Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/98

66 cups." From the fragments, aided by a representation drawn at the time, a careful restoration of the entire form has been obtained, and the accompanying illustration exhibits accurately the fashion of this curious little vessel, when complete. The barrow was situated near Stanmore Farm, at Beedon, south of the Ilsley Downs, and about two miles south of East Ilsley. On April 13, 1815, a considerable excavation was made on the south side, from which the farmer had previously taken a quantity of earth to fill up a pit, and at the depth of about ten feet a small interment was discovered. Amongst the burned bones, the fragments of the small urn were found. This deposit lay southward of the centre of the tumulus. The barrow was of the kind termed by Sir Richard Hoare "bell barrows;" throughout the soil of which it was composed there appeared veins of charred wood; the ditch which had surrounded the tumulus was much effaced by ploughing over it. The common people gave the name of Borough, or Burrow, Hill to it, and they had a vague tradition of a man called Burrow who was there interred in a coffin of precious metal. Operations having been resumed, in order to examine the centre of the hill, an excavation was made from the north side, to meet that previously cut on the south. The work was much impeded by the abundance of flints found in the soil, as also by a violent thunder-storm, which the country people regarded as in some manner caused by the sacrilegious undertaking to disturb the dead. One of the labourers employed left the work in consequence, and much alarm prevailed. After passing the flints, the cutting entered upon the clay, which again was characterised by the appearance of charred wood. Two fragments only of bone were found, near the upper part of the hill. After making a considerable excavation, a regular horizontal layer of charred wood appeared, placed on a stratum of red clay, probably the natural soil on which the tumulus had been raised, for no appearance of disturbance could be traced. The workmen found seven perpendicular holes, formed almost in a circle, around the centre of the barrow; they were about a foot in depth, and two inches in diameter, and were partly filled with charred wood. Further excavations were made, but no other interment was brought to light. It had been reported that an attempt was made twenty years previously, by night, to open the hill on the cast side, in search of treasure, but it was frustrated by the occurrence of a thunder-storm.

An earthen pitcher of ordinary glazed ware was subsequently dug up on the west side, apparently indicating some previous disturbance, but the even state of the layer of charcoal, above-mentioned, clearly showed that the centre of the hillock had remained hitherto untouched. The observations of Sir Richard Hoare have shown that the interment was not invariably central; and he remarks that the examinations of the larger tumuli generally proved unsuccessful, He alludes to the feeling of superstitious dread with which the peasantry regard such rifling of the tomb; a feeling to which very probably it may be due, that tumuli have so generally remained undisturbed, notwithstanding the prevalent tradition of concealed treasure. He mentions the dismay caused by a thunder-storm on one occasion, which the rustics of Wiltshire seem to have concluded, like those of Berks, to be a judicial visitation. It was with considerable difficulty that Mr. Long could prevail upon the tenant-farmer to give consent; his wife, moreover, had dreamed of treasure concealed on the east side, "near a white spot." The