[From Contributions .., 1909]

FINDS IN RUSHEN

PRE-HISTORIC REMAINS.

Read February 27th 1909.

FRED. SWYNNERTON,

Fellow Ant. Ins. of Great Britain. and Ireland.

The following is an attempt to bring together the results of a few discoveries in the parish of Rushen, bearing on pre-historic man. As I have found some difficulty in obtaining information of all finds made by others in this parish, I hope it will not be considered egotistical if what I have to write about mostly concerns what I have observed or discovered myself.

So far, no well-authenticated remains of palæolithic times appear to have been found in this parish, nor anywhere else in the Island. It is true that in a paper on " The Primitive Period," read before the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society in 1880, by Mr. Grindley, great geological changes are inferred to have taken place since what is now this Island has been inhabited by man, on the strength of " the foundations of a primitive hut," containing " rude wood-cutting tools," having been found by Mr. Cumming among the remains of trees on the sea-shore below Mount Gawne, in Bay-ny-Carrickey. This subject is so important that it deserves careful consideration. (1)

Remains of huts beneath rock, shelters of the palæolithic period, belonging to what the French call " The Reindeer Period," have been found in Perigord in France, but it is doubtful if any rude wood-cutting tools, as such, of this period have been discovered. And as Mr. Grindley inferred, from the presence of these tools in such a place, that since they were left there, a plain connecting the Isle of Man and Ireland has become the Irish Sea, and has again partially re-emerged at this point, we are justified in doubting if vestiges of any primitive but would have lasted against the influences at work during such vast changes. Indeed the mention of the foundations of a primitive but seems to show that these relics must have belonged to much later times, when land and sea were practically as they are at present. Enquiries made by me, as well as some recent discoveries of worked flints, seem to point to the same conclusion, though the possibility of their being palaeolithic is by no means done away with.

I exhibit two pieces of a tree, found by my father, sticking out of the shore below high water mark at Strandhall. The piece, when entire, struck him as being part of a branch of a tree, and it came out of the gravel quite easily. It could not have been rooted in the boulder clay, which is very tenacious, and which underlies the sand and gravel on this shore.

I exhibit also a number of nuts which were dug out of a quantity of peat, lying in a depression of the boulder clay, just above low water mark, half way betweea Mount Gawne and the Smelt Mill ; in fact, about where Cumming found his rude wood-cutting tools, and part of a tree shewing the marks of an axe. The nuts were dug out of the peat by two sons of Mr. Lace, of Port St. Mary-then living at Mount Gawne-and Mr. Lace saw them being dug out of the peat. Mr. Lace is of the opinion that the peat "lies in patches in hollows in the clay, and that it lies on the clay and not beneath it." Moreover, the colour of the wood, and its condition wheni first found, as well as that of the nuts, proclaim them to be peat relics. Of course the peat and its contents are thousands of years more recent that the clay beneath it.

Mr. Lace also informs me that peat is found below poolvaish, and that the horns of a deer, found some years ago in that neighbourhood, came out of a bed of peat.

Between Mount Gawne and Kentraugh there is a field which is simply a peat bog. Various attempts have been made to drain it, but it still remains boggy in parts. The field lies in the depression between Kentraugh and Mount Gawne, and is most probably a remaining portion of a peat bog, which the have seen has left patches on the shore. It seems probable, therefore, that in recent years, geologically speaking, an extensive peat bog occupied part of the space stretching from below the Smelt Mills to Poolvaish, and occupying all that area which is now the shore down to low-water mark. (2) This may have extended for a considerable distance seawards in Neolithic times, and may have been since then entirely washed away by the sea, excepting these patches which have been protected by lying in the hollow of the boulder clay.

Moreover, good evidence of the recent encroachment of the sea below Mount Gawne is not wanting. People remember when, where there is now a steep beach, a. green sward, extending twenty feet or more seaward ; and only recently part of the Castletown Road itself was destroyed in a storm. It is quite possible this green sward may have contained stone implements which might have been washed out in a storm, and have afterwards been found among the ancient trees laid bare by the same influence. And it is worthy of note that quite close to Mount Gawne worked flints are to be found, as I will presently show. Allowing that there was a morass in ancient times, pile dwellings, similar to those found in the Swiss lakes, may have been built over it, and the trunk of a tree, with axe marks upon it, found by Mr. Cumming, may have been a pile, or perhaps the centre-pole of a hut.

But it is not impossible, indeed very probable, that the rude tools may have been washed out of the peat itself. The peat bogs of Denmark are veritable nests of ancient stone implements of immense antiquity, and also contain numerous remains of animals. The antlers of a deer found at Strandhall came, as I have mentioned, out of this Bay-ny-Carrickey peat bog, as may the rude stone implements found by Cumming.

I exhibit a large broken flint picked up by myself among the gravel at low water beloĢ- the Shore Hotel, Bay ny Carrickey. It might be regarded by enthusiasts as an implement, but as large nodules of flint are found in the boulder clay, and very easily split into fragments beiurc their internal moisture has evaporated-a fact known to gun-flint chippers-it is more probable that it has been broken by natural causes. This subject is worth more attention than it has received since the days of Cumming, but for the present we must take palaeolithic man in Rushen as not proved.

In relics of Neolithic times the parish abounds. There are examples of all the various remains known as Neolithic to be found in Europe, as well as others strongly resembling the Danish Kjokkenmoddings. But though this is the case, it is a pity that with the exception of the Meayll Hill remains, little has been done to prove to what particular periods those remains belong. Under the name Neolithic, we find as elsewhere, various remains classed, which perhaps, belongs to periods separated by considerable lapses of time, and very probably by the long transition from utter savagery to semi-civilization. The want of a searching classification of what has been discovered in the Island is a pressing one, as is that of an archaeological map of the Isle of Man — both works worthy the attention and within the scope of the Society.

There appear, however, to be distinct traces of early and late Neolithic character in this parish. I have not come across any urns or other relics of the Bronze Age in Rushen, but such have been found, as, for example, a flint arrow-head, associated with a burial urn at Glen Chass, on the S. E. side of the Mull Hill. This was discovered many years ago. A bronze axe was found at Surby in Rushen, but where it has gone to I cannot find out, though I believe some one in Castletown has it, The arrow heads found in the sepulchral circle on the Mull Hills are, it appears, of late Neolithic or Bronze Age ; of the latter, judging by the urns containing ashes found in the kists.

As regards the Mull Hill circle, it appears to be a most singular thing that most of the broken urns and flint flakes were found beneath the slabs apparently forming the floors of the graves. It appears to me to be most singular that those people, after taking the trouble to put floor slabs in the kists on the Mull Hill, should have neglected to put the customary covering slabs. If we suppose that the urns were laid on the. ground, and the covering slabs were put over them, and the earth heaped on the slabs, it would naturally happen that, when the urns become too decayed to stand the weight, they would collapse, and be crushed by the covering slabs, which might lie practically on the ground. I am strongly of opinion that what were taken to be the floor slabs were really the covering slabs, but in any case, the urn interments apparently belonged to the Bronze or late Neolithic period.* (3) To this period some of the but circles appear to belong, as is proved by Mr. Kermode's researches, and a discovery of my own.

It appears very probable that if excavations were to be made outside but-circles, where house refuse would have naturally been thrown, and would have accumulated from year to year, more evidence might be found than ire digging in their interiors. Even Neolithic man would probably not have cared to sit or sleep on sharp fragments of pottery or flint.

On a piece of waste land, on the northern end of Bradda Head, immediately overlooking Fleshwick Bay, are the remains of two enclosures, which, apparently, were built in the same way as those on the Mull Hills. Some of the stones forming these enclosures are rather large, but the stones, generally speaking, are now very scattered. Enough remains, however, to show that the smaller enclosure was of circular form, and measured seventeen paces in diameter. It had an entrance as one side, planked by heaps of stones or huts. North of this enclosure is another much larger one, also circular, which joins on to the other; and, outside this again, to the north, is a round shallow depression in the sward, probably marking the site of a " weem " or primitive dug-out hut. The greater part of the stones of these enclosures have probably been carried away to help to build the modern boundary wall close by.

Here, then, we appear to have indications of two primitive cattle pens and of the owner's hut, as, perhaps, belonging to the same period as the Mull Hill remains. On the ridge called the Carnanes there are several other hut circles ; and out of the earthen wall of one of these I picked a quartz-arrow head with its point broken. A later discovery shows that quartz was almost as commonly used as flint in early times in this part of the Island. This arrow head seems to show that the hut circles on the Carnanes also belong to the same period as those on the Mull Hill-late Neolithic or Bronze Age-but, on the other hand, some of these hut circles may belong to well within historic times, as may, possibly, the use of stone arrow heads.

Train—apparently quoting the " Chronicles of Man "says that " when Magnus Barefoot arrived in Man, the island presented a most appalling spectacle. The whole island was a desert, well nigh depopulated by war and famine. So ''wretched was the condition of the inhabitants that even he i regarded them with commiseration, and caused them to build . houses, of which they were nearly destitute ; for, like the Firbolgs so famous in Irish Chronicles, they lived in small huts or cells under tlse ground, chiefly in the mountains."

If the latter part is not Train's own, we seem here to have. evidence of an historical character, that so late as 1098 these small dug out ' weems' were generally used. It seems to show that the people had not learned to build stone houses, for it is hardly likely that such an art would have been absolutely neglected if it had ever been in general practice.

There would be nothing surprising in this, or indeed in "- these huts continuing to be used to a much later period, as similar huts have been in use in Scotland down to the nineteenth century. Moreover, certain parts of Ireland and Wales appear to have been inhabited by a small race of wild redheaded people who lived in subterranean dens - called " Picts huts." In an article on "Modern Views of the Picts," in the January number of the Monthly Review 1901, there is a most interesting reference to these people, who, in Wales, were called ` the red fairies," on account of the fiery red colour of their hair, and their fleetness and agility. They lived in underground dens, and appear to have used stone weapons. They were great thieves, and in Merionethshire were exterminated by Lewis Owen, the ViceChamberlain of North Wales, on Christmas Eve, 1554.

In view of the strong popular belief in red-capped fairies in the Isle of Man these facts are interesting, as it is not impossible that it owes its origin to similar people living in the mountainous parts of the Island in early times. (4)

A description of Manx Cabins at the beginning of the eighteenth century, given by Quayle, quoted by Train, shows that the generality of the houses at that period were of the rudest description. They were small, and made of sods, thatched with straw-though the introduction of thatching seems to have been late. The floor was of hardened mud ; the chimney--where there was one-a funnel of sailcloth covered with a coating of lime-though sometimes the smoke found its way out as best it could. The fire burnt on a stone on the hearth, very often without range or chimney, and cattle were kept in an extension of the dwelling-house. If such was the case at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it seems most probable that in the time of Magnus Barefoot it was much worse ; and it may be that, in some of these but circles, we have the remains of dwelling-houses of that period. It is at least significant that, near to Cregneish, until lately the most primitive village in the island, these but circles are numerous. I think it is a moot question if some of the wild mountain folk in the i ith century did not use stone implements. (5)

Small undiscoloured flakes are found on the surface of the great mound called Cronk Moar, which seems to be a great sepulchral mound, converted into a small fort by the formation of a moat at its base, and a hollow on the top. The great fort at Castle Ward, near Douglas, has a similar hollow on top. Besides these remains, we have the Giants Quoiting Stones and the two large stones at Ballakilpheric. To judge by the worked flints found Close to them, they belong to the Stone Age. The two at Ballakilpheric stand in a field a little distance from the village of Ballakilpheric, and on account of the positions they occupy relative to each other, suggest that they are the remains of some large structure, each as an alignment or a chamber. I am informed by Mr. Lace that people now living remember other stones besides these two standing in this field.

There have been found numerous flakes, chips, and cores in this field as well as implements, and in the next field to the S. E., and I submit they mark the site of a Neolithic village. I am aware that worked flints found in close proximity to such monuments have been regarded as offerings, or as provision for the departed in the spirit world, &c.; but if we suppose that it was the custom, sometimes, as among the Ho's of Bengal, to raise mounds or megalithic monuments near the village, we should have an explanation of the presence of such numbers of worked flints near these prehistoric monuments.

We need not go out of Rushen to prove that kists were some-times made on the camp floor itself during the Stone Age. It will, perhaps, be remembered that in the case at the Alfred Pier, Port St. Mary, it was shown that a large kist, made of rough, unhewn slabs of limestone, had been constructed on the ancient flake- covered surface of the ground, and that over it had been piled a small mound. The remains of shell-fish, and other animal refuse, traces of pottery, as well as the large quantity of worked flints, including castaway implements, clearly showed that occupation of the spot had preceded the original interment. Secondary interments had been made in the mound, all much smaller than the original one, and all contained quantities of sea shells ; and, among other things, were. gathered from them, a rude bone implement with the point broken off ; a Neolithic arrow-head of similar manufacture to those found in the Mull Hills circle, and a scraper of quartz.

It is well known that mounds of the Stone Age often contain interments belonging to subsequent periods. It is quite possible that the grave containing the arrow-head belonged to a much later date than the original interment, more especially as no arrow-heads of that character were found amongst the flints on the camp-floor. But all these graves contained unburnt bones, and, judging by the length and height of the original grave, the corpse must have been buried in a contracted position,

To the S. W. of this tumulus was a field in which I found numerous flakes and cores, marking, perhaps, the site of another pre-historic encampment, or an extension of the first. At the east end of this field, near the shore, some labourers engaged in making new roads connected with the improvement of Port St. Mary, found some eight years ago, just such another grave as the second ary interments at the Alfred Pier. It contained unburnt bones, but the only thing saved was a skull, broken by a pick of one of the labourers. The cranium is nearly perfect, but the facial bones have perished, It has been pronounced by Professor Boyd Dawkins to be of an aged woman, and to be a broad skull of ordinary Goidelic, i.e., early Celtic type. The condition of the skull shows it to be very ancient. (5A)

It is most unfortunate that no intelligent person was near when this grave was found, to see if it contained any stone implements. I have been to the spot, and near to where the grave was found, I picked up a couple of small flakes, and a roughly-made drill. These, of course, may have no connection with the grave ; but taking into consideration all the circumstances, the quantity of worked flints, marking an old encamprnent in the vicinity, the turnulu, a little distance away containing graves of similar make, and bones in about the same stage of decay, it is hard to resist the conviction that we have here the skull of a person who lived in neolithic or early Bronze Age. It yet remais to be proved that the early Celts in this Island were not in their Stone Age.

ANOTHER ANCIENT CAMP.

During the last few months I have had the opportunity of examining the site of another ancient camp- one I knew of before, but had no opportunity of investigating. As it appears to be the site of a pre-historic settlement of considerable size, to have probably been fortified, and, judging by the character of some spear and arrow heads I have found there, to have belonged to a rude and warlike people, a description of the natural features of the place will be of interest, as they may shortly disappear beneath the ranges of lodging-houses planned to be built on the spot. "Tre rough map will show the natural outline of the field, called Rhenwyllin-the Mill Ridge--perhaps from the Smelt Mill close by. It is on high ground at the south end of the bay Carrickey, not very far from where Dr. Cumming found the foundations of a primitive hut on the Shore. The field is bounded on the north by the Castletown Road, which, running east and west at this point, passes through a gap in the ridge, and then turns north. This gap is a natural feature, formed by a small stream, which Still finds its way to the Shore through it, and which originally must have run down a little glen-the bottom of the glen being thirty or forty feet below Rhenwyllin ridge, which overlooks it.

RHENWYLLIN AND ITS RELICS.

Facing the sea, the ridge rises abruptly not less than 50 feet above the shore at one point, and is so steep as to suggest that it must have been scarped in prehistoric times. The ridge runs along the east and south sides of the field, becoming lower towards the South. To the west the field slopes down to a small stream, now carried in an artificial channel, partly underground. This stream enters Rhenwyllin from the north, runs south for some distance, and then turning east, along where it must have run originally, discharges into the sea about 300 feet from the south end of the field. About half-way between this stream and the Castletown-road is the highest part of Rhenwyllin, formed by a ridge, probably of an artificial character, running east and west, backwards from the front ridge. From this ridge the field has a gradual slope to the south, as far as the small stream — rising again beyond it to where it overlooked Chapel Bay. At the north-west side of the field there is a low hump which may possibly be the remains of an earthwork to protect the weakest point lying between the two streams. Altogether the place seems to have been selected on account of its natural strong position, and it may have been fortified by escarpments and mounds, but the plough has so levelled up and levelled down the artificial features that it requires a practiced eye to detect them. On all the higher parts of Rhenwyllin worked stones are found in considerable numbers. In many places the soil, when freshly turned up by the plough, has a dirty or refusy look. It is precisely in such places that implements are most numerous. At these spots decayed sea shells, very decayed fragments of bones, nodules of Stone, many broken by being used as hammers, and some burnt stones were found, as well as flakes and Cores of flint and quartz, implements of quartz, flint, and slate, and the arrow-heads. It is easy to see that the quartz used were round nodules from the shore, and I have found a few bits of rock of crystal.

The flakes and chips of flint are in many cases very massive for the Isle of Man, one flake measuring 3½, in length. But it is rather singular that for implements such as drills or hollow scrapers, quartz or slate was more commonly used than flint. Arrow and spear heads of quartz were also found. Quartz implements occurred also at the Alfred Pier but, at the time, I paid no attention to them, as flints were so numerous. At the north end of the field, undiscoloured flakes are more numerous; red dots on the map will show where the flint and quartz refuse is mostly found, the black crosses mark where new-looking flints are found.

All we can gather from the implements as a whole, perhaps, indicates a long occupation of the spot. The numerous quartz and slate implements, though a new feature in Manx archaeology, have not, perhaps, been found elsewhere, simply because they were not looked for. It seems clear that any suitable stone was used. If we take the spear heads as finished, they would indicate a low perception of symmetry on the part of their makers. Some of the hollow scrapers were probably intended for rounding spear or javelin shafts, judging by the size of the worn hollows.

If any hut circles were ever in this field, they have now disappeared. But I believe, so far, extensive flint "finds" have not been made associated with hut circles in Rushen, and, at Glen Willyn, in Michael, where an undisturbed camp floor was found at a spot indicated by the Rev. J. Quine, and where were also found holes containing burnt matter, which these people had used for cooking their food, no trace of but circles were visible, such as would easily have been detected if they had been there. As regards Rhenwyllin, it is certain that if search were made every year immediately after ploughing, remains would be found showing a long occupation-and more implements than are sufficient to stock all the cases in Castle Rushen, and many more. The ridge I have described as forming the front of Rhenwyllin extends to the north of the Castletown Road as far as Mount Gawne, where it sinks to a lower level in the boggy field I have mentioed..

On the ridge near Mount Gawne, and in a ploughed field behind it, I have found some cores of flint, and flares, as well as one implement-a sort of hollow chisel, fellow to one I found at Rhenwyllin. Behind Mount Gawne is an elevation called Cronk Crane, (6) where ancient graves have been unearthed. West of Rhenwyllin, in the next field, a bluff rises rather abruptly. It faces east, and overlooks Rhenwyllin. A few worked flakes have been found on the face of this bluff. Search after ploughing would probably result in a find of numerous worked flints. N. W. of this hillock, a short distance away, stands one of the Giant's Quoiting Stones, and further away to the S. W. of this, stands the other monolith on the slope of Cronk Skibbylt. Near the former stone I have found a few flakes and a small core. It is quite clear that the coast in this part of the island, all along the bluffs from Perwick Bay to Mount Gawne, was almost one continuous line of settlements in prehistoric times. It will not be extravagant to attribute to them the Giants' Quoiting Stones, etc ; but, in any case, there is plenty to be done in the places I have indicated. (6A)

As regards what the implements tell us :--The rocks used were flint, quartz, basalt, porphyry, and slate ; in fact, any suitable stone, as well as bone. The number of quartz implements found so close to the shore, where flints are most numerous, indicate that farther inland we might expect to meet with greater quantities of quartz refuse than of flint refuse. It is a remarkable thing that, though I have hunted the i-lull Hills well, I have not succeeded in finding a single flake of flint. On the other hand, the quantity of quartz fragments is rernarlcable, and I am convinced some of them have been intentionally chipped.

It is also to be noticed that Mr. Kerinode and Dr. Herdman found numerous nodules of quartz in the kists of the circle on the Mull Hills, as well as in some of the huts.

I suggest that these may have been placed there to serve as cores for the departed to strike flakes from in the spirit world. Their presence was evidently--as Mr. Kermode. points out-part of the funeral rites, and I think the fact that worked quartz nodules, quartz flakes, as well as implements of that stone occur at Rhemvyllin, is strong evidence that they were played in the graves for that purpose.

If we suppose, as seems probable, that in early times. there were numerous villages, strongly fortified, and probably in a continual state of warfare, it might have been difficult for tribes or families living on the Mull Hills to avail themselves of the numerous flints found on the east beaclies. The villages living near the shore may have objected to inland people carrying off flints lying within their territory. Consequently the Mull Hill villagers would be largely restricted to the beaches lying within their territory, and it will be noted that these beaches, such as at Fleshwick Bay, or the Sound, though they have any amount of quartz nodules, have very few flints.

It appears to me that the round quartz nodules found in the graves on the Mull Hill were put there to serve as cores for the departed to strike flakes from in the happy hunting grounds. Similar quartz nodules were found along with quantities of sea shells in the Alfred Pier graves. Moreover, the superstition among modern fishermen regarding the

" Whute Stone " being unlucky in their boats, if rightly considered, may be accepted as evidence that quartz nodules were put into graves for use in the spirit world. (7) Thus -

1st — Quartz nodules were commonly used to strike flakes from, ,and to make implements from.
2nd — Such nodules were put into graves for the use of the departed in the spirit world.
3rd — Probably long after the use of stone weapons had ceased, this custom held its ground.
4th — The dropping of white stones into graves would associate corpses with white stones in people's minds.
5th — The dropping of white stones into anything as suggesting a funeral practice would grow to be considered unlucky.
6th — A white stone in a fisherman's boat would be considered unlucky after its original meaning had been forgotten entirely.
Thus a religious practice among Neolithic people may have come down to us in the form of a popular superstition, having its origin in the remote past when some savage found that quartz was good to make implements out of.

The arrow heads and javelin heads I found at Rhenwyllin are very much ruder than those found in the circle on the Mull Hills. I found no similar over at the Alfred Pier camp floor, nor at Glen Wyllin, Michael, but, on the other hand, at both places were found small flakes delicately chipped to a very sharp point, which would have served admirably as arrow tips.

At Rhenwyllin I also found a hollow chisel, and near Mount Gawne another similar one. They are not polished like those found in the Danish Kjokkenmöddings. A large broad flake I found, seemed to be in process of being made into a spear head, or had been used as a scraper. Taking the implements as a whole they bear a striking resemblance to those of the Kjokkenmöddings, which are classed by Professor Worsaae as belonging to the late Paleolithic period, in contradistinction to the beautifully worked arrow and spearheads found in tumuli, etc., which he classes as belonging to the later stone age. To whatever period the Rhenwyllin implements belong, judging by their rough workmanship, their makers were as low in civilization as the cave men of France.

Footnotes

(1) See Appendix A

(2) Cumming's "remains of trees" support this view.

* The small flat stones were certainly the floor pavement, being even partly under the large side slabs. There must originally have been lintel coverings, but these had doubtless been removed for fence building,&c

(3) see Appendix B

(4) See Appendix C.

(5) See Appendix, D.

(5A) This skull, which Prof. Floyd Dawkins kindly examined f,)r me, is now in the Manx Museum.

(6) " Cronk Crane " means, I believe, "Bone Hill." It seems probable that it was a neolithic tumulus,--now nearly demolished.

(6A) There were settlements front Perlwick Bay to Pooilvaish,-this is certain.