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Fig. 2. Pitcur Farth-House. Interior view looking from c towards k.

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Fig. 3. Pitcur Earth-House. Interior view looking from k towards c, and showing fireplace (e).

The Piteur earth-house had at least three separate entrances, namely, at the points h, 4, and j. The subsidiary room appears also to have had an independent connection with the outside world, at the point g, and perhaps also at f, though the latter may only mark a fireplace or air-hole, for the condition of the ruin makes it difficult for one to speak with certainty. The entrance at i, which slopes rapidly downward, is roofed all the way to d; and consequently this short passage remains in its original state.

Within the covered portion, and quite near its entrance, a well-built recess ( in the plan) seems clearly to have been used as a fireplace, although the orifice which presumably once connected it with the upper air is now covered over. Another and a smaller recess in the covered portion (k in the plan) can hardly have been a fireplace, and it is difficult to know what it was used as,

One other point of interest is the presence of two cup-marked stones (p and 4 on the plan). Of these, the former is lying isolated on the surface of the ground near the entrance i, while the latter forms one of the wall stones beside the doorway e. Curiously enough, the two cupmarked stones in the earth-house at Tealing, in the same county of Forfar, occupy exactly similar positions. The presence of these cupmarked stones at Piteur, however, is only mentioned here as a necessary detail of the description. For, as Dr Anderson remarks in connection with the stones at Tealing, such cup-marked stones are found in various situations, and their occurrence in connection with that earth-house "has therefore no special significance with respect to the age of the structure, and there is nothing in the association or the circumstances in which they occur in this particular instance which contributes to our knowledge of the purpose or significance of the markings themselves, They may or may not have been sculptured on the stone before it was taken to form part of this underground gallery." These observations, made with reference to the cup-marked stones at Tealing, are equally applicable to those at Piteur.

Scotland in Pagon Times: The Iron Age, Edinburgh, 1××3, pp. 299 300.

It is instructive to note that the Pitcur earth-house is one of only three survivors of a number of earth-houses formerly existing within a radius of 10 miles from it. These others have disappeared in the usual way, a comparatively short time after their discovery, through neglect and indifference, or by deliberate spoliation, their massive stones being found useful for building purposes. The other specimens were situated as follows:-One on the same farm (discovered in 1863); one on the top of Dunsinnan,1 4 miles to the south-west; four in the parish of Auchterhouse, about 4 miles to the east ; one at Tealing, 8 miles to the cast, this specimen being happily still in good preservation; 'several' on the estate of Mudhall, 3 miles to the north-west;4 one at Coupar-Grange,

1 Discovered in 1854, and subsequently destroyed. See the Society's Proceedings, vol. ii. pp. 93-99, and vol. ix. pp. 378-380.

2 With regard to these, the Rev. W. Mason Inglis, F.S.A. Scot., minister of Auchterhouse, writes (30th December 1899): "Several of these remarkably interesting weems have been discovered [at Auchterhouse]-one of them not far from the church and another near the mansion-house. In the former, the space between the walls and the covering was full of rich mould, in which were found ashes of burnt wood, bones, and other deposits formed by the refuse of ancient repasts. In the latter were found bones, several querns-those in my possession being 14 inches in diameter--a bronze ring of primitive workmanship, and the bones of animals. In the immediate neighbourhood two similar subterranean dwellings were also discovered. One of these contained apartments constructed entirely of large flat stones. In these recesses were found wood ashes, several fragments of large stone vessels, and a quern. The other was simply a vault, in which were found a large stone vessel and a celt.

"These interesting structures have fallen in and have disappeared long ago. The one on my glebe was long utilised by a predecessor as a store-house for potatoes; but, unfortunately, this perished also through ignorance and stupidity. . . . This is all the information I possess in regard to these ancient structures in this parish.” 3 See the Society's Proceedings, vol. x. pp. 287-288, and Plate IX.; the account and the illustration being both by the late Andrew Jervise, F.S. A. Scot. This earth-house was discovered in 1871.

"In the middle or towards the close of last century, several of these subterranean buildings were discovered in the course of digging operations on the estate of Mudhall. Mr Playfair (minister of Bendochy 1785-1812), in the Old Statistical Account of the parish, takes particular notice of this discovery as follows:-'Several subterranean buildings were uncovered which, when cleared of the ashes and earth with which they were filled, were found to be 6 feet wide within walls, 5 feet deep, and 40 feet long, or more. They were built in the sides and paved in the bottom

VOL. XXXIV.

1 mile north of Mudhall; one at Ruthven, 5 miles north-east of CouparGrange; five at Airlie,3 2 miles north-east of Ruthven, of which one still survives, thanks to the care of a former Earl of Airlie, who, at the time of its discovery in the latter part of last century, inserted a special clause in the lease of the farm on which it is situated, stipulating that the tenant in all time coming should be bound to do no damage to the earth-house; and lastly, there was an earth-house at Meigle, 4 miles north of Piteur, of which a portion is believed yet to exist within the grounds of the manse.5

Thus the Pitcur earth-house and the specimens at Tealing and Airlie, altogether only three in number, are the only survivors of a scattered group of about twenty, which have been discovered at various times during the last four or five generations. Special precautions have preserved the Airlie specimen intact, and that at Tealing appears to have been fairly well looked after. It is a matter of regret that the Pitcur with rough whinstones. In their length they were not straight, but a portion of a circle. It would seem that they had been roofed with wood, and covered above with earth and turf."" The foregoing is extracted from an unpublished MS. of the late Rev. George Brown, minister of Bendochy, with reference to which his son, the Rev. James Brown, Elchies, Morayshire, observes (2nd January 1900): "There were no traces of these earth-houses' left by the time my father became minister of Bendochy. In his MS. he distinctly states that the discovery was made on the estate of Mudhall. As to the Coupar-Grange affair, I rather think it was a different building entirely. At least Pennant's description of the remains in his Second Tour points that way." It may be explained that Coupar-Grange lies about 1 mile to the north of Mudhall. It is therefore quite possible that the earth-house referred to in Pennant's Tour may have been one of those on Mudhall. On the other hand, the fact that Coupar Grange is specified seems to indicate that the weem was situated within the lands of Coupar-Grange.

1 See preceding note.

2 "In a brae south of the Kirk of Ruthven there was a weem," says Dr Marshall (Historic Scenes in Forfarshire, p. 153).

* Dr Anderson (Scotland in Pagan Times: The Iron Age, p. 292) specifies "a group of five," four of which appear to have been obliterated during recent times.

For accounts of this weem see the Society's Proceedings, vol. v. pp. 352-355, and Plate XXI.; also The Antiquary for July 1898 (Elliot Stock, London).

* This I was informed some years ago by a local worthy, who stated that the weem crossed the present road in front of the manse, but had been greatly destroyed at the time the road was made or modified.

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