A few days ago I saw something glinting on the ground near the birdfeeder in our back garden. After I rubbed off the excess mud – it has been a miserable winter after all – I could see it was a battered button, less than 20mm across or about the size of a 5p piece, with a shank on the back for attaching to a garment with a thread.
But I puzzled over the design on the front, until I realised I was looking at it upside down. When turned the right way up I started to see shapes which reminded me strongly of Celtic Iron Age designs for horses. In fact, it soon became obvious I was looking at a two-wheeled chariot drawn by four horses, with a small enigmatic figure lying prone over the whole design.
In time, after a bit of research, it was clear this button not only looked like a coin but that its design was actually drawn from a particular style of coin; this then drew me down interminable paths and even began to suggest a narrative for how the object was brought to my attention.
Continue reading “Dropped from the sky”
Calmgrove Books 