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2 44 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 19058 TH Y F . O SMA , XI. E REPORSOCIETY'TH N O T S EXCAVATIO F ROUGO N H CASTLN O E ANTONINE TH E VALLUM MUNGY B , O BUCHANAN, C.M.S.A. SCOT; . INTRODUCTORY HISTOK DAVIE D Y YB D CHRISTISON ; DESCKIPTIO E TH F XO REUCS BY DB JOSEPH ANDERSON. (PLATES I., II.) I. HISTORY. As the funds of the Society had been considerably encroached upon in defraying the expenses of excavating Roman sites for a period of eight years, the Council instituted in 1902 a subscription among the Fellows e purposd otherth an r f continuinfo seo g that lin f investigationeo d an , ample funds were thus obtained for the excavation of Rough Castle, leavin gconsiderabla e balanc r favourou n ei . Leave having been freely grante r ForbeM y f Callandedb o s e th d ran Ver . RussellC y . J Rev r , D . proprietor e groundth f o worse th , k began earl continueds Marchyn i wa d without an , no , t some interruption frod mba weather, till October 1903. Several members of the Council kept up a general superintendence, Mr Thomas Ross's great experience being again available in directing the work. Mr Mungo Buchanan once more gave his valuable services in taking the plans, devoting every moment he could spare from his own business to a careful study of the complex structures that were revealed; and Mr Alex. Mackie, who had served us already so wel s Clera l f Worko k n foui s r excavation f Romao s n- re sites s wa , appointed on this occasion. Position Roughof Castle. According to Robert Stuart's chart in Caledonia Rornana, Rough e thirteentCastlth s e Valluewa th line hf th o em for n o countint g from the west, and the seventh counting from the east. Evident remains of nine forts are still to be seen to the west, but nothing exists above ground of the six to the east. Castlecary, the nearest fort on the Vallum, lies 3£ miles westward of Rough Castle ; the station at Camelon, EXCAVATIO ROUGF NO H ANTONINE CASTLTH N O E E VALLUM3 44 . situated 1100 yards in front of the Vallum, is 1| miles to the north-east; and the town of Falkirk lies 2J miles to the east. The fort, consisting of a main work and an annex (fig. 1), stands on a rough boggy bit of moorland, overgrown with trees, near the west end of extensivn a e stri woof po d that stretches nearl milya e eastward towards Falkirk site groun e Th soute itself th .east th d d o hnearls an dt i an , , y level, but northward there is a gentle descent to the bottom of the valley, and to the west a rather steep declivity, about 40 feet in height, falls on the Eowantree Burn. This slope was strongly fortified down to the burn, no doubt to command a water supply, "which was very necessary, as there was apparently no well "within the fort. The north front, e formeAntoninth y b d e Vallum s verwa ,y e othestrongth d r threan , e maie e annexsideth th nf f s o o work , ease d wer wels th en a ,t s ea l also strongly fortified; but the south front of the annex was less protected by art, probably becaus e marshth e y groun n fronti d a considerabl, e obstacle in the present day, was still more of an obstruction formerly. Although a stone bottoming, similar to that of the rampart of the Vallum, extended roun e rampar th e dmai th f no t fort also, thers wa e o tracn f stono e e revetments e forth t d mus an ,e classen b a t s a d earthwork, notwithstanding the statement by some of the early observers f stoneo s tha.wa t i t Former Notices. The early notices of Rough Castle are brief, and contradictory. The earliest is in an anonymous letter describing an excursion to the west of Edinburgh in 1697 (Historical MSS. Com. XIII., App. ii., 57). " Abou mileo tw t s fro Maidee mth n Castl a larg s i ee square worf o k stone with a double ditch about it. The common people hereabouts call t Castlei Ruff. e ruinth Herf severao e s ar e l stone buildings. About e middle squar th th n overtura f s eo ei e thro which shepherd boys creep into a Vault underground." Thu e versth y earliest informant call wora t si f stone ko mentiond an , s a vault, of which, however, we could find no sign. PLAN, or THE ROMAN TORT ON TMC ANTONINC VALLUM. AT ROUGHCASTLE, STIRLINGSHIRE . 1904. U GLACIS !p!p|p;rf!^ ""'i;:'.!•;.;;;, Til Iff ""3j-i- ^..is^iBBSi^ v •""••"- •" PRO nut or THI SURFACE., TMMOUGH rut MILITARY WAY* 6CALt. Mvnyo JSuehttnan t D*t. r,,, ,y., i t , r • r*r » r- fit L HI UK. EXCAVATIO KOUGF NO H ANTONINE CASTLTH N EO B VALLUM5 44 . r JohSi n Sibbald (Historical Inquiries, ) merel170730 . p y, says: " At the Rowen Tree Burn Head is a great Fort." Alexander Gordon (Itinerarium Septentrionale , plat59 1726 . ep , xxv.) state e eass th that n o bant f Koundtreo k e Burn "are th e distinct vestiges of a vast Roman Fort upon the Wall, called Rough Castle, which for intireness and magnificence exceeds any that are to be whole th see n eno Trac ko sea t fro a . mse Her I espen t several hours, taking minutely its dimensions, and an eye Draught of it on the spot, as indeed I did of all the others. One circumstance is very remarkable; Tig. 2. Reduced Plan of Rough Castle by Alexander Gordon, published 1726. namely, thae samth t e Freestone Wall, already mentione t Grimes-(a d dyke, a short distance westward), seems by its foundation here to have surrounded the whole Castellum. I also remarked that the great Ditch of Grimes Dyke is part of its Fortification northwards " Gordon' s planhi f Romal so s al e bespla th f o tnr fa (fig y b . '2)s i forts, but it does not show the freestone wall he speaks of as surround- ing the fort. Something like it is represented at the annex, but as it is outside the trenches, and precisely in the position of the " paved road " r Buchanaii'iM n s s i probablplan e t identifiei b , o t y d with that. Gordon places the ramparts of the main fort between the two trenches 446 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 8, 1905. instead of in their rear, and there are other errors in the details e fortificationoth f e musH .t also have made some mistake wits hi h t scalei woul s a , d requir a pace e abov fee6 en lengti t brino t hs hi g measurements nea truthe th r . It is singular also that he represents a well-defined " Praetorium," divided into compartments e centrannexe th th n f i e,o , wher e founw e d no corresponding building, and he shows no building in the main fort, where we found extensive remains. Horsley (Britannia Romana, 1732 . 173p , ) describe descene th s n o t "e wesEe th oth o wit t n tree-burt we ngroun e gentlew s "th a no d s da an , Fig . Pla3 . Rougf no h Castl Williay eb m Horsley, published 1732. and the fort overgrown with heath. He also says that " No ruins are visible either withi r withouo n e rampartsth t , whic lowee ar h r thaI n should have expected from Mr Gordon's account, but I have endeavoured to give the best notice of the walls and contrivances in the draught." Horsley's plan (fig. 3) is very small and wants a scale. In a general way it is tolerably good, and represents the ramparts and trenches more correctly than Gordon's. Although Horsley says that no ruins were visible, his plan shows in the annex a rectangular enclosed space with an approach from the south, much as Gordon shows his " Prsetorium," but nearer the east side, and with its greatest length from north to south instea frof do m eas westo t . Horsley also give e presumesb whay ma t d EXCAVATIO ROUGF O N H ANTONINE CASTLTH N EO E VALLUM7 44 . e paveth e todb road outside t makebu , t i taks a ewid e sweep beyond the trenches, whic certainls hi errorn ya . Maitland (The History and Antiquities of Scotland, i. 173) briefly and inadequately describes Bough Castle as "a strong fort about 90 paces square, inclosed wit a doublh e rampar d ditcan t h with obtuse angles." Eoy (The Military Antiquities of the Romans in North Britain, p. 161, pi. xxxv.), whose survey was made in 1755, calls Rough Fig . Reduce4 . d Pla f Rougno h Castl Generay eb l Roy, 1755. Castl lase r easternmosteth o t forte existingw th no sf o d state an , s that t "consisti divisionso tw f so , whereo e principath f l seem o havt s e been that towards the west, as it is surrounded with a triple envelope. The easter probabls nwa n additioya r lodginnfo a greateg r bod f troopso y , when on some particular emergency the Wall was repaired, and within it some foundations may be seen." His plan (fig.

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