrel-shaped specimen (fig. 12), the bronze partitions of which are filled with some kind of shell, they are of the usual kind, the majority being of variegated glass and many of roughly-shaped amber, while the central bead of a necklace was often a large crystal. A sphere of this material (fig. 10) was recovered in its double loop of silver, but the loop was more probably for attaching this amulet to the girdle than to the necklace. These mysterious crystals again are mostly found in Kent, but examples are by no means uncommon in the Frankish graves of Normandy and the Rhine. As long ago as 1793 Rev. James Douglas, the author of Nenia Britatmica, considered that they were used for purposes of divination or crystal-gazing ; and against the view that they were merely ornaments attached to the girdle is the fact that more than once they have been found lying in metal spoons with perforated bowls. 3 A list of known specimens has been prepared in recent years in connection with Scottish charms and amulets. 4 The assistant keeper of the museum at Edinburgh states that balls of rock crystal have been found in various parts of Europe, and especially in England, mostly in connection with interments of the (Scandinavian) Iron age, that is, from about the fifth century of our era. ' Many of these balls when found were enclosed within narrow bands of metal, chiefly of silver, but sometimes of gold or bronze. Formerly these balls were considered by archaeologists to have been used for magical purposes, but the general opinion now is that they were worn on the person as ornaments. At a much later period however the use of crystal balls for magical purposes appears to have been common in England.' The Clach Dearg, or stone of Ardvoirlich, much resembles the Anglo-Saxon specimens, and is figured along with the Clach-na-Bratach, or stone of the Standard, and another in a mount of the seventeenth century, in the papers referred to. The graves of warriors are marked by the spearhead and remains of the shield, such as the iron boss and handle ; while to one shield had been affixed by rivets a tin-plate device in the form of a fish (see fig.), 1 Arch. 1. 387 ; other examples have been found at Warren Hill, Suffolk, and at Marston Northants. a Lindenschmit, AlttrthUmtr unserer heidnhchen Vor%eit, iii. pt. x. pi. 6. » V.C.H. Hants, i. 388, figs. 18, 22.
- Mr. G. F. Black, in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1892-3, p. 522 ; cf. 1894-5, p. 439.
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