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been evidently guided by art into that pofition; as it is impoffible, fuppofing them to have rolled down, that they ever could have refted in that fituation. The posture of thefe tones leaves no doubt as to the purpofe they were intended to ferve. Upon an alarm of danger, the strength of a very few men was fufficient to raise these e normous ftones so as to deftroy their balance, and project them into the hollow road, which they would entirely block up, and thus either prevent all accefs, or render the pafs fo difficult as to be with ease defended by a few against any number of affailants. Some other large ftones are likewife placed on an eminence to the left of the road, evidently to ferve a fimilar purpose with those on the right, and to block up or defend a hollow channel, by which an cent might have been attempted, by following the waving direction of the natural furrows of the hill.

On arriving at the fummit of the hill by the winding road, and a few feet below the rampart which crowns the top of the hill, there appears an outward wall furrounding the whole, which approaches on the fides of the hill fo near to the upper rampart, as to leave only a fofsé or trench of ten or twelve feet in width between them; unless at the weft extremity, where this outward wall extends itself to a greater diftance from the inner rampart, and forms a level platform, of an oblong and fomewhat femi-circular fhape, about forty yards in length, and fifteen at its greatest breadth, This outward wall is in many places fo low, as to be almoft level with the rock, though, in other places, it rifes to the height of two or three feet; but even where it is loweft, the marks of it may be traced by a line of vitrified matter fticking fift to the rock, all along nearly of the fame breadth, which, in moft places, is about nine feet. The remains of this wall are trongly vitified, unless in one place

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upon the north fide, where, for about feventy yards, the rampart is formed only of dry ftones and earth. The probable reafon of this I fhall after. wards mention. It is fufficient juft now to obferve, that the strong natural defence that was afforded on this fide, by the extreme fteepness of the rock, which is here almoft perpendi cular, fuperfeded the necellity of much artificial operation, there being little hazard that an affault would ever be attempted on this quarter.

Every where else this cutward wall appears completely vitrified; and at the eaft fide, where the hill is more acceffible, and the declivity more gradual, there is a prodigious mound of vitrified matter, extending itfelf to the thickness of above forty feet. At the fouth-eaft corner, and adjoining to this immenfe mound, is an outwork, confifting of two femi-circular vitrified walls, with a narrow pafs cut through them in the middle. This appears to have been another, and perhaps the principal entry to the fort. It was neceflary that there fhould be two entries; one from the level ridge which joins this hill on the weft to that chain of which it forms the extremity, the other from the low country to the eaft. The entry to the weft was defended in the manner already defcribed; that towards the eaft did not admit of a defence of the fame kind, but was fecured by three ramparts; and the pass through the femi circular out-work was made fo narrow as to be easily defended, or even blocked up with ftones and earth, upon the fhorteft notice of danger.

We come now to the inner wall furrounding the fummit of this hill, and incloling a level fpace, f the form of an oblong fquare, about fer venty-five yards in length and thirty in breadth, rounded, like the outward wall, at each of the ends. This inner wall is nearly of the fame thicknefs with the outward one, and is of confiderable height. There is fome

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appearance that it has been armed with four bastions or turrets; as, at regular distances, the wall enlarges itfelf confiderably in thickness, in a circular figure, like the foundation of a fmall tower. Of this, however, the traces are fo imperfect, that I will not take upon me to fay whether they may not be entirely an accidental irregularity. In the fame light I was at firft difpofed to have confidered a finail circle, confifting of a number of fmall tumuli of earth, with a stone placed in the centre, which I fuppofed might have been nothing more than an accidental appearance, till lately, that, from the defcription of fome ancient fortifications of a fimilar kind in Ireland, I find there are, in many of them, circles of fmall tumuli, like what I have mentioned, which are fuppofed to have marked the place fet apart for the chief, as the prætorium in the camps of the Romans.

But within this inner space, there are other marks of artificial operation, which are lefs ambiguous. There appears, on the eaft fide, a portion of the internal space, which is feparated from the reft by two ranges of ftones ftrongly fixed in the ground, in the form of a rectangular parallelogram. This feparation is immediately difcernible by the eye, from this circumftance, that the whole of the inclofed fummit has been moft carefully cleared from tones, of which there is not one to be feen, unless thofe that form this divifion, and the fingle ftone in the middle of the circle of tumuli above mentioned. What has been the defign of this feparated space, is difficult to conjecture. It might, perhaps, have marked the refidence of thefe of a higher rank, or ferved as a temple for the purposes of devo

tion.

Towards the east end of the large area on the fummit, are the veftiges of a well, about fix feet in diameter, which has probably been dug deep into the lock, though it is now filled

up with rubbish to within a yard of the furface.

Such are the appearances on the fummit of Craig-Phadrick, which exhibit, in my opinion, fuch evident and unambiguous traces of artificial operation, that I cannot conceive a difference of opinion to have arifen concerning their origin, but from too inattentive and hafty a furvey of them, joined to a partiality for thofe hypothefes, extremely fafhionable at prefent, which afcribe a vast variety of natural appearances to the operation of ancient volcanos.

Of thofe fortified hills mentioned by Mr Williams, I had likewife an opportunity of examining two others, the hill of Dun-Evan in the county of Nairn, and the Caftle-hill of Finhaven in the county of Angus.

Another fortified hill, which is not among those enumerated by Mr Williams, I have likewife vifited, and have examined with particular attention. This is Dun-Jardel, a very high hill, which rifes in a beautiful, irregular, conic figure, on the fouth fide of Loch-Nefs, about two miles to the caftward of the fall of Fyers.

Immediately oppofite to Dun-Jardel, on the north fide of Loch-Nefs, is another conical hill called DunSgrebin, on the fummit of which, as I was informed by a gentleman who refides in that neighbourhood, there are fimilar remains of a fortification, compofed of dry stone, like thofe on Dun-Evan and Dun - Jardel. Mr Williams mentions a mall fortified hill near Fort-Auguftus, called TorDun, which is plainly difcernible from Dun-Jardel. Dun-Jardel is dif tinctly feen from Sgrebin; and from the fituation of the country, this lat is, in all probability, feen from CraigPhadrick. Craig-Phadrick is plainly difcernible from Knockfarril, and Dun-Evan and Castle-Finlay (a fortified hill in the fame neighbourhood) from Craig-Phadrick. Thus, there is a chain of feven fortified hills, com

manding

manding a very large tract of country over which an alarm could be communicated with the utmost celerity; and I think it is not improbable, that, upon a minute furvey of the mountainous country, it would appear, that there have been, in fome former period, chains of communication of this kind through many of the regions in the northern parts of the island.

Nor were fortified places of this kind peculiar to the northern parts of Britain. The Hon. Daines Barring ton, in a memoir printed in volume VI. of the Archæologia, affirms, that there are many fuch structures of dry stone upon the tops of hills in Wales, and particularly in Merionethfhire. In Dr Borlafe's Hiftory of Cornwall, we are informed, that there are the remains of fimilar ftructures in that country. Some of thefe the author has defèribed under the name of Hill-caftles,,

1 Ireland, the remains of fuch fortifications on the tops of hills are yet much more frequent than in this country.

Harris, in his republication of Sir James Ware's Antiquities of Ireland, in treating of what are called Danes raths or Danes forts, in that country, defcribes precifely fuch fortifications or ftructures, as thofe on the fummits of the hills we have mentioned, viz. conical mounts terminating in an oblong level area, and furrounded with the remains of ftrong ramparts. The very general tradition, of attributing thefe fortifications, both in Ireland and in this country, to the Danes, I fhall afterwards fhew to be quite erroneous. In a collection of mifcellaneous effays towards a natural history of Ireland, published by Dr Molyneux, Dr Gerard Boate, and others, there is an accurate defcription given of thofe ftructures. "Most of thofe in Ireland, fays Dr Molyneux," are furrounded only by earthen ramparts. Some, though but a few, are encompaffed round

"with walls of stone caft up instead "of earth, yet without any mortar. "Two of thefe may be seen at Far"moyle in the county of Longford." The authors of the ancient and mo dern ftate of the county of Down, describe particularly five of thofe for tified mounts, which are but a few, out of a vaft many in that fingle county. On the Rath at Crownbridge near Newry, there is at the weft end of the level area, and about fifty feet below it, a fquare platform, fuch as we have defcribed at the weft end of the fortification on CraigPhadrick. The tradition is, that this platform at Crown-bridge, was the arena where two competitors decided, in fingle combat, the difputed right to the Crown of Ireland. Wright, in his Lothiana, or introduction to the antiquities of Ireland, defcribes and gives plans of many fuch fortifi ed mounts, all of which are furrounded by ramparts: and most of them have at the extremities ftrong outworks below the level of the fort itself. One of thefe, which is called Green Mount, near Castle-Bellingham, appears from the engraving in Mr Wright's book, to bear a near refemblance in its plan to Craig-Phadrick.

None of those remains of building upon the hills in Ireland, fo far as is taken notice of in the defcriptions of them I have mentioned, exhibit any marks of vitrification. Three of the fortifications I have enumerated in the neighbourhood of Inverness, are likewife crowned with dry stone structures, without any appearance of the effects of fire; and I am inclined to believe, that, upon an accurate furvey of those extraordinary works, the number of thofe that flow marks of vitrification will be inconfiderable, when compared with those that have not been at all affected with fire. I am led, from this circumftance, to form an opinion different from that of Mr Williams, and of fuch as he.

lieve thofe ftructures to be the proofs of an ancient mode of building, in which fire was employed for the purpose of cementing, before our ancestors knew the ufe of lime. I am difp fed to think, that the appearances of vitrification on fome of those hills, are the accidental effects of fire upon a structure compofed of combustible and fufible materials, and by no means the confequence of an operation intended to produce that effect.

The buildings reared by the ancient inhabitants of this country, both for habitation and defence, would natuturally be compofed of fuch materials as the rude ftate of the country prefented in abundance, and fuch as required little, either of labour or of fkill, to bring into ufe. In thofe quarters where ftone could be easily quarried in fquare blocks, or where it split into lamina, no other material than the fimple stone was neceffary, and very little labour was fufficient to rear the ftructure. Such has been the cafe at Dun Jardel and DunEvan. But where the ftone is of that nature as not to be eafily fplit into square blocks, or feparated into lamina, but is apt to break into irre, gular and generally fmall fragments, as the rock of Craig-Phadrick, and all others of the plum-pudding kind, it would be extremely difficult to form a regular structure of fuch materials alone, which should be endowed with fufficient Arength. The mode in which I imagine building was prac tifed in fuch fituations, was by employing wood, as well as ftone, in the fabric. The building, I suppose, was begun by raising a double row of pallifades or strong flakes, in the form of the intended ftructure, in the fame way as in that ancient mode of build. ing, defcribed by Paliadio under the name of Riempiuta, a caffa, or coffer work. Thefe ftakes were probably warped acrofs by boughs of trees laid very clofely together, fo as to form two fences, running parallel to each

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other at the distance of fome feet, and so close as to confine all the ma terials, of whatever fize, that were thrown in between them. Into this intermediate fpace, I fuppofe, were thrown boughs and trunks of trees, earth and ftones of all fizes, large or finall, as they could quarry or collect them. Very little care would be neceffary in the difpofition of these materials, as the outward fence would keep the mound in form. In this way, it is eafy to conceive, that a very ftrong bulwark might be reared with great dispatch, which, joined to the natural advantage of a very inacces fible fituation, and that improved by artful contrivances for encreafing the difficulty of accefs, would form a ftructure capable of anfwering every purpose of fecurity or defence.

The moft formidable engine of attack against a structure of this kind, would be fire; and this, no doubt, would be always attempted, and often fuccefsfully employed by a befeging enemy. The double ramparts, at a confiderable diftance from each other, and the platform, at one end, vere certainly the best poffible fecur rity against an attack of this kind. But if the beegers prevailed in gàining an approach to the ramparts, and, furrounding the external wall, fet fire to it in feveral places, the conflagration must speedily have become general, and the effect is easy to be conceived. If there happened to be any wind at the time, to increase the iptenfity of the heat, the ftony parts could not fail to come into fufion, and (as the wood burnt away) finking by their own weight into a folid mafs, there would remain a wreck of vitrified matter, tracking the spot where the ancient rampart had ftood; irregular and of unequal height, from the fortuitous and unequal diftribution of the ftony materials of which it had been compofed. The appearance at this day of thofe vitrified mounds creates the strongest probabie

lity of the truth of this conjecture. They do not appear ever to have been much higher than they are at rrefent; as the fragments that have fallen from them, even in thofe places where the wall is loft, are very inconfiderable. From the durable nature of the fubftance, they must have fuffered very little change from time, though, from the gradual growth of the foil, they muft, in fome places, have loft, in appearance, a good deal of their height, and in others, have been quite obfcured. Mr Williams, in making a cut through the ramparts at Knock farril, found, in many places, the vitrified matter entirely covered with peat-mofs of half a foot in thickness.

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I have observed, that, in the fortification on Craig-Phadrick, a large portion of the outward rampart opon the north fide bears no marks of vitrification. The reafon of this it is eafy to explain. In the ftructure of this part of the wall no wood has been employed; for the extreme fteepnefs of the rock on this quarter rendered any rampart for defence entirely unneceffary. A low fence of ftones and turf was fufficient here to prevent the cattle, which were probably lodged between the outer and inner rampart, from falling over the precipice. Such is that fence which at prefent remains on the north fide of the rock of Craig-Phadrick.

It appears, therefore, highly probable, that the effect of fire upon thofe hill-fortifications, has been entirely accidental, or, to fpeak more properly, that fire has been employ. ed, not in the conftruction, but towards the demolition of fuch buildings; and for the latter purpose it would certainly prove much more efficacious than for the former. It is much to be doubted, whether it would be at all poffible, even in the

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prefent day, by the utmoft combination of labour and of skill, to furround a large fpacé of ground with a double rampart of ftones, compacted by fire, of fuch height and folidity as to ferve any purpofe of fecurity, or defence againit a befieging enemy. Any ftructure of this kind muft have been irregular, low, fragile, easily scaled and quite infecure; a much weaker rampart, in fhort, than a fimple wall of turf or wooden pallifade. The veftiges yet remaining, as I have already obferved, give no room to fuppofe, that the vitrified mound has ever been much more entire than it is at prefent. The effect of fire upon structures reared in the manner I have fuppofed them to have been, will account moft perfectly for their prefent appear

ance.

It was from neceffity that the builders of thofe fortifications betook themfelves to a mode of ftructure fo liable to be destroyed by fire. In those parts where ftones could be eafily quarried, of fuch fize and form as to rear a rampart by themselves of fufficient ftrength and folidity, there was no occafion to employ wood or turf in its conftruction, and it was therefore proof against all affault by fire.. Such are the ramparts which appear on the hill of Dun-Jardel, Dun-Evan, and many others, on which there is not the fmallest appearance of vitrification.

But on Craig - Padrick, and the other hills above defcribed, where, from the nature of the rock, the ftones could be procured, only in irregular and generally fmall fragments, it was neceflary to employ fome fuch mode of construction as I have fuppofed; and thefe ramparts, though folid and well calculated for defence against every attack by force or ftratagem, were not proof against the affault by fire.

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