The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . other cause of regret for the barbarous destruction ofthese beautiful examples of the arts as practised in Scotland a thou-sand years ago, we have reason to believe that an opportunity waslost—perhaps the only one that can ever occur—of ascertaining theprecise epoch, and even the meaning of the remarkable Scottishsymbols with which they were decorated. Mr. Buist remarks in hisreport,— A considerable number of coins, now wholly lost sight of,and said to have borne these symbolic markings, were found alongwith the armour at Norries Law, and ab
The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . other cause of regret for the barbarous destruction ofthese beautiful examples of the arts as practised in Scotland a thou-sand years ago, we have reason to believe that an opportunity waslost—perhaps the only one that can ever occur—of ascertaining theprecise epoch, and even the meaning of the remarkable Scottishsymbols with which they were decorated. Mr. Buist remarks in hisreport,— A considerable number of coins, now wholly lost sight of,and said to have borne these symbolic markings, were found alongwith the armour at Norries Law, and about forty of the same kindwere found in an earthen pot at Pittenweem in 1822. It is said thatthese were destitute of inscription or written character. No greatimportance can be attached to such vague descriptions of coins chieflyderived from the recollections of persons probably little familiar wiihany but those of the present currency. But of the fact of coins. .>::0 THE CllKISTIAN PEHKiD. liaving been found no doubt can bo entertained. Nor is this the onlyinstance of sucli being met with in a Scottish tumulus, though hith-erto they have only been discovered to be destroyed. The most primitive form of Scottish coinage is evidently the simplegold pellets usually marked with a crossin relief. The two examples engravedhere, the size of the originals, are fromthe remarkable lioard discovered atCairnmuir, Peeblesshire, in 1806.^ Theyresemble two segments of a sphere irre-gularly joined, and appear to have been cast in a mould. Forty ofthe same simple class of early currency were found, along with whatappears to have been a gold funicular tore, in the parish of Dolphinton,Lanarkshire, and marked, like those of Cairnmuir, with the im-pression of a Little hesitation can be felt in assigning to thesame class a discover}, in the parish of Dunnichen, Forfarshire, of anumber of small gold bullets, which seem to have been the currentcoin of the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidarchaeologyp, bookyear1851
