First, then, as to the modes of burial in use among the earliest inhabitants of this island.

Two very distinct modes of interment were in use among the ancient British or Celtic population. These were burial by inhumation, and burial by cremation, and in each of these divisions the mode was subject to many variations. When burial by inhumation was practised, the body was usually laid on its side in a contracted position; at other times it was placed on its back or side at full length; and at others, again, was fixed in an upright sitting, or kneeling posture. In some instances, too, where more than one body was buried at the same time, and in the same grave, they were laid face to face, with their arms encircling each other, or side by side, or in other positions; and not unfrequently an infant-most probably sacrificed-was placed in its mother's arms, or lying closely beside her.

The

When the body of the deceased person was buried in the contracted position just alluded to, it was placed upon its side (most frequently on its left, but not unusually on its right, side) with the head generally inclining a little forward. knees were drawn up near to the chest, with the heels pretty close to the thighs. The arms were front of the face. This position will be best underbent upwards; the elbows close to, or lying one upon stood by reference to the engraving, fig. 1, in which and the other below the knees, which were thus held the body is represented as just described. Behind between them; and the hands often opened out in the skeleton is the drinking-cup, and some flint and

Dale (fig. 5), Parcelly Hay, and in other localities. interment, the cairn or mound was raised, in the Of the latter, a remarkable instance occurred in same manner as I shall yet have occasion to dethe Cromlech De Hus, or De Tus, in Guernsey, scribe a little further on.

opened by the late Mr. F. C. Lukis, F.S.A. The When the interment was by cremation or burnengraving, fig. 5, of the Monsal Dale interment, ing, it seems pretty evident the body was carried shows a section of the tufa rock, in which, in a to the spot where it was, at a certain interval after natural cavity, the body had been placed, and be- death, intended to be deposited, and was there laid come embedded to the mouth in river sand. In upon the funeral pyre and consumed. The pyre the Guernsey interment two bodies, facing opposite was, there can be no doubt, simply a heap of dried ways, were placed side by side, in an upright kneel- fern or bracken, and wood; the charcoal of the ing posture in a cist, and the cavity filled up so as latter, and evidences of the former, remaining to to retain them in that position. Double interments the present day. I think that there can be no were not uncommon, whether of a mother and her doubt that the body was laid on the pyre in its child, a husband and his wife, or otherwise. usual dress, and the flint and other implements

It is pretty clear that the deceased, in at all which he had used, were either cast into the fire events most cases, was simply laid in his or her with him, or afterwards placed in the urn with his usual dress whether of skins or not, either on the ashes. That this was the case, the frequent ocsurface of the ground; in a shallow grave scooped currence of burnt flints along with the remains of out of the earth; in a natural fissure or hollow in the deceased abundantly testifies. the rock; or in a kind of pit, as at Fimber. By When the body was consumed, the hot and the side of the body were frequently placed a rude glowing ashes were carefully gathered together, and vessel, more or less ornamented, as a food-vessel either placed in a small heap on the surface of the or drinking-cup; implements of flint, stone, bronze, ground, where they were sometimes protected either or bone; jet or bone ornaments; and other things by forming a small cist around them, or were belonging to the deceased, or which might by the simply covered with a rough stone, or with the friends and relatives be considered likely to be use- earth; or wrapped in a skin or cloth, which was ful to him (or her) in the spirit-land to which he had pinned together with a bone pin; or placed in an departed. Around the body, in many instances, urn, inverted or otherwise. Whichever of these a cist of rough slabs or masses of stone was formed, modes was adopted, the barrow was afterwards and this was often covered with other slabs, thus en- raised over the remains.

tirely enclosing the body. Over and around this The section of a barrow, fig. 6, shows at b, a

a

Fig. 6.-SECTION OF BARROW.

heap of burned bones, collected together from the funeral fire, and piled up, and covered with a layer

of earth; and fig. 7 shows, within a rough stone cist, two heaps of bones, the one surrounded by a row

of small stones, and the other entirely unprotected.

When the remains were intended to be buried in an urn, which was, perhaps, the most usual mode adopted, the urn was, there is every reason to believe, fashioned from the clay of the neighbourhood, by the females of the tribe, and hardened by being placed on the fire along with the body which was being consumed. Into this urn, the glowing ashes and bones of the body, being collected together, were placed, and not unfrequently the flint and other implements of the deceased enclosed with them. The urn was then placed either in an upright position-its mouth often covered with a flat stone-or inverted upon a stone, or on the earth. The barrow or mound, was then, as in other cases, raised over the remains.

Fig. 8.-FLAX DALE.

The position of the upright urn, covered with "burnt human bones enveloped in a cloth, which, a flat stone, is shown at a on fig. 6. The in- on looking into the vessel, gave them the apverted urn is shown on fig. 8, which is a section pearance of being viewed through a yellow gauze of the Flax Dale barrow. This arrangement, how- veil, but which, upon being touched dissolved ever, will be better understood from the next en- into fine powder." In other instances, instead graving, fig. 9, which shows the broken urn as of the mouth of the urn being covered with a found, with the burned bones all in situ. Of the stone, a smaller urn was inverted into it to forms of the cinerary urns, I may possibly yet form a cover. give some particulars on a future occasion.

Not unfrequently, as in these cases, a small urn (formerly erroneously called "incense cups," but which, for want of a better name, I have ventured to call "immolation urns") was placed within, or beside, the larger cinerary urn. These are frequently found to contain human ashes, and were, I believe, intended to receive the remains of the infant, perhaps sacrificed at the death of its mother, and thus buried with her

own.

Of the forms of barrows, and of the construction of chambered tumuli, it is not my province to speak in this series of papers, which I purpose devoting to the different ways which have been practised of disposing of the body of the dead. I may, however, just remark that, whether the interment was by inhumation or by cremation; and whether made in a natural or an artificial cist, or simply laid on the natural surface of the ground, it was covered by a barrow or mound of In some instances, the ashes appear to have earth, or stones, or both. First, it would seem, been wrapped in a cloth, when collected together the interment was surrounded by a large circle, before being placed in the urn. The Hon. R. C. often many yards in diameter, of rough stones, Nevile describes the contents of one of the in- and within this an immense quantity of stones, verted urns, discovered by himself, as containing or stones and earth, were thrown in and piled

up frequently to several feet in height in the centre, as will be seen on reference to figs. 6 and 8.

Not unfrequently the surrounding circle was composed of stones set upright in the ground. These circles, in many instances, remain to the present day in different parts of the kingdom, and, the barrow itself having disappeared, are commonly called by the general appellation of "Druidical circles." The construction of these stone circles varied considerably. In some instances the upright stones were pretty close together; in others wide apart; and in others, again, the spaces between the uprights were filled in with a rude loose rubble masonry, which thus formed a continuous wall. Some tumuli, as I have stated, contained stone chambers and passages, formed of massive upright slabs, and covered with immense blocks of stone. Over these chambers, cists, &c., the mounds of earth, or of stone, or of both combined, was raised. In many instances, the mound has entirely disappeared, leaving the gigantic sepulchral chamber to stand alone, and to obtain the name of "Cromlech," or "Druid's Altar."

GENEALOGY.

BY SIR JOHN MACLEAN. FEW persons are aware of the wealth of our Assize and Common Plea Records for genealogical purposes, and fewer still avail themselves of those sources of information. The pleadings in a single cause frequently give us two lines of descent from some remote ancestor, and occasionally more, and enable us to verify, or correct, ancient pedigrees. I select from among many notes the following example, which I have abstracted as briefly as possible for the pages of LONG AGO, as illustrating the mode of procedure in our courts in early times, as well the nature of the genealogical information to be gleaned from the class of records to which I allude.

It is a case of trespass involving the right of property to a considerable estate in Cornwall.

John Fortescue, of Shate, Co. Devon, Gent., and John Rythe, of Downtomas, were arrested to reply to Richard Ryke on a plea of trespass on certain closes and houses of the said Richard at Trethynnek, &c. And the said John Fortescue and John Rythe came and defended themselves, "Where these mounds have been removed and and said they were not culpable, &c., and pleaded the colossal megalithic structures allowed to re- that a certain Edward Trethynnek, long before the main, they have an imposing and solemn appear- time of the supposed trespass, was seized of one ance, and seem almost to excuse the play of messuage and 200 acres of land in Trethynnek in imagination indulged in by our early antiquaries his demesne as of fee whereof the closes, &c., in in naming them cromlechs, and in giving to them question were parcel, and being so seized, by his a false interest by making them out to be charter dated at Trethynnek, 4th October, 16 Ed'Druids' Altars' altars on which the Druids ward III. (1342), which they produced in court, made their sacrifices. These same authorities granted to a certain Roger Trethynnek, his son, have, indeed, gone so far in their inventions as one messuage and lands in Trethynnek, and other to affirm, that when the capstone was lower on places named, to hold to him and the heirs of his one side than another, as must necessarily fre- body, and in default of such issue, remainder to the quently be the case, it was so constructed that right heirs of the said Edward for ever. By virtue the blood of the victims might run off in that of which gift the said Roger was seized in demesne direction and be caught by the priests; that as of fee-tail, and had issue, Thomas and Alice, and some of the naturally-formed hollows in the died, after whose death the messuage, &c., destones were scooped out by hand to receive the scended to the said Thomas as son and heir of heart and hold its blood for the highest purposes; Roger, who was seized, and died seized, leaving issue, and that when the cromlech was a double one, John, who was seized, and had issue, Richard, and the largest was used for the sacrifice, and the died, after whose death the messuage descended to smaller for the Arch-Druid himself whilst sacri- the said Richard, who was seized as of fee-tail and ficing. Researches which have been made in had issue, Nicholas, and died of it seized, after recent times show the absurdity of all this, and whose death the said messuage descended to prove beyond doubt that many of the crom- Nicholas, who was seized in demesne as of fee-tail lechs are neither more nor less than sepulchral and took to wife a certain Margaret, afterwards the chambers denuded of their mounds. In several same Nicholas, by the name of Nicholas Trethyninstances they have been found intact, and, these nek, of Trethynnek, by his charter dated 30th mounds being excavated, have been brought to April, 6 Henry vj. (1428), granted the said light in a perfect state."*

I now close my present chapter, to resume the subject in the next number of LONG AGO.

*Grave Mounds and their Contents."

messuage to John Talkam, John Pouna, and Robert Heye, and also the reversion of one messuage which Bartholomew Wyndysore and Matilda, his wife, relict of Richard Trethynnek, father of the said Nicholas, held in dower in Trethynnek, to hold to the said trustees during the