a reftorer and cultivator of religion after the Egyptian manner (J
he calls it) inftituted feveral new and folemn ceremonies: J
caufed great ftones to be placed in form' o f a circle; the lad
was lituated towards the South, and ferved as an alt^r for the (j
crifices to the immortal gods *. Boethius is right in part of his aJ
count: but the objedt of the worihip was the fun -f, and what cJ
firms this, is the fituation of the altar pointed towards that luminiij
in his meridian glory. In this place the altar and many of the ftod
are loft j probably carried to build houfes and dikes not very renj
from the place.
A c a i r n . A t a fmall diftance farther is a cairn o f a moft Stupendous iiztl
formed of great pebbles : which are preferved from being fcatterti
about by a circle of large ftones, that furround the whole bafe: i
circumftance fometimes ufual in thefe monumental heaps J.
Defcend through a narrow cleft of a rock to a part of tit
weftern fliore called Drum-an-didn, or the ridge of the fort, frod
a round tower that ftands above. The beach is bounded h
cliffs o f whitilh grit ftone, jjhollowed beneath into vail caw
F i n g a l ’s c a v e . The moft remarkable are thofe of Fin-mac-cuil, or Fingal, the fa!
of Cumhal, the father of Ofiian, who, tradition fays, reiided ill
this ifiand for the fake of hunting. One o f thefe caverns id
hundred and twelve feet long, and thirty high, n a r r o w in g to tit
top like a gothic arch ; towards the end it branches into two:
within thefe two recedes, which penetrate far, are on each fidt
* Boethius, lib. 11. p. 15.
t Do&or Macpherfon, p. 314, and Mr. Macpherfon, p. 162«
X Borla/e Anti^. Cor nival, tab. xvii. fig* 4«
feveral
L a i fmall holes, oppofite to each other : in thefe were placed
Ifverfe beams, that held the pots in which the heroes feethed
E yenifon; o r probably, according to the mode of the times,
, , s * formed of the ikins of animals ilain in the chace,
J ;ch were filled with fleih, and ferved as kettles fufficiently
ftronK to warm the contents ; for the heroes o f old devoured their
feat half raw f , holding, that the juices contained the bell nouf
c T th e front of the divifion between thefe receffes, and on one
fide are various very rude figures, cut on the ftone, of men, of
aaimals, and of a clymore or two-handed fword : but whether thefe
were the amufements of the Fingallian age, or of after-times, is
noteafytobeafcertained; for caves were the retreats of pirates
Iwell as heroes. Here are feveral other hollows adjacent, which
are Ihewn as the liable, cellars and dog-kennel of the great Mac-
ml: one cave, which is not honored with a name, is remarkably
\ fine, of great extent, covered with a beautiful flat roof, and very
Itell lighted by two auguft arches at each end: through one is a
ine perfpe&Lve of the promontory Carrt-baan, or the white heap of
lines whofe fide exhibits a long range of columnar rocks (not ha-
; filtk) of hard grey whin-ftone, relling on a horizontal ftratum o f red
liione; at the extremity one of the columns is infulated, and forms a
fine obelilk.
■After riding fome time along the Ihore, afcend the promontory .
on the fumtnit is an antient retreat, fecurdd on the land fide by a
great dike of loofe liones, that inclofes the acceffible part; within
•M jV , lib. v. p. 21.5, t Btttthu meres Seel. 11.
is