remained unknown, except by a few articles engraved in the plates to the Nenia; Douglas himself having had access to the Faussett collection. So little indeed were the correct principles of archæology understood in this country that a diligent if not a very correct collector of facts, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who made an unwise attempt at an arbitrary classification of barrows by their outward forms, actually set down the contents of Saxon tumuli as British, although he might have corrected himself by a simple glance at the then very well-known work of Douglas. In 1841, and during several subsequent years, Lord Londesborough (then Lord Albert Conyngham), who was residing at Bourne near Canterbury, and had a rather extensive cemetery in his own park, opened at different times a considerable number of barrows there, at Wingham near Sandwich, and on Breach down in the parish of Barham, about four miles to the south of Canterbury. His lordship was accompanied at most of these excavations by Mr. Akerman, Mr. Roach Smith, or myself, and I believe that Mr. Akerman and Mr. Roach Smith, in giving accounts of those and other discoveries in the same neighbourhood, first stated clearly and distinctly to what people these remains belonged, namely, to the Anglo-Saxons of the period previous to the introduction of Christanity; or from the middle of the fifth century to the end of the sixth, and in some parts probably, where Christianity had penetrated more slowly than in others, to the middle of the seventh. The interest excited by these discoveries, called much attention to the subject, and it was soon known that several Anglo-Saxon cemeteries had been partially opened by accident in other parts of Kent, and that the contents had either been scattered abroad and lost, or preserved by private individuals who were not aware of their peculiar character. Thus, a rather extensive cemetery had been opened at different times from 1825 to 1828 at Sittingbourne, and many of the articles found in it were preserved by Mr. Vallance. Mr. Rolfe, of Sandwich, had already begun to form his valuable collection from the cemeteries and barrows at Gilton, Coombe, Woodnesborough, and other places, which has been since so much enriched from his excavations at Osengell. Saxon cemeteries of great interest have been also excavated at Stroud and Rochester; another has been cut through by the railway at Northfleet; and traces of several others have been noticed in different parts of Kent.

You have now before you, in the Faussett collection alone, the contents

}

of between seven and eight hundred graves, and you will see that, as I have already intimated, they furnish an almost indefinite variety of articles; and this variety would no doubt have been greatly increased but for the perishable materials of which many of those placed in the graves were composed. There are, however, certain classes of articles which are more numerous than the others, and to which it may be well to call particular

attention.

The body was usually laid on its back in the middle of the floor of the grave. In the MS. account of his diggings, Faussett frequently mentions traces of the existence of a coffin, but as far as my own experience goes, I am led to think that the use of a coffin was not common. Where the body was that of a man, we almost always find above the right shoulder the iron head of a spear, and in general we may trace by the colour of the earth the decayed wood of the shaft, until near the foot of the skeleton lies the iron-spiked ferule which terminated it at the other end. We sometimes also meet with one or more smaller heads of javelins, or arrows, for I disagree entirely with a statement which has been made lately and adhered to, that the bow was in discredit among the Anglo-Saxons as a weapon. Closer to the side of the skeleton lies usually (though not always) a long iron broad-sword, not much unlike the claymore of the Scottish highlander, of which it is perhaps the prototype. Its most usual form is that represented in the annexed figure. The sheath and handle appear

1. Sword, from Barham Down.

in most cases to have been made of perishable materials, and we seldom find more than the blade with the spike by which it was fixed into the handle. The tip of the sheath, however, is sometimes found, having been made of bronze or other metal, and also at times, the handle of the sword, which has been found of silver. A usual form of the top of the handle

* See on this subject the note at the end of this paper.

+ Fine examples of the handle of the Anglo-Saxon sword will be found in the engravings to Mr. Smith's Collectanea and Mr. Akerman's Pagan Saxondom.

Kingston Down.

is represented in figure 2. Another article, peculiarly characteristic of the Saxon interments, is the knife, the length of which is generally about five or six inches, although at times it extends to from ten to eleven inches, and then from its shape it must have been a very formidable weapon, independent of its utility for other purposes. It has been pretended that it was from the use

2. Top of the handle of a Sword, from of this instrument, called in their language a seax, that our forefathers derived their name of Saxons. Another weapon, the axe, is found at times in the Saxon graves, but it is of very rare occurrence, and was probably not in general use in this island. The accompanying group of weapons were taken from one grave on Kingston Down: they consist of two swords of rather different form to that represented above (2 and 8); the head (3) and the ferule (6) of a spear; smaller javelins or arrow heads (1, 7); and knives large and small (4, 5.)**

Over the breast of the Saxon warrior is generally found the iron umbo or boss of his shield. Its shape is not always the same, as will be seen by

Mr. Akerman, Pagan Saxondom, p. 48, has given his opinion that the sword was not an ordinary weapon of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, and states that its occurrence in the grave is an exception. I confess that my experience does not altogether support this opinion or statement; but I have remarked in more than one instance that the sword was entirely decayed in the same grave where the spear-head was very well preserved, and this to such a degree that it required close observation, and an experienced eye, to detect in the colour of the earth the traces of its former existence. I am not aware whether highly tempered steel undergoes more rapidly the effect of decomposition than steel less highly tempered, or than common iron.

4. Umbos of Shields, from Ash and

Chartham.

the examples now exhibited, but there is a general character about this part of the accoutrements of the Anglo-Saxon which makes it perfectly inexcusable for any one who pretends to the character of an archmologist to misappropriate it, as has been done in a recent publication which I regret to say contains too many errors of this kind, I mean Wilson's "Archæology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland." Beneath the boss of the shield, is usually found a piece of iron which is best described by a drawing, and which no doubt was the handle by which the shield was held. Douglas, who had not observed carefully the position in which it is found, imagined it to be part of a bow, and called it a bow-brace. The shield itself, as we know from the AngloSaxon writers, was of wood, generally of linden, and has therefore perished, but we find remains of nails, studs, and other iron work, belonging to it.

5. Handle of Shield.

Such are the more common arms which we find, without much variation, in the graves of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, of the period to which these cemeteries belong. The miscellaneous articles are so varied, that I can only enumerate them rapidly. Of personal ornaments, the first that attract our attention are the fibulæ, or brooches, and the buckles. The latter are usually of bronze gilt, and are often very elaborately ornamented, as will be seen by the numerous examples in the Faussett collection. From the position in which they are found, it is evident that they formed, most generally, the fastening of the girdle. The forms of these buckles are varied. The two first examples here given (6) are of a form which is not uncommon. Sometimes they are square, instead of round, as in the example No. 7. The buckle is very commonly only the extremity of a

bronze ornament, more or less elaborate.

buckle of this kind.

No. 8, is a small and very plain

Nos. 9 and 10 are buckles of

ornamental forms, which occur not unfrequently both

8. Buckle, from Kingston in the Faussett collection, and in other collections

Down.

9. Buckle, from Kingston Down.

10. Buckle, from Sibertswold.

very massive, the larger ones apparently belonging to the male, and the smaller ones to the female costume.

Many of the fibula which are found upon male skeletons, as well as females, are extremely rich and beautiful. In the Kentish tumuli the prevailing form is circular, and they are often of gold, profusely ornamented with filigree work, and with garnets or other stones, or sometimes glass or paste, set usually upon chequered foils of gold. The use of this fibula appears to have been to fasten the mantle over the breast, where it is most commonly found. Some of the finest examples of the Saxon gold fibulæ occur in the Faussett collection. Their general size is from an inch and a half to two inches in diameter; but the Faussett collection possesses one of considerably larger dimensions, which was found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon lady, on Kingston down. This magnificent ornament is no