BRONZE TRUMPETS
Numerous trumpets of cast bronze have been found in Ireland, both in
the south and the north. They are rare in Britain. Two or more
trumpets have often been found together; eight were found at
Dungannon, County Tyrone, in 1713, and thirteen or fourteen near Cork
in 1750. The Irish trumpets may be divided into three types--(1) in
the shape of a horn, open at both ends, having the mouth-piece and
trumpet cast in one piece; (2) of similar shape, but closed at the
narrow end, with an aperture for the mouth at the side near the closed
end; (3) also horn-shaped, but with a long straight tube attached to
the narrow end of the carved portion, the upper end of the tube having
four rivet-holes, to which another tube or mouth-piece may have been
fixed. There are references in classical authorities to the trumpets
used by the Celts. Polybius, describing the defeat of the Celts by the
Romans at the battle of Telemon, B.C. 225, speaks of the innumerable
horns and trumpets of the Celts (Gaesatae, Insubres, Taurisci, and
Boii).
Dr. F. Behn, of the Mainz Museum, has recently written an account of
the music in the Roman army, in which he has brought together much
information about the early bronze trumpets; and he includes a short
description of the Irish type.[48] The Irish trumpets, which are
furnished with the straight tubular piece, much resemble the Roman
lituus; and, as a whole, the Irish type is very closely allied to the
lituus and carnyx, the difference between the lituus and carnyx being
that the expanded end of the carnyx takes the form of some fantastic
animal's head. Trumpets have been found in the Dowris hoard, with
socketed spear-heads, and other objects of the late Bronze Age, and
they must be dated to that period; on this account the Etruscan
lituus can hardly have been derived from Irish trumpets; so that it is
probable that the Irish trumpets, like those of Gaul, were derived
from the south.
[48] Die Musik im roemischen Heere "Mainzer Zeitschrift," 1912, p. 36.
[Illustration: PLATE X. Bronze Trumpets. _p. 88._]
[Illustration: Fig. 75.--Mould for casting a sickle, found at
Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.]
SICKLES
[Illustration: Fig. 76.--Bronze sickles.]
Socketed bronze sickles have been found fairly frequently in different
parts of Ireland. Those in the National Collection have generally been
referred to the late Bronze Age. These sickles are all very small, and
it has been thought that the Irish, like the Gauls, cut only the ear
of the corn, and burnt the stalk. A recent find of moulds in County
Antrim contained a mould for casting a sickle without a socket like
the Continental examples, and shows that this type was also known in
Ireland in the later Bronze Age (fig. 75). The bronze sickles have an
important bearing on the question of agriculture in Ireland. An
opinion has recently been expressed that corn was not introduced into
England until the Roman invasion, and was introduced into Ireland even
later than this.[49] However, there are instances of ears of corn
being found within the walls of food-vessels of early Bronze Age date
in Scotland; and it is probable that corn was also grown in Ireland
during the Bronze Age. There is evidence that the ox was domesticated
during this period. The excellence of the metal-casting and the high
degree of skill shown in casting implements and weapons during the
Bronze Age lead us to believe that the civilization, and with the
civilization the art of agriculture and material comfort, had reached
a fairly high level.
[49] Proc. Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxxi (Clare Island Survey, Part 5).
[Illustration: Fig. 77.--Bronze sickles.]
DISK-HEADED PINS
[Illustration: Fig. 78.--Bronze disk.]
[Illustration: Fig. 79.--Bronze button.]
In the late period of the Irish Bronze Age, bronze pins with
disk-shaped heads having a conical projection in the centre are
fairly common. The disk-heads in many instances are ornamented with
concentric circles and other simple kinds of decoration. They are
bent at right angles to the pin, though in some cases the pin comes
straight from the head. The pins are very long, some measuring as much
as 12 inches. In the very interesting find at Armoy, County Antrim (p.
81), it will be remembered that one of these pins was found together
with a woollen garment, and there is no doubt they were used to fasten
the dress. The fact of a razor being one of the objects of this find
indicates that the pins were used by men, though no doubt they may
also have been worn by women. The use of such long pins seems to point
to the wearing of some kind of cloak-like garment probably fastened
in the front; and the ornamental heads of the pins indicate that they
were worn in a conspicuous place.
As well as the pins a few bronze buttons have been found consisting of
disks with the same conical projection, but having the pin replaced by
a small bar at the back. One remarkable example in the National
Collection measures 4-3/4 inches in diameter (fig. 78). This object
was probably either attached to a leathern belt or possibly may have
been a portion of a horse's furniture. The smaller buttons have been
found on the Continent, and are fairly numerous in the Continental
lake-dwellings or finds of the late Bronze Age.
One is tempted to see in the Irish examples a derivation of the button
from the pin.