TRUMPETS AND BELLS.
Another instrument probably connected with warfare, though not strictly speaking an arm either of offence or defence, is the trumpet, of which numerous examples in bronze have been found, especially in Ireland. It is very doubtful whether the greater part of them do not belong to the Early Iron Age, rather than to that of Bronze; but as it seems probable that some at least belong to a transitional period, and it is possible that others are of even earlier date, they could hardly be passed over without notice in these pages.
There are two distinct classes of these instruments, so far as the process of their manufacture is concerned, viz. those which are cast in one piece, and those which are formed of sheet-metal turned over and riveted to form the tube. There are also two distinct varieties of the instrument, viz. those in which the aperture for blowing is at the end, and those in which it is at the side.
Sir W. Wilde, in his Catalogue[1375] of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, has devoted several pages to a detailed description of the trumpets found in Ireland, to which the reader is referred. Those which he figures are all curved, some almost to a semicircle, others to a more irregular sweep. Some straight tubes which were found in company with several curved horns he has regarded, but without sufficient cause, as the portions of a “commander’s staff,” or of the handle of a halberd. One of these is shown in Fig. 438, borrowed from his Catalogue.[1376] A similar straight tube, (23¾ inches,) found with trumpets at Dunmanway, Co. Cork, is now in the British Museum. The earliest known instance of the discovery of such instruments is, according to Wilde, that recorded by Sir Thomas Molyneux,[1377] in 1725, of a “short side-mouthed trumpet” being found with others in a mound near Carrickfergus, which was then regarded as of Danish origin. But so early as 1713 Mr. F. Nevill described eight bronze trumpets found at Dungannon,[1378] Co. Tyrone. In 1750 thirteen or fourteen more curved bronze horns were discovered between Cork and Mallow, three of which are described and figured in the “Vetusta Monumenta.”[1379]
There is a remarkable resemblance between these trumpets and three of those found near Chute Hall, Tralee, Co. Kerry, and described by Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., in the Journal of the Royal Historical and ArchÆological Association of Ireland.[1380] By his kindness I am able here to reproduce his cuts as Figs. 439, 440, and 441. It will be observed that in two of them the ends are open, so as to be adapted for the reception of mouth-pieces, and that the end of the other is closed. In this there is a lateral opening to which to apply the mouth. It is on the inner curve of the trumpet, but in some other cases it is at the side. As Mr. Day has observed, there are rivet-holes at the wide ends of two of the horns, as if for securing some more widely expanding end, while in the more bell-mouthed examples no such rivet-holes are present. The trumpet shown in Fig. 440 is made of two pieces which fit exactly into each other, one of them being nearly straight. The length of this instrument, taken along the external curve, is 50 inches, and its bell-shaped mouth is 4 inches in diameter. It will be seen that at the mouths, and in other positions on these three trumpets, there are small conical projections or spikes always in groups of four. Mr. Day has suggested the possibility of these being added to give effect to blows with the trumpets in case it became necessary to use them as weapons of offence. He has also pointed out the remarkable resemblance between the horns with the lateral openings and the war trumpets in use in Central Africa, which are made from elephants’ tusks. One of these is shown in Fig. 442, also kindly lent by Mr. Day. The conch-shell trumpets of Fiji have also lateral openings.
Figs. 440 and 441.—Tralee.
As will subsequently be seen, trumpets of the two types represented by Figs. 439 and 440 have been found associated with bronze weapons.
To return to the trumpets from Cork described in the “Vetusta Monumenta.” Two of these are formed, like Fig. 440, of two pieces, and are open at the end, which may have been provided with some kind of mouth-piece. The other, like Fig. 439, is cast in a single piece and is closed at the small end, but has a large orifice at the side like the Portglenone specimen Fig. 444. Both are provided with a number of conical projections by way of ornament round the mouth, and one of them has similar small spikes in other positions. With them were found some pieces of straight tubing, which were also decorated in a similar manner. The horn with the side aperture is provided with a ring for suspension, like Fig. 439. Some of the straight tubes have a sliding ferrule upon them also furnished with a ring.
Sir W. Wilde observes of a horn about 24 inches long with the aperture at the end slightly everted, as if for holding the lips, that it requires a great exertion even to produce a dull sound with this instrument. As to those with lateral apertures 2 inches long on the average, and 1¼ inches wide, he says that “it is not possible by any yet discovered method of placing the lips to this mouth-hole to produce a musical sound; but, as conjectured by Walker in 1786, these instruments might have been used as speaking-trumpets, to convey the voice to a great distance as well as render it much louder.”
In one instance of a trumpet, like Fig. 439, being broken across the mouth-piece, it has been repaired by a process of burning together, like that adopted in the case of broken swords[1381] previously mentioned. The mended portion is shown in Fig. 443,[1382] borrowed from Wilde. This trumpet was found at Derrynane, Co. Kerry.
A trumpet, broken across the middle and mended in a similar manner, formed part of the “Dowris find,” from which a number of specimens are preserved in the British Museum,[1383] and others are in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. The metal of which most of the articles in this hoard are formed has a peculiar golden lustre which is thought to arise from the admixture of a certain proportion of lead. A horn analyzed by Donovan[1384] gave:
| Copper | 79·34 |
| Tin | 10·87 |
| Lead | 9·11 |
| ——— |
| 99·32 |
The find took place at Dowris, near Parsonstown, in King’s County, and comprised, besides trumpets and socketed celts, a casting for a hammer-head, a socketed knife, tanged knives, razors, a broad rapier-shaped dagger-blade, broken swords, a dagger formed from a part of a sword, spear-heads both leaf-shaped and with openings in the blade, vessels of thin bronze, rough metal, some rattles or crotals, such as will shortly be mentioned, a pin with a hook somewhat like a crochet-needle, and some rubbing stones for grinding and polishing. There may have been other articles, but those here mentioned are represented in the portion of the hoard now in the British Museum. The association of trumpets with such a series raises the presumption that some of them at least belong to the close of the Bronze Age proper.
Some of these Dowris trumpets are engraved in the “HorÆ Ferales,”[1385] and one of them belonging to the Earl of Rosse is peculiar as having two loops opposite each other above and below. A detached portion of another consists of a nearly straight tube, 9 inches long, expanding at each end.
Another slightly differing example with the opening at the side is also figured by Mr. R. Day, and here with his permission reproduced. It was found at Portglenone, Co. Derry, and measures 24½ inches along the convex margin.
The other finds of trumpets have been for the most part isolated. Most of those I am about to cite have already been mentioned by Wilde. A fine specimen, like Fig. 444, is figured by Vallancey[1386] and in Gough’s “Camden’s Britannia.”[1387] Three others and a portion of a straight tube were found in the county of Limerick[1388] in 1787. Others have been found near Killarney;[1389] Cornaconway, Co. Cavan; Kilraughts, Co. Antrim; Diamond Hill, Killeshandra; Crookstown and Dunmanway, Co. Cork.
Fig. 445—The Caprington Horn. 1/5
As the riveted variety of trumpet appears from its ornamentation to belong to the Late Celtic Period, a short mention of it will suffice. One[1390] found near Armagh, and now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, has at the end a disc 7½ inches in diameter, embossed with the peculiar scroll patterns characteristic of that period.
Another is no less than 8 feet 5 inches along the convex margin, and consists of two portions made of sheet bronze, each turned over to form a tube, and having the abutting edges riveted to a long strip of metal extending along the interior of the tube. This strip of bronze is only half an inch in width, and has two rows of minute rivet-holes in it, the rivets being placed alternately. Their circular heads are on the inside of the tube, and so minute are the rivets, that there are no less than 638 of them along the seam. It is, indeed, not unlike a modern riveted hose pipe of leather. In what manner such an ingenious and complicated piece of riveting could have been effected is, as Sir W. Wilde remarks, a subject for speculation.
These riveted trumpets appear to be unknown in Britain, and the cast-bronze variety is extremely scarce. A fine and perfect specimen found at Caprington, Ayrshire, has been engraved for the Ayrshire and Wigtonshire ArchÆological Association,[1391] and is here, by the kindness of the Council of the Association, reproduced as Fig. 445. It was found some time before 1654, on the estate of Coilsfield, in the parish of Tarbolton, in Kyle, but is known as the Caprington horn. According to Mr. R. W. Cochran-Patrick, F.S.A., it has been described by Sir Robert Gordon in Blaeuw’s Atlas[1392] and by Defoe.[1393] This horn is 25 inches in length, and is the only specimen recorded to have been found in Scotland. The metal of which it is formed has been analyzed by Professor Stevenson Macadam, and consists of—
| Copper | 90·26 |
| Tin | 9·61 |
| Loss | ·13 |
| ——— |
| 100·00 |
English trumpets of bronze are of extremely rare occurrence. One found in the river Witham, Lincolnshire, has been figured in the Philosophical Transactions,[1394] and is nearly straight for the greater part of its length (about 28 inches), curving upwards near the end into an irregularly-shaped expanding mouth. It has an ornament or crest like a mane along the exterior curve. In form it is not unlike the carnyx which is brandished by the horseman on the coins of the British princes Eppillus and Tasciovanus,[1395] and which also appears on some Roman coins and monuments commemorative of Gallic and British victories. The metal on analysis gave copper 88, tin 12, and the tube was formed from a hammered sheet and soldered with tin. It not improbably belongs to a period not far removed from that of the Roman invasion of this country.
Another, with two joints and a perfect mouth-piece, is said to have been found at Battle, Sussex, and has been engraved by Grose.[1396] A bronze horn about 3 feet 7 inches long, found in Mecklenburg,[1397] is not unlike the Scotch horn in character, though smaller at the wide end. The curved bronze horns or “lurer,” found in Denmark,[1398] have usually broad bossed flanges at the wide end, and most resemble the Irish Late Celtic trumpets.
The use of war trumpets among the Celtic population of Western Europe has been more than once mentioned by classical writers, and passages from them have been cited by Mr. Franks and others. Polybius[1399] speaks of the innumerable trumpeters in the army of the Celts, and Diodorus Siculus[1400] says of the Gauls that they have barbaric trumpets of a special nature which emit a hoarse sound well suited to the din of battle. The Roman lituus in use for cavalry seems to have been of much the same shape as the carnyx, the end of which latter was in some cases made to resemble a fanciful head of an animal. The continuance of the same character of instrument into the Early Iron Age, and the advanced art shown in producing such castings as the trumpets from Dowris and elsewhere, go to prove that they must belong to the close of the Bronze Period, if, indeed, some may not more probably be placed in a period of transition from Bronze to Iron.
Another form of instrument intended for producing sound, if not indeed deserving to be classed as a musical instrument, is the bell, or rattle, formed of a hollow egg-shaped or pear-shaped piece of bronze, with a pebble or piece of metal inside by way of clapper.
The only examples which I am able to adduce are those which formed part of the Dowris hoard, one of which is represented in Fig. 446.[1401] There are three such in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and four in the British Museum. With the latter is a smaller plain bell of the same character and two unfinished castings. Sir W. Wilde observes that in casting, the metal appears to have been poured into the mould by an aperture at the side, through which the core of clay that contained the metal clapper was broken up. The mould was in two halves, and the rings and staples at the ends were cast together. In the perfect examples at the British Museum, the sides of the holes by which the core was extracted have been hammered together so as in some cases to be almost closed. In one instance there is some appearance of the sides having been brazed together.
The sound emitted by these bells is dull and feeble. Like the modern horse bells, a number of them may have been hung together, and not improbably employed in a similar manner to attract the attention both of the eye and ear.
