10

Illus 1 Location map showing the findspot of the dirk from the at Friarton and the probable locality of the 19th-century find at Pitcaithly.

Illus 2 The Tay at Friarton: view of the river looking south from Perth harbour. (Courtesy of Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Perth and Council, . Photography by Mark Hall)

Illus 3 The Tay at Friarton: view of the riverbank in the immediate locality of the findspot, looking northwards, with part of Moncreiffe Island visible to the right. (Courtesy of Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Council, Scotland. Photography by Mark Hall) 11 A Middle Bronze Age dirk from the River Tay at Friarton, Perth Trevor Cowie, Mark Hall, Peter Northover and Brendan O’Connor

Introduction: circumstances of discovery and acquisition

On 26 August 2008, a fine example of a Middle Treasure Trove or Wreck? Bronze Age dirk was brought in to Perth Museum and Art Gallery (hereafter PMAG) for identification by The Late Bronze Age logboat (Strachan 2010) found its finder, Mr Iain Robertson. It transpired that he had at nearby Carpow Bank (NO 2001 1859) provides a discovered the artefact about 10 to 12 years previously local precedent for an artefact located in an intertidal and that since that time it had been in his shed. He situation where, following discussion with the Receiver explained that at the time of its discovery, he had been of Wreck, it was deemed pragmatic to process the find a member of a scuba diving club and that he had found as Treasure Trove (Case no TT.90/06). At Carpow, the artefact while snorkelling in the River Tay at Perth.1 however, the sandbar on which the boat lay was However, as he was now hoping to sell the item, which exposed at low tide and the boat was discovered by he believed to be a spear, he had decided to contact the metal detectorists exploring the intertidal zone ‘on foot’ museum to seek further information: it was therefore (even if shallow waters and muds had to be traversed explained to the finder that reporting of the find had to access the sandbank). In the present case, there is in fact been a legal obligation on his part and that the no suggestion that the artefact has ever been exposed question of whether it would be claimed as Treasure to the air in the recent past (and its present state would Trove or would require to be reported as Wreck would certainly suggest prolonged submersion in a benign depend on clarification of the circumstances environment rather than exposure). That and the of discovery. discovery of the artefact in the course of snorkelling For reasons explained below, the artefact was forced the conclusion that the object should be treated reported and treated as Wreck. Following the lapse as Wreck; for details of the reporting process see of the statutory period of one year, the sale of the website of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency object was negotiated through the offices of the Receiver (www.mcga.gov.uk). of Wreck, resulting in its acquisition by PMAG in 2010. This full account therefore supersedes Hall and Cowie 2009 and Cowie and Hall 2010, 152–3. Description

Location The dirk (Illus 4–5) is complete except for one rivet and the adjacent part of the butt, the loss of which seems to According to the finder the dirk was discovered amongst have been incurred during or since recovery. Original rocks close to the south shore of a stretch of river at surface preserved with brown patina. Rounded butt, the point where the Tay bends around the SW corner irregular outline. Slightly ogival profile with broad edge of Friarton or Moncreiffe Island (Illus 1–3). Along the bevels, less distinct on upper part of blade. Edges sharp stretch in question (centred NO 1205 2150), the bank with some notches. Broad rounded midrib, tapering to is now reinforced by an elongated gabion over 100m in narrow, parallel-sided form about halfway down blade; length composed of boulders retained by wire mesh. at its upper end, the midrib is straight, before sloping The river is tidal up to Perth itself and the OS map down abruptly to the hilt plate. Midrib flanked by bands shows the line of the High Water Mark corresponding of five ribs separated by narrow grooves; outermost rib closely to the line of the bank in this area, but according generally more prominent than the others. Ribs converge to the finder, at low tide it is possible to wade across into the midrib about two-thirds of the way down the the channel in which the dirk was found. Initially, Mr blade. Midrib continues to tip of blade where edge Robertson recollected that the artefact had been entire bevels become narrower, suggesting some reworking when recovered and suspected that the missing rivet of the blade. Faint traces of hatched V decoration along might possibly be in his shed at home. However, he the top of the midrib on one face. Stout plug rivet, heads subsequently affirmed that the missing portion of the asymmetrical indicating organic hilt was not flat. butt might not have been retrieved at the time, but may Length 197mm; maximum width 54mm; maximum have become detached or left in situ when retrieving the thickness 8mm. Rivet length 19mm; thickness 8mm; blade from between the rocks in which it was wedged. heads c10mm diameter; weight 125.1g.

Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal vol 17 2011, 10–18 12 Trevor Cowie, Mark Hall, Peter Northover and Brendan O’Connor

Illus 4 The dirk from the River Tay at Friarton. (© National Museums Scotland. Drawing by Marion O’Neil) A Middle Bronze Age dirk from the River Tay at Friarton, Perth 13

Illus 5 The dirk from the part of the Glentrool hoard, Kirkcudbrightshire, River Tay at Friarton. is undiagnostic (ibid, 362: Burgess and Gerloff 1981, (Courtesy of Perth no 61). Museum and Art Gallery, Doubt has been cast on the provenance of the Perth and Kinross Pitcaithly dirk (Burgess and Gerloff 1981, 133), as it Council, Scotland. formed part of a large antiquarian collection (the Bell Photography Collection), which is overwhelmingly composed of by Paul Adair) artefacts from Ireland (Donations and Purchases, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 7 (1866–68), 312). However, its Scottish provenance was long ago confirmed by Sir David Wilson when he illustrated ‘a fine example of the Scottish bronze dagger, found at Pitcaithly, , and now in the valuable collection of Mr. Bell of Dungannon’ (Wilson 1851, 264; Evans 1881, 246; Anderson 1886, 176, fig 179; for John Bell see Haworth 1981; 1982). Moreover, the new discovery of the closely similar dirk from the Tay at Friarton makes the Pitcaithly provenance entirely credible (discussed further below). Apart from being slightly smaller, the Pitcaithly dirk (Illus 6) is very similar in form to the Tay dirk, to the extent that its outermost ribs are also more prominent, and it is doubtful whether these two blades should be attributed to different Sub-groups as implied by the classification of Burgess and Gerloff. The Pitcaithly dirk must have been found before 1851 when it was published by Wilson. John Bell (1793–1861) seems to have begun collecting around 1812; he was probably already living in Ireland by then, though he was born in Scotland at Camelon, near Discussion Falkirk (Haworth 1981, 1; 1982, 11). His dirk has the same brown patina as the Tay blade, indicating that it This is a Group I dirk which belongs to the typologic- was also deposited in a watery environment. The place- ally earliest Sub-group with multiple grooves (Burgess name Pitcaithly (or Pitkeathly) now applies to several and Gerloff 1981, 5–8). The rather amorphous hilt, locations, from Pitkeathly Wells Farm, just south of the flat-topped midrib and short length relate the Tay dirk B 935 road between and , in particular to two blades from Ireland (ibid, nos 1–2; to Pitkeathly Hill and Loch on the northern slopes of Harbison 1969, nos 55 and 70). Like the Tay dirk, the Ochils, with Pitkeathly Mains between; Drumonnie most Group I weapons come from wet contexts or have House, between the Farm and the Mains, was formerly water patina (Burgess and Gerloff 1981, 15). The two Pitkeathly House (Illus 7). Pitkeathly Wells Farm is Irish dirks resembling our find have been compared only about 4km south of the findspot of the Tay dirk with daggers of Camerton type (Gerloff 1975, 104–6), at Friarton, the Hill and Loch another 2.5km and 3km though these daggers do not have the straight upper end further south. In the 18th and early 19th centuries of the Tay dirk’s midrib. This flattening of the junction Pitcaithly was well known for its mineral waters (OSA between midrib and hilt plate (the so-called ‘thumb- 1976, 145) ‘which may be found … over an expanse rest’) is instead more characteristic of Hammersmith of from 10 to 12 acres, stretching over the Pitkeathly, type daggers (ibid, 131–3), which are frequently Dunbarney, and Ballendrick properties’ (NSA 1845, 796). decorated with hatched triangles. Burgess and Gerloff So the patina of the Pitcaithly dirk suggests it may concluded that Hammersmith daggers developed in have been found somewhere in this area of 4–5 hectares England under the influence of Irish Group I blades around Pitkeathly Wells Farm, perhaps when this (1981, 16–17). The similarity of the Tay dirk to Irish area was subject to improvement and drainage. blades in form and metal composition (see below) Analysis2 of the dirks from Pitcaithly and Friarton suggests it was imported from Ireland; this is reinforced has shown that they are notably similar in their com- by the presence of another Group I blade of probable positions, and in both cases the rivet and the blade are Irish origin, found within a few kilometres of the Tay made of the same metal (see Table 1). Both are made dirk at Pitcaithly (ibid, no 18; Gerloff 1975, no 222). from unleaded medium tin bronzes with 13.4–14.3% Another dirk of the same Sub-group as the Tay tin (Pitcaithly) and 12.6–13.1% tin (Friarton). The blade, though rather different form, found at Lower only consistent impurities are iron, silver, bismuth Nunton Farm, Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire, may and sulphur, this last being common in all Bronze Age also be of Irish origin (O’Connor and Cowie 1995, 347– bronzes made from sulphide ores; three out of the four 9, illus 3a). The fourth Group I weapon from Scotland, samples also contained nickel. 14 Trevor Cowie, Mark Hall, Peter Northover and Brendan O’Connor

Illus 6 The dirk from Pitcaithly, Dunbarney. (© National Museums Scotland; drawing by Marion O’Neil) A Middle Bronze Age dirk from the River Tay at Friarton, Perth 15

Illus 7 Extract from Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 6-inch map, Perthshire, sheet CX showing the area around Pitcaithly (formerly Pitkeathly) in Dunbarney parish. Drainage of the area around Pitkeathly Wells during the 19th century provides a plausible explanation for the discovery of the dirk. 16 Trevor Cowie, Mark Hall, Peter Northover and Brendan O’Connor Mn 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.04 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.03 0.00 0.01 0.01 Si 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 Al 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 S 0.09 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.02 0.07 0.03 0.05 0.10 0.07 0.05 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.07 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.02 0.03 Cd 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Au 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.03 Pb 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.02 0.07 0.02 0.00 0.02 0.04 Bi 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.07 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.06 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.02 Ag 0.17 0.19 0.16 0.16 0.12 0.18 0.16 0.24 0.16 0.17 0.16 0.03 0.06 0.05 0.02 0.04 0.03 0.07 0.00 0.09 0.05 0.16 0.18 0.04 0.05 Sn 13.73 12.58 12.08 13.32 13.07 15.41 14.39 14.62 13.87 14.72 13.96 11.87 13.38 11.89 12.74 13.16 13.09 13.58 13.28 12.77 12.87 13.36 14.31 12.61 13.12 Sb 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 As 0.04 0.06 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.01 Zn 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 Cu 85.84 87.01 87.62 86.23 86.59 84.09 85.34 85.00 85.71 85.00 85.69 87.98 86.39 87.91 87.11 86.67 86.71 86.22 86.49 86.88 86.78 86.23 85.35 87.21 86.61 Ni 0.03 0.05 0.01 0.07 0.01 0.09 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.00 0.02 Co 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 Fe 0.04 0.03 0.00 0.01 0.03 0.04 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.00 0.05 0.05 0.10 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.05 blade part rivet blade rivet blade rivet blade rivet

Results metal of analyses the of dirks from Pitcaithly and at the River Friarton, Tay Perethshire.

Table 1 Table Group 1 dirk, Pitcaithly sample R3533/1 R3533/2 R3533/3 R3533/4 R3533/5 R3533/6 Group 1 dirk, Pitcaithly sample R3534/1 R3534/2 R3534/3 R3534/4 R3534/5 Group Friarton 1 dirk, R Tay, sample R3535/1 R3535/2 R3535/3 R3535/4 R3535/5 Group Friarton 1 dirk, R Tay, sample R3536/1 R3536/2 R3536/3 R3536/4 R3536/5 Group 1 dirk, Pitcaithly R3533/mean Group 1 dirk, Pitcaithly R3534/mean Group Friarton 1 dirk, R Tay, R3535/mean Group Friarton 1 dirk, R Tay, R3536/mean A Middle Bronze Age dirk from the River Tay at Friarton, Perth 17

The key impurities here are silver (0.16–0.18% for per element and pure element and mineral standards Pitcaithly and 0.04–0.05 % for Friarton) and bismuth were used. Detecting limits are typically 100–200ppm. (0.02–0.03% and 0.02–0.04 % respectively). There are Three to six areas, each of 30x50μm, were analysed no existing analyses available for Scottish Middle Bronze on each sample. The individual analyses and their Age dirks and rapiers but there is a considerable series means, normalised to 100%, are set out on the table. for Ireland (Northover 1981). There, analyses with silver All concentrations are in weight %. as the main impurity (‘F3’, Northover 1980) are quite common for bronzes from the end of the Early Bronze Age and for Group I dirks and rapiers, and so it is quite Acknowledgements likely that both dirks are of Irish metal or Irish in origin. The Tay dirk represents the significant change in Thanks are due to Mr Iain Robertson for reporting the the deposition of metalwork from burials to rivers and find and for pointing out and discussing the findspot other wet places that took place at the transition from of the dirk in the course of a chilly evening visit to the the Early to the Middle Bronze Age, Arreton to Acton bank of the Tay, and for his patience while due legal Park phases, around 1550–1500 BC (Rohl and Needham process was observed. PMAG is grateful to the office 1998, 93; Needham et al 2010, Table 1; Bradley 2007, of the Receiver of Wreck for advice and assistance 185–7; for the broader context of metalwork deposition and is especially indebted to both Neil Burridge and in Scottish rivers see Cowie and Hall 2001; for Ireland the National Fund for Acquisitions for their support see Bourke 2001). This new find from the Tay thus in acquiring the dirk for the Museum. Our thanks stands at the head of a long, if not especially numerous, go to Marion O’Neil for preparing the line drawings sequence of blades deposited in the river during the (Illus 1, 4, 6), to Paul Adair (PMAG) for photography later Bronze Age (Cowie and Hall 2010). It is significant of the Friarton dirk (Illus 5), and to Lesley Ferguson that this change appears to be represented by objects (RCAHMS) for assistance with the provision of an imported from Ireland which did not affect Scottish extract from the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map metalwork, since Group I dirks or rapiers do not (Illus 7). Finally we are grateful to our anonymous seem to have been produced in Scotland, like the referee for helpful comments and to Derek Hall for latest daggers. Only with Group II, did rapiers become editorial input. common in Scotland (Burgess and Gerloff 1981, pl 120).

References Notes Anderson, J 1886 Scotland in Pagan Times: the Bronze 1 Besides the dirk, Mr Robertson showed MH and and Stone Ages. Edinburgh. his colleagues a handful of 20th century costume Bradley, R 2007 The prehistory of Britain and Ireland. jewellery items which had also been retrieved from Cambridge. the river. Other artefacts found at the time had Bourke, L 2001 Crossing the Rubicon: Bronze Age supposedly also included very worn Roman coins, metalwork from Irish rivers. Galway (= Bronze Age which he said had been declared to be valueless Studies 5). because of their condition – but the authority for this Burgess, C B and Gerloff, S 1981 The dirks and claim is unknown. rapiers of Great Britain and Ireland. München (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV/7). 2 Sampling and analysis of the dirks from Friarton and Cowie, T and Hall, M A 2001 Late Bronze Age Pitcaithly, Perthshire was carried out by Dr Peter metalwork from Scottish rivers: a rediscovered Northover. All samples were drilled using a handheld sword from the River Forth at Cambus, modelmaker’s electric drill with a 0.7mm diameter bit. Clackmannanshire, in its wider context’, in Tayside The samples are labelled and identified as follows: and Fife Archaeol J 7 (2001), 1–16. Cowie, T and Hall, M A 2010 ‘A new look at the Late R3533 Group 1 dirk, blade Pitcaithly, Perthshire Bronze Age metalwork from the Tay’ in D Strachan R3534 Group 1 dirk, rivet Pitcaithly, Perthshire 2010, 151–62. R3535 Group 1 dirk, blade R Tay at Friarton, Perthshire Evans, J 1881 The ancient bronze implements, R3536 Group 1 dirk, rivet R Tay at Friarton, Perthshire weapons, and ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland. London. The samples were hot-mounted in a carbon-filled Gerloff, S 1975 The Early Bronze Age daggers in Great thermosetting resin, ground and polished to a Britain, München (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde 1μm diamond finish. Analysis was by electron VI/1). probe microanalysis with wavelength dispersive Hall, M A and Cowie, T G 2009 ‘River Tay, Perth’, spectrometry; operating conditions were an accelerat- Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, New Series, ing voltage of 20kV, a beam current of 30nA, and an 9 (2008), 154–5. X-ray take-off angle of 40º. Seventeen elements were Harbison, P 1969 The daggers and halberds of analysed as set out in the table; count times were 20s the Early Bronze Age in Ireland, München (=Prähistorische Bronzefunde VI/2). 18 Trevor Cowie, Mark Hall, Peter Northover and Brendan O’Connor

Haworth, R G 1981 ‘John Bell of Dungannon 1793– Abstract 1861. Part 1.’ Ulster Local Studies 7/1, 1–7. The writers describe the circumstances of discovery Haworth, R G 1982 ‘John Bell of Dungannon 1793– and acquisition and local significance of a fine Middle 1861. Part II.’ Ulster Local Studies 8/1, 10–19. Bronze age dirk found in the River Tay near Perth. NSA 1845 The new statistical account of Scotland. Vol Attention is also drawn to a very similar weapon from X, Perth. London. Pitcaithly, Dunbarney, originally reported in the 19th Needham, S, Lawson, A J and Woodward, A 2010 century, and consideration is given to the possible “‘A noble group of barrows’: Bush Barrow and the location of that discovery. Analysis suggests that both Normanton Down Early Bronze Age cemetery two dirks are of Irish metal or Irish in origin. centuries on.” Antiquaries Journal 90, 1–39. Northover, J P 1980 ‘The analysis of Welsh Bronze Keywords Age metalwork’, appendix to H.N. Savory, Guide dirks Catalogue of the Bronze Age collections, Cardiff: Ireland National Museum of Wales, 229–243. Middle Bronze Age Northover, J P 1981 ‘The metallurgy of dirks and rapiers rapiers’, appendix to Burgess and Gerloff 1981, riverine deposition 117–122. River Tay OSA 1976 The statistical account of Scotland 1791– 1799. Vol XI, South and east Perthshire, Kinross- This paper was published with the aid of a grant from shire. Wakefield. National Museums Scotland. O’Connor, B and Cowie, T 1995 Middle Bronze Age dirks and rapiers from Scotland: some finds old and new’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 125, 345–367. Rohl, B and Needham, S 1998 The circulation of metal in the British Bronze Age: the application of lead isotope analysis. British Museum Occasional Paper 102. London. Strachan, D 2010 Carpow in context: a Late Bronze Age logboat from the Tay. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 151–62. Wilson, D 1851 The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland. Edinburgh.