Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 57

Raedykes is well known for its Roman Camp, however, there are also four circles or ring-cairns on the site. The four circles are situated within a short distance of each other, so that a line joining their centres would form a slight curve little more than a hundred yards in length. They are nearly equal in size, and each consists of a ring-shaped cairn with a hollow centre, the interior depression and the exterior circumference being bounded by a setting of earthfast stones, set upright to support the smaller loose stones of which the cairns are composed. Only two of these ring-cairns, the most northerly and the most southerly, are surrounded by standing stones, and each is furnished with a circle of upright stones placed at a distance of a few feet beyond the outer circumference of the cairn. The recumbent\r\nstone, so important a feature in the Aberdeenshire type of circle, is entirely absent.

The pigments used on early Byzantine and early Celtic manuscripts are considered with particular reference to the difficulties involved in preparing ultramarine from lapiz lazuli. The Rosslyn Missal is believed to be of late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. The letters down the margin of the MS. are outlined in black, and are tinted with four pigments, vermilion, orpiment, ultramarine, and shell-fish purple. The Celtic psalter is thought to be of eleventh-century date. The pigments used are lead in place of vermilion as in the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Irish variety of orpiment, transparent copper-green, badly washed ultramarine, and shell-fish purple. The gold used on a single page consists of little rounded and\r\nkidney-shaped particles obtained as the fine gold dust from river gold.

A long cairn at Drannandow was very badly denuded and much disturbed. The cairn was near oval and five separate chambers were revealed by excavation. Four of the chambers were split into two compartments. No passage was identified. There were no portal stones and no artefacts. Two cists were found within a nearby round cairn. The central cist was surrounded by a stone setting and contained a Food Vessel, an unworked flint and a fragment of charcoal. Sherds of a Food Vessel were found within the secondary cist. A hut-circle in Knockman Wood was a shallow oval depression with a doorway composed of two portal stones. The hut had been formed of a stone wall. A roughly paved floor and a hearth were revealed in the interior.

A cinerary urn containing cremated bone and charcoal was recovered from a previously disturbed burial. An accompanying incense cup contained larger fragments of bone and charcoal. The bones in the latter were those of a child while the bones in the former could not be identified. The pit had been lined with stones. An axe hammer and mould were found a short distance away. The mould is of an unusual type while parallels for the axe hammer are presented. An 'apron' made from moss fibres was found close to a cairn.

A small earthenware jug contained a minimum of 228 coins. The hoard is of interest as none of the coins were Scottish: seven were pennies of Edward I of England and the remainder were foreign, mainly from the Low Countries. The probable date of burial of the hoard is AD 1300.

The artefact was the standard or gauge by which the ellwands (so called whether containing 36 or 37 inches) were tested and regulated. it is made of iron and has a hinge in the centre so that it can be folded over into half its real length. Between the flanges at each end its total length is exactly 36 inches. This standard was issued by the Chapmen of Fife, based upon the official dimensions, and by it the travelling Chapmen regulated the measuring rods they carried as they perambulated,\r\nsometimes on horseback, their several districts. False measures were stigmatised by the Societies, and the condemned ellwands (units of measurement) were destroyed.

In the previous season of excavation, after determining that the ground examined had been under continuous occupation, at least during the period from the end of the first to the beginning of the fifth centuries AD, the excavators reverted to the original method of removing the ground in four more or less arbitrary levels of occupation. This method was continued during the present year, and therefore the plans do not represent accurately the actual conditions existing at any particular period. However, the method of removing the soil in four levels has a certain stratigraphical value, as it aids in approximately dating the relics recovered. Two further areas were excavated along with minor investigations elsewhere on the hill. The features identified and the associated relics are described in detail. One of the gateways penetrating the rampart at the west end of the hill was also examined.

The first discovery was a short cist containing cremated bone and a burnt flint scraper. The second of the cists contained a Food Vessel accompanied by unburnt and burnt human remains. The third longer cist contained fragments of a skeleton and an iron sword. A wheel-turned vessel of dark-coloured pottery, with a number of objects made out of thin sheet bronze or brass, and some much corroded fragments of iron and particles of wood was found nearby.

This new account of the castle was prompted by the removal of farm buildings which increased visibility and allowed for the production of large-scale accurate plans. It is concluded that a ditch, mound and motte never existed as had previously been argued. The strategic value of the site is small, and its military aspect may be summed up by saying that the castle is capable enough of looking after itself but does not appear to be looking after anything else. The whole structure is now\r\nreduced to a bare enceinte with a keep in its north-east corner which is described and illustrated in detail. The earlier account of the castle is largely discounted.

The first cist was removed by workmen who thought it was a drain. The second cist contained parts of two decayed skeletons one of which appeared to have been disarticulated when deposited. They were identified as an adult female and a younger person of uncertain sex. A third cist was empty.

The paper refers to points raised by another author in an earlier paper with which the writer disagrees. These mainly relate to a slab bearing the arms of Flett impaling Tulloch whose interpretation the two writers disagree upon. These include a depiction of a drinking horn rather than a crescent and a letter F rather than a B and the likely date of the slab. The origins of arms-bearing in Orkney is touched upon.

Further information on two of the hoards discussed in the main article came to light after the article was in press. These are the flat axes from Nairnshire and the hoard of broken bronze swords and other objects found in Duddingston Loch.