Stone Implements, pp.3-7.

[Scottish National Memorials Contents]

   SPEAR-HEAD of Flint, large, imperfect at the point, from which about an inch and a half has been broken off. It is now 4 ¾ inches long, and its greatest breadth is 2 ¼ inches. In shape this spear-head resembles an isosceles and an equilateral triangle placed on opposite sides of the same base. Both faces are finely polished. The type is common to Ireland, though smaller unpolished specimens have been obtained in Scotland. Found in the last century in ploughing a field on Lochgoin Farm, parish of Fenwick, Ayrshire. (See Fig. 1.) 

(19) Lent by JOHN HOWIE. 

   ADZE of chipped Flint, 5 ⅝ inches in length by 2 ⅛ inches across the cutting edge, narrowing to 1 ¾ inches at the other; the greater part of both faces polished; much fractured. In form this adze is almost flat on the under side, and ridged on the back, which is ground down from the ridge to a rounded cutting edge. This type of implement is rare in Scotland, there being only other two in flint known. These are: The very fine one found at Fernie Brae, Slains, Aberdeenshire, and now in the National Museum of Antiquities (figured in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. x. p. 599, and in Scotland in Pagan Times, second series, p. 337), and the other in the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh. The National Museum of Antiquities also possesses an adze of the same form in greenstone, found at Little Barras, Drumlithie, Kincardineshire. This specimen was found about 1860 at Lochgoin, in the same place as the spear-head, No. 19. (See Fig. 2.) 

(18) Lent by JOHN HOWIE. 

   FLINT ARROW-HEAD, hollow-based, obtained during the formation of the Ardrossan branch of the Caledonian Railway at Boydston. It is of a light greyish colour, 1 ⅝ inches long by 1 1⁄16 inches across the widest part; point broken off; resembles the common Irish hollow-based type. 

(26) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, found in 1848 at the comer of Sauchiehall and Buchanan Streets, Glasgow. It is formed of Dolerite, polished, and has the faces slightly bevelled towards the flat sides. Length, 10 ¾ inches; greatest thickness, 1 ¾ inches; breadth at cutting edge 3 ⅛ inches. (See Fig. 3.) 

(5) From KELVINGROVE MUSEUM. 

   FLINT ARROW-HEAD, from Queen’s Dock, Glasgow. It is of whitish-grey flint, 1 ¾ inches long by 1 3⁄16 inches across full extent of barbs; tang rounded; one barb longer than the other, but both perfect; the edge very slightly serrated, due to fine chipping from each face; point sharp. Found in the sand when the dock was being excavated in 1875. 

(25) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, of Diorite, 3 ¾ inches in length by 2 1⁄16 inches across the cutting edge; polished on both faces; sides flat; slightly imperfect at the butt-end. Found in the Clyde at Rutherglen Bridge. 

(8) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, of Felstone, 2 ⅞ inches in length by 2 ¼ inches across the cutting edge; polished on both faces; sides rounded; flattish in section; with two small chips off one face. Found at Kingston Dock, Glasgow. 

(10) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, of Diorite, 3 ⅞ inches in length by 2 inches across the cutting edge; polished on both faces; sides rounded; and having a small chip out of the cutting edge. Found at Shields Road Station, Glasgow. 

(9) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, of Claystone, 3 ¾ inches in length by 1 ⅞ inches across the cutting edge; polished on both faces; sides flat; cutting edge re-ground; with a small chip off one face, and a recent chip off the butt. Found in railway cutting near Ardrossan, Ayrshire. 

(11) Lent by J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL. 

   AXE-HEADS found in the parish of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, viz.:- 

(а) Axe, of Greenstone, 6 ¾ inches in length by 2 ⅝ inches across the cutting edge; sides rounded and almost circular in section. The surfaces scaled, but showing traces of polishing at the cutting edge, which is blunted. Found on Bonland Hill. 

(b) Axe, of Porphyry, 3 ⅜ inches in length by 2 ¼ inches across the cutting edge; polished on both faces; flattish in section; sides rounded; and butt slightly imperfect. Found near Draffan. 

(c) Axe, of weathered Granite, 5 ½ inches in length by 2 ¾ inches across the cutting edge, which is slightly oblique, unpolished, sides rounded. 

(d) Axe, of fine greenish Claystone, cutting end only, 2 ⅝ inches across the cutting edge, which is well rounded and sharp; faces finely polished. A large piece is broken off one face, and about 2 inches of the butt-end are wanting. 

(37) Lent by J. B. DALZELL. 

   AXE-HEAD, of fine-grained Dolerite, found at Mollandhu, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, in 1887. It is 4 ¼ inches long, and at the cutting edge it measures 2⅜ inches across, from which it narrows to 1 ½ inches at the butt. Excepting Roman remains, few relics of antiquity have been found in Dumbartonshire. 

(38) Lent by DAVID MURRAY, LL.D. 

   AXE-HEAD, of highly-polished green Felstone, found near the Monastery of Fael, Tarbolton, Ayrshire. Length, 10 ¼ inches; greatest breadth at cutting edge, 3 inches. 

(21) Lent by the REV. JOHN W. RITCHIE. 

   HAMMER, of fine-grained grey Dolerite, found in the Moor of Knockbrax, in the parish of Penninghame, Wigtownshire, 8 feet below the surface of the ground. It is 10 inches long, 5 ½ inches in greatest breadth, and at the point of perforation 2 ½ inches thick. The hole is 2 inches wide at each surface, tapering to 1 ½ inches at the centre. 

(17) Lent by MRS. DRYDEN. 

   LARGE HAMMER, of fine-grained Dolerite, from Dumfries. Length, 10 ¾ inches; greatest breadth, 5 ⅜ inches; thickness, 3 ¼ inches. Perforated from each side. 

(20) Lent by WELLWOOD H. MAXWELL. 

   MASSIVE HAMMER, of fine-grained Dolerite, found in front of Stobcross House, at Clyde Trustees’ Works, Stobcross Docks, Glasgow, in a deposit of sand, by A. Wood, Inspector, 1st  

February 1875. The hammer was found imbedded 1 foot in a stratum of sand, in all 4 feet beneath the natural surface. It is perforated from both sides, has a rounded head and a fine edge. Length, 8 ½ inches; greatest breadth, 4 ½ inches. (See Fig. 4.) 

(1) From KELVINGROVE MUSEUM. 

   HAMMER, of fine-grained Dolerite, found under the ruins of an ancient fort on the farm of Colfin, Wigtownshire. It is ovoid in form, 2 ⅞ inches long by 2 1⁄16 inches in greatest breadth, and perforated from both sides. 

(23) Lent by THOMAS SMELLIE. 

   STONE IMPLEMENT, found in a deposit of sand near the river Clyde at Belvidere, three miles east of Glasgow. It consists of a globular mass of Dolerite, 3 ½ inches in maximum thickness, and 4 ⅛ inches in diameter. It has a broad shallow groove around its periphery, and in the centre of each side a depression as if it were in process of perforation. (See Fig. 5.) 

(4) From KELVINGROVE MUSEUM. 

   SMALL HAMMER, of green Dolerite, perforated at right angles to the cutting edge, found on the farm of Powblack, near Stirling. It is 3 ¾ inches long, 2 5⁄16 inches broad at the hammer face, and 1 ¾ inches at the opposite end: the perforation is uniform in diameter, measuring 13⁄16 inch. 

(22) Lent by THOMAS SMELLIE. 

   HAMMER, of polished Granite, 8 ¼ inches long, 4 ¾ inches in greatest breadth, perforated from both sides, the hole being 2 ½ inches at the surface, narrowing to 1 ½ inches in the centre; head truncated. Found at Gartmore, Perthshire. 

(2) From KELVINGROVE MUSEUM. 

   HAMMER, of coarse-grained Dolerite, found at New Kilpatrick, near Glasgow. It is 9 ⅝ inches in length, 4 ⅜ inches in maximum width, and 3 ½ inches in thickness. In process of perforation from each side, the diameter of the hole at the surface being 1 ⅝ inches, and carried to a depth of 1 3⁄16 inches. There is a central ridge running from the perforation to the cutting edge. (See Fig. 6.) 

(6) From KELVINGROVE MUSEUM. 

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