; ; :

MEMOIRS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SURYEY.

ENGLAND AND WALES.

ON THE

MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS,
THE METHODS OF EXCAVATING FOE FLINT,

THE AGE OF PALEOLITHIC MAN,

AND

THE CONNEXION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART

AND THE GUN-FLINT TRADE.

BY

SYDNEY B. J. SKERTCHLY, F.G.S.

PUBLISHED BT ORDER OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OP HER MAJESTY S TRKASURT.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR, HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE,
AND SOLD BT
Longman & Co., Paternoster Row; Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill;
Letts & Son, 33, King William Street
Edward Stanford, 55, Charing Cross ; and J. Wyld, 12, Charing Cross
ALSO BT
Messrs. Johnston, 4, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh
Hodges, Foster, & Co., 104, Grafton Street, and A. Thom,
Abbej Street, Dublin.

1879.

Price Saventetn SMUmg* and -Sirp""""

 LIST OF CEOLOCICAL MAPS, SECTIONS, AND PUBLICATIONS OF THE
CEOLOCICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
The Maps are those of the Ordnance Survey, geologically coloured by the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland
under the Superintendence of Prof. A. C. Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., &c, Director-General. The various Formations are
traced and coloured in all their Subdivisions.

ENGLAND AND WALES.-(Seale one-inch to a mile.) j?

Maps, Nos. 3 to' 41, 44, 64, price 8*. 6d. each, with the exceptions of 2, 10, 2S, 24,27,28,29, 32? 88, 39, 58, it. each. . . .
Sheets divided-into four quarters, 42, 4S, 45, 46, (48 SB), 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, (59 NE, SI), 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 71, 72, 73, 74,
7M76NS), (77N),78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 87, 88,89, 105 (90 SE, NE,) (91SW,NW,9S SW, NW), (98 NE.SE, SW), (101 SE),
(109 SE). Price 3s. Exoept (57 NW), 76 (N), (77 NE). Price ls.6<Z.
SCOTLAND.— Maps 2, 3, 7, 14, 15, 22, 24, SI, 32, 33, 34, 40, 41, 6s. each. Maps 1, IS, is.
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with the exception of 38, 60, 72, 82, 122, 131, 140, 150, 159, 160, 170, 180, 181, 182, 189, 190, 196, 197, 202, 203, 204, 205, price
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HORIZONTAL SECTIONS, Illustrative of the Geological Maps.

1 to 120, England, price 5s. each. 1 to 6, Scotland, price 5s. each. 1 to 24, Ireland, price 5s. each.

VERTICAL SECTION'S, Illustrative of Horizontal Sections and Maps.

to 62, England, price 3s. Gd. each. Ireland, price 3s. ed. 1 to 5, Scotland, price Ss. 6d.
'

I 1,

COMPLETED COUNTIES OP ENGLAND AND WAXES, on a Scale of one-inch to a Mile,

The sheets marked * have Descriptive Memoirs.
Those marked t are illustrated by General Memoirs.

ANGLE SEY— sheets 77 (N), 78. Horizontal Sections, sheet 40.

BEDFORDSHIRE—sheets 46 (NW, NE, SWt, &. SEt), 52 (NW, NE, SW, & SE).
BERKSHIRE—sheets 7*, 8t, 12*, IS*, 34*. 45 (SW*). Horizontal Sections, sheets 59, 71, 72, 80).
BRECKNOCKSHIRE—sheets S6, 41, 42, 56 (NW& SW), 57 (NE & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 4, 5, 6, 11; and
Vertical Sections, sheets 4 and 10.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,-^* 13* 45* (NE, SE), 46 (NW, SWt), 52 (SW). Horizontal Sections, 74, 79.
CAERMARTHENSHIRE, 87, 88, 40, 41, 42 (NW & SW), 56 (SW), 57 (SW & SE). Horizontal Sections'2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 ;
'
and Vertical Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14.
CAERNARVONSHIRE,—74 (NW), 75, 76, 77 (N)> 78, 79 (NW & SW). Horizontal Section 28, 31, 40.
CARDIGANSHIRE,—40, 41, 56 (NW), 57, 58, 59 (SE), 60 (SW). Horizontal Sections 4, 5, 6.
CHESHIRE —73 (NE & NW), 79. (NE & SE), 80, 81 (NW* & SW*), 88 (SW). Horizontal Sections 18, 43, 44, 60, 64, 65,
67, 70.
CORNWALL,*-24t 25t, 26t, 29t, 30t, Sit, 32t, & 33t.
DENBIGH.-7S (NW), 74, 75 (NE), 78 (NE & SE), 79 (NW, SW, & SE), 80 (SW). Horizontal Sections 31, 35, 88, 39,
43, 44, and Vertical Sections, sheet 24.
DERBYSHIRE-62 (NE), 63 (NW), 71 (NW, SW, & SE), 72 (NE, SE), 81, 82, 88 (SW, SE)). Horizontal Sections 18,
46, 60, 61, 69, 70.
DEVONSHIRE— 20t, 21t, 22t, 23t, 24t. 25t, 26t, & 27ti. Horizontal Sections, sheet 19.

t The Geology of the Counties of Cornwall and Devon is fully illustrated by Sir H. De la Beche's " Report." 8vo lis.

DORSETSHIRE—15, Horizontal Sections, sheets 19, 20, 21, 22 56.

16, 17, 18, 21, 22. Vertical sections, sheet 22.
FLINTSHIRE —74 (NE), 79. Horizontal Sections, sheet 43.
GLAMORGANSHIRE,— 20, 36, 37, 41, & 42 (SE & SW). Horizontal Sections, sheets 7, 8, 9, 10. 11; and Vertical Sections,
sheets 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 47. *>

GLOUCESTERSHIRE—19, 34*, 35, 43 (NE SW & SE), 44*. Horizontal Sections 12, 13, 14, 16, 59; and Vertical
Sections, 7, 11, 16, 46, 47, 48, 49, 60, 51.
HAMPSHIRE,— 8t, 9, 10*, 11, 12*, 14, 15, 16. Horizontal Section, sheet 80.
HEREFORDSHIRE—42 (NE & SE), 43, 55, 56 (NE & SE). Horizontal Sections
'
5, IS, 27, 30, 34 ; and Vertical Sections,
sheet 15. »<*

KENT,—It (SW & SE), 2t 3t 4*, 5, 6t. Horizontal Sections, sheets 77 and 78.
MERIONETHSHIRE— 59 (NE & SE), 60 (NW), 74, 75 (NE & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37,

MIDDLESEX—It (NW SW), 7*, 8t. Horizontal Sections, sheet 79.

St

MONMOUTHSHIRE,—35, 36, 42 (SE & NE), 43 (SW). Horizontal Sections, sheets 5 and 12; and Vertical Sections,
sheets 8, 9, 10, 12.
MONTGOMERYSHIRE—56 (NW), 69 (NE & SE), 60, 74 (SW & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 26, 27 29 30, 32, 34,
35, S6, 38.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE-64, 45 (NW&NE), 46 (NW), 52 (NW, NE, & SW) 63 (NE, SW, & SE), 63 (SE), 64.
OXFORDSHIRE,^*, 13*, 34*, 44*, 45*, 53 (SE*, SW). Horizontal Sections, sheets 71, 72, 81, 82.
PEMBROKESHIRE,— 38, 39, 40, 41, 58. Horizontal Sections, sheets 1 and 2 and Vertical Sections, sheets 12 and 13. ;

RADNORSHIRE,—42 (NW & NE), 56, 60 (SW & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 5, 6, 27.
RUTLANDSHIRE,—this county is included in sheet 64.
SHROPSHIRE—55 (NW, NE), 66 (NE), 60 (NE, SE), 61, 62 (NW), 73 74 (NE, SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 24,
25, 80, S3, 34, 36, 41, 44, 45, 53, 54, 58 and Vertical Sections, sheets 23, 24.
;

SOMERSETSHIRE— 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, 35, Horizontal Sections, sheets 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, & 22 ; and Vertical Sections
sheets 12, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, and 51.
STAFFORDSHIRE,-(54NW), 55 (NE), 61 (NE, SE), 62, 63 (NW), 71 (SW), 72, 73 (NE, SE), 81 (SE, SW). Hori-
zontal Sections 18, 23, 24, 25, 41, 42, 45, 49, 54, 57, 61, 60; and Vertical Sections, sheets 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 26.
SURREY,—1 (SWt), 6t, 7*, 8t, 9. Horizontal Sections, sheets 74, 75, 76, and 79.
—
SUSSEX, 4*, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11. Horizontal Sections, sheets 73, 75, 76, 77, 78.
WARWICKSHIRE,—14*, 45 (NW), 58*, 54, 62 (NE, SE), 63 (NW, SW, & SW & SE). Horizontal Sections, sheets 2S
'
48, 49, 50, 51, 82, 83 ; and Vertical Sections, sheet 21.
WILTSHIRE,— 12*, IS*, 14, 15, 18, 19, 34*, and 35. Horizontal Sections, sheets 15 and 59.
WORCESTERSHIRE.-43 (NE), 44*, 54, 55, 62 (SW & SE), 61 (SE) Horizontal Sections 13, S3, 25, 60, and 59 and
Vertical Section 15.
hi

U
II

CO

\-

QL

Ll
 ; :

MEMOIRS OE THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. t

ENGLAND AND WALES.

ON THE

MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS,
THE METHODS OF EXCAVATING FOR FLINT,

THE AGE OF PALEOLITHIC MAN,

AND

THE CONNEXION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART

AND THE GUN-FLINT TRADE.

BY

SYDNEY B. J. £KERTCHLY, F.G.S.

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF HER MAJESTY 8 TREASURY.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE,
AND SOLD BY
Longman & Eow; Trubner & Co., Ludgate Hill;
Co., Paternoster
Letts & Son, 33, King William Street
Edward Stanford, 55, Charing Cross and J. Wyld, 12, Charing Cross
;

ALSO BY
Messrs. Johnston, 4, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh;
Hodgf.s, Foster, & Co., 104, Grafton Street, and A. Thom,
*
Abbey Street, Dublin.

1879.

Price Seventeen Shillings and Simpene& .

 '

NOTICE.

In this memoir Mr. Skertchly seems: to have clearly

established the circumstance that the manufacture of
flint implements has been continuously carried on from
what geologists have called Neolithic times down to the
present day, for gun-flints are still manufactured at
Brandon for the African market, and among some
uncivilised tribes stone weapons . are still in use, while
by the Digger Indians of California stone arrow heads
are made, though some years ago they preferred to
make them from the thick bottoms of old porter bottles,
a fact for which I am indebted to the personal obser-
vation of Mr. John Arthur Phillips.

Mr. Skertchly mentions that at Brandon the imple-

ments were the work of the inhabitants of our country
before, the Aryan race migrated hither, and this is likely
to have generally been the case, for it is known that the
Aryan races were acquainted with metals and used
,

armour. It is, however, on record that in the Shetland

islands stone knives were made and used down to quite
a late period.
If it be difficult or impossible to guess with any
approach to accuracy at the time when Neolithic man
began to work in our area, it is still more difficult to
estimate the years that have elapsed between the
Palaeolithic and Neolithic epochs. That man lived in
this region in interglacial times I have no doubt, and
I also believe it to be most probable that he even
inhabited Our region in pre-glacial times, and perhaps
never fairly left it, but only retired south during the
general increase of cold, and the gradual advance of the
and still survived in what is now the south of
glaciers,
England. On this subject, however, Mr. Skertchly has
had no occasion to enter in the present memoir.
Andrew 0. Bams ay,
Director General.

38856. Wt. 354.

 ;

IV

NOTICE.

The following Memoir, by Mr. Skertchly, gives an

exhaustive and trustworthy account of an industry
which seems to have been carried on at Brandon, and
in its immediate neighbourhood, from a very remote
period. Though formerly of considerable importance,
the art has now become nearly obsolete in consequence
of the improvements that have taken place in the con-
struction of fire-arms, in the earlier history of which
the present work may be considered to form an
interesting chapter.
It is,intended to serve as an explanation of a
also,
manufactured flints which has been brought
collection of
together, through the aid of Mr. Skertchly, for the
Museum of Practical Geology, each specimen being
described and figured in the following pages.
In his treatment of the more obscure ethnological
and archaeological questions, the opinions of the Author
are entitled to every consideration. The practical
acquaintance which he has acquired of flint-knapping
and working, his close study of the different ways in
,

which flint can be broken, coupled with his intimate

knowledge of. the geological structure of the country
around Brandon, as well as of the deposits in which
Palaeolithic implements have been found, necessarily
impart additional weight and value to his arguments
with regard to the geological age of Palaeolithic man
and also to his endeavours to trace a connexion between
Neolithic art and the modern flint manufacture as
practised by the Brandon knappers of the present day.
The specimens of flints, and the tools and appliances
used in their manufacture, have been drawn, on the
wood, by Mr. Bedaway, from the objects themselves,
and have been engraved by Mr. Shepherd.
H. W. Bbistow,
Senior Director.
Geological Survey Office,
28, Jermyn Street, London, S.W.,
23rd August 1878.
 V

PREFACE.

In this work the manufacture of gun anck other flints

as carried on at Brandon, is described in greater detail

than has before been attempted; and the value of the
study of this branch of industry to geologists is pointed
out. The volume is especially descriptive of a very
complete series of specimens made under my super-
vision for the Museum of Practical Geology by
Mr. W. J. Southwell, to whom my best thanks are due,
not merely for the care he bestowed upon the specimens,
but for the unflagging patience with which he imparted
to me day by day most of the information herein contained
concerning his craft. So far as the Brandon manufacture
is concerned, I may claim to have produced a work as
free as possible from errors of description ; for most of
it was written in the workshop, and all has been revised
by my unwearied flint-knapper. Similar assistance has
been rendered by stone-diggers in that branch of the
work which relates to- their craft. So far I have been
merely the mouth-piece of the flint- workers, but have
verified every part of the description by learning the
business practically.
That the Brandon gun-flint manufacture is a direct
descendant of the neolithic age seems to me certain
from a comparison, 1, of old " scrapers " with old strike-
a-lights, 2, of old strike-a-lights with modern' ones, 3,

of strike-a-lights with old English or modern French

gun-flints. It is shown that
further in one nearly

obsolete tool we probably have an iron replica of a

neolithic flaking-hammer, and that some of the curious,
 VI

small, bored celts answer in every point to flaking-

hammers and to nothing else.*

The observations upon the kind of hammer used, the

character of the blows given, and the resulting nature
of the fracture produced are original, and founded
upon a close study of the different modes in which
flint can be broken.
The illustrations are nearly all very faithful copies
of particular specimens. Owing to my not being able
to superintend the drawing, some of the gun-flints are
slightly faulty, the trimmed heels being omitted. If
it be remembered that all but double-edged flints have

a trimmed heel, no error can arise in naming the flints.

The English hammer has suffered perfection. It is (as
needs must be) a very battered specimen, but the
kindly artist has feelingly restored its lost beauties,
and unwittingly robbed it of its more important
peculiarities. It is well also to remark that the Doubles
in this collection are all rather too large, and hence too
much like the Singles. This will be remedied if this

work attains to a second edition.

.To Mr. H. W. Bristow, E.B.S., Director of the Geolo-
gical Survey of England, my best thanks are due for the
verification of many of the references, and much kind
assistance in many ways.
Sydney B. J. Skertchly.

, Brandon, February 28th, 1876.

* These observations have now been largely extended, and many

new "points d'appui" have come to light between the ancient and
modern arts. -
This, and the question of the age of Paleolithic Man, will be treated
of in a distinct work.
S. B. J. S.
December 1877.
 —

VII

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Introductory.

—Efficiency of gun-flints --....

Literature of the subject.— Use of pyrites.— Development of
Fire-arms.
\

Geological Position of the Flints.

Lingheath. — Santon Downham. — Broomhill. —Shaker's Lodge.— Elm's
Plantation. —Norwich.— Icklingham. — Elvedon. — Elvedon Lodge.
Thetford.— Beer Head. 5

Tools.
Stone-digger's picks, &c— Quartering, Flaking, arid Knapping Ham-
mers.—Block and Stake. — Flaking candlestick - - - 15

Method of Digging Flint.

Localities chosen. — Sinking the shafts. — Stages. —Burrows. — Miner's
Laws. — Plans of Mines. —Raising the stone. — Prices of Flint. —Pro-
duce - - - - - - -21
Manufacture of Gun-Flints.
— Quartering.— Flaking.— Knapping.— Counting. — Building
........
Drying.
Flints. — Marked Flints.— Pitted — Strike-a-Lights.— French
Flints.

gun-flints 27

Antiquity and Development of the Flint Trade at Brandon.

Brandon celebrated for its flint from Palaeolithic times. —The Neolithic
and Modern mines very —The flaking hammer a of the
similar. relic

Stone Age.— Comparative

Strike-a-Lights. — Neolithic Flakes
skill
-----
of ancienfand modern knappers.
39

Description of Specimens.
Flint. —Tools. — Gun-flints. —Flint Locks, See.— Waste.— Miscellaneous 45
38856. A
 —

Vlll

Age of Palaeolithic Man.

Sketch of the surface geology of Brandon. — Position of the implement
heds below the Chalky Boulder Clay.
Subsequent notes - ....
—Descriptions of implements.
65

On the Connexion between Neolithic Aet and the Gun-

flint Tbade.

Grime's Graves and Lingheath pits, their similarities and differences.

Similar tools used by the neolithic and modern knappers.— Similar

implements made by the two people. — Comparison between the
Neolithic,
Brandon industry a relic of the Stone Age ... —
modern English, and modern French knappers. The
69
 IX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fig.
1. Hand'gun and Spear - - - - - 2
2.
3. Stone-Digger's Pick ...
Section of Flint Pit at Lingheath - -

.
faces
.
6
15
4.
5.
6.
First Quartering
Flaking Hammer
Hammer

English Flaking Hammer

... ...
-
-

-
- - - -
.
16
17
18
7. Knapping Hammer - - - - 19

.......
8. Block and Stake - - 19
9. Stake - - - 20
10. Flaking Candlestick - 21
11.
12.
13.
14.
„
Flakers at .Work
„
.....
Plan of Pits for working out Floor Stone -
Wall Stone
-

-
- faces 23
do. 23
Frontispiece
Front-view of Core, with Flakes- replaced, showing the points of
Percussion - - ...
- faces 29
15. Side-view of the above Core - - do. 29
16. Double-backed Flake - - - - - 30
17. Single-backed Flake - - 30
18. Knappers at Work - - - faces 31
1 9.- Flake marked to show how it will be knapped. H.P. Horse =
Pistol. C. =
Carbine. D. =
Double . - 31
20. English Strike-a-Light - - 36
21. French Strike-a-Light - - - - 36
22. Horse-shoe Strike-a-Light - - - - - - 37
23. Flint Arrow-head from Chatteris. (The engraver has mistaken

24.
figure)
Flint
-

Arrow-head from Brandon -

...
the character of the chipping and so destroyed the beauty of the
. .

-
40
40
25. Skeleton Flint, showing the various parts - - - - 46
26. Wall Piece - - - - - - - 47
27. Large Swan - - - - - - -47
28. Best Musket - - - - - 48
29. Second Musket - - 49
30. Double-edge Musket - - - - 49
31. Common Musket - - - - - 50
Mixed Grey or Spotted Musket 51

...
32. - - -

33.
34.
35.
36.
Solid Grey
Chalk-heeled Musket
Best Carbine
Second Carbine
.-.---
Musket (Icklingham make)

...
- -

. .
- 51
52
52
53
37. Double-edged Carbine - - - - - - 53
38. Common Carbine - - - - 54
39. Common Carbine, Double-edge - - - - 54
A 2
Fig. Page
40.
41.
42.
Grey or Spotted Carbine
Chalk-Heeled Carbine
Best Horse-Pistol -
...
- -
-

-
-

- -
-55
-

-
55
56
43. Best Horse-Pistol, Double-edge - - - 56
44. Second Horse-Pistol - - - - - - 5/
45. Second Horse-Pistol, Double-edge - - - 57
46. Common Horse-Pistol - -
- 58
47. Common Horse-Pistol, Double-edge - - - 58
48. Mixed Grey or Spotted Horse-Pistol - - - 59
49.
50. Super Single ...
Chalk-heeled Horse-Pistol

...
- -

-
- -

-
59
69
60

....
51. Second Single
52. Fine Single - - - - 60

.....
53. "Super Double - 61
54. Second Double or Rifle - - - - 61
55. Fine Double -62
56. Super Pocket-Pistol - - - 62
57. Fine Pocket-Pistol - - - 63
58. Old English Gun-flint - - - 63
59. French Gun-flint - - - - - - 63
60. Cut and Polished Gun-flint - - - - - 63
61. German Gun-flint - - - 64
62. Section showing position of Palaeolithic Beds - - 68
63. Plan of Flint Pit, Grime's Graves - - 70
64. Corresponding portion of a Modern Flint Pit - - 70
65. Modern Flint Digger's Pick - - _ 73
66. Neolithic Flint Digger's Pick - - - 73
67. Neolithic Oval Strike-a-Light - - 76
68. Modern Oval Strike-a-Light - - - 76
69. Common English Strike-a-Light - - -
76
70. Horse-shoe Strike-a-Light - - 77
71. Strike-a-Light - - .
77
 ON THE

MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS.

Introductory,
The manufacture of gun-flints has been carried on for a great
length of time at Brandon, a little town on the Ouse Parva, about
six miles west of Thetford, in Suffolk. Gun-flints were also
made at Icklingham, on the river Lark, in the same county,
about 12 miles south of Brandon of late years only a single shop
;

and workman have existed at this place, and now (1875) the manu-
facture has been stopped for two years. At this place the manu-
facture never attained the magnitude or the degree of excellence
which gave to Brandon the pre-eminence it now enjoys. Near
Norwich gun-flints are still made in small quantities by a single
workman, but the Norwich knappers being Brandon men this place
may be considered a branch of the mother trade.
Mr. Evans, F.B.S., in his " Ancient Stone Implements of Great
Britain,"* gives an account of the manufacture at Brandon, but
the fullest record is that of Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., of
Bedford, in Stevens's " Flint Chips."f From this admirable
paper free quotation will be made respecting foreign manufactures.
In some few instances the two authors named have fallen into
trifling errors, which the possession of their works, and my resi-
dence at Brandon, have enabled me to rectify. I have, however,
been able to treat the question in far greater detail, and from
different aspects than have before been attempted. Like Mr. Wyatt,
I have studied the art of gun-flint making under experienced
Brandon professors.
At pyrites was as often used as flint, and this must have
first
continued until the manufacture of gun-flints was permanently
established. Beckmann, in his "History of Inventions," seems to be
of opinion that the use of pyrites preceded that of flint in all cases.
This, I think, was not the case, for in many places flint is much
more plentiful than pyrites ; it is better adapted for producing
sparks, and was, in fact, in general use as part of the old " flint
and steel " apparatus. It is suggestive, on this point, that in the
Tower not a single English weapon is preserved in which pyrites
was used instead of flint. It must, however, be remembered that
in early (neolithic) times pyrites was used with flint for obtaining
fire.

Pp. 16 to 20. f Pp. 578-90.

2 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

Thu date abandonment of pyrites for flint is not

of the final
known, but the year 1586, Julius, Duke of Brunswick, had
in
pyrites collected for his fire-arms near Seefen, and even worked it
into, shape himself, " though, in so, doing he ofjten bruised his
" fingers, and was advised by the physicians not to expose him-
" self to the sulphurous valour emitted by that substance."
.The development of fire-arms is finely illustrated by the col-
lection preserved in the Tower of London, from which the
following examples are described. At first the flints were merely
rough pieces of convenient size, and these were used occasionally
as late as the year 1630 in France and 173N in England The
crudest type of fire-nrm I have seen is in this collection. It is
an iron spear, about 3 i'eet in length, with a barrel at the butt-end,
as shown in Fig. 1, which is one-half the size of the original. The
barrel is 6 inches long, with a bore of about \ of an inch in
diameter. The touch-hole and pan are shown at d. Attached to
a link are two short wire chains, to one of which a stout steel pin
is appended and to the other a clip to hold the flint. The weapon

Fig. 1. Hand-gun and spear. In the Tower Armoury.

u. b. Length of barrel.
c. Portion of the spear.
d. Touch -hole and pan.
e. Steel pin.

/. Clip for flint.

was placed under the arm, the flint was then held over the pan
and struck with the steel pin. It is dated 16th century, and
numbered ^,
At Dresden an old gun is still preserved, called a Buchse " on
" which, instead of a lock, there is a cock with a flint-stone
" placed opposite to the touch-hole, and this flint was rubbed
" with a file till it emitted a spark."*
'
The first improvements on the original hand-fired match-lock
was a cock to hold the match. The cock fell towards the gunner
and u sliding cover was afterwards appended to the pan to protect
the priming, and prevent sparks striking the gunner's face. The
earliest weapon in the Tower in which the motion is from the
gunner is a Flemish wall-piece of the middle of the 1 7th century.

* History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, by John Beckmann, London.

Bohn. 4th edition, pp. 5^8 to 539.
 HISTORY OF FIRE-ARMS. 3

It is labelled f|. A German wheel-lock harquebus, dated 1738,

however, still has the cock falling towards the gunner.
In the 15th century the wheel-lock was introduced with the
use of flints or pyr/ites. The stone was screwed into a cock, and
a steel plate or wheel, which was cocked or wound up by a parti-
cular kind of key called a spanner, was fixed to the barrel. At
first these weapons missed fire very often, and a German
harquebus, dated 1546, and marked j, was originally a wheel-
lock but converted info a match-lock. Afterwards a match-lock
was used with the wheel-lock so as to be ready in case of the
latter missing fire. The harquebus with this double arrangement
dated 1603, is exhibited at the Tower, the catalogue mark being
-^. Wheel-locks were used in Germany as late as the year 1797,
for a so dated is shown with the catalogue number £|.
rifle
The date of the introduction of the true flint-lock is uncertain.
The earliest notice known to Mr. J. Hewitt, the author of the
" Official Catalogue of the Tower Armouries," is that printed in
the 1st vol. of the proceedings of the Norfolk Archaeological
Society, the record of a payment by the Chamberlain of Norwich
in 1588, ' to Henry Eador, smytb, for making one of the old
pistols with a snapphance and a new stock for it/ (p. 1 6.) " The
German name of Schnapphahn," says Mr. Hewitt, " borne by the
flint arm in its earliest days, clearly shows that the invention was
a German one."* The superiority of the flint over the match-
lock is shown by the fact that soon after its introduction the old
locks were converted into the new form, specimens of which are to
be seen in the Tower, as for instance one marked JA-, of the reign
of William III.
Flint-locks were introduced into the English army about the
year 1686, and were in general use at the beginning of the 18th
century.
The soldiers of the duchy of Brunswick used match-locks until
the year 1687, " In France, the Miquelet gun-lock, a Spanish in-
" vention, was first introduced in 1630, but the stone, if flint was
" used at that time, had not, at all events, been subjected to any
" manufacturing process."+ By the year 1703 the soldier was
armed witli a musket, but he had to find his own flints which were
often used in a rough state. It was not until the year 1719 that
a manufacture of gun-flints was regularly established in France.
Gun-flints were superseded in England by percussion caps
about the year 1835, and so complete was the change that flint-
locks ceased to be manufactured for home use soon afterwards, with
the exception of those used for horse-pistols, which are still very
frequently of the old pattern, and which may be purchased at most
ironmongers in large towns. The old flint-lock, long-barrelled,
duck-guns used by gunners are by some still preferred to modern
guns, for it is said, and it seems to me very likely, that the flash
in the pan causes the ducks to raise their heads from the water,

* Official Cat. Tower Armouries, p. 74 (foot note^l870.

f Quoted by Wyatt. Flint Chips, p. 579.
 — —

MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

and so increases the chance of hitting them. The flash is certainly

sufficiently in advance of the discharge to be noticed, and wary
birds like ducks are very likely to be roused by it.
A
good fliat will last a gunner half a day, but as there is con-
siderable uncertainty as to amount of work got out of it in that
time, I fired a flint-lock pistol with a new flint 100 times in
succession.* The following results were obtained :

The pistol fired - 36 times.

„ „ flashed - 25 „
„ „ missed fire - - 39 „

100

I did not find much difference between the beginning and end
of the experiment indeed the misses were more frequent at first
;

than afterwards. Thus dividing the 100 shots into four batches
of 25, in the order of discharge, there were :

3. 4.

Fires 11 10 6
Flashes 1 7 8
Misses 13 8 11

Totals - 25 25 25 25

When a flint gets much worn, however, it misses fire very often,
a serious matter in warfare. " All military men," says a writer in
Rees's Cyclopaedia, " must know that nothing is more adverse to
" the operations of a regiment than the necessity (which too often
" occurs in consequence of the proper form of gun-flints not being
" sufficiently attended to) for men to quit their ranks for the
" purpose of either hammering or changing their flints. To brave
" men such a necessity is' painful as well as'dangerous, while to
" the less resolute it serves at least for a pretext to pass into the
" rear, or eventually to relinquish his post altogether."") -

The gun-flint trade is steadily dying out, and unless some

alteration takes place a lew more years will terminate its
existence. Its decay is not owing, as might have been supposed,
to a falling off in the demand but to a lack of hands, the boys
;

preferring agricultural or other labour to the confinement of a

knapper's shop. The demand for flints, especially from Birming-
ham and Sheffield merchants, is even now in excess of the supply,

* The used was rather too broad.

flint A
better fitting one fired 34 times, flashed
7 times and missed 09 times.In the first 25 it fired 20 times, flashed 1 and missed
—
4 times in the last 25 there were 2 fires and 23 misses showing that the flint was
;

worn up. It may be taken as near the truth that a flint cannot be depended upon for
more than 30 shots.
f Quoted by Wyatt.
 DECAY OF THE FLINT TRADE. 5

and to my knowledge large orders for hundreds of thousands

of gun-flints have been recently declined in consequence of the
paucity of hands. is very difficult to obtain statistics to prove
It
this; but old men
say the number of knappers has steadily
decreased. In the year 1868 there were 36 men regularly at
work, exclusive of the stone diggers these men worked ; for three
masters who were buyers in Brandon and dealt with the mer-
chants. Of late years the flint-makers have preferred to get rid
of the buyers, and to sell directly to the merchants.
There are
at present (April 1878) 26 men and boys, who
work in four
shops, showing a decrease of 10 knappers in ten years.
Several
knappers work at other things during the day and knap at night,
but many of these are giving up flint-making. Five men and five
boys are engaged in stone-digging.
The gun-flint manufacture used to be considered a very
unhealthy one, and it was said that every knapper died of con-
sumption at about 40 years of age. This may have been true,
but the consumption was of drink, and not of the lungs; it
being the practice to work from Wednesday to Saturday and
drink the rest of the time. This unhappy state of affairs is
coming to an end, and some of the steadiest men in Brandon
are knappers, and several are quite old. The practice of damp-
ing the flint before using it also renders the trade less un-
healthy; but the particles of dust flying about certainly have
some influence upon health.

Geological Position of the Flints.

The flint now manufactured at Brandon is obtained from
Lingheath, about a mile south-south-east of the town, but it
has, until of late years, been dug at Santon Downham, three miles
further up the river, and at Broomhill about a mile from the town
on the Norfolk side of the river. The flints occur, of course, in the
Upper Chalk, and the sections at the three points, will now be
described.

Lingheath. —
Lingheath is completely honey-combed with new
and old from Brandon Park on the west to the slope of the
pits,
Ouse Valley on the east. The pits in the latter situation are now
worked out they were shallower than those high up on the heath,
;

a necessary consequence of their position. They are known as the

Fleet Pits from this circumstance, fleet being a local term signi-
fying near the surface, as distinct from gain meaning near at hand
in a horizontal direction ; fleet refers to vertical, gain to horizontal
distances. These admirable terms express two distinct ideas for
which our cultured language has only the one word near. The
flint has been worked on Lingheath for about 160 years, prior to
which time, the stone was obtained from Brandon Park near the
Elms.
Fig. 2 is a section of a typical flint-pit measured by myself on
the summit of Lingheath, in the Poor's Plantation, to which is
 —

6 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

added from the information of old diggers all the beds below the
Floor-stone. The section thus compounded is as follows :

ft-
1. Sand and Gravel
2. Dead-Lime -
3. Soft, White Chalk -

4. Horns Flint, thickness included in

5. Soft,White Chalk
6. Toppings Flint
-
7. Soft, White Chalk
8. First Pipe- Clay

9. Hard, White Chalk -

10. Upper-Crust Flint -

11. Soft, White Chalk

1 2. Second Pipe- Clay
13. Hard Chalk, one jointless bed
14. Soft, White Chalk -

15. Wall Stone -

] 6. Very Soft Chalk, full of Horns
17. Soft, White Chalk -

18. Third Pipe- Clay

19. Hard, White Chalk -
20. Floor Stone -

21. White Chalk

Soft, -

22. Hard, White Chalk -

23. Rough and Smooth Blacks

24. Soft, White Chalk

The sand and gravel is part of the very wide-spread deposit,

containing palaeolithic implements, which covers almost the whole
face of the country, reaching the highest ground in the county and
plunging into the valleys quite irrespective of the present drainage
system. Mr. Evans, F.E.S.* and Mr. Flower, F.(l.S.,f have
described portions of this deposit as isolated patches capping high
ground. The latter indeed says "it comprises an ar^ of from
thirty to forty acres," had he written miles he would have been
within the truth ; neither of these authors seem to have a know-
ledge of the extent of these beds, which will be described in the
explanation of sheet 51 N.E. of the Geological Survey.
The term dead-lime is a local designation for decomposed chalk,
into which the sand penetrates, and with which its upper part is
generally mixed. It is quite friable above but lumpy below;
small flints, with natural coats, are scattered through it. In
"fleet pits," where it intersects a layer of flints (as will be
presently described), the large flints are always " edge-ways,"
or stand on end, and often have brown glazed coats. The junction
with the chalk below is more or less abrupt.

* Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain, 1872, pp. 507, 511, &c.
t Q. J. Geol. Soc, vol. xxv., 1869, pp. 449-50.
 To face page 6

ft (^ -

2. —
„- ^ ' -

- ,?/»»

4. ^S^ «1P

\\\\
 FLOOR STONE. /

The soft white chalk beds 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 20, and 23 are of the
ordinary character, and are said not to make such good lime as
the dead-lime, which is always preferred for mortar. Bed 1 6 is
very soft, and often stained yellow. It is sometimes mixed with
sand to render it stiffer, and is shovelled out.
The hard chalk, beds 9 and 18, is a hard, sub-cry staljine lime-
stone, which rings and strikes fire under the strokes of the pick.
The stone is so hard that it cannot be picked on the solid face, but
has to be worked from the joints. No. 18 is sometimes only
2 feet thick, in which case 6 inches of soft chalk overlie the floor
stone. Bed 13 has no joints. Bed 22 is of similar material,
but is never worked into except along the " burrows " beneath
the floor-stone but trial pits were sunk many years ago in search
;

of flint as shown in the section.

The pipe-clays are thin seams of marl, and are pretty constant,
especially the lowest or third, which the workmen say "rules"
the floor-stone — that is to say, when it is reached the floor-stone
is known to be only 3 or 4 feet distant.
Horns is the appropriate term applied to an irregular line of
which are nearly all small and finger-shaped they seldom
flints, ;

run to more than 3 inches in length, and half-an-inch in breadth.

The Toppings are the first regular layer of flint, No. 6 in the
section. They are more or less continuous, or form, as the work-
men say, ajase or sese. They are "hobbly" stone, that is, covered
with " paps " or knobs on the top, but flat below. They break
" grisly," that is grittify, and do not " run," or flake cleanly, and
are " coarse working stone/' that is to say, from their grisly nature
they do not cut clean, and will .not make "best" flints. Good
pieces are occasionally found, and these are not hobbly but flat
like floor-stone. Toppings are nearly always "burrowed" for in
filling up the pit, and are worked from beneath.

The Upper Crust Flints, No. 10 in the section, are generally

round and lumpy, and do not form a regular sase, but are dotted
here and there in the same line. They are nearly always grey
in colour, without paps, and " double coated," that is, they have
two distinct layers of cherty matter on the outside, which break
away separately. These coats are sometimes parted by a thin
layer of flint. Upper-crusts are only used as building-stones, and
merely taken out in sinking the shaft, but when building- stones-
" for. They are not " faced,"
are in demand they are " burrowed
but used rough as they are dug, and are known as rough builders.
Occasionally, as at Elvedon, these flints are of good quality. They
are there then known as " best upper-crusts."
Wall-stone, No. 15 in the section, is always continuous, or
The
forms a " sase." It has " paps " above, and horn-like projections
below called "legs," which are sometimes a foot long, and make
the stone very difficult to raise. The pieces come away in long
flat masses sometimes a yard square. Wall-stone is generally
 8 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

black but sometimes grey or spotted, and occasionally has a

bluish "plumage," whence they are aptly termed "jackdaw"
coloured. The stone is nearly always of good quality, flakes well,
with little waste, and hence only leaves small cores for " builders."
Wall-stone is burrowed from the top, as the legs would prevent
it being worked from below.
Beneath the wall -stone the chalk is full of "horns" for about
2\ feet, so thick together that the pick can hardly be used.
The is the bed to which the
Floor-stone, No. 19 in the section,
pits are sunk, and from which most of the gun-flints are made. It
is generally continuous, but sometimes in ovoid masses which are

called " heel pieces," but even then the " heels " of adjacent stones
are in contact. In some places paps are found on the top of the
flint, but these are rough, and in this respect different from the paps
of the toppings such stone is called " rough topped." Another
;

variety has an undulating surface such stone being called " hobbly
;

topped." These are very seldom heeled, and are easiest to. get,
because when they break away they always leave a "face" to
work upon, and therefore no time is lost in picking chalk. The
floor-stone is nearly always flat-bottomed, and is thinnest when
there are many
heel-stones. When the stone is over a foot in
thickness generally grey in the middle.
it is Very rarely the
floor-stone runs into great " harp-like " pieces 4 feet 6 inches
across, which I take to be " faramoudras."* They are so ex-
ceptional that when my informant found one, he sent for other
diggers to look at the " curosity." He got a "jag " of stone from
his cu-rosity, that is, a one-horse cartload, about equal to a ton.
More commonly, but still rarely, similar stones are found just
below the floor-stone, which are described as " like gret eggs," and
from each of which half a jag of stone can be got. They are
called " gulls."
Floor-stone is always burrowed for, and gulls too when they can
be found.
Rough-Blacks and Smooth-Blacks are the names applied to large
detached flints, which were found ten feet below the the floor-stone
in some trial-pits sunk many years ago. They occur too sparingly
to be remunerative. The smooth-blacks were some of the best
working stones ever raised being good in colour, clean-cutting,
;

and of good running quality. The rough-blacks were grisly and

fit only for common gun-flints. The surrounding chalk is described
as very hard.

Santon Downham.— The flint-pits,

no longer worked, were
situated on Santon Downham Warren, opposite
the Warren House,
and near a tumulus locality known as Blood HilL There is
another mound on Eriswell Babbit Warren, near High Lodge
Farm, which goes by the same name. The pits are on the slope

* Paramcmdra is a local Irish term, adopted in science, applied to large cup-shaped

flints, which are also known as pot-stones, &c.
of the
sectior
 . :

10 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

3 in tlits section is the same as No. 5 at Lingheath. Bed 5 is

thinner at this place, and beds 7 and 9 are thicker at this; place
than the corresponding beds at Lingheath.
In the large ballast-pit adjoining the railway-line some very
good flint was found, a rather remarkable circumstance, for the
flint in gravel beds is nearly always full of cracks. This is the place
where Mr. Evans described the occurrence of singular hollows,
which were supposed to be old dwellings, but which he shows to be
by the gravel and sand sinking into pipes.*
natural cavities caused
He obtained some implements from the gravel, and I have
recently found one "very much like that figured by him from
\7hitehill, Thetford, further up the river, f

—
Shaker's Lodge. At Shaker's Lodge, on Wangford Rabbit
Warren, about 2 5 miles south of Lingheath on the summit of the
-

hill, floor-stone was met with in sinking a well, and a trial-pit was
opened the bed, however, has not' been worked.
; The section
is still open and shows

1 Sand, full of
2. Dead-lime
3. Hard Chalk
4. Floor-stone
 — ;

SECTIONS AT ICKLINGHAM. 11

cdour, and is dug to a depth of about 25 feet, six lines of flint

being passed through in that distance. The flints are scattered
and never tabular they vary in size from a few inches to a foot
;

in diameter, and are irregular in shape, or, as they would be.

described at Brandon, hobbly. The coats are moderately thick
and soft, and the stone is very rarely of a good black colour
every piece I examined in company with my colleague, Mr. H.
B. Woodward, F.G.S., was mixed with grey and grisly. The
pit is not regularly worked for flint, but the larger pieces are
selected as the chalk is removed. No distinction is made
between the several layers, nor could I detect any constant
features. Comparatively few flakes can be struck from a quarter
in consequence of the inferior quality of the stone and the ;

flints, for the same reason, are not so well finished.*

—
Icklingham. Icklingham is a village on the R. Lark, about
3 miles east of Mildenhall. About 30 years since it was the
chief seat of the gun-flint manufacture, the workmen being
Brandon men who returned home every Saturday. The work-
shops are now. either in a ruinous condition or converted into
cottages, but around some of them the heaps of waste chips still
remain. The cause of the temporary abandonment of Brandon
by the knappers was the superior quality of the stone at Ickling-
ham, and when difficulties arose concerning the raising, the trade
reverted to Brandon, where it is still carried on more vigorously
than elsewhere. For some years past only one knapper has lived
in Icklingham, Henry Ashley, a Brandon man, who raised his
own stone and worked it into gun-flints but even he has done
;

nothing for two years, and does not think of resuming his old
trade, finding day-labour to pay better. Mr. W. J. Southwell
was good enough to go with me* to Icklingham, and Mr. Ashley,
at his request, kindly supplied me with the following information.

The gun-flints lately made at Icklingham were :

1. Best Muskets.
2. Second do.
3. Common, or Grey do.
4. Best Carbine, single edge.
5. Second Carbine, do.
6. Common Carbine, do.
7. Best Horse-Pistol.
8. Second Horse-Pistol.
9. Common Gun.
10. Small Gun.
11. Best Seconds.
12. Worst Seconds.
13. Round Discs.

The common gun is the same as the common horse-pistol ; the

Since writing this the trade has been abandoned.

 —

12 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

small gun is the fine single, and the seconds are doubles. Specimens
of these Icklingham flints are exhibited ; but, notwithstanding the
superior quality of the flint, their workmanship is much inferior
to that of the Brandon specimens.
Thestone used at Icklingham was dug on Icklingham Heath,
close to theSeven Trees, 1£ miles north of the village. The
place is called Seven Trees Brick the first part of the term
;

applies to a clump of elms, of which five only remain, and the

latter is synonymous with Field, an open space. The pits were
very numerous, perhaps 500 in number, but their area is circum-
scribed. None were open at the time of my visit, and the only
noticeable feature was the close proximity of the shafts, which
averaged about nine yards from one to another. The section at
this place was, in descending order :
 ELVEDON FLINTS. 13

ft-
1. Sand - - - - -

2. Dead-lime -
3. Soft, White Chalk
4. First Pipe-clay -

5. Soft, White Chalk

6.
7.
8.
9.
Second Pipe-clay
Soft, White Chalk
Third Pipe-clay
HardChalk -
...
- - about

10. Gulls (Paramoudra) in three tiers~\

with 3 tn. partings\of chalk between J
11. Floor-Stone in a regular sase.
14 MANUFACTURE OF GUN -FLINTS, ETC.

Elvedon Lodge. —The farm known as Elvedon Lodge is

situated near the road from Brandon to Elvedon, about 3 miles

from the former. A
large pit is open close by in the Boulder Clay,
which clay is used as a top-dressing for the sandy land. In the
clay large flints are found, and it is very significant of the local
origin of that deposit, that the flints are not cracked or weathered,
and are suitable for knapping. Southwell found toppings, upper-
crusts, wall-stone and floor-stone, and used many of them. Had
these stones travelled far, or been much exposed, they must have
become weathered and unfit for knapping but although striated
:

they are as sound as ever, and the coats are not much reduced in
thickness, but the softer, thicker bottom coat has suffered most.*

—
Thetford, &C. Flint has been dug near Thetford and gun-
flints used to be made in the town, but for 40 years nothing has
been done. I have not yet succeeded in obtaining details of the
section. Stone was formerly raised, and gun-flints made, at
Cavenham and Tuddenham, a few miles S.E. of Milderihall.
The above include all the stations from which flint is obtained
for knapping at Brandon and Icklingham. At Norwich flint is
sometimes brought from other pits to Mr. Frewer, when the stone
happens to be very good, but as this is only chance trade the sec-
tions are not described. Norwich has recently been brought
flint
to Brandon, owing to the falling off of the local supply.
Mr. Wyatt mentions that gun-flints were made at King Manor,
Clarendon, near Salisbury, but there was no regular manufacture.
The men worked on the sunny side of the road opposite the pit
which yielded the flint, and flaked and knapped in the open air
on the spot.t
Gun-flints have been made at Grays, Essex, by Brandon
knappers.
My colleague, Mr. H. B. Woodward, F.G.S., has supplied me
with an account of the gun-flint manufacture formerly carried on
at Beer Head, Devon, from information given by Mr. P. O.
Hutchinson. The locality was the undercliff on the west side of
Beer Head. " This undercliff," says Mr'. Hutchinson, " was one
" of the places to which the gun-flint makers used to resort in
" order to follow their calling, as the landslip had probably dis-
" interred plenty of black flints rendy for use, or made them more
" accessible than before. Heaps of flint chips and splinters
" marked the spots where they had laboured. In rambling
" through this place I saw a heap of this refuse large enough to
" fill a wheelbarrow further on another that would have filled
;

" two or three wheelbarrows, and elsewhere others of still larger

" size. The men would go out of a morning with their knapping
" hammers from Beer and Branscombe, and there work till
" evening. I never heard how many they would make in a day.

* See remarks on this point in " Geology of the Fenland," and Geikie's " Great
Ice Age,'' 2nd edition. See also " The Fenland, Past and Present," p. 519.
" Flint Chips," p. 588.
f J. Wyatt in
 —

FLINTS FROM BOULDEB CLAY. 15

" The trade diminished after the Battle of Waterloo, and ceasad
" on the introduction of the percussion cap." The chips are now
all dug into the ground, and the locality (which is just below the
words "Signal Staff" on the Ordnance Map) -is fast losing all
traces of the old trade.
I understand that gun-flints were made quite recently in
Turkey, but can get no other information about them.
Professor Ramsay tells me gun-flints were formerly made in
Glasgow, but whence the stone was imported he does not know.
Mr. Darbishire, F.G.S., informs me that he purchased strike-a-
lights of the maker in Spain a few years since. They were similar
to the old French gun-flint.

Tools.
The stone-diggers use four tools, a one-sided pick, represented
in Fig. 3, a heavy iron hammer, a shovel, and a short crow-bar,

Fig. 3. Stone-Digger's Pick,

none of which calls for special mention ; though the pick, as will

be shown hereafter, is interesting from an archaeological point of

view.
B 2
 —

16 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

The gun-flint makers' tools require more detailed description,

and will be described in the order in which they are used, viz.,
those used (1) in quartering, (2) in flaking, (3) in knapping.

Quartering Hammers are of two sizes, the larger being

called the First and the smaller the Second quartering hammer.
The former is represented in Fig. 4.* The weights vary, but
those in the collection are average specimens, and weigh 6 lb. 14 oz.,
and 3 lb. 4 oz. respectively. The hammers are hexagonal in
section, and taper but slightly so as to leave the face large.
They are made of iron, steel-faced, and when the face wears
they are re-steeled. The old, first quartering hammer in the
collection shows one used-up face. It has been in use for 20
years. The old, second quartering hammer is in excellent working
order, and is about 15 years old. The workmen prefer them in

y
Fig. 4. First Quartering Hammer.
this state to new tools, because the face is worn to the proper
shape.

Flaking Hammers are also of two sizes, known as the

First and Second flaking hammers. Those in the collection weigh
respectively 1 lb. 12 oz. and 1 lb. 4 oz. They are made of steel,
have, a square section, and taper so as to terminate in a small
square face, as shown in Fig. 5. On the centres of the sides
the hammers are flattened for the purposes of striking off irregular
projections on the quarters. As the blows are given with only
a portion of the face that portion wears down until it becomes
useless ; the other face of the hammer is then used, and when
this is worn the handle is taken out and fitted the other way into

* All the figures of tools are drawn to ± scale.

 QUARTERING AND FLAJKING HAMMERS. 17

the eye or socket so as to bring the unused portions of the faces

into play. When these become worn the faces are filed up square.

Fig. 5.— Flaking Hammer.

These processes are well illustrated by the old flaking hammers

iu the collection. The first flaker has both faces worked down so
as to require filing afresh. It is 20 years old, but has only
been in use eight years. It also shows how the sides wear with
striking the irregular pieces off. One end of the old Second
flaker is worn in the usual manner but has broken from the steel
being too hard ; the other face has been fresh filed. This hammer
is five years old. With constant working it takes two hours to
wear down one side of a face. When the faces get very much
worn the hammer is drawn out. The flaking hammers used to
be called French hammers, because they were introduced from
France. The date of introduction is uncertain, but an old knapper
told me he remembered his grandfather saying that a prisoner of
war who lived at Brandon, and whom my informant called Pero,
was a flint knapper and had some flaking hammers made different
in pattern from those used by the Brandon men. These were in
all probability the flakers in question, and the time was probably
during Marlborough's wars.
With a flaking hammer of given sized face and weight there
are a maximum and minimum thickness which cannot be exceeded
by any flake struck thereby : there is likewise a minimum force
to be applied to dislodge a flake, a blow of less weight failing to
do more than bruise the stone and a maximum, which if exceeded
:

shatters without flaking the flint. With heavy hammers longer

flakes can be struck than with light ones.
 —

18 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

—
English Hammer. Prior to the introduction of the French
hammer the Brandon people used an oval hammer similar to that
shown in Fig. 6, which is included ia the new set in the
collection.

Fig. 6. -.English Flaking Hammer.

A hammer called the English -hammer is still in use of which the

one figured a specimen, but it is merely a flaking hammer of

is
the French pattern very much worn. The one in question has
been in constant use for .over 60 years. English hammers are
never made specially.

The probability of the old English flaker being a metallic

reminiscence of the stone age is discussed in the sequel.

Knapping Hammers are made from 9-inch flat-files drawn

out as shown in Fig. 7. They require delicately tempering, or
they will fly instantly. Mr. Wyatt states that the heads are set on
obliquely. If he refer to the setting of the heads on the handles
he has fallen into an error, but if to the set of the hammer on the
flint he is correct. The edges at first are quite square, but they
soon wear and require filing up daily. They generally become
hollowed out in the centre, as is the case with the old one in the
collection; much, however, depends upon the individual pecu-
liarity of the knapper, each of whom can tell his own by -the
manner in which it wears. If the edge is not kept square it is apt
to gap or split the flints. The old one in the collection has been
drawn out, and is very much worn so much, indeed, as to be fit
;

only for a learner. Aquick knapper wears out a hammer in a

fortnight. The one in question was originally of the same length
 —

BLOCK AND STAKE. 19

as the new one, and has been twice worn down and once drawn
out. It has been in use for a month.

Fig. 7 .—.Knapping Hammer.

The Blocks are made of the boles of large elm trees, and
measure about 4 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height. A small
model block with the stake, &c. full sized is in the collection, and
is represented in Fig. 8. The blocks are placed by preference

Fig. 8. Block and Stake.

against the wall as shown in Figs. 13 and 18, and slope gently
forwards. At a distance of about 4 inches from the side the stake
is placed.
The stake is a piece of iron about 6 inches in length and 1 inch
square at the shoulder, tapering to a point below. Fig. 9 represents
a stake in which a is the neck upon which the flint is made, b the
20 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

shoulder, c the body. To set the stake a round hole is bored 6 inches
in depth, and of less diameter than the width of the stake. The

•ffl

Fig.
T
9.— Stake,
a. Neck. b. Shoulder. Body.

stake is then made red hot and driven so that the shoulder is from
a quarter to three-quarters of an inch above the block. It is then
withdrawn, and four .pieces of leather, called stake-leather, are cut
1 inch wide, 3 inches long, and tapering to a point. The points
of these are then inserted into the holej the stake re-placed and
driven home. It must not, however, reach the bottom of the hole
or the flakes would strike " dead " on it, and would not work.
Some knappers insert a wedge-shaped piece of oak, about
6 inches by 3, in front of the stake to fix the stage to this saves
;

the- block, which would otherwise be injured by the nails driven

into it to secure the stage ; the wedge can, of course, be replaced.
The stage consists of two parts, the staging-wood and the
knapping-leather. The former is a semi-cylindrical piece of ash
about 3 inches by three-quarters, and is nailed on to the block
close to the stake so that its length is at right angles to the face of
the stake.
Over the staging-wood the knapping leather is fixed. It con-
sists of a piece of sole-leather about 4 inches by 1, fixed trans-
versely across the wood, by from two to four wringings, which are
the points of horse-shoe nails wrung off by the blacksmiths.
These are always used, because they are rough, have no heads,
drive well, and hold tightly, and when the leather is worn up they
draw out cleanly, and can be used over again. The width of the
leather such that the knapping hammer falls clear of the nails.
is
The leather now used is new, and the inside is placed upper-
most, because it is rougher and free from grease. Until lately old
leather was used. The whole of the stage must be very firmly
fixed.
The height of the stake varies with the kind of gun-flints to be
made upon it, this height being called the fall. For ordinary
flints the fall is about If inch for muskets, 2 inches; but some
;

knappers like a greater fall than others.

 STONE-DIGGERS LAWS. 21

In working the fore corner (that is the corner furthest

from the knapper, the other being the hind corner) wears down,
as shown in the model block, and the hind corner requires rasping
down at least once a day to keep it level.
The other implements are the knapper' s knee-piece described in
the account of flaking, and the flaking and knapping candle-sticks.
The former, represented in Fig. 10, consists of a rod of quarter-
inch iron, about 5 feet long, with a sliding
bracket carrying a candle-holder on an arm
with an elbnw joint. It is driven into the
ground on the left-hand and close to the left
foot of the flaker when he is working at
night, so that the light shines on to the
quarter.
The latter is simply a fragment of per-
forated tile from a malt-kiln floor. Speci-
mens of both are shown in the collection.

Method of Digging.
Division of labour finds no adherents
§ among flint-diggers, each of whom sinks his
§ own pit and raises his own stone the only
;

aid being the occasional employment of one

S
or two boys; generally the children of the
workmen. Two reasons are assigned for this
s individuality of effort, namely, that the
demand is not great enough or sufficiently
regular to pay for the use of expensive
plant and secondly, there is much difference
;

in the paying value of the pits, some yielding

four or five jags of stone per week while
others only yield two or three ; hence there
is some degree of speculation in the work,
and each man hopes to pitch upon a valuable
take. When a man is about to sink a pit he
takes into consideration the chance of ob-
taining good stone in plenty, the depth to
which he will have to sink, the dryness and
warmth of the situation, and the proximity
of new or old workings. Of these, the depth
is considered perhaps the least, as the quality
and quantity of the stone is the most, im-
portant. Some men are particular in choosing
a lake among trees, because the chalk is then
drier, and the shelter of the wood diminishes
the chance of the workman taking cold when
coming up heated to the surface. The
proximity of old workings is avoided from
the uncertainty of the extent of their bur-
rows, which might seriously diminish the value of a pit, but
when very good stone is believed to have been obtained new pits
22 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

are sometimes sunk among old ones. Pits are often sunk near
summer time, when the air is sometimes bad,
together, especially in
and the workings are made to communicate, so that a draught is
obtained through the two shafts. The extent of the workings is
determined by the labour required to carry out the stone got in a
day they seldom run more than 12 yards in one direction.*
;

The average time taken to sink a pit of about 30 feet is three

weeks, or 10 feet per week, and some of the more careful men
commence a new shaft before an old pit is worked out in order to
have some' money coming in all the time. The pits are worked
all the year round.
A digger selects a spot to sink a pit upon, and sets four pieces
of chalk, or digs up four sods, at the corners as his " marks,"
which marks are held sacred and may remain for. years before the
pit is sunk. No digger may have more than one set of marks be-
sides his pit ; but he may have two pits and a set of marks at one
time, and if he clears out the first stage of a new pit that counts
as one, though it may not be sunk further for months or even
years. Thus a digger can have a pit at work, one begun, and a
set of marks.
There is but one other rule observed among the diggers, and
that is that none may burrow more than half way towards the
nearest pit. Although that man is cursed who moves his neigh-
bours' marks, instances have occurred in which a digger has braved
the curse when he has suspected his neighbour of having " spotted
a rich pitch," but this is very rare. I have known, on one occasion,
a man to begin to sink a pit close to another's marks. Then the
enterprise of the diggers shone right royally. The one whose
marks were in danger at once commenced his new pit. It was a
race for the floor-sione ; for whoever reached it first would at once
burrow under the other man's shaft, and the ground would become
his. They struck the stone within two hours of each other, after
three weeks' incessant work; but alas, the intruder was to wind-
ward of the other, drove a burrow under him, he came toppling
through, and the day was won. An amicable fight settled the
difference and the original digger moved on.
When a spot is selected, permission is obtained from the trustees
of the heath, which is the property of the poor, and the digger
commences his shaft. He pays no royalty or " groundage," this
falling to the lot of the buyers, who pay on each jag of flint <ir
chalk, and if he fills up his pit after working it out he receives a
shilling from the trustees.
The shaft is begun by digging a trench three yards long,
one yard wide, and one yard deep.t The long sides generally

* Mr. Wyatt says, " The digger tunnels a certain distance (according to the limits
of his take or lot), and when he has exhausted the flint-hed of one stage, he works
' '

down to the next of the series." Flint Chips, p. 581. In this he has been mis-
informed, for there are no limits set to the extent of the burrows, and the floor-stone
is always worked first, and the others successively as the pit is filled up.

f Mr. Wyatt says 5 feet deep, but the first is always 3 feet and the others 5 feet,
except the last, which is more. Flint Chips, p. 581.
To face page 23.

Plan of Pits for' working out Floor-stone.

K ff
.12
SO 60
g 30 40
l .
,.!? /? i" f Fear.
i

s.B.j.s.del. Plan of Burrowing for Wall-stone.

 stone-diggers' laws. 23

run N. and S., so that the last stage, or "the Two," shall face the
mid-day sun. The narrow end of the pit to the left of the Two
is called the head of the pit. In the centre of this an opening is
made and carried down to a depth of five feet, slightly inclining
towards the eastern side of the original trench ; a stage is left at
this point on the long north side of the original trench. The
shaft is carried down another five feet, and a staging left on the
short west side ; at the next five feet the stage is again on the
north side ; at the next five feet on the western short side, and
so on to the floor-stone, the front and right sides having no
stagings. The shaft is only sufficiently large to admit a man, and
it inclines or " is on the sosh," so as to undercut about two yards

in 30 feet
Ifwe call the two long sides of the original trench A and B,
and the two short ones Cand D, the " sosh-wise " shaft is along
D
A and C, and B have alternate stages in the series D, B; D, B,
or, as the workmen say, the stages are made " cross-handed."*
The laft stage is called the Two and is deeper than the others,
some being as much as 9 feet. It probably takes its name from
the stone being raised on to it in two heaves, the first being on
to a cross-timber.
The object of cutting the shaft on the sosh is to prevent any
accident from stones falling from the upper stages. When such a
catastrophe occurs, the workman leaning back, plants his shoulder
against the next stage, and the stone falls clear of him down the
shaft. *
The pierced to a depth of about 6 inches and
floor-stone is

then a gallery or "burrow " is carried slantingly under the stone

for about a yard when the burrow is commenced in earnest. Fig.
11 shows the method pursued in burrowing for floor-stone. The
firstmain-burrow A is entered through an orifice 18 inches high
and 2 feet wide, the floor of which slopes downward for about 3 feet,
the roof (from which the stone has been removed) being nearly
horizontal. The main-burrow is about 2 yards wide and is driven
straight for about 9 yards, and the chalk and stone carried to the
surface. At the end of this burrow a "draw" 1, is made that is, ;

the workmen lying on his elbow picks away the flint from above
as far as he can reach, thus forming a semi-circular space about
18 inches high ; this he continues, and, if the stone be good, he
will draw 3 yards in each direction. The stone and chalk from
this first draw are carried to the surface. The chalk is always
thrown to the head of the pit, and the stone to the foot.
A side-burrow, a, is then commenced from near the beginning of
the main-burrow, and of the same dimensions. It is carried in a
curvilinear direction so as to catch the end of the first main-
burrow. The chalk and stone are carried to the surface.

* This is the normal mode of sinking, but the Two sometimes faces other points
than the west. Some men undercut as much as 6- yards. A stone-digger to whom
I pointed out such a pit explained that the man
" never sank stunt, hut uuder-ran his
two by bubber- hutching on the sosh I" The verb active " to bubber-hutch," signifies
to sink more on the slope than usual ;
" stunt " means direct, or straight.
24 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

About half-way down the side-burrow the first drawing-burrow,

then made of the same dimensions as at others, and the spaces
a, is
2 and 3 are drawn into the main-burrow, the chalk and stone
being carried out. From the end of the side-burrow, a, the space
4 is then drawn similarly to 1, but not to so great an extent.
The second side-burrow, a', is then made, and the second drawing
burrow, a', and the spaces 5, 6 and 7, are drawn aa above, the chalk
and stone being carried out ; thus leaving all the space between
the two side-burrows empty.
The second main-burrow £
is then driven, and all repeated as

above, but only the stone and large " chalks " are carried out ; the
smaller pieces, or " fine muck," being filled into the first main-
burrow. This second main-burrow is, as are all the burrows,' of
the same dimensions as the first, but the time gained in carrying
the " fine muck " into the main-burrow instead of to the surface
enables the workmen to drive the second main 10 yards. When
the side and drawing-burrows are completed the space 12 is drawn
from the second side-burrow a and the "fine muck" filled into a.
The space 1 3 is next drawn from side-burrow b and cleared out
as far as possible. Pillars are shown in the figure at the intersec-
tion of the side-burrows these are, however, not often left, but
;

the spaces J, J, J, J, are always left as pillars or jarms to support

the roofs.
The above process is repeated in all respects as shown in the
figure, the " fine muck" from main-burrow C. and its adjuncts
being filial into B, which being larger than A, enables C to be
driven about 11 yards. The material from is filled into C, D
which being larger than C, enables it to be driven 12 yards. Thus
the first main burrow is 9 yards long, the second 10 yards, the
third 11 yards, and the fourth 12 yards; the workmen express
this by saying they "gain" about three yards in working round a
pit.
This somewhat elaborate process isonly pursued in burrowing
for floor-stone, a simpler plan being adopted in burrowing for the
less valuable wall-stone or toppings.
When the floor-stone is exhausted, the pit is generally filled in
to the level of the wall-stone, which in consequence of its legs, is
burrowed from above. A main-burrow A, Fig. 2, is driven for
about three yards and the stone and chalk carried out. The
space a is then drawn, and the drawing continued right round as
shown in a, a', and a", the material being carried out.
The second main -burrow B is then made of the same size and
length, and the chalk filled into A C and D
are then made in the
;

same manner. Nothing is " gained " in this mode of working,

the object being to clear out as much stone as possible in the least
possible time. The jarms J J J J are left as before.
The pit is now up to the toppings, unless building-stones
filled
are in great request when the upper-crust is burrowed. The
same method is adopted as in the case of wall-stone, but some-
times the stone is merely drawn round as far as the workman can
reach. After the toppings are got the pit is filled in, nearly to
 : —

PEICES OP FLINT. 25

the surface, the workman receiving Is. for this job. Toppings and
upper crusts are worked from below.
The diggers use a small, one-sided, steel-tipped iron pick, with
which they cut the chalk and clear it away from the stone, which
is then prised down with a short thick iron crow. The flint
generally comes away in pieces too massive to carry out, and these
are broken into suitable sizes by an iron square-headed hammer
weighing from 5 to 7 lbs. A flint pick is represented at Fig. 3.
In the burrows the men sit and pick by the light of a candle,
but in the draws they have to lie sideways resting on their left
arm and working with the right. Happy is the thinnest
man for he has less dead chalk to pick for the same quantity of
flint. *

Each day's proceeds are carried to the surface, and it is generally

enough to fill five stages, three with chalk and two with flint.
The pieces are carried up on the head, the chalk first. A
lump is
carried three stages up and deposited, another is fetched, and so on
till the stage is full, then the lumps are carried three stages
higher, and then out of the pit.
The chalk is thrown into a heap at the head of the pit, and used
for filling in the pit. It is seldom bought, as it can be obtained from
pits in the town. Sometimes, however, the squarer pieces are sold
for rough walling, and a groundage of id. is then paid to the
trustees by the purchaser for each " jag " or one-horse cartload.
The flint is brought up in pieces averaging 2 feet by 18 inches,
and stacked edgeways on the ground round the pit's mouth. The
stacks are covered with dried bracken and fir-boughs to prevent
the sun and wind getting access to the stone, and cracking them
or turning them milky in colour, for only black flint is used for
the best gun-flints, though the milky-coloured stone is equally
good. The merchants will only buy black flints.

A good pit lasts from six to nine months. The burrows are
never timbered, and accidents from falling roofs are rare.
The stone is sold by the diggers to the flint knapper's by the
jag, which, as before stated, is a one-horse cart-load about equal
to a ton. The following are the present prices (January 1876) :

Floor Stone: s.

Stone
Groundage -

Cartage

Wall Stone
Stone
Groundage
Cartage
 :

26 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

Toppings s. d.

Stone 3 6
Groundage - 10
Cartage - 1
 —

DRYING AND QUARTERING. 27

The flint is very variable in quality and in constancy of colour.

Some is quite black in situ, but changes to a milky tint in the
course of an hour, while other stones never lose their black colour
even when exposed to the weather. Of these some of the best
examples are to be seen in the north wall of Lode Cottage, which
I occupied at Brandon, and which are as black as when dug 20
years ago. These were obtained from very deep pits in the
Poors Plantation, in which the flint was larger, blacker, and .

better in many respects than has been since obtained. There is

little doubt that if this house were pulled down, the flints in
question would be worked up into gun-flints. This stone had
good running qualities, and flakes 8 inches long were not un-
commonly obtained from it. A
few outside flakes from it are
shown in the collection.

Manufacture.
In the process of manufacture there are four processes drying,
quartering, flaking, and knapping.

—
Drying. The stone is brought from the pits and shot down
outside the shops where in the summer it dries very rapidly, but
in the winter remains wet. In the summer the stone is brought
inside the shops and often worked at once, but it is now becoming
the practice to sprinkle water over the blocks the reason assigned
;

being that it " lays the dust." The quarry-water, however, is

always got rid of, and hence in winter the stone is stacked round
the fire-place to dry. Water is not sprinkled on the stone in
winter, the flint being so hygroscopic that it is always damp out-
side. Even the dry flakes will turn damp when the atmosphere is
moist, and then they are sometimes dried over again.

Quartering. A —
block of stone is then taken and quartered.
The workman sits on a stool placed in front of a window or door,
and is very careful about setting it slightly sloping forward so as to
incline the body, and obviate the necessity for bending, which
would lead to back-ache. Some workmen are very particular about
their stools, and will spend half-an-hour in the adjustment ; and in
summer, when the afoul is placed opposite the door, will rather jump
over it than shift it.

The workman wears a large leather apron, and on his left knee
a knee-piece made of pieces of old boot-tops about 6 inches by 12,
on the top of which is a cross-piece, made by preference from a

stout boot-sole, or failing that from a piece of old harness. The

cross-piece is about 6 inches by 3 inches, with a hole at each end
by which the entire knee-piece is bound lightly across the knee
with a leather thong called a knee-piece string.
The blocks of stone are taken just as they are delivered, and
vary in weight from about a quarter of a hundredweight to nearly
two hundredweights. One is placed against the knee so as to
28 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

bring a flat or hollow part upon the knee-piece for the hammer to
strike upon. It is then slightly tapped with the quartering hnmmer,
the large or small one being used according to the size of the stone.
The tap tells the workmen whether the stone is sound or not. If
it is full of cracks it flies to pieces with a jarring sound. If the
coat is hard and the hammer rings, the stone is sound. If the
hammer falls dull and jumps,' the stone is sure to be double-coated,
and grey or mixed colour beneath the coat.
Sometimes pieces fall out on tapping the stone which have a sub-
conical inner surface ; these are known as pot-lids.
The stone then quartered or broken into pieces of a convenient
is
size to work. The blow is given from the elbow, the hammer
being raised about a foot and allowed to fall, little or no power
being put into the blow. Thg stone is nearly always struck from
the natural upper surface, because the bottom coat is softer,
and the hammer does not bite. If, however, as occasionally
happens, the bottom coat is the harder, it is quartered from below.*
The stone has to be broken so as to leave a more or less square
edge to begin flaking from. The quartered pieces average about
six inches square, but there is no regularity in the size.

Flaking. —The is flaking, which is performed

next process
on the same was the previous process, the workman
stool as
quartering a stone and then flaking it up. This is the most
difficult brunch of the business, and requires great skill and nicety
of judgment. The stone must be struck at the proper anole, in
the exact spot, with a certain force, and by a given portion of the
face: and but the first of these elements vary with every
al!

flake. Many knappers are unable to flake, and but few attain
great proficiency in the art. The quarter is grasped in the hand and
the face brought against the knee-piece at an angle of about 45°.
The blow is then given by raising the flaking hammer (large or
small according to the size of the stone) from the elbow about
2 inches, and allowing it to fall by its own weight, or with a slight
extra force according to the size of the quarter. The stone is
struck squarely, but not with the whole face of the hammer. If
the flake is to be thin, the blow falls just inside the face if ;

thicker, a little further in, but a flake could not be struck to any
purpose if the whole face fell on the stone, and this is the limit of
thickness for flakes produced by any hammer. The outside flakes,
called " shives," which show the coat, are thrown aside as waste,
and by removing these the block is made to assume a rough, man v-
sided, polygonal form. The next series of flakes are so struck as to
fall a little to one side of the previous blows, and the flake runs so
as to include the angles or ribs of two of the first flakes, and it is
thus double backed. The edge of this flake leaves another rib.

* The best stone has a thin hard upper coat and a thick soft hottom coat. The
coat may be quite white or brownish below and is sometimes bluish, but these
latter are not good and are generally " shotten bottoms " or pitted as if by shot. The
tops of good stone are often bluish.
 — —

To face page 29.

Fig. 14. Front View of Core, with Flakes replaced, showing the Points of Percussion.

Fig. 15. Side View of Flint Core {Fig. 14).

 FLAKING. 29

The next flake is struck a little to one side of the similar

one in
the previous series, and so on. In this way the flaker works
round the quarter and removes from two to three rows of
flakes,
according to the qualityof the stone. Figs. 14and ] 5showacore
with
the flakes, 38 in number, replaced, and the points of
percussion are
plainly traceable and show how each blow was struck.
Simple as
this process appears, it is, nevertheless, very
difficult ; for great
precision of judgment is required, not only to determine the
nature
of the blow, but so to flake that the greatest number
of useful
flakes can be obtained from a single quarter. The stone varies in
quality, some running well and clean, others breaking off short and
" stubbly ; " and. unless the flakes are struck of different
sizes
much waste would ensue. It is this judgment which distinguishes
a good from an inferior flaker a good one would work to profit
;

stone upon which an inferior man would lose money. The cores
resulting from the flaking are squared or rounded up, and
used as
building flints.
The workman sits with five small tubs around him, two on
his
left, and three on his right. Into the hindermost left-hand tub,
called the chip-tub, the waste irregular fragments are dropped'
'
this tub being close at hand under the quarter so that the waste
will fall into it ; the larger pieces are thrown into the other
tub,
called the builder-tub, which is at arm's length from the flaker!
The three tubs on the right are placed in a triangle close together;
the left-hand one, called the best-tub, receives the good double-
backed flakes, the middle one, called the common-tub, the sino-] e-
-backed flakes (of which many must be struck), and the right-hand
one, called the little-' un-tub, the small flakes which are given to
apprentice boys to practice upon. (See Fig. 13. Frontispiece.)
Considerable skill is also required to reduce the amount of work
to a minimum ; the hammer is made to fall on the near side of
the knee-piece it is then dropped on to the leg, while the flake
;

is thrown into the tub, and lies with its face over the spot on
which it is first tapped, so that it is ready for the next blow ; in
this way much time is saved. The flattened side of the flaking-
hammer is used to dress off' irregular pieces.
The flaker works according to his needs. If he has to supply
a quantity of flints of one size he makes his flakes accordingly.
Thus he will flake for muskets, carbines, horse-pistols, or even
singles.* As a rule, however, several kinds of flints are required
together, in which case he makes large- and small flakes. Single-
backed flakes are never struck intentionally. The first two flakes
must necessarily have only one back but if the stone be good no
;

others are made from a quarter. A

flake to be perfect should
have the face flat, the edges even, and the ribs parallel all the way
down, but this can only be obtained from very good stone. As a
rule the ribs are not parallel, nor the edges quite straight, and
many stones will not run with a level face, but are twisted or

* It would be impossible, however, to strike all the flakes of a given size without
wasting a great deal of stone.
38856. ,-.
 — —

30 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

curved, when they are said to be wrung. When a flake does not
run, but breaks short or turns at the end it is said to dub*

.Fig. 16. Double-bached Flake, Fig. 1 7. Single-bached Flake,

natural size. natural size.
These two flakes have run right through the core, and are hence square ended.

When the quarter is worked up an edge is left ; the stone is

then turned over, and a flake struck off' with the English hammer.
Such flakes are called English flakes and have no ribs, and are
used for making common flints.
An average flaker will make from 7,000 to 8,000 flakes in a day,
a good one 10,000, or working long hours, say from 6 a.m. to
10 p.m., 12,000. Dorling and Southwell have made 60,000
flakes each in one week, and the former has made 63,000 in the
same time.
A
good flaker works so fast that by the time a flake falls Jmto
* Figs. 16 and 17 represent very beautiful flakes which depart from the ideal type
but little.
To face page 31.
 — ;

KNAPPING. 31

the tub a fresh one is struck off, as they say " the sound of the
hammer and of the falling flake should be heard together ;" very
few, however, can attain to this degree of excellence, and very
good stone must be used. Flaking is the most difficult part of
the manufacture. The modern flakers excel the Neoliths in skill,
as is shown by a comparison of their respective residual cores.
This is not the result of improved tools merely, for I have seen
Southwell flake as accurately with a round pebble as with a
steel hammer.
Knapping. — The final process is knapping, or the forming of
flakes into gun-flints. The knapper
sits on a stool at the block, and is
equally particular with the flaker as
to its position. The block slopes
gently towards the flaker, and the
stake .slightly inclines in the same
direction. Until recently the stake
was set upright, but it is now be-
coming the practice to incline it. The
flaker sits close to the block and at
right angles to it. The left leg is
extended parallel and close to the
block, and the right leg is bent. The
workman wears a large cotton apron
over both knees, and hitches one end
of it on to a tack behind him ; this
apron catches any pieces which fly.
The flake is taken in the left hand,
and the knapper tells at a glance and
by the touch how many and what
sorts of gun-flints the flake will make.
A. good flake will make four, and a
very good one five flints (see Fig. 19)
32 were made by Southwell out of
eight flakes running. Occasionally
four carbines are made from one flake,
and Southwell has made four car-
bines and a horse pistol from a single
flake recently. The French flint-
knappers are said only to make one
gun-flint from each flake.*
The flake is held on the stake face
uppermost, the inclination varying
with the amount of " running under "
required. If the flake is held at right
angles to the stake it cuts square,
Fig. 19. Flake marked to
if inclined it runs under, and the
show how it is to be knapped.
greater the inclination, the greater the
running under.
* This need not imply inferior workmanship for their tools, and consequently their
than ours. As a matter of fact, however, they are less well made
flakes, are smaller
and millions have been sent to England to be re-worked.
32 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

The elbow of the knapper rests in the groin, the fore-arm is

kept perfectly steady, and the motion of the knapping-hammer is
entirely from the wrist. The part of the hammer nearest the
body is called the hind corner, the opposite end the fore corner. ,

The flake is struck squarely on the face just inside the stake, so
that a shearing force is applied, and the hammer lie3 with the hind
corner and about half the edge on the flake. If the flake is thick
the fore corner of the hammer is used, but not otherwise. The
flake is first tapped or tiddled to get the hammer square, and is
then cut at a single blow. Mr. Evans supposed the tiddling was
^;o slightly notch the back,* but this is an error, as the back is
never so notched. The blow cuts the flake, but in consequence
of the shearing force, the bulb of percussion is formed on the back
by the stake, and not, as might be expected, by the hammer.
The motion of the hand is kept up continuously, and while the
knapper is picking up a fresh flake he keeps on tapping on the
leather stage. The sound of knapping is very peculiar, the
strokes on the flint yielding a clear musical note, those on the
stage a dull thud, and as these sounds never cease and are very
peculiar, they- cannot be mistaken for any others. When the
flake is twisted or wrung the body and wrist of the flaker are
inclined so as to bring the hammer face square.
The workman determines which side of the Hake is to form
first
the edge, choosing the straightest and best for that purpose, and
holding the flake so that the edge is away from him, the face
of the flake being uppermost. The edge and heel are made
from the sides of the flake, the sides by the cut section of the
flake. The first operation is to cut the flake across to form
the right side of the flint (the flint being looked at with the heel
nearest the body) and chiself it straight with one or two slight
blows. The flint is then turned towards the knapper and the heel
cut and chiselled, this being done so rapidly that it is almost finished
during the act of turning. The flake is again turned towards the
body and the other side cut. Turning again in the same direction
and at the same time turning the flint back uppermost the edge is
trimmed. These motions are so quick that the flint never seems
to stop in being turned, yet every blow has to be considered and
delivered according to the individual necessity of the case. The
edge is often put on by scraping the face along the back of the
stake, and though in many instances this trimming is unnecessary
the knapper almost always does it from custom. So rapid is this

* Ancient Stone Implements, p. 19. It is probable he was misled by being told

that the stake made " knots," i.e. bulbs, on the flake, and mistaking the word for
notch.
f The motion is in the opposite direction to that of the hands of a watch. The
cutting blow cuts the flake clean across, the bulbs being made by the stake ; the
chiselling is done by a series of light taps which break off tiny chips. Mr. Evans's
description (Anc. Stone Imp., p. 19) is incorrect. The heels of French gun-flints
are chiselled and not cut. If a flake be good the edge and heel are ready made, and
only require chiselling straight, but much depends upon the kind of gun-flint, single-
edged ones nearly always require the heel cutting. The edge, being formed by the
side of the flake, is never cut.
 KNAPPING. 33

process that I have on several occasions timed Southwell and seen

him make eleven well-finished gun-flints in a minute, and once he.
completed thirteen. This extreme speed would not, however, be.
kept up continuously, and eight per minute may be taken as the
average for a good workmanlike Southwell. Inferior knappers
sometimes cut the edges and sides, and then go round them again
to chisel or trim them.
Each knapper has a certain peculiar style which enables him to
distinguish his own flints. He tells them at once by feeling them
with his left hand, and though the differences are very slight I
have always found a knapper correct, though he cannot say more
than that a gun-flint is or is not his own workmanship. This judg-
ment is irrespective of sight and can be equally well used in the
dark. I tested Southwell blind-folded with about 30 flints made
by himself, myself, and three other knappers, and put with them
three which I had made but he had finished up for me. He was
right in every case. When he eame to one which was a joint pro-
duction he hesitated, and said " I seem to have handled this, but
there are points about it that don't seem to be my work." This
struck me as being very extraordinary. The flints were given to
him one by one, and he did not see any of them, nor was he told
whether his statements were correct until he had finished.
It. will be noticed in carefully examining flints that one side
is nearly always less well made than the other. This is because
flint does not cut so well after it has been handled.
An average workman will knap 3,000 flints in a day of 12
hours, but a good one will make 4,000 at a pinch. One man for
instance, working from 4 a.m., till 11 p.m. made 24,000 in a week.
Southwell and a boy, with the aid of an extra man and a boy
at night, made 44,800 in a week, flaking included.
Fig. 18 shows Mr. Southwell in the act of knapping and well
illustrates the position, &c. The flints when made are thrown
into tins ranged round the block as shown in the plate. Com-
mencing on the left of the knapper the tins are so placed that
best and most used flints are placed in the tin opposite to him.
Mr. Southwell's arrangement is 1 Second Single, 2 Second
Carbine, 3 Second Horse-pistol, 4 Second Musket, 5 Common
Carbine, 6 Common Musket, 7 Common Horse-pistol, 8 Common
Single, 9 Grey Musket.
When the tins are full the flints are counted. This is done in
fives called casts —an average tin holding about 100 casts. The
flints are thrown on to a board or table, at which the counter sits
and draws the flints into his apron, three with the right hand two
with the left hand. The process is very rapid. Southwell counted
in my presence 700 in 1 minute 35 seconds, or at the rate of
about 1,000 in two minutes. He considers this about his average
speed and has counted 50,000 at the same rate, including the time
.spent in picking up, emptying, and replacing the tubs or cans.*

* The quickest counter in Brandon can count 600 a minute.

s.
s.
 ——

36 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

bf percussion could in any way be the result. I have found by

experiment that the slightest blow, if of a rebounding character,
.will produce incipient bulbs, even pebbles the size of a pea pro-
jected with moderate force are sufficient for this purpose, and
.

water finding its way into the little fissure so produced would on
freezing enlarge the fracture, but its direction and extent would be
determined by the momentum and area of striking surface of the
original blow ; hence the piece will assume a conchoidal form such
as is invariably found to be the case.
I have long and carefully studied the fracture of flint, and feel
.

certain that bulbs of percussion can only be formed by blows.

Around Brandon it' is very common to find flints naturally frac- .

tured, with one surface -studded all over with pittings similar to
those in question, dnd-they are- most frequent in the vicinity of
old flint workshops. Aspecimen of these is shown in the col-
lection, .and it will not be surprising if they turn out to be stones
used in detaching the small flakes from the surfaces of arrow-
heads, &c.

Miscellaneous.
Strike-a-lights are shown of four shapes. Fig. 20 represents

Fig. 20. English Strike- a-Light.

the usual form of the old English kind, which is identical with
the present French strike-a-light and the modern French and old

Fig. 21. French Strike-a- Light.

See also Fig. 59.
English gun-flint ; and, as will be hereafter shown, very like some
of the ancient so-called "scrapers." Figs. 21 and 22 represent
particular shapes which are sometimes ordered to this day and
are again similar to some old " scrapers." These strike-a lights are
 — ,

STRIKE-A-OGHTS. 37

made from English flakes, and the first gun-flints only" differed
from them in being of smaller size the old gm>flints were, in
;

Fig, 22. — Horse-shoe Strike-a- Light. ,

~" •

fact, only modifications of the existing strike-a-lights. I venture

to name Fig. 20 the English strike-a-light, Fig. 21 the French
strike-a-light, and Fig. 22 the Horse-shoe strike-a-light, for obvious
reasons, and because it is as well to have names for these peculiar
relics of the stone age.
I have a German gun-flint which is also identical in shape with
some of the so-called " scrapers."
Specimens of discoidal flints are shown of which maay thousands
were made some years'ago for a London merchant, but their use ia
unknown. They are supposed to have been used for some orna-
mental inlaid work, or for pivots on which axles were to work.
The waste chips are used for road-making, and were formerly
given away, but are now sold at 3d. per 6ne-horse load. There
are thousands of tons still lying around the knappers' shops.
Attempts have been made to introduce these chips into the
pottery districts for ealcining and using in the manufacture of
china, but they were not very successful as so many of them were
outside chips retaining the coat, which was not serviceable. I
believe another attempt is about to be made to re-introduce them.
At present large quantities of brown weathered flints are im-
ported from Havre for this purpose, and it is thought that the
native material can be sorted and utilised at less expense.

Notes on French Gust-flints.

The French knappers (caillouteurs) make use of the following
tools :

" 1. A
hammer or mace of iron, with a square head, the weight of
which did not exceed two pounds (but it may be of half that weight
only), with a handle seven or eight inches long. This tool is not
made of steel, for an excess of hardness would render the strokes
too hard or dry (as the phrase is) and would shatter the nodules
irregularly, instead of breaking them by a clean fracture." This
implement answers to the present " quartering hammer." It was,
however, smaller than that tool, and leads me to conclude the
flints were brought to the knapper in smaller pieces than to their
English brethren.
38 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

2. A hammer with two points. This is made of good steel,

well hardened ; its weight does not exceed 1 6 ounces. Its handle
is seven inches long, passing through it in such a manner that the
points of the hammer are nearer the hand of the workman than the
centre of gravity of the mass." The present " flaking-hammer "
resembles this tool. The points of the flaking hammer, however,
are not inclined, and the tool is lighter than the English one
3. The disc-hammer, or roller, a small tool, called in French
roulette, which represents a solid wheel, or segment of a cylinder,
two inches and four lines in diameter its weight does not exceed
:

12 ounces. It is made ef steel not hardened, and is fixed on a

handle six inches in length, which passes through a square hole
in the centre.
4. Achisel, tapering and bevilled at both extremities, seven or
eight inches long, and two inches wide, made of steel not hardened.
This is set on a block of wood, which, at the same. time, serves as a
bench for the workmen. This chisel answers to the "stake" in
present use.*
The only place in which gun-flints are now made in France
on a scale of some magnitude is the village of Meunes.'f (I have
since learned that so late as 1870 gun-flints were made at
Romantin (Loire et Cher), Lye (Indre), and St. Aignan (Loire et
Cher). Whether the manufacture still continues I do not know.
I have samples of this work, and they are identical with the
French guncflint figured below.)
The stone for manufacturing the gun-flinfs for the French army
was selected with great care. It was obtained from Meunes,
Coufly, Pouille, Ange, Chatillon, Noyers, Langon, Lyes, Paulmey,
Lucion, and Valencay. At the first-mentioned place a special
artillery officer was stationed to examine the gun-flints. Moyesse
and St. Vincent (Ardeche), Oerilly (Yonne) and La Eoche Guyon
on the banks of the Seine (Oise), are also mentioned as furnishing
good beds of flint.J
The on the banks of the Cher were from 40 to 50
flint-pits
feet in depth, from whence levels or horizontal galleries were
driven " into the only good stratum which is known in that dis-
trict," but whether above or below the flint is not stated.§
"In of France three or four workmen used to join
parts
for the purpose of excavating flint for the gun-flint makers.
They would first dig a trench, about six feet in length and depth,
and about two feet in breadth ; then they would make a second
trench lower than the first, and so on, like the parallels of siege-
works, till they got to the depth of from 30 to 40 feet, where the
flint nodules were found embedded in a soft kind of chalkJ'||
The specimens in the collections show that the French gun-
flints are nothing but small strike-a-lights.

* Bees, article (Jun-Flint, op. cit.

Flint Implements of Pressigny, Trans. Eth.
t Steenstrup and Lubbock. Soc,
N.S.Lond., vol. v., pp. 221-227
J Arch. Dep. Cent, de' l'Artillorie.
§ Bees, article Gun-Flint, op. cit.
1|
Wyatt, Flint Chips, p. 582.
 flint-knappers and otoliths. 39

Antiquity and Development of the Flint Trade at '

Brandon.
From palaeolithic times to the present day the vicinity of
Brandon has been one of the great emporia for flint, and the huge
neolithic pits at Grime's Graves attest by their size and number
how important the manufacture was in those times. When we
remember how largely flint was worked, even after the intro-
duction of metal, it is highly improbable that its fire-producing
value should not early be discovered, and this would give a fresh
impetus to the flint-trade, and strike-a-lights would become mer-
chantable commodities, and we know they were made here before
the introduction of gun -flints.* From this trade the manufacture
of gun-flints is a lineal descendant, and it exists at the present
day. The forms of strike-a-lights have not varied since neolithic
times ; the first gun-flints were nothing but small strike-a-lights,
and the modern French and German gun-flints are still of this
character. This seems to be the true genealogy of the gun-flint,
and show the intermediate steps between the old strike-a-light
and the modern English gun-flint are very clear.
There is, I believe, no evidence of palaeolithic man mining
for flint, but the neolithic people (separated in. time from the old
stone folk by an interval perhaps equalling, if it did not exceed,
that which parts us from them) certainly mined largely, and I
cannot but think that the manufacture of flint implements for
various purposes has gone on without any, or but slight, inter-
ruptions from the earliest times to this moment.
It becomes a nice question to determine how far the process
has improved or degenerated and though from the nature of the
inquiry bnt little can be determined, that little is of great interest.
So far as mining is concerned the record is- one of steady
but slow progress. The diggers of the old flint-pits at Grime's
Graves sunk. f'uimel-shaped shafts to a depth of 30 feet, with a
diameter of 25 feet at the top, and this Herculean task was
accomplished by the aid of no better tools than unbored stone
celts and picks made from the antlers of the red deer. The sides
had no stagings, and the material was in all probability hauled
up in wicker or skin baskets by sinew or fibre ropes. They drove
simple 3-foot burrows on the top of the floor-stone and did not
draw the ground, neither did they drive their burrows straight,
but crookedly. It appears to me very probable that several
adjacent pits were worked at one time, each by its own set of men,
The flint was worked on the spptj and bartered to the hunting
* Mr. Evans also advances this opinion (Stone Imp. pp. 16 and 283), but although
, he shows the similarity between modern strike-a-lights and some of the- ancient
" scrapers," he does not allude to the identity of the former with old English and
modern French gun-flints, which is the connecting link between the ancient and
modern industries.
implements, such as celts, seem to have been made at Grime's
f Only the larger
Graves. The smaller flakes were taken down to certain picturesque spots on the
river side and there worked into arrow-heads. I have found several of these work-
shops, and obtained quantities of tiny flakes from the arrow-heads, also fragments of
pottery, burned stones which were probably used as pot-boilers, pieces of charcoal
from old fire-places, and fragments of nut and bone. I am not aware that this fact
has been before noticed.
 —— »

40 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

tribes,and the magnitude of the works is shown by the immense

number of flakes and cores which literally strew the ground in
the vicinity of the old pits. It was owing to this- permanent
employment that the art of flint-implement making attained that
degree of excellency which culminated in the beautiful ripple-
chipping of the surface shown in the annexed cuts, Fig. 23 being

Fig. 23. Flint Arrow-head from Chatteris.

from Chatteris and probably of Brandon flint, and Fig. 24 from

% •
4
>'.

Fig. 24. Flint Arrow-head, Brandon.

the vicinity of Brandon itself, and certainly of native stone. This

exquisite specimen was kindly lent to me for engraving by my
friend Mr. H. R. Maynard who possesses some very fine examples
of neolithic art.
So far as mining is concerned there has been a decided improve-
ment since Grime's Graves were dug, but the progress has been
very slow, and, I believe, not' sufficient to mask the primitive
origin. Thus the independent character of the pits and their close
proximity are exactly paralleled in Grime's Graves : the similarity
and the deserted modern ones
in the appearance of the neolithic pits
isvery striking. The method of lifting the stone is almost or
quite as simple as that of yore. Then it was hauled up by a
simple mechanical contrivance, now. it is lifted from stage to stage
by manual labour. In the method of getting the stone, however,
the progress has been decided as shown by the elaborate method
already .described but even here, although the work has been
;

carried on so long in a faulted rock, the diggers have not dis-

covered the simple law which determines the upthrow and down-
throw.
 ORIGIN OP ENGLISH HAMMER. 41

When flint was first used for fire-arms it was merely broken
into a convenient size, and each soldier had to find his own; in
like manner it is probable that when flint was first used as a
material to form weapons conveniently shaped natural stones were
selected. When the gun-flint trade became a special branch of
industry the workmanship rapidly improved in the hands of work-
men who devoted themselves solely to it, and is now brought to a
state of perfection never before equalled.* So with the old flint-
implement trade ; it began to improve rapidly when men devoted
themselves entirely to it, and culminated when metal gave them
better tools and before it became too common to replace the
stone. The beautifully even surface-chipping of such arrow-heads
as Figs. 23 and 24 is a triumph of skill and a proof of luxury;
and the art is lost to us. No Brandon knapper can in any way
approach it, as Mr. Evans has said, and as I have verified. So
far there has been a degeneracy in the working of flint.
I cannot help hazarding an opinion which has been formed froM
an intimate knowledge of flint-knapping, and of old-implement
" workshops," that in one of the tools used at Brandon we have
the lineal descendant of one used by the old flint-workers. The
flakes from which the arrow-heads and some other implements
were made had a single back, that is, one rib running down. the
centre of the back. This can be still traced on many of the worked
implements, and the waste and many of the unused flakes which still
lie about in thousands are of this character. (See Fig. 1 7.) Now
these flakes were struck with a round or ovoid pebble, of which
many specimens, showing the battered ends, have been found.
The old English gun-flints were also made from single-backed
flakes, or from flakes which had no ribs whatever, and these were
struck with "an oval hammer. The backless English flakes, and
many of the single-backed ones, are still struck with the ovoid
English hammer. It is well known that the shape of stone tools,
such as celts, were copied in bronze, and bronze patterns were
used in casting iron 'tools. This standing over of old habits is a
very common and striking phenomenon, and obtains not merely
in the shape of tools, as may be seen in the gauge' of railway
lines, which is the breadth of the old coaches, and in a still more
singular case in the aversion from the use of horse-flesh by the
English, this article of diet having been prohibited in early
Christian times because it was eaten in the feasts to Odin. Such
being the case, it seems to me to be highly probable that the old
English flaking-hammer was a metal copy of the old stone-flaker.
True, the modern tool is perforated and hafted, while the imple-
ments known as hammer-stones were merely grasped in the hand,
and doubtless this was the first method pursued ; but ovoid round-
faced perforated celts are by no means unknown, several having

* It is said in Brandon that at the commencement of this century the gun-flints

were better made than at present but this is at variance with the opinion I have
;

formed from an examination of quantities of old flints still in store at the Tower.
f The moderns,
however, excel in flaking.
 42 MANUFACTURE OF GUN- FLINTS, ETC.

been found in this neighbourhood. These, which Mr. Evans de-

scribes together in Chap. ix. of his classic work on stone imple-
ments, have had various uses ascribed to them. " By some
" antiquaries these perforated pebbles have been regarded as
weights for sinking nets, or for some such purpose; but in
."

" most cases this is, I think, an erroneous view firstly, because —
" the majority of these implements show traces, at their extre-
" mities, of having been used as hammers and, secondly, because,
;

." for such purposes as weights, there can be no doubt that

" the softer kinds of stone, easily susceptible of being pierced,

" would be selected, whereas these perforated pebbles are
" almost invariably of quartzite or some equally hard and rough
" material.
" There are some instances, indeed, in which the perforation
" would appear to be almost too small for a, shaft or* sufficient
" strength to wield the hammer, if such it were ; but even in such
" cases, where hard, silicious pebbles have been used, they must
" in all probability have been intended for other purposes than
" weights."*
'
Now any one of these would make an admirable flaking-hammer,
and the small " eyes " so far from offering the same difficulty on
this explanation as on the supposition that they were ordinary
hammers, is evidence in favour of it, because the blow given in
flaking is not a heavy one, indeed in most cases the hammer is
merely allowed to fall upon the stone, and the perforation or
"eye" is always made as small as possible. The principal desi-
deratum in a flaking-hammer is to get the greatest possible weight
with the least possible size ; hence the eyes are made so small that
they are only sufficient to carry the handle if they could be
:

hafted as conveniently they would not be perforated at all. Here

then I would look for the immediate predecessor of the English
flaking-hammer, and if the deduction be accepted it is another point
in favour of the supposition that the working of flint has gone
on continuously since neolithic times.
Slowly as the flint-trade has progressed there are a few changes
we can point to as having occurred in modern times. Of these
the oldest and most important was the introduction of the present
flaking-hammer, which at once gave rise to the more useful and
elegant double-backed flints. A nother change was the abandon-
ment of the collar to the knapping-hammer by the present genera-
tion, a course which shows enhanced skill in cutting the flint so that
it does not fly towards the knapper. Within the last five or six
years the practises of damping the stone to lay the dust has
become more general, showing a greater consideration for health,
of sloping the stake to make the position of the left hand easier,
and the substitution of new for old leather for the stage, have
greatly increased. Such changes show how gradually an industry
i« modified, or, as it is becoming the fashion to express it,
" evolved."
* Evans, Ano. Stone Imps., p. 194.
 ANTIQUITY OF FLINT-KNAPPING. 43

-
The evolution of the gun-flint from the strike-a-light trade has
been already discussed, and no one can compare the strike-a-lights
in the collection with the French gun-flint (see Figs. 59 and 60),
or the French strike-a-light (Fig. 21) with the same specimen
without being" struck with the probability of the suggestion.
But these strike-a-lights and old gun-flints are singularly like
some of the ancient " scrapers," as pointed out by the astute
author of Stone Implements, who further remarks, "I find, more-
a over, that by working such a flint and a steel or briquet together,
much the same bruising of the edge is produced as that apparent
" on some of the old " scrapers." I come, therefore, to the con-
" elusion, that a certain proportion of these instruments were in
" use, not for scraping hides like the others, but for scraping iron
" pyrites, and not improbably, in later days, even iron or steel for
" procuring fire."* This is sound reasoning, and if the form of
strike-a-lights has not varied since then, my suggestion of the origin
.

of the English hammer is not very far fetched.

I am fully convinced that in the Brandon gun-flint trade we
have a relic of the true stone age, and when philologists attack the
question it is probable that some of the curious words in use among
knappers, which I have carefully preserved in this work, may be
found to be outliers of the old pre- Aryan tongue.
The value of the study of gun-flints to geologists is greater than
has been supposed, for it affords the best experience of the fracture
of flint, and at once enables us to determine the natural or artificial
nature of the fracture. But it does more, it teaches us to distin-
guish many individual features of the flint, and of the tool with
which it is struck.
Those whose studies have not led them to pay particular atten-
tion to flint often express doubts as to the artificial nature of some
of the ruder implements, and, still more frequently, of flakes.
Geologists even have been heard to declare that some of these
uncouth specimens could be matched from any gravel heap. To
such I would reply that if they will conscientiously examine care-
fully a gravel pit and handle the stones, they will find that such is
not the case, and the longer they search the stronger this opinion
must grow, until, eventually, if any doubt remain it will rather
be as to whether the specimens in question were ever found in
gravel, so rare are they. If by good fortune he find one he will
then assuredly treasure it as a peculiarity, even if he still doubt
its human workmanship. I am perfectly convinced that it is as
easy for an experienced observer to discriminate between artificial
and natural flint chips, as it is for the ordinary observer to dis?
tinguish stone arrow-heads from rifle-bullets. This is in conse-
quence of the very peculiar manner in which flint and some other
rocks fracture. It requires a sharp rebounding blow delivered with
a definite amount offorce to detach a flake. If the blow be dead
the stone is only bruised ; if it be bounding, but too slight, the
bruising shows an incipient cone, but no flake is struck if, again,
;

* " Ancient Stone Implements," p. 283.

44 MANUFACTURE OP GUN-FMNTS, ETC.

the blow be too heavy the stone is shattered. Moreover, the blow
must be delivered in a certain direction. Now it .is possible

that these conditions will be found sometimes in nature, as

all
when a stone is flung upwards by a torrent or wave and falls upon'
a larger stone or rock-surface. But it is clearly impossible that
they shall occur in the majority, or even in any considerable per-
centage, of cases. Hence, jf we find a single flake showing the bulb
of percussion, we cannot say for certain that it is artificial (unless
it is one of a series of flakes, in which event the shape is modified) ;
but if we find a number of them in a limited area we may be quite*
sure that they are the work of intelligent beings.
If, again, we find a stone which shows that several flakes have'
been removed we may be certain that they have been struck'
intentionally, for the chances are infinitely against a single stone
having been several timep placed by nature under the requisite J
conditions. Besides, these flakes bave all been removed at the
same time, as shown by the condition of the surface, and this-
again makes the chances less in favour of nature. Finally, it can
invariably be shown that the flakes have been removed with a pur-
pose, and it is always easy to show (1) whether the flakes were
struck to be worked up into arrow-heads, &c. ; or (2) whether they
have been removed so as to bring the core to a definite shape or ;

(3) whether the core, after useful flakes have been removed, has
been w 01*ked up again to subserve some useful purpose. Again,
it is always possible to tell whether a tool has been re-chipped>
along the edge after having been worn down by use ; and if a tool-
be broken, whether the fracture is of the same age as the tool, or
subsequent to its manufacture. Lastly, when unfinished tools- are
found, as is frequent on the sites of the old workshops, the reason
for their rejection can always be determined, and I have found
more than one flint celt which, after being begun, has been rejected
for some flaw but used as a hammer, and the blows administered
as a hammer are always perfectly distinct from those given in
shaping the implement.
I have carefully examined upon the ground a very large
number of ancient flakes and- cores, and have had the advantage of
the experience of Mr. Southwell, than whom none is better capable
of judging of these things, and I find that the outside, wa3te, and
useful flakes can be distinguished, and, moreover, different pecu-
liarities of fracture which mark the skilled from the unskilled flaker.
Nearly all these seem to have been struck with a rounded tool, and
the flaking hammers must have varied in size from very large ones
to very small. Most of the flakes are without backs, such as those
generally struck with an English hammer; many are sino-le-
backed, and a few double or triple-backed. These latter, however,
are certainly accidental, having arisen in two ways namely, either
;

from a large flake covering the faces of several flakes previously

removed, having been removed to obtain a fresh smooth surface, or
from a small flake having been taken off a large single-backed one,
thus leaving two ribs on a large thin surface. This latter seems
to have been a usual practice, and I have specimens showing
 DESCRIPTION OF STONE AND" TOO*LSr 45

abortive attempts, to remove this small flake. series of speci- A

mens illustrating the different stages of the old manufacture is in
process of formation, and will be deposited in the museum as soon
as I have completed it.

Anyone who will carefully study the present collection, will be

able to distinguish the points 1 have described, and that the indi-
vidual peculiarities of the flints may be readily observed, I have
given short notes of each gun-rflint, and also showed wherein it?
differsfrom what may be called the. ideal types. Although these
are described as flaws, they must not be considered as evidence of
inferior workmanship, for the faults lay in the stone, and not in
the knapper, who is one of the most skilful in Brandon.

Description of Specimens.
Flint.
1. Quartered floor-stone. The
entire mass shows the average
size of the flints as delivered tothe knappers. It is broken into
five quarters, and the positions of the blows are numbered in their
order of succession the arrows point to the places of percussion.'
;

No. 4 has broken badly, and the coat has been accidentally
chipped. This specimen well illustrates the difference in thickness
between the top and bottom coate.
2. A
specimen of floor*stone showing the double-coat.
-
A
"pot-lid," or natural fracture.
3. One side of the inner
surface shows what is termed a " frosty face."
4. Flint from Icklingham, showing bulb of percussion. Very
fine stone.
5. Outside waste flakes, called skives, showing the coat. From
old deep pits at Icklingham. Very good stone, superior to any
now dug.
6. Single and double-backed flakes. Figs 16 and IT. .

• 7.: Old English flake.

8. Flake marked to show how
it will knap the pieces will form
;

waste, one horse-pistol,, three carbines, and one double. Fig. 19.
9. Flake cut into five pieces to make four gun-flints.
10. Four gun-flints made from one flake.

Tools.
11. Stone-digger's pick. Has been in use. Fresh pointed for
work.
12. First quartering-hamnier, new. See p. 16.
13. Ditto, old, see p. 16-
14. Second quartering-hammer, new. See p. 16.
15. Ditto, old. Seep. 16. ,

16. English hammer. See p. 18.

•
17. First flaking-hammer, new. See p. 17.
18. Ditto, old. See p. 17.
38856. •
D
 —

46 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

19. Second flaking-hammer, new. Seep. 17.

20. Ditto, old. See p. 17.
21. Flaking candle-stick. See p. 21.
22. Knapping hammer, new. See p. 19.
23. Ditto, old. Seep. 19.
24. Knapping candle-stick. Seep. 21.
25. Model block, with stake and stage, full-sized ; block about
one sixth natural See p. 19.
size.
26. Stake, full-size. See p. 20.
27. Stake leather. See p. 20.
28. Staging wood. See p. 20.
2.9. Knapping leather, upper surface marked. See p. 20.
30. Wringings.

Gun-Flints.
Numbered successively 1 to 33. Two points require special men-
tion ; the first isthat no gun-flint is made by measure, but all by
the eye the second is that the remarks attached to each specimen
;

only show wherein they differ from an ideal type, and do not
denote inferior workmanship, for they are exceptionally well
made.
It will be noticed that the distinction between bests and seconds
is and that good seconds may be as well made in every
arbitrary,
respect as inferior bests. As a rule, however, seconds are
thinner than bests, or as thick but of inferior workmanship or
material. Commons are single-backed, but may be as well made
as bests. Double-edged flints are longer than single-edged of the
same kind, because they have no heels to be cut off. No. 1 among
the second singles is in reality a super-single, but it is left in its
present condition because it was placed there by the knapper, and
serves to illustrate how bests may be picked out from a mass of
seconds. The dimensions given are in inches.
The terms applied to the parts of a gun-flint are illustrated by
the following cuts and descriptions :
 — ,

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 47'

1. Wall Pieces.

Fig. 26.— Wall Piece.

Size.— 20 x 1-5 x 5.
—
Make. Single-edged, rudely made, large flints ; very variable
in size.

2. Large Swan.

Fig. 27. Large Swan.

Size. — x 1-2x0-3.
1 -5
Make. — Back nearer heel than edge, moderately broad ; good
thick flint.

1. Spotted flint, back very broad, Side-bulbs opposite each

other, but unequal in finish.
2. Good square back, nearer heel than front, side-bulbs opposite.
A very well made flint.
3. Back not .NTo. 2, side-bulbs not opposite, edge
so square as
long and good.
4. Back moderately good, side-bulbs not opposite, very long
front. Too thin to be a good flint.
5. Solid flint not clean cut, bulbs not opposite.
6. A poorly made flint of inferior material.
'
7. Very good black flint, but spotted on the edge, side-bulbs
not opposite, heel-bulb prominent.
8. Awell-made flint with good back, side-bulbs not opposite.
9. Narrow back, and consequently long front and short heel.
Heel spotted, and the unequal hardness thus caused has prevented
its being clean cut Side-bulbs not opposite.
D 2
 ;

48 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

10. Beautifully -made flint of good material, back central but

rather too narrow. Bulbs opposite, sides equally well cut.
N —
te If these flints were assorted, Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10
,

would be "bests ;" Nos. 1, 4, 6, and 9 " seconds;" Nos. 1, 7, and

9 might go as " spotted " or " mixed " flints. No. 10 would
have made a double-edge, but such are never made in this size.

3. Best Musket.

Best Musket.

Size.— 1-3 x 1-1x0-4.

—
Make. Back nearer heel than hedge, moderately broad ;
good
thick flint.

1. Beautifully made flint, with good square back, rather too

central, side-bulbs opposite and in centre of side, sides well cut,
heel and edge quite straight.
2. Almost as well made, but back not so square, side-bulbs op-
posite and in centre of back, trace of heel-bulb.
3. An excellent flint, with back squarer even than No. 1, but
not quite such good flint ; side-buibs opposite and in centre of
side the workmanship is perfect.
; all
4. A flint, with back pretty square, side-bulbs oppo-
well-made
site and in centre of side.
5. A
good flint, with back rather irregular, side-bulbs nearly'
opposite, right side not so cleanly cut as left.
6. A
good flint, with irregular back, side-bulbs nearly opposite,
sides equally clean cut, but heel not so.
7. Back irregular, side-bulbs not opposite, heel not clean cut. '.

8. Irregular back, side-bulbs not opposite, heel not clean cut,

and its bulb showing.
'9. A
good flint, with the most irregular rib in front, sile-bulbs
not opposite. Thinner than it ought to be, and back too narrow.
10. A
well-made flint, but too thin, and back too narrow ; side-
bulbs not opposite.
Note. —
Nos. 9 and 10 might equally well be" called Second
Muskets in virtue of, their thinness. The back should not be
central, but nearer the heel. It is noticeable here, and indeed
generally, that one side of a flint is often better made than the
other the better one being the first made.
; Flint, after being .

handled, never works so well as it would have done before.

 ——

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 49

4. Second Musket.

Fig. 29. Second Musket.

Size.— 1-3x11x0 3.

Make. — Second Muskets, when specially made, are thinner than

Best Muskets, but a best With a flaw goes in as a second.
1. Was made for a best, but put in with the seconds because it
was not square enough ; otherwisD it is a very good flint, and
superior to Nos. 9 and 10 of the bests.
2. Avery good typical second, beautifully made in all respects
except a slight notch on the right side ; but for this and its thin-
ness itwould have been a best.
3. Thick and well-made enough for a best, but with a notch on
the right side.
4. Well-made enough for a be^t, for which it was intended, but
put into seconds because it turned grey, and is wrung or twisted.
Whenever the edge is wider than heel the flint goes as a seconds.
5. Is an inferior quality, brackly and hollow-fronted.
6. Wrung flint heel longer than edge.
;

7. Well-made flint, but a second for similar reasons to No. 4.

8. One side badly made in consequence of the flake being
thickest there.
9. Inferior edge ; not square.
10. Inferior edge wrung.

5. Double-edge Musket.

Fig. 30. Double-edge Musket.

Size.—1 -3x1-2 X 4.

Make. Slightly longer than other muske.ts, but with two edges,
 —

50 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

and consequently no heel. The back and bulbs are central and the
flint of good consistence.

1. Well-made flint, but rather too thin, and the back rather too
broad, and not quite central.
2. A
better made flint, but not quite pure in colour; bulbs
nearly opposite, and central.
3. Well-made ; back not quite central.
4. One edge gapped, back too broad, and the best edge too
short.
5. Wrung; too thin;. one edge too short.

6. Wrung ; one edge gapped ; back nearly perfect, but not

quite central.
7. Too thick ; back too narrow ; edges not square.
8. Similar to No. 7.
9. Inferior back and side.
10. Good edges, but back too wide, and one edge too short.

6. Common Musket.

Fig. 31. Common Musket.

(The apparent double-back is the effect of a flaw in the flint.)

Size — 1-3 x 1-1 x 0.- 4.

Make. —Like other muskets, but single-backed. Never made

double-edged ; hence the heel should be short.
1. An excellent flint; square; long fronted; good thickness*
bulbs opposite and on back.
2. Well made, but the flint has not broken quite cleanly;
the
right side shows well the difference in make of the two sides of
a
flint.
3. One side bad bulbs not opposite.
;

4. Not pure in colour back too central. ;

5. „ ,3 too thin,
fi. Thin ; back too central.
7. Good but edge gapped and the "chalk" showing on
flint,
the back.
8. Bad back.
9. Too thick ; back not straight.
10. Inferior material, shows the grisly fracture on the heel.
 — —

DESCRIPTION OP GUN-FLINTS. 51

7. Mixed Grey or Spotted Musket.

Fig. 32. Mired Grey or Spotted Musket..

Size.— IS x 11 x 0-4.
—
Make. Same as other muskets, but of a spotted flint. None
of these, from the nature of the stone, are so cleanly cut as black
flints.
1. Excellent flint, but with edge gapped.
2. Not quite so good, ditto
3. Not so cleanly cut, but with better edge,
4. Well made, but wrung.
5. Good edges Du * no * square.
6. Well made, but back unsymmetrical, and too wide.
7. Back too central, edge gapped, too thin.
8. Not square, ditto ditto
9. Unevenly cut, bad edge.
10. Well made, but much wrung.

8. Solid Grey Musket.

Fig. 33. Solid Grey Musket.

(Icklingham make.)

Size.—1-3 x 11 X 0-4.
—
Make. Same as other muskets, but of grey flint, which cuts
grisly.
These flints vary in thickness greatly ; the above size being
one, the length varies from 1*3 to 1 4, the width
#

the theoretical
from 0-9 to VI, the thickness from 0*3 to 0/5.
 —

52 MANUF.YCT.UBE OF GUN-FLINTS, F/fC.

1. Well made for a grey,back not good ; too thin.

2. ,I3itto, brat back too bMoad,
3. Sides and heel rough, too thick.
4. Good
back, fair sides, face wrung,
5. Well made, but single backed.
6. Good edg3, but single backed and wrung.

7. Fairly good, but with uneven back,

8. Too thin, back much too broad,
9. Too narrow and thick, wrung,
10. Coarse flint, single-backed and irregular.

9. Chalk-heeled Musket.

Fig. 34. — Chalk-heeled Musket.

Size and make like fither muskets, hut purposly showing the
coat or "chalk" on the keel,- The three specimens in the
collection are beautifully made in all respects.

10. Best Carbine.

Fig. 35. Best Carbine,

(The draughtsman has omitted to show the trimmed heel, so that it looks like a
double-edged flint.)

Size.— 1-2 Xl-Qx 0-25.-

—
Make. A single-edged flint, like a musket but smaller.
1. Excellently made back almost perfect, but bulbs not quite
;

opposite. . ,

.2. Very g-ood, but, the back rather too broad, and the bulbs
"
not quite opposite. . .
}

3. Goodbut bask not quite square.

flint,
4. Very-good- flint, slightly Waisted, and heel rather too
narrow; bulbs not opposite. - - '.;..,
 —— .

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 53

5. Good flint, with edge gapped; bulbs not quite.. .opposite,

and back too broad. .-•,',,.„
6. Good flint; sides not equal, and one with two bulk?.
7. Well made waisted flint, but with edge gapped, and back
not quite in right place.
8. Well made, biit wrung. ;
»

9. Too thick. ','•,-

10. Ditto, but well made ; edge gapped.

11. Second Carbine.

Fig. 36. Second Carbine.

(Heel not drawn.)

Size.—1-2x1 -Ox 0-25.

—
Make. Made for bests, but condemned for some flaw which is
alone pointed out in the following list. Some might go as bests,
as Nos. 9 and 10 of the bests might have been put in as seconds.
"
1. Flawed face; chalk " shows on back.
2. Wrung. . ,. ,

3. Imperfect edge and heel.

4. Not square, and one side too straight.
5. Bad colour. -

For make any of the above might have gone in as bests. '
.
,

6. Inferior back and edge.

7. Too thin. , j!

8. „ bad back. . ,
°

9- » » •,"-<«'
10.

12. Carbine, Double-Edge.

Fig. 37. Double-edged Carbine, .

Size.— 1-2 X 1-1x0-25.

 — —

54 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

Make. —
Like other carbines, but with the back central so as to
make the two edges of equal length.
1, Excellently made, the only fault being a thickening of one
end of an edge, but this is of no moment.
2. Equally well made, but one edge gapped.
4. „ but back rather too broad.
5. Good, but slightly wrung.
6. One edge gapped; back too narrow.
' • 3' I)

8. back too narrow.

„
9. „ „ not central.
10. „ too thin back too broad. ;

The whole of these are admirably made.

13. Common Carbine.

Fig. 38. Common Carbine.

(The trimmed heel not shown.)

Size.— 1-2x10 x 0-25.

Make. —Like other single-edged carbines, but single-backed.
1. Excellent, but with a gapped side.
2.. „ but back too central.
3. „ edge not quite so good as above.
4. Not quite so well made.
5. Very good, but gapped edge.
6. „ but too thin.
7. Back too central, spotted on face.
8. Too thin.
10. Inferior flint.

14. Common Carbine. Double-Edge.

Fig. 39. Common Carbine. Double-edged.

Size.— 1-2 x 1-1 X 0-25.

 —

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 65

Make. —Like No. 12, but double edged; hence the back is
central.
1. Well made, but rather thin.
2. „ edge not true.
3. „ thin.
4. „ one side grisly.
5. „ back not straight.
6. ,, not cleanly cut.
7. „ bulbs not on rib.
8. „ one edge not true.
9. Back wrung, edge gapped.
10-

15. Grey or Spotted Carbine.

Fig. 40. Grey Carbine.

Size.—1-2 x 1-0 x 0-25.
—
Make. Like other single-edged carbines, but of grey or spotted
flint, and hence ruder in workmanship.
1. Very good flint for spotted stone.

2. Equally well made, but back too long.

3. Edge gapped.
4. Very good, but rather narrow.
5. Good, but wrung.
6. Wrung and small.
7. Irregular backed.
8. Wrung and poor backed.
9. Well made, but thin.
10. Wrung, coarse stone.

16. Chalk-heeled Carbine.

Illllll

Fig. 41. — Chalk-heeled Carbine.

Size.—1-2 x 1-0 x 0-25.
 — —

56 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

Maki.-'-lake other single-edged carbines, but with the coat or

" chalk " purposely showing on the heel.
Two specimens are shown, marked. 3 and 4 the former is well ;

made, and the latter would be equally good, but that the flint
shows a tendency to double-coating.

17. Best Horse Pistol,

'
Fig. 42. Best Horse PistoL
. (Heel not shown.)

Site.— 1-1x0-9 x 0-3.

—
Make. Squarer than carbines, and smaller.
1 -5., Perfect as flints can be.
6. Very good, edge slightly gapped.
7. Back too central.
, 8. ,, narrow, edge gapped.
"9. One side too straight.
10. Inferior material, edge too short; it had to be re-chipped.

18. Best Horse Pistol. Double-Edge.

Fig. 43. Best Horse Pistol. Double-edged.

Size.— 1-1 x 1-0 x 0-3.

—
Make. Similar to other horse pistols, but with back central to
make the edges equal in length.
1. Excellent but edge gapped, and one side too straight.
flint,

2. „ but one edge not quite perfect,

3. „ „ „ gapped.
4. "
„ but thin.
5. „ „ rather short.
6. „ „ thin.
7. Back too broad, edge gapped.
8. „ „ .
.too thin.
""
9. ,, „ ">,

10. Thin. . :. :: i ,:,_ 1- _ . ..

 Description of gun-flints. 57

19. Second Horse Pistol.

Fig. 44.— Second Horse Pistol.

(Heel not shown.)
'""'-'
fe-l'lx0-9x-0'3.
—
Make. Same size as bests, but rejected for some flaw such aa
thinness ;these flaws are enumerated below.
1. Rather narrower in the heel than edge.
'2. „ „ edge „ heel.
3. Inferior heel.
4. Wrung.
5. Gapped edge.
6. Wrung.
7. Thin.
8. „
9. „
10. Back too thin.

20. Second Horse Pistol. Double-Edge.

Fig. 45. — Second Horse Pistol. Double-edged.

Size.— 11x1-0x0-3.
~- Make.—Like other Second Horse Pistols, but double-edged,
which brings the back to the centre.
1. Nearly perfect flint; would be a best if thicker.

2. Rather short ; back narrow.

3. Short, back not central.
4 Very nicely made but thin.
5. Good flint but short.
6. Not quite square.
7. Wrung.
8. Too thin.
9. Not good colour thin. ;

10. Edge gapped.

 , —

58 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

21. Common Horse Pistol, or Large Common Gun.

Fig. 46. Common Horse Pistal.

&-MxO'9xO-3.
Make. —Like other horse pistols, but single backed.
1. Very good, but bulbs not opposite.

3. „ back not level.

4. „ bulbs opposite ; rather irregular edge.
5. „ thin.
6. Well made, but thick.
7. Wrung.
8. Gapped edge, wrung, spotted back.
9. Wrung.
1 0. Poor back.

22. Common Horse Pistol. Double Edge.

Fig. 47. — Common Horse Pistol. Double-edged.

Stze.—Vl x 10 x 0-3.
: —
Make. Like common horse pistol, but double-edged, hence the
back is central. These are only made for special orders.
1. Well made, but one bulb not on back.

2. Bulbs right but edges not so good as No. 1. '

3. Bulbs not opposite, one edge slanting.
4. Too thick.
5. Very nicely made, but rather small.
6. Too thin.
7. Thin and short.
8. Thin, but very nicely made.
'
9. One bad edge. .

10. Wrung.
 —

DESCRIPTION OP GUN-FLINTS. 59

23. Mixed Grey or Spotted Horse Pistol.

Fig. 48. Mixed Grey Horse Pistol.

— 10 x 0-9x0-3.
Size.
Make. — Like but of spotted
others, flint.

1. Nicely made, bulbs not quite opposite.

2.
3.
4.
5.
 ——

60 MANUFACTURE OP "GUST-FLINTS," liTC.

Size.— 1.0 x 085 x 0-2.

—
Make. Similar to, but smaller than horse pistols.
1. Excellently in tide.
2. „ bulbs not quite opposite.
3. „ edge not quite true.
4. „ back not so good as others.
5. „ too thin, gapped edge.
6. Thin but good.
7. Very nicely made, bulbs pert, back too broad.
8. Back narrow.
9. „ broad.
10. „

26. Second Single.

Fig. 51. Second Single.

Size. — 1-0x0-85 x 0-2.

Make. — Same as super singles but rejected for some flaw as
detailed below.
1. A
singuarly perfect flint in every respect. I fas got in here
by mistake. J t is a super single.
2. Gapped .edge.
3. One side too straight.
Any of the above would go as super singles. -

4. Thin, broad back.

5. Poor edge, broad back.
6. Thick
V 7. "Thin, broad "back".

8. Small „
9. Poor edge and back.
10. „ broad back, thin.

27. Fine Single, or Small Common Gun.

Fig. 52. Fine Single.

Size.- -l-0x0-8x-0-2.
 . —

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 61

—
Make. A trifle narrower than super single.
1. Well made, but rather thick.
2. „ bulbs not opposite.
3. One side too straight „
4. Unsymmetrical.
5. Gapped edge.
6.
7. Back too broad.
8. „ thin.

28. Super Double.

Fig. 53.— Super Double.

Size.— 10 x 0-7 x 025.
Make. —Between horse
pistol and single in thickness, same length
as, but narrower than single. Made from a wide flake, with the
heel and edge cut cleanly off.
1 Beautiful edge, but sides not equal.
2. Very nicely made, bulbs perfect.
3. In make quite perfect, but wide enough for a single.
4. Very good, heel short.
5. Edge gapped.
6. Back narrow.
7. Thin.
8-10. „
The whole of these are remarkably well made.

29. Second Double or Rifle.

Fig. 54. Second Double.

Size.— 0'95 x 0-65 x 0-2,
—
Make. Same as super double, but condemned for some flaw, as
recorded below.
1. Edge slightly rough.
2. Bather thin.
3. One side too straight.
4. Narrow back.
All the above would do for super doubles.
38856. E
 — —

62 MANUFACTURE OF- GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

5. Too square.
6. „ thick.
7. „ thin, inferior side.
8. i, „ back too broad.
9. Small.
10. Gapped edge.

30. Pine Double.

Fig. 55. line Double.

Size,— 1-0 x 0-65 x 0-23.

—
Make. Like super double but narrower. Practically most of
them are scarcely distinguishable from the super doubles.
1. Excellent flint.
2- „
3. „ edge gapped.
4. Well made, but sides unequal.
5. „ but wrung.
•6. „ large.

8. , „ ;.: back too broad.

9. Edge too short.
10. Too short.

31. Super Pocket Pistol.

Size.— 0'75 x 065 x 0-2.

H
Fig. 56. Super Pocket Pistol.

—
Make. A small square flint, the same size as a rifle, but shorter
1. Excellently made in all respects.
2. •
„ '

3.
4.
5. „ but rather broad.
6. Heel short flint too long. ;

7. Poor colour.
8. Back and edge not perfect.
9. Thin.
10. Back too broad.
 ——

DESCRIPTION OF GUN-FLINTS. 63

32. Pine Pocket Pistol.

Fig. 57, Fine Pocket Pistol.

&.-0'75xO'6xO-2.
—
Make. Same as super?, but narrower, and often of inferior make,
whence they might be called seconds.
Excellent flint.

Thin.
but broad back.
Bad back, too narrow.
6. Too short.
7. Too thin, back too broad.
8. Short.
9. Poor.
10. Thin broad back.
,

33. Old English Gun-Flints.

Fig. 58. Old English Gun-Flint,

Made from English flakes.

Fig. 59.— French Gun-Flint.

French gun-flints of two. sizes. Over 100 years old. . Then-
identity of shape with strike-a-lights, and some old " scrapers " is

very patent. See pp. 43 and 44.

Fig. 60. Cut and Polished Flint.

9.
64 MANUFACTURE OF GUN-FLINTS, ETC.

Out and polished flint. Made for experiment 30 years ago, but
never in demand. The cost price was 9d. each.
Polished French gun-flints made at the same time.

Mint Locks, &c.

Double-barrelled old flint-lock pistol of very fine workmanship,
with flint inserted. This weapon takes a pocket-pistol size.
Old carbine flint-hammer with flint inserted.
Flint fired in the above pistol 100 times to show the manner of
wearing. Seep. 4.
Ditto, showing how a flint wears if too wide for a weapon.
See p. 4.
Waste.
Flake r's chips.
Knapper's chips. These specimens show how readily distin-
guishable are artificial from natural chips.

Miscellaneous.
Strike-a-lights.These are shown A, of ordinary shape, like
large French, or old English gun-flints ; B, horse-shoe shaped ;

C, straight-sided round-edged D, half-round; i?, circular. All

;

of these are at present made for sale, and can be matched among
neolithic so-called "scrapers." They are m:ide generally from
English flakes but (when ordered) any flake, English, single, or
;

double- backed, is used, provided it is thick and broad. See p. 36.

Discs, use unknown, made at Brandon.
Ditto, from Icklingham.
Square black faced-builder, with Knapper's initials, and date
knapped upon the face. See p. 35.
Square, mixed-colour, faced-builder. •

Round, black, faced-builder.

Round, mixed-coloured, faced-builder.
Random, faced-builder, with 1 " chip-back."
Rough builder.
Square, black faced-builder with initials, date, &c, like the
Indian " snake pattern " agates.

Fig. 61. — German Gun-Flint.

 65

ON THE AGE OF PALAEOLITHIC MAN,

I embrace this opportunity of epitomising the evidence recently

obtained by me, that there are three distinct horizons of beds
yielding palaeolithic implements. Of these, which I' propose to
call the Early, Intermediate, and Late Palaolithic, the last two are
newer, and the first is older than the Chalky Boulder-clay.
Combining the result of my own work in Norfolk and Suffolk
with that of others, and taking into consideration also the
researches of Mr. S. V. Wood, jun., in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire,
the succession of deposits in the east of England formed during
the great cycle of the glacial period seems to be as follows, in
descending order :

1. —
Plateau Gravels, Sfo. (Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.) Melt-
ing ice ; floods.
2. —
Hessle Boulder-clay. (Lincsh. and Yorksh.) Not traced fur-
ther south than the Lincolnshire border of the fens. Last
ice^sheet.
3. —
Gravel and Sand. Called in part Hessle Gravel by Mr.
Wood. Mild period. Pleistocene fauna. Late palaeolithic.
Gravels of modern rivers, in part.
4. Purple Boulder-clay, — Not traced further south than North
Lincolnshire. Large ice-sheet.
5. —
Sands and Gravels. Mild period. Pleistocene fauna. In-
termediate palaeolithic.
6. Flood Gravels —
In force in Norfolk and Suffolk. Formed
by floods on melting of ice-sheet of Chalky Boulder-clay,
and subsequently similar beds" formed after deposition of
beds 2 and, 4. These are difficult to separate, and in this
table are partly included in beds 1 and 3.
7. Chalky Boulder-clay. —
Great ice-sheet. The most extensive
of the glacial beds.
8. Brandon Beds. —
Brick-earths hitherto only recognised in
Norfolk and Suffolk. Pleistocene fauna. Early palaeo-
lithic. Boulder-clay sometimes underlies these beds.
This may be an older clay, perhaps No. 11, but at present
I incline to the belief that it most frequently consists of
tongues of No. 7 intruded into and beneath No. 8.
9. Sand and Gravels.— Middle Qlacial of Messre. S. V. Wood,
jun., and F. W. Harmer.
10. Contorted Drift. —
Probably in part contemporaneous with
No. 9. Generally consists of clays and loams much con-
torted.
1 1. Lower Boulder-clay. —Also known as Cromer Till. Appa-
rently confined to the neighbourhood of the East Anglian
Coast.
66 AGE OF PAI-^EOLITHIO MAN.

In passing from Yorkshire to Suffolk we thus travel in suc-

cession over four distinct bouldeV-clays, separated from each
other by beds of sand, gravel, and clay, which contain a pleisto-
cene fauna.
It is a highly significant fact that beds containing this fauna
never lie upon the surface in the district occupied by the newer
boulder-clays Nos. 2 and 4. South of the R. Steeping these boulder-
clays are wanting, and there accordingly the beds containing the
pleistocene fauna begin to come on. This peculiarity of dis-
tribution receives a ready explanation, if we suppose the newer
ice-sheets to have more or less completely ploughed out the beds
in question from the northern area.
In the neighbourhood of Brandon, and indeed over the whole
of the midland and eastern counties, there are no ice-formed
deposits newer than the Chalky Boulder-clay.* In other words this
district has not been glaciated since the Chalky Boulder-clay was
formed. To this immunity from later glacial erosion we may
fairly ascribe the richness of its post- boulder-clay beds. But it
would clearly be erroneous to suppose that all the beds which, in
this area, overlie the Chalky Boulder-clay are post-glacial, since
they may belong to any part of the period shown in the table by
beds 1 to 8 inclusive.
In determining the age of deposits which in this district overlie
the Chalky Boulder-clay, we have two guides, namely, the palseon-
tological evidence, and the physical. Now the palseontological
evidence is very strong. There are two distinct faunas, the one con-
taining the remains of living species only, often associated with the
remains of neolithic man ; the other, rich in species either extinct
or no longer living in our latitudes, and frequently associated
with the relics of palaeolithic man. When we critically examine
this latter fauna we find that while beds containing it are known
to pass under the Hessle and Purple Boulder-clays, no single
instance can be cited of their lying upon those beds, or even of
their occurrence at the surface in districts that have been over-
ridden by the ice which deposited those boulder-clays. It seems
therefore to be a legitimate inference that these beds are all of
older date than the Hessle Boulder-clay ; that they are, in fact,
inter-glacial, and not pre-glacial, or post-glacial. A physical
cause is thus given for the great break between the modern and
the pleistocene faunae. This conclusion is further strengthened
by the fact that the mammalian fauna (which necessarily shows
greater change than the molluscan) is more closely allied to the
pre-glacial fauna of the old Forest- bed of the Norfolk coast, than
to that of the present time, or even of the neolithic period.
The physical evidence points the same way. We cannot apply the
test of superposition near Brandon, because the newer two boulder
clays are absent, but even it we confine our attention to the
palaeolithic implement-bearing gravels of the present river-valleys
we have indisputable evidence of great changes having taken place
since the gravels were deposited, as was long since insisted upon
by Messrs. A. Tylor, Prestwich, and others. Further than this, I
 AGE OF PALAEOLITHIC MAN. 67

have found that palaeolithic implements (associated with the old

pleistocene fauna) are not confined to the deposits in the present
river-valleys,- but are also found -in gravels belonging to a prior
drainage-system, which gravels cut across the present valleys.
These are newer than the Chalky Boulder-clay. And still further,
beneath the Chalky Boulder-clay itself, in a series of loams and
sands to which I have given the name of Brandon Beds, palaeo-
lithic implements are found associated with the relics of extinct
pleistocene mammalia.
Where palaeolithic implements occur in deposits lying in very
ancient valleys, it is clear that we cannot readily separate the
remains of one period from those of another, for the containing
material has accumulated steadily during a vast length of time,
and moreover the material itself may have been worked over by
the river more than once, and so have commingled relics of very
different ages. But where we have to deal with a valley newer
than the Chalky Boulder-clay the case is different*. This is the
case with that part of the Little Ouse valley from Thetford west-
wards ; boulder-clay never lies in the valley, but the valley
frequently cuts through boulder-clay. We are quite sure, then,
that the implements found in the gravels of this part of the
valley are newer than the Chalky Boulder-clay. To these I ascribe
"

the name of Late Paleolithic.

There are, however, remains of a yet older valley system, which
is also of newer age than the chalky boulder-clay. This old
valley system has been traced by Messrs. Penning and Jukes-
Browne in the district around Cambridge, and by myself in the
vicinity of Brandon, where it yields flint implements. The depo-
sits are gravels, which now cap the hills at a height of about 70
feet above the present river. They follow definite lines, and
around Brandon are peculiar for the great quantity of quartz
pebbles they contain. They run pretty nearly at right angles to
the rivers Lark, Little Ouse, and Stoke, whose valleys indeed cut
through them.. They yield the well known " quartzite " implements
as well as flint tools. Implements have been found at three places,
Brandon Field or Gravel Hill, Lakenheath Hill, and Portway or
Marroway Hill. To these I give the name of Intermediate
Paleolithic.
These Intermediate Palaeolithic beds are clearly much older
than the Late Palaeolithic, for they belong to a prior drainage
system which ran at right angles to the present one, and at a
considerable height above it. Nevertheless they are newer than
the Chalky Boulder-clay, for they frequently repose thereon. We
have given reasons for ascribing to the Late Palaeolithic an age
greater than that of the Hessle Boulder-clay, and it appears to me
that in the absence of more definite knowledge, the facts are best
explained by supposing the Intermediate Palaeolithic beds to have
been formed during the long interval which elapsed between the
formation of the Chalky and Purple Boulder-clays. The early
palaeolithic, next to be described, are older than the Chalky Boulder
 —

68 AGE OF PALAEOLITHIC MAN,.

clay,and if my suggestion be adopted, we have the following

sequence of events :

a ^ ^ 1. Neolithic Period - - Post-Glacial.

2. Hessle Boulder Clay - Glacial.
3. Late Palaeolithic - Inter-Glacial.
4. Purple Boulder Clay .
- Glacial.
5. Intermediate Paleolithic Inter-Glacial.
6. Chalky Boulder Clay - Glacial.
7.Early Palisolithic Inter-Glacial.
8 Lower Boulder Clay Glacial.

The only element of uncertainty in

this table is the position of the Inter-
mediate Palaeolithic, No. 5. Of this we
can as yet only say for certain that it
is much older than the Late Palaeolithic,
O No. 3, and newer than the Chalky
Boulder Clay, No. 6.
The Early Palasolithic remains are.
found in a series of loams, sands, and
gravels, overlaid by Chalky Boulder-
fS
clay. To this series I have given the
name of Brandon Beds. They will be
described at length in a separate work.
They are very fragmentary, but seem
to occur pretty nearly all over East
Anglia wherever the Chalky Bbulder-
clay extends, always cropping out at or
close to its base, and never in a single
instance occurring away from it. This
remarkable association is only expli-
cable on the supposition that the Bran-
don Beds are older than the Chalky
Boulder-clay, and indeed that clay can
be actually seen lying thick upon them,
and often contorting them, sometimes
for a mile at a stretch. Up to the pre-
sent time they have yielded implements
or flakes at Botany Bay (near Brandon),
s --3
Mildenhall Brickyard, High Lodge
Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, West
Stow, and Cullord. The first dis-
covery was at Botany Bay, and at the
time no boulder clay was visible at
ri b
the precise spot, but it has since been
met with, and I had the pleasure of the
I experience of Mr. Amund Helland when
this fact was made clear. The follow-
ing section, Fig. 62, shows the general
He of the beds (not to scale). It was
rawn before I saw the boulder clay at- Botany Bay.
 ;

AGE OF PALAEOLITHIC MAN. 69

At Mildenhall Brickyard and High Lodge good thick Chalky

Boulder-clay overlies the Brandon Beds whence many implements
have been obtained, and at Culford whence I dug out a good flake
in company with Mr. F. J. Bennett, the Brandon beds are worked
under 15 feet of Chalky Boulder-clay, and can be traced beneath
that deposit for the distance of a mile to the eastward.
In several places boulder-clay also underlies the Brandon beds.
This may in some cases be part of the Lower Boulder-clay, but I
believe in the majority of .cases it is nothing but a tongue of
Chalky Boulder-clay intruded beneath the Brandon beds.

ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC AltT

AND

THE GUN-FLINT TEADE.

I think it can be confidently asserted that at Brandon we have,

as it were, an outlier of the Stone Age —
that the flint-knappers
are the direct descendants of the old workers in stone, who dug
the ancient flint-pits at Grime's Graves, having preserved to this
day the method of mining, the shape of sundry tools, and the
peculiarities of certain flint implements.
Grime's Graves is the local name for an assemblage of rudely
circular depressions, varying in diameter from 30 to 60 feet, and
about 250 in number, which occur in a small fir-wood on the side
of a dry valley, in the parish of Weeting, about three miles north-
east from Brandon. One of these pkces was explored in the year
1870, and the conjecture that they were old flint workings
ratified. An admirable description of the exploration has been
communicated to the Ethnological Society by Canon Greenwell,
F.S.A., and appears in the second volume of their Journal. From
this paper many of the following notes respecting the Graves are
.cited ; where authorities are not given the observations are my
own. The Reverend explorer tells us that " the process [of
" working for flintj differs in some respect from that adopted by
" the present flint-raisers. The ancient workers sunk a circular
" shaft, gradually decreasing in size to the level of the stratum of
" the best flint, passing through the upper layer of the so-called
" wall-flint, but not removing any of that bed beyond what
" occurred within the limits of the shaft itself. When the floor-
" flint was reached, it was worked out to the extent of the pit
" and* then galleries were excavated in various directions upon the
" level of the bed of flint. In order that sufficient height might
" be obtained to enable the workmen to extract the flint, a con-
" siderable quantity of the overlying chalk has been removed, the
 —

70 CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC AliT

" galleries being on an average about 3 feet in. height, though

" in some places the roof was 5 feet high. Their height,
" however, is very irregular, owing in some measure to the
" manner in which the chalk roof has given way in some places
" more than in others. In no case was any of the chalk below

Fig. 63. Plan of Flint-Pit, Grime's Graves.

(Reduced one half, from Canon Greenwell's Paper.)

The white portions show the extent of the excavations.

The dotted portions show the probable run of unexplored galleries.
The large circles show the approximate area of the top of the pits and the small
;

ones of the bottoms thereof, as determined by Canon Greenwell. The pits are,' in
reality, rudely rectangular.

Fig. 64.— Corresponding portion above of Modern Pit.

to
(Drawn same to the scale.)

" the flint-bed removed, — a practice contrary to that of the present

" workmen, who, in making their galleries, excavate the chalk
" both above and below the flint. The galleries vary in width
 AND THE GUN-FLINT TRADE. 71

" from 4 feet to 7 feet; and the flint was worked out
" beyond their sides as far as was practicable without causing the
" roof to give way. The position of the galleries will be better
" understood from the plan (Fig. 63), which shows their ramifica-
" tions and the way they run into one another, than by description
" in words As one gallery was worked out, it
" was filled in again with the chalk excavated from other
" galleries, so that nearly the whole of them are now filled up with
" rubbish."*
In the above figures I have given, for the sake of comparison, a
reduction of Canon Greenwell's plan of the pit he opened at
Grime's Graves, and the corresponding portion of a modern flint-
pit. Before attempting to show the identity of the ancient and
modern processes, it is necessary to correct a slight error in the
above description. It is quite true that the present stone-diggers
burrow beneath, the floor-stone. They still, however, work above
the flint in getting wall-stone, as in neolithic times, but never
" above and beiow the flint,-' as seems to be inferred by Canon
Greenwell.
The identity between the ancient and moJern industries is
shown in several points. Wandering -through the picturesque,
fern-clad wood in which Grime's Graves are situated, and then
passing out into the open heath of Broomhill, one comes upon the
site of modern flint-pits, no longer worked, which rival in number
their antique prototypes. It is impossible not to be struck with
the similarity of aspect between the two. The depressed basins
which mark the sites of their shafts ; their close proximity to each
other, the heaps of chalk which surround them, can all be paralleled
in the wood hard by.
One striking difference has, however, been noted. The neolithic^
pits, as shown in the plan, are said to be rudely circular, whereas
the modern shafts are rectangular. This description I find to be
deceptive. The " choldering-in" (as the diggers express it) of
the sides of the modern shafts has masked their angularity, and
they now appear almost as round as the neolithic pits. Moreover,
the only pit at Grime's Graves that was opened positively shows to
this day traces of its original angularity along the only exposed
chalk-face. If the remaining detrital matter were cleared away
this contour Would be perfectly apparent. Even under present
circumstances I cannot understand how the true shape was
unnoticed. This " difference," then, does not exist.
In the extent of the burrows we find another strange connection.
I have already shown that their length is not arbitrary, but is
determined by the quantity of flint that can be got and carried
out in one day. The. only burrow fully excavated at Grime's
Graves was 27 feet long*, which is not far from the mean length
of a modern one. It is certain, however, that the stone-folk
worked in company in the same gallery, and not singly as now, as

* Rev W. Greenwell, M.A., F.S.A. On the Opening of Grime's Graves in

Norfolk.' Journ. Ethno. Soc, London, vol. ii., No. 4, 1871.
Page 425.
72 CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART

is proved by finding several picks in. a portion of a burrow of'

which the roof had fallen in while the workmen were away.*
When, however, we recollect the inferiority of the ancient tools,
and the extra labour attendant upon their method of digging, it is
fair to suggest that one man now could perform as much work as
two in those old times. It would seem, then, that the folks" of
yore, like those of to-day, carried out daily the products of their
labour, However this may be, the similarity of extent of the'
ancient and modern burrows is a singular coincidence, that gathers-
weight in the presence of other facts of like nature.t
In modern pits stages are left at intervals of 5 feet, by means of
which the digger gets to and leaves his work, and up which the
stone and large chalks are carried. In Grime's Graves no such
stagings were found, and Canon Greenwell is of opinion that they
do not exist. Until the entire debris has been removed this can-
not be asserted as a fact, though it is probably true. If so, we
have here a decided difference between the two cases, but it is of
little importance, for it would be difficult to say whether the
hauling of the material by rude mechanical contrivances, was or
was not more scientific than the manual labour of carrying the
flint on the head up the artificial stages.
When we compare the ancient and modern mining plans, coin-
cidences again crowd upon us. In working out floor-stone the
moderns drive burrows, and do not merely undercut the flint as in
digging for wall-stone the ancients did the same. The moderns
:

drive main- and side-burrows so did the ancients.. The moderns

:

clear away the flint from' semicircular openings in the burrows so :

did the ancients. The essential features of a modern mine can be,
seen in the plan of Grime's Graves given above, which looks not
very unlike a sh6ckingly bad drawing of the modern plan. The
latter, in fact, is an improvement upon the former, but in no single
point does bear the impress of originality.
it
The were larger than the new ones at the top for the
old pits
simple reason that more light was thus obtained, atid as the
means of illumination improved it is most likely that the diameter
of the shaft diminished. There is, however, a great advantage in

*, The men probably worked in pairs. Describing the above occurrence, Canon
Greenwell says " The roof had given way about the middle of the gallery, and
:

" blocked up the whole width of it to the roof, On removing this, and when the
','
end came in view, it was seen that-the flint had been worked out in three places
" at the end, forming three hollows extending beyond the chalk face of the end of
" the gallery. In front of these two hollows were laid two picks, the handle of each
" towards the mouth of the gallery, the tines pointing towards each other, showing, in
'.'
all probability, that they had been used respectively by a right- and a left-handed
'* man. The day's work over, the men had laid down each his tooJ, ready for the
" next day's work meanwhile the roof had fallen in, and the picks had never
;

" been recovered. . It was a most impressive sight, and one never to be forJ
.

•' gotten, to look, after a lapse, it may be, of 3,000 years, upon a piece of work
". unfinished, with the tools of the workmen still lying where they had been placed
" so many centuries before." These picks still retained, .upon their chalky incrus-'
tation, the impressions of the workmen's fingers ! Op. ciL, p. 427. /

.
f-
Canon Greenwell thinks all the pits communicated with each other*. This, I
cannot but think, is highly improbable, founded, as it. is, upon a single observation.
It would imply that a great many pits were worked simultaneously. Modern pits,
as I have shtown, sometimes communicate,- but-only when the- stone is good.
 AND THE GTTN-FLINT TRADE. 73

burrowing under the stone. In working from above the burrow-

must be at least high enough to enable the workman to stoop and
the labour of prising the stone from the floor is very great, whereas
in working from below the burrows need only be made high
enough for a man to recline upon his elbow, and thus much labour
in digging barren chalk is spared moreover the stone is easier to
;

get, inasmuch as when cracked'its weight tends to bring it down.

Still this is probably only an improvement on the old system, for
it is natural that at first the diggers would not work deeper than
the stone they wished to raise.
A still more remarkable " coincidence " is found in the stone-
diggers', pick, and Canon Greenwell was struck with the simi-
larity between the ancient and modern tools. He says, " The
" principal instrument used, both in sinking the shaft and in
" working the galleries, was a pick, made from the antler of the
" red deer, numerous examples of which were found in the shaft
" at various depths, and in the galleries. The pick, almost iden-
" tical in form with that, of iron and wood, used by the present
" workmen, was made by breaking off the horn, at a distance
" usually of about 16 or 17 inches from the brow end, and then
" removing all the tines except the brow tine:"* Subjoined are
representations of an ancient and modern pick drawn to the same

65. Modern. 756! Ancient.

Figs. 65 and G6.—Flml Digger's Picks.

scale. The Grime's Graves pick is drawn from a specimen in
which the tine was broken and, as I have not
in the middle;-
access to a complete tool, the tip is inserted from a broken one
in my possession. I may add that the tip in question. is more
...

curved than usual, and I have seen specimens in which the cur-
vature much more closely approximated to that of the modern
implement.
74 CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART

This tool is instructive in several particulars. A one-sided

pick remarkable ; and, so far as I can make out, is peculiar
is itself
to this locality. I have inquired of ironmongers, and have
searched the illustrated catalogues of Sheffield tool-makers, with-
out finding any trace of the use of such a tool in any branch of
trade. If such exist, they must be of as local a nature as the one
in question.* A
one-sided pick possesses no advantage whatever
over a two-sided tool as a pick, it is peculiar to this district, so
that we may justly infer that if it were of comparatively recent
introduction there is no reason why a two-sided tool should not
have been adopted. It might be suggested that they are more
convenient for use in narrow burrows than the larger imple-
ment would be ; but, as a matter of fact, this is not the case, for
the burrows are sufficiently wide for the wielding of an ordinary
pick. When we find this singular implement in use just in that
-particular industry in which a natural, one-sided pick was used in
early times, we must conclude that it is indeed a relic of the past.
The prong is made longer than before, but it preserves much the
same thickness.
The natural deer-horn pick has a curvature in the handle which is
not ill-adapted for convenient use. Just in the same manner, the
most prized modern flint-picks have a double curvature, though it
is very slight.

The natural pick was, however, used also as a hammer, for

gently tapping the flint in order to loosen it after it has been
cracked. This is very patent upon some of the specimens. The
picks, for the most part, were made from shed antlers, and the
burr around the crown was very nicely adapted for the purpose of
a hammer-head, and this is always very much battered, and
frequently entirely worn away. The modern flint-pick is also used
as a hammer ; and, as shown in the figure, the part corresponding
with the burr curves slightly outward, and is thickened to
strengthen it.
When, then, we see in one simple implement three such
peculiarities as the single tine, the thickened butt, and the curved
handle ; and when we find these characters common to a deer-
antler, and know deer-antlers were used as flint-picks formerly,
and that such picks are so excessively local, the conviction I have
expressed becomes a certainty, and we may assert as a demonstrated
fact, that the Brandon flint-knappers are the direct descendants
of the neolithic flint-workers.
Passing now to a consideration of the tools used in this singular
industry, we find in one of them another coincidence utterly
inexplicable on any other supposition than the one I proffer. This
is in the case of a ftaking-hammer, and it is highly significant that
this is the only tool- that requires special features' to ensure its
adaptability to the work performed with it. The quartering-

* In Sheffield nearly all, perhaps .all, kinds of tools used in every branch of
British industry can be obtained, except those belonging to the flint-trade. These
are all made in Brandon.
 AND THE GUN-FLINT TRADE. 75

hammer for breaking the stone may be of any shape so long as it

is heavy enough. The knapping-hamraer merely requires to be
light, hard, and elastic, and to have a cutting edge. But the
flakingrhammer is a tool sui generis, and must possess features
which at once distinguish it from all other hammers whatever.
Flaking, as I have shown, is a most difficult art, and the tool
with which it is performed must possess the maximum of strength,
combined with the minimum of size and striking-surface. A
hammer-stroke, to dislodge a flake, must be of a certain strength,
and of a rebounding or elastic nature. Moreover, it must be
delivered with unerring precision, and the area of impact must be
small. The force of the blow is hardly ever greater than is
acquired by the natural fall of the hammer from a height of a few
inches.
The firstflaking-hammers in neolithic, and presumably in
palaeolithic times also,were ovoid smooth pebbles of quartz or some
such tough material. They were grasped in the hand, and were
used au naturel. The next step in the development was to
slightly notch one, or both, sides of the pebble, that it might be
held the easier. Afterwards, the stone was trimmed to a more
accurate shape, and the notches were cut from either side more
symmetrically. The culmination of the development took place
when the hammer was accurately shaped and ground, and the
notches drilled (nearly always from' each side) right through the
tool, and a slight handle inserted. I have specimens of the first
two stages, and Dr. J. Evans, F.R.S., illustrates the two last in
his work on " Ancient Stone Implements."
Now the character of this socket-hole, or eye, at once distin-
guishes a flaking-hammer from any other. In an ordinary hammer
the handle is used as a lever, in order to intensify the blow, and
as the object of such a hammer is to deliver as strong a blow as
possible, the handle has to be made stout, and the eye large. But
the handle of a flaking-hammer serves a very different purpose ; it

is simply a means of delivering the blow with precision ; it is, in

fact, a guide-rod. As a heavy blow is never delivered with a
flaking-hammer there is no necessity for the eye and handle to be
large, and they are, in consequence, made as small as possible, in
order to ensure as much weight as possible in the head. A
heavy blow struck with a flaking-hammer would break the handle.
I have shown, in the preceding memoir, that many neolithic
implements possess this very peculiarity of small eyes ; and that
this has much puzzled archaeologists. We now see that the
peculiarity in question belongs to- a flaking-hammer, and to no
other tool. The neolithic bored flaking-hammers are merely
developments of the rounded pebble ; and the old English flaking-
hammer of the Brandon flint-knappers is identical'in shape with
the stone tool. It has already been shown that this interesting tool
was once exclusively used by the flakers, but has given place to
the more modern French hammer, and is now nearly extjnct.
Passing now to the final process, the knapping, we again meet
with connecting links between neolithic and modern times. I
 —

7;6 CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC AKT

have already expressed my opinion that the manufacture of flint

implements at Brandon was kept alive in the interval between the
decadence .of the use of stone as weapons, and its re-introduction
1
in gun-flints, by the constant and unbroken demand for strike -
a-lights. Also, I have pointed out the high probability of the
truth of Dn Evans's sagacious suggestion that many of the so-called
.scrapers are, in fact, strike-a-lights ; and in the four following
.figures I reduce this supposition to a certainty ; for we have here

Fig. 67. Neolithic Oval Strike-a- Light,

Fig. 68:— Modern Oval Strike-a- Light.

Fig. 69. — Common English Strike-a- Light.

theHorse shoe Strike-a-Light and the Oval Strike-a-Light, Pig. 68,
two forms of implements', Fig. 67,engraved from a neolithic specimen
 — —

And the gun-flint tbade. 77

found by myself, and placed side-by-side with precisely identical

specimens which I saw made at Brandon for strike-a-lights, Figs.

Fig. 70. Horse-shoe Strike-a-Light.

Fig. 71. Strike-a-Light.

67 and 70. We may be certain, then, that many so-called scrapers

are in reality strike-a-lights.
But this remarkable analogy teaches us a more important lesson
than the identification of the use of an ancient implement. It
shows us that the present Urandon JZint-knappers are making the
same kind of implements that the Neoliths made. This cannot be a
mere accidental coincidence it must be a relic of the past.
;

The gun-flint is a development of the strike-a-light, but in

rather a peculiar way. It will be noticed that the " ribs " on the
back of a strike-a-light run lengthwise down the implement,
whereas in the gun-flint they fun across. This is a "generic"
difference. Now the gun-flints are not modifications of ribbed
strike-a-lights at all, but of the ribless kinds made from English
flakes (see
*
Fig. 58, Gun-flint Memoir). The earliest gun-
flints, therefore" had no ribs. They were rounded at the heel
38856. '
E
 —

78 CONNECTION BETWEEN NEOLITHIC ART, ETC.

like strike-a-lights, which they resembled in every respect, being

merely smaller. The French gun-flints still preserve this,
character. A perfect gradation can be seen between ribless
Btrike-a-lights, through ribless gun-flints, and single-backed gun-
flints to the finest modern gun-flints.
Wehave thus traced a certain community of ideas running
through the neolithic and modern manufactures of flint implements,
which cannot be ascribed to anything but a community of origin.
If the Brandon flint-knappers had re-invented the art, it is ex-
ceedingly unlikely that they would have hit upon all the jpoints
discussed in this paper the evidence in favour of my supposition
:

is cumulative, and seems to me irresistible.

As if to. place matters beyond the shadow of doubt, we are

enabled to contrast a really modern flint- art with the Brandon
manufacture. In France the earliest gun-flint factory was started
in 1719. Now we find that the French cailloteurs do not work
in the same way as the Neoliths or Brandon men. Their manner
of digging flint, their tools, and their manufactured articles are all
different and attest their modern origin. This is best shown by
grouping the facts in parallel columns as under :

Neolithic.
 ;
;;

INDEX.
A. Elvedon, 13 section at, 13.
;

Lodge, 14.
Ancient Flint Pits, 39, f 9 et seq. English Hammer, 18 origin of, 41, 75. ;
Arrow Heads, 40. Evans, Dr. J., F.K.S., on Gun-flints, 1
Ashley, Mr. H., 11. on Palseolithic gravels, 6 on knapp- ;

ing, 32 on strike-a-lights, 39, 43 on

; ;

B. surface chipping, '41 on harcnier ;

stonesv-42, 75.
Beckmann's "History of Inventions,"
quoted, 1, 2.
Beer Head, Devon, flint-knapping at, 14. F.
Best Carbine, 52.
Horse Pistol, 56.
Fine Double, 62.
Pocket-Pistol, 63.
, double-edge, 56.
Single, 60.
Musket, 48.
Fire Arms, development of, 2.
Upper Crust Mint, 7.
Flakes, 30.
Block, knapping, 19.
Flaking, 28.
Blood Hill, 8.
Candlestick, 21.
Boulder Clay, Chalky, age of, 65.
Broomhill, 9 ; section at, 9 imple- ;
Hammers, 16 ; history of, 17,
42, 75.
ments at, 10.
Fleet Pits, 5.
Biichse, 2.
Flemish wall piece, early, 2.
Building Flints, 34, 64.
Flint, at Lingheath, 5 ; Santon Down-
Burrows, flint, 23, 71.
ham, 8 ; Broomhill, 9 ; Shaker's
Ijodge, 10; Elms Plantation, 10 j
c. Norwich, 10 ; Catton, 1 ; Icklingham,
1 1 ; Elvedon, 13 ; Elvedon Lodge, 14
Caillouteurs, 37.
Carbine, flints, 52-55. Thetford, 14; Cavenham, 14; Tudden-
Catton, gun-flints at, 10. ham, 14 ; King Manor, 14 ; Grays, 14
Cavenham, 14. Beer Head, 14 Glasgow, 1 5 ; Spain,
;

Chalk, descriptions of beds, 7. 15 ; geological position of, 5 ; des-

, dip of, 10. criptions of varieties, 7 from Boulder ;

heeled Carbine, 55. Clay, 14; digging, .21-25 ; value of

Horse Pistol, 59. rough, 25 ; manufacture of, 27-38 ;
Musket, 52. origin of gun-flints, 77.
digger's OLaws, 22.
Chalky Boulder Clay, age of, 65.
Cocks, 2. Locks, 3 ; introduction of, 3.
Mines, modern, 21 ; ancient, 39, 69.
Collection of Gun-flints_described, 45-64.
Trade, antiquity of, 43, 69.
Common Carbine, 54 ; double-edge, 54.
Horse Pistol, 58; double-edge, Floor Stone, 8 ; method of digging, 23.
Flower, Mr., on palaeolithic gravel, 6.
58.
Musket, 50.
•
Fractures in flint, artificial and natural,
43.
Counting Plints, method of, 33.
Cross Piece, 27.
French gun flints, 37, 63, 78.
Frewer, Mr., 10.
D.
Darbishire, Mr., on Spanish Gun-flints, G.
'
15. German harquebus, early, 3.
Dead Lime, 6. — Gun flints, 37, 64.
Development of Eire-arms, 2 ; of gun-
Glacial Beds, 65.
39, 41.
flints,
Gravel, palaeolithic, 6, 65.
Digger's, flint, 21. Greenwell, Canon, F.S.A, on Grime's
Dip of Chalk, 10. Graves, 69.-
Distinctions between natural and artificial Grey Carbine, 55.
features in flint, 43. Horse Pistol, 59.
Dorling, Mr. S., 30. Musket, 51.
Double-edged gun-flints, 46, 49, 53, 54, Grime's Graves, 39, 40, et seq 69.
56, 57, 58. Gulls, 8.
Dresden, old gun at, 2.
Gun flints, origin of in France, 3
Drying flint, 27. duration of,decay of trade, 4
4 ;

statistics of, manufacture of, 27-

4 ;

E. 34 prices of, 34 ; French, 37 des- ;

;

Edgways flints, 6. cription of collection, 45-64. See

Elms Plantation, 10. Flint.
 80 INDEX.

H. Pre-Aryan words, 43.

Pyrites, use of, 1.
Hammers, Quartering, 16; flaking, 16,
17, 42, 75 knapping, 18.
;
Q.
Harquebus, early German, 3.
Quartering flint, 27.
Hewitt, Mr. J., on Introduction of flint i Hammers, 16.
locks, 3.
Horn's flint, 7. R.
Hutchinson, Mr. P. O., on flint-knapping
Ramsay, Prof. A. C, F.R.S., on flint-
at Beer Head, 14.
knapping at Glasgow, 15.
Rees' Cyclopaedia, quoted, 4, 38.
Rifle, 61.
Icklingham, 11 sections at, 11, 12, 13
;
;
Rough black flints, 8.
gun flints made
at, 11. Roulette, 38.
Implements below Boulder Clay, 68.
s.
Santon Downham, 8 section ; at, 9.

Jag, details of working, 26. Scrapers, 76,

Julius, Duke of Brunswick, on pyrites, " Seconds " flints, 49, 53, 57, 60.
2.
Sections, at Lingheath, 6 ; Santon Down-
K. ham, 9 ; Broomhill, 9 ; Icklingham,
11, 12, 13; Elvedon, 13.
King Manor, flint-knapping at, 14. Seven Trees Brick, 12.
Knapping, 31. Shaker's Lodge, 10.
Block, 19. Small Common Gun, 60.
• Candlestick, 21. Smooth black flints, 8.
Hammer, 18, Solid Grey Musket, 51.
Leather, 20. Southwell, Mr. W. J., 11, 30, 31, 33, 44.
Knee Piece, 21, 27. Spotted Muskets, 51.
Stage, 20.
L. Staging wood, 20.
Large Common Gun, 58. Stake, 19.
Swan, 47. Steenstrup and Lubbock, cited, 38.
Laws of Flint Diggers, 22. Stone Diggers Pick, 15.
Lingheath, 5 ; section at, 6. Strike-a-Lights, 36 ; ancient and modern;
Lubbock, Sir J., 38. 37, 76.
Super Double, 61.
M. Pocket Pistol, 62.
'
Matchlock, 2. Single, 59.
Maynard, Mr. H. R., 40.
Mining for Flint, 21-25.
Modern and Neolithic flint trades, 69, et Thetford, 14.
seq. Tiddeman, M. R. H., on Victoria Cave,
Modern Pick, 73. 66.-
Tools, description of, 15-21.
N. Toppings Flint, 7.
Tower Armouries Catalogue, cited, 3.
Neolithic and Modern flint trades, 69, et
Tower, the, flint guns in, 1, 2.
seq.
Tubs, 29.
Flakes, 44. Tuddenham, 14.
Pick, 73.
Turkish gun flints, 15.
Norwich, gun flints at, 10.

u.
o.
Upper Crust Flint, 7.
Old English gun flint, 63.

P. Victoria Cave, 66.

Palaeolithic Man, age of, 65, et seq.
Paramoudras, 8. w.
Percussion Caps, introduction of, 3. Wall Piece, 47
early Flemish, 2.
;

Pick, stone diggers, 15, 74. Stone, 7 method of working, 24.

;

Pipe clays, 7. West Stow, implement from, 68.

Pitted Flints, 35. Wheel locks, 3.
Polished Flint, 63. Woodward, Mr. H. B., 11, 14.
Poor's Plantation, 5. Wyatt, Mr. J., on Gun flints, 1, 14, 18,
Pot lids, 28. 22, 38.

[354.-375.-5/79.]
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•Kanturk, 174, 175. •Casllecomer, 128, 137,
184. Kelbrook. 275. Darfield.
•Killenaule (Tipperary), 146.
201. Bingley. 276. Brodsworth. :.
(For Sections illustrating these Maps, see detailed list.)
* With descriptive Memoir. 204. Aberford. 281. Langsell. f
216. Bradford. 282. Wortley.
217. Calverley. 283. Wath upon Dearne,
<
GEOLOGICAL MAPS. 218. Leeds. 284. Conisborough. -"ik.
219. Kippax. 287. Low Bradford. **'
iji
1
a mile.
Scale, six inches to 231. Halifax. 288. Ecclesfield.
The Coalfields of Lancashire, Northumberland, Cumberland, 232. Birstal. 289. Rotherham.
Westmorland, Durham, Yorkshire, Edinburghshire, Had- 233. East Ardsley. 290. Braithwell.
dington, Fifeshire, Renfrewshire, Dumbartonshire, Dum- 234. Castleford. 293. Hallam Moors, is.
'
friesshire, Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, and Ayrshire are 246. Huddersfield. 295. Handsworth.
surveyed on a scale of six inches to a mile. 260. Honley. 296. Laughton-en-le-Morthen,
272. Holmfirth. 299. .
Lancashire. 278. Penistone. 300. Harthill.
47. Clitheroe. Rochdale, 4c.
48. Colne, Twiston Moor. Bickerstaffe, Skelmers- SCOTLAND.
49. Laneshaw Bridge. dale.
Scale, six inches to a mile.
65. Whalley. Wigan, Up Holland, 4c.
56. Haggate. 6s. West Houghton, Hind- Edinburghshire.
57. Winewall. ley, Atherton Edinburgh, &c. 12. Penicuick, Coalfields of
61. Preston. 95. Radcliffe, Peel Swinton, Portobello, Mussel- Lasswade, 4c.
62. Baklerstone, &c. 4c. burgh, 4c. 13. Temple, 4c.
63. Accrington. 96. Middleton, Prestwich, Gilmerton, Burdie 14. Fathead. 4s.
6*. Burnley. 4c. House. 4c. 17. Brunston Colliery, 4c.
65. Stiperden Moor. 4s. 97. Oldham, 4c. Dalkeith, 4c. 18. Howgate.
69. Layland. .
100. Knowsley, Rainford, &c. Preston Hall. 4s.
70. Blackburn, &c. 101. Billinge, Ash ton, &c.
71. Haslingden. 102. Leigh, Lowton. Haddingtonshire.
72. Cliviger, Bacup, 4e. 103. Ashley, Eccles. Six inches to a mile.
73. Tpdmorden. 4s. 104. Manchester, Salford, 4c. Prestonpans, &c. Price 4s.
77. Chorley. 105. Ashton-under-Lyne. Trenent, Gladsmuir, 4c. Price 6s.
78. Bolton-le-Moors. 106. Liverpool, 4c. Elphinstone, 4c. Price 4s.
79. Entwistle. 107. Prescott, Huyton, 4c. Ormiston, East Salton, 4c.
80. Tottington. 108. St. Helen's, Burton
81. Wardle. 6s. Wood. Fifeshire.
84. Ormskirk, St. John's, 4c. 109. Warwick, 4c. 6s. Six inches to a mile.
85. Standish, &c. 111. Cheedale, part of Stock- Markinch, 4c. 33. Buckhaven.
86. Adlington, Horwick, &c. port, &c. Scoonie, 4c. 35. Dunfermline.
87. Bolton jle-Moors. 112. Stockport, 4c. 4s. Beath, 4c. 36. Kinghorn.
88. Bury Heywood. 113. Part of Liverpool, 4c. 4s. Auchterderran . 4s. 37. Kinghorn. 4s.
Dysart, 4c.
Durham. Ayrshire.
Scale, six inches to a mile. Six inches to one mile.
Sheet. Sheet. Newmilns. 36. Grieve Hill.
1. Ryton. 4s. 8. Sunderland. Glenbuck. 4s. 40. Chiltree.
2. Gateshead. 4s. 9. 4s. Monkton, 4c. 41. Dalleagler.
Z. Jarrow. 4s. 10. Edmond Byers. 4s. Tarbolton, 4c. 42. New
Cumnock.
4. S. Shields. 4s. 11. Ebchester. Aird's Moss. 46. Dalmellington.
6. Greenside. 4s. 12. Lantoydy. Muirkirk. 4s. 47. Benbeock.
6. Winlaton. IS. Chester-le-
Chester-Ie-Street. Ayr, 4c. 50. Daily.
7. Washington. 14. Chester-le-Street. 34. Coylton. 52. Glenmoat.

MINERAL STATISTICS
Embracing the produce of Tin, Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc, fron, Coals, and other Minerals. By Robeet Huitt, F.RJS
Keeper of Mining Records. From 1853 to 1857, inclusive, Is. 6d. each. l&5S,Part I., Is. 6d.; PartlX., 5s. I859,ls.6rf''
1860, 8s. Sd., 1861, 2s.; and Appendix, Is. 1862, 2s. 6d. 1863,2s. 6d. 1864,2s. 1865,2s. 6d. 1866 to 1876 2s. each.

THE IRON ORES OF GREAT BRITAIN,

Part I. The IRON ORES of the North and North Midland Counties of England (Out of print). Part II. The IRON
ORES of South Staffordshire. Price Is. Part III. The IRON ORES of South Wales. Price Is.' 3d. Part IV. The
IRON ORES of the Shropshire Coal-field and of North Staffordshire. Is. Sd.