1888-89.] Kintail mid Glenelg, with Notices of the BrocJis. 239 



The theory propounded in this literary gem must he received 

 with great caution, and indeed is quite untenable. Macculloch, 

 in liis caustic style, scouts at the very idea, and suggests that 

 " it is just as likely that Fingal built St Paul's," — a flight of 

 imagination that will hardly find a corroborative echo in the 

 breast of the most ardent stickler for Celtic importance. A 

 Gaelic name applied to these brochs is " bathaichean," meaning 

 " byres " ; but this appellation, when contrasted with the great 

 antiquity of these buildings, is evidently of comparatively 

 modern date, and probably refers to a time when, the original 

 function gone, the towers, more or less ruinous, may have been 

 used as shelters for cattle. But that they were primarily 

 intended for such an object is absurd, the mere fact that the 

 only external opening was too low to admit of the passage of 

 cattle being sufficient of itself to condemn the assumption. 



Gordon's account is a careful one, but much too long to 

 transcribe here. Only one other remark he makes strikes me 

 as important, and is contained in the following sentence : 

 " There are several of these fabricks in the north parts of 

 Scotland, particularly two in the same valley with the barracks 

 of Glenelg." Now, if this is correct, there must have been 

 other two brochs in the neighbouring valley of Glen More ; 

 but of these only slight traces seem to be left. If we include 

 Grugaig in the category, no less than seven were within an 

 easy day's walk of each other, which clearly points to the fact 

 that at one time those buildings must have been very numerous 

 in the north, as indeed their remains are even at the present 

 day, according to Dr Anderson's elaborate statistics. It is 

 very difficult, indeed, to get any reliable information from the 

 natives on the subject ; but one old man at Dornie, who had 

 a considerable interest in antiquities, told me that he distinctly 

 remembered seeing some years ago the remains of one in Glen 

 More, which proves that Gordon's statement was true. If I 

 mistake not, the foundation outline can still be seen not far 

 from the school-house in Glenelg. This same individual 

 instanced another near Arnisdale, Loch Hourn, but, owing to 

 the great distance, I had not time to explore that locality, so 

 cannot verify his statement. Old Highland traditions, as 

 exemplified in the usual dim and hazy rumours, strike one as 

 being analogous to the thoughts that rush through our brains 



