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Article CHIT CHAT. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Chit Chat.
cave itself is of vast extent , and does not appear to have been visited for a long period . "— Literary Gazette . BRITISH ANTIQUITIES . — " April last as some men were ploughing in a field belonging to J . J- Farquharson , Esq ., at Langton , near Blandford , the share of the plough came in contact with a large flat stone , on removing which it was discovered to have been placed over a circular cist
cut in the chalk , containing an inverted sepulchral urn , about 14 inches high , and 42 inches in circumference , beautifully ornamented with the favourite chevron or zig-zag pf the ancient Britons , and containing at least a peck of calcined human bones , as dry and almost as free frem decomposition as the day they were interred from the funeral pile . From the immediate proximity of the field to the British or Belgic encampment on the south east side of Blandford race-course , there can be
little doubt but this urn contained the remains of some chieftain whose tribe or clan was there located , and formed , before the field was broken up , the primary interment of one of those honorary tombs which the ancient fathers of our land were wont to raise over the mortal remains of those whose position amongst the earliest settlers upon our hills required such mark of distinction in honour of some military or civil service , or to distinguish them from the vassals and slaves , whose burial
most probably was unaccompanied with the slightest ceremony whatever . The urn , with the exception of a small fracture at the bottom , was extracted quite entire , and is in the possession of J . J . Farquharson , Esq ., Langton House . "
"A SUIT of ancient British armour and bronze ornaments , supposed to belong to some British chieftain during the period of the occupation of the island by the Romans , was bought the other day for the British Museum , at a sale of antiquities at Bridgewater ; price 150 / . " STRANGE DISCOVERY . — "GIBRALTAR , March , 184 G . —A few weeks ago tiie Chief Justice of Gibraltar had some workmen employed at his house , and whilst one of them was digging near the dining-room window , he
perceived an opening , which he found was very deep . He , with some others , ancl the Chief Justice himself , ventured down this aperture , and , after descending about forty feet almost perpendicularly , they came to a very narrow passage , which led to a most beautiful cave ; stalactites hanging about as white as snow , ancl of various forms—some like cauliflowers . In the midst of all this was a human skeleton , sticking fast to the rock , and the bones of a dog beside it , both having become petrified . The Chief Justice ' s house ( which is an olcl one ) is built immediately over the cave . I walked out on the 4 th inst . to examine the bones , lt
is quite melancholy to see the skull ; the water has dropped on the lower jaw till it has run down and hardened , giving it the appearance of a beard . Some parts are quite petrified . The scalp still remains , and the veins on the left side are very distinct . It is just like stone , and is chipped here and there , so that the bone of the skull appears through very white , in some places like ivory . The nose likewise has not quite decayedand the remaining parts are also stone . The bones of the right
, hand were fastened to the right side of the head , so that the poor creature has the appearance of having lain down and died , very probably of starvation , with his hand under his head , which is half turned round , as if he or she had been looking up . The entire set of teeth were beautifully perfect , but the front ones of the lower jaw dropped out when it was moved . There is some of the back-beme , arm-bones , leg , ribs ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Chit Chat.
cave itself is of vast extent , and does not appear to have been visited for a long period . "— Literary Gazette . BRITISH ANTIQUITIES . — " April last as some men were ploughing in a field belonging to J . J- Farquharson , Esq ., at Langton , near Blandford , the share of the plough came in contact with a large flat stone , on removing which it was discovered to have been placed over a circular cist
cut in the chalk , containing an inverted sepulchral urn , about 14 inches high , and 42 inches in circumference , beautifully ornamented with the favourite chevron or zig-zag pf the ancient Britons , and containing at least a peck of calcined human bones , as dry and almost as free frem decomposition as the day they were interred from the funeral pile . From the immediate proximity of the field to the British or Belgic encampment on the south east side of Blandford race-course , there can be
little doubt but this urn contained the remains of some chieftain whose tribe or clan was there located , and formed , before the field was broken up , the primary interment of one of those honorary tombs which the ancient fathers of our land were wont to raise over the mortal remains of those whose position amongst the earliest settlers upon our hills required such mark of distinction in honour of some military or civil service , or to distinguish them from the vassals and slaves , whose burial
most probably was unaccompanied with the slightest ceremony whatever . The urn , with the exception of a small fracture at the bottom , was extracted quite entire , and is in the possession of J . J . Farquharson , Esq ., Langton House . "
"A SUIT of ancient British armour and bronze ornaments , supposed to belong to some British chieftain during the period of the occupation of the island by the Romans , was bought the other day for the British Museum , at a sale of antiquities at Bridgewater ; price 150 / . " STRANGE DISCOVERY . — "GIBRALTAR , March , 184 G . —A few weeks ago tiie Chief Justice of Gibraltar had some workmen employed at his house , and whilst one of them was digging near the dining-room window , he
perceived an opening , which he found was very deep . He , with some others , ancl the Chief Justice himself , ventured down this aperture , and , after descending about forty feet almost perpendicularly , they came to a very narrow passage , which led to a most beautiful cave ; stalactites hanging about as white as snow , ancl of various forms—some like cauliflowers . In the midst of all this was a human skeleton , sticking fast to the rock , and the bones of a dog beside it , both having become petrified . The Chief Justice ' s house ( which is an olcl one ) is built immediately over the cave . I walked out on the 4 th inst . to examine the bones , lt
is quite melancholy to see the skull ; the water has dropped on the lower jaw till it has run down and hardened , giving it the appearance of a beard . Some parts are quite petrified . The scalp still remains , and the veins on the left side are very distinct . It is just like stone , and is chipped here and there , so that the bone of the skull appears through very white , in some places like ivory . The nose likewise has not quite decayedand the remaining parts are also stone . The bones of the right
, hand were fastened to the right side of the head , so that the poor creature has the appearance of having lain down and died , very probably of starvation , with his hand under his head , which is half turned round , as if he or she had been looking up . The entire set of teeth were beautifully perfect , but the front ones of the lower jaw dropped out when it was moved . There is some of the back-beme , arm-bones , leg , ribs ,