CELTS.
The name of Celt, which has long been given to hatchets, adzes,
or chisels of stone, is so well known and has been so universally
employed, that though its use has at times led to considerable
misapprehension, I have thought it best to retain it. It has been
fancied by some that the name bore reference to the Celtic people, by
whom the implements were supposed to have been made; and among those
who have thought fit to adopt the modern fashion of calling the Celts
“Kelts” there have been not a few who have given the instruments the
novel name of “kelts” also. In the same manner, many French antiquaries
have given the plural form of the word as _Celtæ_. Notwithstanding this
misapprehension, there can be no doubt as to the derivation of the
word, it being no other than the English form of the doubtful Latin
word _Celtis_ or _Celtes_, a chisel. This word, however, is curiously
enough almost an ἅπαξλεγόμενον in this sense, being best known
through the Vulgate translation of Job,[189] though it is repeated
in a forged inscription recorded by Gruter and Aldus.[190] The usual
derivation given is à _cælando_, and it is regarded as the equivalent
of _cælum_. The first use of the term that I have met with, as applied
to antiquities, is in Beger’s “Thesaurus Brandenburgicus,”[191] 1696,
where a bronze celt, adapted for insertion in its haft, is described
under the name of _Celtes_.
I have said that the word _celte_, which occurs in the Vulgate, is
|56| of doubtful authenticity. Mr. Knight Watson,[192] in a paper
communicated to the Society of Antiquaries, has shown that the reading
in many MSS. is _certe_, and the question has been fully discussed by
Mr. J. A. Picton,[193] Mr. E. Marshall,[194] Dr. M. Much,[195] and
others. K. v. Becker[196] suggests that the error in writing _celte_
for _certe_ originated between A.D. 800 and 1400, and he points out
that Conrad Pickel, the poet laureate, who died in 1508, latinized
his surname by _Celtes_. Treating the subject as one of probability,
it appears much more unlikely that a scribe should place a newfangled
word _celte_ in the place of such a well-known word as _certe_, than
that _certe_ should have been substituted for a word that had become
obsolete. I am, therefore, unwilling absolutely to condemn the word,
especially having regard to there being a recognized equivalent in
Latin, _Cælum_.
It has been suggested that there may originally have been some
connection between the Latin _celtis_ and the British or Welsh _cellt_,
a flint; but this seems rather an instance of fortuitous resemblance
than of affinity.[197] A Welsh triad says there are three hard things
in the world—_Maen Cellt_ (a flint stone), steel, and a miser’s heart.
The general form of stone celts is well known, being usually that of
blades, approaching an oval in section, with the sides more or less
straight, and one end broader and also sharper than the other. In
length they vary from about two inches to as much as sixteen inches. I
do not, however, propose to enter at once into any description of the
varieties in their form and character, but to pass in review some of
the opinions that have been held concerning their nature and origin.
One of the most universal of these is a belief, which may almost be
described as having been held “_semper_, _ubique et ab omnibus_,” in
their having been thunderbolts.
“The country folks[198] of the West of England still hold that the
‘thunder-axes’ they find, once fell from the sky.” In Cornwall[199]
they still have medical virtues assigned to them; the water in which
“a thunderbolt,” or celt, has been boiled being a specific |57| for
rheumatism. In the North of England, and in parts of Scotland, they are
known as thunderbolts,[200] and, like flint arrow-heads, are supposed
to have preservative virtues, especially against diseases of cattle.
In Ireland the same superstition prevails, and I have myself known an
instance where, on account of its healing powers, a stone celt was lent
among neighbours to place in the troughs from which cattle drank.
In the British Museum is a thin highly polished celt of jadeite,
reputed to be from Scotland, in form like Fig. 52, mounted in a silver
frame, and with a hole bored through it at either end. It is said to
have been attached to a belt and worn round the waist as a cure for
renal affections, against which the material nephrite was a sovereign
remedy.
In most parts of France,[201] and in the Channel Islands, the stone
celt is known by no other name than “_Coin de foudre_,” or “_Pierre de
tonnerre_”; and Mr. F. C. Lukis[202] gives an instance of a flint celt
having been found near the spot where a signal-staff had been struck
by lightning, which was proved to have been the bolt by its peculiar
smell when broken. M. Ed. Jacquard has written an interesting paper on
“Céraunies ou pierres de tonnerre.”[203]
In Brittany[204] a stone celt is frequently thrown into the well for
purifying the water or securing a continued supply; and in Savoy it is
not rare to find one of these instruments rolled up in the wool of the
sheep, or the hair of the goat, for good luck, or for the prevention of
the rot or putrid decay.
In Sweden[205] they are preserved as a protection against lightning,
being regarded as the stone-bolts that have fallen during thunderstorms.
In Norway they are known as Tonderkiler, and in Denmark the old name
for a celt was Torden-steen.[206] The test of their being really
thunderbolts was to tie a thread round them, and place them on hot
coals, when, if genuine, the thread was not burnt, but rather rendered
moist. Such celts promote sleep.
In Germany[207] both celts and perforated stone axes are regarded
|58| as thunderbolts (_Donnerkeile or Thorskeile_); and, on account
of their valuable properties, are sometimes preserved in families
for hundreds of years. I possess a specimen from North Germany, on
which is inscribed the date 1571, being probably the year in which
it was discovered. The curious perforated axe or hammer found early
in the last century, now preserved in the Museum of Antiquities at
Upsala,[208] seems to have been a family treasure of the same kind.
It bears upon it, in early Runes, an inscription thus interpreted by
Professor Stephens—“Owns Oltha this Axe.” Another, with four[209]
Runic characters upon it, was found in Denmark, and it has been
suggested that the letters on it represent the names of Loki, Thor,
Odin, and Belgthor.[210] The appearance of the American inscribed axe
from Pemberton,[211] New Jersey, described by my namesake, Dr. J. C.
Evans, and published by Sir Daniel Wilson, is not calculated to inspire
confidence in its authenticity.
The German belief is much the same as the Irish. Stone celts are held
to preserve from lightning the house in which they are kept. They
perspire when a storm is approaching; they are good for diseases of man
and beast; they increase the milk of cows; they assist the birth of
children; and powder scraped from them may be taken with advantage for
various childish disorders. It is usually nine days after their fall
before they are found on the surface.
In the ruins of a Cistercian nunnery, Martha’s Hof, at Bonn,[212] a
large polished celt of jadeite, like Fig. 52, was found, which had been
presumably brought there as a protection against lightning. It had been
placed in the roof of a granary.
In Bavaria[213] and Moravia[214] stone axes, whether perforated or not,
are regarded as thunderbolts.
In Holland,[215] in like manner, they are known as _donder-beitels_, or
thunder-chisels.
In Spain they are known as _rayos_ or _centellos_, and are regarded
as thunder-stones, while among the Portuguese[216] |59| and in
Brazil[217] the name for a stone axe-blade is _corisco_, or lightning.
In Italy[218] a similar belief that these stone implements are
thunderbolts prevails, and Moscardo[219] has figured two polished celts
as _Saette o Fulmini_; and in Greece[220] the stone celts are known as
_Astropelekia_, and have long been held in veneration.
About the year 1081 we find the Byzantine emperor, Alexius
Comnenus,[221] sending, among other presents, to the Emperor Henry III.
of Germany, ἀστροπέλεκυν δεδεμένον μετὰ χρυσαφίου, an expression which
appears to have puzzled Ducange and Gibbon, but which probably means
a celt of meteoric origin mounted in gold. About 1670[222] a stone
hatchet was brought from Turkey by the French Ambassador, and presented
to Prince François de Lorraine, bishop of Verdun. It still exists in
the Musée Lorrain at Nancy.
Nor is the belief in the meteoric and supernatural origin of celts
confined to Europe. Throughout a great part of Asia the same name of
thunderbolts or lightning-stones is applied to them. Dr. Tylor[223]
cites an interesting passage from a Chinese encyclopædia of the
seventeenth century respecting lightning-stones, some of which have the
shape of a hatchet.
In Japan[224] they are known as thunderbolts, or as the battle-axe of
Tengu,[225] the Guardian of Heaven. They are there of great use[226]
medicinally; in Java[227] they are known as lightning-teeth. The old
naturalist Rumph,[228] towards the end of the seventeenth century,
met with many such in Java and Amboyna, which he says were known as
“Dondersteenen.”
In Burma[229] and Assam[230] stone adzes are called lightning-stones,
and are said to be always to be found on the spot where a thunderbolt
has fallen, provided it is dug for, three years afterwards. When
reduced to powder they are an infallible specific |60| for ophthalmia.
They[231] also render those who carry them invulnerable, and possess
other valuable properties. The same is the case in[232] Cambodia.
Among the Malays[233] the idea of the celestial origin of these stones
generally prevails, though they are also supposed to have been used in
aërial combats between angels and demons[234]; while in China they are
revered as relics of long-deceased ancestors.
I am not aware whether they are regarded as thunderbolts in India,[235]
though a fragment of jade is held to be a preservative against
lightning.[236] Throughout the whole of Hindostan, however, they appear
to be venerated as sacred, and placed against the Mahadeos, or adorned
with red paint as Mahadeo.
It is the same in Western Africa.[237] Sir Richard Burton[238]
has described stone hatchets from the Gold Coast, which are there
regarded as “Thunder-stones.” Mr. Bowen, a missionary, states that
there also the stones, or thunderbolts, which Saugo, the Thunder god,
casts down from heaven, are preserved as sacred relics. Among the
Niam-Niam,[239] in central Africa, they are regarded as thunderbolts.
An instructive article by Richard Andrée on the place of prehistoric
stone weapons in vulgar beliefs will be found in the _Mittheilungen_
of the Anthropological Society of Vienna,[240] and an article[241] by
Dr. A. Bastian on “Stone Worship in Ethnography” in the _Archiv für
Anthropologie_.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.—Celt with Gnostic Inscription. (The upper
figure actual size, the lower enlarged.)]
The very remarkable celt of nephrite (now in the Christy collection),
procured in Egypt many years ago by Colonel Milner, and exhibited to
the Archæological Institute in 1868[242] by the late Sir Henry Lefroy,
F.R.S., affords another instance of the superstitions attaching to
these instruments, and has been the subject of a very interesting
memoir by the late Mr. C. W. King,[243] the well-known authority on
ancient gems. In this case both faces of the celt have been engraved
with gnostic inscriptions in Greek, arranged on one |61| face in the
form of a wreath; and it was doubtless regarded as in itself possessed
of mystic power, by some Greek of Alexandria, where it seems to have
been engraved. It is shown in Fig. 11, here reproduced from the
_Archæological Journal_. Another celt not from Egypt, but from Greece
proper, |62| with three personages and a Greek inscription engraved
upon it, is mentioned by Mortillet.[244] It seems to reproduce a
Mithraic[245] scene. A perforated axe, with a Chaldæan[246] inscription
upon it, is in the Borgia collection, and has been figured and
described by Lenormant.
Curiously enough, the hatchet appears in ancient times to have had
some sacred importance among the Greeks. It was from a hatchet that,
according to Plutarch,[247] Jupiter Labrandeus received that title; and
M. de Longpérier[248] has pointed out a passage, from which it appears
that Bacchus was in one instance, at all events, worshipped under
the form of a hatchet, or πέλεκυς. He has also published a Chaldæan
cylinder on which a priest is represented as making an offering to a
hatchet placed upright on a throne, and has shown that the Egyptian
hieroglyph for _Nouter_, God, is simply the figure of an axe.
In India the hammer was the attribute of the god Indra[249] as
Vágrâkarti. A similar worship appears to have prevailed in the North.
Saxo Grammaticus mentions that the Danish prince Magnus Nilsson, after
a successful expedition against the Goths, brought back among his
trophies some Thor’s hammers, “malleos joviales,” of unusual weight,
which had been objects of veneration in an island in which he had
destroyed a temple. In Brittany the figures of stone celts are in
several instances engraved on the large stones of chambered tumuli and
dolmens.
There are two[250] deductions which may readily be drawn from the facts
just stated; first, that in nearly, if not, indeed, all parts of the
globe which are now civilized, there was a period when the use of stone
implements prevailed; and, secondly, that this period is so remote,
that what were then the common implements of every-day life have now
for centuries been regarded with superstitious reverence, or as being
in some sense of celestial origin, and not the work of man’s hands.
Nor was such a belief even in Europe, and in comparatively modern
times, confined to the uneducated. On the contrary, Mercati,[251]
physician to Clement VIII., at the end of the sixteenth |63| century,
appears to have been the first to maintain that what were regarded as
thunderbolts were the arms of a primitive people unacquainted with the
use of bronze or iron. Helwing[252] at Königsberg in 1717 showed the
artificial character of the so-called thunderbolts, and in France, De
Jussieu in 1723, and Mahudel,[253] about 1734, reproduced Mercati’s
view to the Académie des Inscriptions. In our own country, Dr. Plot,
in his “History of Staffordshire”[254] (1686), also recognized the
true character of these relics; and, citing an axe of stone made of
speckled flint ground to an edge, says that either the Britons or
Romans, or both, made use of such axes; and adds that “how they might
be fastened to a helve may be seen in the Museum Ashmoleanum, where
there are several Indian ones of the like kind fitted up in the same
order as when formerly used.” Dr. Plot’s views were not, however,
accepted by all his countrymen, for in the _Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society_,[255] we find Dr. Lister regarding unmistakeable
stone weapons as having been fashioned naturally and without any
artifice. Some of the old German[256] authors have written long
dissertations about these stone hatchets and axes under the name of
Cerauniæ, and given representations of various forms, which were known
as _Malleus fulmineus_, _Cuneus fulminis_, Donnerstein, Strahlhammer,
&c. Aldrovandus says that these stones are usually about five inches
long and three wide, of a substance like flint, some so hard that a
file will not touch them. About the centre of gravity of the stone is
usually a hole an inch in diameter, quite round. They all imitate in
form a hammer, a wedge, or an axe, or some such instrument, with a hole
to receive a haft, so that some think them not to be thunderbolts, but
iron implements petrified by time. But many explode such an opinion,
and relate how such stones have been found under trees and houses
struck by lightning; and assert that trustworthy persons were present,
and saw them dug out, after the lightning had struck.[257] Kentmann
informs us how, in the month of May, 1561, there was dug out at Torgau
such a bolt projected by |64| thunder. It was five inches long, and
of a stone harder than basalt, which in some parts of Germany was
used instead of anvils. He also relates how near Jülich another stone
was driven by thunder through an enormous oak, and was then dug up.
Aldrovandus gives a highly philosophical view as to the formation of
these stones. He regards them as due to an admixture of a certain
exhalation of thunder and lightning with metallic matter, chiefly
in dark clouds, which is coagulated by the circumfused moisture and
conglutinated into a mass (like flour with water), and subsequently
indurated by heat, like a brick.
Georgius[258] Agricola draws a distinction between the _Brontia_ and
the _Ceraunia_. The former, he says, is like the head of a tortoise,
but has stripes upon it, the latter is smooth and without stripes. The
_Brontia_ seems to be a fossil echinus, and the _Ceraunia_ a stone
celt, but both are thunderbolts. Going a little further back, we find
Marbodæus,[259] Bishop of Rennes, who died in the year 1123, and who
wrote a metrical work concerning gems, ascribing the following origin
and virtues to the _Ceraunius_:——
“Ventorum rabie cum turbidus æstuat äer,
Cum tonat horrendum, cum fulgurat igneus æther,
Nubibus elisus cœlo cadit ille lapillus.
Cujus apud Græcos extat de fulmine nomen:
Illis quippe locis, quos constat fulmine tactos,
Iste lapis tantum reperiri posse putatur,
Unde κεράυνιος est Græco sermone vocatus:
Nam quod nos fulmen, Græci dixere κεραυνὸν.
Qui caste gerit hune à fulmine non ferietur,
Nec domus aut villæ, quibus affuerit lapis ille:
Sed neque navigio per flumina vel mare vectus,
Turbine mergetur, nec fulmine percutietur:
Ad causas etiam, vincendaque prælia prodest,
Et dulces somnos, et dulcia somnia præstat.”
It was not, however, purely from the belief of his own day that
Marbodæus derived this catalogue of the virtues of the Cerauniæ,
but from the pages of writers of a much earlier date. Pliny,[260]
giving an account of the precious stones known as Cerauniæ, quotes
an earlier author still, Sotacus, who, to use the words of Philemon
Holland’s translation, “hath set downe two kinds more of Ceraunia, to
wit, the blacke and the red, saying that they do resemble halberds
or axeheads. And by his saying, the blacke, |65| such especially as
bee round withall, are endued with this vertue, that by the meanes
of them, cities may be forced, and whole navies at sea discomfited;
and these (forsooth) be called[261] Betuli, whereas the long ones be
named properly Cerauniæ.” Pliny goes on to say, “that there is one
more Ceraunia yet, but very geason[262] it is, and hard to be found,
which the Parthian magicians set much store by, and they only can find
it, for that it is no where to bee had than in a place which hath
been shot with a thunderbolt.” There is a very remarkable passage in
Suetonius[263] illustrative of this belief among the Romans. After
relating one prodigy, which was interpreted as significant of the
accession of Galba to the purple, he records that, “shortly afterwards
lightning fell in a lake in Cantabria and twelve axes were found, a
by no means ambiguous omen of Empire.” The twelve axes were regarded
as referring to those of the twelve lictors, and were therefore
portentous; but their being found where the lightning fell would seem
to have been considered a natural occurrence, except so far as related
to the number. It appears by no means improbable that if the lake could
be now identified, some ancient pile settlement might be found to have
existed on its shores.
The exact period when Sotacus, the most ancient of these authorities,
wrote is not known, but he was among the earliest of Greek authors who
treated of stones, and is cited by Apollonius Dyscolus, and Solinus,
as well as by Pliny. We cannot be far wrong in assigning him to an age
at least two thousand years before our time, and yet at that remote
period the use of these stone “halberds or axeheads” had so long ceased
in Greece, that when found they were regarded as of superhuman origin
and invested with magical virtues. We have already seen that flint
arrow-heads were mounted, probably as charms, in Etruscan necklaces,
and we shall subsequently see that superstitions, almost similar to
those relating to celts, have been attached to stone arrow-heads in
various countries.
To return from the superstitious veneration attaching to them, to
the objects themselves. The materials[264] of which celts in Great
Britain are usually formed are flint, chert, clay-slate, porphyry, |66|
quartzite, felstone, serpentine, and various kinds of greenstone,
and of metamorphic rocks. M. A. Damour,[265] in his “Essays on the
Composition of Stone Hatchets, Ancient and Modern,” gives the following
list of materials: quartz, agate, flint, jasper, obsidian, fibrolite,
jade, jadeite, chloromelanite, amphibolite, aphanite, diorite,
saussurite, and staurotide; but even to these many other varieties of
rock might be added.
The material most commonly in use in the southern and eastern parts of
Britain was flint derived from the chalk; in the north and west, on the
contrary, owing to the scarcity of flint, different hard metamorphic
and eruptive rocks were more frequently employed, not on account of any
superior qualities, but simply from being more accessible. So far as
general character is concerned, stone celts or hatchets may be divided
into three classes, which I propose to treat separately, as follows:—
1. Those merely chipped out in a more or less careful manner, and not
ground or polished;
2. Those which, after being fashioned by chipping, have been ground or
polished at the edge only; and
3. Those which are more or less ground or polished, not only at the
edge, but over the whole surface.
In describing them I propose to term the end opposite to the cutting
edge, the butt-end; the two principal surfaces, which are usually
convex, I shall speak of as the faces. These are either bounded by, or
merge in, what I shall call the sides, according as these sides are
sharp, rounded, or flat. In the figures the celts are all engraved on
the scale of half an inch to the inch, or half linear measure, and are
presented in front and side-view, with a section beneath.
|67|