ANCIENT St Cuthbert's beads on the Holy Islands of Lindisfarne! (+making a ring with our finds!)

hello so here we are on holy island and it's an absolutely gorgeous day and there's our yacht out there that we came in of course yeah yeah and it's beautiful it the is time already just walking down to the beach and now we're hoping to find some fossils fossils yeah we've already had some luck so far we found a few little tiny bits and bobs so it's a beautiful day we're in a beautiful place and let's go fossil hunting [Music] [Music] so okay so on our way down to the edge of the water and just down here look we found two copper boat nails and there's lots more nails down here and pottery look at all the nails and pottery down here all fragments of glass copper nails bevel tail these are really nice nails see look there's bits of old glass here pottery look people all around clueless to the treasures lying just beneath their feet holy island boat nail batman look i've got some swirls oh yeah it's strange on the end i like all these boat nails oh i love them oh and there's one down here there's loads of nails they're beautiful probably come from some of these boats out here fishing boats yeah the old fishing boats how cool they're just lying here oh yeah it's a decorative piece of like brass or something look it's just right here out in the open loads of people around you've got to keep your eyes on the ground no matter where you at the air or go and um they've been burning old boats do you think that's where these old boat nails have come old bits of old boats have been burnt here wow these we can make things with these old boat nails it's treasure oh that's some kind of piece of stoneware yeah how cool is that a small victorian pottery this looks like a heart there's a boat nail oh and there's there's two oh this one you've got the boat nail pile there's another one [Music] ah wow there's too many there's loads of them we should make a holy island boat nail necklace look right in view of the castle oh look down there that's an old buckle how odd there's quite a few bits of random bits of metal as well okay so our fine so far are a little bit unexpected we've got a whole bag full of copper boat nails [Music] [Music] okay so my first find on holy island today is this little guy and it's a little tiny grotty bucky it's a little european carry shell how cute oh my goodness always so much joy in finding these little shells isn't it beautiful found a bit of a metal patch here there's all sorts of things nails and bits of pottery there's this little plaque here doesn't if it's got anything on it i don't think so if it if it had it's gone now being screwed onto something okay alex has just found some new glasses for herself there we go a little bit knackered slightly slightly far gone there's quite a lot of metal down here actually yeah there is it's quite interesting looks like a steel toe cap out of a boot what's this bit of copper just seeing if there's any writing on it doesn't look like it but that'll be good for making things with keep that there's another bit there oh i think it's probably part of the same piece yeah great [Music] [Music] okay so mum's found this hilarious it's just i don't even know what it is but look it looks like a face it is okay in the light get in the sun i'll turn it this way look at that see it's got a mouth a nose two eyes and that's its hair that's quite funny it's herbert herbert yes screaming herbert it's funny the last time we were here we were naming hank stones yeah we were i've got to take her but alex spotted this button from all the way over there can you see it there it is a button we're having trouble making it where we're supposed to be going because we found some shells down here and i bent down to have a look and i found another grotty bucky there a little grocery bookie and i realized the button that mum found no the button i found that mum picked up is actually made of bone it's an old bone button that's a lovely little find [Music] down [Music] alex has found a hackstone stove of the day you can see through it look it's a stone with a hole well it is holy island looks like a nose actually look with nostrils it's a little natural cup look not sure what i think it's a bit coral alex has found a fossil looks like coral yeah looks like a tiny little bit of fossilized coral oh that's cute i love that i mean that's perfect jewelry size yeah you could make that into a little charm or something it looks like a tooth and here is a lovely little hag stone look at that a holy stone on holy island and some pretty bits of sea glass too of course hackstones are fossils a really pretty piece of sea glass the color it's gorgeous okay so we're finding some fossils already mums just found this one this black sedimentary rock look there's a fossil there's some shell fossils in there how interesting is that and i also found a tiny little stone this one i think i'll take it's got a tiny little impression of a shell in there [Music] that's so beautiful [Music] oh wow yes is it an ammonite i don't think it is i'm not sure there's something lovely about seaworn pottery delicate shades of blue and white and beautifully rounded edges alex says she's found a saint cuthbert's bead let's see i found it accidentally i was looking at the shelves and i found the bead it hasn't got a hole in it there we go it hasn't got a hole in it but that is exactly what we're looking for fantastic little carinoid fossil it's so perfect oh this is an interesting little fossil look at that i like that i think a lot of this rubbish is quite modern it is got this mono jars here oh there's a bit of um yeah sponge wear no i think it's hand painted is it yeah oh and look there's a marmalade put it in the sun there we go bits of marmalade jar and maybe ink pots and things and look it's an old mirror that's cool i love finding bits of mirror yeah it is quite cool isn't it makes you wonder who was the last person to look into it before it broke yeah i spy a copper nail can't resist them look at that as you cross are you ready sorry there's a no there's a tour guide to valhalla there's a tour guide going rather mad oh my goodness i found one and i've just found that's what you think cuthbert's bead right here opposite saint cuthbert's island where he used to preach which is there and there's a cross on it there and that marks the spot where cuthbert had his altar where he used to preach day in and day out yeah shout out to the tour guide we just got that information overheard it and he lived off only the muscles that were on the island apparently so yeah and these little um look there's one i just found let's just found one as well these are st cuthbert's beads and what's the story behind these alex well apparently saint cuthbert carved them from rock and then in the storms they'd come down and they'd be found on the beach in the mornings fantastic they'd come down from the heavens but of course they are crinoids which are fossils of living creatures that are i think they're related to like sea urchins and things but we love them and we love the story yes who doesn't love a good old legend [Music] st cuthbert's beads or cuddy's beads are the fossilized stems of crinoids from the carboniferous period approximately 300 million years ago crinoids are an extinct kind of marine econoderm and are related to species such as starfish and sea urchins each disc form part an articulated stem the hole in the center is called the lumen which would have held the animal's nerves and ligaments in medieval northumberland the fossils were collected at lindisfarne and strung as a necklace or rosary according to local legend saint cuthbert used the beads in a rosary or that they were carved by his spirit and dropped down from the heavens in stormy weather to be found washed up on the beaches the next morning some nice bits of glass around here too and that's bonfire glass there here are my latest crinoids little cuddy beads yeah short for saint cuthbert speeds or short for saint cuthbert is cuddy so they're also called cuddy beads but that one you can see it's long that one there and that's the little segments kind of still stuck together and i found another one down here i think it's pretty easy to spot just there there's another beautiful little crinoid fossil think cough but speed it's minuscule it's the tiniest one yet there we go and this one's got a hole in it that's the first one i found that has a hole in it wow there's another tiny one down here can you see it there it is tiny very beautiful oh my goodness i found my best saint god that's been so far it's that big one if you get close to it there's a little star in the middle now another name for these ones with little stars on are star stones have to get a better close-up of that later that's so beautiful lovely little star shape just in the middle there and there and i am going to take them but my fingers are so big and fat and up here i see another one oh i've lost it oh there it is there's one a little bit bigger but i'll have to put this away so i can get those tiny ones a nice 18th century brick here i don't feel like carrying it though and i spy another one and it's really tiny that's a lovely one just tiny beautiful and here's another one can you see it look you go i think cuthbert's bead also found some nice beach glass a little bit of clay pipe these are the smallest i can even film them they are so look i always say look at the same time but seriously there are lots of the tv they also had loads of them but they're all so tiny oh wait look look there's another little stack oh yes how cool is that just down here on this little patch here i found loads of them loads of tinies aren't they just absolutely glorious and this bigger fossil and i am not sure at all what that is but i definitely think it is some kind of fossil so i'm gonna take it but yes we've not got much longer on the island before you have to turn back so let's hope we can find some nice juicy ones before we go and i've just found this one and look it's like shaped like a little horn zoom in look it's like the tip of one okay i've got some more in my hand just here including a piece of carnelian i can see most of a teeny tiny and then there was this which i thought was one just that little circle was sticking out the sand when i flipped it over i realized it's the back of a shotgun cartridge so yeah that was a bit random i was trying to pick up that little round thing there it just looks like a little sink carpets bead so that was a bit strange but yeah i'd say we've been really successful so far found some really really beautiful little fossils beautiful piece of lilac glass and there's a sink up at speed can you spot it there it is [Music] and this looks like a piece of clay pipe well worn away i found this lovely bigger it's a cuthbert's bead here that's a nice one we're having such an amazing day i mean it's just absolutely gorgeous sitting here in the most beautiful beautiful setting it is really just like being on holiday absolutely gorgeous okay so i spotted a beautiful little crinoid stack here just there but i was looking around in the same area i saw this thing oh my goodness it looks like a little mushroom wow is that a crinoid i think it might be like the top of one wow that's beautiful i don't know i'm i think that might be a part of a crinoid how cool their mom's got another teeny tiny one look how tiny that is it's minuscule that's been the theme of the day they've all been very small saint cuthbert's beads are named after cuthbert of lindisfarne an anglo-saxon saint of the early northumbrian church and of the celtic tradition born in north northumbria in the year 635 cuthbert found his calling at a young age and went on to be monk prior bishop and hermit within his lifetime at around 30 years old cuthbert moved to lindisfarne as prior he was in much demand as a spiritual guide and he developed the gift of spiritual healing he was known as an outgoing cheerful compassionate person widely liked and respected at 40 years old cuthbert believed he was being called to be a hermit to fight the spiritual forces of evil in a life of solitude cuthbert then lived in a hermitage on the island of inner farm for 10 years at the age of 50 he was called on by the church and king to become bishop after two years cuthbert came back to his hermitage on the farn isles to live out the rest of his days he died on the 20th of march aged 52. [Music] so [Music] do [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] two hmm [Music] so [Music] and here they are the things we found on holy island and we've got quite a mixture here of man-made things and natural so we'll start with our boat nails yeah we've given them a light polish up because we're going to be making things with these aren't they wonderful look at the walls so much material here a horde of boat nails and then up here we've got screaming herbert screaming herbert well i couldn't leave him behind could i [Laughter] it does look exactly like a face he's kind of like a frog as well like a frog or a face ribbit um and then we've got another random collection of metal and things buckle there that's the end of a shotgun cartridge that we can make things with oh here we've got some this bone button which was a little bit unexpected and some of these little shells grotty buckies i love them groaty buckies which are little european cowrie shells and we have some lovely seaworn pottery although this one doesn't see one because we we found it with the nails didn't we yeah it looks really um really interesting uh surface on there i don't know if it's been burnt or not it looks quite old that's why i took it it's like an old bit it's unglazed on the outside and glazed on the inside this gray glaze so i'm not sure what that is and amongst it we've got a few little tiny fragments of pipe stem which are just very small but well worn we have found a few bits there before in the past probably from sailors fishermen and we have a glass collection here some bonfire glass yeah the rest is just nicely smoothed sea glass yeah and there's some patterned pieces as well that's pretty sort of a lavender color yeah and this one here has got some cross hatching on it i don't know if you can see that oh yeah it's very faint um we've got some fossils here well actually a mix of things isn't there yeah fossils and pebbles so some of them have tiny little shell impressions in them some of them are hag stones and hagstones are the result of worms going through mud and then then it's the muds fossilized and made holes in where the worm holes used to be um there's a little bit of carnelian other fossils that we're not 100 sure this one's interesting yeah what's this it's some sort of tree hmm or something yeah yeah this one here that's interesting a few mysteries yeah this one's really weird what on earth is that yeah if you can tell us i think some of these are coral can tell some of these are coral like that one's coral and that one's got the impression of a shell in it oh down here these are our little horns so we we thought these might have something to do with the crinoids but they're actually um fossils of coral yeah and this one here looks incredibly like a mushroom it does i love it it's so cute so cute okay and finally what we actually went there to find in the first place saint cuthbert's beads aren't they so beautiful yeah lovely little crinoid fossils and this is our whole collection all together and as you can see most of them are just teeny tiny some of them i don't even know how we saw they're so small i know it's crazy they remind me of those little seed beads oh yeah they do actually really do look like beads don't they yeah so with one of these the biggest fossil actually you just watched me make a ring with so we're going to show that to you now and here it is alex's amazing ring thank you very much it's made with one of the nails that we found that's really chunky and this beautiful crinoid with a star in the center st cuthbert's bead ring yeah saint cuddy's bead ring that's what i've called it entirely made with things from the holy island of lindisfarne apart from the silver apart from the silver everything else was found at holy island so that is absolutely gorgeous i love it so you might notice it's missing one of its prongs when i was making it it actually had four and that's because i accidentally snapped one off so um yeah so now it has three prongs i think it still looks good with three i think it looks better actually it turned out just as just as well with with three than it did for so yeah sometimes less is more so now all it leaves us to do is say a massive thank you once again to everyone who has contributed to our channel in any way whether it's leaving us one of your wonderful comments or liking and subscribing to our channel and of course to all of our patrons are all very important for us to continue making these videos and making things yeah making things we love making things we love showing you so until next sunday it's bye [Music]

Channel: Northern Mudlarks

Views: 26,667

Rating: 4.9586453 out of 5

Keywords: Fossil hunting, holy island, ancient, st cuthebert, lindisfarne, hag stones, beach combing, st cuthberts beads, star stones, jewellery making, beachcombing finds, beachcombing, fossils, treasure hunting, legend, adventure, crinoid, crinoid fossils, cuddy's beads, treasure hunt

Id: VdCYkfMgx4Y

Length: 36min 15sec (2175 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 18 2021