Page:The history of Little England beyond Wales and the non-Kymric colony settled in Pembrokeshire.pdf/40

14 wild ox (bos primigenius) was discovered at Wiseman's Bridge, near Saundersfoot, and presented by C. R. Vickerman, Esq., of Hean Castle, to the Tenby Museum; very many red deer horns have been found near Amroth, and dredged up between Tenby and Caldy Island. Close to the Castle Hill, at Tenby, a reindeer's head was brought to shore. Mr. Wilkins, cabinet-maker, Tenby, who is a native of Pendine, pointed out to me a bed of till near that place, just above the sunken forest, and agreeing in all respects with Dr. Hicks's bed at Whitesand. In this, when a boy, Mr. Wilkins found "a deer's skull which had enormous horns, flat like those of the stags in Stackpole Park." There can be no doubt it was the head of an Irish elk (cervus megaceros). Unfortunately, the finder's uncle sold it to make knife handles.

The subsidence of this tract of land seems to have been gradual, with occasional checks. The late Rev. G. N. Smith, of Gumfreston, found in the submerged forest bed at Manorbier an old raised beach. This no doubt marks the level of a check. Then the subsidence went on until the tide reached up to the level of the well-known raised beach, portions of which are to be seen above Merlin's Cave Tenby, at Giltar, on Caldy Island, and under the Butts on the Penally Rifle Range. When this point was reached, an upheaval commenced, which brought the land back again to its present level. From the last named raised beach at Merlin's Cave I have obtained oyster, periwinkle, limpet, and other shells, which show that the climate much resembled that which now exists.

The district peculiarly affected by the neolithic population of Pembrokeshire was, as stated above, the coast. To this, perhaps, we should add the high lands of Precelly. (Indications of their occupancy may be traced in their camps, cave refuse, and kitchen middens; by flint flakes left by the manufacturers of implements, and the perfect implements themselves, whether of flint or other stones; add to these burial places, both in caves and in megalithic chambers. The neolithic cliff castles have been tenanted by other races since the far distant days in which they were first designed, and many of them have no doubt suffered modification at the hands of their later owners. Their plan was simple enough. A peninsula having been chosen, already fortified by nature on three sides, the fourth was then rendered safe by ditch and bank, the latter being doubled or trebled if necessary.

These cliff castles are very plentiful on the western coast of Pembrokeshire, less so on the southern, absent altogether on the eastern and northern shores. A good typical cliff castle is that on Old Castle Head, near Manorbier, where the constructors have taken advantage of a curious natural formation. A soft bed in the old red sandstone has been destroyed by joint action of weather and sea, so that a yawning cañon is left between a portion of the rock and the mainland; the crevasse is spanned by a natural bridge; a small space inland of this natural fortification is enclosed by a double line of fosse and vallum, behind which the level falls away towards the mainland. The whole enclosure is very small and obviously intended for a temporary refuge, though in it are some faint traces of huts, but as there is no water, and the camp is exposed to all the winds that blow from heaven, it could scarcely be intended for permanent occupation.