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

46 Place Names in Strathbogie.
ing accommodation for a considerable number of
people.
Within many of our larger hill-forts are
' wells,' which have given rise to some marvellous
conjectures as to the source of the water supply.
The ' well ' on the Tap o' Noth has led to con-
siderable discussion, and writers have tried to
explain how a spring could possibly be found on
the summit of a hill 9 miles distant from any
higher ground. It has been affirmed that water
was always found in the ' well,' and that a
' vitrified channel ' conducted the overflow from
it ; but the oldest inhabitant in the neighbour-
hood informs me that there never was an overflow
of water in his time. In the centre of the area
within the fort, 2}4 feet below the surface, there
is a bed of moss 3 inches thick, and under this
a considerable depth of clay, evidently showing
that there had been at one time a small loch or
pool on the sum.mit of the hill. The bed of moss
is confined to the centre of the area, and my
diggings showed no trace of it towards the ex-
tremities. The traditions about the water supply,
and the examination of the subsoil, led me to
excavate the ' well,' which was partially filled up
many years ago. Within the square ' eye,' which
it has been the pious custom occasionally to
repair as a veritable relic of antiquity, surface
water had collected. On digging down about 5
feet, water oozed out from the sides of the cut-