A fine specimen, with the stop-ridge consisting of a straight narrow raised band across each face, and with a second curved band at some distance below, is shown in Fig. 50. It was found at Wigton, Cumberland, and is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. The face between the two bands has a grained appearance given it by hammering. The wings or side flanges are also faceted by the same process. In the same collection is another blade (5¾ inches) of this form, with a small stop-ridge, and having the lower part ornamented with vertical punched lines. The sides have three facets, that in the centre ornamented in a similar manner. This celt was found at Rougham, Norfolk. I have a sketch of another (6¼ inches) found near Longtown, Cumberland, in 1860.

I have a nearly similar specimen, but only 4? inches long, from Stanton, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Another (5¾ inches) with only a slight stop-ridge was found at Aynhoe,[252] Northamptonshire, and is in the collection of Sir Henry Dryden. Fig. 51 shows a beautifully wrought and highly decorated flanged celt, provided with a somewhat curved stop-ridge connecting the two flanges. The two faces of the celt are ornamented with an interlaced pattern produced by narrow dents, with a border of chevrons along each margin punched into the metal. The flanges are worked into three facets ornamented with diagonal grooves, and the lower side of the stop-ridge has a moulding worked on it. This fine example of an ornamented celt was found near Chollerford Bridge, Northumberland, and is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S.

A somewhat similar but unornamented variety of instrument, partaking more of the palstave character, is shown in Fig. 52. The original was found in excavations at Chatham Dockyard, and is now in the British Museum. As will be seen, the recess for the haft ends in a semicircular stop-ridge.

In Fig. 53 is shown a winged celt without stop-ridge found in Burwell Fen, Cambridgeshire, and now in my own collection. The side flanges or wings have been hammered into three facets, and are well developed. The form of the blade is otherwise that of a flat celt, except that there is a slight irregularity in the sweep of the sides, which results from the hammering of the flanges. The form occurs occasionally in Ireland, and one (4¼ inches) is figured by Wilde.[253] Winged celts of nearly the same form, but provided with a stop-ridge, are occasionally found. One of these in the British Museum, found at Bucknell, Herefordshire, is shown in Fig. 54. The blade below the stop-ridge is 9/16 inch thick; above it only ? inch. A celt of much the same character (7¼ inches), found at Wolvey, Warwickshire, is in the collection of Mr. M. H. Bloxam, F.S.A.

The double curvature of the sides may be noticed in the narrow chisel-like celt shown in Fig. 55. The blade in this instance tapers both ways from a line just below the wings, but without there being any actual stop-ridge; a third slope is produced by the lower part of the blade having been drawn down by hammering to form the edge. The original was found at Culham, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and is in my own collection.

I have another specimen, 4½ inches long, and half as wide again as the Culham chisel, which was found near Dorchester, Oxon. The blade at the lower end of the wings is an inch wide, but in the straight part between that point and the edge only a little more than ¾ inch wide.

Although these instruments are so narrow that they may be regarded as chisels rather than axes, yet from their general character so closely resembling that of Fig. 53, I have thought it best to insert them here.

Another form of winged celt without stop-ridge is shown in Fig. 56. In this the blade is flat, and the wings, which form triangular projections, stand at right angles to it. Had they been hammered over to form semicircular receptacles on each side of the blade the instrument would have been more properly described as a palstave. It was found with others near Reeth, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S., where are also other specimens of this type from Linden, Northumberland (5¼ inches); Brompton, N.R., Yorkshire (5¼ inches); and Wolsingham, Durham (5? inches).

Fig. 57 shows a winged celt with a broad low stop-ridge. The part of the blade above this is about ? inch thinner than the part below, so that though transitional in character it belongs to one of the classes to which I would wish to restrict the term palstave. This specimen was found near Dorchester, Oxfordshire, and is in my own collection.

I have a nearly similar palstave (6 inches long) found in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire. In this the blade below the stop-ridge is ½ inch thick, and above it 5/16 inch. In this as well as in that from Dorchester the stop-ridge is well below the level of the side flanges. In one found on Hollingbury Hill,[254] near Brighton, and now in the British Museum, the stop-ridge is nearly on the same level as the side flanges. It was found in the year 1825, together with four looped armillÆ, a torque, and three spiral rings, which are said to have been arranged in a symmetrical manner in a depression dug in the chalk. Both the torque and the palstave were broken; and it is thought that this was done intentionally, at the time of the interment.

A similar discovery is recorded as having been made in 1794 on the Quantock Hills, when two large torques were found, within each of which was placed a palstave. In this case, however, these instruments were of the looped kind.

Winged celts of the type of Fig. 57 are of not unfrequent occurrence in Ireland, though the stop-ridge is usually less fully developed.

They also occur in France. One from JonquiÈres[255] (Oise) has been figured. I have a good specimen (6¼ inches) from the Seine at Paris. The wings are rather wider and the stop-ridge better defined than in the figure. One from Gasny is in the Museum at Evreux.

There are several in the GÖttingen Museum, from a hoard found in that neighbourhood.

Usually the stop-ridge is nearly on the same level as the part of the side flanges on which it abuts, as will be seen in Fig. 58. This specimen was found in the gravel of the Trent at Colwick, near Nottingham, and is in my own collection. The blade immediately below the stop is fluted, and the bottom of this fluting tapers somewhat in the contrary direction to the tapering of the blade. The junction of the fluting and the face produces an elliptic ridge of elegant outline. The blade is ? inch thick at this ridge, but above the stop-ridge barely ? inch. It is rather thinner near the stop-ridge than somewhat higher up, so that the blade would be as it were dovetailed into the handle, if tightly tied to it. I have specimens of much the same type from Attleborough, Norfolk (6? inches), Newbury, Berks (6¾ inches), and Hay, Brecknockshire (7? inches). A curious variety of this type found at Monach-ty-gwyn,[256] near Aberdovey, has on the bottom of one of the recesses for the handle a number of sunk diagonal lines crossing each other so as to form a kind of lattice pattern. It seems to me that though this cross-hatching occurs on only one face of the palstave, it was intended rather as a means of giving it a grip on the handle than as an ornament, for when hafted this part of the instrument must have been concealed by the wood. Mr. Barnwell, however, regards it in the light of an ornament.

Plain palstaves of this character are of not unfrequent occurrence in the North of France. I have one from a hoard found at Bernay, near Abbeville. With it were palstaves of different varieties, but none of them provided with loops. The form also occurs occasionally in Holland.

In the palstave engraved as Fig. 59, the half-oval ornament below the stop-ridge is preserved, but there is a raised bead round it. There is also a slight median ridge running down the blade. The joint of the two moulds in which it was cast can be traced upon the sides of the instrument, and it appears as if one of the moulds had been somewhat deeper than the other. The original was found at Barrington, near Cambridge, and is in my own collection. I have other specimens of the same type, and of nearly the same size, from Swaffham Fen, Cambridge; and from Dorchester, Oxfordshire. The semi-elliptical ridge on the latter is larger and flatter than in that figured. The same is the case in a large specimen (6½ inches long) from Weston, near Ross, also in my own collection.

I have seen others from the Fens, near Ely (6½ inches), and from Mildenhall (6¼ inches), in the collections of Mr. Marshall Fisher, of Ely, and the Rev. S. Banks, of Cottenham, near Cambridge. Another (5½ inches) from the Carlton Rode find is in the Museum at Norwich.

One from North Wales[257] (7¼ inches), in an unfinished state, is in the British Museum. Another (6? inches) from Llanfyllin,[258] Montgomeryshire, is also of nearly this type. One from North Tyne (6½ inches), in the Newcastle Museum, has two of the looped ridges one below the other on each face. In this type and in that subsequently described the ridge at the sides of the semi-elliptical ornament sometimes dies into the upper part of the blade. The variety like Fig. 59 is also abundant in the North of France. There were two or three in the hoard from Bernay, near Abbeville, and I have one from the neighbourhood of Lille.

In Fig. 60 the same general type is preserved, but there is a vertical rib running down the middle of the semi-elliptical ornament below the stop; and the median ridge along the upper part of the blade is more fully developed. In this specimen, which is in my own collection, and was found at Harston, near Cambridge, there is an attempt at ornamentation along the sides, the angles of the blade having been hammered in such a manner as to produce a series of small pointed oval facets along them.

I have other specimens of the same type, but without the ornamentation on the sides, from Burwell, Quy, and Reach Fens, near Cambridge, 6 inches, 5? inches, and 6¾ inches long respectively. In that from Burwell there is no median ridge below the ornament. Canon Greenwell has one which was found with three others, one of them with a loop, near Wantage, Berks.

A rather peculiar variety of this type (6¾ inches), found in Anglesea,[259] has been figured, as well as another from Pendinas Hill,[260] near Aberystwith.

In palstaves of this class there is often a slight projection on each of the sides a little below the level of the stop-ridge. Below this projection the sides are usually more carefully hammered and planished than above it.

In a narrow palstave of this class, found at Freeland, near Witney, Oxfordshire, there are three short ridges at the bottom of each of the recesses for the handle, like those in a palstave from Newbury, subsequently described. These were probably designed to assist in steadying the handle.

A palstave (7¼ inches) from Cynwyd,[261] Merionethshire, appears to be of this type.

An instrument of this type from Les Andelys[262] (Eure) has been figured. Another, with the vertical rib in the shield, from a hoard found in Normandy, has been engraved by the AbbÉ Cochet.[263] Some from the Bernay hoard have a similar ornament.

On some palstaves of this class there is a series of vertical ribs within the semi-elliptical loop, as will be seen in Fig. 61. This is taken from a specimen found at Shippey, near Ely, which is in the collection of Mr. Marshall Fisher of Ely, who has kindly allowed me to engrave it. I have one from Bottisham, near Cambridge (6¾ inches), on which there is a smaller vertical ridge, on each side of the central ridge, within the ornament. One from Snettisham, Norfolk (6? inches), like that from Shippey, is in the Norwich Museum. Another from Lakenheath, Suffolk (5¾ inches), is in the collection of Mr. James Carter of Cambridge.

A palstave with this ornament is in the Museum at Soissons.

The type is also found in Northern Germany.[264]

In some cases these vertical lines below the stop-ridge are not enclosed in any loop. In Fig. 62 is shown an example of the kind from a specimen in my own collection found in the Severn, near Wainlodes Hill, Gloucester. It has a slight rib down the middle of the blade. One of the same class (6¼ inches), with four vertical stripes, found on Clayton Hill, Sussex, is in the collection of Mrs. Dickinson of Hurstpierpoint; four others (about 6½ inches long), with five short vertical ridges, were found with two of the type of Fig. 63 in making the railway near Bognor, and are now in the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury.

Another, apparently of the same type, found near Brighton, is engraved in the Sussex ArchÆological Collections.[265]

Another variety, having nearly the same general form, but no elliptical ridge below the stop, is shown in Fig. 63, engraved from a specimen in my own collection, found at Sunningwell, near Abingdon. The end of the recess for the handle is somewhat rounded, and there is a well-marked central rib running down the blade. At the upper part, near the stop-ridge, there are also slight side flanges. The metal in the recess for the handle is thinnest near the stop, so as to be somewhat dovetailing.

This is markedly the case in a fine example of the same type (6½ inches) with the provenance of which I am unacquainted. In another, also in my own collection, found at Newbury, Berks, the side flanges of the blade are continued almost down to the edge, and the bottom as well as the end of the recess for the handle is rounded. Near the end of the recess are some slight longitudinal ribs, one on one face and two on the other, perhaps designed to assist in steadying the handle. The mouldings along the sides of the blade are often much more fully developed, like those on Fig. 77.

Palstaves of this type have been obtained from the following localities: from South Cerney,[266] near Cirencester; from the mouth of the River Wandle,[267] in Surrey, now preserved in the British Museum; from Bucks[268] (6 inches long), also in the British Museum; from Chichester;[269] Astley,[270] Worcestershire; Llangwyllog,[271] Anglesea (6¼ inches); from near Bognor,[272] Billingshurst,[273] and Iford,[274] Sussex; and Lovehayne,[275] near Broad Down, Devon (5? inches); where several appear to have been found in the rough state in which they came from the mould. I have an example from the neighbourhood of Penzance.

One (6¾ inches) found near Ashford, Kent, is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool. One of the same kind was found with a hammer, a tanged chisel, broken spear-heads, and rough metal, in Burgesses’ Meadow, Oxford. The hoard is now in the Ashmolean Museum. In three palstaves of this kind found in the parishes of Llandrinio,[276] and Caersws, Montgomeryshire, and St. Harmon, Radnorshire, there is a hole in the metal between the two recesses for the handle just above the stop-ridge. It has been thought by Professor Westwood that these holes were connected with the manner of fastening the instrument to its haft, but it appears to me much more likely that they arise from accidental defects in casting. This is certainly the case with two specimens of my own, which also have holes through the same part of the instrument, where the metal is thin.

One (5 inches), rather narrower in the blade than the figure, found near Longford, Ireland, is in the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury.

Palstaves with a central and two lateral ribs on the blade are of not unfrequent occurrence on the Continent, especially in the North of France. I have examples much like the figure found in the hoard at Bernay, near Abbeville. Others, much narrower in the blade, have been discovered in large numbers in the North-west of France.

German examples have been figured by Lindenschmit.[277]

In another variety the blade is nearly flat, having only a broad protuberant ridge extending along the upper part to the stop. A palstave of this kind, found near Winfrith, Weymouth, Dorset, is shown in Fig. 64. In this, the metal between the side flanges tapers towards the top of the instrument, instead of being of nearly even thickness, as is often the case, or thinnest near the stop-ridge, as it is sometimes. Close to the stop the metal is ½ inch thick, while at the top of the recess it comes to a nearly sharp edge. A palstave of this character was found on Kingston Hill,[278] Surrey, near CÆsar’s Camp.

In a specimen found at Winwick,[279] Lancashire, the blade below the stop-ridge appears to be nearly flat. A broad flat ring of bronze, 1¾ inch in diameter (Fig. 188), was found at the same time. It has been thought that this was attached to the shaft to prevent its splitting. A palstave much like that from Winwick was found at Chagford, Devon, and is in the possession of Mr. G. W. Ormerod, F.G.S. Another (6½ inches), from Ashford, Kent, is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool. Another of these plain palstaves, found near Llanidan,[280] Anglesea, with one of the looped kind somewhat like Fig. 76, is engraved in the ArchÆologia Cambrensis.

A short and thick form of palstave is shown in Fig. 65, engraved from a specimen found in Burwell Fen, Cambridge. On one of its faces it has the semi-elliptical ornament, with one vertical rib in it, below the stop-ridge. On the other there are five ribs instead of one within the ornament.

I have another from Bottisham Fen (4? inches), not quite so heavy in its make, and perfectly flat below the stop-ridge. The ends of the recess for the handle are somewhat undercut, so as to keep the wood close to the blade when a blow was struck.

The shortened proportions of these instruments are probably due to wear. In this instance it is not improbable that the cutting end of the original palstave has been broken off, and the blunt end that was left has been again drawn to an edge by hammering.

A form of palstave without any ornament below the stop-ridge is shown in Fig. 66. This specimen was found in 1846 at East Harnham, near Salisbury, and is now in my own collection. The thickness of the blade below the stop is nearly ½ inch, above it but little more than ? inch. The sides are remarkably flat.

One, only 2½ inches long, merely recessed for the handle, found at Chatham Hill, Kent, is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool.

This plain form with a square stop-ridge is found in France and in Western Germany.

A long chisel-like form of palstave is shown in Fig. 67, engraved from a specimen in my own collection found in Burwell Fen, Cambridge. It is ornamented with a semi-elliptical projecting ridge below the stop. The flanges at the sides of the recess have some notches running diagonally into them, so as to form a kind of barb, such as would prevent the blade from being drawn away from the handle when bound to it by a cord.

I have another nearly similar tool, also from the Cambridge Fens, but without any barbs. In a third, from the neighbourhood of Dorchester, Oxon, there are neither barbs at the sides nor any ornament below the stop-ridge. I have seen another of the same character (4½ inches) which was found at Wolsonbury, Sussex, and is in the collection of Mrs. Dickinson. Another (4¾ inches), found in the Thames at Kingston, Surrey, is in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries. I have seen another (6? inches), found at Sutton, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in which there was a tongue-shaped groove below the stop-ridge, like that on the socketed celt, Fig. 148, but single instead of double.

The Rev. James Beck, F.S.A.,[281] has a palstave of this kind 6 inches long and 1¼ inch wide at the edge, with a projecting rib below the stop-ridge and also in the recess above. It was found at Westburton Hill, near Bignor, Sussex. There are depressions on each side of the rib below the stop, forming an ornament like that on Fig. 81.

A narrow palstave, apparently of the same character, found at Windsor,[282] is engraved by Stukeley.

A very beautiful narrow palstave, found in the Thames, and now in the collection of General A. Pitt Rivers, F.R.S., is shown in Fig. 68. As will be seen, the angles are ornamented with a kind of milling, and the sides are also decorated with zigzag and chevron patterns.

In Fig. 69 is shown an unfinished casting for a palstave of unusually small size, which formed part of the great hoard found at Stibbard,[283] Norfolk. About seventy such castings were found, and about ten castings for spear-heads (see Fig. 407).

The form of palstave with the side wings or flanges hammered over so as to form a kind of semicircular socket on either side of the blade, is of rare occurrence in Britain, and is usually provided with a loop. In Canon Greenwell’s collection is one (7 inches) without any ornament below the square stop-ridge, with the side wings slightly hammered over. It was found with others (with and without loops), together with a mould for palstaves (Fig. 527), at Hotham Carr, Yorkshire, E. R.

In a hoard of about sixty bronze objects found at Westow,[284] about twelve miles from York on the Scarborough Road, was one palstave of this kind, like Fig. 85, but without a loop, and about thirty socketed celts, six gouges, a socketed chisel, two tanged chisels, and numerous fragments of metal, including some jets or runners broken off castings.

The type is of common occurrence in Austria, South Germany, and the South of France.

Palstaves of the adze form, or having the blade at right angles to the septum between the flanges, are but very seldom found in Britain. A small specimen from the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S., is shown in Fig. 70. It was found at Irthington, Cumberland.

Another, from North Owersby, Lincolnshire, in the same collection, is shown in Fig. 71. It has a remarkably narrow chisel-like blade.

Irish examples will be subsequently cited.

I have, in Fig. 72, engraved for comparison a larger specimen in my own collection, which came from the Valley of the Rhine, near Bonn. One from Baden[285] is figured by Lindenschmit.

Others have been found near Landshut,[286] Bavaria, and in the Rhine district.[287] One with a loop, from Hesse,[288] is engraved by Lindenschmit. A long and narrow example of this type[289] was found at Villeder, near PloËrmel, Morbihan, and has been figured by Simonin. There are specimens in the museums at Rouen and Tours. Some have a loop on one face. A specimen from Escoville is in the museum at Caen. Several with and without loops have been found in the Swiss lake-dwellings,[290] the type being termed the Hache Troyon by Desor.[291]

A beautiful palstave of the same character is preserved in the Antiken Cabinet at Vienna. Its sides are ornamented with four small sets of concentric circles and a pattern of dotted lines, punched in after the instrument was fashioned. The form has also been found in Italy.[292]

Palstaves without loops, but of which no detailed description is given, are recorded to have been found at the following places:—The Thames,[293] near Kingston; Drewsteignton,[294] Devonshire; Cundall Manor,[295] North Riding, Yorkshire; Aspatria,[296] Cumberland; Ackers Common,[297] near Warrington, Lancashire; Bushbury,[298] Brewood, Handsworth, and a barrow on Morridge, Staffordshire; near Llanvair Station,[299] Rhos-y-gad, Anglesea.

Palstaves of which it is not specified whether they were provided with a loop or no, have been found in the Thames,[300] near London; the old River, Sleaford,[301] Lincolnshire; Canada Wharf,[302] Rotherhithe; Wolvey,[303] Warwickshire; and near Corbridge,[304] Glamorganshire (?).

Plain palstaves without loops have frequently occurred with other forms of instruments in hoards of bronze objects. The following instances may be cited. Several were found with unfinished socketed celts, fragments of swords and spears, a socketed chisel, and lumps of metal, at Romford,[305] Essex. At Nettleham,[306] near Lincoln, one was found with looped palstaves, socketed celts, spear-heads, and a tube, most of which will be mentioned in subsequent pages. In the hoard at Battlefield,[307] near Shrewsbury, a palstave without loop, a flat wedge-shaped celt, and three curious curved objects were found together. Other instances are given in Chapter XXII.

Some of them are, however, entirely devoid of ornament, as will be seen from Fig. 73. This represents a palstave in my own collection found near Dorchester, Oxfordshire. The loop has unfortunately been broken off. At the stop the metal is 1¼ inch thick, but the diaphragm between the two recesses for the haft is only ? inch thick. This specimen is shorter than usual in the blade, which not improbably has been considerably worn away by use.

A somewhat larger instrument, but of precisely the same type, found at Ramsbury,[308] Wilts, is engraved in the Salisbury volume of the ArchÆological Institute. The Rev. James Beck, F.S.A., has one (6¼ inches) of narrower proportions, found at Pulborough,[309] Sussex. I have seen another from near Wallingford, Berks. Stukeley has engraved a somewhat similar palstave found near Windsor.[310]

In some the bottom of the recesses, instead of being square, is rounded more or less like Fig. 52, and there is a projecting bead round its margin. I have a narrow specimen of this kind 5? inches long and 1? inch broad at the edge, found in the neighbourhood of Dorchester, Oxon.

A number of palstaves of this kind were discovered in 1861 at Wilmington,[311] Sussex, in company with socketed celts, fragments of two daggers, and a mould for socketed celts. The whole of these are now in the Lewes Museum.

In the hoard found near Guilsfield,[312] Montgomeryshire, were some instruments of this kind, associated with socketed celts, gouges, swords, scabbards, spear-heads, &c. Others from Stretton,[313] Staffordshire (5¼ inches), and Lancashire[314] (5½ inches) are engraved, though badly, in the ArchÆologia. Two others of this character (5 inches) were found on Hangleton Down,[315] near Brighton, and another at Glangwnny,[316] near Caernarvon.

I have seen others found at Sutton, near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

A larger example of the same type, found near Wallingford, and communicated to me by Mr. H. A. Davy, is shown in Fig. 74. In this the blade is flat and without ornament. The short specimen shown in Fig. 73 may originally have resembled this; as such instruments must have been liable to break, and would then have been drawn out and sharpened in a curtailed condition; or if not broken would become eventually “stumped up” by wear. In the British Museum and elsewhere are many palstaves and celts which have been worn almost to the stump by resharpening.

Nearly thirty palstaves, mostly, I believe, of this type, were found with about twelve socketed celts, like Fig. 116, and lumps of rough metal, near Worthing, in 1877. The whole had been packed in an urn, of coarse earthenware.

Looped palstaves of the type of Fig. 74 are occasionally found in Ireland. One with a small bead running down the centre of the blade found in West Meath is engraved in the ArchÆologia.[317]

One from Grenoble,[318] IsÈre, is engraved by Chantre.

Some palstaves of much the same general character have a median ridge, occasionally almost amounting to a rib, running down the blade below the stop. One of this kind from Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, is shown in Fig. 75. On the face of the recess there are some slightly raised ribs running down to the stop, which are not shown in the cut. Two (6¾ inches) were found near Bolton Percy, Yorkshire, one of which is in Canon Greenwell’s collection, and the other in the British Museum.

Mr. John Brent, F.S.A., has an example of nearly the same type from Blean, near Canterbury. Another from Buckland, near Dover (6¼ inches), is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool. One from Ombersley,[319] Worcestershire, appears to be of the same kind. I have also a large specimen (6? inches) from Bottisham, Cambridge.

In the palstave engraved as Fig. 76, the central rib down the blade is much more fully developed. It was found at Brassington, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, and is in my own collection. It is considerably undercut at the stop, so as to keep the handle pressed against the central diaphragm of metal.

A palstave of the same character from Llanidan,[320] Anglesea, has been figured. It is said to have been found with another without a loop. Another from Boston,[321] Lincolnshire, is engraved in the ArchÆologia. Others with the ribs very distinct were found in a hoard at Wallington, Northumberland, and are in the possession of Sir Charles Trevelyan.

I have seen others of the same general character which were found at Downton, near Salisbury (5¾ inches), and at Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire.

One with a narrower and more distinct midrib, found at Nymegen, Guelderland, Holland, is in the museum at Leyden.

In Fig. 77 is shown another variety which has two beads running down the sides of the blade, in addition to the central rib. I bought this specimen at Bath, but I do not know where it was discovered. It is much like one which was found on the Quantock Hills,[322] in Somersetshire, and is engraved in the ArchÆologia. The side flanges are, however, in that case more lozenge-shaped, and project to obtuse points about half an inch above the stop. Two palstaves and two torques were on that occasion found buried together, as has already been mentioned. One of the same type (5¾ inches) from Elsham, Lincolnshire, is in the British Museum.

One of narrower form (6? inches) but of the same character, found with socketed celts (some of them octagonal at the neck) at Haxey, Lincolnshire, is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S.

I have another of the same type, but imperfect, which was found with a plain bronze bracelet, and what from the description must have been a small ribbon-like gold torque, at Winterhay Green, near Ilminster. I have a smaller specimen (5 inches) from the Cambridge Fens.

The unfinished casting for a palstave of the type Fig. 77 (5½ inches) was found with four looped palstaves, and one without a loop, and a spear-head like Fig. 409 at Sherford,[323] near Taunton, in 1879. Some of the palstaves have a raised inverted chevron below the stop-ridge by way of ornament.

Palstaves of the same character, but without the loop, have already been described under Fig. 63. The looped type, like Fig. 77, occurs also in Ireland.[324]

In the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of London is a heavy narrow looped palstave (8 inches by 2 inches) with this ornamentation, found in Spain.

The central rib running down the blade is in many cases connected with some ornament below the stop-ridge. The ornament consists usually of raised ribs, either straight and converging, as on Fig. 78, or curved so as to form a semi-elliptical or shield-shaped loop, as on Fig. 79.

The original of Fig. 78 was found on Oldbury Hill, Much Marcle, Herefordshire, and is in my own collection. I have a smaller example of the same type (5? inches) found at Hammerton, Huntingdonshire, as well as one from the Cambridge Fens (6 inches).

One (6¾ inches) found at Danesfield,[325] near Bangor, has been figured. I have seen one found near Chelmsford (6¾ inches) with much the same ornament. One (6¼ inches) in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, found in Northamptonshire, has the middle rib large, and the converging ribs much slighter. There are some which have only a slight central ridge on the blade, and are ornamented with an indented chevron below the stop-ridge. I have one such from the Cambridge Fens, and I have seen one (6½ inches) which was found at Broomswell, near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

A palstave of this character 6 inches long, found near the Upper Woodhouse Farm, Knighton, Radnorshire, is engraved in the ArchÆologia Cambrensis.[326] The loop, owing to a defect in casting, is filled with metal. Six others (6 inches long), apparently of the same character, were found with some rough castings of flanged celts at Rhosnesney,[327] near Wrexham.

Two others (6 inches) were found with a chisel and a spear-head, like Fig. 407, at Broxton, Cheshire, and are in the collection of Sir P. de M. Grey Egerton, Bart.

The type is found upon the continent. One from Normandy[328] has been engraved by the AbbÉ Cochet. I have an example from the neighbourhood of Abbeville.

One from near Giessen, in the museum at Darmstadt, is figured by Lindenschmit.[329]

That with the shield-shaped ornament below the stop-ridge, shown in Fig. 79, is in my own collection, and was found near Ross. The central rib runs only part of the way up the shield. In a specimen from the Cambridge Fens (5? inches) it stops short on joining the ridge forming the shield.

In others it forms a heraldic pale running through the shield, as in five found at Waldron,[330] Sussex.

A smaller variety, in which the vertical rib does not extend into the shield, is shown in Fig. 80. This specimen was found at Honington, Suffolk.

In some the shield-shaped ornament consists of merely two triangular depressions. A palstave of this class, rather narrow at the stop-ridge, and with almost triangular blade, is shown in Fig. 81. The original, which is of more yellow metal than ordinary, was found in the neighbourhood of Ely, and is in the collection of Mr. Marshall Fisher, who has kindly allowed me to figure it. In one such from Downton, near Salisbury, in the Blackmore Museum, the faces of the diaphragm between the recesses for the handle have raised ridges or ribs running along nearly the whole length, five on one face and six on the other. These are longer than in the Nottingham specimen shortly to be mentioned.

In one found at Hotham Carr (5¾ inches), Yorkshire, and now in Canon Greenwell’s collection, there is a bead running down the blade between the two depressions.

This shield-shaped ornament below the stop-ridge is well shown in a palstave from Bottisham Lode, Cambridge, engraved as Fig. 82. What may be called the field of the shield is on one face nearly flat; on the other there are indentations on either side of the central ridge. As will be seen, the extremities of the cutting edge are recurved, both in this and the specimen from Ross shown in Fig. 79. It does not, however, appear that the instruments were originally cast in this form, but the wide segmental edge, together with the recurved ends, seem to be the result of a constant hammering out of the blade, in order to renew or harden the edge. Though the hammer was thus freely used, the whetstone was employed both to polish the sides of the blade and to perfect the cutting edge.

I have a French palstave found near Abbeville, almost identical with this in size and form. The shield ornament is, however, replaced by two triangular depressions with a rib left between them, like that on Fig. 81.

In some specimens the ornamentation consists of a greater or less number of parallel ribs below the stop-ridge, as in that from Nettleham,[331] Lincolnshire, shown in Fig. 83. With this were found two others and a fourth without loop, two peculiar socketed celts, two spear-heads, and a ferrule, which will be subsequently mentioned. They are now in the British Museum.

A nearly similar discovery was made in 1860 near Nottingham,[332] where a palstave was found similarly ornamented, but also having three ribs on the diaphragm above the stop-ridge. It was accompanied by sixteen socketed celts, four spear-heads, a tanged knife, fragments of swords, a ferrule, &c.

In Mr. Brackstone’s collection was a palstave of the same type, found near Ulleskelf,[333] Yorkshire, in 1849, with two socketed celts, one of them of the peculiar type shown in Fig. 158.

I have a palstave found near Dorchester, Oxfordshire, of the same kind as Fig. 83, with three ribs below the stop-ridge. There are also side flanges at that part of the blade of the same length and character as the ribs in the middle of the blade, so as virtually to make five ribs.

Canon Greenwell has specimens of this type (6? inches) from Llandysilio, Denbighshire, and (6 inches) from Ubbeston, Suffolk. One (6¼ inches) from Keswick, Cumberland, in the same collection has the ribs 1¾ inches long. Another (6? inches) was found at Vronheulog,[334] Merionethshire.

I have a very fine and perfect specimen (6¾ inches) from the Cambridge Fens, on which the three ribs stand out in high relief and converge so as to form a triangle below the stop-ridge something like that on Fig. 78.

A palstave, having a series of ribs upon the diaphragm as well as below the stop-ridge, is shown in Fig. 84. In this instance the upper series of ribs extends nearly to the top of the instrument. It was probably thought that they assisted in making the haft firm to the blade. This specimen, which has been much cleaned, is in the British Museum, and as it formed part of the late Mr. Lichfield’s collection it was probably found in the neighbourhood of Cambridge.

Another palstave of the same character was found, with many socketed celts, fragments of swords and daggers, and rough metal, at Cumberlow,[336] near Baldock, Herts.

Three others were found in 1806, with two socketed celts, a fragment of a sword, three lumps of raw copper, and four gold armlets, on the beach near Eastbourne,[337] immediately under Beachy Head. They passed with the Payne Knight collection into the British Museum.

That found “in an old wall, in Purbeck,”[338] with the socket “double or divided by a partition,” as described by Mr. Hutchins in a letter to Bishop Lyttelton in 1768, must probably have been of this kind.

A good specimen of the same character but bent (5? inches), as well as part of another, was found at Wickham Park, Croydon, together with several socketed celts. They are now in the British Museum.

The upper part of a palstave of this character was found with socketed celts, gouges, &c., in the Hundred of Hoo,[339] Kent. It has been thought that this was cast hollow to receive a central prong, but the cavity is probably due to defective casting. A broken instrument of this kind was found with socketed celts and metal on Kenidjack Cliff,[340] Cornwall.

Palstaves of this type, both with and without loops, are much more abundant on the Continent than in Britain. Numerous examples have been found in France, in Rhenish Prussia, and in the Lake habitations of Savoy and Switzerland.

A Danish example is engraved by Worsaae,[341] and several from Germany[342] by Lindenschmit.

Looped palstaves, without sufficient details being given of their types, are recorded to have been found in Harewood Square, London,[344] Oxford,[345] Devonshire,[346] and with socketed celts, near Kidwelly,[347] Caermarthen.

A looped palstave rather like Fig. 75 is said to have been found in a barrow near St. Austell,[348] Cornwall, in 1791, but no details are given.

Palstaves provided with a loop on either side are of rare occurrence in the British Islands.

A specimen found in 1871 at Penvores,[349] near Mawgan-in-Meneage, Cornwall, is engraved as Fig. 86. In character it closely resembles that from Brassington, Fig. 76, the main difference consisting in its second loop. This specimen, with another from Cornwall and two from Ireland, was exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in 1873, and is now in the British Museum. In the same collection is another, 6½ inches long, somewhat lighter below the stop-ridge, and having the central rib less fully developed on the blade. It was found in Somersetshire in 1868, in making the Cheddar Valley line of railway. Another found in 1842, near South Petherton,[350] in the same county, is in the possession of Mr. Norris at that place.

Another example, shown in Fig. 87 was found at West Buckland,[351] Somersetshire, and is in the collection of Mr. W. A. Sanford. With it were discovered a torque (Fig. 468,) and a bracelet, (Fig. 481,) and also some charcoal and burnt bones, but there was no sign of any tumulus. Irish specimens will be subsequently mentioned.

Another two-looped instrument of a different character was found at Bryn CrÛg,[352] near Carnarvon, in company with a tanged knife and a pin with three holes through its flat head (Fig. 450). It is shown in Fig. 88, copied on a reduced scale from the ArchÆological Journal. It resembles a flanged celt except in having that part of the blade which lies between the side loops raised to the level of the flanges.

In France these double-looped palstaves are of rare occurrence, but I have seen one much like Fig. 86 which was found in the Department of Haute AriÈge, and is now in the Toulouse Museum. One from Tarbes[353] was in the Exposition des Sciences Anthropologiques, at Paris in 1878. Another was found at Langoiran (Gironde).

The form is much more abundant in Spain, but in most cases both the blade and the tang are long and narrow in their proportions. An engraving of one from Andalusia is given in the ArchÆological Journal,[354] and is here by permission reproduced as Fig. 89. I have one like it from a mine in the Asturias. One rather broader from the Sierra de Baza,[355] Andalusia, has also been figured. A broken and unfinished double-looped palstave from Oviedo, now in the British Museum, has a cup-shaped projection at the butt end which has been filled with lead, possibly in old times, but for what purpose it is impossible to say. An engraving of one much like it has been published.[356] There are several such in the Museums at Madrid, with the head of metal left on the castings.

In the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh is a winged celt 4½ inches long much like Fig. 56, which was found on the top of a hill called Lord Arthur’s Cairn, in the parish of Tullynessle,[357] Aberdeenshire. Another, 6 inches long, with the wings somewhat curved inwards, was found at Kerswell,[358] in the parish of Carnwath, Lanarkshire. Another winged celt, 4 inches long, was ploughed up on the estate of Barcaldine,[359] Argyleshire.

In the same Museum are also winged celts (5 inches) from Birrenswark, Dumfriesshire, and from the neighbourhood of Peebles, much like that from Reeth (Fig. 56).

A chisel-shaped celt, in character much like Fig. 55, but having a slight stop-ridge, was found in Burreldale Moss,[360] Keith Hall, Aberdeenshire, and has been engraved by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, to whom I am indebted for the use of Fig. 90.

In a palstave (6¾ inches) from Kilnotrie,[361] Crossmichael, Kircudbright, the lateral flanges are continued below the stop-ridge, and there is a median ridge down the blade.

In some palstaves in the British Museum, found between Balcarry and Kilfillan, Wigtonshire, the stop-ridges instead of being at right angles to the face of the blade shelve outwards. One of them is engraved as Fig. 91. The sides are hammered into V-shaped depressions forming a kind of fern-leaf pattern along them.

Two of these palstaves are figured on a larger scale in the Ayr and Wigton Collections.[362]

Another palstave from Windshiel, near Dunse, in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh, has also the flanges somewhat hammered over.

A palstave without loop, and which from the engraving appears to have a well-marked stop-ridge and to have the side flanges much hammered over, is said to have been found near Tintot-top,[363] in Clydesdale. The description, however, says that it has no stop, otherwise the figure would almost justify an attribution of the instrument to Southern Germany rather than to Scotland. Another of much the same character, but without any stop-ridge, has been figured from Baron Clerk’s[364] collection as having been found in Scotland.

Palstaves with a side loop have been said[365] to be common in Scotland; but this can hardly be the case, as in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland there are no authenticated examples.

One from Aikbrae,[366] Lanarkshire (6¾ inches), like Fig. 77, has been figured. Wilson gives another example like Fig. 78, but does not say where it was found. The “spade” he gives as his Fig. 59 is in all probability Italian.

A palstave rather like that from Balcarry, Fig. 91, but with a loop, is figured by Gordon[367] as having been found in Scotland.

What may be classed as a celt with two side loops, or possibly as a chisel, is said to have been found in the year 1810 in a barrow near Pettycur,[368] Fifeshire. It is described as very strong, and the bend in the upper part, as seen in Fig. 92, is thought to be accidental. Wilson describes it as a crowbar or lever, but as its total length is only 7½ inches it can hardly be classed among such instruments.

A somewhat similar tool, but without holes in the side stops (7? inches), is in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.[369]

Palstaves without a stop-ridge, and with broad lozenge-shaped wings, like Fig. 56, are of rare occurrence. One of nearly the same type, but having a low projecting ridge between the wings, is shown in Fig. 93.

I have another from Armoy, Co. Antrim (6 inches), with a still slighter transverse ridge, which forms the upper boundary to a shield-shaped projection on the blade, on which is a central vertical ridge with two others on each side less definitely marked. The base of the shield is pointed.

A not uncommon type has a very high stop-ridge coming up to the level of the side wings, the blade above the stop-ridge being somewhat thinner than it is below. An example is shown in Fig. 94.

I have another from County Antrim, in which the lower part of the blade has a slight median vertical ridge.

In a palstave in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,[372] with elliptical wings, a long fusiform boss has been cast in the centre of the blade.

In another instrument in the same collection the whole blade is thickened out so as to form the stop-ridge, as will be seen in Fig. 95.

In other cases the ridge of the wings is continued as a moulding on the face of the blade, so as to enclose a space below the stop-ridge. From the base of this there sometimes proceeds a vertical rib, as seen in Fig. 96.

Inverted chevrons by way of ornament below the stop-ridge are not uncommon, sometimes with a vertical rib in addition.

Such compartments are often seen on the winged celts, with only a slight stop-ridge. Fig. 97 shows an example from Lanesborough, Co. Longford, now in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. The compartment is ornamented with vertical punch marks. The outside of the wings is faceted after a fashion not unusual in Ireland, but there is here a slight shoulder at the base of the central facet which may have assisted in securing the blade to the handle. On a specimen at Dublin there are on the otherwise flat sides elevated transverse ridges, which, as Sir W. Wilde[373] has pointed out, may have served “to keep the tying in its place.”

The sides of other specimens of much the same type are otherwise fashioned and ornamented. In Fig. 98 is shown a celt from Trillick, Co. Tyrone, on the sides of which a kind of fern-leaf pattern has been hammered, or rather punched, not unlike the carving on one of the stones in the great chambered tumulus of New Grange. The shield plate has two vertical hollows worked on it.

The side of a celt ornamented in the same manner is engraved by Wilde.[374]

A small palstave, with two vertical grooves in the blade, is shown in Fig. 99.

Another form of winged celt, with a low stop-ridge and with a vertical rib passing through an inverted chevron on the blade, is shown in Fig. 100. The original is in the collection of Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A.

The same style of ornament occurs on palstaves of other forms.[375]

In some instances, there is in the centre of the stop-ridge a kind of bracket on the blade, and the side wings are hammered over so as to form an imperfect socket. A small example of the kind is shown in Fig. 101. I have a larger specimen (4½ inches) from Trillick, Co. Tyrone. Vallancey[376] engraves a palstave of this type.

Others with flat blades and no brackets have the side flanges hammered over in the same manner.

A fine example, in which the conical bracket dies into the stop-ridge and side flanges, is in the British Museum.

Palstaves with a loop at the side are not of such frequent occurrence in Ireland as those without. Wilde[377] has engraved a specimen (6? inches) like Fig. 77 as well as that[378] which I have here shown on a larger scale as Fig. 102. This latter has the wings well hammered over at the base, so as to form a kind of socket on each side of the blade. It differs, however, from the English and foreign specimens like Fig. 85 in having a well-marked shoulder or stop on the blade between the wings.

Palstaves of nearly the same character, but without the loop, have already been mentioned as found both in Ireland and Scotland. Others, with loops like Fig. 103, have a bracket on the blade between the flanges.

A remarkable form with slight side flanges and no stop-ridge, from the Dublin Museum, is shown in Fig. 104. It is No. 630 in Wilde’s Catalogue. The sides have deep diagonal notches upon them and the upper part of each face is chequered, perhaps in order to assist in steadying the blade in its handle.

Another noteworthy palstave, found at Miltown, Co. Dublin, is shown in Fig. 105. In this the side wings are not hammered over, and the stop is supported by a conical bracket. The shoulders, instead of being nearly square to the midrib, are inclined upwards at an angle of nearly 45°, so as to form receptacles in which the wedge-shaped ends of the split handle would be held tight against the blade. These inclined stops have been observed in other palstaves of different forms, and Sir W. Wilde[379] has called attention to them in connection with a palstave much like that now under consideration, but without any projection or loop on the side. The most remarkable feature in the Miltown example is a projecting, slightly curved spike or neb placed near the top of the blade rather above the position usually occupied by the loop. At first sight it looks like an imperfect loop, but, on examination, it is evident that the casting is perfect; and, on consideration, it seems clear that this projection would serve quite as well as a loop for receiving a cord to hold the blade back upon its haft, while for the actual tying it would be more convenient, as the cord would have merely to be passed over a hook, and not to be threaded through a loop. In a somewhat similar palstave (3? inches) in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy[380] there is also a projecting neb, but more semicircular in outline. I am not sure that it was intended for the same purpose. A looped palstave of this type, but with the bottom of the side socket more circular, is engraved by Vallancey.[381]

Some of the socketed celts from the Bologna hoard have curved nebs on each side instead of rings. Instruments of the same character, also from Italy, have been engraved by De Bonstetten,[382] Schreiber,[383] and Caylus.[384]

Double-looped palstaves, with a loop on either side, and in character like Fig. 86, are almost or quite as rare in Ireland as in England. The only specimen engraved by Wilde[385] is in the collection of Lord Talbot de Malahide. It is 6¼ inches long, with the loops not quite symmetrical. It was supposed to be unique. I have, however, another specimen of this type (6? inches) found at Ballincollig,[386] Co. Cork, in 1854, which was formerly in the collection of the Rev. Thomas Hugo, F.S.A. It so closely resembles Fig. 86 that it is not worth while to engrave it.

Another remarkable and indeed unique instrument, in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,[387] is shown in Fig. 106. It is like a flat celt, but has grooves and stops at the side like a palstave with a transverse edge. Below the stops are two loops. The sides below the stops are ornamented with transverse lines, and on the face here shown there is a dotted kind of cartouche below the stops, and a square compartment chequered in lozenges above them. This latter is wanting on the other face, but the corresponding cartouche below is divided into small lozenges alternately hatched and plain.

Another Irish instrument of nearly the same form, but without the grooves and stops at the sides, is in the Bell Collection in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh; but its exact place of finding is uncertain. It is shown in Fig. 107, and, like that last described, has each of its faces ornamented in a different manner.

The palstaves with a transverse edge are of more common occurrence in Ireland than in England, but are even there very rare. That engraved as Fig. 108 was formerly in the collection of the Rev. Thomas Hugo, F.S.A.[388] A similar tool is figured by Vallancey.[389]

The smaller specimen shown in Fig. 109 was found near Ballymena, Co. Antrim, and is in the collection of Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A. I have one from the North of Ireland (4 inches) with the stops less distinct.

Another Irish specimen (3 inches) is in the British Museum. In the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy are several varying in length from 2? inches to 5¼ inches. They are classed by Wilde[390] among the chisels. In describing the various forms illustrated by the figures, I have from time to time called attention to the analogies which they present with other European forms, and it is hardly necessary to make any broad comparison of British palstaves and winged celts with those of other European countries. It would indeed be a difficult task to attempt, as in each country, if not in several districts in each country, the instruments of this kind are characterised by some local peculiarity.

Perhaps it will be more instructive to mention certain continental forms which are conspicuous by their absence in Britain.