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Cameron.—I wish
to take a walk round the moss, and we may begin at the ferry. There
is a little mound here called the yellow mound of Connel; it may be
old, and it may contain something interesting.
Loudoun.—Here
at least is something certainly old, the deeply cut bed of the river
below. It must have taken long to cut through that rock.
Cameron.—Can
water do such a thing?
Loudoun.—Water
may do it in time, or in the ages that look to us like eternity, but
we do not rely on it wholly. It brings down stones from the hills
and they grind rapidly. It is rock against rock, and you know sand
or small stones are now used as a means of boring and of polishing.
Willie.—At any
rate it has left the banks capital for rabbits, and these gipsies
live here and probably feed to a great extent upon them.
Cameron.—Yes,
these are Ceardan, or, as we should say, tinkers. In Scotland they
are not called gipsies often. I suppose that before the gipsies came
the tinkers went about much as they do now, doing metal work for the
people. They can make, or at least they could make, silver brooches
with very simple tools, and we know that in other countries, in
Persia, for example, there are similar wanderers, but far more
skilful, who make those beautiful and elaborate bronze vessels of
open lacework with figures numerous, fantastic, and mythical, some
indicating serpent-worship, ideas received probably from
neighbouring states or Indian nagas. I mean that either the art, or
the idea, or both, came from elsewhere.
Margaet.—Can
it be that these men live out of doors with no covering but a slight
tent, and some with only a covering for the head? These women, too,
seem no more robust than ourselves, and they are poorly clothed. How
can they live?
Loudoun.—By
ceasing to think, it would appear that a good deal of the vigour
goes into the body, and these people are very idle in body and mind.
Margaet.—But I
thought that exercise kept us warm, and if these people were idle
they would starve.
Loudoun.—Exercise
does make us warm, but great exercise needs rest, and we must be
strong indeed if we do not cool too far after it. I think it
probable that these people, not being of the strongest, would need
more shelter if they were very active. They would convert into
energy that which they now have in warmth, and lose much heat also
in evaporation. They do not usually stand the winter well, they go
into towns as a rule; but there are some who keep out, and it is
only lately that one died in a tent on the snow near Forres, the
rest of the tribe lying around him. He had never since youth lived
under a roof.
Margaet.—But
surely vigorous men can stand cold best.
Loudoun.—Certainly;
but cold brings down even their activity, and if very much exposed
they cease to be powerful. I don't like these people ; they are lazy
and beggarly whether real gipsies or not.
Cameron.—This
is a great moss at our left. And the road seems to be on an
embankment around it. Cairns are on the roadside as if the moss were
very old. This cairn at LocIianabeich has a large base, indeed only
the base remains, as the barns were built out of it. There is
nothing in it above the original surface, but no one has gone lower
and it may conceal something interesting. Some people say it was
only a collection of stones to clear the land, and there is some
land cleared here for the farm.
O'Keefe.—Here
to the right is another collection of stones; do you think people
would put them in such a picturesque place if they were only
collected from the road? These look down on the loch and ornament
the fine bank.
Cameron.—Yes,
it is a fine bank, a bank of whin and gorse, and lively with rabbits
black and white. Who would have thought a few years ago that the
telegraph poles would have run along the top and the wires crossed
the loch, and that a dyer would be building works opposite, and the
school board interfering with the lonely shore.
We progress, as you
from the South say, but I do not like the people better. I like the
old people in these cottages, with their little crofts behind, and I
know they enjoy walking out in that wood and round the great curve
of the road which opens up the wide part of the loch and shows us
Ardchattan, the churches and the priory, as well as the great hills
and the openings into their dark recesses.
Down there is a piece
of an old ruin near the sea-shore. I do not know what it was, but it
is near the houses of decent men whom I know, and I admire the view
on which they feed daily when standing at their own doors and
looking up to Ardchattan over the broad part of Loch Etive. Those
who do not fear running down the hill may run and look, those who
prefer to keep to our principal object will walk along. Here we come
to the peat moss out of which we got the spear head. We shall follow
the road as it leads round the great bend of the loch, widening like
a sea, and turn round to the left until we come to the clump of
trees and the great cairn.
Sheena.—I
think I must be showwornan here as I took so much interest in this
cairn. You perceive that the enclosure is great although the traces
of the ditch are small, and of the large stone circle around it
there remain only some fragments. The height appeared greater before
opening, although there was only a little taken off—the change is
more observable in the shape. If you go to the top you see a wide
opening. The stones taken out were thrown to the side, and the
original appearance is best understood from the drawing. It took two
men eight or nine days to make that opening. The plan was to go down
from the top, but as the stones were continually rolling in, it was
quite necessary to make a broad opening above, and in order not to
diminish the height, if possible, we kept a little to the west side.
After sinking about eight feet we came to a flat stone which broke
readily in pieces—some of the slate of the country. This really had
an Aladdin's cave appearance, and we were all anxiety.
We had come to the
extreme edge of a number of flat granite stones, which were found
afterwards to form a roof. At the side, and under the granite roof,
was the opening which had been filled up with slatey material, and
it was this opening which served for all the exploration.
Fortunately we had struck upon the spot which, of all others, was
most suitable for entering without destruction of material, since
the avenue forming the true original entrance was found to have
collapsed, and had we seen it at first we might have been tempted to
remove the stones from their position in order to make way, thus
destroying the form to a considerable extent. And now every stone of
the building is exactly as we found it.
It was a weird thing
entering that cairn that had been so long closed, and it was a
cheerful thing to come out and see the people that had gathered,
even from this lone district, as soon as they heard that there was
really a building and chambers found in the cairn. It was curious,
also, to listen to the superstitions that came out. One woman who
lived here, and might therefore be considered an authority, said
that she used to see lights upon it in the dark nights. That you may
explain as you please; distances are not easily judged of in the
dark. One man, who also lived near, and who certainly was
intelligent, said he would not enter for the whole estate of
Lochnell.
We have often
inquired the name of the cairn.
The cairn really has
had no definite name. Some people have called it Carn Ban or White
Cairn, but that is evidently confusing it with the other cairn which
we saw over the moss, and which is really whiter. Some people have
called it Ossian's Cairn, but that is not an old name, and even if
it had been, we know that it is a common thing to attach this name
to anything old. We call it Achnacree Cairn, from the name of the
farm on which it stands. It was a pleasant day for us and all around
to find an interest so human and natural arising out of things deep
in the ground in this secluded place, and it makes one wonder
whether there be not, in every part of the world, something that
might interest us all if we only knew how to look at it. But I shall
not describe the structure of this cairn, leaving you rather to read
what has already been said on the subject, which is as follows:—
DESCRIPTION OF THE
CAIRN OF ACHNACREE.
It was desired not to
disturb the actual top, so as to diminish the height, but it is to
be feared that the care has not been sufficient. After the men had
worked for seven days, a granite slab was found sixteen inches
thick. After three more days the boulders of the cairn were taken
down in quantity sufficient to render the slope safe enough to allow
of an entrance. The great danger in these cases comes from the
rolling of stones easily moved by a touch, and falling down to the
bottom, so that they require to be lifted up at least as high as the
side entrance. The intended entrance was then sought for. Two stones
that seemed to us to have been portions of a stone circle round the
cairn, now showed themselves rather as gateposts, since the chamber
seemed to point in that direction. An opening was therefore made
between them, and a narrow passage found. This passage was made of
brittle slate pieces of about three feet in height, and, in many
instances, less than a foot broad, forming the sides, and covering
the way. These were not in good order, the weight of the cairn had
evidently caused a tendency to collapse. The way was also nearly
filled up with stones, put there with intention to make the entrance
difficult, as it would seem. When working at this narrow entrance,
an old man from the neighbourhood, who had been engaged to assist
the others, said that he had found an opening there forty years ago,
when removing stones for building. When General Campbell, who was
then proprietor, saw this, he prevented further disturbance. There
was no entrance made, but the opinion continued that the cairn was
hollow. Evidently no one had entered it at that time. There was a
story of some bones having been found, but I do not know at what
spot; probably in a cist outside the cairn.
The apparent
dimensions of the cairn were 15 feet in diameter, and 15 feet high.
It is now somewhat lower. If the pillar stones at the entrance made
a continuous circle at the same distance from the centre, the
diameter would be less; at present the boulders of the cairn pass
even that limit. Possibly an outer circle was meant to support the
sides of the cairn, but I incline to think not. Many of the stones
have been removed on the side, so that one might doubt the shape of
the original; but I think, from the remaining part, that the whole
was one great circle. On the side farthest from the road is a ditch,
forming part of an outer ring of 135 feet in diameter. On the edge
of that, again, there are some stones which appeared, when I first
saw them, to be the remains of a stone cist rudely built, but so
much displaced by the growth of trees, and other still later
accidents which have entirely broken a part within a year, that it
is not now easy to distinguish the form. We must consider, then, an
enclosure about 400 feet in circumference, and within it, probably a
dozen feet from it, a circle of standing stones. Of this I can find
only one stone remaining ; but it is so like a standing stone for
the purpose, that it seems to have no other duty. I received this
idea from those circles round the cairns at Clava, for example. An
embankment is not uncommon ; one is seen on a gigantic scale at the
Giant's Ring, near Belfast, where several acres are enclosed by a
high earth wall; in the centre of the circle is a cromlech, with two
covering stones, like one of those described at Ach-na-Cree-beag;
one has fallen down on one side. Some of the supporting stones have
been removed.
We must suppose the
cairn itself to have been at first much smoother and more regular
than now, even if not supported all round by a wall of standing
stones, like those now forming the entrance.
Before entering the
cairn, I had the pleasure of a visit from the Rev. R. J. Mapleton of
Duntroon, who kindly came with his great experience. This relieved
me, as I was then inexperienced and was unwilling to venture on
touching ancient monuments, and I began with the full hope of
finding help. Mr. Mapleton has aided me in the description.
Fig. I, Plate showing
the sections, gives the size and height according to the measurement
of Mr. Ritchie Rogers, who kindly undertook to survey the whole,
both within and without. From him the originals of the drawings of
this cairn have been obtained on a scale, and they are now enlarged
to be shown.
The inner circle
shown on the diagram is that of the cairn itself. The dotted line is
the original passage, now a good deal obstructed with loose stones,
and not passable. The outer circle is that of the fosse. A supposed
third circle would be between these two.
A (Fig. 2) is the
entrance, as seen from the chamber B, C chamber not marked. The
point A is to the S.S.E., and may be called the southern point. In
reality, however, we entered at, L, where a few of the loose stones
at the top of the wall were removed. It was needful to go feet
foremost, and to allow ourselves to drop gently to the floor.
In the diagram shown
at the Society's meeting, there was also a view of the side walls of
the chamber and passages on the east and west.
Fig. 2 gives plan and
elevation of passages. Going from L we first meet passage I next to
H, then E and D, with the stones of the wall over them always
becoming smaller. We then come to A, where the proper entrance is;
the plans of the openings are placed in the plate opposite to their
positions.
In a corner of
chamber B is a large boulder, probably put there from its having
been ready at hand; at present it forms a part of the wall, although
by jutting out it becomes an irregularity.
Having then entered
feet foremost at L, the first thing that struck the eye was a row of
quartz pebbles, larger than a walnut; these were arranged on the
ledge of the lower granite block of the east side, with two on the
west. When we looked into the dark chamber from the outside they
shone as if illuminated, showing how clean they had remained. They
are rounded and not broken. The total length of the chambers is
nearly 20 feet, not including the long passage, and it may be said
to be tripartite, although the centre part might be held to be
merely a passage. The southern part, B, was intended to be entered
first, and is the largest, 6 feet long and 4 wide, the height 7
feet, but diminished by an accumulation of 8 or 10 inches of soil.
The entrance at A was capped by a large and roundish block of
granite resting on two slabs, and leaving the doorway to be only 2
feet 2 inches high and the same wide. On the stones forming the
passage no markings could be expected; they were rough and brittle
and slatey; no markings could be seen even on the granite, although
there were places convenient enough for the purpose. The walls were
formed of two blocks or rather slabs of stone, supplemented only by
a rough walling, as seen in fig. 4. The slabs are placed on edge and
lying end to end. On both sides where two large stones met was a
kind of triangular space filled in with loose open walling, so that
the hand could be inserted between the stones. On thrusting the hand
in, the place around seemed to be so open that Mr. Mapleton was
inclined to think that a recess might be behind. The roof was very
interesting; the stones of the rough walling rose from the rocks
below, and gradually approached each other, until the space was only
3 feet 4 inches by r foot io inches. This was covered over by one
stone, as depicted. The chamber was therefore roughly domed, in this
respect resembling many buildings of later times. The soil was loose
to the depth of io inches, chiefly fine gravel, with some larger
pebbles. When Mr. Mapleton lifted it up with a small trowel it was
passed through the fingers; after bringing it to the light, many
dark specks were found, appearing at first to be charcoal, but on
examination they were found very soft, and might have been from
decaying vegetable matter. It rained whilst we were in the cairn,
and heavy drops came down into the domed room where the centre slab
did not cover.
There was nothing
found indicating a burial except the urns ; in the large chamber was
one, or rather part of one. There was no instrument of stone or of
metal. We dug down to the natural surface, or some inches lower.
However, the urn was not below the natural surface, but on it, and
under the looser soil, lying on its side close to the mid part of
the eastern wall. The position seems to have been its original one,
the parts missing have probably decayed from being less completely
burnt. The loose parts came out as if from their proper places,
although detached. Another explanation is possible. The form is seen
at Fig. I, small neatly raised portions forming incipient handles.
The urn is round below, and consequently could not stand by itself.
Earth and stones were the only contents. A pebble of the same size
and quality as the white ones mentioned was inside, and had become
brown like the earth around.
The markings on the urn have a neat appearance, although done by
simply drawing a point down the side. See Plate as before, Fig. I.
The exit from this
chamber leading to the middle compartment has two large slabs,
supporting the roof or cover on the cast side, resting on a wall of
small stones, and on the west are the more solid blocks. The walling
ran half way across the passage, which became narrowed to about 2
feet. This doorway E was filled up with stones built firmly in after
the chamber had been completed, and not supporting the structure.
They had no appearance of having been placed there recently,
although they were lighter in colour than those forming the upper
part of the wall. Those in the passage had the same light colour,
and were still of the original building. I understand that the
apparently premeditated filling up of a passage is not uncommon.
The middle part H,
which may be only a passage itself, is 6 feet 6 inches long, and 2
feet 4 inches wide at the south end, and 2 feet 1 inch at the north.
It is 5 feet 4 inches high. Both sides were very similar, each
formed of two blocks, and above them 3 feet of firm dry walling. A
stone was found lying across the compartment nearly hidden in the
loose soil. This gave the idea of sub-compartments, such as had been
found by Mr. Mapleton at Kilmartin, but on examination it was seen
to have been placed there only for strength, being large and
irregular, and occupying a great part of the floor, although well
fitted for keeping the sides from approaching.
The floor of the
whole was strewed disorderly with boulder stones, but this I
understand is common ; to me it suggested entrance and robbing,
whilst some careful hand closed all up. This, however, must have
itself been early. The cover of this middle compartment was a large
slab, the edges of which could not be seen.
The doorway, I, into
the north division, is 2 feet 9 inches. A long stone lay across,
perhaps to tie the two sides, perhaps to support the ends of the
covering slabs, or both. We suppose there were two slabs to this and
the middle division, but we could not see the junction. This north
compartment is 4 feet 6 inches long, 3 feet wide, and 4 feet 8
inches high, if we do not remove the loose soil, otherwise 5 feet 5
inches. This north end is formed by a slab, supplemented as
elsewhere by rough walling. The east side was formed of two long
slabs set on edge, the upper one resting on the lower. The space
above has rough walling 1 foot 6 inches high. The west side was
similar, except that the upper slab rather bent down and left a
wider ledge. The lower slab was 1 foot 4 inches thick, and 1 foot 9
inches high.
About the middle of
the ledge, on the cast side, were placed six white pebbles of
quartz—four in one part and two a little separate. On the west side
were two white pebbles ; others of the same kind, but discoloured,
were found in the soil. Three pebbles were found in the urn on the
east side, and one in the others, so far as the broken state allowed
us to judge. One urn nearly entire was found on the west side, and
above the ground on the east side were fragments of two which
appeared to have crumbled to decay, although the appearance could be
explained by their having been broken and parts removed. We may ask,
why should people have removed portions? The most complete was found
exactly below the greatest number of quartz stones.
Fig. 2 shows the best
preserved urn; it accompanied the fragments of two others. All of
them had been quite round below, and they had no feet; this is true
of two of those in the north certainly, and of the one in the south.
Those in the north had no handles, not even incipient.
There was no injury
done to any part of the structure, unless we except a crack in the
tie-stone between the north chamber and the passage. This crack was
old, and seems to have been the result of weight only.
The quartz pebbles
have been often noticed. Mr. Mapleton has found them often in urns
and cists in this county, and in one case near Lochnell and far from
quartz rock. He thinks they are generally associated with cows'
teeth. He found three angular pieces of quartz firmly imbedded in a
deep cup made in the rock, and surrounded by rings or circle
markings, in the Kilmartin district lately. These markings were
covered over with about 15 inches of soil, in which no quartz
occurred. Dr. Wilson mentions twenty-five urns having been found on
the Cathkin hills, each with its face downwards, and a quartz stone
under it. Mr. Mapleton inclines to dwell on the idea that the quartz
pebbles were symbols of acquittal, according to the custom of the
Greeks of using white stones, shells, or beans, and refers to the
second chapter and 17th verse of "Revelation." There certainly we
have the word used, psephos, a pebble, from which psephizomai, I
vote, is taken; votes were put into urns, or in Rome into kists. In
Egypt stone tablets were put with the dead, but these were written
on. We know that the Egyptians measured out the good deeds of the
person who died. These ideas are interesting to keep in mind, but do
not bring absolute proof. We might, indeed, say that quartz pebbles,
from their remarkable whiteness, were selected as ornaments out of
the brown material generally forming the rocks or soil. Children are
very fond of collecting them, and most families at the sea-shore
have some. They are even seen in rows on window sills, and along
garden walks and at rockeries. The same idea of beauty might take
hold of the national mind of an early age; this would explain to us
why the peebles are found in so many positions, whether in Asia or
with us. They are known to form smaller circles within the large
stone circles and elsewhere. Still this does not contradict the idea
of their being symbols, it may even assist it.
It is not easy to
tell the age of this cairn—some will say the Neolithic, but we have
found no instruments or manufactured articles besides the urns to
prove it, and their forms are not conclusive. The lack of metal
leads us to think of iron which is readily rusted. Still we found
the spear-head at the bottom of the peat over there, and it was good
bronze, and you may imagine the warrior who used it to be buried in
this great memorial, for it was great, and its surrounding ditch and
rings made it ornamental. Bronze was used at a very late age in
Celtland of the north, and old habits would keep with it. Burial
also in chambers allowing of a sitting posture was used up to the
twelfth century among the Scandinavians. However, I know no such
cairns of that age in this country. We read in "Burnt Njal" of one,
a chambered tomb having, for honour, been given to the fine hero
Gunnar; but had this been of his age, arms would certainly have been
found here.
Sheena.—But
there were urns. The people must have been burnt.
Loudoun.—No.
The vessels may have been drinking vessels; no body was found, and
it is fair to argue that high and chambered tombs could not have
been intended merely for urns, and it is probable that they were
meant for bodies in the sitting posture originally, although used
afterwards for the lying posture. The proper, and probably original
receptacle of the urn of burnt ashes is a stone kist later it
descended to be a niche only. [See "Notes on the Survival of Pagan
Customs," by Joseph Anderson, Esq., Proc. Soc. of Antiq. of
Scotland, vol. XI., part ii., p. 363. 1876.] |
