duced amongst the others." The contents of this description of barrow, attest it to be of the highest antiquity amongst those remaining in Britain.

The Tumulus which appears to be most frequently found is termed, by Sir R. Hoare, the Bowl Barrow, from its obtuse rotundity of form; and is sometimes surrounded by a slight ditch.

The Bell Barrow, "from its elegance of form seems to have been a refinement on the Bowl barrow." It abounds in the neighbourhood of Stonehenge.

The Druid Barrow (so named by Dr. Stukeley, and divided into two classes by Sir R. Hoare) was supposed, by the former writer, to have belonged to the ministers of religion amongst the early British; but Sir Richard has "strong reason for supposing that these tumuli were appropriated to the female tribes. The outward vallum, with the ditch within, is most beautifully moulded: in the area we sometimes see one, two, or three mounds, which, in most instances, have been found to contain diminutive articles, such as small cups," &c.

The Pond Barrow presents a curious and inexplicable variety. It differs entirely from the others, and resembles an excavation made for a pond, being circular and surrounded by a vallum, but having no protuberance within the area, which is perfectly level.. Several of this species of barrow have been dug into, but neither sepulchral remains, nor any other indication of the purpose for which they were designed, has yet been discovered.

The Twin Burrow is by no means of common occurrence, and contains, as is denoted by its name, two tumuli inclosed within the same circle. We may suppose that two persons closely united by inclination, or by ties of blood, were here interred.

The small Conic Barrow is seen in many parts of the island; and it is observed Mr. Douglas, in his elaborate work, intituled Nenia Britannica, "that these tumuli are generally found on barren ground, as commons and moors. When discovered on cultivated land, their cones, or congeries, have been levelled by tillage;

G 3

lage; and it is only by a casual discovery with the plough, that the contents of such interiments have been found." These barrows seldom exceed 33 feet in diameter, and are raised of earth. They are generally surrounded with a narrow trench. The cist in which the body was deposited is of an unequal depth, depending, probably, on the diguity of the deceased, and the sumptuousness of his funeral.

The Broad Barrow resembles, in a great degree, the Bowl Barrow, but is considerably broader and flatter at the top.

Although the above classification of barrows, and description of their shape, are chiefly founded on observations made in one part of England, it appears that they present a satisfactory compendium of those most usually discovered throughout the whole of England and Wales. The material is generally earth alone; earth mixed with stones; or stones only, heaped together without any other art than that necessary to impart a decided character to the shape of the tumulus. Instances of this latter kind often occur in Northumberland, and in Wales. It may be desirable to remind the reader that tumuli, thus composed of loose stones, are termed Cairns, or Carnedds, in contradistinction from such earthy mounds as are denominated Barrows.

In point of size, these funeral heaps are as various as in shape. The largest, which often stand alone in solitary grandeur, but are sometimes seen towering in rude majesty over a far-spread group, are of stately proportions, and must have been raised at a very great cost of labour. Of this class the prodigious elevation termed Silbury Hill may be adduced as a specimen, which is of the following dimensions: 560 feet in diameter at the base; 170 feet in perpendicular height; and 105 feet in diameter, at the top. The smallest are not more than 13 feet in diame

tert

Nenia Britannica, p. 1-2.

In

Beauties for Wilts, p. 716. and Munimenta Antiqua, Vol. I. article Sil

bury Hill.

Nenia Britannica, p. 1.

In regard to the nation by which the great majority of these tumuli were formed, it is observed by Mr. King, that "there is very great reason to believe that almost all the Barrows and Cairns we have in this island are British; and that even those which were heaped up in Roman times, and where Roman insignia have been found, were the sepultures not of Romans, but of British officers, or chieftains, in Roman service."

Since the period at which this opinion was delivered, various fresh data have occurred, from the careful industry with which numerous barrows have been opened in several districts, but particularly in Wiltshire; and the result of each investigation tends towards its establishment for correctness. It must, however, be remarked that in many instances a subsequent deposit occurs, which produces vestigia of much later times, and is sometimes mistaken for the original interment. It is also evident, as is observed by Mr. Whitaker,† that the custom of raising barrows over the deceased, survived the introduction of Christianity. That it continued among many of the Britons after the departure of the Romans is also unquestionable; and, perhaps, it was not entirely relinquished before the middle of the eighth century, at which time Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, obtained leave to make cemeteries within cities. The small earthy mound still heaped over the remains of those who had trodden a humble path in life, is evidently a diminutive representative of the ancient barrow.

The burial places of the earliest Britons form the leading subject of the present enquiry. That these have been discovered in many parts of the island is evinced by the rude character, and peculiar construction, of many implements found in the vicinity. G 4 of

+ History of Manchester, Vol. II. p. 140.

Some remarks concerning the period at which cemeteries were probably first annexed to places of Christian worship, are presented in the section which treats of Anglo-Saxon modes of burial.

of the bones, or ashes. It is highly probable that the greater number of the barrows in Wiltshire are raised over the remains of the early Celtic inhabitants of the island; but no industry of research has enabled any enquirer to ascribe distinct ranges of tumuli, in any county, to a particular tribe, or to a precise historical era.

It is observed by Mr. Whitaker, that "the mode of interment among the primitive Britons, and the primitive Gauls, was either by consigning the remains entire and undefaced to the ground, or by previously reducing them into ashes. The former is undoubtedly the most natural and obvious, and must, therefore, have been the original form of sepulture in the world. The latter is evidently a refinement upon the other, introduced at first, in all probability, to prevent any accidental indignities, or to preclude any deliberate outrages upon the venerable remains of the dead."*

It is satisfactorily proved, by investigations of tumuli in vari-ous parts of this island, that the above statement is correct, in regard to the customs prevailing among the Britous; and, on this subject, the purpose of information will be best answered by an abridged extract of Sir R. Colt Hoare's History of ancient Wiltshire: "From the researches made in our British tumuli we have every reason to suppose that the two ceremonies of burying the body entire, and of reducing it to ashes by fire, prevailed at the same time. In each of these ceremonies we distinguish a variety in the particular mode adopted. In the first we have frequently found the body deposited within a cist, with the legs aud knees drawn up, and the head placed towards the north. This I con

ceive to be the most ancient form of buria!.

"The second mode of burying the body entire, is proved to be of a much later period, by the articles deposited with the human remains. In this case we find the bodies extended at full length,

the

History of Manchester, Vol. II. p. 139,

the heads placed at random, in a variety of directions, and instruments of iron accompanying them.

"Two modes of cremation seem also to have been adopted; at first the body was burnt, the ashes and bones collected, aud deposited on the floor of the barrow, or in a cist excavated in the native chalk. This, being the most simple, was, probably, the most primitive custom practised by the ancient Britons. The funeral urn in which the ashes of the dead were secured, was the refinement of a later age. The bones when burnt were collected and placed within the urn, which was deposited, with its mouth downwards, in a cist cut in the chalk. Sometimes we have found them with their mouth upwards; but these instances are not very common: we have also frequently found remains of the linen cloth, which enveloped the bones, and a little brass pin which secured them.

"Of these different modes of interment I am of opinion that the one of burying the body entire, with the legs gathered up, was the most ancient; that the custom of cremation succeeded, and prevailed with the former; and that the mode of burying the body entire, and extended at full length, was of the latest adoption."*

The barrows of England and Wales exhibit, at the interior, a considerable dissimilarity of construction, as will be supposed likely from their outward variety of character, from the different tribes to which they belonged, and from the different ages in which they were constructed, even when decidedly British, and probably anterior to the Roman invasion. Some barrows of large dimensions are described as possessing a gallery, or passage, formed of large stones, which leads to a Kistvaen, or to several Kistvaens, or small roofed places of sepulture. As a specimen of this description of tumulus, may be noticed the barrow termed Fairy's Toote, at no great distance from Bath.†

• History of Ancient Wilts. Introduction, p. 24.

But

+ Vide King's Munimenta Antiqua, Vol. I. p. 298-294; and Gent's. Mag. Vol. LIX. p. 392.