.June i8 .
o f the kingdom, by the fheriff-depote, who is always refidentl
he is the judge in fmaller matters, and has a falary o f about ■
hundred and fifty pounds a year. Juftices of peace have the fa®
powers here, and over the whole'county, as in other places: but
in North-Britain no other qualification is .required, after nominaJ
tion, than taking' out their commilfions, afid'giving the ufmi
oaths:
Criminals are lodged in the county jail at Rothefay, but .are«
moved for trial to Inveraray ; where the judges of the court of juf.
ticiary meet twice a year .for the determining of criminal caufesofo
certain diftridl. '
The Earl o f Bute is admiral of the Gounty by commiffion from tit
■majefty, but no way dependent on the lord high admiral of ScothM
fo that if any maritime cafe occurs within this jurifdidtion (even
crimes of as high a nature as murder or piracy) his lordihip, by wj
tueof the powers as admiral, is fufficient judge, or he may delegate
his authority to any deputies.
Vifit the South part of the ifland : ride to the hill of Cil-cUttini
a round eminence, from whence is a vaft view of all around, infulir
and mainland. Obferve, on the face of the hills, that the rocks dip!
almoft perpendicularly, and form long columnar flacks, fomeop-;
pofing to us their fides, others their angles: are hard and chertf,
but not bafaltic ; a term I apply to the jointed columns refemblingi
thofe of the giant's caufeway.
Defcend to the ruin of old Kin-garth church. Two cemeteries
belong to it, a higher and a lower: the laft was allotted for the in--;
terment of females alone; becaufe, in old times, certain women'
being employed to carry a quantity of holy earth, brought fro®]
. Rom
mome, loft f°me by the way, and fo incurred this penalty for their
■eglio-ence; that of being buried feparated from the other fex.
I Near this place is a circular inclofure called the Devil’s Cauldron:
it is made of ftone, of excellent mafonry, but without mortar, having
■e infide faced in the moil fmooth and regular manner. The walls
at prefent are only feven feet fix inches high, but are ten feet in thick-
Htfs: on one fide is an entrance, wide at the beginning, but grows gra-.
dually narrower as it approaches the area, which is thirty feet diameter.
I Mr. Gordon has engraven, in tab. iii, a building fimilar to this,
near the courfe of the wall, called Cairn-fual, and ilyles it a cajtellum.
This, I prefume, could never have been defigned as a place o f defence,
as it is fituated beneath a precipice, from whofe fummit
the inmates might inftantly have been opprefied by ftones, or
miffile weapons; perhaps it was a fandtuary; for the name o f
the church, Kin-garth implies, Kin, chief or head, Garth * a
fanctuary; the common word for places o f refuge, Girth being
corrupted from it.
H The South end of Bute is more hilly than the reft, and divided
#om the other .part by a low fandy plain, called Langal-chorid, on
which are three great upright ftones, the remains o f a Druidical
circle, originally compofed of twelve.
■ Return over a coarfe country, and pafs by lands, lately inclofed
with hedges, growing in a very profperous manner. Pafs by
Loch-afeog, a fmall piece of water; and foon after by Loch-fad,
about a mile and three quarters long, narrow, rocky on one fide,
fettily wooded on the other. The other lochs are Loch-^uyen,
and Loch-Greenan ; and each has its river. Reach Rothefay, the
* <iarth originally means no more than yard or inclofure.
B b capital;
if! I