I. THE MUTINY STONES, BERWICKSHIRE. By JAMES HEW AT CRAW, F.S.A.ScoT. The only lon ge south-eas th cair n i n f Scotlano t s thai d t known as the Mutiny Stones in the parish of Longformacus, Berwickshire.. n DumfriesshireI , almost fifty mile se lon th off gs i , cair n Windo n y Edge, figured and described in the Inventoryl of that county. To the north we do not find another cairn of this type till we come o t that near Gourdon, Kincardineshire, described lasr t M yea y b r Graham Callander; e presenth n i 2 t volume . 21-26pp , , three morn i e Aberdeenshir Banffshird ean e have been recorde Callanderr M y db n I . recentle th y delivered Rhind Lectures Professor Bryce pointe t thadou t only fivknow e ease ear Scotlandth f to n ni , couiftsoute th f hNairnf o y o . The earliest mentio f thio n s monumen e occurrencth s i e t th f o e name " Mitten full of Stones" on Armstrong's Map of the County of Berwick, name 1771Th .e Mutiny Stones ,Statistical w employeNe e th n di Account, 1841 sincd an , e then generally use referencn di monue th o et - ment s probabli , a ycorruptio e oldeth f ro nfor m " Mitten f whico " h origie th n remains unexplained.3 Lady John Sco.tt employe e namdth e . 47 . 1No * Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol.. Iviii23 . p . ' A local legend tells how the devil was carrying stones in his mitten from Dunbar to build a dam across the Tweed at Kelso, when the mitten burst and the stones fell on the moor. There is also a tale of gold wrapped in the hide of an ox and buried beneath the cairn. In other parts of Scotland a similar origin is attributed to isolated boulders. The name " Auld wife's apron fu' o1 stanes" occurs near Kirknewto Cheviotse th nn i . ' E MUTINTH Y STONES, BERWICKSHIRE. 199

" Deil's Mitten."l and Mr Browne,2 while using " Mutiny Stones," mentions peopld districe ol th e monumene n ei tha th th t "e o Mittent tth s wa tf u' Stanes." It is easy to see how " Mittenf u'" or " Mitten o'" was corrupted into " Mutiny," and also how the latter in MS. became mistaken for " Meeting."3

Pig. 1. Long Cairn—"The Mutiny Stones" : View from north-east, with Plan. Reproduced by permission of Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. e cairTh ns situate i a moorlan(fig e sid) 1 f th . o e n do d ridgee th , ground sloping gentlsouth-easte th o soms yt i t I e .120 0 yards north- north-wes e shooting-lodgth f o t t Byrecleugha e withid yardan ,0 n70 s of the East Lothian boundary; the Byre Burn, 160 yards to the east, Hist, Her. Nat. derivatioClub,, e 186911 Th . . p vol . nvi . " Deil's Midden" (refuse-heap) suggest1 s itself. 2 Glimpses into the Past in Lammermuir, p. 76, 1892. 3 "Meeting Stones " in Sharp, Greenwood, and Fowler's Map of the County of Berwick, 1826. 800 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 13, 1925. descends to join the Dye Water at Byrecleugh. The elevation is 1250 feet above sea-level, and the axis points approximately east by north. The length of the cairn is 278 feet. Near the east end the breadth is 76 feet and the height 11| feet; these measurements diminish west- heighe feet3 Th d . wardan t firs6 e give2 th to st n n i Statistical Account (1792) and repeated in the New Statistical Account (1841)l is 18 feet : this probably include e lateth d r conical cairn erectehighese th n do t pointe cair t Th a presenn. t contains probably some 1300 cart-loads of stones d severaan , l hundred f loado s s have been removed along its south side, doubtless for walls and buildings near Byrecleugh; modern sheep-folds also have been buil ts soute cair it closth t nha o et stonee sideTh f .whic so caire hth composes ni e surface-gatherear d d slabs and boulders of greenstone found in the vicinity: few require the strength of more than one man to lift. generae Th l appearanc e monumenth f eo t suggest n affinita s y with the long cairns of the north of Scotland; but though there are slight lateral projections at the east end, there are no definite forward extensions as in the horned cairns of the north. An excavation by Lady John Scot 187n i t 1 faile reveao dt l anythin f interestgo . Wit ha vie o wobtainint g informatio s approachinhi r fo n g Rhind Lectures on "The Anthropological History of the Scottish People," Dr Bryce applied to His Grace the Duke of Koxburghe for permission to examin e cairneth . s Thireadilwa s y granted. Having obtainee th d sanctio e Ancienth f o n t Monument se investigationBoarth r fo d r D , Bryce asked me to superintend and carry out the excavation of the cairn. We visited the spot together and discussed the methods of work, and I then made arrangements to begin operations. Several members of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club willingly gave their services. On 1st July 1924 a party of seven workers2 began operations by carryin ga trenc hfee2 widt1 n (fig i t) 2 . h alone cair th e axi gth nf o s from the east end. The stones were carried back beyond the boundary of the cairn. In this trench were found three stones set upright in the ground lina n e,i paralle somd e axise soutth an th , fee e 4 , ; o hof t to lt e stoneth s projected fro e grounmth d feefro2 o 1t 2 £ tm1 t feet A . waluncoverea s fro ease d mwa lth en t d runnin t righga t anglee th o st a distancaxi r feet4 1 fo s f . o e This wall (fig ) consiste3 . n slabte f sdo set upright in the ground, from which they projected some 18 inches; smaller slabs were set to fill the interspaces and to steady the larger alse 1oSe Berwickshire Inventory, 249. ;No Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol (plat. 5 xxiv15 e. . p xiv. A), 192 0; Lauder Lauderdaled an (Thompson) , 190-t14 . . p , 2 Present: Colonel Molesworth, Messrs Minehin . CalderW . . SandersonC , N , . CrawH d . J , an , chauffeurs.o tw wore Th k involve dmotoa r journe twelvf yo e miles from Dun Kilpalleo st t over a very hilly road, and a farther walk of two miles across the moor. THE MUTINY STONES, BERWICKSHIRE. 201

stones. The ten slabs measured from 11 to 23 inches in breadth and inche6 froo t thickness n mi s4 . Above these slabs rude masonrd yha been carrie a farthe p du r heigh feet2 f o .t e eas Closf thith o t o st e s noticewalwa t i dl thae stone th tbeed ha sn more carefully placed than elsewhere in the cairn. Julh O7t ny wor s resumed . CospatricJ wa k r r M Bryc D ,d an ek

9 FEET 10 20 30 4-0

Fig . PlaLonf .2 o easf nd o g ten Cairn— Mutine "Th y Stones," Berwickshire. A, 1924 excavation ; B, 1871 excavation (probable extent); C, stones removed from B; D, original outline.

Scott, chamberlain to the Duke of Roxburghe, being present. A further

arelais dawa bare extendin wale beyon d e easth an lf th fee o 4 tg 1 o dt t 1 its north and south extremities. The cairn over most of this area had the appearance of having been disturbed. At a distance of 5 feet 5 inches to the west of the north end of the wall two upright slabs beed ha n inserte e grounth n di d fac faceo t e , with their axes parallel e "wall th e lin f th .o e o Fivt e e walfeeth tlf o e nortsout th d f hen ho Together with Colonel Molesworth, Messrs Minchin, N. Sanderson, J. T. Craw, J. H. Craw, Captai1 n and Mrs M'Dougal, Miss Darling, and two chauffeurs. 202 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 192513 L .

two slabs projected from the ground at right angles to the wall and 13 inches from it. In the area to the south of these two slabs, as far as the south end of the wall, were several large slabs placed indis- criminately f disturbei s a , d from their original setting; similar slabs occurred in the upper portions of the cairn near this part; these had probably been removed upward course earlien th a n sf i e o r excavation. The ground beneat caire turnes hth nwa d ove thin i r s area untie lth reddish-yellow subsoil was reached, but no trace of charcoal, bones, flint, pottery, or other relics was found.

Fig . Lon.3 g Cairn— Mutine "Th y Stones " Par: Walf o t l running across the Cairn.

On 14th July I returned to the ground with eight unemployed labourers. Farther excavatio point at wall the sand , eitheof nat end r along the periphery of the cairn, failed to reveal any signs of con- struction e cairs theTh nwa n. restore s originait o t d l s statewa t i ; t thoughno t desirabl replaco et modere eth n pil f stoneease o eth t t a s end, as this was no part of the original monument. Since the excavation I am indebted to Miss Margaret Warrender for extracn a t fror motherdiare mhe th f yo , Lady Warrender sistee ,th f ro Lady John Scott. This descriptio excavatioe th f no f 187no 1 shows that wore carefulls th kwa y superintended tha d same ,an th t e conclusios na to earlier disturbance was reached. A trench seems at this time to have E MUTINTH Y STONES, BERWICKSHIRE3 20 .

bee acrost n lowescu e cair e th s th t na t part nea middlee rth anothed an , r carried in to the axis from the north near the highest part; the latter excavation being carried east alon axie joinind gth an s g wit aree hth a excavate s describeda d above. There were present Lady John Scottr Si , Georg Ladd ean y Warrender, Lady Rosehill r sistehe , r Miss Elliotr D , John Stuart, and Rev. J. M. Joass, Golspie; the number of workmen is not stated. "Monday, July, 1871.—I10 n e weatherspitth f eo wene w , Byreo t t - cleugh. It was a perfect downpour, so we sat in the carriage, while the men moved the stones according to Dr Stuart's directions. After luncheo t tooni clearede some w k a walse d eo t an k,othe r stonesf o , whic thint r Stuarno hD kd mucthed di t an n h; returne Mittene th o dt , where by this time they had got down a considerable distance under the cairn, without however comin anythingo gt r StuarD . t thinks thae tth cair s beenha n disturbed befor thad an te; fro marke mth e b s thay ma t traced in the heather, it has been very much larger than it now is ; and that a great portion of the stones have been used to build the folds stellsd f whican o h goothera e dear many near. thin I s manner, what- ever may have been there originally, has long since been removed or destroyed." The results obtained from the recent excavation were disappointingly meagre, and would have been quite barren save for the discovery of the structural feature described. What this walling signifies is not quite obvious. As Dr Bryce pointed out, the feature revealed differentiates the cairn from the type of megalithic tomb with which he is specially familiar in the south-west of Scotland. The wall cannot have been part of a segmented chamber of the Arran type. Nor can it be considered as representing any part of a chamber or of an approach passage placed in the long axis of the cairn, such as exists in the typical chambered cairns of the north or in the cairn at Achnacree in Argyllshire. The most probable interpretatio e arrangementh f o n s thai t t i representt e th s remain chambea f so r placed transversel axie openind th s an a o y t y gb passage from the side of the cairn. A small chamber, with a low and narrow approach passage disposeo s ,n muc i e samd th h dan e position as in the Berwickshire Cairn, was disclosed in a long-horned cairn at Canister, Caithness r JosepD y b ,h Anderson (No. 563, Caithness Inven-

tory). Another example is th1 e cairn at Heathercro, Bower parish, Caithness (No. 5, Caithness Inventory), excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry. " A five-sided undivided chamber formed of flags set on end was moune north-easfoune th th n t i dda te cairn endth f "o , into which a passage led from the south-east side. If this comparison be admitted, t i would seem thae Mutinth t y Stone s closeha s r affinities wite th h chambered cairns of the north than with those in the south-west corner 1 Scotland Pagann i Ti-mes, Bronze Stoned an Ages, 241. p . 204 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 1925L13 . of Scotland. But in any event, the walling disclosed in the excavation proves that it must be included in the category of the long cairns, which enclosed chamber sore anotherr on to f so whicd ,an h t yieldehavye s ea d only relics of the stone phase of culture, In conclusion I have to record our thanks to His Grace the Duke of Roxburgh r permissiofo e o examinl t nthos al o o ewh t e cairn eth d an , shared in the arduous work of excavation.