183 



tlioi^h slight differfences'in most of them, and hi a few, varieties of 

 more importance may be remarked. They are all circular, of small 

 diameter and great altitude. The door is, in the most of them, at 

 som6 height from the ground ; small loop-hole windows at distances 

 in the sides give light to' the spaces where the different floors or 

 lofts once were ; and generally, but not invariably, there are four or 

 more larger-sized windows round the top immediately below the 

 roof, which is high and cone-shaped. The masonry in all is of 

 superior excellence, far exceeding that of the ancient buildings ad- 

 jacent, which are fast falling to decay, while these stand erect, and 

 in many instances perfect up to the top. Of the extraordinary 

 goodness of their workmanship Harris gives a remarkable instance, 

 in the tower of Mahera^ which about thirty years previous to his 

 publication had been blown over, and " lay at length and entire on 

 the ground, like a huge gun, without breaking to pieces; so won- 

 derfully hard and binding was the cement in this work.* 



The purpose for which these singular towers were erected has 

 long been a subject of inquiry and conjecture ; theory after theory 

 has been invented, but not one hitherto completely satisfactory has 

 been produced ; all are liable to objections, but some more decidedly 

 than others. 



; They have been regarded as watch towers to alarm by beacon 

 fires,"!- or by the sound of the great trumpet ;% and it has also been 

 supposed that they were a sort of Pharos, lighted at night by lamps, 

 to guide pilgrims and belated travellers through the forest to the 

 friendly shelter of the hospitable monastery.§ But placed as they 



* Harris's History of Down, p. 82. 



+ Peter Walsh, 1684, A. D. 



f Brereton, in Archeologia, II. p. 81. , 



§ Parochial Surveys, II. p. Qi. 



