The Dwarfie Stane, Hoy, Orkney: Its Period and Purpose

E DWARFITH E STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 217

THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY: ITS PERIOD AND PURPOSE. BY CHARLES S. T. CALDER, A.R.I.A.S., F.S.A.SCOT. WIT NOTHA "Jo N O E.DWARFIE BENTH D "EAN STANE. BY SIR GEORGE MACDONALD, K.C.B., PRESIDENT.

During the summer of 1935, when engaged on work of investigation for the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments, I had an opportunity of inspecting, along with Professor Bryce, the curious monument in the islan f Hoydo , well know e Dwarfith s na ehuga Stanes i e t I isolate. d

Dwarfie Th Pig . 1 .e Stane fro north-weste mth . block of old red sandstone (fig. 1), lying one mile and a half south-south-east of Quoyness, in the valley between the Ward Hill of Hoy and the Dwarfie Hamarsn anciena s t bafflinA bu t. g featur f interesto ed bee ha n t i , described agai d agaian n n long befor r WalteSi e r Scott enhances dit "Thn familiarit i made t h i ee f ePirate.o us glamoud e yan th y "b r e immensTh e mas f roco s k rests broadside-dow e slopesth 0 n no 30 , yards e Hamarsnortth f s shapho It .roughls ei y tharectangulaa f o t r prism, broken here and there, and also much weathered through long ages of exposure, particularly on the top where the forces of disinte- gratio destructiod nan n have been peculiae aideth y db r stratificatiof o n 218 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1936.

the whole. A cavity in the west side has been laboriously hollowed out from the solid by human agency (fig. 2). This has clearly been done with a definite object, for the space has been subdivided into three parts—a central passag corridorr eo recessea d an , d cel eithen o l r side. The general dimensions have frequently been statede th but n i , majority of instances, with a varying amount of error. The stone measure feefee8 4 lengt s2 n 1 inchei t8 t d hbreadtan n si e southth n ho ,

BREAKAGE

C.ST CALDER Pig. 2. The Dwarfle Stane: Plan, Sections, and Elevation.

decreasin northe th fee3 n 1 o , t o whilgt heighe eth t also decreases from 6 feenorthe inchesoute th 8 tfee 3 th n o ,to n h t wherso lowee eth r edge is sunk below the ground. The difference in height is accentuated by e anglth f reposeo e whichn e stonea th s f judgo t ha o ,, p e to fro e mth inclination of 9 or 10 degrees from the horizontal. That the rock was already in its present position before the hewing was begun is proved e facth t e hollowed-ouy thab th flooe f th to r e levelt th portio n ,o s ni and confirmation might be found in the lop-sided impression produced by the position of the entrance. The south jamb is only 9 feet distant, but the north jamb is 16 feet distant, from the ends to which they are respectively nearest. It was probably the need for providing convenient E DWARFITH E STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 219

headroom that led to the doorway being placed nearer to the higher end rather than in the middle. The opening (fig. 3) is 2 feet 10 inches wide by 2 feet 4 inches high, while its sill rises 5 inches above the ground. The interval between the soffit of the lintel and the top of the stone has been about 1 foot 8 inches, but the front part of it has been destroyed and wasted passagawaye Th . e _ ^^ __ (A) penetrate a distanc r fo s f o e ,jts~ — ^m/f fully 2J feet before reachine gth /////*• ~.. lateral cells (B and C). Thereafter it extends for 5 feet or so farther between thema corridor, s a e th roof of which is 2 feet 11 inches abov floore eth . southere Th n ) appearcel(B l s e morth e b important o t , being comparatively elaborate in execu- tion and exhibiting detail that is entirely absent in its neighbour. It is entered through a rectangular openin feeg4 inc1 t h 1 wid y b e foot 8 inches high, which has slightly rounded s corneri d an s framed within two jambs, an up- rising kerb, and a quasi-lintel, the las inchet3 1o ^t s lower thae nth ceiling of the corridor. The inside projectio e easth tf o njam 8 s bi inches, as against 2>\ inches of the one on the west. The kerb rises 1 foot on the outside, is 3 inches broad on the top and drops 5 Pig. 3. The Dwarfie Stane: Entrance and Opening inche e flooa curv f th n o i rso et to Cell B. e cellth , whic therefors hi inchee7 s higher thae corridor flooe th nth f o r . The cell roof, which is continuous with the soffit of the lintel, has an upwar d eastwaran d d trend, attainin ga maximu m heigh f 2-o t| feet abov e floorth e , wherea e heighe wes th sth s onl i t a feety2 inch1 t . The walls converge slightly towards the roof and, with an allowance for a varying degree of curvature, the cell has a maximum length of 5 feet and a maximum breadth of 3 feet. Across the east end a low ledge of the rock, 8 inches wide, rises 3| inches in front above the floor, sloping o 5t ^ p inchee backu th t sa . Thi s alwayi s s referrepilloa s r a wfo o t d 220 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 1936Y10 .

inhabitante th doubo n s t wasa i ,t , thoug sensa n hi e very different from the usual one. The opposite cell (C) is plainer. Its walls and roof are more curvilinear in outline and merge into one another gradually. It has no entrance in the ordinary meaning of that term, for it is entirely open on the side next the corridor, from which it is demarcated by nothing but a very shallow kerb, 4 inches wide, 2 inches high on the outsidinc1 hd an hige h inside, leavin a gdifferenc f onlo e inc1 y h betwee e floonth r level againss sa t 7 inchee southerth n i s ns i cell t I . approximately 4J feet fee2 lon y t gb wide t aboubu , t half-was it p u y height of 2 feet 3 inches these dimensions are exceeded owing to the curvature. Extending mainly over this cell, but partly over the passage, there is a rough, irregularly oval-shaped opening, the axes of which, between s brokeit n edges, measur feee3 inchefeet 9 3 179n tsais I i d .t d2 i san a diametehavo t d fee2 eha inches.f 9 to r increase Th doubo 1n s ei t du subsequeno et t wear throug s beinhit g usemeana s da accesf so y sb visitors, whose feet have also left their mark on the well-worn kerb below. Whes firsi t ti n mentioned, this openinn a s spoke i gs a f o n "impluvium, t therreaso o roof.e n hol r Bu th "s o e i believ o n et i e that

it is anything els2 e but a breakage, or that it formed part of the original arrangement usualls ha t I y. been explaine escape th flua r f es o fo ed a smoke from a fire, the hearth being sometimes alleged to have been in norte th h celt morlbu e ofte havo nt e corridore othee beeth th n n ri O . hand, there is nowhere any indication of a hearth nor any sign of the stone having been subjected to the action of prolonged heat. Besides, y nothine opennessa th e suppose o f th t o g f o s d ven o inclement t t weather fira ,situateo s e d would have left rooo littl n r livin mr fo eo g or sleepin. gin A large squared bloc f stonko e (fig ) wit4 . ha roughl y rounded pro- jection at one end lies prostrate about 2 feet in front of the entrance. t measureI fees4 incheshouldee 2 t th fee5 inc o 1 t st t extremn hbu i r e length, while it is 2 feet 8 inches broad by 2 feet 1 inch high. It will be immediately obvious how closely the end dimensions correspond to those of the entrance. In view of this correspondence it is suggested that the ston s bee e dooreha nth e margi th , f clearancno s insertioit r efo n being just such as might be reasonably expected. The Dwarfie Stane was first described by "Jo. Ben," as long ago as the sixteenth century.3 For four centuries it has aroused the curiosity

1 Archceologia Scotica, . 265volp . i .. Barry's History of the Orkney Islands, Appendix VII. p. 445. 2 Note "Jon Se 3e o . Ben "an Dwarfie dth e r GeorgStanSi y b ee Macdonald, K.C.B., infra, 230. p . E DWARFITH E STANE, HOY,1 ORKNEY22 .

of successive generation f antiquarieso s e purpos s meanth d wa t an e,i t to serve has been a matter of much conjecture. Legend has invariably been appeale e originath , dto l story being tha e rochews t th t kwa nou by a giant and his wife for their own accommodation. Later writers, however, realising that the bed recesses were hopelessly short for anyone of gigantic stature, have substituted for this a theory that it was the dwelling of a dwarf or the habitation of a hermit. Out of thirty-six published accounts 1 no fewer than twenty-five accept, more or less whole-heartedly viee residencea th ,ws thawa thren t I i t . e others i t si respectively regarde havins da g been eithe oratorn altan a a rr a o rr yo temple. Two authorities, Johnston 2 and Dietrichson 3 speculate as to

Pig. 4. The Dwarfle Stane: "Door."

havnot whethee beemay a nrock-sepulchreit r formethe , r without venturing an opinion as to its period or its category, and the latter only with some hesitation. Johnston, whose articl moss ei t informative with a wealth of minute detail, has excellent plans and appends a useful bibliography. Dietrichson assigns the monument to a time between A.D. 600 and 872, and suggests that it may be a hermitage of the Irish- Celtic himsel s i Culdees e h t f onlbu , y half convince reluctans i d dan o t t dismiss the idea that it may represent a rock-burial. All thi I slearne observationn d ow aftey m rindependentld ha s d yle m concludo et e tha e cellth t s were designe accommodato dt e death e d

preparem a furthe o I livinge g t th o dant t Bu r .d no tha n either Johnston Reliquary,e Th 1 vol. ii., Bibliography . 101,p , and additionn ,i Statisticale Th , Account of Scotland, vol. xvi. p. 248; Handbook to the Orkney Islands, p. 136; Summers and Winters in the Orkneys, 2nd edition, p. 255; Anderson's Guide to the Orkney Islands (1884), p. 134; Monumenta Orcadica, p. 47; The Orkney Book, . 179p ; History Churche oth f . 10 Orkney,n i , 9 . pp The Reliquary, vol. ii. pp. 84-101. Monumenta Orcadica, pp. 8, 9, 43, 47-49. 2 3 222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1936.

or Dietrichson o clait d man , tha e Dwarfith t e e d firsStanth an t s i e only example in the British Isles of a completely rock-cut tomb of the late Neolithi r Earlco y Bronze Age t shoulI . d probabl associatee yb d wit megalithie hth c people fro datee e soute mb westth th d d o dht an an , remot d obscuran e e perio f transitioo d n o phasebetweetw f e o s th n cultur eI hav e just named I shoul. d lik supporo et t this statemeny b t describing later two analogies from the Mediterranean and by referring to other tombs fro intervenine mth g countries drawin y wels b ,a s la g attention to certain features in some of the monuments in Orkney itself. Mean- while Professor Bryce authorises me to say that he expressed complete agreement with me on the spot. t shoulI addee db d that s parlegen it pla o t s t connection yi ha d n with this explanation store alsogiana a dwar f Th r onln yo .o tca fy have arisen after the true origin of the monument had long been for- gotten, and that in itself must indicate an ancient lineage. But there is somethin gs surel i else t I y. significant l countriethatal n i , s where megalithic monument founde ar s , there shoul superstitioua e b d s association of giants with undisputed cairns of the Neolithic or Bronze Ages, throughout the area of distribution. Our own islands furnish many examples of "Giants' Graves" and the application of the legend to the Dwarfie Stane would see o mbrint t gi int o line with thes respecn i e t of timd purposean e r DuncaD . n Mackenzie expresse s beliehi s f that the "tombs of the giants" in Sardinia had "an ethnological connection which brings them into one general context with the whole rest of the middl wesd ean t Mediterranea f wes o s weln a r s ta fa l Europes a d an , afield as Britain and Norway." 1 The Giant's Tomb at Molafa in Sardinia (fig. 5) offers a close parallel

Dwarfie th o s featuret it e l Staneal sn I excep. t sizresemblance eth s ei 2 remarkable. It is entirely hewn out of the sandstone rock and it has a central corridor eithen o , r sid f whic o ea recess s hi , havin e floogth r raised above the corridor level by a kerb in much the same way. Other e curvaturth linke wale th ar slf e o facesurface th t d thae an sth t entranc s beeeha n closelarga y edb stonea word n e analogI th ., s yi complete in every essential. A second satisfactory parallel is furnished e tomth f s'Abbo by b s probabli a t I Bodaga . y 6) 3d an (figs 5 . unfinished. So far as completed, however, it shows a chamber hollowed out in a large isolated boulder, this time of granite. Only one cell seems to have been contemplated, and the suggestion has been made that the 1 Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. v. p. 135. 2 Ibid., p. 123. Ibid., indebtem . 104a Councip e I e Schooth . th o dt f permissior o lfo l reproduco nt e fig, 6 . 3 as well as the plans and sections (2) and (3) in fig. 5. THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 223 entrance has been masked by a slab fitting into it like a door.1 The e entrancbacth f o ks bee eha n contracte foro dt ma slightl y narrower rectangular aperture with projecting jambs, reminding one of the opening e soutth e Dwarfio ht th cel f o l e Stane r MackenziD . e point t thasou t the last feature recalls the portal hole which is so characteristic of the tombs of the giants.2 A comparison of the longitudinal sections of Molafa and s'Abba Bogada (fig. 5) with that of the Dwarfie Stane is

LONGITUDINAL SECTION LONGITUDINAL SECTION PLAN (DWARFIE STONE.) (VABBA BOGADA)

LONGITUDINAL SECTION (MOLAFA) PLAN

IO 5 O IO 2OFEE.T I I I I I I I I I I I —————————I————————————————h C.S.T.CALDE.R.OM.'. ) DwarfiFig(1 . 5 . e Stane: Section s'Abb) (2 . a Bogada: Pla Sectiond nan . (3) Molafa: Pla Sectionsd nan . instructive. The grotes.que-looking objects on the top of the tomb of s'Abba Bogada (fig. 6), it ought to be explained, are natural. Molaf adaptation a s i a buile rocn th ni f tko tomb megalithie th f so c period. Thes e usuallar e y constructe f stoneo dt manbu , y combine masonry with prepared rock-cut walls and foundations. Cairns of the latter class occu re mainlan botth n ho f Greado t BritaiIrelandn i d nan , servin conneco gt t e Mediterraneathosth f eo n wit e Orknehth y monuments to which I have next to refer. Althoug e Dwarfihth e Stan hardln rean i ca e e l yvi importanc e with suc a hmagnificen t tom s Maeshowea b e morth e ,b Orkneyy ma t i ,

Papers of the British School at Rome, vol. v. p. 104. Ibid., p. 104.

1 2 224 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1936.

interesting as being absolutely unique. That the two are intimately related cannot be doubted as soon as it is realised that the Maeshowe cells (fig ) incorporat7 . masonrn ei e e feature rocn th th i l n t ki yal cu s Dwarfie Stane. Thus entrance ,th mucf o sams e i hth e character, squarish and t alssmalli d o leadan , s int ocorridoa r extending backe righth o ;t t the recesses off the sides are similar, and in Maeshowe, too, the floors of two of these are raised above the corridor level by a kerb 5^ inches high;

Fig . s'Abb6 . a Bogada.

lastly, on the ground before each cell at Maeshowe lies the closing stone with which the resting-place has been sealed. The "door" at the Dwarfie Stane is ponderous, weighing approxi- notioe th houshalfa a d ns d an ,tha ewa an matel e doort i tn b to o t ,ya opened and shut by an ordinary mortal on each arrival or departure, may therefor rulee eb d obvious outi t I . s that, onc positionn ei intendes wa t ,i d to remain there. Can it be anything else but the sealing-stone of a burial chambe r? inserte s Whewa t ni t wouldi d exten r int corridoe fa oth o ds r that there woulrooo heartha n r me fo dt noneb bu , f courseo , necess wa , - sary. Again, its bulk is so great that not only would the main entrance be separate sealedth t bu , e openin eaco gt h cell woul blockee db o t p du suc extenn ha t that, even afte norte th r h brokes celwa l n into through roofe hole th t wouli th ,n ei almose db t necessar movo yt 'e ' dooeth r THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 225

some way back before access could be had to the south cell. It is con- ceivabl leverees tha wa t fro t i td ou m behin t leasa r shora tdfo t distance, and that it had been thus far displaced when "Jo. Ben" wrote of it as closin e entrancegth r whateveFo . r reasons subsequentlha t i , y been pulled out altogether. In 1792 Principal Gordon speaks of it as being 4 feet "high," not "long," an expression which probably means that in standins instead wa en t i f lyinn dgy o o hi sda g does. prostratw no 1t i s ea

PLAN

LONGITUDINAL SECTION SO FEET I f I MI MI "+ C.S.T.CALDtR Fig . Maeshowe7 . : Plan, with section cella f so .

leverage th Ma t yno e exerte thiy db s massive stone durin s ultimatgit e removal accoune fracturinth e foreparr e lintelth fo td th f o gf An o ?t may it not also be that the roughly rounded end is the result of chiselling n efforina gaio t t n admission whe situ?n i e ston s nth ewa Only after that had proved futile, does the line of least resistance through the roof seem to have been tried. Both single celld multiplan s e cells occu megalithin i r c tombd an s cairns s mana , s twelvya e enterin e corridoth f gof r being recorded.I 2 am able to cite a good example of the multiple type from the Calf of

Archceologia Scotica, vol. i. p. 265. Arclueologia, vol. xxxiv . 136p . , pi. xvi. VOL. LXX. 15 226 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 1936Y10 .

Eday Orknen i , s truIt y e (fig. characte8) . r Avat recogniseno s s it y db discoverers, who described it as a habitation,1 and it is marked "Erd- house' O.Se th . n builMaps o 'i upright f I o t. t stone rubbled san , support- ing a roof of horizontal slabs, but its foundation and parts of the walls are formed in the solid rock. The structure comprises a corridor with four small cells opening off it. One of the cells has a kerbstone in position,

LONGITUDINAL SECTION (FROM DRAWING BY PETRIE)

C.S.TCALOER. Fig. 8. Calf of Eday: Chambered Cairn. and another was found with its entrance filled with masonry, while there was a large stone at the mouth of the corridor.2 Petrie alludes to it as a subterranean chamber of a type which he suggests would be better adapte r concealmendfo provisionf o t s dwellinga tha r nfo , adding that l evental t a t woulsi d have been unsuitabl placa s y retreaef a eo an r fo t lengthened period. He also remarks that the recesses of this particular example convey the idea of beds or sleeping berths, and recall to his mind the interior of the Dwarfie Stane, an observation which confirms the idea of a connection between the two. But Petrie, in a later account,

1 Proc. Soc. Ant. . 155 Scot.,p . .ii . volpt . ii . 3

3 2 Ibid. Proc. Ork. Ant. Soc., vol. v. pp. 19-20. E DWARFITH E STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 227

which appears to have been overlooked, strengthens this connection by associatin e cairgth n definitely wit e chamberehth d tombs. n strucI 1 - tural detai arrangemend an l e Cal e cairf Eda th o e cellth f n th f nto y o s agreemenn i e ar t with e lowethosth f reo chambe f Taiverso r o Tuick, Rousay, Orkney, whic alss hi o partly rock-cut whicd an , h yielded round- bottomed pottery of neolithic type. The lay-out of the Eday cairn is an

almost exact reproduction, too, of 2 a rock-cut tomb, No. 9 of a group at San Vicente, Mallorca (fig. 9),3 which shows the same number of cells similarly disposed at the end of the corridor. In the group the raised

CRO55-SECTIO NF 9NO f O 5 IO 15 FEET | I I I I | I I I I | I I I I

PLA MF Ne9 O Vicenten Sa Pig . 9 . : Bock-cut Tombs. 9 , d Nosan 7 .

kerb, so conspicuous in the examples here described, is a noticeable characteristic whic s welhi l represente n (fig7 Tomdi . e .b No 9). Th * occurrenc thesf eo e point similaritf so furthea ys i r proo Mediterraneaf fo n influence. Returnin Maeshoweo gt noty ema thae w , t stonee somth f eo s have been dressed with a tool that has left on the surface a covering of pit-marks. This is an additional feature linking it with the Dwarfie Stane, on the walls of which pit-markings are very pronounced. It

1 Archaeological Journal,. 36 . p vol . xx . Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. xxxvii. p. 81, figs. 3 and 4; ibid., vol. Ixix. p. 340. 32 ArcJueologia, vol. Ixxvi . 137p . ,I have fig . thano t .9 Societe kth Antiquarief yo f Londoso n and Mr W. J. Hemp for permission to redraw and reproduce the cross-section and plan shown here. 1 Ibid., . 126p , pi. six. 228 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 1936Y10 .

will naturall e askeyb d what kin f implemento d s employe r hewindfo g would have produced this distinctive dressing. Wallace, who was the first to depict the Stane (fig. 10), was also the first to assert that the marks had been made by a "Mason's Irons," l and an illustration by Pococke wit s imaginativhit e arcading (fig ) certainl10 . y create e impressioth s n that a mason has been at work.2 But, if my contention is sound, the cavity was cut hundreds of years before iron was known in this country, thoug e constructorhth havy ma se possesse dknowledga f coppeeo r o r

Dwarfie Th Fig. e10 . Stane: Perspective plad topf san n o . (1) Prom Wallace, (2) and (3) from Pococke. bronze tools. Nor is there any reason why pointed flint or stone should t havno e been used. I am informed by a metal-worker, who has -watched African natives at work with stone implements, that the latter are much to be preferred to those made of soft untempered metals. Besides, the satisfactory use of mediua flin s a t s beemha n successfully demonstrate e experith y db - . SimpsonMuseun Y . J ow r r mmenSi ,ou f morcarrien o ti t e dou tha n sevente th yf o year e e bacon s th f subjece ago.ks o tess Th hi wa t3f o t stones figured in the Sculptured Stones of Scotland. The material selected a sof wat t no ssandston t somethinebu g more difficul worko t t grea , y Aberdeen granite from Kintore doorkeepee Th . Museume th f ro sayse h , ,

1 A Description of the Isles of Orkney, chap. iv. p. 21.

2 "Tour in Scotland," Scottish History Society, vol. i. p. 135. 3 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., Appendi . 122 p volo xt . .vi . THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 229

cut for him, in two hours, with a flint and wooden mallet, two-thirds of a circle, seven inche diametern si , nearly three-quarter incn a f ho s broad, above a quarter of an inch in depth, and very smooth on its cut surface. The experiment, he concluded, showed that cups and rings might have been produced befor e introductioth e e Ston f th metalsno n ei r Ageo n , I . Malta two structures of Neolithic date, Hagiar Kim and Mnaidra, show pit-marked dressings.1 The marks at the former resemble those on the Dwarfie Stan beinn ei g mor r leso e s incidental lattee t thosth bu , t rea differene intendee ar ar d r decorationan tdfo . Both showe b whay ma t effecte dressine th n i d f stongo e work even without metallic tools. Pro- fesso. MyreL states . J rha s d tha marke th t t Hagiaa s havm eKi r been produced simpl poundiny yb g wit hhammera thad t Mnaidran ,a t a they have been cut out and worked larger by rubbing with a stick and some sand.2 Finally n 1901i , , more tha nhundrea d stone implements "were found during excavations at Stonehenge, most of them being flint axes which had probably been used for dressing the softer of the sandstone blocks.3 Hugh Miller, who, incidentally, carved his name on the pillow stone, estimated that with pick and chisel he could excavate such another e Dwarfith cavitn i es ya Stan n threi e e weeka month. r o s With

flint implement tase sth k would coursef o ,4 muce b , h more toilsomet Bu . a lavish expenditur f timd o laboue an e r must generally have been incurre e constructioth n di f thesno e early tombsn thii sd respecan , t the Dwarfie Stane is not by any means exceptional. Though unique in characte Britise th n ri t isolateh no Isles s i type n dt i ,i seriee ,th conf so - necting links enablin o derivt s gu t froi e e rock-cumth t e tombth f o s Mediterranean. But a series of connecting links hardly seem necessary to prove the association. The correspondence of the architectural features is in itself sufficiently forceful and convincing to establish almost beyond question a direct communication. Stripped of its romance and legend as a habitation, the Dwarfie Stane yet remains more interestin importand gan actuan i t l tomfacta s a ,b which survivea s sa e earliesth monumenf o te phaseon f o f tcultur o s e which these islands have witnessed.

I have to thank Sir George Macdonald for a most helpful revision of this paper and also Professor Thomas H. Bryce for allowing me to include a statement of his opinion. 1 Papers of the British School at Rome, vol vi. p. 97. - , fig Ibid.,, pi2 97 .. . xiiip ; fig , pi2 . . xxiv. Rough Stone Monuments, . EriT cy . b Peet 19 . p ,

43 The Cruise of the Betsy (1858), chap. xv. p. 475. 230 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 1936Y10 .

NOT ."JON O EE DWARFI . BENTH D "AN E STANEY B . SIR GEORGE MACDONALD, K.C.B., PRESIDENT.

Mr Calder was puzzlecl to find in the translation of Jo. Ben, published by the Scottish History Society,1 that the account of the Dwarfie Stane contained an allusion to a gutter, and he asked me whether I could help him. Reference to the original showed that the Latin word so rendered "was impluvium,. atriume th Romaa n f I o n house this swa smokehole e venth th a rooe er s th lefa ffo t . n i t Incidentally, however, it also admitted the rain, whence its name. A necessary complement was, therefore squara , e basin, constructed directly underneat catco ht h e water th callethie d camo b e impluvium. san to , o dth t e "Jo. Ben" use s primarwore it dth n di y sense, which suit e contexsth t admirably. The translator, who had never seen the Dwarfie Stane, interpreted it in secondars it y sense and, findin t impossiblgi understano et anybodw dho y could escape through a basin, assumed that what was meant was a gutter s plaiwa fon l r a closesailingal drainage t r fa rBu o .examinatio S . n whole oth f e passage showed tha currene th t t English versio sheea s ni r travesty of what "Jo. Ben" actually says. Ridiculous as the story is, it is sufficiently interesting to deserve more respectful treatment. It can hardl lese yb s than three centurie . JohnstosW old. A ,r s nevei M f ni right in believing that the Descriptio Insularum Orchadiarum is a forgery, either concocted by Sir James Balfour or foisted upon him as a hoax.2 Nationae Th l Librar f Scotlanyo d possesses three transcript f thio s s quaint little tractate—one among the Balfour MSS., one in Sir Robert Sibbald's handwriting, and the third in Macfarlane's Geographical Collections. After collating a good many passages in these—it will be convenien speao t themf k o respectively—. B.s M a , d S.an , disposem Ia d to think that S. and M. were both copied from B. If not, all three certainly derive ultimately from a common archetype. The editors of S.H.S., as I shall call the text in the Scottish History Society's volume, believed that Barry's History f Orkneyo (1805) toucn puti s u sh wit ha fourt h transcript lost formerlw bu t no , yNationae alsth n oi l t i Library , so f I . can only have been a copy of B., S., or M., or of a manuscript of the same family, made by a scribe who was either ignorant of Latin or careless or very possibl ytexe bothth tr whicfo , h Barry prints is much inferioo t r that of any of the known transcripts. It is badly punctuated and con- tains numerous grammatical mistakes in places where the MSS. are, one 1 Macfarlane's Geographical Collections, e sectio ff. 2 th vol, 30 e Lati .n. iiiTh pp .n n texo s i t translatioe . f th 2 being. y 312r p o32 n Fo Ho n . .o correspondine pp n th d an . ff 3 31 g . figurepp e ar s Lored Ol - Miscellany f Orkneyo Shetland,d an vol. . viii59 . p . THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 231

alld an , perfectly correct. Again, sentences whic Barrn hi obscure yar e or nonsensical, wear quite a different complexion in the MSS. Thus, sectioe th n i n upon Stronsay, where Barr nomines yha Troicis spiritud an . wit accore M h on d dmaxima,an , reaS. d, nomineB. Trowis spiritud an marino, at the same time distributing their commas in a way that makes narrative th e intelligible, thoug coursf o t heno credible. In the circumstances it is very unfortunate that the editors of S.H.S. should have based their reprint upon Barry's text, and the reason they giv wholls ei y unsatisfactory .MacfarlanLatie e th ' 'Th n i e manuscript,'' they say, "was foun havo t d e error certain i s n parts. Latie "f Th 1no t immaculateno s verMi s i . t yi t mucbu , h better than tha Barryn i t . What follow s stili s l more surprising: "Errors, however—chiefly grammatical—also occu Barry'n i r s print thesd havo an , eto e been corrected, chango n t bees ebu ha n made that affect sense.e th s " Curiosite m d yle to make a word for word comparison of the two versions. I found a few changes that affected the sense. These, it is fair to admit, were usually for the better. The many which I found affecting the grammar •were almost invariably for the worse, sometimes very much for the worse. In the section on Sanday, for instance, quid has been altered into quid, fuimus into suimus, multis into multiis, habentd an into habeat, nonf eo these alterations having a jot or tittle of MS. support behind it. But, bad as the Latin text of S.H.S. is, the accompanying English translation is worsetakes i t I n. fro mmanuscripa tpossessioe oncth n ei Captaif no n Thomas. The author is unknown, but it is a very amateurish effort, containing so many inaccuracies and absurdities that it is grossly mis- leading. Like S.H.S. itself, it is based upon Barry, and not upon B., S., or M. It was certainly not worth printing. It will be clear that "Jo. Ben," whoever he may have been and at whateve rhav y perioma e e liveddh sufferes ha , d many thinghande th t sa s of posterity. Nor is the tale by any means complete. Mr Johnston's case against the date 1529, which appears in the heading, is unanswerable.2 e verth yt easno s ei witt Bu h s beewhicha n t hi establishe da stron g argument against the document being a forgery in the ordinary accepta- tion of that term ? He would be a very simple-minded forger who would leav mano es y obvious line f attaco s khighee opeth o nt r criticismI . should prefe thino t r f severao k e thae daton l th ts indication ei s that

1 Op. cit., viip. . 2 Old Lore Miscellany of Orkney and Shetland, vol. i. pp. 300 ff. • By way of a small contribution to the discussion, I may mention that, as my examination of the MSS. showed, Sir James Balfour, the oldest transcriber known to us, was at one time in two minds as to the date. In B. the third digit of 1529 has begun by being a plain circle, possibly a 0 or possibly the upper loop of a 9. Then the scribe has dipped his quill in the ink and written over it a heavy 2. 232 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , FEBRUAR , 193(3Y10 .

B., itself the oldest of the transcripts, is some way removed from the original, if not in time, at least in substance—in other words, that 1529 ia copyist's s mistake. s disfigurei Tha . B t mistakey b d s still more glaring can be readily demonstrated. To take but a single instance, eve ncasuaa l perusa Descriptioe th f o l leave distincsa t impression that authoe th r kne Orknes placwe hi th t ey nameye well d here d an ,sar ean ther severelo es y mangle barele b o t y s drecognisablea exampler fo , it s I , . at all likely that a forger, or for that matter of it anyone else who knew Orkney well, would give the name of "the Star of Lopeness" to Start Point e headlanth , d that jutt eastwardou s s fro e northermf th o d nen f Lopneso y ba n Sandaye othei s th e th n r O hand?s extremeli t i , y probable that in the sixteenth century this headland was called "the Start of Lopeness," for "Point" is a vain repetition, "the Start" already meaning neither more nor less than "the Promontory" (from Norse stjert, "a tail"). And, if that was what "Jo. Ben" wrote, what more natural than that an ignorant copyist should emend to '' Star'' ? Similar marks of a defective MS. tradition will be apparent when we conside e accoun e Dwarfith r th f o t e Stanetimw o eno t whico t ,s i t hi turn passingn I . ,remarkee howeverb y ma righ dm t i a ,s that a tI f i , to these being copyist's errors, they are in themselves sufficient to free Sir James Balfour from any suspicion of complicity in a forgery: they appear in the MS. which -was written by his own hand. Nowhere is the intimacy of "Jo. Ben's" local knowledge more manifest tha hin i s descriptio Dwarfie th f no e surroundingss Stanit d ean . Readers e originaoth f l -who have visite spoe dth t -will appreciat e accuraceth f yo side on e openinge towere th th Ware mase n th sth O f d.so Hil Hoyf o l , on the other are the less lofty Dwarfie Hamars, and in the valley between —inte re phras quosth s i e used—i e Dwarfith s e Stane itself. This i s represented as having been the handiwork of a giant and his wife, who fashione theihabitationfor own rit d . Then follows wha withouis t t doubt a first-hand picture of the monument. Hardly any detail is omitted. Even the concavity of the roof has been noted. The most serious blemish is the intrusion in S.H.S. of the phrase " duobus scuvialibus." e seconTh d wor s unknowi d o Latint n lexicographers. Small wonder, seeing that it is an invention of Barry's transcriber. All three MSS. read cervicalibus,1 so that what is meant is that the couch (pulvinar) had doubla e pillow , pieceo whicht tw n sbu i ,t howeverno tolde s ar wa e , w , consiste singla f do e bloc stonef finae ko Th l .touc thas h i doorwae th t y letterplaie o s th . ancoul. e e nS sdar M on tha n dI 1o misrean t d them B.n I , . though stilt no l to be mistaken by a careful reader, they are less distinct, a circumstance which suggests that Barry's transcript may, after all, have been take settlo n T point e froe th . m B collationa , othef o r passages woul necessarye db . THE DWARFIE STANE, HOY, ORKNEY. 233

was blocked by a stone, doubtless (as Mr Calder points out) the stone that now lies beside it. "How this has happened, I don't know," com- ments "Jo. Ben, forthwitd "an h proceed relato st populae eth r legend. A second giant who also lived in Hoy, jealous of his rival, hatched plota , hopin birdo kilo gt tw l s witstone—te hon o become sole master islandgaie o ot th f nd possessioan , desirabla f no e residence shapee H . d stona thay dimensions sucn ei it twa ha s corresponded exactl thoso yt e of the door, his idea being to shut the builders inside and starve them bot deatho ht . Accordingly worde th S.H.S.f n i so , — "Detulit tandem lapidem fabricatam in summitatem mentis, atque jaculo imposito surnrn i brachioruv a m (atque dolore alterius prosperi- tatis n ostiui ) m injunxit, gigante incluso evigilante, auribus lupum tenebat, exire nequiens, suis maleis impluvium fecit, per quod egressus est. Si credere dignum." The "authorised version" runs as follows:— '' At length he carried the prepared stone to the summit of the mount- ain and placing it as a dart by the great strength of his arms (and envy at the other's prosperity) joined it upon the mouth, the shut up giant watching attentively was every way in danger; being unable to escape he made a gutter with his hammer through which he escaped—if worthy credit." Even after the stumbling-block of impluvium had been got rid of, Mr Calde I werlosa d t sea an rwha mako t tfirsa f thiss o etA ste. p towards ascertainin true gth e e Latinsensth e texf eo f S.H.Sth , o t s wa . collate , whe e dfollowinM. th nwit d , S.an hB. , g differences emerged: l thre(1Al ) e MSS. read fabricatum, whicf courseo , his , correct thao s , t e femininth a mer s i ee blunder which Barry's transcribe s introha r - duced ; (2) While M. has an unequivocal injunxit, B. has what looks like inunxit, which seems to have puzzled Sibbald, since S. has invexit interlinean a s a . havrS suggestion d perioea an . dB ) afte(3 ; r this verb, a commas vigilante t ha poino no . n r S t s all,a ) fo t whilha (4 ; . M e evigilante, a negligibl e variation ) Afte . (5 havS ; r a d etenebat an . B semicolon instead of a comma, and M. has a period; (6) B., S., and M. agre readinn ei g malleis, t maleis.no Bearing these difference mindn i s , taks passagu e t eth le e claus clausey eb . 1. Detulit tandem lapidem fabricatam in summitatem montis.—It is obvious that ther somethins ei g more than fabricatam wrong here: detulit means "carried doe e t down,carron sno d y an "thing p to s e dowth o nt of a hill. Nor can there be much doubt as to what has happened. "Jo. Ben" wrot summitate,n ei meaning thae ston "shapes th te ewa th n do top of the hill" or, in other words, among the crags that fringe the brow of the Dwarfie Hamars. The copyist, who had never been in Hoy, 234 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1936.

misunderstood the opening passage. He did not realise that the Dwarfie Stane was in the valley, fully 300 yards away from the nearest point of the natural quarry on the summit. He thought it was on the hill top, e thereforh d an e changed summitate summitatem.o t e otheTh r trans- cribers translatore wels th a , s la l alikal , e ignoran locae th f l o tconditions , perpetuated the mistake. The accusative summitatem, then, points in the same direction as "the Star of Lopeness." 1 2. jaculo imposito summa vi brachiorum (atque dolore alterius pros- peritatis), in ostium injunxit.—The rendering "placing it as a dart by e greath t strengt s . armjoine . hi . f st hupo o i d mouthe nth rans "i k nonsense. But there is room for difference of opinion as to how matters besn mendede ca b t vien I whaf .w o bees ha t n said abou precedine th t g dismisy clause stone ma ide y th e f san ew a,o having been hurled javelin- wise for 300 yards into the mouth of the passage. Apart from anything else, suc hfeaa t would imply tha t succeedei t turninn di ga corne n e r moute route,th r hfo looks west, wherea Dwarfie sth e th Hamar n o e sar southbese Th t . suggestio offen s thatca i r I n , whe e giand th n ha t brought the lapis fabricatus down and placed it in position, he tried to pus javelin a t hi homf o d et mor, ai withopin ge e eo hth t thay n gi wa t purchase into his thrust. 3. gigante incluso evigilante, auribus lupum tenebat.—Here e transth - lator says "the shut-up giant watching attentively was every way in danger," and there is a note, presumably editorial, to the effect that " Terence uses the phrase auribus lupum tenere, to be every way in danger." Balfou d Sibbalan r e righ sentenc ar dw o begi t tne a n e with gigante, for there chang a seeme b f subjeco est o betwees a t n injunxit tenebat:d an e aggressoth s injunxit,s intendeo wa hi wh rt i d an d victi tenebat.o mwh The grammatical purist might object, on the ground that the victim opens the new sentence in the ablative absolute and could not, therefore, be immediately transformed inte subjecs principaoth it f o t l e verbTh . objection woul were valie db w ef di dealin g with someon t himse -o ewh self to write scholarly Latin as Sibbald, for instance, did. What "Jo. Ben" write dog-Latis i s d occasionallnan y what Thackeray would have called "ver dog-Latind ysa t that"a . Moreover appeare h , havo st d eha rathe weaknesra beginninr sfo gsentenca e wit subjecs hablative it th n i t e

absolute.2 Accordingly we need not hesitate to assume that he did so 1 Lest the mistake be imputed to "Jo. Ben" himself, it may be well to point out that elsewhere he is careful to distinguish between in with the ablative and in with the accusative. 2 Ther as ei n undoubted example fou r fivo r e lines above . ipso("ut . . dominante insulam,d a suum usum lapidem haberet") and another in the section on Flotta ("Vigilante vero minus affectus est"), whil tako elast e eth t sentenc sectioe th f "en o nEloerholm o e " (Helliarholm thira s )a d example gives the only satisfactory sense, the cursing being done by the unfortunate wives. E DWARFITH E STANE, HOY5 , ORKNEY23 .

here. It was the gigas inclusus who found himself "holding a wolf by e ears.thid th sAn picturesqu" r more fa phras a e s pointeeha d signifi- cance than that conveye "way db hel o sdanger.n i everd wh y e ywa H " positioa n i eare s ver s whicn th wola i swa y wa b ft h difficuli holo t t d expressioe Th . go n t occursfatad le note o nan o th t le s a indicates, n i , Phormioe th widels wa f Terencet o yi t currenBu . t among both Greeks and Romans. The Emperor Tiberius, for instance, was fond of using it describo t precariousnese eth tenurn ow power.f eo s hi f so 1 What "Jo. Ben" wishe understano t s su tha s di imprisonee th t d gian botd s ha th hi hands full, in the most literal sense of the words. 4. exire nequiens, suis maleis impluvium fecit per quod egressus est.— This part of the story is the climax of the whole. Its purpose is to account for the hole in the roof, a feature which would otherwise be unintelligible. The translation "being unable to escape he made a gutter with his hammer through which he escaped" does nothing of the kind, and is moreover impossible. Ignoring the contradiction between e firsth t fou re las th wordt d twod dispensinan s an , g witfurthey han r discussio meanine th f no f impluvium,go I woul d poin t thaou t t "with s hammerhi r suis"fo maleis indefensibles i . Suis woul otiosee db e th , plural would be wrong, and the Latin word for a hammer would be mis-spelt t othee Balfouth Ye d r. transcriberan r s evidently understood the phrase in the same way as the translator has done, for they wrote malleis. This leaves two out of the three difficulties untouched, and a more drastic remedy seemrequirede b o st . I would venture to suggest that, just as lack of acquaintance with the positio e monumen summitaten th i f o no t d le t being transformed into in summitatem, so lack of acquaintance with the monument itself led e substitutioth o t f mal(l)eisno r malis—fo the ablative plura f malao l ("a jaw") wora , d "whic s oftehi nteethe plurae n i th useth r s n a ,di fo l Virgil, jEneid, iii. 257. With this reading, suis would be perfectly in shoulexcellenn e a w order t d dge an , t sense, completin e neatesth n gi t e picturpossiblth y ewa e conjure auribusy b p u d lupum tenebat.e Th imprisoned giant had been roused before the lapis fabricatus had been thrust sufficiently far in to block the exit from the chamber. He was now crouching in the corridor, making a desperate effort to prevent the great stone from being driven farthe . Bothin r hands were engagen di the effort and he dared not relax his grip for a moment. Accordingly, tethers whehi f fele flun e o nreachin h s h ,hea s t d gthahi wa en d e e h t gth back and gnawed his way to freedom through the roof. Fantastic, no doubt, but not a whit more fantastic than the rest of the story. 1 Suetonius, Tiberius, 25. 236 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 10, 1936.

Let me now translate the Latin in the light of the foregoing com- ments :— "Everything being ready, he carried down the stone which he had hile th l f ando p , to placin shapee th n gjavelia do n agains , thrustit t t i into the opening with all the strength of his arms, stimulated by jealousy of his rival's prosperity. The giant inside was awake and presently found himself holding a wolf by the ears. Not being able to get out throug passagee hth gnawee ,h roofe holda th ,n e i throug h whic made hh e his escape. That is, if you care to believe the tale !"

This Not s stretchelengta ha eo t t h ou mucd h greaterd thaha nI intended t wili t l havBu . e serve gooda d purpos t showi f ei s that there is still something to be done for "Jo. Ben." It is very desirable that a competent scholar, like Dr Marwick, thoroughly at home in the geo- graph Orkneyf yo , should re-edi Latie tth n tex givfresd a s tan e u h translation impressioy M . s e thatconcentrateni h f i , s attentiodhi . B n no and took no account of S.H.S., he would find his task easier than might be supposed. Barry's transcriber is responsible for much confusion. It igreasa t pity thaeditore th t f S.H.So s . alloweleao t dm thedhi o ms far astray.