Sylv. I I thought, speak softly, for my husband sleeps, I thought, when you did stay abroad so long, And never sent or asked of me or mine, Jeron. Speak again. Sylv. Indeed, indeed. Yet, what had I done fortune that she could Abandon me so entirely? Never mind't: Have a good heart, Sylvestra: they who hate Can kiH us, but no more, that's comfort. Oh! The journey is but short, and we can reckon On slumbering sweetly with the freshest earth A mother could do this? but let it pass. Anger suits not the grave. Oh! my own love, Too late I see thy gentle constancy. I wrote, and wrote, but never heard; at last, Through life; and look'd out, in its various moods, Of gentleness and joy, and love, and hope, And gain'd this frail flesh credit in the world. It is the channel of the soul: Its glance Draws and reveals that subtle power, that doth Redeem us from our gross mortality. Sylv. Why, now you're cheerful. Jeron. Do so, and I'll smile too. I do; albeit-ah! now my parting words Farewel. Sylvestra! where's your hand? Jeron. "Tis so; but scorn it not, my own poor girl: They've used us hardly: Bless'em though. Forgive them? One's a mother, and may When that she knows me dead. Some air -more air: Quitting that place of pleasure, home I Where are you?—I am Grew moody, and at times I fear my brain 'are numb'd: blind-my hands Was fever'd: but I could not die, Sylves- ACCOUNT OF SOME DISCOVERIES MADE tra, AT THE VITRIFIED FORT ON THE HILL OF FINHAVEN, NEAR FORFAR. MR EDITOR, I beg leave to transmit to you the following facts which have come un der my observation, concerning the vitrified fort on the hill of Finhaven. Nothing but the assurance that such facts were called for from different quarters, and the conviction that they were calculated to throw light on a dark, though interesting subject of national antiquity, would have induced me to trouble you with their insertion. Whatever value may be attached to the communication, I shall have this consolation at least, that I have been a faithful recorder. The hill of Finhaven has been long known to antiquaries as exhibiting the remains of a vitrified fort. This fort is situated on the most northerly part of the ridge, which runs from east to west, and is separated from the main hill on two sides, which are steep and rocky. Its extent cannot be correctly estimated, owing to the inequality of the interior surface. I do not overrate it, however, when I estimate its length at 120 paces, and its breadth at 30 paces. It declines with the hill considerably to the west, and is of an oval shape, or rather a parallelogram, having circular ends. Its appearance is that of a vast heap of stones loosely thrown together, the outlines very clearly distinguished though the height of the stones is unequal, owing to circumstances which shall be afterwards mentioned. In most places the stones are covered by a thin soil and luxuriant grass, and except where the turf has been removed on purpose, or where a mass of the stones torn from its base has fallen down and left another part equally exposed, little of the vitrification is discerned. What of it is seen is of different colours, arising probably from the difference of the stones of which it is composed. Some of it is of a shining black, of the same colour as charcoal, and so like it, indeed, that I have frequently taken it up, imagining it to be no other than that substance. The lightest might be compared to the vitrifications which a lime quarry presents, or, to take a more common example, to those on the end of a tobacco pipe. The depth to which the vitrification has penetrated is various; in some places extending very little below the surface, in others to the depth of 6 or 7 feet, and possessing even there all its adhesive properties. Within the fort, and at its west end, a well is very clearly distinguished. It was filled up within the memory of some people yet alive, and water is sometimes found to rise in it during rainy seasons. From the head of the wall to the mouth of the well is between 20 and 30 feet, and as the descent is gradual on all sides, this gave rise to the idea that it was the crater of a volcano. At the east end is some appearance of another well, though the traces of it are not so distinct as those of the other. The height of the wall has been pretty correctly estimated at 10 feet, and, in some places, Dr Jameson had formerly remarked instances of regularity in the building. This fort is very evidently surrounded by a ditch, the breadth of which there is some difficulty in ascertaining. I found it six paces at a place where the wall was steepest, and this measurement I had afterwards the means of slightly confirining. At the east end of the fort, this ditch appears crossed by a wall 2 or 3 feet in breadth, which I have no hesitation in pronouncing a bridge. I am the more confirmed in this opinion, from remarking that Mr Playfair discovered a similar work on Barryhill, Perthshire. On the few stones which I dug up from under the turf which covered it, I could easily perceive marks of burning, though not of vitrification. I have no doubt, however, that had I removed the whole of the turf, I should have found it, like the rest of the building, vitrified. Beyond the bridge in question, to the south, are seen some outwerks, vitrified, and placed as if to defend the entrance. An investigation of the fort presents nothing else of consequence, except a wall which divides it, near the west end, into two unequal parts, and crossing the great wall on the south, projects till it come to the rocky side of the hill. I bave, perhaps, too long dwelt on my introduction, but I would hope that the suitableness of the remarks, and the fact, that no accurate description of this fort exists, may form my excuse; and now for my narration. The tenants of the farm on which the hill is situ→ ated, had been long in the practice of taking away the stones of the fort for their own purposes, and dikes built of these are to be seen at the foot of the hill. The plan seems to have been, to dig down as far as the vitri❤ fication continued, without regarding much the stones vitrified, which were unshapely and rugged, and then to quarry among the loose stones below these. Some months ago, however, a scene of more extensive operations took place, the particulars of which I am now to detail. These arose from a desire to supply from this hill, so often mentioned, the want of stone quarries. The work was begun on the southwest corner, at a place formerly used for such purposes. As soon as the rubbish was dug from the foot of the wall, an appearance of regularity was observed, which, though it might formerly have been discovered, must at that time have appeared a matter comparatively unimportant. This wall is built in a manner somewhat similar to those of many old castles, the remains of which are yet visible in our country. The outside is composed of stones in general about two or three or four feet long, placed together, however, in a clumsy manner, and not laid in regular courses. The inner part of the wall is composed of smaller stones thrown in carelessly, and without the least appearance of regularity. The only difference between the castles now mentioned and this is, that lime is found to pervade the former, filling up crevices, &c.; in the latter neither lime nor any kind of mortar is found, and cavities are frequent. The stones which compose the building are of various kinds. Dr Jameson mentions ten kinds, and if I can trust to the work-, men, they are yet more numerous. What is worthy of remark is, that the stones most commonly found in the neighbourhood, such as Turin stone, are awanting, and, on the contrary, the building is composed of stones that are not known in this part of the country near Finhaven. Plumb-pudding stone, of which the rocky part of the hill is composed, and which is the prevailing material, I believe, in all other forts near which it is found, is never seen below the surface of the building. No marks of a chisel or of any other instrument are discoverable either on the exterior or on any other part of the building. The height of the wall might be a bout sixteen or eighteen feet, it appeared to have been nearly perpendi cular, as nearly so, it is probable, as such rude workmanship could have been made. In some places it projected, in other parts it declined, both of which appearances may be accounted for from the falling of the wall or pressure of rubbish. How much of the wall may have been below ground I am not prepared to state. The only data on which I can proceed are the following: From the top of the wall till within two feet, or perhaps less, of its base, a mixed soil is found, composed of earth mixed with stones of various sizes, in general vitrified. With the clay, however, no such stones are found intermixed, but a hard and uniform mass is seen. I should be inclined to think, therefore, that that part of the wall which appears below the clay has been the foundation. But I hasten to communicate what, if my imperfect knowledge does not deceive me, is the most important information. Charcoal is found here and there mixed with the building, and in what I imagine the ditch; what is found in the building is in pieces sometimes of an inch or two square, and in a state of good preservation; it was immediately identified by the workmen to be oak, judging from a plan, I dare say, familiar to them, the fineness, and perhaps the form of the grains. That this charcoal is found not only on the exterior, but also in the interior of the wall, as far as hitherto penetrated into, is a point concerning which I was at particular pains to inform myself. I did not indeed know, on my first visit, how much of the controversy concerning vitrified forts depended on the ascertaining of this fact, apparent ly rather curious than useful, but upon informing myself I hastened to make the necessary inquiries. The fact that charcoal is found throughout the building, and in such situations as that wood must have been placed there before the building was com pleted, was indeed easily ascertained. Pieces were seen scattered over the stones, and few crevices were without some of them; they were most numerous, as I myself found, and as the experience of the workmen afterwards confirmed to me, towards the foot, and seemed to be less plentiful towards the top, till they disappeared altogether. As to the depth of the vitri fication in this place, it is by no means so great as in some places formerly mentioned; it is in most places merely superficial, though in some few it descends two or three feet. The fact which I have already alluded to, that stones had been formerly removed from this spot, may account for it. No marks of vitrification appeared at any part on the exterior of the building, nor could I perceive at any certain depth a vitrification to have taken place, and immediately above that a gain, no appearance of vitrification, indicating that it had taken place at different times, and that the wall had been subjected to successive burnings. The stones were, however, burned at all depths, and the workmen, the least prejudiced, and really the best judges, easily ascertained that they were lighter than such stones are, before they are exposed to the agency of fire. There was nothing else remarkable about this work, except that at a distance of six paces from the wall now described was found another wall, regular on the outside, but irregular within. It was about four feet thick, and as much in height, and not so deep by two or three feet as the rest of the wall. No marks of fire were perceived about it; no appearance of vitrification; no charcoal; and at one end of the excavations it was found to terminate. As there is a ravine across this part of the hill, I am inclined to think that this wall may have crossed it, in order to make up the regularity of the ditch; and, should it be found to terminate on the other side, I should put some faith in my conjecture. The distance between the walls being six paces, confirmed me in the idea that this is to be computed as the breadth of the ditch. A few bones were also found at the foot of the wall; their putrefaction, and the small pieces in which they were, would have rendered it impossible to know of what kind they were. I cannot conclude this paper without making some remarks on the nature of the facts which I have now mentioned, though I fear it will be thought presumption in me, from one set of isolated observations, however accurate, to make any strictures on the theories of antiquarians. * The author of this memoir has drawn the little information he possesses on this Some of the facts now stated have, if my imperfect information deceive me not, been of rather an uncommon nature. In no case has the regularity or height of the wall of a vitrified fort approached nearly to what has been here discovered. The walls of the present fort, then calculated at 10 feet, were the highest known, except those on the hill of Noth, Aberdeenshire, which were from 10 to 12 feet. Next to these, walls 4, 6, or 8 feet high were common. Regularity in the structure, too, was in most places awanting, and, where it was discover. ed, seemed a thing of very little consequence, The general appearance gave only the idea of heaps of stones, which, excepting their vitrifications, had little to interest the spectator more than the many remains of rude forts scattered through our country. There has been something yet more striking in the appearance of charcoal; I do not argue from its appearance in general, but from the manner in which it has been found in particular. I have hitherto seen nothing which assures me that it has been discovered, (though this is a point concerning which the writer in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia is silent,) except around the forts in question. Here it has been found penetrating the building as far as it has yet been examined, viz. 6 or 7 feet from the exterior. As to the effect that these facts may have on the different theories, it would be difficult for me to judge; they are certainly very much at variance with the theory of Mr Tytler, which imagines these forts to have been at first strengthened in their construction, by wood, and to have been vitrified by the burning of this wood, at the destruction of the fort. Appearances are here, indeed, presented similar to what it supposes. Burned wood has been certainly found; but this has not been the cause of the destruction of the fort, nor has the wall ever been constructed in such a manner as to admit of being strengthened by the intermixture of wood. What has been hitherto mentioned must incline the reader acquainted with such subjects to suspect that the facts lean to the establishing of that theory which supposes vitrified forts to be intentional subject solely from the able article Vitrified Fort, Brewster's Encyclopædia. ly strengthened by fire. The intermixing of the charcoal in the manner above mentioned, in my opinion, goes to prove this; and, did I not remember my limited experience, I might, perhaps, fall in at once with this theory. To it, however, it must not be concealed, that there are some objections. The building is certainly very little strengthened; the stones below the surface are loose, and not in the least firmer from their ignition. It was to have been expected, too, on the supposition of design, that the exterior of the building would have been particularly vitrified, as it chiefly required it. Let it be remembered, however, that such are merely conjectures on what might have been, and that the question now simply is, whether the present appearances would indicate, that there had been a design to strengthen the building by fire? To such a question I would return a simple affirmative. The impression made on my mind certainly was, that there were marks of a design, however imperfectly accomplished;-that there were facts which could not be accounted for without supposing such a thing to have been actually intended. I have said of a design imperfectly accomplished, because I con-, ceive that the end was in some degree attained by the intermixture of wood, -the process then might be compared to that which takes place in a lime quarry, and the heat ascending from the burning would assist the vitrification near, or at the top of the wall. At the same time, there is nothing here inconsistent with the supposition, that these forts may have served to alarm the country in seasons of danger,—the probability rather seems to be, that this was the first object they were designed to serve, and that the accidental discovery of the vitrifying nature of some stones, led to such a plan as I have been representing. The situation of the fort in question is certainly in some respects favourable to the idea of a signal-post; it commands an extensive view of the valley of Strathmore, extending over a considerable part of Angus-shire, and Kincardineshire, and of the Grampian mountains, which bound the north side of the valley. The German Ocean is also distinctly seen in three places, at the distance of 14 VOL. V. or 15 miles. In spite of all this, however, it does not favour much the idea of a system of signals. No vitrified forts have, as far as my knowledge extends, been discovered in any part of the Grampians within sight of Finhaven, and the view to the south is totally impeded by other parts of the ridge, so that the nearest vitrified fort-that situated on the hill of Laws, near Dundee cannot be seen at all. Within sight, indeed, and at the distance of about 12 miles, is the celebrated hill of Caterthun. The fortifications on this hill are a treble ditch and a ring of loose stones, about five yards broad, inclosing, perhaps, half an acre of ground. There is also a well on this hill, at the north-west end, the sides of which slope gently in a manner similar to the well on the hill of Finhaven. No marks of vitrification are here visible. So little has been done, however, to trace out a line of signals across this part of the island, that I know not if I can speak decidedly on the subject. Communicating stations may yet be discovered, and the whole be marked out as clearly as in a more northerly part of the country. There are certainly many strong reasons against degrading this fort into a dependance on the Castle of Finhaven. It seems, from the rudeness of its structure, and particularly from no use having been made of lime, or any kind of mortar, to be a place of more distant antiquity; and both from its situation, and its artificial defences, to have been a place of more consequence than the castle in question. The road, too, from the fort is in an easterly direction, while the castle lies to the N. W. It is certainly called the Castle Hill, but such a designation may be accounted for, if not from its situation, at least from the use which I do not deny the inhabitants of the castle to have made of it in after ages. In conclusion, I could mention many reasons to induce the antiquary to visit it in person, independent of that clearness and accuracy which personal observation might supply to him. Could he descend from the "olden time," and contemplate with pleasure cultivated fields and majestic mountains, he would find much here to atone for any little fatigue his journey might occasion. Should he be R |