Blair Collection > Place names in Strathbogie, with notes historical, antiquarian and descriptive

The Fort on the Tap o' Noth. 43
see that it would be harder for an enemy to scale
these piles of loose stones, affording no secure
footing, than to climb over a solid mass of vitri-
fied matter. For this reason, I think, the stones
piled up on the face of the hill below the ram-
parts formed one of the best securities the fort
had against assault. They do not present the
appearance of accumulations of stones fallen from
a height, such as are frequently seen at the base
of Highland hills. Neither do I think that the}'
are the debris of structures upon the ramparts,
nor, except to a limited extent, the material
which formed part of the ramparts, because (i)
the ramparts are not of a width capable of sup-
porting one-tenth of the stones around the upper
slope of the hill ; (2) the design in construction
of the ramparts evidently was to place the larger
stones in the lower part, and the smaller on the
top, but the stones of the slope are generall}-
larger than those on the ramparts ; (3) had the
stones fallen from the ramparts there was no
reason why they should not have gone further,
the hill being in many parts as steep below their
limit as above ; and (4) there is evidence of design
in embankments at the foot of the slope, partly of
earth and partly of stones, forming a foundation
for the stones piled against the face or slope of the
hill ; while here and there I noticed large stones
at the lower extremity, with smaller stones laid
in regular order above them like rude masonry.