The archæology and prehistoric annals of Scotland

In the year 1828 a remarkable cairn was opened on Airswood Moss, Dumfriesshire, by a party of labourers, when seeking for stones with which to build a "march dyke," or boundary wall. The cairn consisted, as usual, of a heap of loose stones, surrounded by a ring of larger stones, closely set together. These formed a regular circle, measuring fifty-four feet in diameter. Its form, however, was singular. For about fourteen feet from the inner side of the encircling stones it rose gradually, but above this the angle of elevation abruptly changed, and the centre was formed into a steep cone. Directly underneath this a cist was found, lying north and south, composed of six large unhewn stones, and measuring in the interior four feet two inches in greatest length, with a depth of two feet. It contained only human bones, indicating a person of large stature, laid with the head towards the north. The further demolition of the cairn disclosed a curious example of regular internal construction on a systematic plan. From the four corners of the central cist there extended, in the form of a saltire, or St. Andrew's cross, rows of stones overlapping each other like the slating of a house. At the extremity of one of these, distant about fourteen feet from the central cist, another was found of corresponding structure and dimensions, but laid at right angles to the radiating row of stones. Another is said to have been found at the extremity of one of the opposite limbs of the cross; and it seems most probable that the whole four were originally conjoined to corresponding cists, but a considerable portion of one side of the cairn had been removed before attention was directed to the subject. Between the limbs of the cross a quantity of bones, in a fragmentary state, were strewn about.[72] Such a disposition of a group of cists, under a large cairn, though rare, is not without a parallel, and may perhaps be found characteristic of a class. The Rev. Harry Robertson of Kiltearn describes one in that parish, about thirty paces in diameter, which contained a central cist three and a half feet long, and at the circumference on the east, south, and west sides, three others of similar dimensions. As the cairn was in this case also imperfect, and partly demolished, it is not improbable that a fourth, on the north side, may have been previously destroyed.[73] Here, as in the tumuli with cinerary urns surrounding the central cist, the group of urns in the cairn on the hill of Down, and in numerous other instances, we find a singular arrangement, apparently designed as subservient to the honours lavished on some distinguished chief.

One of the most remarkable groups of cairns in Scotland associated with other primitive monuments, occurs on a small plain washed by the River Nairn, about a mile to the east of the field of Culloden. The whole plain, for upwards of a mile in extent, is covered over with large cairns, encircled by standing stones surrounding them at uniform intervals. Numerous circular groups or "Druidical Temples" occur in the same neighbourhood, with single monoliths and detached circles of small stones, scarcely visible amid the thick covering of grass and heath, but indicating, in all probability, the sites of ancient dwellings of the cairn-builders. An interesting natural chronometer is of frequent occurrence in connexion with these rude memorials of primitive habits, furnishing unmistakable evidence of the remoteness of the era to which they belong, and supplying data which may hereafter prove to be reducible to definite computation. The accumulation, not only of alluvium, but of peat-moss over the structures of early art, has already been referred to in describing the ancient boats, harpoons, &c., discovered in various localities. It will repeatedly recur in the course of our inquiry in relation to various classes of memorials of the past. The traveller, in passing from Bunaw Ferry, on Loch Etive, to Beregonium, Argyleshire, passes over an extensive moor, known by the name of the "Black Moss." On this, or rather rising up through it, are several large cairns, with here and there the remains of others which have been demolished for the purpose of inclosing fields or building cottages. In various parts considerable portions of the moss have been cleared away, exposing, at a depth of from eight to ten feet, the original soil upon which these sepulchral mounds have been reared, and bringing to light other interesting memorials of their builders, hereafter referred to. With such evidence of the slow growth of centuries obliterating the traces of primitive occupation, and effecting such changes on the natural features of the country, it is no vague conjecture which refers to an early era the period when this wild and barren moor was the scene of life and intelligence, and, it may be, of many useful arts. Along with these may be mentioned another group of cairns, including one of unusually large dimensions, not inclosed by the gathered moss of ages, but surrounded by the encroaching tide, on the north shore of the Frith of Beauly, Ross-shire, affording no less striking, though diverse evidence of the remote era to which they belong. In one of these sepulchral urns have been found, leaving no room to doubt of their monumental character. The largest stands about 400 yards within flood-mark; and an ingenious writer in the Philosophical Transactions arrives at the conclusion that an area of fully ten miles square, now flooded by the advancing tide, has once been the site of the dwellings of the ancient cairn-builders. Thus is it, while Time is sweeping away the hoar relics of the past, the traces of his footprints enable us occasionally to return upon his track, and learn how great is the interval that separates our present from the era of their birth-time.

Ure, in his History of Rutherglen and Kilbride, furnishes interesting notices of various large cairns demolished during last century, some of which have already been referred to. One of these, which long served as a quarry for an extensive district of the latter parish, was termed Knocklegoil Cairn,—Knoc-kill-goill, the hill of the cell, or grave, of the strangers. Some thousands of cart-loads of stones were taken from it, in the course of which various cinerary urns were removed or destroyed.

As we are reasonably led to conclude that the tumuli and cairns were mostly constructed at one time, as monuments, and not gradually completed as they were filled on the death of successive members of a family or tribe, the large chambered cairns must be considered as a separate class from those first described. It is possible that they may have been designed as the catacombs of a whole tribe; though it is difficult to reconcile such an idea with the improvident habits of a rude people, and with the monumental character usually traceable in these structures. We should rather, perhaps, look upon the chambered cairn as the memorial of the victors on some bloody battle-field. On this supposition the Knoc-kill-goill, or hill of the strangers' graves, would indicate the scene where triumphant invaders had paid the last honours to their dead ere they bore off with them the spoils of victory. Such suppositions, however, are altogether apart from the facts with which we have chiefly to deal. The cromlech, which is now almost universally recognised as a sepulchral monument,[77] formed by far the most laborious and costly memorial which the veneration or gratitude of primitive ages dedicated to the honour of their illustrious dead. It consists of three or four large unhewn columns, supporting a huge table or block of stone, and forming together a rectangular chamber, which is frequently further inclosed by smaller stones built into the intervening spaces. Within this area there is generally found the skeleton, disposed in a contracted position, and accompanied with urns and relics of an early period. As the sepulchral tumulus is justly regarded as only a gigantic grave-mound, so the origin of the cromlech may be traced to the desire of providing a cist for the last resting-place of the chief or warrior, equally distinguished from that which sufficed for common dust—

This class of sepulchral monuments is rare in Scotland when compared with other monolithic structures that abound in almost every district of the country. Some few interesting examples, however, are still found perfect, while partial traces of a greater number remain to show that the cromlech was familiar to the builders of the Scottish monolithic era. One of the most celebrated Scottish cromlechs is a group styled, The Auld Wives' Lift, near Craigmadden Castle, Stirlingshire. It is remarkable as an example of a trilith, or complete cromlech, consisting only of three stones. Two of nearly equal length support the huge capstone, a block of basalt measuring fully eighteen feet in length, by eleven in breadth, and seven in depth. A narrow triangular space remains open between the three stones, and through this every stranger is required to pass on first visiting the spot, if, according to the rustic creed, he would escape the calamity of dying childless. It is not unworthy of being noted, that though the site of this singular cromlech is at no great elevation, a spectator standing on it can see across the island from sea to sea; and may almost at the same moment observe the smoke from a steamer entering the Frith of Clyde, and from another below Grangemouth, in the Forth.

From the traces of ruined cromlechs which are still visible in various parts of the country, some of them appear to have been encircled, like a class of barrows described above, with a ring of standing stones; and it is exceedingly probable that many of the smaller groups throughout the country, designated temples, or Druidical circles, belong to the class of sepulchral memorials. Such is the case with a monolithic group in the parish of Sandwick, Orkney, and it is still more noticeable in the ring of Stennis, where the cromlech lies overthrown beside the gigantic ruins of the circle which once inclosed it. Various other cromlechs still remain in Orkney. One called the Stones of Vea, situated on the moor about half a mile south of the manse of Sandwick, though overthrown, is otherwise uninjured. The capstone measures five feet ten inches, by four feet nine inches, and still rests against two of its supporters. A group, which stands on the brow of Vestrafiold, appears to have included two if not three cromlechs. There is another remarkable assemblage, in a similarly ruined state, near Lamlash Bay, in the island of Arran; and a single cromlech stood—if it does not still stand—in the centre of a stone circle in the same island.[79] A fine one also remains, in perfect preservation, on the southern declivity of the hill of Sidla, Forfarshire; another good example has been preserved on the farm of Ardnadam, in the parish of Dunoon, Argyleshire; and others, more or less complete, are to be seen at Achnacreebeg, Ardchattan, and in various districts of the West Highlands, as well as in other parts of Scotland. Some at least of these gigantic structures were buried under a tumular mound, precisely in the same manner as the smaller cists. In 1825 a cromlech was discovered on the removal of a tumulus of unusual size, situated near the west coast of the peninsula of Cantyre. It contained only the greatly decayed remains of a human skeleton, but in the superincumbent soil were found many bones, and the teeth of the horse and cow, also in a state of decay. The capstone of this cromlech measured five by four feet, and its four supporters were each about three feet high.[80] A somewhat larger cromlech was disclosed, under nearly similar circumstances, in the year 1838, on the levelling of a large mound or tumulus, in the Phœnix Park, Dublin.

The whole of these examples are constructed of rough and entirely unhewn blocks. The annexed figure represents a partially ruined cromlech, at Bonnington Mains, near Ratho, Mid-Lothian, which is interesting from some traces which it retains of artificial tooling. Along the centre of the large capstone a series of shallow perforations have been made at nearly regular intervals, and possibly indicate a design of splitting it in two. Such is the idea formed by Mr. F. C. Lukis in a somewhat parallel case, though any indication of artificial formation in such primitive structures is of the very rarest occurrence. Mr. Lukis remarks in a communication to the Archæological Association:—"I send a sketch of the cromlech on L'Ancresse Common, Guernsey, on which we have discovered a string of indentations, probably made with a view to trim the side prop to the required size of the capstone. These are the first appearances of art in any of the primeval monuments, and nowhere have we found anything of the kind excepting on a menhir in the parish of the Forest.... The use of these indents we can only guess at; but as they follow the fracture of the stone, (granite,) the early method of breaking stones would be explained."[81] The Bonnington Mains Cromlech is of large size. The capstone, which now rests on only two of its supporters, measures 11½ feet in length, and 10½ feet in greatest breadth. It bears the name of The Witch's Stone,[82] in accordance with the rustic legend which ascribes its origin to an emissary of the famed old Scottish wizard, Michael Scot. The term cromlech is probably derived from cromadh (Gaelic) or cromen (Welsh), signifying a roof or vault, and clach or lech, a stone. But the compound word is of ancient use in Scotland. An extensive district in the neighbourhood of Dunblane, Perthshire, which still bears the name of the Cromlix, is remarkable for various large transported blocks scattered over its surface. One of these, which has been supposed to have formed the capstone of a large cromlech, measures 15½ by 10 feet; but it is very doubtful if it owes either its form or position to human hands. According to the proposed derivation the name may be rendered the suspended stone; and its application to a district covered with transported rocks from the neighbouring Ochils, of a date long prior to the historic era, is in no way inconsistent with its more usual application to the primitive monolithic structures. We have no satisfactory evidence that these are Celtic monuments. The tendency of our present researches leads to the conclusion that they are not, but that they are the work of an elder race, of whose language we have little reason to believe any relic has survived to our day. On this supposition the old name of Cromlech is of recent origin compared with the structures to which it is applied; and of this its derivation affords the strongest confirmation. It is just such a term as strangers would adopt, being simply descriptive of the actual appearance of the monument, but conveying no idea of its true character as a sepulchral memorial.

Such are the monumental structures belonging to the primitive periods; but examples of the cist and cinerary urn, deposited without any superincumbent mound, are of extremely frequent occurrence. They are most commonly grouped in considerable numbers, indicating the ordinary rites of sepulture contemporary with the monumental tumulus or cairn. In the first of these, as in cists found underneath ancient cairns and tumuli, the body appears to have been generally interred in a contracted posture, with the knees drawn up to the breast; and some examples would even seem to indicate that the limb bones were broken when the body could not otherwise be disposed within the straitened dimensions which custom prescribed for the primitive tomb. The custom may be traced to the idea prevalent long after the Christian era, that it was unworthy of a warrior to die in his bed. The rude Briton was accordingly interred seated, and with his weapons of stone or bronze at his side, ready to spring up when the sound of the war-cry should summon him to renew the strife. It seems probable that some few cists of full proportions belong to a period prior to this custom, but it undoubtedly prevailed for ages, and probably did not disappear till after the introduction of Christianity. The short stone cist has been discovered of late years in the immediate vicinity of some of the most ancient Christian churches in the Orkneys, while examples of a full-sized cist, with the inclosed skeleton extended at length, are met with under circumstances, and with accompanying relics, which leave no doubt that they belong to both of the primitive periods. One singular variation from the custom of burial in the sitting posture has been noted, in which the body has been interred with the knees bent, but laid on the right side. It must, however, be at all times extremely difficult to ascertain the exact position in which the body has been originally laid, from the little crumbling heap of decayed bones lying in the contracted cist; and there is no failing to which antiquarian observers seem at present more liable than that of seeing too much. An intelligent correspondent writes from Orkney,—

A very general impression prevails that the primitive cists are invariably found lying north and south. But this is a hasty conclusion, which has been the more readily adopted from the distinction it seems to furnish in contrast to the medieval custom of laying the head towards the west, that the Christian might look to the point from whence he expected his Saviour at his second coming. Abundant evidence exists to disprove the universal use of any particular direction in laying the cists or interring the dead in the primitive period. A few examples will suffice to show this. In 1824 a number of cists were discovered in making a new approach to Blair Drummond House, near the river Teith, Stirlingshire. They were of the usual character, varying in size, but none of them large enough to hold a full-grown body laid at length. Some contained urns of various dimensions, with burnt bones and ashes, while in others the bones had no appearance of having been exposed to fire. The urns were extremely rude and simple in form, and no metallic relics were discovered among them. Here, therefore, we have a primitive place of sepulture, in a locality already noted for some remarkable evidences of very remote population. But the cists lay irregularly in various directions, giving no indication of any chosen mode or prevailing custom.[84] In 1814 several cists were discovered in the parish of Borthwick, Mid-Lothian, of the ordinary character and proportions, and in some cases containing urns, one of which is now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Others have since been discovered in the same neighbourhood at various times, but like those on the banks of the Teith, "they were placed without any regard to order."[85] In constructing the new road to Leith, leading from the centre of Bellevue Crescent, Edinburgh, in 1823, several stone cists were found, of the usual circumscribed dimensions and rude construction of the primitive period, but being disposed nearly due east and west, were assumed without further evidence to be "of course since the introduction of Christianity."[86] Another similar relic of the aboriginal occupants of the site of the modern Scottish capital was found in 1822, in digging the foundation of a house on the west side of the Royal Circus. In this case the cist lay north and south, but the head was laid at the south end. The whole skeleton, with the exception of a few of the teeth, crumbled to dust on being touched.[87] In a cist discovered in 1790, under a large cairn in the parish of Kilbride, the skeleton lay with its head to the east. Such was its great age, that it also speedily crumbled to dust.[88] Within the district of Argyleshire, now occupied by the villages of Dunoon and Kilmun, many primitive cists have been exposed, rudely constructed of unhewn slabs of the native schistose slate, and some of them containing lance and arrow-heads of flint, and other equally characteristic relics, but the irregularity of their disposition proved that convenience alone dictated the direction in which the bodies were laid. Other examples of irregular though methodic arrangement of the cists found in cairns have already been noted, and it would be easy to multiply similar instances. One more will suffice. In the neighbourhood of the parish church of Cairnie, Aberdeenshire, various cists have been exhumed of late years, lying in different and apparently quite irregular directions. One found in 1836, by a farm-servant while digging for sand, lay at a depth of about 2½ feet below the surface. Its interior dimensions were four feet by three feet, and it contained a human skeleton with the head laid towards the east end. At the right side was a rude hand-made urn 5¾ inches in height, which is now preserved in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries.

It is obvious, from these examples, that the mere direction in which the body is laid is not in itself conclusive proof either of Pagan or Christian sepulture. But there does also occur a numerous class of instances, which seem to indicate that at some early period importance was attached to the direction in which the body was laid, and then the cist was placed north and south, or rather north-east and south-west, with the head towards the north, and designed, it may be, to look towards the meridian sun. So many instances of this are familiar to archæologists, that it seems hardly necessary to produce examples: but two of a peculiar character may be deserving of special notice. In March 1826, a farmer on the estate of Wormeston, near Fifeness, in levelling a piece of ground, discovered, at a depth of ten feet from the surface, thirty cists, disposed in two regular rows, at equal distances apart, and with the heads towards the north-east. Their arrangement was peculiar, and obviously the result of some special design. A line drawn along their ends was nearly due east and west, and from this they declined obliquely, in the direction of north-east and south-west. The whole lay parallel, and equidistant from each other, and in the centre of each of the intervening spaces an oblong stone was placed so as to abut against the sides of the adjacent cists.[89] Another group, disposed nearly similarly to this, was brought to light on the levelling of a long barrow of unusually large dimensions, in the parish of Strathblane, Dumbartonshire. Urns were found within the cists full of earth and burnt bones; and alongside of each was a column of about three feet in height, selected from basaltic rocks in the neighbourhood, many of which assume the form of regular quadrangular crystals. The position of the bodies appears to have been north and south, as the barrow, which measured sixty yards in length, lay east and west.[90]

The discovery of any important deviation from the customary rites of sepulture has already been referred to as probable evidence of some unwonted change in the social condition of a people; marking, it may be, the introduction of a new element into the national creed, or the violent intrusion of some foreign race of conquerors, displacing older customs by the law of the sword. In the introduction of the funeral pile and the cinerary urn, we have one important evidence of the adoption of novel rites. In the systematic disposition of the body in a fixed direction, it is probable that we may trace another and still earlier change. Both practices are deserving of more careful investigation than they have yet received, in the relation they bear to the progressive advances of the primitive races of Scotland. Without the opportunity of comparing more extensive and trustworthy observations than we yet possess, it would be premature to insist upon the inferences suggested by them. But it accords with many other indications that we should find less method or design in the rude sepulchres of the earliest aborigines, than of those who had long located themselves in the glades of the old Caledonian forests, and abandoned nomadic habits for the cares and duties of a pastoral life. The establishment of such a distinction would furnish a valuable chronological guide to the archæologist in the arrangement of his materials for primitive history; meanwhile, it is only suggested for further observation. The early Christian adapted the position of his grave to the aspirations of his faith; and a similar practice among older races, in all probability, bore a kindred relation to some lesson of their Pagan creed, the nature of which is not yet perhaps utterly beyond recall. The question of divers races is, at least, one of comparatively easy solution. On this the investigations of the practical ethnologist may throw much light, by establishing proofs of distinct craniological characteristics pertaining to the remains interred north and south, from those belonging, as I conceive, to a still earlier period,—before the rude Caledonian had learned to attach a meaning to the direction in which he was laid to rest in the arms of death, or to dispose himself for his long sleep with thoughts which anticipated a future resurrection.