were so distinct as to admit of no doubt. The true reading of Professor Graves's alphabet was verified; and not only so, but the date of a specific example was closely approximated to.

We need not stop to point out the archæological interest which this stone possesses; it seems to be one of the earliest in Wales of the Romano-British type; and its probable date will henceforth help us in conjecturing the age of other inscriptions, in which the same palæographic characteristics are met with.

It remains only to add that, with the concurrence of our Association, the Rev. H. J. Vincent, who is one of our Local Secretaries for Pembrokeshire, is about to take steps for removing the stone, either to the interior of the parish church, or to some other place where it will be more certainly preserved than it now can be,-reclining, as it does, amid mantling ivy-" half embraced and half retiring"-against a mossy, fern-grown bank in his own beautiful garden.

H. L. J.

CELTIC ARMS AND ORNAMENTS FOUND AT
PLONEOUR, BRITANNY.

A LABOURER, in 1846, while bringing some waste land into cultivation, near the village of Kernivin, in the commune of Ploneour, near Pont l'Abbé, discovered several Celtic arms and ornaments of some interest, and which appear to have been originally inclosed in a vase, the fragments of which were found upon the spot.

The discovery consisted of the following objects:I.-Two bronze ornaments, which I think are bracelets, or else some kind of ornament for the leg. Each is formed of three rings, each 3 inches in diameter, from which are suspended circular ornaments 12 inches broad, furnished with a circular edging, and a small central

knob. The rings are ornamented with lines, so as to present a tolerable resemblance to a serpent. The accompanying illustration will give a very fair notion of this singular article, which still retains traces of gilding. The

projection seen in one of the rings is caused by some lead solder, used to repair a fracture.

II. A bronze hatchet (hache), in weight 11 oz., 7 inches long, and on an average thickness of 1 inch, the breadth of the cutting edge being 14 inches. The middle is furnished with a ring, and on each side, commencing from the middle to the lower extremities, a large flat groove, by means of which the instrument was affixed to the handle.

ARCH. CAMB., THIRD SERIES, VOL. VI.

T

III.-Two hatchets similar to the preceding, but broken nearly on a level with the ring with which they are furnished. It is remarkable that arms broken in this manner are frequently found under dolmens, and other Celtic sepulchral places. If the circumstance of their being thus found is not the result of accident, but of an established custom, as some pretend to assert, we can only say that this custom was by no means uniformly observed, as arms perfectly entire are frequently found in such situations. Implements of this class are not unfrequently found in Finistère, but they are by no means so common as the hollow bronze articles usually known by the name

of coin.

IV. A bronze instrument, the use of which it is not easy to determine. I have never seen or heard of any similar to it. The accompanying cut gives a representa

tion of it of the actual size. Its form is rectangular, the longer sides being slightly convex. Its dimensions arelength, 24 inches, breadth, 14 inches, thickness at the centre, 3-16ths of an inch, whence it gradually lessens towards the extreme edges. One of these edges, which is also convex, and has received two notches, cuts as keenly as a sharp steel blade, although the instrument has been buried for ages, and is exactly in the same condition in which it was found. I have myself cut several sheets of paper with it as easily as with a razor.

V.-A fragment of a bronze socket (douille), with an exterior diameter of two centimetres at its base. It is broken on a level with the hole where a handle had been fixed. It appears to me to have been a portion of a poignard, or dagger.

One peculiarity of these instruments should not be omitted, namely, the bright traces of gilding they still exhibit an unusual circumstance in bronze articles of this kind.

Ever since 1846 these articles were deposited in a garret at Pont l'Abbé, and left there totally disregarded, until they fell by accident, a few months ago, into the hands of M. Dorn (Juge du Tribunal), of Quimper, in whose collection they are now carefully preserved, so that, although their discovery took place so many years ago, this is the first occasion on which they have been introduced to the notice of archæologists. Nor is this the first time that the commune of Ploneour1 has been the scene of important discoveries. In 1839 a peasant found two hundred pieces of Gaulish money, in electrum, the types of which have since been published in various numismatic works. Since then I have had an opportunity myself of examining two good specimens of the same class, and coming from the same district, one of which is in excellent preservation, and remarkable as a work of art.

Quimper.

R. G. LE MEN.

1 It may be as well to notice that there are three communes of this name in Finistère, namely, Ploneour Trez, near Lesneven, Ploneour Menez, near Morlaix, and the one alluded to in this notice.

Obituary.

THE REV. JOHN MONTGOMERY TRAHERNE, M.A., F.R.S., F.S.A.

WE are sorry to have to record the decease of one of our earliest and most distinguished Members, the Rev. JOHN MONTGOMERY TRAHERNE. For some time past his health had been gradually declining, and at length he has been taken away to his rest, at the age of 75. In him we have all lost a most learned, laborious, and wellwishing coadjutor. He was one of the earliest Members of our Association; contributed to our Transactions; attended most of our Meetings; took an active personal interest in our proceedings-and himself, single-handed, persuaded more Members to join our ranks than almost any other amongst us. His knowledge of Archæology in general, but especially of Welsh records and remains of all kinds, was most extensive and accurate. He deserved to stand by the side of our other lost friend-and hisHENRY HEY KNIGHT. Those two were worthies whom we cannot replace! Large as are the collections they have left behind, an immense amount of the most minute and accurate archæological knowledge has perished with them. Ripe as were their years, they have both been called away prematurely for our common cause. One was to have written a biographical memoir of the other: who shall now undertake the melancholy task of commemorating the literary and antiquarian lives of both? It It may be hard-but we hope that some one amongst us, the survivors, will be encouraged to attempt it.