Transactions. 89 



at tlio side of the road at every drain. From tlic dissimilarity in 

 the construction of the road, as sliown by these sections, in a 

 distance of about three miles, we may infer that in its construc- 

 tion the Romans used the material to do so that was lying at 

 hand all along its course, and that nothing had to be carried or 

 brought from a distance, the stones and clay being found in 

 abundance all along the hill. Indeed, there are small pits all 

 along the line of road, some of them nearly touching it, which 

 are probably the quarries from which the stones are taken. (See 

 page 33 " Per Lineam Valli " — by Geo. Neilson, F.S.A., and the 

 "Antiquary," vol. 24, page 139.) The construction of this road 

 throvigh Upper Annandale differs considerably from other Roman 

 roads which have been opened and examined, notably in Wilt- 

 shire in the west of England, and of those in the neighbourhood 

 of Newcastle-on-Tyne in the North of England, and their con- 

 tinuation in Roxburghshire in Scotland, where the surface is 

 always paved, and a section shows five well defined layers, " and 

 which are in accordance with the description of road-making 

 given by Vitruvius." But the explanation of the difference may 

 lie in the fact that the principal and main road between the 

 South of England and as far north as the Romans penetrated 

 into Scotland was tiie east coast, and which, from its great 

 importance, would therefoi-e be designed and constructed to 

 sustain a heavy and constant stream of traffic, while the road 

 through Annandale and Clydesdale might be presumed to be one 

 of only secondary importance as a thoroughfare, in which rapidity 

 and ease of constructing were more essential and important than 

 elaborateness and finish, as its principal object M'ould be to pro- 

 vide facilities for keeping the hostile inhabitants of the district 

 in check and subjection. And Mr Neilson informs me that the 

 " road running behind the Antonine Wall is in its construction 

 very similar to tlie one here ; in fact, he says, they are as six to 

 iialf-a-dozen." 



In regard to the purpose of the large stones on the east and 

 west side .of the road at two of the sections, the examination 

 showed that they were not part of the original roadway, and as 

 we may justly infer that the road would be the only one in the 

 district and would be used as such by the inhabitants for cen- 

 turies ;ifter the withdrawal of tlie Roman hosts, and it is probable 



12 



