E MILITARTH Y ROAD FROM BRAEMA E SPITTATH O RT L OF GLEN SHEE by ANGUS GRAHAM, F.S.A.SCOT. THAT the highway from Blairgowrie to Braemar (A 93) follows the line of an old military roa mattea s di commof o r n knowledge, thoug wore hth ofteks i n attributed, wrongly, to Wade; but its remains do not seem to have been studied in detail on
FIG. i. The route from Braemar to the Spittal of Glen Shee. Highway A 93 is shown as an interrupted line, and ground above the ajoo-foot contour is dotted the ground, while published notes on it are meagre and difficult to find.1 The present paper is accordingly designed to fill out the story of the sixteen miles between BraemaSpittae th Glef d o l an rn Shee (fig. i). Glen Cluni Gled ean n Beag, wit Cairnwele hth l Pass between them,2 havo en outlinn a histors it r f Fraser1e eFo o yse Ol. e M.G ,d Th , Deeside Road (1921) ff9 . 20 , O.Se Se 2. Aberdeenshiref 6-inco p hma , and edn. (1901), sheets xcvm, cvi, cxi, surveye 186n di d 6an revised in 1900; ditto Perthshire, 2nd edn. (1901), sheets vin SW., xiv SE., xv SW., xv NW. and NE., xxm NE., surveye 186n di revised 2an 1898n deditioi e Th . Nationan no l Grid line t (1964s ye doe t )sno include this area, and six-figure references are consequently taken from the O.S. 1-inch map, yth series, sheet 41 (Braemar)loo-kmn i e ar l . squarAl . . eNO 226 E MILITARTH Y ROAD FROM BRAEMA O GLET R7 22 N SHEE doubt been used by travellers since the earliest times. 'Spittals' at Shean Spittal,1 below the northern end of the pass, and in Glen Shee, at the lower end of Glen Beag, are themselves evidence for such traffic, and the passage of armies, raiders d droveran s alsi s o amply recorded. Ther s nothingei , however suggeso t , t that 2 any military road-work was done before Braemar Castle, then roofless, was acquired e purposefoth r garrisoa f o s n 1748ne Governmeni th s a ; t seems, until theno t , 3 have overlooked the strategic value of Braemar though the place had been con- sidered 'very fitt' for a garrison as early as 168g, and the ruins of Kindrochit Castle, 4 at the Castleton of Braemar, survived as a kind of object-lesson from earlier days.5 That the work was begun in 1748 is shown by a contemporary Board of Ordnance plan preserved in the National Library of Scotland6; this is entitled 'Sketch of the Ground about Braemar Castle. 1748', and marks the road's northernmost stretch. Its testimony is backed by another Board of Ordnance plan, likewise in the National Library, legene th 7 whicf do h reads 'Surve Roae th f dy o Detatchme madth y eb 1 of Gen Guise's Reg in Brae Marr; beginning where Gen Blakeney's left off: & 1 1 Continued to the Spittle of Glenshee. 1749'. This second plan indicates that Gen. Blakeney's party arrived, in 1748, at a point about 1000 yds. south of the junction of the Baddoch Burn with the Cluny Water (138825), and that Gen. Guise's carried 1749n i poina , o t ,on t abou mileo tw t s abov Spittae eth l (122730) thirA . d plan8 shows that the remainder, as far as the Spittal and beyond, was 'made by a Detach- ment of one Hundred Men of Lord Viscount Bury's Reg* in the year 1750'. Further confirmatio supplies ni officee th y rdb commandin e pos gth t Braema a t n 1750i r , who reporte Junn di thaf eo t year 'OSpittle nth r GlenWednesdaf efo o t -ou t se yI shee ..marchee .w d alon e Madth g e road through Glen Clun o Glet y n bogg [Beag], so to the spittle there'.9 recore th r Sdofa seems clearserioua t bu , s difficulty remain existence th n si f eo a second road ove re distance parth f o t . Thu n additioi s e militarth o nt y road proper, identifie Boare th Ordnancf y do db e plans fine w ,d abou mila thald ean f of rather narrower road diverging from the line of the former to take a short cut across a projecting shoulder of the Cairnwell in squares 1477, 1376 and 1375; and this i t si shor t tha cu tmarkes ti Scotlanf o Roy'n dcourso p e roa e th sth ma s ddf a eo from Braemar, and not the detour east and south-east of the shoulder that is made by the military road - and also, with modifications, by Highway A 93 (fig. 2). 1 Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, 'A View of the Diocese of Aberdeen', Spalding Club (1843), 642. 2 For example, P.S.A.S., LVII (1922-3), 82; Wishart, Rev. G., The Memoirs of James, Marquis ofMontrose, ed. Murdoch, Rev. A. D., and Simpson, H. F. M., 106, 150 n. 3, 155; Mackay, Maj.-Gen. Sir H., Memoirs War,e oth f etc., Bannatyne Club (1833), 327, 329; Transactions Gaelic e oth f Society of Inverness, xiv (1887-8), 181; Haldane, A. R. B., The Drove Roads of Scotland, 117, 129. 3 Stat. Acct., xiv (1795), 351; Historical Papers relating tho t e Jacobite Period: 1699-1750 Spaldinw Ne , g Club (1899), ii, 514. 4 Mackay, Maj.-Gen H.. citr . Si op ,.,42 6 P.S.A.S., LVII (1922—3), 83 ff.; LXIII (1928-9), 116. 6 Ref. No. MS 1649 Z 3/320. ' Ref. No. MS 1649 Z 3/32a. The plan is signed 'I. Archer', and is endorsed 'Received with Mr John Archer's letter from Edinburgh dat. 28 NoV 1749'. 8 Nat. Lib. ref. No. MS 1649 Z 3/s8a. This plan is signed 'G. Morrison Engineer', and is endorsed 'Reed •with Mr. Morrison's Letter to the Board 23rd Febry 1750'. 9 Historical Papers relating to the Jacobite Period: 1699-1750, New Spalding Club (1899), n, 543. 228 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1963-64
-<--< Military road of 7749
FIG . Sketch-map2 . , fro r photographsmai Cairnwele th f o , l area, showin relationshie gth militare th f po y road Highwao st 3 9 yA Work on Roy's map was begun in 1747, and no information is available as to which 1 regions were surveyed in any given year; but, as we have seen that Braemar was not occupied before 1748, and as by 1749 the corresponding section of the military road proper must have been builcoursn i r o buildingtf eo t seemi , s necessar concludo yt e that Col. Watson's surveyor sCairnwele werth n eo n 1748 i l thad an ,t what they marke newly-buila s dwa t military roa f whicdo have hw otheo en r record. This would probably imply that the Cairnwell shoulder, being the most difficult part of 1 Chalmers, G., Caledonia (1824), n, 64. THE MILITARY ROAD FROM BRAEMAR TO GLEN SHEE 22Q the route, was tackled as soon as it was decided to garrison Braemar Castle - i.e. perhap- re se b earl o t t tha resultin174 n e yi d bu th ttha 8d - ha t ba i t go s roas dwa placed, in the following year, by the military road as we know it. It may, of course, be argued that the short cut could have been built, at some altogether earlier date, by the local authorities under the legislation of 1669 and later, and the fact that
Glen Ogle coul passee db ligha y db t two-wheeled chaise befor military an e y work 1 there was begun2 shows that something better than crude customary tracks might Highlane existh n i t othee d th area rn handO . wils a , l appear below, such features as kerbing, the revetment of scarps, underbuilding on transverse slopes, and the provisio rock-fragmentf no metallings a e us piln r i s efo , appea re shor botth n tho militare th n o y d roaan t d propercu strongld an , y sugges commoa t n origins i t I . casey plainan , n thai , shore th t t cut's general characteristic t thos cusa no f e o - sar tomary track, and the conclusion that it was something other than this is reinforced face th t ignorey thay b Ro t s other customary routeneighbourhoode th n si , sucs ha the important one from Glen Cluny to Glen Isla by way of the Monega Pass. Whether whao t r o ,t extent militare , eitheth r shore o t yrth roatcu d proper followed pre-existinlina e f th eo g customary rout quits ei e uncertain evidencee th ; , whics hi mentioned from place to place below, is slight and scattered, but the existence of such routa moss ei t likel generan yo l grounds ignores shore i t Th .cu t d bot Stobie'y hb s map of Perth and Clackmannan (1783) and by the Ordnance Survey; and its appearanc Robertson'n eo f Aberdeeno p ma s , Banf Kincardind an f e (1822y ma ) be simply an antiquarian conceit, as Robertson titles the military road in Glen Beag 'Romanum iter suppositum gived same an ' sth e legen customara o dt y track from Invercaul Avone th o dt . Before proceeding to consider the remains on the ground, it will be well to recall that stretche obsoletf so e trac onln takee kca yb illustratins na road'ga s condition at the time of their actual abandonment, and not necessarily its original character. r exampleFo militare th , y road between BraemaCairnwele th d rebuils an r wa l n i t e Prince i86oth th y eb s Consor d Farquharsoan t f Invercauld,o n while many
further changes have been mad3 e presente dowth o nt , particularl intereste th n yi s of motor traffic. Earlier, too, it is on record that the Braemar heritors were active maintenance th n i theif eo r roads, commutin statute gth e labou employind an r ga 'road-grieve' with a gang while the commutation funds held out, and operations
of this kind must inevitably have modifie road'da s former appearance differe Th .4 - ences between military and commercial requirements should also be borne in mind.
After leaving Braemar Castle, which stands less than a mile north of the Castleton5 of Braemar militare th , y road crosse Clune p du th n yo Waten bridga ra y d b r ean the left bank. Why it should have done this is a puzzle, as the choice of the left bank entaile buildine dth Fraser'f go s Bridg . 236)e(p , some three miles further upstream, 1 A.P.S., ff. 4 vii; 57 ,vm , 18, 590. Notes accompanying 'The Wade Roads', preserve Royae th y dlb Scottish Geographical Societym a I . indebte2 d for this reference to Mr H. Fairhurst, M.A., PH.D., F.S.A., F.S.A.SCOT. Deesided Ol e 3Th Road Fraser, M. (1921). G , , 212; Queen Victoria, Leaves from Journale th of oue rth Life n i Highlands (1868), 243. Stat. Acct., xiv (1795) f5 - 34 , 4 As noted in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, xiv (1887-8), 185 f. 5 230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1963-64 t alsbuildinge ifno oth rebuildin e th r o , g the bridge r laterno th f questioo n ,ei n ni Braemar. arrangemente Th , however clearls ,i y illustrate Boara y d Ordnancb f do e 1 'Sketce Grounth f o h d about Braemar Castle. 1748', preserve e Nationath n i d l Library of Scotland, and also by Roy's map of Scotland, this part of which must have been surveyed befor2 e 1749 (p. 228). Most probably General Blakeney's party adopte their roaw dfo dcustomarne a r y soute routth ho et from e Invereth d yan upper Dee, for which a left-bank course would have been natural; and such adher- ence to an existing road-line is the more likely as the ground that they had to tra- verse is shown by the 'Sketch' to have been under cultivation. As regards a right-bank route, the engineer James Flint states3 that in 1832 no road existed there t onl bu ,y'ride a mileo tw ' s long mad Farquharsoy eb Inverf no - cauld; and he suggests that one should be built as part of a new route from Perth to Inverness. He points out that it would eliminate Eraser's and Kindrochit (Brae- mar) bridges could an , d incorporat e 'ride'eth , which would only need widening gravellingd an . Robertson's map, however, which antedated Flint's proposaly b s yearsn te , show t onl no syright-ban a k roa t als dbu obranch-roaa d crossine gth Clunie from it to the military road (infra). The contradiction is difficult to explain unless Robertson's right-bank road was so bad that Fliut simply ignored it. northernmoss it n I t stretc militare hth y road seem havo t s e followe same th d e line as the existing by-road leading past the golf-course, and no early traces survive. A short distance north of Allt Coire na Meanneasg, however, it was joined by the branch, just mentioned, that is shown on Robertson's map, the grassy terrace of the latter disappearing under the former as now reconstructed. The branch is up to 1. wide0 ft wher d an , t mountei bees bansa ha nt kd i scarpe an . depta ft o 6 d t f ho is well built up underneath. It reaches the river just upstream from the mouth of the Coldrach Burn, at a narrow rocky linn; this has evidently been spanned by a wooden bridgeroadwae th s a , y resume opposite th n o s e ban rund untin kan o s l obliterated by A 93 at about 154881. Just before its disappearance it crosses a ditch some 4 ft. deep on a fill of dry-stone masonry. Between Allt Ghoir Meanneasa en Fraser'd gan s Bridge stretcheo tw , olden a f so r road, no doubt the military work, appear from under the modern by-road. The first, about 120 yds. long, begins at about 151877, and crosses the top of a knoll just west of the by-road. It consists of a terrace bordered on its lower side by a kerb of boulders (PI. XIX, 2); the cutting on the knoll is up to 2 ft. deep and the roadway is up to 9 ft. wide. Ditche metalline absene th sar d southere an t th scanty s gt i thera d t nen ebu , some ar e remain well-buila f so t culvert secone Th . d begins more than hal mila f e furthesouthe th o t r, appearing from unde wese th r roae t sidth df e o som yds0 e33 . north of Fraser's Bridge. It is here a grassy terrace 13 ft. wide, but widens to 17 ft. wher t curveei s down toward bridgee th s ; ther e alsear o some trace quarra f o s y which probably filline serve mossa th f r go d fo y e holloth f o wd jusen te westh f o t bridge. For an illustration of an old bridge in Braemar, perhaps originally built to carry the military road but remove . 1cit. 1863op n di , Fraser, . e figse ,M. 36 . . G , 164S 2 M 3/3209 RefZ . No . . 3 Report on the Proposed New Road from Perth to Elgin, etc. (1832), 3, quoted by Fraser, G. M., op. cit., an. E MILITARTH Y ROAD FROM BRAEMA O GLET R N SHEE 231 The next feature of interest is Eraser's Bridge itself (PI. XIX, 3), where the road crosse righe th t o s rivert e ban th f k.o Tha existine th t g bridged wholea ol s s a ,a s i , as 1748 is far from certain, as heavy pointing has hidden much of the structural evidence archee th centrad t san bu , l pieprobable ar r y original. Some initiald san e parapeth n o date tt suggescu s t that extensive rebuilding took place whee nth right-bank road was reorganised in the i86os; and this is the more likely as Flint records tha bridge th t'somewhas ewa t crazy parapets it , s being swayed froe mth perpendicular and its mortar apparently not in a good state of adhesion'. Fraser 1 himself regarded the structure as original, and the general appearance of the work
suggests some affinity with Invercauld 2 Old Bridge, which he dated to 1752.* 3 Structural detail givee sar n Appendixbeloe th wn i . foue th r r mileFo s between Fraser' Shead san n Spittal bridges ther littls ei f eo interes recordo t tfollow3 9 course militarA e . th sth f eo y road improvementd an , s see havmo t e obliterate wore d th t allmost f kno o , originallf i , y done. Thes- eim provements include both the work done by the Prince Consort and also some earlier, d apparentlan y extensive, operations recorde Flinty db . 'Here' sayse h , , 'of late years much has been done in forming a new road, which, though too narrow for a turnpike n generai s ha , l been most judiciousl d skilfullan y y t laiundeou de th r directio r Roy intelligenM e f th ,no t facto Invercauld.'r fo r majoe On 5 r divergence from the modern line was noted, extending for approximately half a mile through square 1484 at a slightly higher elevation; it is up to 15 ft. wide, but has no ditches and seems deficient in metalling. Though there is a fairly wide belt of flattish ground along thi valley-bottomse parth f o t e road-makerth , s have trie tako dt e advantage of areas which are naturally dry, such as glacial ridges and hummocks, d soman e side-cuttin s consequentlgha y been necessar a numbe t ya f pointso r . Archer's pla f 1749no , int aree owhicth f ao haventerede w hw eno , show bridgsa e on one small tributary burn, probably the one that runs in some 600 yds. north of Shean Spitta seee b nn ltoday ca Bridge traco t i n f t eo ; bu anothe, r tributary, half mila e further north, seem havo t s e been forded. Archer notes tha 'riverse th t e ar ' in most places fordable, but that they are liable to overflow the road if dammed or obstructed; and he continues 'especially after any Rain I have observed the Rivers to rise and fall upwards of two foot in three or four hours'. At Shean Spittal Bridge (145805) A 93 departs altogether from the course of the military road , 186oe adoptin linleavinth d w en san i ne remain laie t e gth dgou th s of the earlier work as they were. For the half-mile to the inflow of Allt a' Ghairbhe- choire (148799) the road remains on the east side of the main stream, here no longer marked as the Cluny Water but as the Cairnwell Burn, and is clearly defined as it
is still used by pedestrian traffic to and from Glen Isla.6 It keeps close to the bank, whic revettes hi d from plac placo et e with dry-stone building mucr e th fo f hd o an ; distance a mound, of earth with large stones and boulders, guards the side towards watere th . Where hummock t throughcu e b roadwae so th ,t hav d abous yeha i t 1 Fraser, G. M., op. cit., 211. 2 ibid., 210. 3 For illustrations, see ibid., figs. 34, 35. 4 ibid., 213. 5 ibid., an. 6 'Wate Brouchf ro plae th f 1749 no n o ' ; 'Vishk Vruie Robertson'n o ' f 1822o p . sma 2 23 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , 1963-64 . wide10ft ;latera o thern e ear l ditche drainager scattesfo e th d smalf ro an , l stones surface onth hardln ca e callee yb d metalling. Jus t moute shorth f Allf o tho t a' Ghairbhe-choir whicn o , widts h2) it roa e n , ehth ca dbridg a XX turno t L n e(P so hardly have exceede. Structurain 6 . ft d9 l detail givee sar n beloAppendixe th wn i . well-made Th e ramp . widft 7 ,e arid constructed mainl bouldersf yo , that leadp su a bank above the western end of the bridge, does not seem to be part of the road- works, and was probably built at some relatively recent date to carry the footpath . tha93 A t leado t p su From this bridg roae eth d continue lefe tth Cairnwele banp sth u f ko l Burn, main- tainin ggeneraa l breadt f abouho twese . 1th Abovft 2 t n thero t ei e rise steea s p slope, acros sterraces i whic 3 9 t hhigheA da r levels bele morf th ;o t r leseo s even ground by the burn-side is consequently narrow, and cuttings or terracing have been needed where ridges or hummocks intrude. The roadway is poorly constructed, without any signs of bottoming, arid the scanty gravel visible on the peaty surface may well have come there naturally. Wet hollows, however, have been filled, in one case from two considerable quarry-pits; and opposite the mouth of Allt Choire Fionn, where the road impinges on the burn-bank, this has been strengthened with dry-stone revetment now partially washed away. An unusually drastic improvement has been the cutting of a passage through a knoll to a depth of fully 8 ft. An inter- esting featur thif eo s sectio firse th t s ni appearanc cut-off eo f drainag uppee th n reo roade sidth f e;o 'back drains marke e plae ar ' th f 174 no n do 9 along mos thaf o t t year's portion, and a well-marked stretch extends upstream from close to the bridge at Allt a' Ghairbh-choire. At the upper end of the valley the natural gradient steepens, and this has re- sulte difficultien di changa d an splanf efirso s A .t built roae th , d followe course dth e of a customary track, running up towards A 93 at gradients of up to i in 5 and finishing some 15 yds poina t . a shor t i 10f o t0 yds. sout spot-levef ho l 1887. Work stopped herlarga t ea e knol f graveo l rockd an l , whic neves t throughhwa cu r , though a slight ditch, to mark the scarp side of the road, was dug in advance of the main excavatio , itsel cuttinga margie 93 n th fi e A s reachea f d Th no r .n an fa s sa customary road tha militare th t y party followed appears, lower dow slopee nth s a , bela hollof o t w tracks, much obscure rany db k heather; these combine, highe, up r to form a terrace up to 8 ft. wide, and the terrace, on the top of the knoll, becomes a single trench-like hollow. These traces of the customary road possess some interest, survivw fe ao ss e elsewher eithen ei r glen. firse Worth t n linko e being abandoned, the road was deflected to the left at 145793, and was carried forward beside the burn round the eastern extremity of the knoll and up a steep-sided gully (B.M. 1870.1), heae th whicf dt o a t runchanghe i Th s routf unde. eo 93 e A rgav erathea r easier gradien d savean t d further e gullcuttin e knollth th yt t musbu ga , t always have tende retaio dt n drifted snow. Fro gully e heae mth th f do , through squares 1478, summie passth e s militarth e a 137f th ,r o d t1377 follo3 fa 8 an 9 s ya ,A w roa d dan practicall same yth e course. Wher e militareth seenye b roa n , dca e.g . whert ei crosses the neck of a knoll round which A 93 makes a detour, it is from 12 ft. to 13 ft. wide. The plan of 1749 shows that none of the small burns was bridged. The THE MILITARY ROAD FROM BRAEMAR TO GLEN SHEE 233 saddle itself has been greatly disturbed by modern construction, and preserves nothin interestf go . It is the section beyond the saddle that is duplicated by the short cut mentioned above on p. 227. This diverges (fig. 2) from the west side of A 93 at a point 185 yds. south of the Aberdeenshire-Perthshire march, and its initial stretch has been im- prove servo dt block-housea secone th f eo d World War. Beyon block-house dth e t continuei s toward south-south-wese th s t alon gshela f which separate uppee th s r slopeCairnwele th f so l fro steee mth p wester nvallee flanth Allf f yko o t a' Choire Sheiridh t thui ; s drops only very slightl pase th sf yo fro p elevatioe to mth e th f no (219 s probabli 9 d ft.)an , y stil t aboua l t 200 . whe0ft f no confrontedd en e th t a , about 1200 yds., with the descent to the low ground in the head of Glen Beag - a horizontaa dro n i perhapf p. o ft 0 ls55 distanc abouf e o yds 0 80 t. courss it n I e alon shele roage th fth eithes di r hollowef o e r terraceli do e th s da the ground requires, the lower side being regularly marked with a kerbing of boulders r turfo . boulderSome th f e o large conspicuousld sar ean y spacedservo t f s i ea s a , markers in snow; the largest noted must have stood 3 ft. 8 in. high before it fell over. No lateral drains were provided, and the roadway is consequently liable to becom t moss canaea we f , o lmor e particularly wherbees alond ha n le t basee i gth e of the upper slope, the drainage from which it collects as gutters collect water from roofbreadta e Th . regularls hi thud fty9 an ,s markedly less tha nmilitare thath f to y road proper. At one point there are traces of a house measuring 28 ft. by 15 ft. over foundation mound house turff th so s ea ; lies clos eparallea besidn o roa e d eth l dan axis, the two were probably associated in some way. After passing a conspicuous rock-outcrop on its western margin, the road is lost for about 100 yds. in a grassy swamp; but it can be picked up again on the eastern side of the swamp where it is scarpe . Shortlft d4 int o peat e heighya o p th o afte u t f o tr - thi be t arrives i e th t sa ginning of the steep descent to Allt a' Choire Dhirich, and though the ground is broke overgrowd nan possibls i t ni identifo et leso yn s tha traversesn nte , forminga series of five zig-zags, which do something to ease the gradient. Some of the tra- verse vere ar s ye angle th steep d s an betwee, n the sharpe mar , particularly those neares bottoe slope th th o t tmf e o wher shortese eth t travers onls ei yds 0 y3 . long.1 zig-zage Th markee sar d very clearl Roy'n yo s map, notwithstandin smallnese gth s of its scale. The width of the road has here shrunk to 8 ft, but the lower margins are flanked, as before, with boulders or large blocks (PI. XIX, i); the scarps are also reinforced, and one of the angles between the traverses has been well built up under- neath. At one point there is a heap of rock-fragments, apparently prepared for kerbing but never used. The lowermost traverse runs for some 200 yds. parallel to Allt a' Choir gullye e th Dhiric f o , jusdisappearind p li h an t e cleath f o r g just above the bridge on A 93 at spot-level 1498. Below A 93 nothing was found, and it is possible that constructio neves nwa r continued int valley-bottome oth . The line of this short cut along the shelf is one which a customary route might very naturally have followed t hardl bu ,evidency yan founs ewa provo t d e that i t
1 Thoszig-zage th air-photogrape f eth o sn mad e o whic b t n eou hca h (i o6G/SCOT/U6 4 y Ma 8 6 K5 . 3407 showNo e ar ) fign . i 2 . 234 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1963-64 . Somso d edi short length f holloo s w track were certainly seen nea e houseth r - foundations e air-photograpth d an , h suggests e slopotherth en o sabov e Allt a' Choire Dhirich, but the ground hereabouts is so rough, and so heavily cut up by small watercourses, that definite conclusion impossiblee sar . A return may now be made to the military road proper, at the county march summie th n o t (fig. 2). Som yds0 e5 . marchsoute th f ho ,terrace s wheri 3 9 t eA d ou above narroa w hea e gull th Allf do t y a t a' Choire Sheiridh militare th , y roan dca seee b n emerging obliquely from underneat itseld an f, hformit terraca s e following the gully downwards. This stretch is very rough and steep, the gradient of the steepest portion probably exceedint descendi s A . 5 sg n int i ivallee o th roa e yth d is easy to follow, and shows the same features as were noted further north, being 12 ft. to 13 ft. wide and having scarps and boulder kerbing; the 'back drain' is well preserved from place to place as a ditch originally 3 ft. wide but now largely filled up. At about 142771 a modified S is formed by a pair of fairly open curves; some small quarries can be seen near by, and, as just mentioned on the short cut, a dump of broken rock prepared for use as metalling. The road rejoins A 93 at the bottom of the Devil's Elbow (144766), though modern works have caused a gap at the actual junction. This section of the road must always have been very difficult, on account not steepnese onl th t als f uppedriftes f ybu o o it d f so ren d snow persistin gulle th yn gi at the top. The local road-man confirms that this gully is in fact a snow-trap. The drawbacks of the place, whatever they were, seem to have been recognised quickly, as by 1776, if not earlier, the route down the gully had been replaced by a road on the line of A 93, incorporating the familiar hair-pins of the Devil's Elbow and the straight stretch above it.1 It is allowable to guess that this major piece of improve- ment may have been suggested by the modest S-turn, just mentioned, on the military road. Such early modification militarf so t havy no road ey beesma n uncommons a , Sir Kenneth Mackenzie remarks that the earlier roads, wonderful as they seemed when first built, ceased to satisfy a new generation, and that in the later eighteenth century much money was spent on improvements, including new bridges and 'new cuts'.2 Steep gradients, accepted by military engineers, might be impracticable for commercia lsucn i use d h s 'foun ,an case wa t dsi necessar alteo yt linese d th r an , thao cheapes continuo no t d o t r repaire eth s year after year'.3 Belo roadw Devil'togethee n wne th sru d soman r s Elbod rfo eol e 140wth 0 yds., though the former drops to a rather lower level for some 300 yds. in squares 1475 and 1375. But at a point a few yards above a conspicuous roadside quarry (137755), 350 yds. abov bridge eth t spot-leveea l 1498 militare th , y road turns steeply down- hill toward confluence sth Allf o e t a' Choire Sheiridh with Allt a' Choire Dhirich. Some good work has been done on this stretch, including a boulder-built causeway 3 ft. high spanning a damp hollow, and a set of curves similar to the S-turn above the Devil's Elbow, the lowermost portion of which has been built up underneath
1 Taylor and Skinner, Survey and Maps of the Roads of North Britain or Scotland (1776), PI. 26. Transactions of the Inverness Scientific Society, V (1895-9), '65. 32 Transactions Gaelice oth f Society of Inverness, xiv (1887-8), 186. E MILITARTH Y ROAD FROM BRAEMA O GLET R5 23 N SHEE with boulders to a height of as much as 6 ft. The gradient of one short pitch be- tween two of the turns is about i in 4^, and Taylor and Skinner show that the road was realigned, on the easier present course of A 93, before ijjS.1 The road origin- ally crossed Allt a' Choire Dhirich, som yds0 e4 . abov confluencee eth bridga y b , e of which onl yfragmena remainw no t righe s th , i(PI t);n bee s o banXX . ha n t ki obliterated by a fank, but traffic to the fank has kept it clearly marked thence to the point wher t rejoine i , clos 93 spot-leve o et s A l 1414 Glen I . n Beag, below this point, furtheo n founds r wa trac t i , lengthf o apareo tw r whaf thavo y so fro e ma tem on been 'back drains' facBoarn e i th td Ordnancf do an ; e plans suggest tha rese f th to t its course to the Spittal of Glen Shee was the same as that of A 93. The bridge of 1749 over Allt a' Charnaic evidentls hha y been replaced existine th t gbu , bridgt ea Spittae presumabls th i ) 3 l , (PIXX . y original. Glen I n Beag, however, there appear some final customare traceth f so y road. These consist of hollow tracks on both banks of Allt Coolah some 70 yds. to 100 yds. above A 93 (126739), the hollow on the left bank continuing as a short stretch of farm-road south-west of the house of Rhidorrach (Ruidh Dorch). The house known as the 'Old Spittal', which stands beside A 93 a short distance north of Spittal Bridge, though unlikely to be older in its present form than 1790, the date inscribed on an entrance lintel, occupie same th s markee Boare e on th sit s f Ordnancen ea do do thuy plan sma 1750f o mar d poine an , kth t wher customare eth y road emerged from bottoe glene th th f m.o A review of the main structural features of the road tells us a good deal about its builders' theory and practice, and the results are not greatly to their credit. The work shows little sig havinf no g been properly reconnoitred planner o , wholea s da , for, quite apart fro apparene mth t shorfiasce ovet th Cairnwelf e tcu oo rth l shoulder, and whether or not they were seduced by the existence of a customary track, the engineers were evidently content to remain in or near the lowest parts of the valleys until forced to extricate themselves at the cost of excessive gradients. The British soldier's antipath picshovelo yd t kan , combined wit cose htimth n ti heavf eo y side- cutting likewisy ma , e have contribute e defectivth o dt e grading. Great lacf ko practical competenc alss oewa show sucn i h matter drainags sa surfacingd ean e th ; road, whether terraced and given a mounded kerb or simply hollowed out, forming a flat-bottomed ditch which held any water that reached it. 'Back drains', where provided, wer doubo en desirabla t e improvement t theirbu , practical effecy ma t be questionable in the absence of exact levelling and a regular system of culverts. roadwae th s wa y r bottomedNo surfacs it r eno , metalled naturae th ; l stony tillr o , disintegratine th g rock underneath, see havmo t e been counted provido t n o ehara d surface. Good features are the maintenance of a consistent breadth, at least where obstacles were absent, the efficient use of boulders and large rock-fragments in the underbuildin e occasionaf curvesth o g d an , l fillin f bog-holeo g s with quarried material. Shortage of transport, familar in some modern armies, is suggested by the opening of small quarries from place to place, rather than of larger ones spaced at wider intervals.
PSA Q 1 loc. Cit. 236 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, 1963-64 In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to Mrs F. E. Hepburne-Scott, Mrs . StewartC . E . M , M.A., PH.D., F.S.A.SCOT., Mis . YoungsA , M.A., Mis . sGordonJ , B.A. . Hepburne-ScottW r M d an , M.B. helpeo varioun i wh e , dm s phaseworke th f so , and also Mr I. G. Scott, D.A. (EDIN.), F.S.A.SCOT., who prepared the drawings.
APPENDIX ON BRIDGES Eraser's Bridge (PI. XIX, 3). This bridge is 100 ft. long over irregularly splayed approaches, and 15 ft. 4 in. wide over the parapets; the carriage-way is 12 ft. wide. It is borne on two segmental overflon a spannine e on on arches w. . E rivee channe W e gth e th r, th itsel whicd n i l an froce hth k has been quarried away to give freer passage to flood-water. The E. arch springs 2 ft. above the water . abovin springing-linee 9 risein.d e. ,3 th span. ft an , ft s7 0 s3 greatese Th . t height above eth wate s 1i r5 ft., includin gparapea . . high1e pie0ft in 2 tTh r . betwee archee cut-watea nth s sha r 10 ft. 4 in wide on the upstream side. The masonry is large rubble very roughly coursed, and the voussoirs are longish and thin, contrasting with those at Allt a' Ghairbh-choire (q.v.). The work has been so heavily pointed that signs of disturbance or reconstruction are necessarily hidden. e flatTh copingparapee th f o t bear followine sth g initial downstreae datesd th sn an O . m side from W. to E.: (i) J +C or G /i863, the letters and figures being respectively