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I. NOTES ON SCOTTISH BRONZE RAPIERS, ON AN INCENSE CUP FROM KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE, AND A BRONZE CHISEL FROM DUM- FRIESSHIRE . CORRIEM . J Y ,B .F.S.A.ScoT . e mostth On f o e important stage human i s n progres s markei s y db e discoverth f metalyo s which smeltingy b , , coul case db t into definite form r makinfo s g more effective toolsd weaponan d sha than nma previously been accustome e outseto handleth t de metalt th A , . s woul e n scarcwell b dca d expensive an e ebeliev w d an e, thae th t efforts of the artificer would be largely experimental, and that the articles manufactured would for the most part be reproductions, mor r leso e s modified e neolithith f o , c models withs whicwa e h already familiar. Whether the new knowledge was first applied to domestic implements or to weapons of war, is a question that need not to any extent engage our attention in this short notice. In the present r knowledgstatou e f unableo ar e o solvt ew e that problems i t i d an , sufficient for our immediate purpose to say that, amongst Bronze Age products, axes and spear-heads in particular furnish a succession of types from which it has been found possible by the discovery of hoards of miscellaneous object establisho st , within limits contemporaneite th , a t ya given period of various artefacts of that era. It should be mentioned also, that thoug largha e variet f implementyo representee ar s d amongst hoarde th scattered san d Bronze relicScotlandf o th e f so eAg , onl yvera y small proportion of types has ever been found either in direct or in in- timate association with interments. The special forms, viz. rapier-daggers and rapier-swords, to which I desire to direct attention are, for example, BRONZE RAPIERS FROM KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE. 139 conspicuously absent from sepulchral deposits. These types are of rare occurrenc Scotlandn ei probabld an , than yo t accoun scatteree th t d refer- ences have escaped co-ordinated notice Proceedingsth n e i Societye th f o . Such blades were cast in moulds, presumably of stone, although clay may also have been used, but no rapier moulds of either kind have yet been found in Scotland. In the National Museum, however, there are casts of the two moieties of a stone mould for casting these narrow sword blades which were found, along with a smaller pair of moulds fo shortea r r e sambladth f eeo description t Chudleiga , Devonshiren hi . e technicaTh l difficultie producinn i s g casting f suco s h lengte th s ha rapier-sword considerablee sar evidens i t i d t an , tha artificere th t o swh produced such weapons were master f theio s r craft. "finishinn I e th g castings," Dr Anderson says, " the surface was rubbed smooth with a stone rubber, the edges drawn down with the hammer and planished with a whetstone, bu" t certain examples, with central ridge and one or more flutings runnin! g parallel to the edges and extending from the base almost to the point where they meet, seem to suggest a more advanced treatment. The rapier-like blades that have been found in Scotland had no handle plates, the weapons being affixed to handles of bone, horn or wood, at their broad, flattened extremities by metal rivets or pins of hard wood2 . The hafting arrangements, however, appear frequently to have been inadequate. In many cases the bases of the blades seem to have been notched or cut into, rather than perforated for the rivets or pins, and it is in this feature that the weapons show their greatest weakness longee Th . r castings would impos n undua e e strain upon the hilt, and although in such weapons the metal rivets used were usually of larger and heavier size, hammered flat at both ends, it will be found if we examine a series of such relics that in the majority of cases the rivets have been torn away. Some specimens e fairlar y longd slenderan t otherbu , s appeae unnecessarilb o t r y broad. There was ample room, of course, for the development of purely loca lt suggestypes no whild o d an , t eI possibls tha i t i t poino et t ou t individual peculiarities in our Scottish examples, as establishing any departure fro e recognisemth d typ r typeeo f southero s n Britains i t i , reasonable to believe that some districts would absorb the new inven- tion earlier than others thid itseln an ,si f would encourage changen I . this connectio s interestini t ni noto gt e geographica th e l distribution r Scottisoou fs presena r h fa finds ts recordA . e availablear s e th , northern half of Scotland is entirely unrepresented. 1 Scotland in Pagan Times : The Bronze and Stone Ages, pp. 173-5. 2 Bronze hilts for rapier blades are unknown in Scotland, and they are of rare occurrence in Englan Irelandd dan . 140 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 13, 1928. Among Scottish discoveries, a hoard of twelve blades from Drumcoltran, Kirkgunzeon, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, is of peculiar importance, onlt accounn no y o numbe e th f characted to ran r of the relics, but also because of the position of the find. No instance of such a number of bronze rapier blades having been found together eves ha r been previously recorde Britise th n di h Isles.s apparenti t I 1 , also accepe , thaw f i tt the location of the deposit—the ditch of a fort —as reliable, it suggests an attribution as to date for that construction that has not yet been found possible in regard to any other exampl r Scottisou f eo h defensive sites. Referrin Drumcoltrae th o gt e n th Ford an t discovery of these blades, the Ancient Monu- ments Scotland Commission reports: " This fine circular for situates i tnorth-wes e th n do t slope of Drumcoltran Hill, sheltered and overlooked by higher ground toward e east t comth s bu , - manding a fine prospect round from north- wes bees southo - t ha t n ex t I formee . th y b d cavation of a deep trench, now quite obliterated on the lower slope to the west, but well pre- served on the upper side, where it measures 30 feet across the top and 9 feet in depth. It s recordei d (Proceedings Societye th f f o Anti-o quaries f Scotland,o vol. xxvii . 106p . ) than i t e trencth h where deepest ther s foundwa e n i , 1837, a hoard of bronze weapons, and in the same trench, in 1867, an ' 18-inch blade.' One of these blades, a sword of rapier form (fig. 1, No. 1), is now preserved in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh."2 I have elsewhere 8 examine e scatteredth fragmentard dan y refer- ences to the Drumcoltran relics, and demon- Fig. 1. Bronze Kapiers from strated that the hoard was composed of twelve Drumcoltran. (J.) rapier swords, arid tha f theso t e itemx si s specimens are known to be preserved. Of these, one, as already men- e Nationationedth n i s i ,l Museum r Grierson'D , n threi e ear s museum A hoard of six blades of rapier character, from 12 to 22 inches in length, was found at Talaton, 1 Devonshire, in 1867. 2 Fifth Report Inventoryd an f Monuments,o Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, . 150-1 . 280pp No ,. ' Trans. Dumf. Gall.d an Nat. Hist, Antiq.d an Soc., 1926-7. BRONZE RAPIERS FROM KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE. 141 t Thornhilla , n privati Dumfriesshir e ar e o possessiotw d e an (fig, n2) . (fig. 1, Nos. 2 and 3). Of the remainder, two were taken to America; one, believed to be the finest, passed into the hands of a workman ;1 two were formerly in the possession of a Dumfries gentleman, now deceased, ane meantimdar e remainineth lostd an ; g exampl s entirelha e y dis- appeared. Examinin survivorsx si e gth , whic e finar he castings e finw ,d that, while varying in detail, all of them are slender and tapering, as is characteristic of the type, are covered with a fine green patina, and measure in length respec- tively : (1) 18-2 inches; (2) 20 inches; (3) 4 inches1 (fig. ) 81)£(4 ; inches ) 15(5 £; inches; and (6) 14J inches (fig. 2). In connectio shortese th n , wit4 . htNo speci- men t i shoul, e explaineb d d that this example is imperfect. No. 1 is still nearly its original length, but Nos. 2, 3, hav6 d e5 an , lost their points. Each has a marked midrib and flutings along the sides, while the bases are irregular, and seem, with perhaps one exception, to have been notched rather than per- forated for the handle rivets, none of which survives t shoulI . notede db , also, that variations in detail indicate clearly tha bladee tth bee d sha n cas differenn ti t moulds. o otheOnltw rn yi Scottis h Bronze Age Hoards, one from Glentrool, Kirk- cudbrightshire othee th d r fro2an m Dud- dingston Loch, Midlothian, e finw d o d 3 the rapier blade represented. The last Fig. 2. Bronze Rapiers from Drum- named hoard provide merda e fragment coltran. (J.) of a point 5| inches in length, but the Glentrool specimen, although corroded in a peculiar fashion, was almost complete.

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