proceeded to the next and largest in the enclosure—it is fifty-six feet in diameter, well-defined, and touches the outer walls. Exactly in the centre was a small stone boulder, which we lifted, and then dug a trench about six yards long and eighteen inches deep. We found no traces of any remains, the ground having evidently never been before disturbed. The remaining circles on the west side we also tried, but without any results: some of the boundary stones have been disturbed, and are not in situ, and may have been used in building the modern stone fences. On the south-west side the stones are laying in confused heaps, and may be the ruins of stone huts. A thorough examination failed to disclose any signs of the marks of work tools of any description, the stones having been used just as picked up from the neighbouring fells, but the foundations of the circles were laid with the greatest regularity. After our examination was finished, we went on to the hill behind, thinking we might be able to discern mounds or tumuli where the inhabitants of such a village might bury their dead, but these we failed to discover; though there are a great many traces of other circles and foundations, partly of a similar character to the one described, though less perfect. On a subsequent visit with an efficient excavating party, one of the best defined circles on the west side of the enclosure was subjected to a more systematic examination. On lifting the sods the area was found filled up with a number of large stones, laying in heaps, and levelled up with earth. These were cleared away, and at a depth of about eighteen inches there was a thin layer of lightcoloured clayey soil extending all over the surface of the interior of the circle, and slanting towards what had apparently been the doorway. In this clayey soil, which we took to have been a rough description of flooring, and just within the entrance, we found a number of calcined stones and some charcoal. Beneath this flooring was the hard sammel, which we did not examine. This This camp has evidently been a place of importance. It does not figure in Mr. Clifton Ward's list, nor is it shown on the Ordnance Plan, and has never been described by any experts; yet it is well worth a visit, and deserves to be recorded. The following is an account of the Society's visit to the the settlement, compiled mainly from the Westmorland Gazette: The casual observer would have noticed little beside a quantity of greyish stones and boulders lying in rough lines and heaps over about half an acre of ground. To the archæologist there was a history to these rough stones, and, mounting on one of the heaps, Mr. Ferguson gave that history very briefly. He said that some little time ago Mr. Addison, the owner of the estate, had drawn the attention of Mr. Wilson, the secretary, to a peculiarity in the distribution of these stones, and an excursion had been made by Mr. Wilson, Mr. Braithwaite, himself, and other members of the Society. They had scraped away the turf and soil, and found traces of some regularly-built walls of circular form, distributed over the enclosure where they were standing. Through the kindness of the borough surveyor of Kendal, Mr. Banks, a most carefully drawn plan had been made of the site, and the plan was passed round for inspection. By its aid the stone formations referred to were readily recognised. Mr. Ferguson went on to say that "at some former time there had been a stone wall running completely round the enclosure, and it was very nearly defined by the present walls of the field. Inside that enclosure they found several circles which had been originally hut circles. There were four small ones together, four other large ones, and a very large one, 56 feet in diameter, while the others were from 12 feet to 18 feet. These hut circles very much resembled those found in Ireland and the western isles of Scotland; and called 'raths' and 'cashels.' The huts were what were called bee-hive huts, and in some places were standing more or less perfect, but here they had been thrown down, and the stones used to make the fences which they saw round the field. He did not pretend to be able to explain all the traces of walls which they saw; probably some of them were kraals for keeping cattle in. Mr. Joseph Anderson's new book gave an interesting account of some similar remains,* which were supposed to be those * "Scotland in Early Christian Times; Lecture III." of of early Christian churches. At Hugill these huts must have existed before any Christianity had reached this country. These huts were generally found within reach of water; and formerly, he was told, there was an excellent spring in the next field, and there were two or three tarns close to this place, now drained, but which in living memory swarmed with coarse fish and wild fowl. There were some similar remains at Barnscar, near Devock Water, in Cumberland, but they were nothing like so clear as these; some near Coniston covered a larger area, but he did not think they were so clearly defined. There were also traces of a British settlement at Crosby Ravensworth, and accounts of several similar places were to be found in the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, for instance, in the 3rd volume, 1st series, which gives accounts of beehive huts in Harris, Lewis, Uig, &c., with plans and sketches. On a previous visit he and Mr. Wilson dug away the earth with a view to finding traces of animal life such as bones, &c. About eighteen inches below the surface a clay flooring of uneven surface was reached, and here some remains of vegetable charcoal were discovered, and many stones which had been subjected to the action of fire. By clearing away the ruinated or upper parts of the walls, the lower courses were seen to be regularly built, but without mortar." The site of these huts at Hugill is a sort of natural hollow or basin somewhat protected to the north, but open to the south, and commanding a most extensive prospect of Westmorland scenery. As the party were leaving, Dr. Taylor examined one of the larger stones at present lying on its side, but which, judging from the platform of stones underneath, must at one time have been standing upright, and he at once found a cup-mark exactly like what he had noticed at other similar places, and suggested that before the description of the place was published, the stone should be turned over and carefully examined for further markings. (91) ART. VIII.-Knitting-Sheaths or Knitting-Sticks. I HAVE the honour to exhibit to the Society twenty-eight specimens of knitting-sheaths or knitting-sticks collected mainly from the Wigton district in Cumberland. These implements are stuck into the girdle or apron-string, at the right hand side, for the purpose of supporting the end of one of the knitting-needles (either three or four in number) during knitting, while the clue, or ball of thread, is supported by the clue-holder,—a metal hook, of which I exhibit three specimens, one dated 1769. I do not claim for these objects any great antiquity. They are of the class of antiquities which Prof. Mitchell, in his admirable work, The Past in the Present, calls "NeoArchaic"; objects whose use has either just ceased, or only lingers in out-of-the-way places. But I claim for these objects that they are, in most cases, reproductions of very archaic types. The knitting-sheaths on the table divide themselves into four classes. The most modern in type are those produced by the turner's lathe, of which I have here several specimens. Nothing more can be said of them than that they are very nicely turned. From inquiries I have made, this class does not date back earlier than about the beginning of this century. I have not thought it worth while to give an illustration of any of this class. A second class is heart-shaped. Now-a-days people are content to stick the needle into a quill stitched to a tri Reprinted, by permission, from the "Journal British Archæological Association," vol. 37, where, by an error, it is stated the knitting-stick is used on the "left hand side." A lady writes:-" The sheath was always worn at the right hand side (not the left), the needle placed in the sheath being the free (empty) needle on which the row was to be knitted; and it would have been quite impossible to place this needle on the left hand side, and there to use it." angular angular bit of cloth, or to use a tin heart with a tube behind it; but I exhibit a beautiful specimen carved in wood (No. 7 on the Plate), which is of an archaic type. The third and fourth classes are archaic in type, and have neither been bought in a tin-shop, nor turned in a lathe. They are the work of the peasants and farm servants. Though they follow, in the main, two distinct patterns, yet they have an individuality about them, and were, no doubt, made by the country lads for their sweethearts. That was the case with this one (No. 5 in the drawing), which was made by a farm servant, and is inscribed ESTER GRAVES, 1722. One of these two classes (the third and fourth classes) resembles a knife or dagger (see Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the drawing). They are curved to fit the waist. The other class (see Nos. 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11), are straight, and are of the type of the one engraved in the Archæologia, vol. xxxiv, p. 95. The instance there engraved is from the Links of Skaill, in Orkney, and is supposed to be of the last century. No. 9 in the drawing has been in the family of the late Mr. George Moore for over a century, and No. 10 is dated 1755. The ornamentation of classes 3 and 4 seems to have a decidedly northern look. To my mind they are silent evidences of that colonisation of Cumberland and Westmorland unrecorded in history, but proved by my relative, Mr. R. Ferguson, M.P., in his Northmen in Cumberland and Westmorland. Since writing the above, a fifth class of knitting-sticks has been brought to my notice,-a class whose prototype has been the head of a fiddle. This class has a very Italian type about it, but comes clearly from the fiddle. I also exhibit two "broaches." Halliwell, in his Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, says, "in Yorkshire they call a skewer, or any sharp pointed stick, a broche, as also the spindle-stick whereon the thread or yarn |