CELTIC ART OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD
THE LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OF CELTIC ART OF THE
CHRISTIAN PERIOD IN GREAT BRITAIN, AND THE GENERAL
NATURE OF ITS DECORATIVE AND SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS
The leading characteristics of Celtic art of the Christian period are
as follows:—
(1) The prominence given to the margin or frame within which the
whole design is enclosed.
(2) The arrangement of the design within the margin in panels, each
containing a complete piece of ornament.
(3) The use of setting-out lines for the ornament, placed diagonally
with regard to the margin.
(4) The use of interlaced-work, step-patterns, key-patterns,
spirals, and zoömorphs in combination.
(5) The geometrical perfection of all the ornament.
(6) The superiority of the decorative designs to the figure drawing.
There are in the world two distinct schools of decorative art, one
which entirely ignores the shape of the surface to be ornamented, and
the other which allows the contour of the margin to influence the
whole design. Japanese art belongs to the first of these, and Celtic
art to the second. In the Irish illuminated MSS. the rectangular
shape of the page determines the setting-out of the design, which is
universally enclosed within a rectangular margin composed of lines of
various thicknesses, or within an ornamental panelled frame. The only
exception is in the case of the initial pages of the Four Gospels,
where the margin is incomplete, so as to allow the extremities of the
letters to project more nearly to the edge of the page. This prominence
given to the margin often greatly influences the designs within it,
more especially the key-patterns with diagonal setting-out lines. In
sculptured stonework either roll-mouldings or flat bands form the
margin, and in metalwork the margins are raised and the panels sunk.
The panels within the margin are generally rectangular, but sometimes
they are circular, annular, segmental, triangular, etc. The ornament
in adjoining panels is seldom of a similar kind, and the patterns
are often arranged on the principle of chequerwork, so that if there
is a panel of interlaced-work at the left-hand upper corner of the
page of a MS., and a panel of key-pattern at the left-hand lower
corner, the order will be reversed on the opposite side of the page,
and the key-pattern will be at the right-hand upper corner and the
interlaced-work at the right-hand lower corner.
The diagonal setting-out lines are chiefly confined to the
key-patterns, and, as we shall see subsequently, are the origin of the
peculiar form of Celtic key-pattern which was developed from the Greek
fret.
The various motives that have been specified—namely, interlaced-work,
step-patterns, key-patterns, spirals, and zoömorphs—are not always
found in combination, except in the MSS., sculptured stones, and
metalwork of the best period. The step-patterns are, as a rule, only
found in the early MSS. and on the enamelled settings of metalwork.
Foliage is a distinctly non-Celtic element, and wherever it occurs it
is a proof of Anglian influence from Northumbria. As the decadence
of Celtic art set in the spirals disappeared first, and then the
key-patterns, leaving only interlaced-work and zoömorphs, which
survived even after the Norman conquest. Key-patterns survived in
a debased form in the architectural details of the churches of the
twelfth century in Ireland, but not in Scotland or Wales.
By the geometrical perfection of the Celtic ornament is meant that
there are hardly ever any mistakes in the setting-out and complete
execution of the designs. Thus in the interlaced-work every cord laps
under and over with unfailing regularity (never over two or under two),
and all the cords are joined up so as not to leave any loose ends. All
the details of the spiralwork are executed with the minutest care,
and there is never a broken line or pseudo-spiral. In the zoömorphic
designs the beasts are all provided with the proper number of limbs and
are complete in every respect down to the smallest detail.
The inferiority of the figure drawing in Christian Celtic art to the
ornament will be dealt with subsequently in its proper place.
We will now proceed to examine in detail the different motives made use
of in the Celtic art of the Christian period in Great Britain.
INTERLACED-WORK
The interlaced ornament used in Celtic art may be divided into the
following classes:—
(1) Regular plaitwork, without any breaks.
(2) Broken plaitwork, with breaks made in an irregular way.
(3) Knotwork.
(4) Circular knotwork.
(5) Triangular knotwork.
(6) Ringwork or chainwork.
Interlaced-work is the predominant motive of the Celtic style of the
Christian period. It lasted longer in time than any other motive, and
its geographical distribution extends over a larger area. It is very
seldom that one motive is used by itself for the decoration of a stone
monument, metal object, or page of a MS.; but where this is the case
the motive chosen is invariably interlaced-work, and not a key-pattern,
spiral, or zoömorph. As instances of sculptured monuments decorated
entirely with interlaced-work we have the cross at Neuadd Siarman,
Brecknockshire, and the cross-shaft at St. Neot, Cornwall.
The evolution of knotwork from plaitwork cannot better be studied
anywhere than in the decoration of the Welsh crosses. Let us now
endeavour to trace the various stages in the process by which the
higher forms of Celtic interlaced-work were arrived at.
In Egyptian, Greek, and Roman decorative art the only kind of
interlaced-work is the plait, without any modification whatever;
and the man who discovered how to devise new patterns from a simple
plait by making what I term _breaks_ laid the foundation of all the
wonderfully complicated and truly bewildering forms of interlaced
ornament found in such a masterpiece of the art of illumination as
the Book of Kells in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Although
we do not know _who_ made this discovery of how to make breaks in a
plait, we know pretty nearly _when_ it was made. In the decoration
of the mosaic pavements in Great Britain belonging to the period of
the Roman occupation, no instance, as far as I can ascertain, exists
of the introduction of a break in a plait; nor is there any break in
the plaitwork on the marble screen and the capitals of the columns of
the ciborium in the Church of San Clemente at Rome (which are dated
by R. Cattaneo[446] between A.D. 514 and 523). In the eighth century,
however, there are several examples with well-authenticated dates of
the use of true knotwork (as distinguished from plaitwork) in the
decoration of churches in Italy; namely, on the ciborium of San Giorgio
at Valpolicella[447] (A.D. 712); on the Baptistery of Calistus at
Cividale[448] (A.D. 737); and on the jambs of the doorway of the Chapel
of San Zeno in the Church of San Prassede at Rome[449] (A.D. 772-795).
[446] _L’Architettura in Italia_, pp. 29 and 31.
[447] _Ibid._, p. 80.
[448] _Ibid._, p. 87.
[449] _Archæologia_, vol. xl., p. 191.
It would appear, then, that the transition from plaitwork to knotwork
took place between the Lombard conquest of Italy under Alboin in A.D.
563, and the extinction of the Lombard monarchy by Charlemagne in
A.D. 774; possibly during the reigns of Luitprand (A.D. 712-736) and
Rachis (A.D. 744): for the name of the former king is mentioned in the
inscriptions on the Baptistery at Cividale and the ciborium of San
Giorgio at Valpolicella, and the latter on the altar at Cividale.
[Illustration: PLAITWORK ON ROMANO-BRITISH PAVEMENT AT LYDNEY PARK,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE (SIXTH CENTURY)]
[Illustration: PLAITWORK ON CIBORIUM IN THE CHURCH OF SAN CLEMENTE, ROME]
I now propose to explain how plaitwork is set out, and the method of
making breaks in it. When it is required to fill in a rectangular
panel with a plait the four sides of the panel are divided up into
equal parts (except at the ends, where half a division is left), and
the points thus found are joined, so as to form a network of diagonal
lines. The plait is then drawn over these lines, in the manner shown
on the accompanying diagram. The setting-out lines ought really to
be double so as to define the width of the band composing the plait,
but they are drawn single on the diagram in order to simplify the
explanation.
[Illustration: Regular plaitwork without any break]
[Illustration: Method of making breaks in plaitwork]
If now we desire to make a break in the plait any two of the cords
are cut asunder at the point where they cross each other, leaving
four loose ends A, B, C, D. To make a break the loose ends are joined
together in pairs. This can be done in two ways only: (1) A can be
joined to C and D to B, forming a vertical break; or (2) A can be
joined to D and C to B, forming a horizontal break. The decorative
effect of the plait is thus entirely altered by running two of the
meshes between the cords into one. By continuing the process all the
knots most commonly used in Celtic decorative art may be derived from a
simple plait.
[Illustration: Regular plaitwork, with one vertical break and one
horizontal break]
[Illustration: Six-cord plait, with horizontal breaks at regular
intervals]
[450] This occurs on the second panel of the cross at Llanbadarn Fawr.
Let us proceed to trace the process of the evolution of knotwork out of
plaitwork by actual instances taken from the Welsh crosses. We have, to
start with, good examples of plaits of four, six, and ten cords[451]
without any breaks at Nevern, Pembrokeshire; and Llantwit Major, and
Margam, Glamorganshire. Next, plaits with a single break only are to
be seen at Carew, Pembrokeshire, and Llantwit Major, Glamorganshire;
then plaits with several breaks, made quite regardless of symmetry or
order, at Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire; and, lastly, breaks made at
regular intervals, at Neuadd Siarman, Brecknockshire. When the breaks
are made symmetrically at regular intervals, and brought sufficiently
near together, the plait ceases to be the most prominent feature in the
design, and in its place we get a pattern composed entirely of what
(for want of a better name) are called knots. On some of the Welsh
crosses (as at Carew and Nevern, Pembrokeshire), however, the breaks
are made with sufficient regularity and proximity to produce knots,
and yet the knots themselves are not symmetrically placed. The result
is a class of interlaced-work, intermediate between plaitwork with
irregular breaks and knotwork. The same kind of thing is to be seen on
the crosses at Coppleston, Devonshire; and St. Neot, Cornwall.
[451] Plaits of an uneven number of cords are seldom used, because they
produce lopsided patterns.
[Illustration: Cross-shaft at Golden Grove, with panels of irregular
broken plaitwork
Scale ¹/₁₆ linear]
[Illustration: Cross-shaft at Llantwit Major (No. 5), Glamorganshire.
Eight-cord plait, with cruciform breaks
Scale ¹/₁₂ linear]
[Illustration: Eight-cord plaits, with cruciform breaks]
[Illustration: Eight-cord plaits, with cruciform breaks]
[Illustration: Six-cord plait, with cruciform breaks
(Occurring at Llanbadarn Fawr)]
[Illustration: Ten-cord plait, with cruciform breaks
(Occurring at St. Neuadd Siarman)]
[Illustration: Knots derived from a three-cord plait]
If two horizontal breaks and two vertical breaks are made next to each
other in a plait, a space in the shape of a cross is produced. A large
number of the interlaced patterns used in Celtic decorative art are
derived from a plait by making cruciform breaks at regular intervals.
There are examples of this in Wales, at Neuadd Siarman, Brecknockshire;
Llanbadarn Fawr, Cardiganshire; and Llantwit Major, Glamorganshire. It
is not unlikely that symbolism had something to do with the frequent
use of the cruciform break.
There are eight elementary knots which form the basis of nearly all the
interlaced patterns in Celtic decorative art, with the exception of
those already described. Two of the elementary knots are derived from a
three-cord plait, and the remaining six from a four-cord plait.
[Illustration: Knot No. 1]
[Illustration: Knot No. 2]
=Knot No. 1= is derived from a three-cord plait by making horizontal
breaks on one side of the plait only, and =No. 2= by making horizontal
breaks alternately on one side and the other.
=Knot No. 3= is derived from a four-cord plait by making horizontal
breaks in the middle of the plait.
=Knot No. 4= is derived from No. 3 by making a horizontal break at A;
and =No. 5= from No. 4 by making a vertical break at B and C.
=Knot No. 6= is derived from a four-cord plait by making horizontal
breaks in the middle of the plait, in the same way as in the case of
knot No. 3, but closer together.
[Illustration: Knot No. 4]
[Illustration: Knot No. 3]
[Illustration: Knot No. 5]
[Illustration: Knot No. 7]
[Illustration: Knot No. 6]
[Illustration: Knot No. 8]
=Knot No. 7= is derived from No. 6 by making a vertical break at B; and
=No. 8= from No. 6 by making vertical breaks at B and C.
If a series of knots repeated in a single row can be derived from a
plait of _n_ bands, a series of the same knots repeated in a double row
can be derived from a plait of _2n_ bands. Thus a pattern composed of
knot No. 1 arranged in a double row would be derived from a plait of
six cords.
Knots like Nos. 3 and 4, which are longer than they are broad, can be
placed either horizontally or vertically. Thus No. 3 placed with its
longer axis vertical can be derived from a four-cord plait, but if
placed horizontally it would be derived from a six-cord plait.
[Illustration: Method of deriving Knots Nos. 3 and 6 from a four-cord
plait]
Knot No. 2 does not occur on the Welsh crosses, and No. 1 only in a
double row, as at Neuadd Siarman, Brecknockshire. This pattern is
derived from a six-cord plait by making horizontal breaks in the two
edges of the plait, and vertical breaks in the middle, the stages being
shown on the annexed diagram.
Knot No. 3, in a single row placed with its longer axis vertical,
occurs at Llandough, Glamorganshire, and, in a single row placed the
other way, at Margam, Glamorganshire.
[Illustration: Knots Nos. 4, 5, 7, and 8, derived from a four-cord
plait]
[Illustration: Knot No. 1, derived from either a three-cord or a
six-cord plait]
[Illustration: Knots 3 and 4, derived from a six-cord plait]
[Illustration: Evolution of Knot No. 1 from a six-cord plait]
Examples of the two knots, Nos. 4 and 5, which are derived from No. 3,
are to be seen at Baglan, Glamorganshire, and Penally, Pembrokeshire.
Knot No. 6, in a single row, occurs at Llantwit Major, Glamorganshire,
and its second derivative, No. 8, at Llantwit Major, and also at Neuadd
Siarman, Brecknockshire. Its first derivative, No. 7, is only used
in a double row on the Welsh crosses, as at Silian and Maes Mynach,
Cardiganshire, and at Penally, Pembrokeshire, where the knots have an
extra spiral twist. The direction of the twist of the spirally bent
cord is the same in both the right-hand and left-hand vertical row of
knots, although the positions of the knots are different. The more
usual arrangement is to make the cords twist in opposite directions, as
on the annexed diagram, in which the evolution of the pattern is shown.
(Page 271.)
The clearest proof that the spiral knot No. 7 was developed from
plaitwork in the manner explained is that on stones at Llangenydd,
Glamorganshire; Whithorn, Wigtownshire; Abercorn, Linlithgowshire;
and Aycliffe, Co. Durham; the successive stages of development can be
easily traced.
[Illustration: Evolution of Knot No. 7 from an eight-cord plait]
[Illustration: Evolution of Knot No. 7 from an eight-cord plait]
I have coined the term _circular knotwork_ to describe a particular
class of interlaced-work, in which the circular curves made by the
cords give the pattern its distinctive appearance. The best example
of circular knotwork in any of the Hiberno-Saxon MSS. occurs on one
of the ornamental cross-pages of the Book of Durrow.[452] Circular
knotwork is not used in the decoration of the Irish ecclesiastical
metalwork, probably because it is only suitable for application to
larger surfaces than are to be found on comparatively small metal
objects. Circular knotwork is characteristic of the Irish and Scottish
sculptured monuments of the best period; it is unknown in Cornwall
and the Isle of Man and there is only one instance of its occurrence
in Wales. Very good examples of circular knotwork may be seen on
sculptured monuments in Ireland[453] at Kells, Co. Meath; Monasterboice
and Termonfechin, Co. Louth; Boho, Co. Fermanagh; Kilfenora, Co.
Clare; and Drumcliff, Co. Sligo; and in Scotland[454] at Collieburn,
Sutherland (now in the Dunrobin Museum); Tarbet (now at Invergordon
Castle), Brodie, Elginshire; Nigg, Ross-shire; Aberlemno, Monifieth
(now in the Edinburgh Museum), and Eassie, Forfarshire; and Rossie
Priory and St. Madoes, Perthshire.
[452] J. R. Allen and J. Anderson’s _Early Christian Monuments of
Scotland_, p. lxxviii.; J. A. Bruun’s _Illuminated Manuscripts of the
Middle Ages_, pt. I, “Celtic MSS.,” p. 8.
[453] H. O’Neill’s _Crosses of Ancient Ireland_.
[454] Allen and Anderson’s _Early Christian Monuments of Scotland_.
[Illustration: Evolution of Knot No.7 from an eight-cord plait]
The most common kinds of circular knotwork appear to have been evolved
in the following manner. It has already been shown how knot No. 3 can
be derived from a four-cord plait by making a series of horizontal
breaks at regular intervals, leaving two crossing-points of the cords
between each break; and how knot No. 4 can again be derived from knot
No. 3 by making a horizontal break at the point A.
[Illustration: Knot No. 3]
[Illustration: Knot No. 4]
Now if a pair of knots like No. 4 be placed opposite each other thus—
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
and repeated in a vertical row, we get the pattern shown below.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Sections of pattern shown on p. 273]
[Illustration: Knotwork from Ramsbury, Wilts, and Nigg, Ross-shire]
By making pointed ends to the loops forming the knots and “sweetening”
the curves of the bands between each knot the appearance of the whole
is changed, and its development from the plait disguised. Almost
all geometrical ornament is capable of conveying several different
impressions to the mind according to the way it is observed by
the eye for the time being, and the intellectual pleasure which a
pattern gives is most probably dependent on the infinite variety of
these kaleidoscopic changes. Taking this pattern for example, if the
attention is concentrated upon the portions of the pattern between each
of the points where the bands cross in the centre, it will seem as if
the whole was formed of repetitions of knot No. 4; but if the attention
be now directed towards the portions lying between the middle points
of each of the knots, the pattern will appear to consist entirely of
circular curves with two diameters crossing each other diagonally.
[Illustration: ERECT CROSS-SLAB FROM COLLIEBURN, SUTHERLAND, NOW IN THE
DUNROBIN MUSEUM
_Photograph supplied by the Rev. J. M. Joass, LL.D., Honorary
Curator_]
When the circular knot thus obtained is repeated in a double row we get
a comparatively simple pattern, in which the circular curves assume
much greater prominence.
More complicated forms of circular knots can be derived from the
elementary circular knot by combining it with a circular ring, either
a larger one enclosing the four loops in the middle entirely, or a
smaller one interlaced through the loops thus:—
[Illustration]
Further variations can again be produced from these by severing the
bands in places, and joining parts of the loops to the rings on the
same principle that breaks can be made in a plait.
[Illustration]
The connection between the different knots will at once become clear if
they are drawn on separate pieces of tracing paper and placed one over
the other.
Another kind of circular knotwork is formed by enclosing the simpler
sort of knots derived directly from plaitwork within a circular band,
which crosses over in one or two places and turns inwards to form the
enclosed knots.
[Illustration: Circular knotwork from Tarbet, Ross-shire]
The illustrations of the different kinds of circular knotwork from
actual examples show the process of development.
[Illustration: Circular knotwork from Monasterboice, Co. Louth]
[Illustration: DETAIL OF ORNAMENT ON ERECT CROSS-SLAB AT NIGG,
ROSS-SHIRE
_From photographs of the cast in the Science and Art Museum, Edinburgh,
supplied by Mr. Vallance, Curator_]
By the term _triangular knotwork_ is meant interlaced patterns,
the setting-out lines of which form triangles only or triangles
and lozenges. The patterns are made by distorting the simple knots
derived from plaitwork, so as to adapt them to the triangular shape.
This species of knotwork is very seldom seen except in a few of the
Hiberno-Saxon MSS. and on some of the sculptured stones of Ireland and
Scotland. The best examples are at Kilfenora, Co. Clare; Ulbster (now
at Thurso Castle), Sutherlandshire; and Dunfallandy, Perthshire.
[Illustration: Triangular knotwork from Ulbster, Caithness]
Under the head of ringwork and chainwork are included all patterns
composed of circular, oval, and looped rings interlaced symmetrically
round a centre, or arranged so as to form a long chain. Patterns of
this kind are not found in the best Celtic work, and when they occur it
is generally an indication either of Scandinavian influence or of the
style being debased.
A certain number of modifications of the interlaced-work already
described are produced by adapting the patterns so that they will fit
into circular or annular spaces. Instances of this may be seen on the
erect cross-slabs at Hilton of Cadboll (now at Invergordon Castle) and
Nigg, Ross-shire; Glamis, Forfarshire; and Rossie Priory, Perthshire;
and on the Lough Erne and Monymusk Reliquaries.
[Illustration: Triangular knotwork from Dunfallandy, Perthshire]
STEP-PATTERNS
A step-pattern is one which is formed of straight lines bent backwards
and forwards at right angles so as to resemble a flight of steps.
The lines are often arranged symmetrically round a centre, so as
to make cruciform and swastika designs, and the different parts are
also generally shaded alternately black and white on the principle
of chequerwork. Step-patterns hardly ever occur in Christian Celtic
art except on the enamelled bosses of metalwork and in a few of the
illuminated MSS., such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the St. Gall Gospels
(Codex No. 51), the Gospels of MacRegol, the Book of Kells, and the
Book of Durrow. The step-patterns in the MSS. so nearly resemble those
on the enamelled bosses on the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch, and
the Cross of Cong, that there can be but little doubt the illuminators
copied their designs from the enamels. In the Pagan Celtic enamels the
ornament is nearly always curvilinear; but in the Christian Celtic
enamels it is rectilinear, the arrangement of the _cloisons_ being very
similar to that on the Anglo-Saxon disc brooches incrusted with small
slabs of garnet, glass, etc. Instances have already been given in a
previous chapter of the use of step-patterns by the Pagan Celts on the
engraved woodwork from the Glastonbury Marsh Village (p. 161). The only
instances I have met with of step-patterns on the sculptured stones of
the early Christian period in this country are at Bradford-on-Avon,
Wilts; and Dysert O’Dea, Co. Clare.
KEY-PATTERNS
The term _key-pattern_ is used to describe a particular kind of
rectilinear ornament which bears a certain amount of resemblance to
the perforations in a key to allow it to pass the wards of a lock. The
best-known key-pattern is the Greek fret. This is composed of what may
be appropriately called straight-line spirals; that is to say, straight
lines (or, to speak more accurately, narrow straight bars) bent round
into a series of right angles in the same direction. The space between
the lines (or narrow bars) is generally about the same width as that of
the line itself.
[Illustration: 1 2]
[Illustration: 3 4
Key-patterns
(1) Aberlady, Haddingtonshire
(2) Abercorn, Linlithgowshire
(3) St. Andrews, Fifeshire
(4) Collieburn, Sutherlandshire
]
The key-patterns used in Christian Celtic art may be classified as
follows:—
(1) _Square key-patterns_, in which the lines run horizontally
and vertically parallel to the margins.
(2) _Diagonal key-patterns_, in which the lines run vertically
parallel to the right and left margins, and diagonally in
two directions at an angle of 45° to the margins.
(3) _Diaper key-patterns_, in which the lines run horizontally
and vertically parallel to the margins, and diagonally in
two directions at an angle of 45° to the margins.
The essential difference between the key-patterns used by the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and those used by the Christian Celts
consists in the introduction of diagonal lines by the latter. Square
key-patterns (_i.e._ those of the Greek fret type) were very seldom
used in Christian Celtic art. There is, however, a very good example
on one of the crosses at Penmon, Anglesey. The first step in the
evolution of the Celtic key-pattern was to turn the Greek fret round
through an angle of 45° so as to make the lines run diagonally with
regard to the margins instead of parallel to them. Key-patterns in
this stage of development are to be seen in the Lindisfarne Gospels,
the St. Gall Gospels (Codex No. 51), and an Anglian cross-shaft from
Aberlady, Haddingtonshire, now at Carlowrie Castle, near Kirkliston,
Midlothian. It will be observed, however, that the result of changing
a square key-pattern into a diagonal one is to leave a series of
unornamented triangles all round the edge (p. 280). When these
triangles are filled in by bending the ends of the diagonal lines
round through an angle of 45°, so as to run parallel to the margins,
we get such a characteristically Celtic key-pattern as the one on the
great cross-shaft at St. Andrews, Fifeshire. Lastly, when the opposite
ends of the diagonal lines in the middle of the panel are bent round
in a similar manner, the most typical of all the Celtic key-patterns
is arrived at, of which there is a very good example on the erect
cross-slab at Farr, Sutherlandshire.
[Illustration: 1 2]
[Illustration: 3 4
Key-patterns
(1) Rosemarkie, Ross-shire
(2) Farr, Sutherlandshire
(3) Gattonside, Roxburghshire
(4) Nigg, Ross-shire
]
[Illustration: Shaft of Cross of Eiudon, at Golden Grove,
Carmarthenshire]
The filling in of the sharp corners made by the lines inclined to each
other at an angle of 45°, with small black triangles (if in a MS.)
or with sunk triangles (if on a sculptured stone) gives a decorative
finish to the pattern, and still further adds to its distinctively
Celtic character.
Next to interlaced-work the key-pattern is the most common motive
made use of in the decorative art of the Christian Celtic period.
It occurs in nearly all the Hiberno-Saxon illuminated MSS. and on a
large proportion of the sculptured monuments in Ireland, Scotland, and
Wales. Key-patterns and interlaced-work in combination, but without
any other decorative motive, may be seen on the Welsh crosses at
Carew and Nevern, Pembrokeshire; Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire; and
Llantwit Major and Margam, Glamorganshire. On the metalwork of the
period key-patterns seldom occur, except on the bronze bells, on a
strap-buckle from Islandbridge, near Dublin, and on the Crucifixion
plaque of repoussé bronze from Athlone, now in the Dublin Museum.
[Illustration: Detail of ornament on erect cross-slab at Rosemarkie,
Ross-shire]
SPIRAL ORNAMENT
[Illustration: Methods of connecting spirals]
The spiral is the only decorative motive used in Christian Celtic art
that can be proved to have been borrowed from the Pagan Celtic art
of the preceding period. Although spiral ornament appears to be so
complicated when it is completed, the geometrical process of setting
it out is simplicity itself. All that it is necessary to do is to fill
in the surface to be decorated with circles of any size, leaving about
the same distance between each; then connect the circle with =S=-
or =C=-shaped curves; and, lastly, fill in the circles with spirals
working from the tangent points, where the =S= or =C= curves touch
the circles, inwards to the centre. As the size of the circles is a
matter of no importance, a surface of irregular shape may be covered
with spiral ornament just as easily as one of symmetrical shape. In
the flamboyant ornament of the Pagan Celtic period we have the same
=S=- and =C=-shaped curves, but the circles were occupied either by a
disc of enamel (as on the bronze shield from the Thames), or by raised
conchoids (as on the gold necklet from Limavady, Co. Londonderry).
In the spiral ornament of the Christian Celtic period closely coiled
spirals like those of the bronze age were substituted for the discs of
enamel or raised conchoids. The background of the spirals, however,
retained several of the prominent features of the repoussé metalwork,
the effect of the light shining on the raised trumpet-shaped expansions
of the =S= and =C= curves being imitated in black and white or coloured
by almond-like dots. In the later and less refined spiral ornament of
the Christian period this background disappears altogether, and the
spirals are made all the same size and placed close together.
[Illustration: Tree key-pattern, Meigle, Perthshire]
As the spiral was the earliest decorative motive in Christian Celtic
art, so it was also the first to disappear, and its disappearance
marks the decadence of the style. We have in a previous chapter traced
the spiral motive from the Pagan metalwork through the enamelled
disc ornaments of the bronze bowls of the Transition period to the
illuminated MSS. of Christian times. Spiral ornament in its best form
is to be found in the following MSS.:—
The Lindisfarne Gospels A.D. 720.
The Book of Kells 8th century.
The Gospels of St. Chad ” ”
The Book of Durrow ” ”
The Book of Armagh A.D. 750-808.
The Gospels of Willibrod A.D. 739.
The Gospels of St. Gall 8th or 9th century.
The Gospels of MacRegol A.D. 820.
The Gospels of Stockholm A.D. 871.
The Vespasian A. i. Psalter 8th century.
[Illustration: Spiral ornament, with key-pattern border, from the Book
of Kells]
In metalwork spiral ornament is less common than in the MSS., there
being good examples on the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch, the
Hunterston Brooch, the Monymusk Reliquary, and the Athlone Crucifixion
Plaque.
Spiral ornament of the best kind is found on the sculptured stone
monuments only in Ireland and Scotland.[455] In Wales, Cornwall, and
the Isle of Man spiral ornament is extremely rare, and when it does
occur it is of debased character. Typical examples of spiral ornament
may be seen on the sculptured monuments in Ireland at Kells, Co. Meath;
Monasterboice, Co. Louth; Clonmacnois, King’s Co.; and Kilklispeen,
Co. Kilkenny; and in Scotland at Nigg, Shandwick, Hilton of Cadboll
(now at Invergordon Castle), all in Ross-shire; the Maiden Stone,
Aberdeenshire; St. Vigeans, Forfarshire; Meigle and Dunfallandy,
Perthshire; and Ardchattan, Argyllshire.
[455] Chiefly in the Pictish districts of the north-east of Scotland.
[Illustration: Method of connecting spirals]
Judging from the evidence afforded by the dated specimens, the best
kind of spiral ornament seems to have disappeared entirely from
Christian Celtic art after the first quarter of the tenth century.
[Illustration: FOUR MEN PLACED STRASTIKA FASHION ON RECUMBENT MONUMENT
AT MEIGLE, PERTHSHIRE
SCALE ⅛ LINEAR]
[Illustration: SPIRAL ORNAMENT ON FRAGMENT OF SCULPTURED STONE FROM
TARBET, ROSS-SHIRE; NOW IN THE EDINBURGH MUSEUM]
ZOÖMORPHIC DESIGNS
Animal forms are used in Celtic art of the Christian period in three
different ways, namely, (1) pictorially, (2) symbolically, and (3)
decoratively. As cases of the first kind of treatment we have the
hunting scenes,[456] battle scenes,[457] men driving in chariots[458]
drawn by horses, groups of animals,[459] etc., on the erect cross-slabs
of Scotland and on the bases of some of the Irish and Welsh crosses.
Although these subjects may have some symbolism behind them, yet all
the living creatures represented are treated realistically, and not
conventionally. As cases of the second kind of treatment we have the
Symbols of the Four Evangelists, which, although consisting of the
figures of a man, a lion, a bull, and an eagle, are generally highly
conventionalised. Lastly, we have the decorative use of animal forms,
where the zoölogical species of the creatures represented becomes of
so little importance that it is altogether ignored. The creatures can
certainly be divided into beasts, birds, fishes, and reptiles; but the
artist has taken such liberties with the shapes of their bodies, limbs,
heads, tails, and other details, that he would be a bold man who would
say of any one of the beasts whether it was intended for a lion, a
tiger, a dog, a wolf, or a bear. The quadruped most in favour with the
Christian Celtic artist may, as has been already suggested, have been
degraded by successive copying from the Classical lion. Anyway, it has
a head something like that of a dog, with pointed ears, an attenuated
body, four legs terminating in paws with claws, and a long tail. The
head and the paws are never misrepresented for decorative purposes, but
the body, limbs, ears, and tail may be extended to any given length
or bent in any desired direction. The beasts and other creatures are
generally shown in profile, and only rarely in plan.
[456] As on the erect cross-slab at Hilton of Cadboll (now at
Invergordon Castle), Ross-shire.
[457] As on the erect cross-slab at Aberlemno, Forfarshire.
[458] As on the base of the cross in the churchyard of Kells, Co. Meath.
[459] As on the erect cross-slabs at Shandwick, Ross-shire; and St.
Vigeans, Forfarshire; and on the base of the cross at Castledermot, Co.
Kildare.
In the simplest kind of zoömorphic ornament a single beast is used to
fill a panel, the different attitudes being as follows:—
(1) With the head looking forwards.
(2) With the head bent backwards.
(3) With the head bent backwards, biting the middle of the body.
(4) With the head bent backwards, biting the end of the tail.
(5) With the tail curled up over the back.
(6) With the tail curled up under the belly.
If the beasts are in pairs, they may be placed in the following
positions:—
(1) Symmetrically facing towards each other, or face to face.
(2) Symmetrically facing away from each other.
(3) In a horizontal row one in front of the other.
(4) In a vertical row one below the other.
When there are three or four beasts, besides being arranged in rows,
they may be placed after the fashion of the triskele or the swastika
round a centre.
Interlaced zoömorphic ornament can be made with a single beast by
extending the length of its tail and ear, and forming them into knots
at intervals, crossing over the body and limbs where necessary.
Sometimes the tail alone is knotted. In this sort of ornament the shape
of the beast is seen distinctly and the knots occupy the background. A
more complicated design can be made from a single beast by twisting its
body and limbs into knots as well as the ears and tail.
The panels of zoömorphic ornament in Christian Celtic art are, however,
usually composed of two or more beasts placed symmetrically with
regard to each other and having their bodies and limbs crossed over
and interlaced. The ears and tails may also be extended and formed
into knots in combination with the bodies and limbs. The designs thus
produced will be seen to consist apparently of two sets of bands
crossing each other diagonally, the wide bands being the bodies of the
beasts and the narrow bands, the limbs, tails, and ears. The bands are
nearly straight, or if bent at all only gently curved.
When the beasts are not placed in opposite symmetrical positions, but
in horizontal rows one in front of the other, or in vertical rows
one below the other, the bodies are often bent round spirally in one
direction or twisted into =S=-shaped spirals in two directions. A
favourite device with the Celtic artist was to make the beasts bite
their own bodies, limbs, or tails, or the body, limbs, or tail of the
beast immediately in front of it.
The zoömorphic designs composed of birds were arranged on the same
principles as those composed of beasts.
Reptiles or serpentine creatures with bodies of nearly the same width
throughout were converted into interlaced zoömorphic ornament by
twisting, plaiting, looping, or knotting the bodies together. This
class of ornament is, in fact, the ordinary interlaced patterns derived
from the plait, with heads added at one end and tails at the other.
A very ingenious zoömorphic design is made by filling in a long narrow
panel with the body of a serpentine creature undulating from side to
side. The head of the creature is at the top of the panel, and the body
remains about the same width until it reaches the bottom of the panel,
where its width is greatly reduced and its direction reversed. On its
return journey it makes a series of Stafford knots, which fill in the
spaces between the undulations of the body and the sides of the panel,
and the end of the tail is finally received into the mouth of the
reptile.[460]
There are two kinds of zoömorphic designs which are peculiar to the
MSS. of the period, namely, initial letters made in the form of a bird
or beast, and the incomplete frames round the initial pages of the
Gospels terminating in a beast’s head at one end and a fish-like tail
at the other. The only thing of a similar kind which occurs on the
sculptured monuments is the zoömorphic margin round some of the erect
cross-slabs of the east of Scotland.[461] The margin is formed by two
beasts, the heads of which appear at the top facing each other and the
tails at the bottom.
[460] Instances of this occur at Lanherne and Sancreed, Cornwall.
[461] At Cossins and Monifieth, Forfarshire; and Meigle, Dunfallandy;
and St. Madoes, Perthshire. The arched top of the frame round the
miniature of Christ seized by the Jews, in the Book of Kells, is
treated in exactly the same way as the pedimented tops of the erect
cross-slabs. In the second table of Eusebian Canons, in the Book of
Kells, the head and arms of Christ are placed between the two beasts’
heads.
Zoömorphs are found throughout the whole range of Christian Celtic art;
they form an important feature in the decoration of nearly all the
Hiberno-Saxon illuminated MSS.; they are particularly characteristic of
the Irish ecclesiastical metalwork; and they are of frequent occurrence
on the sculptured monuments of Ireland and Scotland. On the crosses
of Wales and Cornwall zoömorphs are comparatively rare. Some of the
best instances of zoömorphic designs in the MSS. are to be seen in
the cross-pages of the Book of Durrow, the Gospels of Lindisfarne,
the Book of Kells, the Gospels of St. Chad, and the St. Gall Gospels
(Codex No. 51); in metalwork on the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch,
the Hunterston Brooch, the Shrine of the Bell of St. Patrick’s Will,
the Cross of Cong, and the Shrine of St. Manchan; and on sculptured
monuments at Termonfechin, Co. Louth; Kells, Co. Meath; Tihilly,
King’s Co.; Dysert O’Dea, Co. Clare; Nigg, Ross-shire; Aberlemno
and Invergowrie, Forfarshire; St. Madoes, Perthshire; Penally,
Pembrokeshire; and Sancreed and Lanherne, Cornwall.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF ORNAMENT ON ERECT CROSS-SLAB AT NIGG,
ROSS-SHIRE]
Sometimes key-patterns and spirals are converted into zoömorphic
designs by the addition of animals’ heads, as at Penmon, Anglesey;
and Termonfechin, Co. Louth. The centres of spirals are also often
made zoömorphic, as in the Gospels of Lindisfarne, on the cross at
Kilklispeen, Co. Kilkenny, and on an erect cross-slab at St. Vigeans,
Forfarshire.
Probably the most wonderful _tour de force_ in the way of zoömorphic
sculpture is a pair of panels on the erect cross-slab at Nigg,
Ross-shire. Each panel is ornamented with a series of raised bosses
arranged symmetrically. The whole of the convex surfaces of the bosses
is covered with intricate knotwork, and the background is composed
of serpents, the tails of which coil spirally round the bases of the
bosses, and in each case enter the circumference at three points to
form the interlaced-work on the boss. After innumerable crossings under
and over, the tails again diverge at three other points round the base
of the boss, and finally terminate in small spirals in different parts
of the background.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC DESIGNS
Under the above heading are classed all designs in which the complete
figure of a man, or portions of a man are used for purposes of
decoration. Human heads occur in metalwork in the decoration of the
Tara Brooch[462] and in sculptured stonework on the cross of Muiredach,
at Monasterboice, Co. Louth, and on a cross-head from the crannog at
Drumgay Loch.
[462] A pin-brooch ornamented with a human head, from Woodford River,
Co. Cavan, is illustrated in Sir W. Wilde’s _Catal. of the Mus.
R.I.A._, p. 565.
The most remarkable instances of the decorative use of the complete
figures of men in the illuminated MSS. are to be found in the Book of
Kells. The figures are generally arranged in pairs facing each other,
in groups of three triskele fashion, and in nearly all cases the
attitudes are extremely uncomfortable with the knees drawn up close
against the stomach. The limbs of the different figures are crossed
over and interlaced, as in zoömorphic ornament, and the hands are shown
grasping either the limbs, hair, or beard of one of the other figures.
Sometimes the human figures are combined with figures of birds or
beasts.
We have already referred to the incomplete frames of the initial pages
of the Gospels with zoömorphic terminations. In the
___
“Nativitas XPI”
initial page in the Book of Kells the incomplete frame terminates in a
human head at one end and two legs at the other. Another initial page
in the same MS.—that of St. Mark’s Gospel—has a zoömorphic frame, but
the beast’s head is holding a man between its jaws, whilst the man is
tugging at the beast’s tongue with his hand.
Groups of four human figures arranged swastika fashion, interlaced
and each grasping the limbs, wrists, hair, or beard of one of the
other figures, occur on crosses in Ireland at Kilkispeen, Co. Kilkenny;
Monasterboice, Co. Louth; and Kells, Co. Meath; and in Scotland on a
recumbent monument at Meigle, Perthshire. A human figure interlaced
with a bird occurs in two instances on sculptured stones in Scotland,
namely, at Monifieth, Forfarshire (now in the Edinburgh Museum of
Antiquities); and at Meigle, Perthshire.
FOLIAGE
Leaf and plant motive decoration is entirely foreign to the spirit of
purely Celtic Christian art, and whenever it occurs it is generally
to be traced to Northumbrian influence. The Book of Kells and the
Stockholm Gospels are the only Hiberno-Saxon illuminated MSS. in which
any trace of foliage can be detected. There are panels of foliage on
the Irish crosses at Kells, Co. Meath; Monasterboice, Co. Louth; and
Clonmacnois, King’s Co. In Wales there is an instance of foliage on
the crosses at Penally, Pembrokeshire. In Scotland the only sculptured
monuments with foliage upon them (excluding, of course, those in the
Northumbrian districts of the south) are the erect cross-slabs at
Hilton of Cadboll and Tarbet, Ross-shire (both now at Invergordon
Castle); St. Vigeans, Forfarshire; and Crieff, Perthshire; on crosses
at Camuston, Forfarshire; Dupplin, Perthshire; and on a cross-shaft at
St. Andrews, Fifeshire.
The foliage may in all cases be traced back to the Classical vine, the
well-known symbol of Christ. It is often much degraded by successive
copying, and although the forms of the leaves are often altered beyond
recognition the bunches of grapes can always be made out.
SYMBOLICAL FIGURE-SUBJECTS
We have already mentioned most of the figure-subjects to be found in
the Hiberno-Saxon illuminated MSS., and on the Irish ecclesiastical
metalwork. It remains therefore only now to take the sculptured
monuments into consideration.
It was in Ireland alone that a recognised cycle of scriptural figure
subjects was adopted for the decoration of the crosses and that in
nearly all cases the ornament was relegated to a subordinate position.
In Scotland and Wales, on the contrary, Scripture scenes are seldom
represented on the sculptured monuments; in Cornwall the only figure
subject which occurs on the crosses is the Crucifixion; and in the
Isle of Man the figure-subjects are mostly taken from the Pagan Norse
mythology.
The following table shows the Scriptural subjects on the sculptured
monuments of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall, and the frequency
with which they occur:—
------------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
|Ireland.|Scotland.|Wales.|Cornwall.
------------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
_Old Testament_— | | | |
Adam and Eve | 15 | 2 | — | —
Noah in the Ark | 2 | 1 | — | —
Sacrifice of Isaac | 9 | 1 | — | —
Three Children in Furnace | 4 | — | — | —
Daniel in Den of Lions | 8 | 9 | — | —
David and Harp | 6 | 2 | — | —
David and Lion | 6 | 2 | — | —
David and Goliath | 3 | — | — | —
Jonah and Whale | — | 3 | — | —
Ascent of Elijah | — | 1 | — | —
------------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
_New Testament_— | | | |
Virgin and Child | — | 5 | — | —
Adoration of Magi | 2 | 1 | — | —
Flight into Egypt | 1 | — | — | —
Baptism of Christ | 2 | — | — | —
Miracle of Loaves and Fishes| 4 | 1 | — | —
Raising of Lazarus | — | 1 | — | —
Crucifixion | 16 | 5 | 3 | 40
Christ in Glory | 5 | 1 | — | —
Last Judgment | 1 | — | — | —
Annunciation | — | — | 1 | —
Christ seized by the Jews | 2 | — | 1 | —
Twelve Apostles | 1 | — | — | —
Agnus Dei | 2 | — | — | —
Dextera Dei | 2 | — | — | —
------------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
In addition to the above there are the following, which are sacred or
ecclesiastical, but not, strictly speaking, Scriptural:—
-----------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
|Ireland.|Scotland.|Wales.|Cornwall.
-----------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
Symbols of Four Evangelists | — | 4 | — | —
Cherubim | — | — | 1 | —
Angels | — | 22 | — | —
Saints | — | — | — | —
Oranti | — | 1 | 3 | —
-----------------------------+--------+---------+------+---------
It appears, then, that the Scriptural subjects of most frequent
occurrence in Ireland are the Crucifixion, Adam and Eve, the Sacrifice
of Isaac, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, and the scenes from the Life of
David; and in Scotland, the Crucifixion, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, the
Virgin and Child, and the symbols of the four Evangelists.
The subjects common to both Ireland and Scotland are Adam and Eve, Noah
(?), Sacrifice of Isaac, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, David and the Harp,
David and the Lion, Adoration of the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Miracle
of Loaves and Fishes, Crucifixion, Christ in Glory, Agnus Dei, Angels.
The subjects which occur in Ireland, but not in Scotland, are the
Three Children in the Furnace, David and Goliath, Baptism of Christ,
Resurrection, Last Judgment, Dextera Dei, Twelve Apostles. And those
which occur in Scotland, but not in Ireland, are Ascent of Elijah,
Raising of Lazarus, Jonah and the Whale, Annunciation, Salutation,
Miracle of Healing the Blind, Christ and Mary Magdalene, Lazarus.
Of the subjects on the early sculptured stones of Ireland and Scotland
the following belong to the cycle of subjects found on the paintings in
the Catacombs and the Sculptured Sarcophagi (A.D. 50 to 450):—
Adam and Eve. Daniel in the Lions’ Den.
Noah. Jonah and the Whale.
Sacrifice of Isaac. Adoration of Magi.
Three Children in the Furnace. Adoration of Magi.
Ascent of Elijah. Miracle of Healing the Blind.
The following subjects belong to the Lombardo-Byzantine period (A.D.
700-1100):—
David. Christ in Glory.
Baptism of Christ. Last Judgment.
Crucifixion. Agnus Dei.
Resurrection. Dextera Dei.
Flight into Egypt. Twelve Apostles.
Virgin and Child (apart from Magi). Symbols of the Four Evangelists.
Christ and Mary Magdalene. Angels.
Thus the early Sculptured Stones and the Hiberno-Saxon MSS. of Great
Britain, and the Carlovingian Ivories afford a connecting link between
the older symbolism of the primitive Christianity of the Catacomb
period and the more strictly ecclesiastical art of mediæval times.
Quite apart from the fact that King David was a type of Christ, and
that his pictures formed the illustrations of the Psalter, it is not
surprising that he should have been an object of popular worship
amongst the warlike and musical Celts, to one side of whose character
his heroic deeds in rending the jaws of the lion and slaying the giant
Goliath, would appeal as strongly as his talent as a harper would to
the other.
A small MS. Irish Psalter in the British Museum (Vit. F. i.)[463]
contains two very curious miniatures, one of David Playing the Harp and
the other of David and Goliath.[464] The former is interesting, because
I think it helps to explain the meaning of a figure sitting on the back
of a beast and playing a harp,[465] sculptured on one of the panels of
the cross at Clonmacnoise. As I hold, this is intended for David; and
my reason for supposing this is, because the throne on which David is
seated in the miniature in the Psalter is conventionally treated as a
beast.
[463] Westwood’s _Miniatures_, pl. 5.
[464] In the miniature of David and Goliath in the Psalter David
holds a sling in one hand and a beast-headed club in the other. The
resemblance between this club and the beast’s-head symbol, which occurs
on the Norrie’s Law silver ornaments and on several of the early
incised slabs in Scotland, may be only accidental, but it is worth
noting as a possible clue to the scriptural interpretation of the
symbol.
[465] O’Neil, pl. 24A.
I am not quite sure whether the boat with men in it, on the stone at
Cossins, is intended for Noah’s Ark or not, but a boat of just the same
kind is represented on a carved wooden pillar at Olaf’s Church,[466]
Nesland, where it is associated with other Scriptural subjects, amongst
others the creation of Eve, Samson and Delilah, and David and Goliath.
In this case there can be little doubt but that the boat is intended
for Noah’s Ark, so that probably the boat at Cossins has the same
meaning.
The angels are cherubim, with four wings, and spirals where the wings
join on to the body, representations of which are to be seen on the
stones at Eassie, Glamis, and elsewhere in Scotland. They do not occur
on any of the sculptured crosses in Ireland; but there are instances
of angels or the symbols of the four evangelists treated in the same
fashion in the St. Gall Gospels, Codex No. 51,[467] and on the Book
Shrine of St. Molaise’s Gospels,[468] in the Museum of the Royal Irish
Academy in Dublin, and also on a bronze plaque[469] of the Crucifixion,
in the same collection. I have recently discovered a very curious
instance of an angel of this kind, with three wings on a cross-slab,
with interlaced-work, in St. David’s Cathedral, given in Westwood’s
_Lapidarium Walliæ_ (pl. 63, fig. 4), but the wings and spirals only
shown, and the head of the angel omitted.
[466] L. H. S. Dietrichsen, _De Norske Stavkirker_, p. 362.
[467] C. Purton Cooper’s “Appendix A to Report on Rymer’s Fœdera,” pl.
5.
[468] _Archæologia_, vol. xliii., p. 131.
[469] Westwood’s _Miniatures_, pl. 51.
The pair of ecclesiastics, sometimes standing, sometimes enthroned,
sometimes kneeling, with a bird holding a circular disc in its mouth
between them, is a subject common to the early sculptured stones of
both Scotland[470] and Ireland,[471] but the exact meaning of it
has yet to be ascertained if we are not to take the instance on the
Ruthwell cross as an authoritative explanation of the whole.
[470] As at Nigg and St. Vigeans. Dr. J. Anderson regards the Nigg
example as being intended for St. Paul and St. Anthony.
[471] As at Kells, Moone Abbey, Clonca.
As I have already pointed out in my Rhind Lectures on _Christian
Symbolism_, there is a nearer affinity between the subjects chosen to
decorate the bases of the Irish crosses and the representations of
hunting scenes, horsemen, chariots, etc., on the upright cross-slabs of
the north-east of Scotland, than the more strictly Scriptural scenes on
the shafts of the Irish crosses. The best examples illustrating this
are to be seen on the bases of the crosses at Kells (Figs. 5 and 6),
Monasterboice, Clonmacnois, Castle Dermot (Fig. 7), and Kilklispeen.
The chariot on the Meigle slab, now lost, may be compared with the
chariots to be seen on the shaft of the cross at Killamery, and on
the bases of the crosses at Monasterboice, Kilklispeen, and in Kells
churchyard; on the base of the cross in the street at Kells we have the
eagle and fish, as on the “Drosten” stone at St. Vigeans,[472] and as
in the Book of Armagh; and on the base of this same cross, and on the
cross of Muredach at Monasterboice, centaurs occur, in some respects
like those on the slabs at Aberlemno, Meigle, and Glamis.
[472] Another remarkable instance of the eagle and fish has recently
been found on a stone with an Ogam inscription, at Latheron, near
Keiss, Caithness.
On the base of the Kilklispeen cross is portrayed a procession of
ecclesiastics taking part in a most remarkable ceremony. On the south
side of the base is to be seem a priest carrying a processional cross,
and followed by a man leading a horse, on the back of which is laid
the headless trunk of a man, with two birds of prey, or carrion crows,
perched on the top.
On the north side of the base are two ecclesiastics on horseback,
followed by two more in a chariot drawn by a pair of horses.
On the east side are several beasts, birds, and a man.
On the west side is a central figure, perhaps a bishop, with three
ecclesiastics holding croziers on each side of him.
These scenes can hardly be Scriptural; and if they are not taken from
the life of some saint, it is difficult to see what explanation remains
to be suggested, except that an event of local importance is here
commemorated. The bases of the pillar-cross at Llandough and of the
great wheel-cross at Margam, both in Glamorganshire, are the only ones
with figures of horsemen upon them in Wales.
The symbolism of the shafts of the Irish crosses is so strictly
biblical that secular subjects may have been placed on the bases by
way of contrast, to indicate the actual world or earth on which the
cross stood representing the spiritual world. The eagle and fish may
personify the ocean, and the centaur the desert, for which we have the
authority of the bestiaries and the legendary life of St. Anthony.
The points of similarity between the ornamental patterns on the stones
of Ireland and Scotland raise questions of too much intricacy to be
dealt with here; but it may be remarked that figure-sculpture forms
the chief feature of the Irish crosses—geometrical, zoömorphic, and
foliageous designs being only as a rule applied to the decoration
of the smaller panels on the sides of the shafts and to the rings
connecting the arms. The upright cross-slabs of Scotland, more
particularly those in Ross-shire, approach much more nearly in
style—and therefore probably in age—to the illuminated pages of the
Hiberno-Saxon MSS. of the best period, than do any of the Irish crosses.
In conclusion, I consider the so-called Celtic style to be a
local variety of the Lombardo-Byzantine style, from which the
figure-subjects, the interlaced-work, the scrolls of foliage, and many
of the strange real and fabulous creatures were apparently borrowed.
The Lombardo-Byzantine style was introduced into this country after
the Saxons had become Christians; and being grafted upon the Pagan
art of the Late-Celtic period, was developed in different ways in
different parts of Great Britain. However, it in no way detracts from
the artistic capacity of the Celt that he should have adapted certain
decorative motives belonging to a foreign style instead of evolving
them out of his own inner consciousness. Although his materials may
not all have been of native origin, they were so skilfully made use of
in combination with native designs, and developed with such exquisite
taste, that the result was to produce an entirely original style, the
like of which the world had never seen before.
INDEX
Abercorn, cross-shaft, 269
Abergele, horse-trappings, 95
Aberlemno, erect cross-slab, 184
Abernethy, 82
Abingdon, pottery, 124
Aboyne, armlet, 113
— erect cross-slab, 184
Achnabreac, spirals at, 50
Ægean, spiral ornament in the, 54
Æsica, 82
— fibula, 152
Alfriston, horse-trappings, 94
— enamelled harness-ring, 134
Algeria, penannular brooch, 225
Allington, pottery, 124
Alstonfield, Iron Age burial at, 68
Amber settings, 237
Amerden, sword-sheath, 91
Ammendola, sarcophagus of, 6
Andrews, St., sarcophagus, 193
Angels, 300
Animals, figures of, 146
Antennæ, swords with, 86
Anthony, St., 302
Anthropomorphic designs, Late-Celtic, 144
Anthropomorphs in Celtic Christian art, 294
Apollinare in Classe, Sant’, Ravenna, 244
Archdall, Castle, spirals at, 51
Ardagh, chalice, 216, 235
Ardakillen Crannog, 81
— — fibula, 170
Ardchattan, erect cross-slab, 184
Ardoch, 82
— horse-trappings, 95
Aristotle, 2
Armagh, bell, 199
— Book of, 175
— shrine of Book of, 208
Armlets, enamelled, 134
— Late-Celtic, 113
— of glass, Late-Celtic, 141
Arria and Paetus, 5
Arras, armlet, 114
— horse-trappings, 94
— Iron Age burials at, 63
— mirror, 115
Aryans, 1
Aspatria, sculptured cist, 55
Assynt, jet necklace from, 42
Aston Clinton, pottery, 124
Athenry, dagger-sheath, 92
Athlone, Crucifixion, 218
Auchendolly, horse-trappings, 95
Auchenbadie, armlet, 113
Avebury, fibula, 106
Axe-head of bronze with spirals, 52
— sculptures, 55
Aycliffe, cross-shaft, 269
Aylesford, bucket, 116, 145
— fibula, 106
— Iron Age cemetery at, 70
— pottery, 122
— tankard, 116
Ayton Moor, cup-marks at, 57
Backworth, pair of fibulæ, 103
— saucepan, 117
Badony, Lower, bell, 198
Baglan, cross-slab, 182
Bakerhill, sculptured cist, 55
Balcalk, jet necklace from, 42
Ballinderry Crannog, 81
— — comb, 128
Balmaclellan, Late-Celtic finds at, 77
— mirror, 115
Balls, stone, of Bronze Age, 50
Ballycostello, horse-trappings, 95
Ballynaminton, horse-trappings, 95
Bandaging patterns, 38
Bangor, bell, 201
Bapchild, horse-trappings, 94
Bargany house, sword-sheath, 91
Barlaston, bowl, 58, 166
Barlaston, Iron Age burial at, 68
Barrington, enamelled bowl, 135
Barrochan, cross, 192
Bartlow Hills, enamelled vessel, 138
Basketry, Late-Celtic, 143
Battersea, shield, 92
— sword-sheath, 91
Beaded torques, 159
Beads, Late-Celtic, 125, 141
Belhelvie, armlet, 113
Bells, Celtic, 194
Bell-shrines, 204
Benty Grange, enamelled bowl, 134
— Iron Age burial at, 67
Berkshire, triskele pendant, 121
Bernaldby Moor, sculptured cist, 55
Berru, helmet from, 12
Beverley, Iron Age burials at, 65
Bibracte, enamels from, 138
Bigbury Camp, 82
Birdlip, bowl, 116
— fibula, 106
— Iron Age burials at, 69
— mirror, 115
Birnie, bell, 198
Birrenswark, 82
Birrenswark, horse-trappings, 95
Biskra, penannular brooch, 225
Black Hedon, cup-marks at, 57
Blackshaw, spirals at, 50
Blathmac, crozier, 208
Boars’ tusks from Arras, 64
Bones, engraved, 150
Bonework, Late-Celtic, 127
Bonville, fibula, 106
Book-shrines, 208
Bowl, Barlaston, 166
— Chesterton, 167
— enamelled, Möklebust, 160
Bowls, Late-Celtic, 116
— with enamelled handles, 134
Boxmoor, sword-sheath, 91
Braddan, Kirk, wheel-cross, 188
Braintree, pottery, 124
Braughing, enamelled vessel, 137
Brazing, 132
Breac Moedoc, 211
Breaks in plait, 259
Bride, Kirk, cross, 186
Bridle-bit, enamelled, Rise, 133
— — Birrenswark, 133
Brighton, pottery, 125
Brodie, erect cross-slab, 184
Broighter, Limavady, find of gold ornaments, 109
Brooch, penannular, 223
Bronze Age burials, 23
— — Celtic art in, 22
— — Celts, 15
— — chronology of, 19
— — patterns which survived into the Iron Age, 60
Brough, 82
Brough, fibula, 107, 154
Brythons, 17
Buckets, 145
— Late-Celtic, 116
Burghead, 82
Burials of Iron Age, 65
Bunrannoch, armlet, 113
Byzantine art, 239, 244
Caburn, Mount, Late-Celtic oppidum at, 74
Caistor, enamelled bowl, 135
Calderstones, spirals at, 50
Camborne, cross-slab, 182
Came Down, cup-marks at, 57
Camerot Muir, spirals at, 50
Canterbury, châtelaine, 115
— horse-trappings, 94
Capel Garmon, fire-dogs, 118, 141
Cappagh, bell, 199
Carew, cross, 193
Carham, sword-sheath, 91
Carlingwark Loch, tankard, 116
Carlswark Cavern, armlet, 114
Carlton, inlaid object, 139
Carnbân, sculptured cist, 55
Carn Brê, 16
Carnwath, sculptured cist, 55
Cashel, bell, 201
Castell Nadolig, 82
Casting metal, Iron Age, 130
Castle Dermot, 192
Castle Newe, armlet, 113
— — weem at, 82
— — enamelled armlets, 134
Castlethorpe, armlet, 114
Catterdale, sword-sheath, 91
Cauldrons of bronze, 86
Caves inhabited by Brit-Welsh, 75, 81
Celtæ, 4
Celtic Tribes in Britain, 17
Celt in classical sculpture, 5
Celts of bronze, 41
Centaur, 302
Certosa situlæ, 145
Chad, St., Book of, 175
Chains, 237
— of gold and silver, Late-Celtic, 139
Chalices, Celtic, 215
Chalk drums from Folkton, 56
Champlevé enamel, 136
Characteristics of Celtic Christian style, 254
— Late-Celtic style, 143
Chariots, 301
— wheels, 98
— wheels from Arras, 64
Châtelaines, Late-Celtic, 115
Chedworth, Chi-Rho Monogram, 162
Chequerwork, Late-Celtic, 160
Cherubim, 300
Chesterford, Great, Kimmeridge shale vessel, 128
Chesters, Great, fibula, 107
Chesterton, bowl, 167
— enamelled bowl, 135
Chevron patterns, 28
— — Late-Celtic, 160
Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Chorley, chains, 140
— pair of fibulæ, 102
Christianity in Britain, 162
Chronology of Bronze Age, 19
Circles, concentric, in Bronze Age, 55
Circular knotwork, 273
Cirencester, fibula, 107
Cists of Bronze Age with sculpture, 55
Cividale, Baptistery of Calistus, 258
Claughton Moor, cup-marks at, 57
Clemente, San, Rome, 244, 258
Clogher, fibula, 105
— bell, 199
Cloisonné enamel, 136
Clonmacnois, 190
— cross-slabs, 180
— crozier, 207
— gold collar, 111
— pin, chains, 140
— pin, 219
Clooncunra, horse-trappings, 95
Clova, horse-trappings, 95
Clyde Crannog, comb, 128
Coins, ancient British, 77
— with Late-Celtic finds, 88
Cookham, dagger-sheath, 92
Colchester, Kimmeridge shale vessel, 128
Commios, coins of, 78
Corfe Castle, Kimmeridge shale vessel, 128
Cowlam, fibula, 106
Cochno, wheel-symbol at, 59
Coffey, George, theory on spiral ornament, 53
Coffins, stone, 193
Coilsfield, spirals at, 50
— sculptured cist, 55
Coinage, Celtic, 14
Collar, Late-Celtic, 153
Collars, Late-Celtic, 109
Colours used by celtic scribes, 233
Columba’s Psalter, shrine of, 209
Compass-work in Late-Celtic art, 150
Cong, cross, 213
Coped stones, 182
Copenhagen, reliquary, 211
Coral settings, 237
Cossins, erect cross-slab, 184
Courcelles-et-Montagne, 13
Cowlam, armlet, 114
— Iron Age burials at, 65
Craigie Wood, sculptured cist, 55
Craigywarren, pin, 10
Crannogs, 81
Craven Arms, châtelaine, 115
Crawfordjohn, silver chains, 170
Cremation in Bronze Age, 23
Crichie, horse-trappings, 95
Cricklade, fibula, 106
Crosby Ravensworth, spoons, 120
Cross, Celtic, evolution of, 186
— processional, 213
Cross-slabs, 181
Crossthwaite, enamelled bowl, 134
Croy, penannular brooch, 228
Croziers, Celtic, 206
Cruciform breaks in plait, 262
— patterns, 236
Crucifixion plaques, 218
Crystal settings, 237
Cuerdale, penannular brooch, 227
Culan, St., bell-shrine, 204
Culbin sands, armlet, 113
Cumdachs, 208
Cup-and-ring sculpture at Ilkley, 59
— — Wooler, 59
— — Kirkcudbright, 59
— — Lochgilphead, 59
— — Kilmartin, 59
Cup-marked stones, 57
Danes’ Graves, horse-trappings, 94
— — Iron age burials, 65
— — pin, 107
Dartmoor, 16
Datchet, fibula, 106, 139
Dates of Late-Celtic finds, 85
Decorative motives in Bronze Age, 23
Delphi sacked by the Gauls, 4
Denmark, spiral ornament in, 51
Deepdale cave, 76, 81
— looped wire armlets, 139
Diagonal lines, use of, 60
— setting-out lines, 255
Dimma’s Book, shrine of, 209
Discs of repoussé bronze, late-Celtic, 121
Dogmael’s, St., 18
Dogs, fire-, 141
— — Late-Celtic, 118
Dorchester, sword-sheath, 91
Dornoch Links, cup-marks at, 57
Dots, rows of, in decoration, 39
— use of, 60
Dowalton Crannog, 81
— horse-trappings, 95
Dowkerbottom Cave, fibula, 107
Dowth, spirals at, 50
Drinking-cup urns, 25
Drumcliff, cross, 192
Drumragh, bell, 199
Dunfallandy, erect cross-slab, 184, 277
Dunkeld, Little, bell, 198
Dupplin, cross, 192
Durrow, cross, 192
— Book of, 169, 174
— shrine of Book of, 208
Dyce, erect cross-slab, 184
Dysert, crozier, 208
Eagle and fish, 301
Ecclesiastics, 301
Eday, spirals at, 50
Egypt, spiral ornament in, 54
Eilean Finan, bell, 198
Eliseg’s Pillar, Valle Crucis, 193
Elkstone, cup-marks at, 57
Elveden, pottery, 124
— tankard, 116
Embleton, sword-sheath, 91
Embsay, collar, 111
Emlagh, horse-trappings, 95
Enamelling, Iron Age, 133
— process of, 135
Enamels of Christian Celtic period, 235
Engraved patterns, Iron Age, 132
Eppillos, coins of, 78
Essex, pottery, 122
Evolution of Celtic cross, 186
Farley heath, 82
— fibula, 107
Farnell, cross-slab, 184
Farr, erect cross-slab, 184
Fens, the, horse-trappings, 94
Fibula, evolution of, 99
— from Æsica, 152
Fibulæ, enamelled, 134
— disc-shaped, 154
— worn in pairs with chain, 104
Figure drawing in Celtic Christian art, 256
Figure-subjects in Celtic Christian art, 296
Filigree-work, 237
Finds, Late-Celtic, dates of, 85
— — geographical distribution of, 79
— — with coins, 88
— of Iron Age, nature of, 61
Fire-dogs, 141
— Late-Celtic, 118
Firth, spirals at, 50
Flamboyant ornament, Late-Celtic, 150
Flasby, sword-sheath, 91
Flutes, Late-Celtic, 118
Foliage in Celtic Christian art, 247, 294
— in Late-Celtic art, 148
Folkton, chalk drums from, 56
Food-vessel urns, 25
Ford West Field, sculptured cist, 55
Forres, erect cross-slab, 184
Forteviot, bell, 198
Frampton, Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Galati, 4
Gall, St., Gospels of, 177
Galli, 4
Garton, bell, 198
Gaulcross, pin, 108
Gauls, Cisalpine, 13
Geographical distribution of Late-Celtic finds, 79
Ghegan Rock, comb, 128
Giacomo, San, Venice, 245
Gilton, mirror, 115
Giorgio, San, di Valpolicella, 244, 258
Gladiator, the Dying, 5
Glamis, erect cross-slab, 184
Glass, Late-Celtic, 125, 141
— settings, 237
Glastonbury Lake-Dwellings, 72, 81
— Lake Village, pottery, 142
— — — woodwork, 147, 161
— Marsh Village, pottery, 125
— — — woodwork, 126
— — — bowl, 117
Glencolumbkille, spirals at, 51
Glencotho, sword-sheath, 91
Glenfahan, Ogam stone, 165
Gobnet, St., stone of, 165
Goidelic Celts, 15
Goidels, 17
Golden Grove, cross, 261
— — cross-shaft, 282
Golspie, erect cross-slab, 184
Gorge-Meillet, helmet from, 12
Gospels, 173
Goulien, bell, 199
Gourdon, chalice, 215
Govan, sarcophagus, 193
Grækwyl, 13
Grange of Conan, weem at, 82
— — armlet, 113
Greenloan, cup-marks at, 57
Greenwich, enamelled bowl, 135
Grimspound, 16
Grimthorpe, Iron Age burial at, 65
— sword-sheath, 91
Guthrie Castle, bell-shrine, 204
Hagbourne Hill, horse-trappings, 95
— — Late-Celtic finds at, 76
Hällristningar, 60
Hallstatt, cemetery of, 7
— situlæ, 145
— type, objects of, found in Great Britain, 86
Hambledown Hill, 82
Ham hill, 82
Hamdon Hill, horse-trappings, 95
— — Late-Celtic finds at, 76
Hammer-headed pins, 108
Hammersmith, fibula, 106
Hand-grasping figures, 294
Harness-mountings, 98
— enamelled, 134
Harness-rings, enamelled, 134
— Late-Celtic, 96
Harray, broch of, 82
Haughton-le-Skerne, sword-sheath, 91
Hay Hill, fire-dogs, 118
Head ornaments for horses, 98
Hecatæus, 2
Helen’s, St., Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Helmet from Berru, 12
— from Gorge-Meillet, 12
Helmets, Late-Celtic, 93
Henshole, horse-trappings, 95
Herodotus, 2
Hexagon patterns, 36
High Crosses, 188
Highfield Pits, pottery, 125
Hilton of Cadboll, erect cross-slab, 184
Hinksey, N., dagger-sheath, 92
Hitchin, pottery, 124
Hod Hill, 82
— — fibula, 106
— — sword-sheath, 91
Hollows Tower, spirals at, 50
Hook-and-disc ornaments, Late-Celtic, 121
Horns with terminal knobs, 148
Horse’s head ornaments, 98
Horse-trappings from Arras, 64
— Late-Celtic, 94
Hounslow, figures of animals, 146
Hunsbury, fibula, 106
— Late-Celtic oppidum at, 73
— pottery, 125
— sword-sheath, 132
— sword-sheath, 91, 97
— triskele pendant, 121
Hunterston, brooch, 231
Hyndford Crannog, 81
— — collar, 112
Iberians, 15
Icklingham, sword-sheath, 91
Ilkley, cup-and-ring sculpture, 59
— rock-sculptures at, 57
Incense-cup urns, 25
Inchbrayock, erect cross-slab, 184
Ingoe, cup-marks at, 57
Inhumation in Bronze Age, 23
Inishkeel, bell, 203
Ink used by Celtic scribes, 232
Insh, bell, 198
Interlaced-work, 246
— evolution of, 257
Invergowrie, erect cross-slab, 184
Iona, cross, 192
Ireland, spoons, 121
Italo-Greek objects found at Aylesford, 71
Iron Age finds, 61
Jet necklaces, 42
Jezerine, chains, 140
Just, St., Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Kells, Book of, 174
Kells, cross, 192, 224, 233
— crozier, 207
— shrine of Book of, 208
Kelko cave, 76, 81
Kent’s Cavern, 76, 81
— — pottery, 125
Keshkerrigan, bowl, 117
Keston, 16
Kettleburn, broch of, 82
Key-patterns, 278
Kilbroney, bell, 198
Kilburn, cup-marks at, 57
Kildalton, cross, 192
Kildare, Co., penannular brooch, 228
Kilfenora, cross, 192
Kilkeeran, horse-trappings, 95
Kilklispeen, cross, 192
Killarney, crozier, 207
— gold lunula from, 40
Killeen Cormac, Ogam stone, 165
Killing Hill, spirals at, 51
Kilmainham, bell, 198
Kilmartin, cup-and-ring sculpture, 59
— sculptured cist, 55
Kilmichael Glassary, bell-shrine, 204
Kilnsea, fibula, 107
Kimmeridge shale objects, Late-Celtic, 128
Kingsholm, pottery, 125
Kingsholm, triskele pendant, 121
King’s Mountain, spirals at, 50
Kingston Down, enamelled bowl, 135
Kirkby Thore, fibula, 107
Kirkcudbright, cup-and-ring sculpture, 59
Kirkhead Cave, 75, 81
Kirkly Thore, 82
Kirkmadrine, Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Kirk Whelpington, cup-marks at, 57
Kirriemuir, horse-trappings, 95
Kit’s Coty House, pottery, 124
Knobs on horns of beasts, 148
Knockmany, spirals at, 51
Knot, spiral, 270
Knots used in Celtic art, 265
Knotwork, circular, 273
— triangular, 276
Lactin’s, St., arm, shrine of, 210
Lagore crannog, 81
— — beads, 125
— — comb, 128
— pin, 108
Lake-dwellings, 81
Lake-dwellings at Glastonbury, 72
Lanivet, coped stone, 182
Lashing patterns, 38
Late-Celtic finds, dates of, 85
— — geographical distribution of, 79
— — with coins, 88
— style, 143
La Tène, oppidum of, 9
Latheron, eagle and fish, 301
Lattice-work patterns, 34
Leatherwork, 237
Leicester, horse-trappings, 94
Lilburn Hill, spirals at, 50
Limavady, gold chains, 139
Limavady, gold collar, 109, 153
Lincoln, sword-sheath, 91
Lindisfarne Book, 177
Linlithgowshire, enamelled patera, 137
Lismore, crozier, 207
Lisnacroghera Crannog, 81
— — sword-sheath, 148
— sword-sheath, 91
Llanbadarn Fawr, cross, 193
Llanbedr, spirals at, 50
Llanfair, spoons, 121
Llandough, cross, 193
Llandyssyl, collar, 111
Llangenydd, cross-shaft, 270
Llangystenyn, bell, 198
Llangwynodl, bell, 200
Llanrhyddlad, bell, 198
Llantwit Major, cross, 186, 261
Lochar Moss, bowl, 116
— — collar, 111
Lochgilphead, cup-and-ring sculpture, 59
Lochlee Crannog, 81
— — woodwork, 127
— horse-trappings, 95
Lonan, Kirk, wheel-cross, 188
London, enamelled harness-ring, 134
— fibula, 106
— horse-trappings, 94
— spoons, 120
— sword-sheath, 91
Looped wirework, 139
Lorrha, bell, 201
Loughcrew, spirals at, 50
Lough Erne, reliquary, 210
Lough Lene Castle, bell, 201
Loughnashade, trumpet, 118
Lough Ravel Crannog, beads, 125
Lozenge patterns, 32
— — Late-Celtic, 160
Lullingstone, enamelled bowl, 135
Lunulæ, gold, 41
Lumphanan, stone ball from, 50
MacDurnan, Gospels, 175
MacRegol, Gospels of, 175
Madoes, St., erect cross-slab, 183
Maen Achyfan, cross, 193
Maes Mynach, cross-shaft, 270
Magny Lambert, 12
Maiden Castle, 82
Maiden Stone, erect cross-slab, 184
Maltbeck, enamelled vessel, 138
Malton, fibula, 107
Malton, New, 82
Marlborough, bucket, 116
Mancha, La, spirals at, 50
Manchan, St., shrine of, 212
Manuscripts, illuminated, 173
Margam, cross, 186
Marlborough bucket, 144
Marne, La, cemeteries of, 11
Materials for study of Celtic art in Bronze Age, 22
Materials for study of Celtic art in Iron Age, 90
Materials for study of Celtic Christian art, 172
Materials used by Celtic sculptors, 233
Maughanby, cup-marks at, 57
— spirals at, 50
Maughold, Kirk, cross, 186
Meigle, coped stone, 182
— erect cross-slab, 184
Melfort, jet necklace from, 42
Metallurgy, Iron Age, 130
Metals used by Christian Celts, 234
Metalwork, Christian Celtic, 194
Methods employed by Celtic sculptors, 233
Methods employed by Celtic metalworkers, 234
Mevagh, wheel and symbol at, 59
Middleby, horse-trappings, 95
Middleton Common, Iron Age burial at, 67
Middleton Moor, enamelled bowl, 134
— — jet necklace from, 42
Migvie, erect cross-slab, 184
Mirrors, Late-Celtic, 115
Mirror, Trelan Bahow, 131
Mogue, St., bell-shrine, 204
Möklebust, enamelled bowl, 160
Molaise’s Gospels, shrine of, 209
Monasterboice, cross, 190, 224
Monifieth, erect cross-slab, 184
Monogram, Chi-Rho, 163
Moone Abbey, cross, 192
Mont Beuvray, enamels from, 138
— — pottery, 141
Monuments, sculptured, of Christian period, 180
Monymusk, reliquary, 210
Moresby, pin, 108
Moreton Hall, sword-sheath, 91
Morwick, spirals at, 50
Motives, decorative, in Bronze Age, 23
Motives used in Christian Celtic art, 242
Mount Batten, Iron Age cemetery at, 70
Mount Bures, fire-dogs, 118
Mount Caburn, pottery, 125
Mountings for harness, 98
Mowroad, collar, 111
Mura, St., bell-shrine, 204
Mycenæan art, 57
Nancy, chalice, 215
Navan Rath, fibula, 106
Necklaces of jet, 42
Needham Market, enamelled bowl, 135
Neolithic dwellings, 16
Neuadd Siarman, cross, 190
Nevern, cross, 191
Newcastle, chains, 140
Newgrange tumulus, 43
Newry, armlet, 113
Niello, 235
Nigg, erect cross-slab, 182
Norrie’s law, leaf-shaped plates, 170
— — pin, 108
Northfield, Late-Celtic village, 82
Norton, enamelled fibula, 134
— enamelled harness-rings, 134
— horse-trappings, 94
Ogam-inscribed stones, 165
Okstrow, broch of, 82
— tankard, 116
Old Parks, tumulus, 56
Orange, Triumphal Arch of, 5
Orchomenos, spiral ornament at, 54
Origin of early Christian art, 238
Ornovasso, chains, 140
Orton Scar, penannular brooch, 227
Over-Haddon, enamelled bowl, 134
Oxford, enamelled bowl, 135
Pails, Late-Celtic, 116
P and Q Celts, 18
Panels, ornament arranged in, 255
Papil, erect cross-slab, 184
Parisi, 12
Patera, enamelled, 137
Patrick’s Will, St., bell-shrine, 204
Patrick’s, St., Gospels, shrine of, 209
Penally, cross, 193
Penannular brooch, 223
Pen-Arthur, cross-slab, 181
Penbryn, spoons, 121
Penmachno, Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Penmon, cross, 185
Pens used by Celtic scribes, 232
Pentre Poeth, Ogam stone, 165
Perdeswell, collar, 111
Perfection of details of Celtic ornament, 256
Perforated metal plates, 236
Pergamos, 5
Perth, penannular brooch, 231
Philostratus, 133
Pins, Celtic, 219
— hammer-headed, 108
— Late-Celtic, 107
Pitalpin, armlet, 113
Pitkelloney, armlet, 113
— enamelled armlets, 134
Plait, cruciform breaks in, 262
— horizontal and vertical breaks in, 259
Plaques with Crucifixion, 218
Plato, 2
Plaitwork, 259
Plunton castle, armlet, 113
Polden Hill, enamelled harness-ring, 134
— — fibula, 106
— — horse-trappings, 95
Pol de Léon, St., bell, 201
Polybius, 3
Poole’s cave, 76, 81
Port-Blanc, dolmen, 39
Portland, Isle of, collar, 111
Pottery, Late Celtic, 121, 142
— painted, Mont Beuvray, 141
— sepulchral, in bronze age, 24
Prassede, San, Rome, 258
Presles, enamels from, 138
Prickwillow, saucepan, 117
Processes, technical, in Celtic Christian art, 232
— — iron age, 129
Psalter of St. John’s College, Cambridge, 178
— Vesp. A. i., 178
— Vit. F. xi., 178
Psalters, 176
Pyrmont, enamelled vessel, 138
Pytheas, 3
Rathconrath, wooden bowl, 127
Ravenna, screen, 245
Reask, inscribed stone, 166
Rectilinear patterns in Late-Celtic art, 159
Redlands, sculptured cist, 55
Relic shrines, 210
Repoussé metalwork, Iron Age, 132
Rhayader, gold armlet, 170
Ribchester, 82
— fibula, 107
Ricemarchus, Psalter of, 176
Ringham Low, fibula, 106
Rings for harness, 96
Rise, horse-trappings, 94
Risingham, 82
— enamelled fibula, 134
— fibula, 107
Riveting, Iron Age, 132
Rock-sculpture in Scandinavia, 60
Rodenbach, 13
Rogart, penannular brooch, 228
Rome taken by the Gauls, 4
Rosemarkie, erect cross-slab, 184, 283
Rossie Priory, erect cross-slab, 184
Rotherley, 82
Round towers, 196
Sadberge, sword-sheath, 91
Safety-pin type of fibula, 100
Saham Toney, cruciform harness-mounting, 98
— — enamelled harness-mounting, 143
— — horse-trappings, 94
Saltire patterns, 35
Sandy, pottery, 124
Sarcophagi, 193
Saucepans, Kelto-Roman, 117
Scandinavia, rock-sculpture in, 60
— spiral ornament in, 51
Scandinavian features in Celtic art, 252
Scattery Island, bell, 198
Scribes, pens, ink, etc., used by, 232
Scripture subjects in Celtic art, 296
Sculptured monuments of Christian period, 180
Sculptured stone at Newgrange, 49
Sculptured stones, Late-Celtic, 128
Sculpture on Bronze Age cists, 55
Seafield Tower, armlet, 113
Seal-box, enamelled, 134
Seamill Fort, 82
— — triskele pendant, 121
Sepulchral remains of Iron Age, 63
Seskin, sculptured cist, 55
Sesto-Calende, 9
Settings of coral, amber, glass, and crystal, 237
Shading, kinds of, in Late-Celtic art, 156
Shandwick, erect cross-slab, 184
Sheen, cup-marks at, 57
Shields, Late-Celtic, 92
— South, horse-trappings, 94
Shoebury, pottery, 124
Shrines of bells, 204
— of books, 208
— of relics, 210
Silchester, 82
— enamelled stand, 134
— fibula, 107, 154
Silian, cross-shaft, 270
Silures, 18
Situlæ, Hallstatt, 145
— Late-Celtic, 116
— of bronze, 86
Skaill, penannular brooch, 227
Sliabh na Calliaghe, 43
— — — bonework, 127
— — — engraved bones, 150
Soldering, 132
Somme-Bionne, 13
Southill, Chi-Rho Monogram, 163
Southwark, dagger-sheath, 92
Spear-head of bronze age, 39
Spiral, closely coiled, 60
— knot, 270
— ornament at Newgrange, 48
— — at Orchomenos, 54
— — in Bronze Age, 50
— — in Egypt, 54
— — in Scandinavia, 51
Spirals in Celtic Christian art, 284
— Late-Celtic, 154
— from Book of Durrow, 169
Spoons, Late-Celtic, 119
Stamfordbury, fire-dogs, 118
Stamford Hill, armlet, 114
— — fibula, 106
— — mirror, 115
Stand, enamelled, 134
Standon, enamelled vessel, 138
Stanhope, armlet, 113
Stanton, cup-marks at, 57
Stanwick, horse-trappings, 94
— Late-Celtic finds at, 75
— sword-sheath, 91
Step-patterns, 277
— in Late-Celtic art, 160
Stitchell, collar, 111
Stival, bell, 200
Stockholm, Gospels, 175
Stones, sculptured, Late-Celtic, 128
Storr, penannular brooch, 227
Stowe Missal, cover of, 170
— — shrine of, 209
Strathfillan, bell, 201
Strokestown Crannog, 81
— — fibula, 170
Strypes, spirals at, 50
Style, Late-Celtic, 143
Swastika anthropomorphs, 294
— curved, at Ilkley, 58
— — on Barlaston bowl, 58
— —, 60
— designs, Late-Celtic, 154
Sweden, bronze axe-head with spirals from, 52
Sword, Hallstatt, 8
Sword-sheath from La Tène, 11
— Hunsbury, 132
Sword-sheaths, Late Celtic, 91
Swords with antennæ, 86
Symbols used in Bronze Age, 22