by engraved patterns of interlaced work. The whole of the designs on the front of the brooch are in high relief, plated with gold. On this account, as well as in consequence of the metal being bronze, this brooch has not the elegance or

Fig. 9.-Bronze Brooch found in Mull (actual size).

the delicacy of workmanship of those that are executed in silver. But notwithstanding this, it is still a very beautiful example of this peculiar style; and when the metal retained the original lustre of its surface, and the coloured settings

were in their places, it must have had an appearance of gorgeous magnificence which the refinement and delicacy of the silver brooches would fail to convey.

Another bronze brooch of the same character (Fig. 9), but less elaborate in its decoration, was also found in Mull some time previous to 1854. It consists of a flat penannular ring with expanded ends; the opening between the expanded ends of the ring is partially closed by a square socket for a setting, and there are circular settings at the junction of the expanded portions with the ring of the brooch. The triangular compartments of the expanded parts are plain, but may have been filled by the insertion of decorated plates of thin gold as in other examples. The panels bordering these triangular spaces are filled with interlaced patterns, and the narrower part of the ring is divided into three panels, also filled with interlaced work. The pin is round and plain.

A third brooch of bronze, found in Mull (Fig. 10), is of the same penannular form, with expanded ends. It differs, however, from the others, inasmuch as it is almost destitute of sur

face decoration. The ring,

which is rounded instead of Fig. 10.-Bronze Brooch found in Mull

being flat, terminates at its

(2 inches diameter).

junction with the expanded and flattened portions in a zoomorphic ending, simulating the head of an animal.

A man digging a drain between his own dwelling and the

public road at Dunbeath in Caithness, in 1860, brought up a circular ring of metal on the point of his pick. It was broken by the pick, and he handed a fragment of it (Fig. 11) to a bystander, who put it in his pocket as a curiosity, and afterwards deposited it in the trunk in which he kept his general possessions. Some time afterwards he removed to Edinburgh, and the thing lay tossing about in the trunk for eighteen years, till one evening, when searching for some papers in the presence of a friend, he came across the fragment, and showed it to his friend, who happened to know something of metal-work. The result was that it was shown to Mr. John Marshall, who brought it to me, and allowed me to acquire it for the Museum. It was, without exception, the most beautifully-executed specimen of Celtic goldsmith's work that I had ever seen in Scotland, although unfortunately but a mere fragment of a brooch. Having obtained its story, I wrote to the finder, inquiring whether the rest of the brooch could not be recovered.1 It was obvious from his reply that he had

Fig. 11. Fragment of Silver Brooch, inlaid with gold, found at Dunbeath, Caithness (actual size).

1 His reply was decisive, but at the same time so characteristic that I am tempted to give it. He says "I received your letter concerning the old brooch that was found here this long time back. I have to inform you that I have got none of this old brooch, and I don't know of any one in this place that has got any of this old stuff you speak about. The time is so long since it was got, that everything about it is out of sight and mind here. As far as I recollect I will give you all the information I can about the way this old brooch was got. I got it in a drain or sink that I was making out from the

examined the brooch with care, and that its unusual characteristics had impressed themselves strongly upon his memory; but it was equally obvious that the idea of its being a work of art, and worthy of being preserved on that account, had never entered his mind. He naturally felt surprise at the inquiry; but he was quite unconscious that a little special knowledge was all that was needed to make this apparently worthless object the most precious thing he had ever possessed. Intrinsically it was worth only a few shillings, but as an example of Celtic art, and a specimen of exquisitely beautiful art-workmanship, it would have been difficult to estimate its value. Judging from the fragment which has thus been preserved by the strangest of accidents, it could have had few competitors in the market of the world. The highest efforts of Greek and Roman art, as applied to the precious metals, are comparatively common, but the highest efforts of Celtic art are excessively rare. The Tara brooch (Figs. 12 and 13), the finest specimen of its kind, though originally sold by the finder to a watchmaker for a few pence, is now priceless.1 The silver chalice decorated with Celtic ornament of

house. The pick that I had working the drain came at it, and disfigured the whole apparatus out of its form. The brooch looked to me as it was placed on a fine sash of leather or cloth, because I got an imitation of this about it. All the dices in the circle, there was a fine stone in the heart of them all, of every colour. As soon as it was touched they all fell out of their sockets and places. There was something similar to a Roman Catholic cross in the middle of this old brooch, and a great deal of other articles attached to it. The whole of it was watered with gold, or some stuff or other. The whole of it was made up as this corner you have got, only there was a cross coming through the centre of it, and all the dices a fine stone of every colour in every one of them. This is all the information I can give about this old brooch."

1 The following paragraph occurs in the account of the Tara Brooch, given by the Messrs. Waterhouse, jewellers, Dublin:-"On the 24th of August 1850, a poor woman, who stated that her children had picked up this brooch near the sea, offered it for sale to the proprietor of an old iron shop in Drogheda, who refused to purchase so light and insignificant an article. It was subsequently bought by a watchmaker in the town, who, after cleaning

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