The Circular Forts Op North Perthshire. • by Wj Watson, Ma, Ll.D., Frse, Fsa Scot
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0 3 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH E O S , DECEMBE , 19128 R . III. THE CIRCULAR FORTS OP NORTH PERTHSHIRE. J WATSON . W Y B , • M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A. SCOT. 0 remarkablThe e fortifications which for subjecmthe thiof t s paper occur, so far as my observations and inquiries have hitherto disclosed them Glen i , n Lyon, Loch Tayside, Upper Strath Tay, Strath Tummel, neighbourhoothe Pitlochriedof , Glenquaich Strathbraanand , The . distance instraigha t line fro e farthesmth t wes e heat th f for do t a t Glen Lyo Pitlochrio nt s aboui e t forty'miles, whil distance eth a n i e straight line north and south from the forts on Loch Tummel-side to the furthest, south of the Amulree group is about fourteen miles. Within that area I personally saw eighteen circular forts, while I have reliable authorit e existence th th r t f leasya fo o f morex e eo ^ si On . Glen Lyon grou s beepha n completely effaced within living memory, neae on r d Pitlochriean , mentione Pennanty b d , seem havo st e also disappeared totae Th l .number , therefore whicf ,o h ther remaine ear s at present, more or less distinct, is twenty-four. There is, however, reaso o believt n e that additional specimen e e founth b n y i d ma s neighbourhoo f Blai Statisticaldo d Ol r Athole th r Accountfo , mentions Strathgroyonn i Glen ei o ntw Tild an t . It is also possible that still more might be discovered by an examina- tion of likely situations in such places as Glen Almond and Glen Lednock, between Loch Tay and Strathearn. The basin of the Tummel, too, may contain more tha nI discovered particulan i , r about Kinloch-Rannoc d Fincastlean h , neithe f whico r n ha placed ha I s opportunity of investigating. The first direct mention of these fortifications, so far as I am aware, occur Pennant'n si s four. Pennant himself appear havo st e seen three e Pitlochrioth f e group frod e Revan m,th . James Stewar f Killio t n THE CIRCULAR FORTS OF NORTH PERTHSHIRE. 31 he got and gives information as to the dimensions and names of the forts in Upper Glen Lyon, at Fortingal, and on the south side of Loch Tay. Pennant, however n somi , e cases (Killiechangien Du d an , Mac Tuathai n Drummono l d Hill) confuse e circulath s r forts with hill forta differen f o s t typeappeare H . confuso st remarkable eth e terrace deminencn a sit n eo e south-eas e farmhousth f o t f Kerrowo e - mor Glen ei n Lyon wit roune hth righe d th for n t o tbankLyo e th f nso near the foot of that eminence ; and, lastly, the place he prints as Fiam- nam-bbinean, by which is apparently meant the fortified hillock on the left bank of Pobul Burn, and which is marked on the modern maps a"a s tower," doe t belonclase no s th f structure o so gt con e ar -e sw sidering. Statisticalw Ne writee e th Th f o rAccount e paristh f f Fortingao ho l states that fiftee sixteer no n such structures existed withi bounde nth s of the parish at the time of writing (1838). Mr Duncan Campbell, Inverness nativa , f Gleeo n Lyonboos hi kn i , entitled The Chronicles of Garth and Fortingal, locates the Glen Lyon towers as far east as Fortingal, and gives the Glen Lyon tradition regarding them. There are, however passageo tw , writern si muca f so h earlier date, t withouno e b whic ty somma h e relevance e firs f theso Th t .s i e from Gildas (ob. circ. 570)writeo wh , s: " De artissimis foraminum caverniculis fusci 'vermiculorum cunei, tetri Scottorum Pictorumque greges " (De Excidio et Conquestu Britannice, c. 19 ; p. 35 of Mommsen's edition); " Swarthy columns of vermin from their small caverns of very narrow outlets, loathsome hordes of Scots and Picts." The other passag quotee on y Skehs i eb d e (Celtic Scotland, . 261i ) from Eddi' st Wilfrid S Lif f o e , written abou A.D0 70 t. " Populi bestiales Pictorum feroci animo subjectionem Saxonum despiciebant, et jugum servitutis a se abjicere minabantur, congregantes undique de utribus et folliculis Aquilonis innumeras gentes, quasi formicarum greges in aestate de tumulis ferventes, aggerem contra domum caden- 32 PEOCEEDING-S OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 9, 1912. tern muniebant." beastle "Th y tribePicte th f sso bega warlikn ni e mood to despise the Saxon rule, and threatened to cast from off them the yoke of servitude, gathering together from all quarters countless tribes from, the bags and sacks of the North, like hordes of ants swarming in summer from their mounds begad an , builo nt a bulward k against fallina g house." Skene omit translato st curioue eth s expression de utribus et folliculis Aquilonis. The term cavernaculte of the passage from Gildas migh regardee b t a litera s da l translatio e Gaelith f no c uamhag, littla e cave, regularly use denoto dt e either earth-houser o s e chamberth e f seconbrochso sth n I d . passage, uter, a ski n bag, appears to be used figuratively and contemptuously for a circular buildin e brocth f gho type, while folliculus, sacka a bladde, r (much smaller than uter) may refer either to earth-houses or to the chambers of brochs or broch-like structures.1 The passages are curiously suggestive of the Fir Bolg, the men of the bags, who figure so pro- minently in early Irish history, but, so far as I know, the term bolg is never used among us in connection with brochs or earth-houses. At the present day, these forts are termed individually caisteal, castl Duncar e M (or s a , n Campbell. Inverness, says, castal), collecd an - tively caisteilean nam Fiann, castleFianne th f so . Ther widela s ei y known saying earliese th , t notic whicf eo h occur Pennantn st i go o wh , it doubtless from the Rev. J. Stewart : "Bh chaisteia ad l deu Fionng gai , An Cromghleann na n dub clach.n hna " "Twelve castle Monnd sha , dare th k n Bent-gleI nstones.e oth f " Here Cromghleann alwayss i Scotlandn i , ",a take kennine b o nt g " for Glen Lyon. This distich whico t , hI shal l refer later, condensee sth traditional accoun e raisonth f o t e fortsd'etreth f .o Tha e terth t m 1 Mr A. 0. Curie suggests that the reference in cavernaculcK may be to hut- circles, which ofte lond nha g narrow openings. THE CIRCULAR FORTS OF NORTH' PERTHSHIRE. 33 caisteal, thus a s applied olds i , s proveface i , th t y thadb t occuri t n si the place-names Pitcastle of Tullypowrie and Pitcastle near Pitlochrie, both named after forts still quite distinct l place-nameAl . s that involve Pit, a loan from Pictish, are old. The Pitcastles are now calle Gaelin di c Bail' a' Chaisteil, Castletown. Late , howeveron r I , shall give reason thinkinr sfo g that these fortoriginalld ha s ynativa e name much older than caisteal, which is borrowed into Gaelic from Latin castellum. t leas a instancee n on tI , Caisteal Dubh Baile Ceard,n na Blace th k Castle of Balnaguard, the term " castle " is applied to a large hill- fort wit hstona e Norte th wallsometime e n hw I . s apply caistealo t brochs, e.g. Caisteal na Crbice in Glencasley, Sutherland; Castle Spynie, in the Beauly district; Caisteal Grwgaig, Loch Duich. More often, however, we call them dim. The Norsemen called the brochg borgr.1 In the remarks that follow, I shall begin with the Glen Lyon forts, and proceed thereafter to deal with those that exist outside the glen, I hav s a er sascertaineofa d them. Referenc larga o et e scale map, suc s Bartholomew'ha e miles2 th o st inch (sheet 12), will sho e rangewth f hillo s s that divide Glen Lyon from Loch Tay and Glen Lochay on the south and from Rannoch northe onth , e wes e glewhile heath th sees th nti n f deo o sprino n t g froe watersheth m d between Pert d Argyllan h . These mountain ranges, north, south, and west, are pierced by a number of passes, which, in the days before roads, were regular and important means of communication e hea f GleTh o d. e enterenb Lyoy dma n froe mth west, either through Glen Orchy or through Glen Dochart. In the latter case one would strike northwards at Tyndrum, but the two •routes converge near the head of the glen. 1. Beinn a' Chaisteil.—Here rises Beinn a' Chaisteil, on a spur of which stood the most westerly of the Glen Lyon forts. This is the See, however, Loch Kanaird, Place-Names of Boss Cromarty,d an . 256p . 1 3 VOL. XLVII. 34 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , DECEMBER , 19129 , . onlwhice y on practicall he havI sai b s seen i t o dt t eI no . y obliterated by landslides, and this, together with its very remote position, in- volving a two days' j ourney, discouraged me from visiting it. About eight miles down the glen we come to the remarkable group of towers between Pubi Cashlied an l . e spacHerth littlf n eo ei e more thana mil have remaine w eth fourf so , with traditio fiftha I f visiteno .