Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/38

 discovered, in which were found three graves, each enclosed by four rough stone slabs. No human remains were found, but each cist contained a mortar and a lamp, both of stone. The mortar was smaller than the old knockin’ stane, and by its shape and wear seemed adapted for holding between the knees of the operator when being used. The inside hollow was capable of holding two pounds of meal. The lamp, as I shall call it, was a bit of stone hollowed out like a saucer—just a stone collie. It looked as if it had been saturated with oil, and bore traces of the action of fire.

These were probably Pictish remains, and though perhaps of very little archæological interest, yet tell in unmistakable language that the Picts, like ourselves, looked upon the grave as a darksome journey, and, like us, felt the need of some provision for the great hereafter. Hence, according to the light they possessed, the collie and the knockin’ stane