PREHISTORIC BURIAL-PLACES AND STANDING STONES. 215

IV.

NOTES ON SOME PREHISTORIC BURIAL-PLACES AND STANDING STONES IN THE ISLAND OF YELL, . (WITH ILLUSTKA- . IRVINET TIONS.. J Y B ,) F.S.A. SCOT.

Some of the ancient liaugs or burying-places of the pagan age can e traceb t n Shetlandi dye , occasionally occurrin n closgi e proximito yt the sites of old settlements, locally called " Tounes" and " Brochs." They present considerable variety of character, as the following rough enumeration will show :— 1. Standing Stones unaccompanied by any "heap of stones (cairn) or mound of earth (barrow)." Examples are found near Hubie Broch, in the island of ; near the Broch of Underhool, in the west of TJnsfr,

Fig . Standin1 . g Ston f Hubio e fee3 e( inche9 t s wide below foo1 , t thick, 7 fee inche4 t s high).

o piecna f grouneo d called "Burgar Kiggs" t "Tha d ean ; Brough,n "i North last-mentionee .stone th Yell Th t ea . d plac smala s ei l e oneTh , one near Hubie (fig. 1) stands 7 feet 4 inches in height above the surfacgrounde th f o e fee3 , inche9 t se base widd th 1 2t an , a e inche s 216 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAECH 14, 1887. thick. At Clivocast, in Uyea Sound, is another large standing stone (ng- 2), 10 feet in height and 3 feet 5 inches wide at the base; while

•Fig. 2. Standing Stone of Clicovast, TJnst (10 feet high, 3 feet 5 inches wid t base)ea . at Succamires, near Lund, in the island of , is a still larger stone, standing 12 feet high, and measuring 8 feet 6 inches in width and 4 feet 6 inches in thickness at base. Two other standing stones to be described more particularl situate yparisare the Northin dof h firsYellThe t . derive s namsit e fro s beinmit g bure clos th f Forseno o e t , though from the land on which it stood having been common land of Papal, it was sometimes spoken standins .oa fe Garth th n f g o Papalso materiae Th . l PREHISTORIC BUEIAL-PLACES AND STANDING STONES. 217

was a fairly hard description of pot-stone, found in layers among the rocks left bare at low tide between Tonga of Papal and the boats noust f thao t placee stonbroaa Th s e. d wa (fig ) fla3 . t slab, slightly

Fig . Standin3 . g Stone near Bur Forsef no , Papal, North Yell. e sidloweon e t thaa re other th nd measurin an , 4 feeg 2 inchet n i s greatest height by 2 feet 10 inches in width, and varying from 18 inches to 6 inches in thickness. In one corner were the initials HT 1674 and MW 1683, with an old merchant's mark, or something of that description. It is to be feared that the stone no longer exists. The late e r AnthropologicaHuntD th f o , l Society g unde 1865n i du , t i r , with resule th s lef tfal o t thatwa l eventualle t downi tb d an , y broker fo p nu buildin schoolhouse.w g ne materia walle a th use e f b e so n i do t Th l 1 last stone to be noticed is situated in the " toune " of Steinsetter to the south of , in Yell. It is of a very hard crystalline quartz, its greatest height above ground bein feeg4 inches9 t , width abou feet3 t , thicknesd an foo1 s inchess 8 interestini t t I . s presentina g g traces of having been rudely dressed to shape. i There is a tradition that a queen who came ill a ship to Papal died there, and was buried beneath this stone. 8 21 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , MABCH 14, 1887.

2. " Fairy Knows, e peoplth s "a e call them e lowar , , flattish circular mound f vero s y small stones mixed wit blackisha h mould e stoneth , s often presenting the appearance of having been burnt. Examples of this kin f e burmoundo th f Braco no n o d n were obliterated whee th n lans trenchewa d brino t d t i undeg r cultivation; otherse existh t a t angle of the road (where it reaches the shore) at Cullivoe, and at Sand- wick, in the parish of Yell. They have also been noted at Nesting, the Loch of Kirkabister, and Scuddleswick. A superstitious feeling, which use o prevent d tetherine th t f cattlgo e upon them s greatlha , y contributed to their preservation. 3. Cairns or Mounds, which may sometimes be of composite nature, containing several smaller mounds, each marked by its own ring or fence of protecting stones d sometimean , s havin gcentraa l pillar stonef O . this class seems to be the Knowe of Hoversta, in Unst, 65 feet in diameter, and many of the smaller examples seem on the slope of the hill-side from Windhouse down towards Bartie's Skoe Whalefirtn o , h Voeo thiT s. class also may belong the remarkable remains on Crossifield, Unst, formed of circular rings, and called " The Bounds of Tivla." Probably also the burial-place on Clody Peat Bank, Midbrake, North Yell (with its central stone rudely squared at the top), belongs to this variety. The barrof Vallafielo e sout th d wen e n hsam o th hig d p f eu ho Hil s i l character, and smaller specimens are scattered over the common land east of the burn of Voesgarth, Unst. 4. Cists or Stone Chests, now very often found with the cover want- ing. Examples exist neae loc th f rBelmonth o e sidth e n o nex, o t t e Brocth yarde f Oganeshe o th bac f th Snarravoef so o kt a s; ; under the south end of Vallafield; at the north of Balta Sound; and on Scottie's Wart, nort f Balliastao h , wher e cis feeth 3 e ( inchet 9 3 t y b s feet 6 inches) is in the centre of a circular cairn of stones 37 feet in diameter, the oxiter edge of which is defined by a well-built wall. 5. Of the Maeshow class of chambered Cairns, Urns Hool is probably examplen a . 6. The " Boat Barrow " variety is probably presented in the so-called Harold's Grave at Harolds wick, an oblong mound of stones about 58 feet lengtfeen 8 i 2 widthn i t y hb , with vacant centre space. PREHISTORIC BURIAL-PLACE STANDIND AN S G STONES9 21 .

7. In the Christian burial-places the survival of the inverted boat type ,e markedl seeth n ni y keel-lik ee recumben ridgth n eo t body-stone, s traceabli n mani e y s i placesassociate d an , d with another singular custom whic s almoshwa t constant throughou e northth t , viz., thaf o t making the footstone of the grave, and not the headstone, the principal one of the two uprights, as that looking east.

MONDAY, llth April 1887. SIR W. FETTES DOUGLAS, LL.D., Vice-President, in the Chair.

BalloA t having been taken followine th , g Gentlemen were duly elected Fellows:— Rev. WALTER BELL, 8 Rosebery Crescent. JOHN HARRISON, 7 Greenhill Place. Rev. J. KING HEWISON, Minister of Rothesay. Rev. CHARLES ELLIS STEVENS, B.D., Ph.D., Brooklyn Yorkw Ne , . followine Th g Donation Museue th o st Librard man y were e th lai n do table thankd an , s Donore voteth o dt s :— (1) By Eev. W. FINDLAY, Saline, Dimfermline. Whorl of claystone, 1 \ inches diameter; Whorl of sandstone, 2 inches diameter; and irregularly-shaped Disc of shale, 4J inches diameter, perforated in the centre by a hole half an inch in diameter, from Saline. Eevy B .) ARCHIBAL(2 D PRENTICE, New Craighall, Joppa. Eude Implement of sandstone, 17 \ inches in length by 3 inches in breadth and 2 \ inches in greatest thickness, flattish on one side, roughly rounded on the other, from Walls, Shetland. r GEORGM y B E ) SINCLAIR(3 . Flint Arrow-Head, with barbs and stem, found near Dunkeld. . MACKAYG . C r D , Lochcarrony B ) (4 . Portio greyisa f no h resinous Mass, foun peat-mosa n di s near Shieldaig, parish of Applecross, Koss-shire.