In the Collection of Mr H. Coroyd Smith

ANCIENT BRITISH BROOCHES.

DISCOVERED IN LIMESTONE CAVES NEAR SETTLE, CRAVEN, YORKSHIRE

Before entering upon the Romano-British period, it may be well, despite Mr. Wright's dictum, to submit proofs of an "intermediate occupation of the caves by a much more refined race than that just described, a people well acquainted with the metal bronze, if not also with iron. Ornaments have been found in the caves, of a class which has hitherto escaped public notice, although the best examples have been in the possession of Mr. Jackson for some years, viz., circular bronze brooches of unusual construction and design, as also of a high class of art, whoever may prove to have been the designers and fabricators. Two of these brooches now made public by our lithographic plate,-viz., Nos. I and II-are mainly composed of a strong and circular cast bronze disk, upon the front of which was secured, by some species of solder a thin ornamental plate, likewise of bronze, the back being duly provided with an acus and a flange for securing the point of this, after piercing the dress. Several other specimens have been found, inclusive of one by the writer, in June of last year; but, save upon the two exhibited, none of the ornamental portion has remained. It would seem that the wet slimy matter, in or immediately under which these objects are found, has decomposed the solder, causing the outer plating to shell off, and it was with no little trouble that Mr. Jackson was enabled to preserve the valuable remains now published. But though few in number, these ornaments suffice to prove, in their superior execution, no second-rate artist's workmanship; whilst their boldness and freedom of design, differing, and yet so alike in general character, must be admitted by all. Now it so happens that none of the Roman fibulæ or other ornaments found in this country, innumerable and of infinite variety as they are, display the peculiar character and design of these; their patterns being, almost without exception, engraved upon, or cast in, the solid metal of the objects. Even the very shape is most unusual, for intimate as we all are with the circular

fibula securing the toga or other dress, as displayed upon Roman coin, statuary and painting, (inclusive, of course, of frescoes and mosaics,) probably not one brooch in a thousand is found of this form, either here or upon the continent, their remarkable scarcity conducing to the belief that although not in general use, circular fibula were nevertheless highly esteemed as lordly or imperial. No. IV is of the same shape, but smaller in size, and possesses a projecting rim, no doubt to protect the ornament, once inlaid but now lost. No. III is of a yellower or more brassy bronze than the others, and has been formed much like an antique circular and convex shield with projecting umbo, and the addition of six small points; there has been a setting of stone or coloured enamel around the central pivot, but this has perished. No. V is simply formed of stout bronze wire, convoluted at either end, and furnished with a pin; it belongs apparently to a class of personal ornaments by no means often found in this country, but frequently in ancient Scandinavia, and it is probably coeval with the other brooches. But, whatever may be the opinion of antiquaries as regards Nos. III, IV and V, I have little doubt they will unite with Mr. Roach Smith, Mr. Mayer and others, in acknowledging Nos. I and II as British, (Celtic) i.e., of a fabrication certainly distinct from Roman, and possibly native,* although dating from about the commencement of our era. A brooch, which has all the appearance of belonging to the same category as these, but which it is to be feared is lost, was found with ancient British coins and sepulchral urns at Lancing Down, in Sussex, in 1828, and is engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine, July, 1830, plate II; but ignorantly included in "Roman remains." Its design, likewise of a spirited character, represents a sea monster, its tail terminating in a crescent, which ornament appears on each

Or Gaulish, objects of this class having been discovered more frequently in France than elsewhere.

of the examples from the Victoria cave. Had these been of later, i.e. a Christian age, their designs would assuredly have been referred by many to a theologico-trinitarian origin, so marked is the tripartite or trifoliate character. The crescent also appears upon coins of the Brigantes, including some attributed to Boadicea.

Although Mr. Wright endeavours to throw complete discredit upon the alleged close intercourse of ancient Britain with Phoenician (including Carthaginian) traders,* and the consequent possession by its natives of Tyrian manufactures, more especially the swords and personal ornaments believed to have been in use upon the arrival of the Roman invaders, I think no unprejudiced student can pursue the subject without a growing conviction of its truth. The brooches just described, for example, are infinitely more akin to Phoenician than any other ancient ornamentation, and it is well known by numismatists, that the coins of this period in use among the ruling tribes of Britain-Brigantes, Silures, Trinobantes and others -are designed, not from Roman but from Phoenician, Carthaginian or Greek originals. More confirmatory still, coins fabricated in Greece and Carthage have been found in several parts of Britain, as in the Isle of Wight and upon our own Cheshire shore. At Aldborough, in Yorkshire, the ancient Brigantian capital Yseur, a very remarkable relic was found, and is now preserved in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society at York. It is of bronze and represents a human face surmounted by the horns of a cow, the rest of the figure being evidently modelled from this animal.† A second, of very similar character, found upon our neighbouring Cheshire shore, is figured in Dr. Hume's Ancient Meols and, together with the Punic coins, is in the possession of A belief supported by the authorities Herodotus, Polybius, Strabo and others, and unintentionally confirmed by Pliny.

+ A representation of this singularly interesting relic is engraved in my Reliquiæ Isurianæ, plate XXV a.

Mr. Joseph Mayer. The significance of these "finds,” which may not prove to be isolated ones, lies in the fact that the very earliest form in which their goddess Isis was symbolized and worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, was that of a human-faced cow.* The theology of this people, or rather, perhaps, its religious symbolism, spreading to the neighbouring Phoenician colony of Carthage, was thence conveyed to the shores of Britain. In a recent interesting work Carthage and its Remains, by Dr. N. Davis, a quotation appears from Avianus's Ora Maritima, as given by Heeren in his Historical Researches, and thus rendered-" where the ocean "flood presses in and spreads wide the Mediterranean waters, "lies the Atlantic Gulph. Here riscs the head of the promontory, in olden times Estrymnon (probably Cape "Finisterre) and below the like named bay and isles, (no "doubt the Scilly Isles, also called the Cassiterides,) wide they stretch, and are rich in metals, tin and lead. There a numerous race dwell, endowed with spirit and no slight "industry, busied all in the cares of trade alone. They navigate the sea in their barks, built not of pine or oak, "but wondrous! made of skins and leather. Two days long "is the voyage to the Holy Island, once so called, which lies "expanded on the sea, the dwelling of the Hibernian race: "at hand lies the Isle of Albion. Of old the trading voyages from Tartassus reached to the Estrymnides; but "the Carthagenians and their colonies near the Pillars of "Hercules navigated this sea, which Hamilco, by his own account, was upon for four months. Beyond

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"the Pillars of Hercules, on Europe's coast, Carthage's people of yore possessed many towns and places."† This is valuable confirmatory evidence of Punic intercourse with

"Isis, the daughter of the River Inachus, was by Jupiter turned into a cow and so conveyed into Fgypt, where it should seem she and Apis were horned deities." Greek Mythology, Vide Burton's Commentaries, p. 56-7.

+ Poetæ Latini minores, tom. v, p. 2, ed. Wernsdorf.