celte

ludic votives

4x4cms approx.

the river Antron runs through the site of Glasney College

its name derives from 'antre' meaning sacred

an article published in the 1867 edition of the Journal for the Royal Institution of Cornwall refers to a celte that was found inside a tree, next to Jago's croft, during excavation work for the construction of the Falmouth reservoir, which was fed by the Antron river

the word celte was used to describe a stone implement used for carving , and derives from a scribal error during the translation of the bible - specifically Job19 :28 - when the word certe was mistakenly copied as celte

so

let it indeed (certe) be carved with an iron pen on a plate of lead or in stone

became

let it be carved with a celte

and wrongly assumed to be a type of ancient chisel

an imaginary etymological connection between the prehistoric stone implements that were unearthed during excavtions in the early eighteenth century and the Celtic people was commonly taken as historical fact throughout the century that followed

there is however an obscure Welsh word cellt that means sharp stone or nutshell