15 / 90
CUPS
AND
THEIR
CUSTOMS.
6
Skaaly
and
Skyllde,
the
German
Schale,
the
Danish
Skaalj
and,
coming
to
our
own
shores,
in
the
Cornish
Skala,
So
ale-goblets
in
Celtic
were
termed
Kalt-skaal
;
and,
though
applied
in
other
ways,
the
word
lingers
in
the
Highland
Scotch
as
Skiel
(a
tub),
and
in
the
Ork-
neys
the
same
word
does
duty
for
a
flagon.
From
this
root,
though
more
immediately
derived
from
Scutella^
a
concave
vessel,
through
the
Italian
Scodella
and
the
French
Ecuelle
(a
porringer),
we
have
the
homestead
word
Skillet
still
used
in
England.
There
is
no
lack,
in
old
chronicles,
of
examples
illustrative
of
that
most
barbarous
practice
of
converting
the
skull
of
an
enemy
into
a
drinking-cup.
Warnefrid,
in
his
work
^De
Gestis
Longobard.,^
says,
^^Albin
slew
Cuminum,
and
having
carried
away
his
head,
converted
it
into
a
drinking-vessel,
which
kind
of
cup
with
us
is
called
Schala.'^
The
same
thing
is
said
of
the
Boii
by
Livy,
of
the
Scythians
by
Herodotus,
of
the
Scordisci
by
Rufus
Festus,
of
the
Gauls
by
Diodorus
Siculus,
and
of
the
Celts
by
Silius
Italicus.
Hence
it
is
that
Ragnar
Lodbrog,
in
his
death-song,
consoles
himself
with
the
reflection,
"
I
shall
soon
drink
beer
from
hollow
cups
made
of
skulls
'^
In
more
modern
times,
the
middle
ages
for
example^
we
find
historic
illustration
of a
new
use
of
the
word,
where
Skoll
was
applied
in
another
though
allied
sense.
Thus
it
is
said
of
one
of
the
leaders
in
the
Gowryan
conspiracy
^Uhat
he
did
drink
his
skoll
to
my
Lord
Duke,^^
meaning
that
the
health
of
that
nobleman
was
pledged
;
and
again,
at
a
festive
table,
we
read
that
the
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