Interment No. 3 was discovered, at two feet from the surface of the mound, on the south side of the walled enclosure, about nine feet east-south-east of the centre, and consisted originally of a small cinerary urn of reddish colour, with the usual ornament made by means of twisted thong; but, owing to the roots of a tree growing down into the interment, the urn was much crushed. What remained of it showed that it had been inverted, or that it rested upon a flat stone. It contained calcined bones, which were examined by Dr. Garson, who pronounced them to have belonged probably to a woman.

Interment No. 4 was met with at the east end of the barrow, about twelve feet north-east of the centre, and about seventeen feet from the east side; it was placed in a stone cist which was built up against the internal wall of the barrow. It was composed of flat stones, one placed on the bottom, and others were set up on end to form the sides, top, back, and front. The height of the interior was 1 foot 10 inches, depth 1 foot 4 inches, width 1 foot 2 inches; there was no urn; the interment was after cremation, and the calcined bones which it contained were insufficient for Dr. Garson to form any opinion upon, further than that the remains were human. Several pieces of charcoal were among the bones, and the remainder of the cist was filled up with fine earth. This was probably a secondary interment.

Interment No. 5 was found at about seven feet south-south-east of the centre, at two feet from the surface of the mound. It was enclosed and preserved by means of a small cist built up by flat stones being placed on edge. on edge. The urn is 9 inches in height by 7 inches in diameter at the mouth; it is ornamented with five encompassing lines, made by impressing a piece of twisted thong on the clay when soft; below these are two raised bands or ridges. It contained calcined bones, and was filled in to the brim with fine sifted earth. The whole contents were removed, and,

at the suggestion of Mr. Herbert Prichard, a fire was lighted inside, with a view of hardening the urn, but it was so firmly wedged in between the side stones. that it was found to be impossible to remove it without first taking it to pieces. The bones were much comminuted, and Dr. Garson is of opinion that they are those of a child.

Interment No. 6.-This was a secondary interment; it was found on the south slope of the barrow, about sixteen feet south-west of the centre, and at five feet from the enclosing wall; it consisted of a small hole sunk only one foot from the surface of the mound, the sides of which had been lined with clay and then hardened by making a fire in it, the clay being reddened to a thickness of two inches; it contained calcined bones, two pieces of bronze and fragments of bronze, one of which might have belonged to a knife, the other to a pricker or awl. As to bronze awls or prickers, Canon Greenwell says it must not be supposed, because in some barrows no other implements than those of stone have been found, that such barrows belong to a time before the introduction of bronze, for its absence by no means proves that it was unknown. There were likewise three curious pieces of bone with holes bored through them, which may have served as beads. The bones were submitted to Dr. Garson, who, from their fragmentary character, could not say to which sex they belonged, but considered them to be of an adult. The entrance to this interment on the southern slope was protected by some stones being placed against it.

Interment No. 7 was on the south side of the barrow, at one foot beneath the surface of the mound, a few feet eastwards of No. 6; the urn was nearly destroyed, presumably from being so near the surface. Only a few fragments were met with. It had contained calcined bones, and the earth surrounding it was much reddened by fire, and pieces of charcoal and

1 British Barrows, p. 46.

ashes were plentiful. The interment had been protected by being placed upon a flat stone, with one laid upon the top, and others placed against the mouth of the hollow which had been made on the south side.

Interment No. 8 was upon the south-west side of the barrow, about five feet from the enclosing wall, and eighteen feet from the centre. Like No. 6 it consisted of a large pocket made of clay, and hardened by means of fire, as the clay and surroundings were red and black to a depth of three inches. At the bottom were a quantity of calcined bones, too fragmentary to be identified. The mouth or opening made to this interment was on the western slope protected, like the others, with stones placed against it.

Interment No. 9 was on the southern side, about eighteen feet from the centre, and at two feet from the surface of the mound; it was placed, like the former, in a hole lined with clay. In it were a quantity of calcined human bones and much charcoal; a flat piece of stone was placed on the top, and the entrance of the hollow on the south was protected by another large stone.

Having completed this brief account of the various interments discovered in this barrow, it only remains for me to add a few remarks.

It will be seen that the barrow was a remarkable one, containing no less than thirteen primary interments after cremation, that is to say, there were thirteen urns placed upon the platform of stones before the earth was thrown up over it. Subsequently five secondary interments were made in the east, west, and south sides of the barrow respectively. I fail to discover another instance of so many interments after cremation, of this early period, being recorded from either England or Wales.

There is a tradition that a battle was fought on the "Golden Mile", between the Irish or Saxons and the

1 The tradition made to fit the name of the now enclosed common called the "Golden Mile" was that Jestyn ap Gwrgant, last native

Welsh, in the seventh century, under a prince of the name of Meyric, and that the slain were buried in this mound.

It may be argued that we cannot compare the age of the Welsh barrows with those of England, as the inhabitants of Wales may have practised their ancient rites and customs, perhaps, for long after they were abandoned in England; but, even if that were the case, it would not account for those interments belonging to the date of the tradition, as at that time the Welsh had been subjected to the advantage of Roman civilisation, and had used the Latin tongue for monumental inscriptions, etc., for several centuries before the time of those seventh-century people. It is quite certain that, from the nature of the urns, and other circumstances connected with the primary interments in this barrow, it is before the time of the use of iron, and that the secondary interments also were probably of the bronze period.

chief, and seventeenth in descent from Meuric ap Iewdric, paid tribute in gold to the Normans at that place. Another story, which may be more probable, is that it was so called from the fact of the common being covered with gorse.

94

DENBIGH CASTLE.

BY MAJOR LLOYD WILLIAMS.

(Read at Denbigh, August 1887.)

THE grand old ruin of Denbigh Castle holds a very interesting position in relation to the other castellated remains in the Principality. Erected at a period anterior to the type of castles known as Edwardian, to which it has, however, many points of resemblance, it yet indicates an older design, having much in common with works of an earlier date.

The plan is essentially that of a Norman fortress, extended and strengthened, and having its arrangements dictated by the form of the ground, and also most probably by the outline of a hill-fort of a primitive design, which, we may reasonably conclude, once occupied the site. The existence of a fortress of twelfth-century date can only be suggested by analogy with other buildings of that period. While the plan so closely resembles a castle of Norman times, an examination of the present structure indicates that the entire mass of the walling is of later date. The earlier structure may therefore safely be concluded to have been of palisading and deep earthworks, a deepening of the more ancient trenches, and the modification of their plan. By the supposition that the defences were of timber, and not of stone, we may reasonably account for the disappearance of walls of Norman date, a difficult task if we have to suppose that they had ever existed. Looking at the ruins as they now stand, we find ourselves in presence of the work of one period. As the building was erected by Henry Lacy, so is it now in all its general features. We can trace almost every portion of the original