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MHG3789 - Gold rod (Torc) - Leys

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NH64SE 24 685 420.

Muirtown, Jan 16 (1824): Mr Urban, I send a slight notice of a very great curiosity, this week ploughed up within a few miles of Inverness, on the estate of Colonel Baillie, of Leys, M.P. It is a rod of the purest native gold, having three sides, and a hook at the end; fifteen inches long; weighing above an ounce, and for which MR. McNaugton, the jeweller, in Inverness, paid the value of the gold 4l. 12s. There is a piece of three inches long, with another hook broken off, which makes the whole eighteen inches long. The workmanship is that of the rudest ages, and the spiral work evidently done by twisting. That this must have been in its day a piece of royal or clerical magificence can admit of no doubt; its use may have various opinions; it appears to me to have been suspended, either before some shrine, or very possibly at the table of Macbeth of King Duncan. In its day of use, such a piece of gold must have been very valuable indeed. H.R.D. <1>

Ancient money of Scotland: About four or five years ago, in ploughing a field at Tegs [sic - 'Leys'), near Inverness, the ploughman found a rod of pure gold, about fifteen inches long, with three sides, each about half an inch in depth. In the middle it is twisted, and terminated by a bend similar to shepherd's crook, in very rude workmanship. This relic was presented to the Society of Antiquaries, and several opinions were given regarding its probable use. The question, however, lay over till very lately, when Dr. Hibbert has advanced a theory founded on the Welch [sic) laws of Howel Dha, which tend to prove, beyond doubt, that the said rod of gold indicated nothing more than the form of current money in many northern countries. <2>

A leaden model of slender ROD OR TORC OF GOLD, found in January 1824, within the great stone circle at the Leys, near Inverness, on the estates of Colonel Baillie, of Leys. The original torc is unfortunately not to be traced. A few days after the discovery, a short account was sent to the Gentleman's Magazine [see above] describing it as a rod, having three sides and a hook at the end; 15 inches long, the weight above an ounce. Mr. McNaughton, of Inverness, paid £4, 12s for it. There was also a piece 3 inches long, with another hook, broken off, making the whole length 18 inches. This torc was exhibited at a meeting of the Antiquaries of Scotland, in 1824, by Henry Jardine, Esq., King's Remembrancer, and has been termed a Lituus, or primitive symbol of office. It is, however, to be regarded as a rudely-wrought example of the funicular torc, of more frequest occurrence in Ireland than in North Britain. A good specimen, straight, and with hooks at the ends, is figured in the Archaeologia. It was found in the County Antrim. Inverness Museum <3>

(NH 685 420) In 1824, a Late Bronze Age gold torc (J M Coles 1962) was ploughed up in a field next to the chambered cairn at Leys (NH64SE 23) (J Fraser 1884). It was purchased at the time by a jeweller (J Barron 1903), but has since been lost, although a leaden model was lent to the Arch. Inst. Exhibition in Edinburgh, 1856, by the Inverness Museum.
J Barron 1903; J Fraser 1884; J M Coles 1962; Archaeol Inst Great Britain and Ireland 1859.

Neither the original, or facsimile, torc is in Inverness Museum.
Visited by OS (J L D) 23 March 1962.

This torc was catalogued as part of the North Kessock & District Local History Society and Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH) collaborative 'Feats of Clay' Project, which was focused on Bronze Age metalworking around the Moray Firth. The torc is lost but an image survives (Inst. Arch. 1859). It was assigned a Middle Bronze Age date. <4>

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Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 6850 4200 (14m by 14m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH64SE
Civil Parish	INVERNESS AND BONA
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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