Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 48

The mote, in the usual form of a truncated cone, rises steeply from ground level to a height of just over 28 feet and appears to be entirely artificial in its formation. Excavation revealed a ditch around the mote. The ditch appeared to be flat-bottomed, and from the difference in depth on the higher and lower sides it is evident that the mote had been constructed on a level platform cut out of the sloping ground. Numerous fragments of wheel-made pottery were recovered along with some glazed earthenware. A silver short cross penny of the first issue of Henry II of England (1154-1189) was found at the base of the ditch. It is argued that the evidence indicates Anglo-Norman occupation of a mote hill.

In common with most other brochs, iron implements were found within the walls of this building and it is evident that weapons of iron were in use before the demolition of the broch. Of more interest is the mass of conglomerate which was found amid a bed of clay on the floor level, and surrounded with much broken pottery. The adjacent part of the main wall showed signs of fierce fire, and the fragments of pottery fused into the conglomerate point to some attempt to smelt either the metal or the ore. A section through a passage in one of the outbuildings shows that in successive layers different types of fuel were being burnt. All the artefacts are catalogued and there is a report on the human and animal bone.

The cairn had been disturbed prior to excavation. Some of the stones had been removed for road building and both cists had been opened. The smaller secondary cist contained cremated bone, a flint arrowhead, two flint scrapers, a mussel shell and several small white quartz pebbles. The arrowhead and scrapers had been burnt which is rare in Scotland. All that remained in the large central cist were a few fragments of unburnt bone and two sherds of pottery. Two concentric settings of large rounded stones completely encircled the cists.

The Celtic Church seems to have been specially rigid in the matter of orientation. Churches were built east and west, the altar being at the east end, the clergy and people in chancel and nave in front of it. This was also the case with side chapels, and the lesser altars which multiplied so greatly in the large town churches in the later Middle Ages. A list of churches with their orientations and dedications is appended.

A short cist was found at Gifford during ploughing. The badly damaged skeleton was identified as an adult male. A small quantity of charcoal was also found. A flexed skeleton deposited in a natural rock cavity was accompanied by twenty snail shells. It is suggested that the skeleton may have been a dwarf. An earth-house on a ridge at Cairn-na-Bhodachid was discovered during gravel quarrying. It was dry-stone built with undressed blocks and had an entranceway leading into a gallery. The floor of the gallery had a covering of clay. Artefacts included pottery, animal bone and a possible hammer-stone. A Latin cross had been painted on to one of the lintels.

A description of the ruined church of St Helen's is presented. Memorials surviving in the graveyard include a medieval cross slab, a coped grave-cover decorated with a man on horseback, a portion of a hog-backed grave cover and four tapering grave covers. The church at Cockburnspath is better preserved. A hand bell or 'deid-bell' is preserved in the manse. Notable memorials in the graveyard include one to a blacksmith.

The mound was excavated in 1891 and artefacts included an oblong bronze brooch, a portion of a bronze penannular brooch of Celtic form, a portion of a small oval bronze ring, a bead of serpentine, a bead of amber, an iron knife-blade, six fragments of sheet bronze, a quantity of iron rivets or clinker nails and a stone sinker. Two extended skeletons, an adult male and female, were revealed. Further excavation revealed a pair of iron shears. The burial of persons wearing pagan ornaments, on Oronsay, which had for at least between one and two centuries prior to this time been a sanctuary of the early Celtic Church, is worthy of notice. The mound is situated some distance from the Christian Cemetery, but is within the sanctuary. An account of the historical background provides a context for the burials.

Cairn 1 consisted of three concentric circles of stone. Three cists and two pits were contained within the inner circle. The north cist contained a Food Vessel, four flint implements, charcoal and partially cremated bone. The south cist contained a Food Vessel, a flint knife and some charcoal. A third smaller cist was robbed during the excavation. A pit to the west of the south cist contained a human femur and some charcoal. A second pit contained charcoal and hazelnuts. A greenstone axe-hammer was found within the body of the cairn. Cairn 2 was circular and comprised earth and stones. A central cist with a D-shaped stone structure around it contained a pottery sherd, charcoal and eight flint flakes. A nearby cist discovered in 1885 contained the bones of a young adult. A further pair of cists had been disturbed by ploughing and only charcoal and three pieces of flint were found. The report includes an account of the bones and previous discoveries in the vicinity. A cist at Edington Mill was originally surrounded by a cairn of which only traces remained. It contained a Food Vessel, part of a probable drinking vessel, charcoal, a few fragments of skull and some teeth.

On the basis of the fact that only two burials were encountered during excavation it is argued that a cemetery must exist on the outskirts of the fort. With this in mind a systematic search recovered a collection of objects which included twenty three burnishers or polishers, fourteen gaming pieces, ten fragments of beads, a portion of a glass armlet and a brooch.

In 1636 the Superiorities of the Canongate fell into the hands of the city of Edinburgh. This meant that the barbers of the Canongate who had been free traders up until then came under the jurisdiction of the Surgeons and Barbers of the city of Edinburgh. The dispute concerned Robert Preist of Canongate who started operating as a barber within the city walls without permission. He was finally forced to move back to the Canongate in 1654 by order of George Monck who was a lieutenant of Oliver Cromwell.

The first hut-circle was situated on a gentle slope. Removal of turf and heather exposed a rough pavement of water-worn stones of all shapes and a considerable boulder at the entrance. There was also removed a large quantity of small stones, and debris, which presumably filled the spaces between the uneven stones and made a more or less level floor. A hearth was located in the interior with sherds of pottery nearby. The less well preserved second hut-circle lay on fairly flat ground. The circle seems to have been divided into quadrants three of which had probable hearths. A pit in the centre of the circle contained fragments of an urn. A third excavated structure was rectangular with a hearth in its north-west corner. Both glazed and unglazed pottery were found.

A hoard of late Romano-British coins was found at Balgreggan Quarry in Wigtownshire. A total of 125 coins had been concealed in an earthenware jug. Both the coins and the jug were in poor condition. The hoard is thought to have been deposited after AD 354. A fourteenth-century hoard from Kirkcudbrightshire comprised 2222 coins. They included Scottish single long-cross pennies of Alexander III, John Balliol and Robert Bruce along with more than one thousand pennies of Edward I, II and III. They are thought to have been deposited after 1330. A collection of 692 coins of sixteenth century date were found in the recess of a wall during demolition of an old building in Ayr.

Carved stone balls occur mostly in Scotland and all the examples are in stone except one of bronze. They have been variously assigned to the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Christian period. The author favours an origin in the Iron Age and suggests that they may have functioned as movable poises on primitive weighing machines.

The author is protesting against the proposal to open the National Museum of Scotland on the Lord's Day.