e probable. Either the Clyde objects
are old, or the modern maker knew much more of archaeology than many of
his critics and used his knowledge to direct his manufacture of spurious
things; or he kept coinciding _accidentally_ with genuine relics of which
he knew nothing.

XVI--MAGIC

Again, I must push my method beyond that of Dr. Munro, by considering the
subject of Magic, in relation to perforated and other stones, whether
inscribed with designs, or uninscribed. Among the disputed objects are
many such stones, and it is legitimate for me to prove, not only that
they occur in many sites of ancient life, but that their magical uses are
still recognised, or were very recently recognised in the British Folk-
lore of to-day.

A superstition which has certainly endured to the nineteenth century may
obviously have existed among the Picts, or whoever they were, of the
crannog and broch period on Clyde. The only _a priori_ objection is the
absence of such objects among finds made on British soil, but our
discoveries cannot be exhaustive: time may reveal other examples, and
already we have a few examples, apart from the objects in dispute.

XVII--DISPUTED OBJECTS CLASSIFIED

Dr. Munro classifies the disputed objects as _Weapons_, _Implements_,
"_Amulets_" _or Pendants_, _Cup-and-Ring Stones_, "_Human Figurines or
Idols_."

For reasons of convenience, and because what I heard about group 3, the
"amulets or pendants" first led me into this discussion, I shall here
first examine them. Dr. Munro reproduces some of them in one plate (xv.
p. 228). He does not say by what process they are reproduced; merely
naming them . . . "objects of slate and stone from Dumbuck."

Dr. Munro describes the "amulets" or "pendants" thus:

"The largest group of objects (plate XV.) consists of the so-called
amulets or pendants of stone, shale, and shell, some fifteen to twenty
specimens of which have been preserved and recorded as having been
found on the different stations, viz., three from Dunbuie (exclusive
of a few perforated oyster shells), eleven from Dumbuck, and one from
Langbank. Their ornamentation is chiefly of the cup-and-ring order,
only a few having patterns composed of straight lines. Some of them
are so large as to be unfit to be used as amulets or pendants, such,
for example, as that represented by no. 14, which is 9 inches long,
3.5 inches broad, and 0.5 inch thick. The or