The Prehistoric Forts of Peeblesshire. with Plans
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I. E PREHISTORITH C FORT F PEEBLESSHIREO S . WITH PLAND AN S SKETCHES DAVIY B . D CHRISTISON, M.D., F.S.A. SOOT. (PLATES I.-VII.) e prehistoriTh c fort f Scotlanso perhape ar d s worth f moryo e attention than has yet been devoted to them. No less an authority than Dr Daniel Wilson has, indeed, expresse e opinioth d n that subjece "th t has already been treated of, with ample details, in Chalmers' Caledonia, and little tha worts i t h recordin s adderesearchee b hi n o dt gca s "; but, e otheoth n r hand r JameSi , s Simpson s presidentiahi n i , l addresf o s 1860, included the hill forts among "the many departments of Scottish antiquities urgently demandin e numeroue handth th f t o gsa s zealous antiquaries scattered over the country, full descriptions and accurate drawings of such vestiges of them as are still left." And surely it can hardly be maintained that the singularly dry details of Chalmers,—for e mosth t par rechauffee vagua t th f eo description Statisticald ol e th n si Account of Scotland, Gordon's Itinerarmm, or other works of last century d illustratean , a solitar y b d y plan,—for n adequatma e record of remains which must have played an important part in the early historr countryou f yo . 'I trus i t e Chalmer earliee th d r san authoritie s r onlou yt no source e f ar informationo s . Occasiona- lde plan d an s scription f Scottiso s h fort variouy b s r e founb sou writer o n t i d e ar s Proceedings; and Miss Maclagan has taken a comprehensive view of the 4 1 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , DECEMBE , 188613 R . subject, illustrated by many useful plans and drawings, in The Hill fortsd Stonean Circles f o Scotland. But, without detracting from r worke merihe th f e littl,o b tther n e ca edoub t tha a great t masf so materials .still remain e gathered—frob o t s ma fielvaso to dt perhaps y singlfoan r e labourer—befor e e effectuallsubjecb th e n ca t y studied awholesa . investigationn Mow y s originate n frequeni d t visitse madth o t e hill forts during a residence in Peeblesshire in the years 1885 and 1886. My interest rapidly grew as I discovered in them a variety of desig d constructionan n t sufficientlno , y noticedy b t seemei , s a me , o dt the earlier writers. I resolved therefore to study these remains care- fully o describt , e the s thema y are, rather tha speculato nt whao t s ea t thehavy y ma emeany b been, f d plano s an s and. description afforo st d facilities for comparing them with similar works in other districts. In choosing y observationlimitm o t s t i swoul d have been desirablo t e have adopted natural boundaries, instea f confinindo g myself strictlo yt the county, but in that case the field of observation would have been extended much beyond wha I coult d have investigated wit degree hth e of attention which the subject appeared to demand. The Peeblesshire forts have already been described by the late Sir William Chambers in a paper read to the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh 1865n i t onlbu , ya shor t abstrac t appearei f o t thein di r Proceedings. s Historyhi n f Peeblesshire,I o publishe n 1864i d a numbe,e th f o r fort describee sar meano plannedn d dy an b s t accuratelybu , takinn O . g e subjecuth p t myself I expecte, t mucge o ht d assistance froe th m plans in the 25-inch Ordnance Map. In this expectation, however, I was largely disappointed n mani s a y, cases, even whe e existinth n g remain e quitar s e substantial e sitth ,e onl s indicatedyi n otheri , e th s plan e defectivar s r inaccurateo e , while e bes, evef th themo t n i ne th , details are insufficient for archaeological purposes. I have been obliged therefore, while making use of the Ordnance Map when available, to trust mainl rougo yt h own y planm ,f takeso pacingy nb althougd an ; h I visited most of the forts two or three times to solve doubts and correct errors welm a l I ,awar e tha sucr fo t h plan greateo sn r degre f accuraceo y e claimeb n ca d tha s sufficienni adequatn a r fo t e reviee fortth s a sf w o a whole. THE PREHISTORIC FORT PEEBLESSHIREF O S5 1 . The order whic I hhav e adopte n dealini d g wit subjecy hm t is— first o describt , e fortsth e ; secondly mako t , e some general remarkn so them; thirdly, to touch very shortly on theoretical questions. In order to understand the general scope of the work, it is not necessary to read descriptive th e part, whic s intendehi d mainl a recor s ya f fact d o an s for reference. I DESCRIPTIO FORTSE TH F .O N The total number of Peeblesshire forts, of whose existence now or formerly we have any authentic knowledge, is 83. This may seem a very large number for so small a district, but it is probably equalled in other parts of Scotland, and exceeded in Ireland, where in the single Barony of Corcaguiny, county Kerry, the Ordnance Map gives 11 cahirs or stone forts, and 376 raths or earthen forts (Mr Hitchcock). The numbe n Walei r s must also have been prodigious 3 castells5 s a 3 , 5 , camps 7 raths1 , 6 intrenchments, 7 gaer marke e d Orde sar an th , -n do nance Map of Pembroke alone (Mr E. Laws). Of the 83 Peebles forts either no trace or very little trace of 17 remains, 42 are much decayed, and 24 may be considered as in fair preservation. The damaged con- dition of by far the greatest number of them forbids any attempt at a strictly scientific classification; still s soma , e order mus observede b t I , have adopte a dsystem , founded rathe n preseno r t resemblances than upon supposed original similarity of design. Before describin s e necessarforti g th t i s o explaiyt e plannd th an s drawings which illustrate them. 1. The forts are all laid down roughly as if the north were at the top of the page.- e scal th f 12o n e e woro 0 e texth e plane feeth f kar Th o to t n tsi . 2 the inch, and represent comparatively well-preserved forts. e plansTh . ,3 Plate e reducesth I.-VI.n o d0 feee 24 scalar t, f o e to the inch. They represent the ill-preserved forts, together with a few of the better-preserved ones which are too large to be shown on the other scale. 4. Sections, when complete, are on the same scale as their respective plans. When only partial, they are on double the scale of the plans. 6 1 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , DECEMBE , 188613 R . e t sectionlaino Th d e dowar s n accuratel accompanye th scaleo yt t bu , - ing figures show the principal measurements in feet. 5: The height of the ramparts given is not at the point of section, theis i t r bu greatest heighside th e t througa t h whic sectioe hth n passes. nature site s th showTh ei f . eo 6 n roughl arrowsy yb , which indicate the steepness of slopes by the amount of feathering, an arrow without feathering representin gvera y gentl wite e on slopeh d fouan , r feathera s climbee slopb steeo o et s s dpa with difficulty. These arrow somee sar - time connection si n wit planse hth , sometimes wit e sectionsy hth ma s a , be most convenient figuree Th .s with them represen vera n yi t general wa perpendiculae yth r heighslopee th f o st abov e neareseth t strear mo tolerably level ground. The sides without arrows are level or nearly so. In the sketches I have omitted the trees which encumber several of the forts represented. Owin e smallnesth scale o gt detailth e ef th so e sketchesomn si th f eo s are given more distinctly than the e see yastons ar n i reality i n t i t - ye ; ishing how distinct they may become under a favourable light. When strong shadows ar settine e th cas y b gt possibls suni t i , e fro mdistanca e omila f morr eo couno et t " rings " which poomaka t r ebu sho t wmida - whey da n viewed clos t handea . Satisfactory general e fortviewhardln th ca s f gote o sy b , unless they happe closele b o t ny overlooked from neighbouring heights severaln I . instance I shav e been oblige o represent d t rampart d trenchean s s a s they would appear from a standpoint several feet higher than it was possible to reach. CLASS A. FORTS APPARENTLY ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED MAINLY OK ENTIRELY OF STONE. This class includes twelve forts. The characterisee yar e absencth y db f eo earthen ramparts and trenches, and in nine instances by the presence of stonv debris. In the case of the other three we possess trustworthy evidence that the beed yha n constructe f stonedo .