they were befides ere&ed merely as fepulchral fbr perfons of rank*!
who had deferved well of their-country.
S in g u l a r Not far from hence is a ftone, the moil Angular that I era!
b s t o n e . remember to have feen, and the only one- of the kind that everftJ
within my obfervation : this lies on the ground* is twelve f«]
long, two-broad, one thick; has at one end the rude attempttj
carve a head and ihoulders, and was certainly the firft deviatiJ
from the former fpecies of monument; the firft efiay to give to ftoJ
a refemblanee to the human body. All that-the natives fay of this]
that it was placed over a giant, and is called ■ Mae Bhrohim
ftone.
Afcend afteep-hill, with vaft gullies on the fide ; and; on de-j
fcending, arrive in a plain inhabited by. curlews, reforting there til
breed, and which flew round our heads like lapwings. At a place]
called Moni-quil -is a final! circle of fmall -ftones, placed eloie to eacBJ
other : whether a little druidical place o f worfhip, or of affemMyl
or- whether a family place of fepulture, as is ufual f with the!
Northern-nations, is not eafy to determine. I f an urn is found!
the centre o f this coronet, as- is not uncommon, the doubt wii]
ceafe.
R iv e r M a c h r a i . Fafc by .the river Machrai, flowing through a rocky channel,]
which, in one part has worn thro’ a rock, and left fo contraftedi]
gap at the top as to form a very eafy ftep a-crofs. Yet -not long ago j
* Hi ft. Scot• 20.
+ Olaus Magnus* lib. ii c. 16. Various circles of this nature are engraven in
Dahlberg’s Suecia hodierna et antiqua. tab. 104. Other v e r y c u r i o u s antiquitiesfitnilar
to thefe, are preferved in tab. 280,281, 31 j , 322, and 323.
a.poor.-
I Aor woman in the attempt, after getting one foot over was ftruck
■ 3 horror at the tremendous torrent beneath, that Ihe remained
I / I hours- in that attitude, not daring to bring her other foot
l e j tillfpme. kind paffenger luckily came by, and afiiftedher out
I extenfive plain of good ground but
W B E jtm , fcems formerly o have been coir,v«ed for
lete appear feveral veftiges of dikea, which might have ferved as
f c a - S . There la a tradiilon that in old tlmea the fhores .e r o
covered with woods ; and this was the habitable part
■ The want of trees in the internal part at prefent and the
L ily manner in which they, grow- about Brodic, favor this-
■ On this plain are the remains of four circles, in a line, extending
I E. by S. W . ; very few ftones are ftanding to perfeft the m-
|ofure, but thofe are of a great fize ; and ftand remote from each
lther. One. is fifteen feet high and eleven in circumference. On the
litfide of thefe circles are two others : one differs from all I have-
feen, confifting of a double, circle of ftones and a mound within the
ifler. N e a r t h e f e a r e t h e reliques of a ftone cheft, formed of f i v e
Bat ftones, the length, of two yards in the infide: the lid or top 15.
lift. In the middle of thefe repofitories were placed the urn filled
lith the alhes of the dead, to prevent its being broken ; or to keep
dearth from mixing with the burnt remains. In all probability
■here had been a Cairn or heap of ftones above.
I By the number of the circles; and by their fequeftred fituation,
this feems to have-been facred ground. Thefe circles were forme
for religious purpofes: Boethius relates, that Mainus, fon of Fergus I.
are--
C i r c l e s o f
s t o n e s -