1888-89.] Kintail and Glenelg, zviih Notices of the Brocks. 245 



a roof for the chamber and a flooring for the gallery above. 

 Entrance to these chambers is obtained by open spaces facing 

 the interior of the tower, and above these are other square- 

 looking openings running one above the other, almost to the 

 top of the building, to take the place of modern windows, for 

 the admission of light and air. Above the ground-chambers 

 the walls are carried up separately, the interior one being 

 perpendicular and the outer sloping inwards, so that when 

 taken up forty feet or so they join together. At regular inter- 

 vals these walls are spanned and bound together by the same 

 style of flat slabs, each tier naturally getting smaller and 

 smaller until the higher ones are almost too small to admit 

 anything larger than a dog or cat. Having no internal ob- 

 structions, these passages run right round the whole circum- 

 ference of the fabric. The lower ones would be capable of 

 containing a good many people, as well as a quantity of goods ; 

 but to what purpose the higher ones were applied it is diffi- 

 cult to say. Probably they were not used at all, but were 

 only a necessary part of the original design. Communication 

 was had between the various tiers by means of a rough-and- 

 ready sort of stair, formed also of flat stones. 



Taken as a whole, if, as is believed, the object of these 

 buildings was to ensure a place of temporary refuge in times 

 of trouble, we must acknowledge that the device was admir- 

 able. From the outside they were absolutely impregnable to 

 a people who had no artillery ; and even granting that the 

 assailants were able to shower stones and other missiles over 

 the wall, they would fall harmlessly into the interior, and all 

 the while this camisade was in progress the inhabitants would 

 be enjoying their otium cum dignitate inside the galleries, 

 no doubt laughing in their sleeves at the futility of tlie 

 attack. 



As regards the race who built these curious edifices, the 

 most modern theory — the result of laborious investigation by 

 eminent archaeologists — is that they were Celtic, and not Scan- 

 dinavian as was formerly believed ; and that they are abso- 

 lutely confined to Scottish territory is now proved beyond a 

 doubt. For further and more reliable information as to their 

 history, construction, &c., I cannot do better than refer those 

 desirous of increasing their knowledge of these interesting 



