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DESCRIPTIONS OP CRANIA.
supra-nasal boss ; has the tuberosities of the parietals prominent, and an elevated spot on the
vertex, between them. Calcined bones were found in tliis cist, but they are not human. The other
is derived from a cromlech, named " Sian-borve," in the Isle of Benbecula, so famous in legend *.
This also is the calvariimi of a man; and of equally advanced age. It is the larger of the two in
almost all dimensions, its circumference being one inch more; yet it is shorter, but broader, and
half an inch higher, and belongs to the brachycephaUc series. It has an equally regular outline ;
the frontal sinuses are equally large; neither the parietal tuberosities, nor the elevation in the
vertex, are quite so much expressed. Therefore, whilst the calvarium from the Bernera cist, in
size and form, differs less from the Nisibost skull than that from the Sian-borve cromlech, they
ruins of ancient human habitations, as well as of other sepulchral
cists. This, the most perfect among the latter, was 3 ft. 3 in.
long, and 2 ft. 6 in. wide. The skeleton was necessarily in the
flexed position, laid on its right side, and with the head towards
the east. The neighbouring cists do not indicate that
any reeard was paid to the points of the compass in constructing
them. The abodes of those who were buried in these
narrow tombs are surrounded with shells of the limpet, whelk,
cockle, and oyster, and also with the teeth of horse.«, the
bones of the o\, &c.
* The west side of the Island of Benbecula terminates in a
cape, called the Point of Sian, exposed to the murmuring waves
of the great western ocean. Sian itself is a green hillock which
slopes gently towards the shore, and at one timewas itself formed
at the top into a conical tumulus, which enclosed this cromlech.
The latter was constructed of four or five slabs of stone laid on
their sides, making a cist not longer than a large coffin, and
covered in with a cap-stone. The name Sian is pure Celtic,
and its very sound speaks of superstition. It means the abode
of the men of peace, who, though usually identified with, are
very different from the well-known Fairies. By usage, Sian
has come to mean a sharply-pointed conical hillock. Borve,
pronounced as if written borgh, meaning fertile or cultivated,
is the name of many a small district in the Hebrides.
It would be tedious to detail the experience of those recorded
bv tradition as having seen this Sian open, and had their
mortal eyes dazzled by the brilliancy of the ulterior, and their
ears glutted by ever-flowing strains of the most heavenly
music ; or of others who at times found it as difficult to resist
entering as if the syrens themselves had held a jubilee
within, but to find, on coming out again, that the few hours
they fancied they had spent withm, were as many long years.
I t is curious that, in such a small isle as Benbecula, two sets
of legends respecting this ttimulus, and those of very different
characters, should have existed for ages and have been believed
by the imaginative mhabitants:—the one representing Sian
as the abode of the men of peace, where a half-real, halfvisionary
sort of life was spent from age to age in feasting,
music, dancing and other enchanting delights; the other
setting it down as the tomb of an ancient freebooter.
" In the direction of the interior of Benbecula, and about a
mile distant from Sian, lie the massive ruins of a very ancient
castle (to judge from the chai-acter of the masonry), which,
though at this date situated in the middle of a level fertile
plain, stood at one time on a rock surrounded by the sea.
48.
This castle was inhabited within the last two or three hundred
years by the Chiefs of Clanronald, the Lords of the Isles, or
Clann DonuiU nan Eillean. Tradition says that tlie tomb of
Sian dates further back than the history of the Clauronalds, or
Clandonalds. Some, who could never dream of anything being
older than the history of that family, associate the name of
Clanronald with it. The Chief of the Castle, whoever he may
have been, is represented as having become the father of a
child when a very young man, by a woman whose position in
life was equal to his own, though he slighted her, and, soon
after he had humbled her, took another lady to his hand.
The parents of the rejected lady sent the child to him, it is
said from Skye, telling him he was bound to take charge of
the bov, and to rear him up in a manner befitting the station
of his parents. When this boy grew up to be a man and
found himself despised and compelled to associate with the
menials of his father's family, he resolved upon a course of
his own, and was bold enough to set up an establishment in
the island in opposition to his father, having for this purpose
attached to himself a number of the bravest men he could find.
For many years he led a life of rapine and plunder, in spite of
all the efl'orts made to crush him. His abode was near the
cromlech of Sian—an underground one, with many a tortuous
passage, now completely covered with sand. Age bore the
leader down at length, so that he could not head his men upon
any of their expeditions in quest of spoil, except under favourable
circumstances. On a certain wild day, when necessity
forced an expedition of this sort, the old hero was left alone in
the house, all things being considered safe. The enemy, aware
of what had happened, burst in upon his fastness, and set
quietly about turning the long-wished-for opportunity to advantage.
They insisted upon his accompanying them as their
prisoner. He, never doubting what his fate might be at their
hands, began to lament that, since die he must, his death
should occur at the hand of one not worthy to take the life of
a hero. At last he conceived that one way remained in which
his desire could be gratified ; and, suiting the action to the
thought, he drew his dagger and stabbed himself. When his
men came back late in the evening, they found him lying dead
in his blood. They prepared the tomb of SIAN, and deposited
his remains in it." This version of the legend we owe
to the Rev. J .N. M'Donald. Like the former recital, it reveals
the distinct proneness of the Celtic mind to poetic personification,
to tinge every thing with the glowing hues of a wild
fancv.
ANCIENT NORSE—NISIBOST, ISLE OE HARRIS.
both decidedly present that aspect which is indicative of an aboriginal origin, and in which they
agree with the cranium from the Newbigging cist, in Orkney (PL 21), and with two others,
derived from sepulchres in the same island of Pomona, and which were contributed to our
collection by the same friend, Mr. George Petrie, of Kirkwall.
The Norse skull from the cromlech of Sornach-Coir-Fhinn, at Nisibost, is that of an old
man, as is apparent from the state of effacement of the sagittal suture, the condition of the
remaining teeth and alveoli (detracting from the appearance of our Plate), the general thinness
of the calvarium (another deviation from an aboriginal type), and the obtuse angle formed by the
ascending ramus of the lower jaw. It is of a regular ovoid form, rather flattened in the forehead ;
and is remarkable for the absence of all projections interfering with this shape. There is no
supra-nasal prominence, the nasal bones passing off from the forehead in an uninterrupted
line. These bones appear to have been slender, and the whole outline of the face, under a somewhat
low forehead, elegant. There is absence of elevation in the vertical region, which is accompanied
with a prominent, almost globose and feminine supra-occipital region. It belongs to the
dolichocej)haKc series. The measurements wiU afford every other information to be obtained
respecting this cranium so unusually modern-looking as compared with most of those figured and
described in this work.
MEASUREMENTS.
m
Horizontal cixcumference .
Longitudinal diameter
Erontal Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Parietal Region.—Length
Breadth
21-2 inches.
7-4 „
5-0 „
4-8 „
4-6 „
5 0 „
5-4 „
Parietal Region.—Height
Occipital Region.—Length
Breadth
Height
Intermastoid arch . . .
Pace.—Length . . . .
4-6 inches.
4-4 „
4-3 „
4 1 „
14-9 „
4-8 „
The condition of the bones, showing such an entire absence of animal matter in their composition,
precludes our regarding this skuU as other than very ancient. That it pertains to pre-
Christian times, the place and mode of interment alike indicate. The facts and considerations we
have adduced, equally prevent ns from looking upon it as aboriginal. We are consequently led
to the conclusion, that it is the relic of an early Norseman, one of the invading race, who lived
previously to the close of the 10th century, when the Scandinavian settlers in these islets were
converted to Christianity. In confirmation of this view we may adduce tlie cranium from the
Dunrobin cist (PL 27), with which this has a general agreement. But, with stiU more confidence,
maybe cited the opinion concerning modern Scandinavian skulls formed by the late distinguished
craniologist of Stockholm, Professor A. A. Retzius, after the examination of hundreds of examples.
He included those of Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes in his European DoHchocephali; and
distinguished in a brief manner the crania of Swedes, as of long oval form, with prominent
occipital region and low parietal tuberosities. This description is wholly applicable to the
48. (5)