234 Kin tail and Glenelg, ti'ith Notices of the BrocJis. [Sess. 



be brought face to face with the finest thing in nature. From 

 the top of a hill above Ardintoul, Loch Alsh, there is an 

 almost uninterrupted view of the Skye coast from Eaasay to 

 the point of Sleat ; and far beyond that the island of Eigg 

 with its wonderful " Scuir," and Eum with its peaked moun- 

 tains, are plainly visible on a clear day. Eight in front the 

 dark mass of Ben-na-Caileach in Skye, dipping down towards 

 Kyle Akin and its ancient Castle of Moil, rises from the shore 

 of the narrow Kyle Ehea strait, and behind it again tower 

 the majestic Coolins, with their long line of jagged summits, 

 that look in the setting sun like a huge saw from which teeth 

 had been broken by long use and decay. The subject of 

 Highland scenery is capable of such extension that, once a 

 commencement has been made, the difficulty of condensing 

 one's remarks into anything like reasonable compass is prob- 

 ably as great a tax upon the writer as his lucubrations are 

 upon the patience of the audience ; so fearing lest that dictum 

 may be applied to the present case, enough has probably been 

 said to give you a rough idea of the country. Therefore, 

 without further digression, permit me to call your attention 

 to the Brochs. 



Within an easy day's journey of Dornie there are four ex- 

 amples of brochs, three of them being in Glenbeg, a lovely little 

 valley near Glenelg village, Inverness-shire ; but before touch- 

 ing upon these, I should like to bring under your notice an- 

 other, situated within half a mile of Totaig, just at the junc- 

 tion of Loch Alsh and Loch Duich. Locally designated 

 " Caisteal Grugaig" {me Plate No. 1), this edifice is certainly 

 worthy of more than passing notice, and scarcely deserves to 

 have been so much ignored by writers on prehistoric remains 

 as' has been its fate. True, indeed, a concise account of its 

 principal features has been given by Dr Joseph Anderson, in 

 his fascinating work, ' Scotland in Pagan Times ' ; but with 

 that exception, few other detailed notices have been published, 

 which must be the excuse for going into the matter more 

 minutely than would otherwise have been deemed necessary. 

 Lying on the southern shore of the loch, almost at the foot of 

 a green hollow, whose edges are lapped by the tide at its flow, 

 and down tlie centre of which rushes a noisy little stream, at 

 a distance the tower seems to be part and parcel of a huge 



