Buried Treasure 18

Hello, my buried treasure in this session is going to lead us deep into the ancient mythology of Ireland, and it concerns a find made in 1896 on a farm on the edge of Loch Foyle, and the discovery was made by two men ploughing, and they were ploughing together, one behind the other, to get a deep furrow. It's known as double ploughing, and they came across these objects that were buried some 14, 15 inches beneath the surface. It's known as the Broicta Hoard, and Broicta means lower fort. All of the finds are now in the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street in Dublin, but there are replicas in Ulster Museum in Belfast. There was a gold boat, a gold torc, some other pieces of gold jewellery, and a gold cauldron. All of the pieces date to the 1st century BC. Now the find site was on reclaimed land, very close to Loch Foyle. In the 1st century BC, this land was probably underwater. It strongly suggests that they were a ritual deposit, a votive offering. The boat is beautifully detailed, weighs three ounces, a little bit over seven inches long. It's got two rows of seven oars, all seated in their oarlocks, and when it was found there was also a miniature boat hook, and there is a mast and a yard arm, a steering paddle. Now in Irish Celtic myth, a warrior sea god, Manannan Mac Lear, sails a magical boat called Wave Sweeper. So maybe this is his boat, maybe this is Wave Sweeper, and there is a statue of Manannan Mac Lear on Byn Foyne a mountain which overlooks Loch Foyle. The torc was hollow, about seven and a half inches diameter, would have had a hinge. That has been lost, and one of the terminals has a T-piece which slots into the other terminal and twists to lock it in place. The gold bowl is kind of a mini cauldron, made from a single sheet of gold. It's about just over three inches in diameter. Now cauldrons are freighted with all sorts of symbolic meaning in Celtic myth. There's a legend that warriors killed in battle could be dipped in a cauldron of rebirth, and then returned to the fight. And cauldrons were important objects in the feasting culture of the Iron Age, would originally have had four suspension hoops. In Irish legend, a cauldron is one of the treasures of the Tuatha de Danann. These are the legendary descendants of the goddess Danu, known as the She, sometimes referred to as the good people, the fair ones, the lordly ones, the good neighbours. And they occupy a kind of parallel universe, living sumptuous palaces inside hollow hills. Generally benign to mortals, and often helpful. They were expert smiths, and would sometimes share their skills and expertise. And you know when they appear, because there is a buzzing like thousands of bees. There's a wonderfully imaginative and evocative painting, The Riders of the She. It's by a man called John Duncan, and it's in Dundee Art Gallery. And it shows the She riding out on one of the Celtic ceremonial days. So possibly Beltane, the first of May, or Samhain, the last day of Celtic summer, the 31st of October. And in the picture you can see some of the treasures of the Tuatha de Danann, including a cauldron. This is a cauldron of Dagda, the good protector god. And the cauldron was so magical, it was bottomless. It never emptied, so everyone would be fed. One of the treasures is in the picture as well, the sword of Nuada, or the sword of light. And the legend with the sword was that once it was drawn from its sheath, there was no escape from the blade. The jewellery, there are two chain necklaces, made loop in loop technique, and two torques. One is complete, and one is just a semicircular fragment. And the torques have been made from a single thin bar of gold that's been twisted. Now the hoard was sold by the farmer to a jeweller in Derry. He sold it on to an antiquarian, who in turn sold it to the British Museum for 600 pounds. And a court case followed for the finds to be returned to Ireland. And the Irish Academy argued that the items were buried with the intention to recover. Now that would make them treasure trove in the eyes of the law, and the property of the state. The British Museum argued no, whoever buried these had no intention to recover them, they were votive offerings. Therefore they belonged to whoever found them, and as their property, they could dispose of it as they wished. The judge decided in favour of the Irish, that it was treasure trove, and that there was an intention to recover the items. It is almost certainly the wrong conclusion, but possibly the right result. These items belong in Ireland. And let me repeat that all these items are now on display, permanent display, in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, and replicas are in Ulster Museum in Belfast. Now next time, I'm going to look at a find of Viking silver, which contains some coins, which have changed our view of a particular aspect of history. If you've enjoyed this video, hit the like and subscribe buttons, and click on the notification bell to be informed when the next video is published.