J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

60 POPULAR RHYMES OF SCOTLAND.
Roman fortification now existing- in Britain. It lies in the
parish of Muthill, Perthshire, upon a rising- g-round close
by the Knaic Water, and at a short distance from a Roman
causeway, which runs in a north and north-east direction
from a part of the wall of Antoninus, near Falkirk, past
Stirling, and so on towards Brechin. The area of the camp
was 140 by 125 yards within the lines; and beyond the
scope of this measurement, a great deal of ground is occu-
pied by the remains of numerous walls and trenches. The
prcetentura, or general's quarter, rises above the level of the
camp, but is not in the centre. It is a regular square, each
side being exactly twenty j^ards. At present, it exhibits
evident marks of having been enclosed by a stone wall, and
contains the foundations of a house ten yards by seven.
At the distance of half a mile from the camp at Ardoch
stands the Grinnan-Hill (that is. Sunny Hill) of Keir,
another Roman fortification of inferior importance, sup-
posed to communicate with the former by a subterranean
passage. This is not a popular tradition only, but a pro-
bable fact, countenanced by the opinions of antiquaries, and
by the following circumstance : — Till the year 1720, there
existed, about six paces to the eastward of the prsetentura,
the aperture of a passage which went in a sloping direction
downwards and towards the hill of Keir. This, according
to the rhyme, was supposed to contain vast treasures ; and
there is a tradition that this supposition received something
like confirmation about two centuries ago. In order to
ascertain the fact, a man who had been condemned by the
baron-court of a neighbouring lord was proffered his life,
on condition that he would descend into the hole, and try
what he could do in the way of treasure-finding. Being
let down by a rope to a great depth, and then in a short
time drawn up again to the surface, he brought with him
some Roman helmets, spears, fragments of bridles, and other
articles. On being let down a second time, he was killed
by foul air; and though it was believed that, if he had
lived, great discoveries would have been made, no one after
that thought it prudent to make the attempt. The mouth
of the hole was covered up with a millstone by an old
gentleman who lived at the house of Ardoch while the
family were in Russia, about the year 1720, to prevent hares
from running into it when pursued by his dogs ; and as