III. NOTICE OF THE ANCIENT KIL OK BURYING-GROUND TERMED "CLADH BHILE," NEAR ELLARY, LOCH CAOLISPORT, SOUTH KNAPDALE. BY WILLIAM GALLOWAY, ESQ., ARCHITECT, CORK. MEM. S.A. SOOT. (PLATES II., III., IV.) In the autumn of 1875, while on a tour in Knapdale, I visited the ancient burying-ground known as " Cladh Bhile." It is situated about midway dow westere nth n sid f Loco e h Caolisport a heigh t a , f oveo t r 200 feet abov e sea-levelth e d e nearlcentrsteee th an ,th f pn yi eo hill- slopes immediately abutting upon this portioe lochth f , o nbetwee e nth Eilean-na-Bruachai Eudh-an-Tubhaidh.e t Ellaryna th d an , 1 There are no ecclesiastical remains connected with it, nor tradition of any. shoreClose th o ecouplt a , f mileeo s neare loche heae th t th rf a , d o Cove, lie interestinn sa g grou ruinsf po , comprisin glittla e chapel dedicated to St Columba, and the cave with its rudely-built altar and crosses carved in the living rock, which gives its name to the locality. 1 In the Ordnance Survey map, the remains of a fort are indicated on the crest of hile th l immediately above this burying-grovmd notico n t s takee siti bu , th e f no itself, not even the usual $.(8. KitE OBUEYING-GKOUKK N,TH O D TEEMED " CLAUH BHILE.3 3 " In marked contrast to that upon the eastern side, the western shore of Loch Caolisport is exceedingly rugged, seamed by water-courses, and hrokerocky b p ynu brows running inte sea th o thats ; , until quite recently varioue th , s localitie s margiit n so n were accessible chiefly from the higher ground above, traversed by the road between Kilmory-Knap and Auchahoish purchase Th estate .Tarratth x D.y f eb Fo o , Esq.s ,ha entirely altere little casee Th dth e .onstea Ellarf do gives yha n placa o et spacious mansion, a private road being conducted to it at great expense water-sidee closth o t e I stat. e thi shoo t s w that, although distances are not great, there may be no immediate connection between remains like those at Cove and Cladh Bhile. Even now the latter site lies in a trackles sequestered an s dn extensive hear a spotth f o n ti , e woodd an , could not be found except by some one acquainted with the locality. At the date of my visit, although the surface still lay in its natural state I foun, site th de itself cleared froe densmth e growt copsf ho d ean underwood previously encumbering it. Scattered here and there without order of any kind, lay the incised stones to which I have this evening the honou f directino r g your attention I trus d tan ; that, althougt hno numerous, their antique character may render them not uninteresting. They are in all twelve in number, and range from the magnificent pillar stone or erect slab, No. 1, a and b, down to the half quern-stone, No. 12. None remain in situ, or erect, but they lie half-buried in the soil, or tossed about among tree-root d stonesan f irregulao s r shap varioud ean s sizes, exhibitin traco gn humaf eo n handiwork. Beyond these remnants onle th , y other indicatio f thino s place having been used for the purpose of interment is the evidence that, to a quad- rangular outline, measuring over the boundary 120 feet from east to west and 80 feet from north to south, it has been at one time enclosed on all four sides. Lik cashee e Iristh th e hf o l cemeteries, this enclosure took probably the form of a dry-stone dyke. Its principal trace is a thickly- strewn bel f stoneso t , abou feex si t t broad t sombu , e portions still remain partially intact, or mounded up under accumulated moss and soil. There , howeverbe n ca possibilito n , f mistakeo y s thia , s enclosure forme th s well-defined recene limith f o tt clearance.1 Proceedinge th n I 1 s Societye ofth , Capt. "White states that this "burial-grouns di "without enclosure kin y ; se 5 an ed f als38 "so . (volop . "x . Arch . Sketche Knapn si - VOL. XII. PART I. C 34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 11, 1876. In contrast with, the great majority of those in tha West Highlands there.i curioue son s peculiarit f thiyo s burial-place whico t , hI wil l only for the present allude, viz., that—as I think, with the exception of one or two indeterminable fragments, I shall be able, in every case, to prove— ther entirn a s ei e absenc f flarecumbenr eo o t t slabs, sculpture unsculpr do - tured, everythin e rankeb gy s upo a dwa e groun y th n an dn i than ca t memorial deae th d f so bein g exclusively pillar-stones d intendean , t dno to lie flat upon the grave, but to be set upright either at its head or foot. The burying-groun n questioi d s localli n y termed " Cladh Bhile." Cladh r Claodh,o s primarit n i y signification applicabl artificiallyn a o et - constructed earthen mound, bank, or ditch,1 is not only used in the Scottish Highland generaa s sa l terplaca r mburialf fo eo t constitutebu , s not unfrequently part of the local designation.2 Although of common occurrenc place-namea s ea Beever D , s state abovse thath n eti senses i "t i rarely used in Ireland." 3 O'Eeilly's Dictionary gives Cladh, s.m., a grave, dike, ditch, bank, mound d alsan o; Cludh, s.m., burying-ground; remarky buma I t , tha e tchapte eveth n n namei o r s commemorating "Monuments, Graves d Cemeteries,"an , s "Irishi n i h4 Namef o s Places, wore "th neves di r once mentione r JoycD y thin ei db s relation. It is quite otherwise with tbe term Bhile, or, in the nominative, Bile, a tree, a cluster of trees,—a word equally known in both dialects, but, owin o alteret g d circumstance d sociaan s l customs, findin s mosit g t striking illustration originae th n si le Scoto-Celt homth f o e . According r JoycetoD n Irelani , d " Bilegeneralls wa y applie a larg o t de tree, which ,reason y fo an rhels veneration dwa ,i peoplee th y nb ; for instance one under which their chiefs inaugurated e useb o dt r periodicao , l games celebrated. Trees of this kind were regarded with intense reverence and dale," p. 57). That there is no marked enclosure indicative of modern use or atten- tion is true; but that it must have been carefully protected at some former period is . evident. Cladh "generally means a raised dyke of clay, but sometimes a sunk ditch or 1 fosse;" "an artificial mound, dyke, or rampart of any kind." Vide Joyce's " Irish Names of Places," p. 31, and 2d series, sub. "Artificial Works," p. 214. n lonI a alone r ReeveD , s enumerates four several site whico t s e terhth s m i 2 applied (Reeves' Adamnan, sub. Cemeteries in " Additional Notes," pp. 417-419, and Explanatio f Nameno n Mapi s . varieta 426)p ,d f an othe;yo r instances coule b d adduced, both fro mainlane mth westerd dan n islands. 3 Reeves' Adamnan, p. 428. 4 First Series^ part iii. chap. iii. ON THK BURYING-GROUNKIR LO D TERMED " CLADII BIIILE.5 3 " greatese affectionth f o e t triumphon ; s tha triba t e could achieve over thei t rdow enemiescu o nt s theiwa , r inauguratio outrago nn treed ean , was more keenly resented, or, when possible, visited with sharper retribu- tion. addse H " l: " These trees were pretty commo pasn ni t times; some of them remain to this day, and are often called Bell trees, or Bellow word ol trees de lile.echn th a , mos n f I oo 2 t cases, however, they have It was under these trees that the Liafail, or Stone of destiny, pertaining to the trib1 e was placed—to break it up or carry it away being a necessary complement to the destruction of the tree. Dr Stuart suggests that Edward I. may have been actuated by analogous motives in carrying off the Scottish " Stone of destiny " from Seone (Proceedings, vol. viii . 104)p . archaeologise th o T interestinn a t g surviva thif o l s ter place-namea ms a thad an ,t whic2 h suggeste presens dit t application, occur connection si monasterd n ol wit e hth y of Magh-bile counte th n i ,y Down, founde t Finiae sixtS th y dhb n n i century, and Danee burnth y differene b st825r o circaTh 4 . 82 t term e sannalist th use y b d s in recording its destruction have supplied Dr Petrie, in the sub-sections of his Essay on the Round Towers, with interesting illustrations as to the dcrthech or oratory, and erdame th porcr o h (Eccl. Arch Irelandf o , . 340pp , , 435). The term Magh-bile, i.e., " the plain of the old or ancient tree," occurs in various other localities in Ireland, but in all of them it is now modernised as " Moville;" e.g., thermonastere th s ei Magh-bile,f yo Domnach-bile,r o founde t PatrickS y db n o , e bankth f Loco s h Foyle (Archdall's Monasticon Hib.