"Roman Roads" of the One-Inch Ordnance Map Of

20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. E "ROMANOTETH N O SN E ROADSONE-INCTH F O " H ORDNANCE MA SCOTLANDF PO . WIT MAPSO y JAMEHTW B . S MACDONALD, LL.D., F.S.A. SCOT. (Read May 8, 1893.) . 1 PRELIMINARY KEMARKS. Among the objects of archaeological interest laid down on the Ordnance Map of Scotland, " Eoman road," " Roman camp " and " Camp " printed in the characters used to denote Roman antiquities, often appear. Many person consequencn i e sar looo t kd eupole n these designation stampes sa d wit authoritn ha y that makes them authentic e fac overlookes i Th t . d that the engineers of the Survey, when marking the position of relics of e pastth , gave them their loca r traditionao l l names, without assuming responsibilit r wha e fo yname th y timply ma s . e allegeNonth f o ed Roman road campr showe so b n havo nt sca e borne that epithet continu- ously from ancien t e Romans e wortimesth th f f theI o kl e . al ar y, recollection of their being so was apparently soon lost. The traditions now current can be traced to assertions freely made and readily accepted timen i s comparatively recent. deemee b itsely o B t t fd thino conclusiv s si e againse trute th th tf o h popular opinion e barrieTh . r thae Tynen froe th Edera t mth o , t n undoubtedly in whole or in part the work of Roman engineers, was known in the Middle Ages as the Picts' Wall. On it were stations show theiy nb r ruin havo t s e been something more than ordinary camps, e Romath n name whicf o s h were long forgotte districe th havd n ni an te been recovered froe numerou e Notitia.th mth t Bu s antiquities found per lineam valli bear testimony, independent of this ancient record, e presencth o t Romaf eo n garrison e e isthmussamth th n en o I s way . , the Antonine Wall became Graeme's Dyke. Here, again, the inscribed stones discovered from time to time along its course place its Roman origin beyond dispute. Few f i any, , ancient road r campo s e recognisear s s Romaa d y b n Scottish chroniclers or historians earlier than the beginning of the eighteenth century. After that date, however, " Roman roads " gradually NOTES ON THE " ROMAN ROADS " OF SCOTLAND. 21 increase in number, till lines of them, with stations at intervals, stretch as far north as the Moray Firth. In the papers that follow, an attempt wil made b l opeo et p thinu s question anew. With this vie wI shal l trace impartialls a , I can histore s populaye a th , th f yo r belie n regari f d to each of the roads of the Map, and then examine the archaeological evidence relied on for its support. If nothing else is accomplished, others able e provoke deab o t r y whole la stud witth ma o t f dt eyi ho subject o prevenT . t repetition preliminarw fe a , y remarks, applicable roade th l sto al alike necessarye ar , . During the last century, when an intelligent interest in the antiqvd- ties of Scotland was first awakened, scientific methods were little known or practised in such investigations. With one or two notable exceptions, e antiquarieth f thoso s e days were either collector f curiositieo s r o s writers of dissertations based on imperfect or erroneous assumptions of their own. Muc f whaho s tdeservini the d l respectdi al y f o o gT . undervalu t woulei unworthn a e db theme y ow e deb retur.e th w tr nfo They have preserveknowledge th s u o dt manf eo y object interesf so t that ther fo m t woulbu d have been irrecoverabl ys noti lost t ,I however. , too much to say that their discretion was not always equal to their zeal, Kaie Th f mKinpruneso imaginaryn a vera f t i , yye instructiv s i , - ex e ample of how often and how easily they were misled. But as they were supposed to speak with authority, their opinions obtained wide credence. traditionthin y I swa s arose that have secure dfira mlocalitiee holth n di s concerned historicar welplacs a a ou ,s a ln e i l literature. Of late years ther s beeeha nwholesoma e change. Archaeologw yno aspires to the dignity of a science. The conjectures and inferences of an longe o uncritican e rar allowee lag paso dt s unchallenge ascertaines da d "Komanr factsOu . " road "Romad an s n " camps will hav o submiet t to the same ordeal as our " Danish " sculptured stones and our " Druid- ical" circles. Should thet Romai f yo combefore s t na ou e , good dan well. But if the evidence produced for any of them is unsatisfactory, our conclusions mus modifiee b t d accordingly. The question to be answered is not whether the " Roman " roads and line f marcth o e n whicy o b he ar h p RomaMa e campnth armief so s at one time or another traversed certain parts of Scotland. They may be 22 . PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. so, and yet, as we now see them, belong to a different age. So little leare w no d from ancient histor f the.movementyo f Agricolso s hi d aan successor commandn si , when t wida , e intervals durin firse gth t centurief so our era, they overran the country between the two walls, or carried their standards for brief periods into the wilds beyond, that we are left in great uncertainty as to the particular- routes they followed. Where they fought their battles, and where, if we leave the Antonine Wall out of account, .they stationed their forces, is nearly as doubtful. If still ex- isting fragments of ancient roads and certain camps are Roman, we have somethin r effortou reaguido o gn t t si ds eu arigh t wha bees ha t n lefo s t obscure. But the first step to be taken is to establish beyond reasonable doubt that these remains hav jusea t titlee claith .mo t • It may not be without some significance that the roads referred to are all to be found not far out of the track of one or other of the railways convethaw no te travelle yth r northwar southwardr do . They tak- ad e vantag e riveth f re o valleys, e r hillofteneo th yf o grounr d that immediately bounde e th e valleysplain th th sd f an o s wel a ,s a l mountain passes tha betweene li t w no n . ca Theie w s ra courser fa o s , connect their fragmentary portions s thai , t whic e experienchth f ageeo s points out as the best adapted for opening and keeping up communica- tion between Centra Southerd an l n Scotland betweed an , n Scotland dan England. Along the same valleys and hills, over the same plains Pict d Scoan t must have marche o harast d e Romaniseth s d Britoe th f no Sout alonhd ;an g the e retainerm th e grea th f t o sfeuda l barons often wheo fr d passen musterean o t d warr e dtournamenfo th , chasee th r o t. Durin ggreaa perioe t parth f o td thas elapseha t d sinc Romane eth s left Britain, Scotland was intervalw ,fe wit t f peacebu sho e theatrth , f o e intertribal or international strife. At first, different peoples within itself struggle e masterth r fo d y; later, partially united, they strov resiso t e t firsScandinaviae th t n invader afterwardd an , s their powerful Southern neighbour t I nee t surpris. , no dove if wida s r u e e are f thiao s great battlefield e shoidw , d meet wit e remainhth f roadso s , camp fortsd san . During those centuries, unles people th s e wera stat f n primitivi eo e e barbarism, roads must have been require r varioufo d s purposes, during aliker peacwa . Tha.d countrt e altogetherean th t no s ywa removed from NOTES ON THE " ROMAN KOADS " OF SCOTLAND. 23 civilising influences, there is ample evidence. Art striving for expres- sion in metal and in stone, baronial pile, cathedral and abbey testify tha a tcivilisatio o mean f no n type, partl f nativo y d partlan ef o y foreign growth, existe Scotlann di earln di d mediaeva yan l s timesi t I . difficul o believt t e thabuildere th t f thoso s e t feee edificeno th l d di s nee f roadso d r thao , t they were unequa e tas th f supplyin ko o t l g that need. We are surely not warranted in concluding that a disused road, of whic forgottene e historb th h y yma s Romai , n merely becauss i t i e quite possible Agricola or Severus entered or left Scotland by the route it takes, or because an ancient camp or fort in its neighbourhood has been pronounced by somebody to be Eoman. If such roads are really Eoman in design and construction, we may expect to find that, with minor differences easily accounted for, they will show certain points of similarity ; so that on comparing them with one another and with roads elsewhere that are undoubtedly Eoman, they will themselves afford some evidence as to their origin.

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