Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 7, ETM-GOA

for [ 357 -] F O R
Vitrified larly a long tract in the weftern part of Merioneth-
Forts. {hire, called in the language of the country Duffryn,
* k e. the vale. On firft viewing thefe fmall inclofurea
made with walls of thick Hones, he was at a lofs to
imagine how it could be worth while to conttruft fuch
ftrong fences for fo inconfiderable a piece of ground
as they inclofed : but, on examining the adjacent
country, he found it almoft entirely covered with
Hones of a limilar kind ; and, of confeqtience, the*
fmallet the fpace to be cleared, the lefs expenfive
would be the removal. “ For the fame reafon (faya
he), fuch dry walls are often of a great thicknefs, and
foraetimes the corners of the inclofures are filled with
Hones to a £reat width, this being the only poffible
means of procuring paHure.” To a pra&ice of the
feme kind our author would aferibe the origin of the
works in queHion ; but the objedlion occurs very
Hrongly, that the walls in Scotland are vitrified, and
it is not to be fuppofed that fuch trouble would be
taken with fences made in fuch a fortuitous manner.
This obje<Hion, our author owns, would indeed be un-
anfwerable, on the fuppofition that the vitrification
•w.as made on purpofe to Hrengthen the walls of the
fertrefs; “ but (fays he) may not the vitrification
have been occafioned by volcanoes, or by what are cal¬
led bloomeries ? The fame effect may be produced like-
wife on diy walls of Hone by lightning pafiing along
them. The loofe Hones in either cafe would not be
reje&ed becaufe they were glaffy, and would be piled'
up in the fence of the inclofure ; as the great point
upon thefe occafions is to clear the ground, and remove
the incumbering Hones to the fmallefi difiance. One
of the advocates for the defigned and not fortuitous
vitrification, fays, that the pieces he had procured did
not referable what is called lava. But every volcano
is not neceffarily an Etna or a Vefuvius ; and coufe-
quently the matter difgorged from the crater mufi per¬
petually vary both in fubfiance and form. Vitrified
naaffes, larger or, fmaller, will likewife be produced by
the fame means. It may be contended indeed, that
pafiure thus procured, by clearing the ground, would
be more convenient at the bottom or on the Tides,
than on the top of the hill: but to this I anfwer, that
in rocky countries you mufi get what pittance you
oan of foil, and often it will happen tjhat the only de¬
tached and removeabk Hones are on the fummit. When
fuch inclofures have been1 made, they became very con¬
venient for putting cattle into ; and hence perhaps
fome of the wells which Mr Williams hath mentioned.^
Our author concludes his differtation on this fubjeft
by. obferving, that if vitrification anfwered the putpofe
of cement, it is very extraordinary that the ancient in¬
habitants of Scotland did not apply it to the houfes
or huts in which they confiantly lived, but referved
this troublefome and expenfive proeefs merely for a
fortification, which might not per haps be ufed in half
a century againfi an enemy. On this it is almofi fu*
perfluous to obferve, that in the ages of barbarity and
bloodfhed, in which thefe inclofures, whether natural
or artificial, were fuppofed to be ufed as fortreffes,
war was fo frequent, that a defence againfi an enemy
might feem to be neceffaty every day, inftead df once
in half a century. Before we proceed further in the
argument, however, it will be neceffary to give fome
account of the fitaation and appearance of thefe for- Vitrified i
treffes. 1'' * „
According to Mr Cardonnel, the largeft of them ^
is fituated on the hill of Knockfarril, to the fouth of
the valley of Strathpeffer, two miles weft from Ding-
Wall in Rofsfhire. The inclofure is 120 feet long and
40 broad within the walls; ftrengthened on the out-
fide with works at each end. A range of habitations
feem to have been eredted againft, or under, the fhade
of the outward wall; of which thofe on the fouth-fide
feem to have been higher and larger than thofe on the
north. There are two wells in the middle, which,
on being cleared out, filled with water. On the
feirts of the hill to the fouth are many detached build¬
ings ; which, from the ftratum of dung found on re¬
moving the ruins, appear plainly to have been ufed for
fecuring the cattle. This place feems to have been
anciently of confequence, and the refidence of fome
powerful chief, from a road which leads through the
hills to the north-weft fea. To the eafi of the works
are a number of vitrified ruins, extending for a confi-
derabie way along the ridge of the hill. The end
next the fort feems to have joined-the outer wall, and
con lifted either of two parallel walls, clofed above, with
a paffage between them under cover, or a high wall
broad enough to walk on. In this wall there is tha
vefiige of a break about the middle, over which a
bridge has been laid, to be drawn up or removed as
occafion might require.
The fort next in confequence to that of Knock¬
farril is fituated on the hill of Craig-Phadrick near In-
vernefs, “ which (fays Mr Cardonnel) has this pecu¬
liar circumftance, that there appears to have been two
vitrified walls quite round the area. The inner one
feems to have been very high and ftrong ; the outer
wall but low: probably the fpace between was intend¬
ed for fecuring their cattle, as there are no remains of
dry-Hone buildings, fuch as are found near the reft.
Several parts of this outer wall appear quite entire,
fiieking to the firm bare rock, where it was firft run.
The area within the inner wall is near .80 paces long,
and 27 broad.” Gf this we have an accountf by \Edm.Thlh.
Alexander Frafer-Tytler, Efq; profeifor of civil hiitory Traifoa.
in the univerlky of Edinburgh, who vifited it in the }}'
year 1782.. The kill itfelf is a fmall conical eminence,
forming the eaftern extremity of that ridge of moun¬
tains which bounds Locb-Nefs oa the north.-weft fide.
It is fituated about a mile to the north of Invernefs,
and is acceffible on two different quarters, viz. the
weft and fouth-eaft 7 the former affording entrance by
a narrow level ridge joining the hills on Eoch-Nefs,
and the latter by an eafy afeent from the high ground
above Inverr.efs. On approaching the hill from the
weft, we firft meet with a road cut through the rock
from the bottom to the top, in moft places 10 feet
broad and nearly as deep; winding, for about 70 feet,
with an eafy Terpentine diredtion, by which we gain
an afeent over a fteep rock otherwife quite inacceffible
from that quarter. This road, in our author-’s opi¬
nion, is undoubtedly the work of art, and the vitrified
matter on the top is the only thing which indicates
the effedt of fire ; there being neither an appearance
of pumice ftone, lava, norbafaltes about the hill other-
wife. There t# indeed plenty of plum-pudding ftoue 5
which >