82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



not known, but at this "altar" the priest was in the habit of 

 officiating before the present chapel was built. 



There are three Crosses on the island, although one of them 

 could not now be recognized as such. The least imperfect is placed 

 on a pedestal, built in 1877, by the Rev. James M'Fadden, for its 

 preservation. It is of mica slate, and is 6 feet in height, ending, as 

 it does, at the arms. No markings are now visible. 



The second cross is called St. Columba's Cross, from the idea 

 that the figure of a man indicated on it represents that saint. The 

 third is known as St. John's Cross. It has lost its arms, which, 

 however, are carefully laid at the side of the monolithal pedestal 

 on which it stands. 



Another, and more perfect Cross, was taken, a long time ago, 

 from Tory, and now lies in the graveyard of Ray Church, near 

 Falcarragh. 



So much for the ecclesiastical remains. They point to a very 

 remote time, and are, I think, full of interest, especially when 

 looked at in the picturesque light which the legends of the islanders 

 have associated with them, but which it would not be suitable to 

 reproduce here. It seems to be determined with tolerable accuracy, 

 however, that Columba left his native place, Gartan (about 1 1 miles 

 from Ramelton), and established a religious fraternity in Tory 

 Island, before he went to Deny, or thence to Iona. Some of the 

 remains are certainly coeval with his residence there, and others 

 later, but all old — probably from the sixth to the tenth century. 



Botany. — With a granitic soil, the island is anything but fertile. 

 The people don't attempt to grow oats ; barley and potatoes are 

 the principal crops. From the west town to the east town — a 

 distance of a mile — the rocky substratum is covered by a thin 

 coating of peaty soil, except where it has been removed for fuel. 

 It is generally only nine inches to a foot in depth, and ultimately 

 the people will be compelled to leave the island for want of fuel, 

 for they are, as a rule, too poor to buy coal. This peaty surface 

 soil is covered by a stunted growth of heather (Calluna vulgaris), 

 associated with Nardus stricta and Carex panicea, along with some 

 grasses, which solely seem to justify the presence of a few sheep and 

 two or three very lean cattle. The sw^ard on the summit of the 

 eastern cliffs is composed, to a large extent, of a dwarf variety of 

 sea thrift (Armeria maritima). On the shore, above high- water 

 mark, the common scurvy grass ( Gochlearia officinalis) is every- 



