The Helmsdale Bowls, a Re-Assessment | 65
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Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 120 (1990), 63-77, fiche 1:D1-10 Helmsdale Th e Bowls re-assessmena , t Spearman*M R , wit WilthewhP * Illustration Marioy b s n O'Neill* ABSTRACT This article seeks clarifyto precisely when whereand Helmsdaleat remarkablethe groupof copper alloy bowls and strainers were found. The bowls are described and discussed, along with the results analysisof theirof composition. appearsIt likely thatbowlsthe consist mixturea of of Continental and British pieces, some manufactured in the later second century AD. Others may be later thanquiteis it this possibleand depositedthat groupnot the was until third the perhaps or eventhe fourth century AD. INTRODUCTION discovere Th remarkable th f yo e grou coppef po r alloy bowl strainerd san Helmsdalt sa e during secone th d19te halth hf fo centur firss ytwa reporte thesn i Joassn edM o J Proceedings v , Re e th y b ministe Golspief ro , founde Duke th Sutherland'f f eo ro s museu antiquariad man n (1886,214—18)n I . his report Joass provided illustrations and a brief description of the bowls, and indicated that they had been: 'found in 1868 during the progress of railway works near Helmsdale, on the south-east coast of Sutherland. The packey yla inside don e another bac e larga th f kt o , a e earth-fast boulde steee th pn ri terracea se d ol , n aboufaca f fooe eo ton t unde presene rth t surface.' The circumstances and date of their discovery given by Joass have been accepted at face value by subsequent investigators of the bowls. However, during research undertaken in order to display bowlse th loan o n, w whicfro Sutherlanno e me th har d NationaTruse th o t l Museum Scotlandf so t i , became apparent that there was a degree of confusion about precisely where and when the bowls were discovered. There instance r is,fo evidenco ,n railwaf eo y workkiny an d f takinso g plac Helmsdalt ea e until 1869. Moreover, the first extant reference to the bowls in the catalogues of the Duke of Sutherland's museum at Dunrobin dates to 1869 and simply records them as: 'Seven bronze dishes found in cutting for road diversion, half a mile west of Helmsdale - packed within each other under two feet of mossy detritus. (Probably Native and Medieval)', while an early label for the bowls used for their display at Dunrobin Castle Museum reports them as having been found in: 'Sept. 1862 (subsequently changed to 1868) during the progress of railway works'. * Royal Museum of Scotland, Queen Street, Edinburgh. 64 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1990 The first part of this article, therefore, seeks to clarify precisely when, why and, as far as possible, where the bowls were discovered. The bowls are then described and discussed in more detail analysin A compositio.e th f so Helmsdale th f no e Bowl alss sha o been undertakeP r M y nb Wilthew of the National Museums' Conservation and Analytical Research Department. Mr Wilthew's findings have been integrated with the typological description of the bowls and the details analysis ohi f s appea fichn ri e 1:D1-10. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION IN SUTHERLAND The Highland Railway reached Bonar Bridge in 1864 and the following year the Sutherland Railwa authorizes ywa extendo t line dBrorath o e t distanc,a somf eo miles3 e3 1868y .B , after several years of debate, only the first 26 miles of that route had been completed. Then, in November 1868, Duke th Sutherlanf eo d announce expensepreparedn s d thaow wa s e h textenhi o t ,t a , railwae dth y from Golspi Broro et througd Helmsdaleaan o t n ho Januarn I . y 1869, engineers finalized their detailed specification railwae Marchn th i r d sfo yan , work commence Helmsdale th n do e sectiof no railwae th y abou sam e towne westh e th mil t ea tth f A tim.o t o et e various roads which crossee dth proposed route of the railway were diverted. One such road was the parliamentary road between Helmsdal d Portgoweran e e re-routinth , f whic go s completed hwa , accordin e Caithnessth o gt Courier, in June 1869. Work on the main length of the railway itself progressed steadily throughout 1869, but engineering problems at either end of the line meant that by 1870 the line was still three- quarters of a mile short of Helmsdale and that the two-mile stretch between Dunrobin and Golspie was incomplete. A temporary station was, therefore, constructed at Gartymore, known as West Helmsdale traind betweean ,n sra n ther Dunrobid ean n unti fule th ll openelins ewa Junn di e 1871. discovere Ith f bowle th indees f yso wa d associated wit constructioe hth Sutherlane th f no d Railway, they must surely have been foun t 186 no 1869n r 1862 di 8o d an , . Fortunately searca , h through local newspaper reports for 1869 was rewarded with the following article from the Northern 1869y Ma Ensign : 3 1 r fo 'Bronze relics in Sutherlandshire. - In a cutting connected with the Sutherland Railway works, about a mile to the west of Helmsdale, one of the workmen found last week, about three feet below the surface, seven bronze dishes largeste Th . , whic abous hi t twelve inche diameten si foud ran r inches deep, is a flat bottomed circular dish of thin beaten bronze, with a patch riveted on its side. Three others, smaller than the first and of similar form, were packed within it. Another, resembling a grocer's movable scal weighinr eo g saucer somewhas ,i shapep t morthickero cu d e tw d ean ar d an , perforate ornamentan a n di l pattern thesf o e e showOn . s traceattachmene th f so handlea f o t e Th . other has a rim about one and a half inches broad, like the brim of a hat, ornamented with the characteristic chevron patter f Celtino c urnsteatitd an s e paterae roughly embossed e cannoW . t ventur assigo et n eve approximatn na e dat theso et e suppos vesselsy ma t e,bu that they were hidden in some troublous time several hundred years befor wor y erailwaa theran f do s eywa cuttine th n go braes of Marril.' presence detaie th o Th t thi f e lnorthero n esi du accoun e b y n Scotlantma Joass a sucf dn o s hme in Golspie r Josepo , h Anderso Wickn ni . Anderso t thaa s t timnwa e Johneditoe th f o rO'Groat Journal, but only two months later he was appointed the first Keeper of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland's museu Edinburghn mi cas y e standar an s chronologicaeth e repor it n th I .d f do an t l proximit date th f discover eo o yt y makr mosou t tei reliable descriptio f theino r discovery. Unfor- tunately, the article does not indicate the exact provenance of the bowls, although the fact that they were noted as from a 'cutting connected with the Sutherland Railway' might suggest that they were not found on the line of the railway itself. The Northern Ensign's report may, therefore, be in agreement with the first record of the bowls in the Dunrobin Museum register which notes them as SPEARMAN: THE HELMSDALE BOWLS, A RE-ASSESSMENT | 65 having come from 'a cutting for a road diversion'. If so, the most likely contender for this diversion is parliamentare th y road between Helmsdal Portgowed ean r whic Caithnesse hth Courier notes da being diverte t thida s time. Fortuitously, ther aree map e Burner y 186th eb ar afo f 8 Scot sd o an t t (National Library of Scotland, EMSbZ 153) and 1870 by the Ordnance Survey which show the layout roade oth f s befor afted constructioe ean th r railwaye th f no . Thes mapo etw s [illu mak] 1 s t cleaei r ^£*^r\ •LK^s^u9&^~^f^. ^ •• • '•'•.:v'i; "^sd; •-' Z£i ^ ILLUS 1 Excerpt from the 1870 OS map of the Helmsdale area, with the original line of the parliamentary road and the likely findspot of the bowls marked roa w indeed dne di tha e dtth requir cuttinea made b go et int north-wese oth raisee t facth f edo beach across the river from Helmsdale itself. Whils impossibls i t ti certaie b o et n abou bowl'e tth s precise findspo seemt i t s very likely thae tth bowls came from the road cutting indicated by an arrow on illus 1 and on the photograph of Helmsdale taken by George Washington Wilson shortly after the Railway had reached Helmsdale (illu. s2) 66 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1990 ILLU S2 Photograp Helmsdalf ho e fro southe mth , take Georgy nb e Washington Wilson shortly afte railwae th r s ywa completed e likelTh . y findspo bowle th f markes so i t d THE HELMSDALE BOWLS After their discover bowlse yth , accordin Joasso gt , 'had been rather severely scrubbed with lime and sand' before being presented to the Duke of Sutherland, who placed them in his museum at Dunrobin Castle. The bowls are now the property of the Sutherland Trust who in 1986 placed them on long-term loan wit Nationae hth l Museum Scotlanf so d (NMS) followine th n I . g catalogu bowle eth s are listed by their NMS Department of Archaeology loan registration numbers, while Dunrobin Castle Museum's accession numbers are also noted.