T t M-H T to de altesther of rather a que kind. It is in the 1. forts are exceedingly rare in the Sottish Highlands; A SO PLATAA for its natangalar form. It will be observed from Iv.-This Le: nos green enanence rises on the N.W. side of In comparatively rough surface. The whole area is enclosed by a rectilinear mound 24 to 30 ft. across and with a flat top 6 to 10 ft. wide, which rises only a foot or two above the area, and 3 to 6 above the outside. On the N. side this rampart gives on the little level space, C, 33 ft. wide, with a rounded head, spoken of above, which shows slight remains of a stone wall, not necessarily ancient, at the rounded edge. The other three sides have a second and lesser mound a little in front of the inner one at the edge of the descent. connection with these chief mounds or ramparts, the N. one is prolonged eastward, partly naturally perhaps, to the edge of the hill and down the hill to D, so as to bar the approach which skirts up the eastern flank of the hill to the rounded head. This limb, D, also flanks a possible zig-zag entrance, E, F. The S. rampart is similarly prolonged, flanking a direct entrance, F, from the east, and it also gives off short branches at either end towards the outer ramparts. The work seems to be of earth; at least I saw few little stones and no big ones lying about except at the rounded head, which lies beyond the main work. The rectangular form of the work gives it some claim to a Roman origin, but there is no proved Roman fort perched on a similar site in Scotland. The rectangular form, and the greater elevation, slight though it be, of one end, are also suggestive of a mote, and are not characteristics of a hill fort; the position, on the other hand, is much more that of the hill forts than of the motes. That it may be mediæval is also possible, although history is silent about it. Altogether this is an anomalous and puzzling work. 10. Castleton.-8 m. along the high road from Forfar to Perth, and 3 m. E.N.E. of Meigle, 180 ft. above the sea, is a nearly square fortress, raised considerably above the surrounding country on three sides, but less so on the S.E., where the entrance is directly from the high road by an ascending broad ramp, either modern or modernised as the approach to a house and garden in the interior (fig. 4, which omits the western part, broken down for the site of the house and garden). The wide trench on the N.E. side has a scarp, steep and straight, 12 to 14 ft. high, crowned by an earthen parapet 3 ft. high to the interior. The counterscarp is only 4 to 6 ft. high, so that the interior has a great command. The fortification on the S.E. side is much the same, but the trench is not quite so deep. The S.W. side now shows only a rather easy slope, but the construction of the house and garden no doubt caused great alterations and the destruction of the defences there. On the N.W. the steep scarp again appears, but without the trench. A small burn runs at the foot of the S.W. side and there are signs of another little watercourse on the N.W. side. The dimensions of the interior on the O.M. are about 300 by 200 ft. and the width of the rampart and trench varies from 35 to 80 ft. in a straight line. An intelligent man told me there was no tradition of a mediaval castle, but he spoke of the trench as 'the moat, and this may perhaps have been the traditional name of the whole fortress. It must also be the work said by Dr James Playfair to have been formed by the English in the reign of Edward I., as its position, dimensions, and structure correspond exactly with his description. He gives no authority for his statement, but as far as it goes it confirms the mote theory. If not a mote it must be regarded as a Roman work rather than a native fort, although it has marvellously escaped being dubbed 'Roman Camp.' 1 Picture of Scotland, James Playfair, D.D., i. 433. in the colour of hair and eyes, as ascertained by Dr Beddoe in observations made in 1898, but not yet published. CLASSIFICATION. A strictly scientific or accurate classification of objects that have suffered so much from gradual decay, and so much more from the ruthless hand of man, and which are often so overgrown with turf and weeds that without excavation we cannot even be sure whether they are of earth or stone, is obviously impossible. The best I can make of it is to divide the objects under the following chief heads: 1. Earthworks and probable Earthworks. II. Stone Forts and probable Stone Forts. III. Sites of Forts with little or no remains, IV. Dubious works or sites, marked Fort or Camp on the O.M. V. Dubious works or sites, possibly military, not marked Fort or Camp on the O.M. 1. EARTHWORKS AND PROBABLE EARTHWORKS. (0) EARTHWORK RESEMBLING A TYPICAL MOTE 1. If division of our subject be difficult, subdivision is still more so, but it may be said that only one work can be structurally classed without doubt as a Mote, This is the Cairn Beth of the O.M., the Cairn Boddie, Cuter Boel, Car Beth or Macheth's Castle of the N.SA. The true local name appears to have been Cairn Beddie, and the Caer Bed or Beth are probably interpreta tions to lead up to Macbeth's Castle, a title which I cannot trace to an earlier source than the NSA. The site is 5 m. N.E. of Perth, 700 yds, N.W. of St. Martin Church at the bottom of a gentle hollow, close to a small rill, and 250 it. above the sea. The work is much ploughed down, but still shows the plan (fig 1) of a typical mote with a squarish hoe court surrounded by a trench, the mote or mound de cending on one side into the trench. The mote is now only % or 10 it high and the trench almost filled up, but the writer in the NSA. -av- that twenty-four years before he wrote, a great quantity of earth was removed, and even atter his time the O.M. represents it as well preservel, the mote having a flat top 50 it, in diameter, the base court measuring 230 by 200 ft, inside, and the trench 40 to 45 ft. in with. (b) EARTHWORKS WITH SOME STRUCTURAL RESEMBLANCE TO MILITARY MOTES, OR WITH MOTE OR MOAT MARKED AT THEM ON THE O.M. I have placed together all the works with the term Moat or Mote attached to them on the O.M. Unfortunately the term is there used in various senses, but by favour of Colonel D. A. Johnston, R.E., Director of the Survey, I am enabled to state in the following paragraphs in which cases it designates a mound, and in which merely a trench connected with a fort. The information, however, came too late to enable me to recast this unsatisfactory subdivision. In the present revision of the maps, the distinction between Mote, a military, generally circular eminence, and Moat, a trench, is to be observed, and neither term is to be used for an ordinary mound. It is questionable whether in any case in the district the term is traditional and local, or whether any of these works have been military motes. Most of them, as far as structure goes, have nearly an equal claim to the title of mote or fort. 2. Inchbrakie.-On a level field 2 m. E. of Crieff, in the grounds of Abercairney, 150 ft. above the sea, is this puzzling structure. Moat marked on it on the O.M., as shown in fig. 2, signifies the surrounding trench, which with its appurtenances is so drawn there as to be not quite intelligible; I have therefore, while adopting the form and dimensions of the Ordnance Plan, represented the enclosing trench, etc., so as to correspond with my section A B, which is given on a larger scale. In form the work is a long, pretty regular oval, rather broader at the E. than the W. end, and the dimensions over all are nearly 900 by 350 ft. The structure rises gradually into a much-flattened dome, not more than 25 ft. above the level of the surrounding park, but it is pretty steeply scarped for a perpendicular height of 6 to 8 ft. down to the trench, which is only 3 ft. wide and is bounded outside by a mound 18 ft. across and 3 to 4 ft. high above both the trench and the field, so that the trench is not a dug out trench as far as appearances go. An entrance, much modernised, 30 ft. wide, comes in from the N. near the W. end, and at that part there seems to have been some levelling of the interior. Here and there a slight indication of a parapet may be seen at the top of the scarp. Of the Castle of Inchbrakie' not a trace is to be seen, but the neglected fine old trees and dense undergrowth make a proper examination difficult. On the whole it seems not unlikely that this may have been a Mote of unusual form and size, on which a medieval castle was afterwards built. 3. Moat, the Law, are the names given on the O.M. to a mound, 13 m. S.E. of Dunnichen Church and 500 yds. S. of Idvies House. It is situated 464 ft. above the sea, on the summit of a broad flat elevation or ridge, commanding an extensive view. The mound rises 12 to 15 ft. above the field, and is very conspicuous with its steep green sides crowned with trees. It has a slightly domed top only 18 ft. in diameter, green like the slopes, but with a small heap of stones on the top. The slope falls on a retaining stone wall 4 ft. high which girths the foot with a circumference of 280 ft. There is no sign of a trench, and the term Moat (mote) was adopted on the Ordnance Plan for the very unsatisfactory reason that criminals were said to have been executed on it. The small rounded top seems ill adapted to the use of the work as a Mote. 300 yds. N.E. of it is the "site of Idvies Church," with no remains. |