AN EARLY CASTLE. 281

VI. AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. BY J. STORER CLOUSTON, P.S.A.ScoT.

I. Of the structure which forms the subject of this paper nothing but the bare foundations remain. As a rule only one or two courses of stones mann i lefte d yar an ;case s even these have vanished interess It . t lien si singulae th r characte whole th f eo r building. Even in , surviving defensive struc- tures of an early date are practically non- existent. How rare they are may be judged fro face mth t that Professo W. A r. Br^gger of Oslo Museum s o recomwhot , wa mI - mended to apply for information, as the like- liest authorit giveo t havo yt y , repliean e d that therNorwegiao n s ei n material throw- smale e subject th lighth y ln n an I o t g . in Norse colon f Orkneyo woule yon d scarcely expect what one fails to find in the old mother country; but here foreign influences were evidently at work, and, as will be seen later, there are actually the remains of several such fortalices in our islands. This, however, is the first to be excavated and described. The two buildings within the courtyard e castle—oth f a drinking-hal a bath d -an l Pig Sitee . Pla1 .th f .no discovern ca room—are I s a ,uniqua r fa o s ,e find outside Iceland and Greenland. Certainly, if anything quite like these has been found in Norway, no reference to it is made in such recent "works as Norges Historic and Norges Binder, in the sections dealing with old dwelling-houses. The position and immediate surroundings of the site are shown in a littl f o e d peninsulen e castl e stand) Th th (A e afigt . a 1 s.calle d Gernaness (O.N. Grcena-nes = green ness), in the loch of , just ove mil1 r tidae th eas lf o channelt opening intseae oth . Gernaness si roughly abou yard0 7 t slittla lond egan ove yard0 3 r s wide where eth foundations are situated. It is quite flat, and only rises about a couple 282 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

of feet above average loch-level. The soil is particularly rich. Just above the inland end stands a group of buildings forming the double farm of the Bast and West Netherbigging of Cloustoii; the whole being sometimes styled in old deeds, " The House of Clouston." Some of these buildings, shown in the plan (B), are of great age. What actually led to the excavations being made was the tradition pointe s thesth A f o . eoa d chapefchape en e l th l sit t traditiona e s have always proved reliable, s vers thia wa syd specific—evean e th o t n exten f creditino t e chapeth g l wit e distinctiohth f havinno g provided the stones for the dyke round the ness—digging was begun in the summe e hop f 192th f o r discoverin o en 4 i s foundationsgit t firsA a t. stretc f easwesd ho an t t running wall seeme o indicatt d d e ha tha e w t found them, but this proved to be merely part of a small, much later structure (possibly a boat-house). Then at last we came upon foundations of a different and very unclerical kind, in the form of a clay- cemented wall, 8 feet thick, with one edge curved and the other straight. Before long I was able to send a preliminary plan of the foundations to Mr G-, P. H. Watson, F.S.A.Scot., who at once confirmed the view that already seeme e onldth y possible conclusion. They were clearly those of a place of strength, of a date yet to be determined, but certainly t earlieno r than mediaeval e coursth f n laso I e .t winte d thian rs summe e excavationth r s were completed d ther s disclosean , wa e a d structure which may briefly be described as consisting, in the first place, of a primitive donjon or keep of unusual shape and dimensions; secondly a courtyar f o , d surrounde curvina y b d g defensive walld an ; thirdly t leasa buildingo f tw o t, d soman s e stretche f rougo s h paving within the court. difficultiee Th f workin o e plas th nt wergou e considerable n factI . , s proveha t i d impossibl o trac t ee foundation th e s completelye Th . chief difficulty was the fact that, probajaly for many generations, the site had been used as a quarry whenever stones were required for building purposese wallth t onlysd No beeha . n removed right down to the foundations, but the large stones on the outer edges of the foundations themselve mann i d ysha places been lifted too. Occasionally one could folloe hears walla directio th it e f lin f o f wi th t,o e n were obvious; but when it came to fallen debris being mingled with this, the job was impossible. Again, in one particular place (the area X, X in fig. 2), the Air Force, who commandeered this ness during the war in connection with an abortive seaplane station, had for some reason removed every vestige of the old foundations. A third difficulty was the outer dyke round the ness, since, for part of the way, it stands right on top of AN EARLY ORKNE3 28 Y CASTLE.

the northern curtain-wall. And a final difficulty was the loch, which in winter d evean ,n during spring tide n summeri s , rose througe th h excavations and flooded us out of certain areas. One particular December day, whe e coule w nisleto th dtw n i s worr o e k on onl n yo a fulflood d l an gals blowin, ewa e spith gn drift fro e locmth h over us in showers, will not readily be forgotten. Against these difficultie e remarkablon st f luckse muso t e b .bi et Once the foundations had revealed themselves as a place of strength, it was natural to think of other early Orkney castles on record in the e sucsagaOn h . structur s mentionei e s standina d t Cairstona g n i , parish,1 and the recollection of a stretch of thick wall noticed some years before at the Bu of Cairston suggested a second visit. This disclose e surprisinth d g fact that there still stand considerable remains of a clay-cemented keep-and-courtyard castle. They will be referre o againt d ; meanwhil s onli t yi e necessar y thasa t o t they y naturally helped materiall castle plae th trac th f yo t Clouston ent t a o eou ,

II. Fig show 2 . e whol s beee plath ha th sf n nt o ei structures a r fa o s , possibl traco et t witei h certainty. Wherever both edges were found, the wall is blocked in black throughout. Where edges are missing, but the heart of the wall is there .and its course known, edges are shown by broken lines and the heart blocked black with a wavy border. Where the line can merely be inferred, only the probable edges are indicated. hery sa e y thama t I throughout almos entire th t e excavationI s have had the assistance of Mr Thomas Brass, an old and experienced masont evera d yan , tur s expernI relie hi n do t knowledg f Orkneo e y masonry e lifte replaced W .an d d stone after ston t varioua e s points, to test the presence of building clay, the bonding at junctions, and the question of whether we were dealing -with true foundations or debris which resembled exactinn foundations a r Bras s M s wa sa g d critican ; ,

1 Sinc guesea s that Knarston (near Scapa) t Cairstonno , , true shoulth ee readingb d s ha , found its way into print in works of some authority, it is perhaps as well to record the facts. The gues e sagbases th aswa n do anecdot e that when lefn Eart me l thei s Haralhi r d shipdan s and took refuge in the castle, one man was so frightened that he ran all the way to ; e pointh t being tha tr fro Cairstofa m o Kirkwallto s ni . But, seriously considered s quiti t i ,e incredible tha fighting-mata f that—oo n other—agy an r e shoul panic-strickeo s e db n before h e eves wa n attacked seconA . d battl takd edi e place near Knarsto yearo ntw s later whicn i , e hth same Earl Harald was surprised in the night and put to flight with considerable slaughter, and the anecdote evidently really refers to this encounter. The saga reading Kjarrekssta&ir is quite explicit and is repeated later. Knarston was well known to the saga writer, being mentioned several times thao s , t suc a mistakh guese th s sea implies woul mose db t improb- abl generan eo l grounds. 284 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

nothing was passed without a severe examination. The site was then . CloustonH . surveyeT r M , F.S.A.e methoy db th y f b stringin,o d t i g into 10-foot squares. Beginning wit keee hth p (K)foundatione th , e south-easth f o s t wall e intac ar s lengthr mosit fo tf d sho o te stylan ,w th f masonr o e e yw found throughou e thicketh l al tr wallsoutside Th . e stone e largar s e flat blocks, the inner edge stones not so large, and the interior a mixture of various shapes and sizes; the whole being laid in building clay. This wall has a maximum thickness of 8 feet.

M „ ,- - s" ~~^--r—._ LOCH

Fig. 2. Plan of Castle on Gernaness, Clouston, Orkney.

The north-east wall has lost all the edge stones on both sides, but the core debris lies in a rough curve on its outer side. A few stones still 1 positionn i formind an , g circlepara f o t , evidently mar basa e kth f o e narrow circular stai approximatel) (S r inchew fe feeta y4 s r overo , n i , diameter. It -was placed not exactly in the corner, but so as to bring thun ca e doo s e wallth d tele positior en On th e easl int .e th otth f no corner within a few inches. In the plan this north-east wall has been assumed to reach a maximum thickness of 8 feet also. This is certainly very nearly right, but of course is only an approximation. 1 Running through this debris we found what seemed to be a paved slip-way in connection wit e latehth r she r boat-housedo large Th e. edge stonee keeth f po s wal beed ha ln used to build these two structures. AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. 285

north-wese Parth f o t t wals beeha l n quite destroyed t severaa t bu , l places both edges were found, and the thickness could be told exactly. fee6 t e otheri inche3 d t th d an t an a ,sd fee8 en s te i thict on I t ka has no curve. The south-west wall is also quite straight, and is only 2 feet 4 inches thick. The door must have been placed at a, opposite the paving outside. Inside, the keep is 13 feet wide, and as nearly as possible 19 feet e south-easth lon n e north-westo g th fee 7 n 1 to t sidearte d an eTh h. d claan y floo s e bee middles intact i intha rth cu nt n o i tbu ,roun d the sides in tracing the walls. In the south corner is a large hearth- stone (b), once expose greao dt mucw t no heath d brokenan , t approxibu , - matel fee3 fee y5 inche6 y t b t s originally. Beloe layerar wt f clai so y e whol stoned th d an e an fireplac, e thus forme s buildi t int e southoth - west wall—i.e. the two have been built up together to the level of the hearth-stone. The curious line of the curving south curtain-wall (C, C), with its sharp t salienendi e s t t a d,shows e plana abruptlyti th d n an , no o S . far as both edges can be traced, it is 4 feet thick, and in every respect like the south-east wall of the keep, except that in some places we could find no signs of building clay. The outer stones are equally large (one that became displace lattee rolo th dt t over)lrequirei n r r Fo me . o dtw part of its course no inner edge can be found, and its thickness cannot be estimated. The junction of the north curtain-wall (D, D) can be located at /, fro e presencmth smala f eo l stri f roughlpo y coursed stones beyondt bu , firse n oth foundte s course r b edgeit par f n Fo e o t.ca s th , froo t m/ dyke round the ness, it passes through a devastated area, every large stone worth removing having been unde, liftedg beace t A th r . h outside e dyketh , trace t weri f o se found. Finally, afte t emergei r s again from under the dyke, its inner edge from h to i is plain, but we dared not dig r fea furthef bringinfo o rt ou e rdyk gth et seemei downi t A d. to vanish, but owing to the inrush of water the conditions were very difficult there s thicknesIt . nowhern ca s tolde t b epresumabl bu , t yi feet4 s , wa like souteth h wall. o buildingtw e th s Comin o t withi w e courtyarde th gno n th s i B , bathroom, the baffstofa of the sagas. It is just over 12 feet long by 5 feet wide at the widest end. The floor is paved with large flat stones, d slopean s down fro e t corneomth A wer . o r e found several burnt stones, one of the tests of an Icelandic baffstoj'a, and at TO is a long hole wit hcleaa n curved edge ,watee evidentl th f int e n of roth ru o yt soil. Whe adde non theso st e feature e impossibilitth s f theryo e being r suc othefo y hsmalla e an us r , odd-shaped, paved chamber nature th , e 286 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 1926L12 .

of this apartment is quite obvious. It is bounded on the east by a wal fee2 l inche4 t s thick bonded into .the curtain-wall e wholTh . e inner edge of the north wall is extant, but the outer edge is gone and its thickness cannot be told. e hal r th skali,o ls i H lying roughly easwestd e wholan tTh f . o e one side, nearly half of one end, and part of the other are clearly traceable as the foundations of a wall, varying from 2 feet 6 inches to a little over 2 feet thick, and composed of large stones, flat and pretty thick, •which follow a series f peculiao s r curves. What remaine th f o s west end is part of a nearly true circle having a radius of 11 feet. The side wall then swings into a waist and out again, but though the rest of the side and the other end are curved, the curve is much flatter and nothing lik addee eb circulary d ma tha t I t. though some stones have slipped a little out of position (there is only one course left, by the way), the wall is perfectly distinct, and there is no question about this bein s actuagit north-wese t lpasseth i lines d keepe A an th s. t i ,t e keeth wal pf o loverla p several inches, showing thae skalith t wall must have had a slight scarcement. Its varying thickness seems to indicat e2-fooa t wall above, wit hscarcemena t sometime s muca s s ha 6 inche sometimed an s s less. e othe mosd th Than f r o t e eased sid th resen tf e o twal l have, like everything else in this area, been completely removed. But towards the west end a new and very curious state of things is met with. The area marked Y, Y is quite different from the rest of the ness. Instead e ordinaroth f y stony subsoil r spadeou , s suddenly begao deeg po t n int oa peat y substance whic fellow-diggery m h s declare o resemblt d e nothing so much as the old-fashioned heathery bedding used for animals, mixed e placwiton h et a dunga ' d largan , e numbe f shello r s of limpet periwinkled an s s mingled with itt i goe; r dowfa s n below loch-level, and was there a long time before the castle was built. It looks as if we had here the refuse pit of some much earlier prehistoric structure; and, if so, it is possible that the curtain-wall (0, C) owes its curved for itsmo t ' having been founde olden a n rdo indebte m walla I . d . GrahaJ r M mo t Callande e opinioth r fo nr thae supposititiouth t s structure can scarcely have been a broch, but might quite well have been such a prehistoric fort as is depicted in Anderson's in Pagan Times, . 261p , standing oa vern y simila e locr th f sito hn i e Hogsetter in Shetland. This suggestion, however, must merely be taken as indicating a possibility. The foundations of the curtain-wall along laie har d ,i deep down throug peate hth y substance deeo s , p that owing to the inrush of water it was impossible to get to their bottom. It is just when it comes to this area that the west end of the EARLN A Y ORKNE7 28 Y CASTLE. skali stops abruptly and the curious elbow r branches out towards the curtain-wall f dammino . d Witai e bailinwated e th gan e ht th w rg ou searched this area thoroughly t nothinbu , g else coul e foundb d t I . will be seen from the plan that if the end of the skali were to continue o swint g s 11-foorounit n o dt radius e insideth , would just touce hth curtain-wall. The probable explanation of all this would seem to be that the builders only discovered the presence of the soft area after most of the foundations of H had been laid, and thereupon altered their methods till they got past this obstacle. Probably the rounded end was complete wala f wooy o db l d supportepilesw fe .a n do impossibls i t I reconstruco t e s entirety e halit e pla th n th ti l n n I . I have assumed thae missinth t g walls resemble e survivinth d d an g followe e broketh d n lines shown; since halth e l n a woul e b d exceedingly odd-shaped apartment otherwise. On the other hand, this leaves a curious gap between it and the outer wall (D, D) (whose general directio s certaini hase n facti On n, a , fro . e edgi) m th , h e d reconstructions od e indicate o on choice pla tw e th f nth n eo di d an , must merely be taken as the solution which suggests itself to me personall morthe eyas probable. inside Th e e tollengtb dn accuratelhca s jusya t ove e feet0 4 rTh . extreme inside width at the west end was as nearly as possible 17 feet, if the existing curve were continued, and approximately 16 feet at the samthe e on otheassumption end r floo harThe of r . d earth (just like the keep) is still intact over parts of the west end. Wherever we broke through this floor we found a pavement of large flat stones a little above normal loch-level. The floor was thus first roughly paved, and then covered with a thick layer of earth and clay. A most interesting feature largth s ei e hearth built inte soutoth h side wall e othe, th jus s ra t hearth was. built inte keep oth t conI . - sists of a rectangular hearth-stone (ri) 4 feet by 3 feet 3 inches (mischievously broke found n ha afte e d w witrd it) re , h fireround an , d a rin t i g of-stone edgen o whicf t o , se se stil ar hpositionn i l) foup , (p r , wit e spacth h e between packed hard wit s anothei h q earth t A r . stone on edge, evidently part of a second fireplace. The hearth-stone is gone, but burnt earth is thick at this spot. No doubt there was a third fire on the other side of n. In fact, the area of strongly burnt earth extended well to the east of it, indicating that the line of three hearths stood prett yanothere closon o et l buil al , t int soute oth h wall. interestino tw On r eo g question raisee sar s thiy db wa s y skali.Wh it constructed with such a remarkable curved outline? An answer is suggeste e varioustuda th y f db yo s temple sites discovere Icelandn di , where alone can be found buildings resembling this singular hall on 288 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

Gernaness.1 Briefly, these heathen temples were long-shaped structures, divided into unequatw o l parta thic y b sk cros s e longewallTh .r part was, in effect, a kind of skali, with fires in the middle and benches along the Avails, where feasts were held on holy days. The shorter, -and more sacred, part containe e imagee Godth dd th an sf o s n mosi d t ha instance t i e altar d th an a semicircular,s end, wita h dome roof, exactly resembling a Norman apse. There was no door in e crosth s wall d thian ,s sanctuar separata d yha e outer entrances A . a rule longeth e r casew roos rectangular fe t i alss mwa a o n i t bu , shows a curved outline. These temples varied greatl n d considerablsizi y an e n outlini y e and proportion, and had no system of orientation; but they all had the cross wall, and none had hearths in the rounded sacred end. Hence the absence of this cross wall and the position of the hearth at e necth k wher t i shoule , togethebe d r wit e othehth r fireplace inside e circulath e presencr th end d an ,e everywher f strongleo y burnt earth d animaan l bone a featur( s e almost entirely lackin n templgi e sites, where traces of fire seem singularly slight), show definitely that this structure cannot have been a temple latterly. Nor is it possible to reconcile the stronghold as a whole with any type of building exist- beforg in introductioe eth f Christianitno y into Orkne A.Dn yi . 995. e closth t e generaBu l resemblanc e hal th o somt lf f o theseo e e temples, and the extreme difficulty of explaining its outline otherwise, seem to me to raise a very strong presumption that we have here the shell of a temple converted into a drinking skali. Since the hearths were built into the walls, the walls must have been pulled down at these points and built up again, the cross wall has been completely removed, and the elbow r probably added; but apart from the presence of the fireplaces and the elbow, and the absence e crosth of s wall l e appearancesstructural th , o t , is e n anciena , t heathen temple.2

The authorities here are the descriptions of temple sites, with plans, by Sigurd Vigfusson, Brynjul1 f Jonsson Jod n,an Jonsso varioun ni s number Icelandie th f so c Arbok (hins. Isl, Forn.) from 1882 to 1896; and a short summary of their features by Professor A. Bugge in Norges Historic, I. i. p. 208. Some support for the view that the skali was originally a hof or heathen temple is to be

foun2 d in the place-names in Clouston. In 1666 a perambulation of the township took place, and recore th f thido s (preserve e Kirkwalth n di l Record Room) give e " th shedslis a f o t sfieldr "o s with their old names. At one place, within a couple of hundred yards or so of Gernaness, there were three close together, called "the Home," " Tursland," and "Lundago." On referring these names to Mr Marwick, he expressed the opinion that the juxtaposition of Tursland (Thorsland) Lundagd an o (apparently from Lundar, genitive th Lundr,f eo grovea , used with special reference to the sacred groves at temple sites) is decidedly suggestive. Home might well be from Hof-vin, temple-pasture, but an alternative derivation is possible here. It is not easy, however, to find alternatives for the other two, and their presence close together seems significant. AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. 289

Again, what were the arrangements within the hall ? Once more one can but grope in the dark—or perhaps this time one may venture to say in the firelight, for it is at least certain that where the two known fires were, ther n havca e e been neither seat r doorsno s . Also one may fairly point out that the regular rule in the old Norse halls was a door in the west end with a porch before it, and here at the west end there was apparently a chamber (between h i and r) that might well have bee a nporch . Further e supposeon f i , a doos r inte th o circular end immediately to the north of the elbow r, it would be exactly in the centre line of the hall. Again, it would be highly convenient to have another door opening under cover from the keep, and actually keep and skali do overlap along several feet. A passage through the double t walleasa s i lt suggeste thisy db . And, moreover t wouli , d accounr fo t north-wese th f o thid sen keee t walth pf o lbein g mad muco es h thicker buildingo tw e tha e otherth snth d beinan , g thus squeezed together. Aseatino t s g arrangements onls ha y e thion , s practical consideration to go upon—that the best way, in order to get in as many people, and t leavye s mucea h spac s possiblea e d als givo an o,t s mana e y guests as possible a wall at their backs, would be to have one bench against e wallth , followin curvese gth , wit hseriea f narroso w trestle tablen si front, and another row of benches on the other side of them. If one assume seatee b e hal th so t ld thus alon e endnortd gth an s h side- be , tween the supposititious doors, and allows 1 foot 6 inches per man, thirty-eight could sit on the outer bench and thirty-two on the inner, e skalith f seventi werl al en yi packed . e earlTh y arrangemen n thesi t e halls consiste f fireo d s dowe th n middle and one row of benches along each wall. But in this case the fires agains e sidth te wal e earllth provf yo t e no tha skalie s th t wa type. Towards the end of the eleventh century, King Olaf Kyrre altered e skalith arrangement middle thirteente Norwayn th si th n f i eo d ,an h centur certainle yw y find guests rowsittin o royaa t tw sa n gli feast.o S 1 tha t seemi t a fais r assumptio supposo t n e arrangemeneth s thiswa t here, rather than that the floor space was gratuitously£wasted and the hall only half filled. The only other recognisable feature withi e courtyarnth wida s di e stretch of paving (P) down the centre—the stett of Icelandic homesteads; a fairly well-known feature. Ther a branc s i e h leading towarde th s

The alterations made by King Olaf are briefly and somewhat vaguely described in chap. ii. s sago hi fHeimskringla.n i a1 They include e remova th de fire th f s o l froe middlth m f o e e introductio th e floor d th an , whaf no t is terme n ofn,r stova do f stone eo e Norwegia Th . n lialls being of wood, the building of the fire against the "wall was of course impossible, unless t weri e encase sucn di hstona e ofn.e descriptioTh e royath f lo n feas n 124i t s give7i n ni Hakon's Saga, chap, ecliv. 19 VOL. LX. 290 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 192612 L .

bathroom, and apparently a separate stretch marked v, but the work e quarrierr Forcoth f s Ai mad eha d t impossiblei an s o definet e th e boundaries of these pavements, except at the east end of the courtyard . e edgv Theth t ea d y an consist throughou r threo o e tw layer f o t f so flattish stones narroA . w t strii woul f po e indistinguishabl b d e from the foundations of an ordinary wall. A curious featur e pai th f lon o rs i eg curving opening e paveth n -i s . menThet) , (t ty have definitely formed side endsd therd an s s an , ewa clay in them when they were found. I can think of no other probable purpose for them than drinking-troughs for cattle. Such strongholds s thia s must have been intende refuges da r animalfo s n s welme sa s a l n timi f invasioo e r raido n . Moreover, ther s aei n actual accounn i t Hakoris Saga of the garrison driving a herd of cattle into the utkastali (outer castle or courtyard) of- the castle of Wyre in Orkney, in the year 1230, preparatory to standing a siege. It is quite possible that some other building may have stood in the west end of the courtyard, but if so, it can only have been very small; reconstrucw no n ca e whol e th t w ed castlean , apart from this possible small outbuilding s consistina , larga f g o e a bathroo hald e an lth mn i court, a kitchen in the base of the keep (the large, strongly fired hearth seems to make this certain), and some rooms above. Long vanished though these rooms are, there is one interesting clue to the number of floors. An old Steimess tradition relates that there once stood a house t Netherbiggina ovea higo e ridggs se th r hf e o e tha coulth e e on t dse land at the back. Actually, if the keep were in the neighbourhood of 40 feet high, one could see from the battlements the tidal outlet of the loch (called the " Bush") nearly to the sea itself, and certainly one could see a ship at sea. We may thus take it that the tower actually was of that height, and therefore contained three floors above the kitchen probablo tw , y use s sleeping-chamberda r stores.fo e on 1 d an s This stronghold, as can be seen from fig. 1, was well placed e nessth f , o wit defensivellandward e hth en e th dt y a sid e strengthened by the keep and salient. The disadvantage of the site was its very slight elevation abov e water-leveth e e lochth f . o l Measurements taken ni July, when the loch was pretty low, made the floor of the skali 1 foot 5 inches above loch-level, the hearth of the skali 1 foot 8 inches, and the floor of the keep 1 foot 10 inches. So far as we could calculate the

It is an interesting fact that this keep, partly rounded and partly rectangular in form, bears a marke1 d resemblance to the tower of the old Cross Kirk of Stenuess depicted in Low's Tour (1774), . xxiii p described an , descriptioe th n ddrawini e th f steepla no for e s semicirclea ga th f m o n e i . actualls wa t I y straight-side rounds wa dt rese i . attaches wherf th o tkire d wa th t kei an o dt These two singular towers stood in adjoining townships—a striking coincidence. The church tower has long vanished. AN EARLY ORKNE1 29 Y CASTLE. highest loch-level in a quite abnormal flood the winter hefore, the keep floor was only 4J inches above this, which would imply that the skali floos actuallwa r y flooded. Presumabl e loch-leveth y s somewhawa l t lower in past centuries (this is supported by local tradition, and also by refusdepte e th th same f heo th pit)t e A time. t mus,i t always have been dama p situatio t unlikelno s i wintern ni t y i thad an , t this hav y facema t had somethin wito ultimate d hth o g t e abandonmen sitee th .f o t

III. In order to arrive at any conclusion as to the date of this fortalice, it is necessary to glance for a moment at the castle of Cairston. It is e hopeb o t d that before very long this most interestine gb reliy cma properly examine d describeddan . Mean- while, fig. 3 shows all that is necessary for the present purpose. The castle con- sisted of a courtyard (C), 70 feet square outside, the curtain-wall of which is still standin s heigh r parit gfo f o t t along con- siderable stretches e corneon n rI ."wa a s rectangular keep (K) fee9 1 ,inche6 t y b s 12 fee inches8 t inside e outeth , r walls being simpl e curtain-wallyth s produced, and, like them, 4 feet thick. The longer inner wall is 8 feet thick, and the shorter 2 feet 6 inches. In the outer corner a Fig- 3.—Plan of Castle of Cairston, circular angle tower projects fee,5 inche9 t s r ney' in diameter inside, with walls just over 2 feet thick, evidently to carry a stair. All these walls are clay cemented and bonded together, and from this latter fact and the ancient and consistent appearance of the masonry, it is certain that the whole structure was erected at the same s neveha timd r beeean n added to.1 No attempt has yet been made to look for buildings within the court, but taking it as it stands, the essential resemblance to the castle t Cloustoa s apparenti n maie Th n. differenc thas i e t Cloustoa t e nth outeo tw r e keewallth pf o shav e been made much thicke swund an r g roun e narrowedth r stair; thus makin -whole gth e keep int angln oa e evidens i t toweri t t Bu tha. t thes primitiveo etw , clay-cemented strong- holds, wit mano hs y details practically identical, must belon same th eo gt genera recordels i period t nearle i s th A n d.i y contemporary Orkneyinga

finaa n lO visi inspectiof o t accompanies Brass. wa nT I r M , a»y structure db d th pretts ewa y carefull1 y examined. 292 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

Saga that Cairston Castl s attackewa e n 29to d h September 1152t ,i appears evident, on the face of it, that both castles must belong to a period not later than the middle of the twelfth century. daye th sn wheI fortalicna e attribute Williao dt Conqueroe mth r o r Malcolm Canmore was considered comparatively juvenile, nobody would have questioned this apparently obvious conclusion. Since then, how- ever, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and archaeolo- gists have grown exceedingly canny. It seems not unlikely—judging from the ebb and flow of opinion to be observed over periods of time in other fields—tha raty pendulue an t th ta s i swuns t i m ha t far o gBu to . an excellent thing that all claims to antiquity should be thoroughly examined. It is necessary then to go, as briefly as possible, into the whole evidence e cruciath ; l poin t issua t e being—Ar e existinth e g ruin t Cairstoa s remaine ne castlth th f eo s know there b 1152n o eni t , or was the old stronghold completely demolished and replaced by a later one? firsthe t placeIn perhapis ,it wel sas mak to l cleaeit r that whatever e 115th a timbe2 t strongholno rs forts likewa dt wa .i , Orknes ha y been treeless sinc e nintth e h century botd an , Icelanhn i herd e ean dth proof is overwhelming that stone (or in Iceland stone and turf) was the only building material used, save in exceptional cases, early in the settle- men f Icelando t , where timbe importeds wa r n IcelandI . , innumerable early house and temple sites prove it. In Orkney, good building stone s plentifuli e manth d y an prehistori, c structures provide t i alreadd y d churcheol quarried e d chapelth an sl Al s. wer f stoneo e d alsan o, the only two dwelling-houses in the Orkneyinga Saga where the material is specified.1 With regard to early defensive structures erected by the Norse Vikings in the lands they conquered and settled in, the evidence which Professor Alexander Bugg collectes eha Vesterlandeness hi n di Indflydelse Nord-a pa bcernes (pp. 230-46) demonstrate e mostth f o remarkable on s e qualities of the race—their plasticity—the genius they possessed both for adapt- ing themselves to new conditions and for picking up hints from every new thing they saw. They grasped the fact at once that an invading force requires a secure base, they noted the fortifications already in places existin continene th n go shorEuropef a o t n i td timan , e they were introducing earth, stone d timbean , r defensive works wherever they settle Irelann di Englandd Norwayn dan i t Bu . , Bugge specially notes Old Icelandic house sites in district after district are described in the various volumes of Arboke th 1 hins Islenzka Fornleifafelags. houseo tw e sOrkneyinga e referreTh th n i o dt Sagae ar mentioned in chaps, cv. and cxiii. One was in Sanday, the other in Caithness, and in both cases there was a "secret door" filled with loosely piled stones. Obviously there would be little secret about suc hwalle doorrese th f th sto f i swer e differeny madan f eo t material. AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. that when King Olaf 1016n i , , erecte "e bordth g Sarpsborf "o "f g stoneso , turfforeigtimber,d d ha an , s n"e ha "modelh eye.s hi "n si This seem e morth s e certain whe turne on nIcelando st , where th e Norsemen settlen empta n di y land Icelann I . d such defensive works appear to have outnumbered the snakes by one, since only a single specimen of a stronghold is known, and that one is mostly the creation of nature. t musI 1 addee b t d thasago tw ta r therrefero alse e ear o- on ence virkia r o workt so ; this word, together with borg,vigid an being used to signify all kinds of primitive earthworks or other early defensive structures—includin Pictise gth h brochs Icelann I . traceo dn lefte ar s , however, of any of these save the one I have mentioned. Faroee th n I s ther sage ison a referenc "n earthwora o et k " whice hth chieftain Ossur Hafgrimsoe th n f o thre d rounp wen u e houss th dhi t ea tenth century. Norwayn I vern i , y early days, such primitive " works " see mhavo t e bee t uncommonno 2 refuges e peoplna th district. a r f esfo o

t throughouBu t saga-time generall absence yth 3 f anythineo g like castles conspicuous a s i Icelandn i onls e sa yTh .instance s recorde f whado n tca reall callee yb d " castles r thre" o -wer o ekinge etw builth y sb te fo th r protectio f certaino n towns. The firs f theseo t , however s significanti , e yeath r n I 110. 0 King Magnus Barefoo build ha tstronghola t f " d woodo Islturd e th ean f n "o of Kvaldinsey, in the Vener Lake, as a defence against the Swedes, and this termes for r soowa to , dn"a in borg. aftert yeae Bu "th , r 111s 6hi son, King Sigurd, for the defence of the town of Konghelle, " built there greaa greaa g t tdu castl ditcd ean h roun mads d wa f turd it eo t i ;an f stone; he built houses in the castle and erected a church there."4 Here we have ston e material e terth use th s m a dd appliee an ; th o t d structure in the saga was kastali, a new word manufactured out of Latie th n castellum describo t thing w ne .ea Twice again this castls ei referred to, and each time as a kastali. It included, as we can see, a very large s erectecourtyard yearw wa fe t si d a afte d an , r King Sigurd returned fro crusads mhi e throug Mediterraneae hth Hole th yo n t Land . The foreign inspiratio thus ni notede s b manifesty , ma furthermore t I . , thalona n e edificei gt th lis f to s buil Kiny b t g Hakon Hakonsoe th n ni thirteenth century, given at the end of his saga, three kastala are included twicd ,an t leas ea ter e th tm referred specificall towea o yt r o r

1 This is the Borgarvirki described in ArboTc Isl. Forn. for 1899. It consists of a large flat depression in the top of an outcrop of basalt rocks, with the only entrance closed by a wall—the sole artificia lforte parth .f to 1 Fcereyinga Saga, chaps, xxii xxivd an . . 3 Norges Binder,. 45 . p 4 Both these reference froe ar sm ; 's saga, chape ,th xii.d ,an saga of his sons, chap. xix. 294 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRIL 12, 1926.

keep. Henc t woulei d seem tha fortalica t e includin gdonjoa r keeno p •was implie worde th y d.b One thing at least is certain from these various references, taken together with the fact that stone castles only appeared in any part of Western Europe in the eleventh century, and were not introduced into Englan Orkneo N . d it y til f castlo l towardd een coule th s d pos- sibly be earlier than the twelfth century; nor would it be reasonably likely to find one before 1116. Also, the whole conception of such a structure was foreign and imported. But somewhere about the year 1120 Earl Hakon of Orkney also made a journey to Jerusalem as a penance for the murder of St Magnus, and being an exceedingly able penitent, it may be assumed o lesn ss observanwa tha e h t t than Kin gd won ha Sigurd e , H . moreover, his kinsman's share of the isles by force; by force alone it was 'likely to be retained, and it is a fact that within the next few decade e sagth s a mentions three castle n Orkneyi s , t besidea e on s Thurso e worth , d kastali being used each time. The earliest recorded was the castle on the little isle of , already built by 1136. A large skali is also mentioned there; exactly the same combination as at Clouston. There are said to be no visible trace f thio s s structure I hav t beet no ebu , n seeo t ther t . eye The n we have Cairston, already there in 1152. And finally we have •what is the test case, the castle on the isle of Wyre. The Orkneyinga Saga, an accurate e eventrecorth r f thio sdfo s period, states thae chieftaith t n Kolbein Hruga built ther a "e good stone castle a saf; s thae wa t stronghold." Kolbeia Norwegia s wa no marrie wh n n Orknea d y heiress and settled on her estates. He was certainly still in Norway

in 1142, and was certainly well established in Orkney by 1155; while 2

Bjarnn so s ehi becam1 e bisho castl e 1188.n thuy pi Th safele ema b s y

dated as round abou3 t 1150-70, probably nearer 1150. Again, in Hakoris Saga, another most reliable saga, written in 1264, there is an account of the murder of Earl Jon of Orkney by Hanef, e royath l sysselman 1230n i , .s friend hi Hane d san f thereupon retired to the castle of Wyre, "which Kolbein Hruga had built," gathered a storeher f cattld o d an s e (kep t e utkastali),inth d stooan a dsieg e by the earl's friends; and so strong was the castle that all efforts to take it were fruitless. The ruins of this castle still exist, and are still known as "Cubbie Roo's" (Kolbein Hruga's) castle thaso ; a bettet r pedigreed castlit e

1 Heimskringla, saga of Inge and his brothers, chap. xiii. • 1 Orkneyinga Saga, chap. ovii. (Rolls ed.). 3 Dip. Norv. Tillaeg til syttende satnling, p. 297. AN EARLY ORKNE5 29 Y CASTLE. would be hard to find. We know, moreover, from, contemporary record a plac s f sreao e wa thal t i strengtht , buil f stoneo td an , includin a gcourtyard . Notes give e thim ns summer, througe th h kindnes Jamer M f o s Craigie, sho e exposewon tha e th dte th wal f o l keep is approximately 6 feet thick and 28 feet long outside, and that s buili t i t with har r Craigio n limedru tw (M .r eo e broughon e m t fragments to examine.) Grass-covered debris indicate the courtyard, and there are traces of external earthworks in addition. Besides these three castles mentioned in the sagas I have now come t acrosSkaila moreo e Westnesn tw si l On . Rousan i s y (shown me by Mr John Logie), at the old seat of Sigurd of Westness, Kolbein's contemporary and kinsman, would be well worth excavat- ing. Enough can be seen at present to show the presence of a square, lime-cemented keep of much the same dimensions as the keep on Wyre, together wite grass-covereth h d foundation e courtth f o -s yard wall, traceable for 37 feet beyond the keep and flush with its faced thean ,n turning bac t a righk t angles—exactl e samth y e arrangemen t Cairston.a s a te othe e describeTh on 1r e castlth d s i e in this paper. I have said that Wyre is the test case. We know for certain (from e 113th 6 Damsay castle) tha ta typ therf s strongholo e wa e n i d Orkney know a kastalif Cairsto o s a nu B s builtne beforwa Th .t i e d "bordland,ol s wa " i.e. e privatth e propert e earls th d there f an ,yo - fore any castle there was erected by one of them. If, then, the existing rui e lateb n r than Wyre e havw , a eprimitive , relatively weakly designed, clay-cemented stronghold, erected by an earl, to replac n oldea e r fortalice, after a privat e landowne d buile ha rth t well-designed, powerful, lime-cemented castl n i Wyree . Tha, is t plainly, the only alternative to accepting the ruins as those of the 1152 kastali; and some extraordinarily strong reason would have to be adduce r advancinfo d g suc a viewh . Other-wis e primitiveth e , clay- built castle of Cairston must be put down as anterior to Wyre, and e Damsaoth f ye groun typeth n f constructiono ,o d , even apart from the 1152 reference. The castle of Clouston seems somewhat better designed defensively than Cairston, and therefore is perhaps a little s similait later t bu ,r clay bindinge practicath d an , l identit f somyo e e details insido th f tw e , e keeth wallsucth s pf a h so (i.e. facine gth courtyard), one quite thin, the other very thick, the internal dimen- sions of the keep, and the thickness of the curtain-walls, show that

there certainly cannot be much difference in their dates. II am indebted to Mr Hugh Marwick, P.S.A.Scot., for fuller notes of this structure than I made myself when I saw it some years ago. 296 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

It may be added that their design is in every respect consistent with, e elevenththosth f o ed twelfth-centur an - y continenta d Englisan l h castles, illustrated and described by Viollet le Due and Clark. Both keeps belong essentiall e earlth yo yt rectangular types showi s a , n by their interior shape e outeth ; f thougro sideo t Cloustoa tw hs e ar n rounded worts i t I h. noting tha resultane tth t outline, partly curved dan partly rectangular, is almost exactly that of the very early towers in the e Visigotwalth f o l h stronghol t Carcassonneda , illustrate Viollen di e l t Due's Dictionnaire; and also of the twelfth-century keep of Chateau Gaillard, buil Richary b t d Coau Lione d r . Bot t Cairstoha Westd nan - ness the courtyards are rectangular, while the court at Clouston is curved in outline, arid seems to have been roughly pear-shaped s intact whepossibilite wa Th t e ni curtain-wall. th f yo s having been founded (partly at least) on those of a prehistoric circular-shaped fort has already been mentioned, but since early courtyards had variou t necessars formsno s i t i ,o loo yt k beyon e merdth e preference of the builders. e Owinconstanth o t g t disturbanc e grount stoneth ge f o o o edt n , objects of any value for dating purposes were found at Gernaness during the recent excavations. Everything we collected, including a few hammer-stones, fragments of pottery and pieces of stag's horn, and many bones of domestic animals, were sent to the National Museum of Antiquities, and Mr Graham Callander was able to pronounce definitely that nothing coul e identifieb d d y witan h particular period. But at one time a mound of earth covered the site, e yeath rn i 1879 d ,an when s beinthiwa s g carted awa d spreaan y d over the fields of the farm, four gold rings, two twisted and two plain, undoubtedly brought fro e castlemth e , th wer f o ee founon n i d fields. These are now in the National Museum, and are rings of the Viking age, usually associated with a period earlier than the twelfth century t actuallBu .e onlth y y other twiste e dMuseu th rin n i gm closely resembling these was found in Bute, along with pennies of David I. of Scotland, and Henry I. and Stephen of England, whose reigns all fell between 1100 and 1153; a -very singular piece of corroborative evidence for the date of the castle.1 To this may be added the evidence of the large skali characteristic e Vikinoth f g period (thoug n thii h s case lat n thai e t periode w s a , have seen), mad e weightie th ee knowth y b nr combinatio f kastalio n d skali t an Damsaya e evidencd therth d An s ol i e. e e th als f o o house fign , whici 1) .B ( s h replace "heae e castlth th d s da e houser "o 1 These fiv el describe al ring r Josepe D ar s y db h Anderso Scotlandn i n n Pagani Times, pp. AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. 297 manor-place of the property, and which probably date from the fifteenth century.1 Even supposing they were the immediate suc- cessors of the castle, which is by no means certain, the period of s demolitioit n which they indicate pute probablth s e s perioit f o d erection very far back indeed. n vieI f thiwo s e agreemenevidencth l al ef o tfro m every side, ther n scarcelyca e I think, e reasonablb , e roo r doubmfo t thae th t structure may safely be dated as between 1120 and 1150. Early thoug hn Orkne a seey thir mma sfo y castle, lookine th o gt later dates whic attributee har earliese th o t d t Scottish castles, there are certain general historical facts to be remembered with regard to Orkne t thiya se recenperiodth n I t .grea t Norges Historic, Professor A. Bugge says: " The eleven hundreds were a great epoch in the Orkneymen' t Magnus'S s s wa saga t , I Ear. l Rognvald's Bjarnd an , e Kolbein's son's time tima ; f architectureo sculptured ean f literaturo , e and culture." Nor is this an exaggerated picture. Taking architecture alone, St Magnus' Cathedral was begun in 1137, the round church of (one of only six known in Great Britain) was certainly built before 1136, and St Peter's, , and Kirk are also held to be somewhat earlier than St Magnus'. And this implies that good mason imported an s d building tradition sislande werth n i es thens A . for castles have w , e reviewe e evidencdth f theio e r presence n factI . , at that particular epoch the civilisation of this remote archipelago had reached n certaii , n thing t leasta s poina , t surprisingly high: much as happened in certain islands of the Mediterranean some thousands of years before.

IV. e dat th f thi o e f e established I sb e hel b castlo t dn ca e , thers i e very strong evidenc builde its shoeto wrwho muswasHe .t obviously e greatehavth f eo beere magnate nchapteon n i e dayd th an ,f ro s lix. e Orkneyingaoth f Saga (Bolls ed. )lona g lis s givei t f "f no o nobl n eme earls' kin" in Orkney at that very period. In this list one is safe to say he must be included, especially as it is very comprehensive and

contain e namesth f severao s l men, meano e weln th y lf b o sbor t nbu On1 e of the houses was described in Proceedings Orkney Antiq. Soc., vol. ii., and documentary evidenc earle eth citeys a sixteent d t leasol showina s s a t hwa centuryt gi . Since the nhavI e found that the only house of similar plan (in Kirkwall) was ruinous by 1677, so that a date well fifteente bacth n ki h century seems likel bothr yfo . Anothe dwelling-housd rol t Netherbigginea g has one-half of it clean gone, and there is documentary evidence that this was the case in 1664; describes i t i " e f aulth o s d da dwhil en byr e byrea eth 1646 "n n i e o . 298 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1926.

first importance. e wholth f o e t listOu 1 onl famile yon s possibleyi s a , e residencee otherth th e knownl ar sal f o s . This family consistef o d e fouth re earlie sonth f o sr chieftain Havard Grunnason l themselveal , s "godings r vassao " l chieftain thin e earlO th s f . evidenco sf o e on e these four must have bee r corroboratee builderfa nth o thid s s an ,si d by the fact that their father Havard came from Earl Hakon's half of Orkney, which consisted mostle Westh f to y Mainland. e fourth f , O 2 it is not likely to have been Magnus the eldest, since he was chieftain r lor f Sandawa do r o 1136n yi r Thorstei,o e thirnth d brothers i e h s a , also Nortfoune th n dhi Isles. But he can be identified more exactly by one very convincing fact. All place-names endin staffirn gi (" stead r abode), "o with exception raro s e practicalle b o t s a y negligible, were compounded with proper nouns—in the vast majority of cases with men's names or nicknames. Klostaffir (afterwards Cloustath, and now Clouston) is certainly such a case, and e nicknamth e Klo a claw( s onli ) y once sagasth ee l th foun,al n i d bearer being Hakon Havardson Klo e secone fou,th th rf do brothers . In Norway, it may be mentioned, staffir names as late as this period e verar y raren Orknei e foundt ,ar thougBu w y . fe ther e a h ar e distinct suggestions tha numbea t r were formed aftee Norwegiath r n staffir period, and one striking parallel to Klosta&ir was certainly Jaddvararst'affir t OlaS n ,i name d afte s owneit r r Jaddvor, natural daughte f Earo r l Erlend herseld an , f include e samth en di list.3 This double line of independent proof is sufficiently striking; but there is yet another bit of evidence. Almost next door to Clouston lietownshie sth f Irelandpo , once containin f the.largeso e gon t recorded

evidentl s lise twa Th y intende fula s ld a recor chiee th f d o familie s actuall Orknen yi e th t ya time1 , and only one man of chieftain's rank at the period is found outside it. This was Eyvind Melbrigdason, a kinsman of Sweyn Asleifson. Sweyn's estates lay partly in Caithness, and from this fact and the name Melbrigda, Eyvind was apparently a half-Celtic Caithness chief in the earl's service. He certainly cannot have lived near Stenness, as he arrived in his ship at Westness in a matter of hours when Earl Paul gathered his forces there. 2 See S. Nordal's edition of the Orkneyinga Saga (1913-6), p. 114 : " Havard was on the earl's (Hakon's) ship; he was the relatioii-in-law and good friend of both earls, and always Hakon's councillor." 3 JaddvararstaSir styles i d KnarrarstaSir Englisr o Knarstoo tw e hth editionsn i t thibu ,s is undoubtedly wrong from the facts related in the saga itself. The true form is given in the old Danish translation (see Nordal's editio e OrTc.th s evidentlf no Saga). wa t I alternan y a - tive form of the original Geitaberg (Gaitnip), where Jaddvor actually lived (another family altogether occupied Knarston). Other known instances of these stadir names in Orkney as alternative forms are Flenstath alias Sands, in the early rentals, and SkeggbjarnarstaSir of the saga, which must hav ad n eha alternative ,disappeared s sincha t e i l foual rn I instance. s these names were evidently superimposed on older names. In the case of Klosta&ir it seems not unlikely tha name tth e Stedhus, still traditionally attache existine th o dt g buildingsgroud ol f po , actually originae ma th e yb l e townshipnamth f o e , sinc wely e formee ima tlb d fro O.Ne mth . senssteSja,e th "f n eao i level plain with perpendicular border"—an exact descriptio lane th df no at this point. (See Norske Gaardnavne, xii, p. 95.) AN EARLY ORKNEY CASTLE. 299

odal " bus r manoro " n i Orkneys , d chieftain'clearlol n a y s seat. e twelftth n I h century, when these chiefs were very powerful people with extensive estates, there cannot well have beeo differentw n t families in such extremely close proximity; but the near presence of this great bu exactly e facfitth st that there were four Havardson brothers, all godings, and that Hakon was only the second of them. Ireland may therefore be taken to be their father's seat, and Clouston paryoungea e b f o to t r son's e estate.sharth f eo 1 Hakon Klo, whom this accumulatio f evidencno e seem associato t s e pretty certainly with the stronghold on Gernaness, is only once mentioned in action in the Orkneyinga Saga; when he and his brothers, Magnus and Thorstein, pursued and slew the murderer of Earl Rognvald at Calder in Caithness in 1159. He appears several times, however, in this and other saga connection si n wit s ancestrhhi marriaged yan than o td an , account figures als severan oi pedigreee th f o l Munch'n si s Norske Folks Historic. mothes Hi r Berglio granddaughtea s wa t f Earo r l f Pauo . I l Orkney; his wife Ingigerd was the daughter of the famous adventurer and claimant to the Norwegian throne, , by the daughter oa greaf t Celtic hous n Caithnessi e e youngesth s foud hi ran f ; o t sons married int oleadina g Icelandic family. e chapeth r Alfo s which forme e starting-pointh d f theso t e excava- s found e courttionswa th t i .n sigo i -n f , t no Theri rooo n r ms fo i e t presumabli yard d an , y e placewoulb t dno d outsid o hampet e e th r defence. Yet, as was mentioned before, the tradition is very specific, and in the course of extensive inquiries some years ago no chapel traditions proved to be wrong. Apparently, then, it must have been built on top of the foundations after the castle was pulled down and d buildingconvertedol l al n Orkne i s a , y were—and still are, into something more immediately useful; whic n thahi t dar e includekag d spiritual usefulness. Finally, when a conception of a more utilitarian Creator (little incline o appreciatt d e wasted building material) came into vogue chapethe , l becam dykea e seemIt . morthe s e likely that the chapel replaced the castle in actual fact, since it has entirely replaced it in tradition, save for the tale of the vague tall house. If so, one has further evidence tha castle demolishes th t ewa verda y long time ago. A traditional pedigree which supports the other evidence rather remarkably W&s mentioned leadina n i 1g articl Orcadiane th n ei f 25to h February 1868 n connectioI . n wit e ancestrhth f yo e distinguisheth d physicist Balfour Stewart t referrei , s descenhi o t d t fro e Cloustonmth f o s Clouston, "whose 22nd chie direcn i f t succession s statee Nicob wa " o dt l Clouston, thef o n Netherbigging. At three generations to a century this takes one back to approximately 1130-40, the precise period at which a younger son, according to the other evidence, built the stronghold and settle mentionee b dy therema t dI . thastrice th t t e wholentaith n eo l family, whicn i h effect the odal laws created, caused an extraordinary adhesiveness of land and family, often over many centuries. 300 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 192612 L .

In conclusion, I should like to express my gratitude to Mr G. P. H. Watson . GrahaJ r M , m Callander, . Richardsoanr JS , M d r theinfo r counsel and information, to Mr T. H. Clouston for his survey, and also foa formr f assistanco , e peculiarly valuabl n suci en expensiva h e operatio s excavationr Huga n M ho t Marwic d s invaluablan hi , r kfo e assistance with place-names. Everythin I ghav e said with regaro t d y nam s beean ha en either information s givebee ha himy nb nr o , checked and passed by him. To all those who assisted me in the actual wor f diggino k besy m gt thank e alsar so t especialldueBu . y d ofeeI technica s Braslm hi indebter To s fo r lM advico dt commond ean - sense judgment throughou whole th t e operations.

MONDAY, y Wth1926Ma . GEORGE MACDONALD, C.B., F.B.A., LL.D., D.Lrrr., F.S.A.ScoT. e Chairth n i ,.

A Ballot having been taken, the following were elected Fellows:— WILLIAM ALLAN, M.B.E. Howieshil0 4 , l Road, Cambuslang. JOHN BANNBBMAN, Junr. t MargaretsS , , Elgin. Rev. DONALD C. CAMPBELL GOLLAN, United Free Manse, Fort William. EDWAR . GBIMSTONT . DR , M.A. ,Bellevu5 e Street. JAMBS LOVE Neilso3 2 , n Street, Falkirk. Rev. JOHN MACLEOD, O.B.E., Hon. C.F. 8 Lansdown, e Crescent, Glasgow. W , JAMES MATHBB, Membe e Boarth f f Agriculturo o dr r Scotlandfo e , Ravelston Bank, Blackball, Edinburgh. GEORGE S. ROBERTSON, M.A., 10 Culloden Terrace, Arbroath. Rev. W. ALEXANDER Ross, East United Free Manse, Blantyre, Lanark- shire. THOMAS WALKER-LOVE, M.B., Greenbank, Clark Street, Airdrie.

The following Donations to the Museum were intimated and thanks Donors:votee th o dt — (1) By GEORGE BEVERIDGE of Vallay, North Uist. Iron Fleerish and three Worked Flints of yellow-grey colour, from Shian, Balranald, North Uist.