Doorway in south wall of old church at Kirkapoll, Tiree
Window in south wall of old church at Kirkapoll, Tiree
Exterior View of the Cell at Inchcolm

Interior view and Ground-plan of the Cell at Inchcolm

70

Exterior and Interior head of Doorway and Section of the Roof

of the Cell at Inchcolm

71

Ground-plan of the group of structures on Skellig Mhichel

81

82

External view of the larger beehive cell on Skellig Mhichel
Ground-plan of the Cashel and its included structures on Innis-

murry

Ground-plan of the Cashel and its included structures on Oilen

87

91

96

Gravestone in the burying-ground, Eilean-na-Naoimh .
Ground-plan of double beehive cell on Eilean-na-Naoimh
External view of the double beehive cell on Eilean-na-Naoimh .
Ground-plan and section of small cell on Eilean-na-Naoimh
Ground-plan of kiln, Eilean-na-Naoimh

96

97

98

Ground-plan of the Brough of Deerness and its group of struc

Interior view of the Oratory of Gallarus at Kilmalkedar, County
Kerry

106

External view of the Oratory at Kilmalkedar, County Kerry
Ground-plan of the Church of Kilvicocharmaig, Eilean Mor
Ground-plan of Teampull Ronan, North Rona.
Interior of Teampull Ronan on North Rona

Ground-plan of Tigh Beannachadh on Gallon Head, Lewis
Exterior view of west end of Teampull Beannachadh on Eilean

Exterior view of east end of Teampull Beannachadh on Eilean
Mor, Flannan Isles

Clay Jar and Bone Implements dug up in a Cemetery at Saverough, Birsay, Orkney

168

Bell found in the Broch of Burrian, North Ronaldsay, Orkney. 175 The Buried Bell of Kingoldrum

176

Bronze Chain with cross-shaped Ornament dug up at Kin

goldrum.

The Ronnel Bell of Birnie

The Bell of Cladh Bhrennu, Glenlyon

The Bell of Fortingall, Glenlyon

The Bell of Balnahanait, Glenlyon

The Bell of Struan in Athole.

The Bell of St. Meriadec at Stival in Bretagne.

The Bell of St. Fillan of Glendochart

.

The Bell of St. Ruadhan of Lorrha
Front view of the Enshrined Bell called the Barnaan Cuilawn
in the British Museum
Back view of the Enshrined Bell called the Barnaan Cuilawn
in the British Museum
The Bell of St. Adamnan at Insh

187

188

196

Window-sill with basin-shaped hollow in the church of Insh.
The Bell of St. Finan, Eilean Finan, Loch Shiel, Ardnamurchan 198
St. Patrick's Bell, in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,
Dublin

Front view of the Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell, in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin .

200

Back view of the Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell in the Museum of

the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.

201

Side views of the Shrine of St. Patrick's Bell, in the Museum of

Side view of the external case of the Crosier of St. Fillan of
Glendochart, with details

219

The Bulb or Socket of the Crosier of St. Fillan of Glendochart.

220

Bosses of the Crosier of Tedavnet

Irish Crosier of Bronze in the National Museum of the Anti

quaries of Scotland, Edinburgh

The older Crosier of St. Fillan of Glendochart.

Portion of a Scottish Crosier in the National Museum of the

Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh

St. Matthew and St. Luke with Crosiers, as represented in the
Gospels of Mac Durnan

Irish Reliquary found in the Shannon

Representation of the Temple in the Book of Kells

Reliquary in the Museum at Copenhagen

End view of the Monymusk Reliquary

PAGE

221

222

224

225

228

246

LECTURE I.

(14TH OCTOBER 1879.)

THE MEANS OF OBTAINING A SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR THE

ARCHÆOLOGY OF SCOTLAND.

ARCHÆOLOGY, or the science of things that are old, embraces the systematic knowledge of the forms, dimensions, composition, associations, and geographical distribution of the objects which it studies. This knowledge, which is precise in its nature, and is derived from examination and comparison of the objects themselves, forms the groundwork of the science. It is purely the product of observation, and there neither is, nor can be, anything of a speculative or hypothetical nature included in it. Upon this groundwork of exact knowledge there may be raised a superstructure of conclusions as to the relations of these objects to ancient conditions and customs of human life, which they more or less clearly disclose; and in this, its widest scope, archæology aims at producing a history of man by his works, of art by its monuments, of culture by its manifestations, and of civilisation by its developments.

But there are two conditions involved which have to be considered with reference to the practical realisation of aims so comprehensive. It is manifest that for a study so vast in its range, and dealing with materials so diverse in character as the products of human industry, art, culture, religion, and

B

2

SCOTLAND IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES.

civilisation, in every past age and in every clime, no indi-
vidual industry could suffice for the collection of a sufficient
body of materials, and no single life would afford the time
requisite for their examination. Thus, although there is not,
and cannot be, in the present state of our knowledge, any
such thing as a general science of archæology applicable to
the world as a whole, it may be possible, by limiting the
area of investigation, to acquire a systematic knowledge of
the remains of man's occupation of one particular section of
the earth's surface. But as it is certain that the natural
environments and the actual conditions of human life have
always differed to a greater or less extent in different regions,
it follows that the facts which are ascertained regarding
them, and the conclusions drawn from them, in one area, do
not necessarily apply to any other. It would therefore be
unscientific to assume (as is so often done) that the ascer-
tained phenomena of man's existence in one region can be
taken as revealing the unascertained phenomena of his exist-
ence in another region; and hence, in whatever locality we
may commence our investigations, the first question must
always be-What are the facts?

Beginning thus with the examination of the materials

When a number of limited

the world, 1 Why should we expect the prehistoric portion of the history of mankind to be more easily dealt with than the historic portion? No man has yet been bold enough to attempt the construction of a systematic history compiled from authentic records of all nations. Yet this would be an easy task compared with the construction of a general system of archæology deduced from the actual remains of all past races. areas have been exhaustively investigated, and the results placed on record, it may be possible to proceed a step farther, and to formulate general conclusions applicable to wider areas, such as Europe, or Eastern or Western Asia, or Africa or America, but at present no body of materials exists from which the archæology of any one of these larger areas may be studied systematically, and until this is possible for all these great areas, it is manifestly impossible that any general conclusions can be arrived at, which can be applicable to the world as a whole.