TRUMPETS AND BELLS.
ANOTHER instrument probably connected with warfare, though not strictly
speaking an arm either of offence or defence, is the trumpet, of which
numerous examples in bronze have been found, especially in Ireland. It
is very doubtful whether the greater part of them do not belong to the
Early Iron Age, rather than to that of Bronze; but as it seems probable
that some at least belong to a transitional period, and it is possible
that others are of even earlier date, they could hardly be passed over
without notice in these pages.
[Illustration: Fig. 438.—Limerick. 1/6]
There are two distinct classes of these instruments, so far as the
process of their manufacture is concerned, viz. those which are cast in
one piece, and those which are formed of sheet-metal turned over and
riveted to form the tube. There are also two distinct varieties of the
instrument, viz. those in which the aperture for blowing is at the end,
and those in which it is at the side.
Sir W. Wilde, in his Catalogue[1375] of the Museum of the Royal Irish
Academy, has devoted several pages to a detailed description of the
trumpets found in Ireland, to which the reader is referred. Those
which he figures are all curved, some almost to a semicircle, others
to a more irregular sweep. Some straight tubes which were found
in company with several curved horns he has regarded, but without
sufficient cause, as the portions of a “commander’s staff,” or of the
handle of a halberd. One of these is shown in Fig. 438, borrowed from
his Catalogue.[1376] A similar straight tube, (23¾ inches,) found
with trumpets at Dunmanway, Co. Cork, is now in the British Museum.
The earliest known instance of the discovery of such instruments is,
according to Wilde, that recorded by Sir Thomas Molyneux,[1377] in
1725, of a “short side-mouthed trumpet” being found with others in a
mound near Carrickfergus, which was then regarded as of Danish origin.
But so early as 1713 Mr. F. Nevill described eight bronze trumpets
found at Dungannon,[1378] Co. Tyrone. In 1750 thirteen or fourteen more
curved bronze horns were discovered between Cork and Mallow, three of
which are described and figured in the “Vetusta Monumenta.”[1379]
[Illustration: Fig. 439.—Tralee.]
There is a remarkable resemblance between these trumpets and three
of those found near Chute Hall, Tralee, Co. Kerry, and described by
Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., in the _Journal of the Royal Historical and
Archæological Association of Ireland_.[1380] By his kindness I am able
here to reproduce his cuts as Figs. 439, 440, and 441. It will be
observed that in two of them the ends are open, so as to be adapted for
the reception of mouth-pieces, and that the end of the other is closed.
In this there is a lateral opening to which to apply the mouth. It is
on the inner curve of the trumpet, but in some other cases it is at
the side. As Mr. Day has observed, there are rivet-holes at the wide
ends of two of the horns, as if for securing some more widely expanding
end, while in the more bell-mouthed examples no such rivet-holes are
present. The trumpet shown in Fig. 440 is made of two pieces which fit
exactly into each other, one of them being nearly straight. The length
of this instrument, taken along the external curve, is 50 inches, and
its bell-shaped mouth is 4 inches in diameter. It will be seen that
at the mouths, and in other positions on these three trumpets, there
are small conical projections or spikes always in groups of four. Mr.
Day has suggested the possibility of these being added to give effect
to blows with the trumpets in case it became necessary to use them as
weapons of offence. He has also pointed out the remarkable resemblance
between the horns with the lateral openings and the war trumpets in use
in Central Africa, which are made from elephants’ tusks. One of these
is shown in Fig. 442, also kindly lent by Mr. Day. The conch-shell
trumpets of Fiji have also lateral openings.
[Illustration: Figs. 440 and 441.—Tralee.]
As will subsequently be seen, trumpets of the two types represented by
Figs. 439 and 440 have been found associated with bronze weapons.
[Illustration: Fig. 442.—Africa.]
To return to the trumpets from Cork described in the “Vetusta
Monumenta.” Two of these are formed, like Fig. 440, of two pieces, and
are open at the end, which may have been provided with some kind of
mouth-piece. The other, like Fig. 439, is cast in a single piece and
is closed at the small end, but has a large orifice at the side like
the Portglenone specimen Fig. 444. Both are provided with a number
of conical projections by way of ornament round the mouth, and one of
them has similar small spikes in other positions. With them were found
some pieces of straight tubing, which were also decorated in a similar
manner. The horn with the side aperture is provided with a ring for
suspension, like Fig. 439. Some of the straight tubes have a sliding
ferrule upon them also furnished with a ring.
Sir W. Wilde observes of a horn about 24 inches long with the aperture
at the end slightly everted, as if for holding the lips, that it
requires a great exertion even to produce a dull sound with this
instrument. As to those with lateral apertures 2 inches long on the
average, and 1¼ inches wide, he says that “it is not possible by
any yet discovered method of placing the lips to this mouth-hole to
produce a musical sound; but, as conjectured by Walker in 1786, these
instruments might have been used as speaking-trumpets, to convey the
voice to a great distance as well as render it much louder.”
[Illustration: Fig. 443.—Derrynane.]
In one instance of a trumpet, like Fig. 439, being broken across the
mouth-piece, it has been repaired by a process of burning together,
like that adopted in the case of broken swords[1381] previously
mentioned. The mended portion is shown in Fig. 443,[1382] borrowed from
Wilde. This trumpet was found at Derrynane, Co. Kerry.
A trumpet, broken across the middle and mended in a similar manner,
formed part of the “Dowris find,” from which a number of specimens are
preserved in the British Museum,[1383] and others are in the Museum of
the Royal Irish Academy. The metal of which most of the articles in
this hoard are formed has a peculiar golden lustre which is thought
to arise from the admixture of a certain proportion of lead. A horn
analyzed by Donovan[1384] gave:
Copper 79·34
Tin 10·87
Lead 9·11
———
99·32
The find took place at Dowris, near Parsonstown, in King’s County,
and comprised, besides trumpets and socketed celts, a casting for
a hammer-head, a socketed knife, tanged knives, razors, a broad
rapier-shaped dagger-blade, broken swords, a dagger formed from a part
of a sword, spear-heads both leaf-shaped and with openings in the
blade, vessels of thin bronze, rough metal, some rattles or crotals,
such as will shortly be mentioned, a pin with a hook somewhat like a
crochet-needle, and some rubbing stones for grinding and polishing.
There may have been other articles, but those here mentioned are
represented in the portion of the hoard now in the British Museum. The
association of trumpets with such a series raises the presumption that
some of them at least belong to the close of the Bronze Age proper.
Some of these Dowris trumpets are engraved in the “Horæ
Ferales,”[1385] and one of them belonging to the Earl of Rosse is
peculiar as having two loops opposite each other above and below. A
detached portion of another consists of a nearly straight tube, 9
inches long, expanding at each end.
[Illustration: Fig. 444.—Portglenone.]
Another slightly differing example with the opening at the side is
also figured by Mr. R. Day, and here with his permission reproduced.
It was found at Portglenone, Co. Derry, and measures 24½ inches along
the convex margin.
The other finds of trumpets have been for the most part isolated. Most
of those I am about to cite have already been mentioned by Wilde. A
fine specimen, like Fig. 444, is figured by Vallancey[1386] and in
Gough’s “Camden’s Britannia.”[1387] Three others and a portion of a
straight tube were found in the county of Limerick[1388] in 1787.
Others have been found near Killarney;[1389] Cornaconway, Co. Cavan;
Kilraughts, Co. Antrim; Diamond Hill, Killeshandra; Crookstown and
Dunmanway, Co. Cork.
[Illustration: Fig. 445—The Caprington Horn. 1/5]
As the riveted variety of trumpet appears from its ornamentation to
belong to the Late Celtic Period, a short mention of it will suffice.
One[1390] found near Armagh, and now in the Museum of the Royal Irish
Academy, has at the end a disc 7½ inches in diameter, embossed with
the peculiar scroll patterns characteristic of that period.
Another is no less than 8 feet 5 inches along the convex margin, and
consists of two portions made of sheet bronze, each turned over to
form a tube, and having the abutting edges riveted to a long strip of
metal extending along the interior of the tube. This strip of bronze
is only half an inch in width, and has two rows of minute rivet-holes
in it, the rivets being placed alternately. Their circular heads are
on the inside of the tube, and so minute are the rivets, that there
are no less than 638 of them along the seam. It is, indeed, not
unlike a modern riveted hose pipe of leather. In what manner such an
ingenious and complicated piece of riveting could have been effected
is, as Sir W. Wilde remarks, a subject for speculation.
These riveted trumpets appear to be unknown in Britain, and the
cast-bronze variety is extremely scarce. A fine and perfect specimen
found at Caprington, Ayrshire, has been engraved for the Ayrshire
and Wigtonshire Archæological Association,[1391] and is here, by the
kindness of the Council of the Association, reproduced as Fig. 445.
It was found some time before 1654, on the estate of Coilsfield, in
the parish of Tarbolton, in Kyle, but is known as the Caprington horn.
According to Mr. R. W. Cochran-Patrick, F.S.A., it has been described
by Sir Robert Gordon in Blaeuw’s Atlas[1392] and by Defoe.[1393] This
horn is 25 inches in length, and is the only specimen recorded to
have been found in Scotland. The metal of which it is formed has been
analyzed by Professor Stevenson Macadam, and consists of—
Copper 90·26
Tin 9·61
Loss ·13
———
100·00
English trumpets of bronze are of extremely rare occurrence. One
found in the river Witham, Lincolnshire, has been figured in the
_Philosophical Transactions_,[1394] and is nearly straight for the
greater part of its length (about 28 inches), curving upwards near the
end into an irregularly-shaped expanding mouth. It has an ornament or
crest like a mane along the exterior curve. In form it is not unlike
the _carnyx_ which is brandished by the horseman on the coins of the
British princes Eppillus and Tasciovanus,[1395] and which also appears
on some Roman coins and monuments commemorative of Gallic and British
victories. The metal on analysis gave copper 88, tin 12, and the
tube was formed from a hammered sheet and soldered with tin. It not
improbably belongs to a period not far removed from that of the Roman
invasion of this country.
Another, with two joints and a perfect mouth-piece, is said to have
been found at Battle, Sussex, and has been engraved by Grose.[1396] A
bronze horn about 3 feet 7 inches long, found in Mecklenburg,[1397] is
not unlike the Scotch horn in character, though smaller at the wide
end. The curved bronze horns or “lurer,” found in Denmark,[1398] have
usually broad bossed flanges at the wide end, and most resemble the
Irish Late Celtic trumpets.
The use of war trumpets among the Celtic population of Western Europe
has been more than once mentioned by classical writers, and passages
from them have been cited by Mr. Franks and others. Polybius[1399]
speaks of the innumerable trumpeters in the army of the Celts, and
Diodorus Siculus[1400] says of the Gauls that they have barbaric
trumpets of a special nature which emit a hoarse sound well suited to
the din of battle. The Roman _lituus_ in use for cavalry seems to have
been of much the same shape as the _carnyx_, the end of which latter
was in some cases made to resemble a fanciful head of an animal. The
continuance of the same character of instrument into the Early Iron
Age, and the advanced art shown in producing such castings as the
trumpets from Dowris and elsewhere, go to prove that they must belong
to the close of the Bronze Period, if, indeed, some may not more
probably be placed in a period of transition from Bronze to Iron.
[Illustration: Fig. 446.—Dowris.]
Another form of instrument intended for producing sound, if not indeed
deserving to be classed as a musical instrument, is the bell, or
rattle, formed of a hollow egg-shaped or pear-shaped piece of bronze,
with a pebble or piece of metal inside by way of clapper.
The only examples which I am able to adduce are those which formed part
of the Dowris hoard, one of which is represented in Fig. 446.[1401]
There are three such in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and four
in the British Museum. With the latter is a smaller plain bell of the
same character and two unfinished castings. Sir W. Wilde observes that
in casting, the metal appears to have been poured into the mould by an
aperture at the side, through which the core of clay that contained the
metal clapper was broken up. The mould was in two halves, and the rings
and staples at the ends were cast together. In the perfect examples
at the British Museum, the sides of the holes by which the core was
extracted have been hammered together so as in some cases to be almost
closed. In one instance there is some appearance of the sides having
been brazed together.
The sound emitted by these bells is dull and feeble. Like the modern
horse bells, a number of them may have been hung together, and not
improbably employed in a similar manner to attract the attention both
of the eye and ear.