OP LOCHABER. 13 



too, at a period when our planet was believed to be a plain, 

 extending ad infinllam ; — the difficulty of imagining any ra- 

 tional object for the construction, in such a situation, of such 

 a series of terraces, so precisely horizontal, so equidistant in 

 all their parts, and so exactly corresponding on the two oppo- 

 site sides of the valley, and in some places sweeping in one 

 continued circle round the tops of detached hills in the middle 

 of the glens ; — above all, the actual structure of these shelves, as 

 they at present remain, constitute, in my mind, insurmount- 

 able objections to any hypothesis, which would ascribe their 

 origin to human labour and ingenuity *. 



That 



* " As (here is nothing left upon record," says the Reverend Mr Ross, in his 

 account of the parish of Kilmanivaig, (Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xvii. 

 p. 549.) " respecting the times when, the persons by whom, or the pui-poses for 

 " which, these roads were constructed, we can only mention the common traditions 

 " regarding them. One is, that they were made by the Kings of Scotland when 

 " the royal residence was in the castle of Inverlochy, which is not above eleven 

 " miles from the nearest of them ; and, what gives an appearance of truth to this 

 " tradition, in the opinion of those who maintain it, is, that the construction of 

 " these roads was so vast an undertaking, as could not be effected by any vassal or 

 " nobleman, however powerful. Another tradition, which is that of the natives, 

 " is, that they were made by the Fingalians, and, under the name of Fingalian 

 " Roads, they are still kno\vn in this country. They are likewise called the Ca- 

 " tan, i. e. the Roads, by way of eminence. Of this the natives are convinced 

 *' from this circumstance, that several of the hills of this glen have retained, from 

 " time immemorid,!, the names of some of the heroes of Fingal, such as the Hill of 

 " Gaul the son of Morni ; that of Diarmid ; and of Fillan ; and likewise of Bran, 

 " the famous dog of Fingal, &c. Now the popular belief cannot be considered as 

 " a direct proof of any opinion, yet we cannot help remai-king, that the original 

 " tradition, (which in this case has been always invariable,) gives a strong degree 

 " of credibility to the existence of such heroes, and renders it by no means impro- 

 " bable, that these extraordinary roads have been the result of their labours. The 

 *' purpose which they were designed to serve, seems to have been, (agreeably to 

 " the common opinion,) to facilitate the exercise of himting ; for in ancient times, 



" and, 



