Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 46

Excavation of an oval mound close to Trewitt Hall near Rothbury revealed a roughly made central cist containing only a Beaker vessel. The western cist contained charcoal, worked flint, a pottery sherd and a poorly preserved subadult inhumation. The eastern cist contained charcoal and a few fragments of unburnt bone.

A description of seventeen newly discovered cross-slabs is provided. There are seven with incised linear crosses and seven with incised outline crosses. A broken slab from the parish of Bride, has on one face a carefully chiselled Celtic cross, the limbs connected by a circular ring, and the whole contained within a rectangular panel. It is inscribed by what look like Latinised forms of Celtic men's names. A single piece is of much later date and Scandinavian in character, and dating probably from the twelfth century.

Standing stones, or the remains of them, are to be found in almost every parish. The majority are roughly fashioned into a sort of slab, although some of them exhibit no distinct formation of this kind. Their number is uncertain and they occur on hills and in valleys. Descriptions and sketches of a number of individual stones are provided along with some local traditions linked to them. There are approximately eighty brochs in Shetland, a small number of which have been excavated. The morphological characteristics of a selection of brochs are described and illustrated.

During refurbishment the south-east doorway (or Priest's door) was revealed. Notable memorials include the large flat tombstone commemorating Alexander Craufurd, vicar of Tranent. Several slabs of later date, and rich in symbolic devices, have also\r\nbeen uncovered and include the elaborate table tomb of the Scott family.

The broch is located on a round rocky prominence and survives to a height of only two and a half feet. The guard chamber survives on the right side of the entrance but does not survive on the left. The division of the guard-chamber into two\r\ncompartments is a peculiar feature, also the facing of its walls with slabs. The wall has been largely removed and it was not possible to determine the position of the stairway. There was no evidence of lengthy occupation and artefacts included some pottery, the upper stone of a rotary quern, a lump of iron, charcoal and burnt bone.

A total of 532 coins were recovered during ploughing. They include Scottish, Irish and English coins along with foreign sterling from a variety of different mints.

The Aberdeen 'kayak' has much in common with an example preserved at Edinburgh. At the present day, the kayak is in use over a great extent of the Arctic regions, from East Greenland westward across Arctic America, and along some 800 miles of the Asiatic coast, both westward and south-westward from Bering Straits. The Aberdeen example is made of four seal skins stretched over a slender framework of wood. With the kayak are a paddle, a spear, a bird-spear, a throwing-stick, and a harpoon. All are made of redwood with bone and ivory mountings. Traditionally the kayak is thought to have been recovered some time between 1690 and 1710.

In the garden grounds in front of Hastings Hall, Moniaive, Dumfriesshire, there stands the shaft of an Early Christian Cross. Its original location is unknown. A second stone in a nearby garden may originally have been associated.

An account is given of the activities of the resurrectionists, the prevailing attitudes towards them and some of the measures taken to prevent the theft of corpses. A number of surviving or recently demolished watch-houses, mortsafes and public vaults and some of the legends attached to them are described. Watch-houses were shelters used overnight by those guarding newly dug graves. The simplest form of mortsafe was a heavy stone placed on top of a coffin. A more effective form of mortsafe was a coffin-shaped stone with iron lattice-work to a depth of about 18 inches all round it on the lower side, which effectually prevented interference with the coffin. In addition, strong vaults were built in some of the churchyards, where the coffins could be stored until it would be safe to lay them in their final resting-place in the churchyard. The regulations for the management of a vault at Udny are reproduced. The watch-houses, mortsafes and vaults gradually fell out of use after the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832.

The button is made of iron and ivory which has been engraved and inlaid with gold wire. It has a central circle with a five cusped opening into which a cinque-foil has been inserted. It may have belonged to Archbishop Hamilton, who rebuilt St Andrews Castle, and was hanged at Stirling on the 7th of April 1571. A broken and incomplete pirlie pig (or money box) dates to the reign of James VI. A second example contained eight gold and one hundred and fifty silver coins. An oval beggar's badge of 1801 bears the figure of St Andrew holding his cross out in front of him. Possession of such a badge ensured that the beggar would be given alms.

Dedicated in the name of St Michael, it was in mediaeval times the prebendal church of the Chancellor of the Chapter of Aberdeen Cathedral. The present building was erected in 1779, and there are no remains of the old church. A sculptured grave slab is built into the south wall of the present church. The carving may be described as partly incised with rough broad lines, partly in relief; it represents a sword by the side of a small cross with another similar cross in an inverted position at the other end of the slab. The fact that the crosses face opposite ways, suggests that the slab was recumbent.

The collection consists of 17 lop-sided arrowheads of black flint; 16 worked triangular flakes which may be intended for arrowheads; a large triangular spearhead; 4 arrowheads with barbs and stem; 3 leaf-shaped arrowheads; 14 scrapers; 2 large side-scrapers; 3 whorls; 1 polished hammer, broken across at the middle; 1 globular hammer-stone, and a number of flakes of flint of no definite character.\r\nThey were entirely found on the farm of Overhowden, with the exception of one small leaf-shaped arrowhead, which was found near Heriot, and an arrowhead of American origin.

Standing stones and cross slabs are among the antiquities described from Pitlochry. Grave stones at Moulin, Temple and Clerkington are noteworthy because many display symbols which can be linked to the occupation of the deceased.

The churchyard at Logie has many gravestones dating to the seventeenth century with an unusual number and variety of symbols. One stone of 1748 mentions the purchase of the plot in 1498. Slightly later stone with lengthier inscriptions survive at Lecropt. An impression of two feet in shoes was found in an old dyke near Amulree. Similar impressions are quite common in Scotland and Ireland where it was customary for the new chief to plant his foot in impressions such as these, indicating that he was prepared to walk in the footsteps of his predecessor and to rule with justice and equity.

This paper is postponed to the next volume of the Proceedings on account of the illustrations.