188 LEWIS. ANTIQUITIES. 



Pictish Towers, is found not far from this place, con- 

 nected with a subterranean passage which is supposed 

 by the natives to reach the sea. To trace the date, or 

 the authors, of these buildings, appears a hopeless 

 attempt, as no analogous works appear to exist else- 

 where, and neither carvings, monuments, nor inscriptions, 

 have been found attached to them so as to give a pro- 

 bable clue towards the discovery. It is unnecessary here 

 to notice the impropriety of the appellation, but it is not 

 unimportant to remark that they are all limited to the 

 northern division of Scotland. From that situation, it is 

 probable that they were the works of the Northmen, 

 whose colonies possessed those tracts ; an opinion con- 

 firmed by the northern name Dornadilla, the only local 

 title among them, as far as I have discovered, now exist- 

 ing. The most southern are those in Glen Elg and on 

 the frith of Tain. They are numerous in Sutherland ; 

 although, with the exception pf Dun Dornadil, these are 

 now all nearly levelled to the ground. In Glen Elg they 

 are sufficiently entire to convey a perfect idea of their 

 structure, for which I may refer to Pennant, in whose 

 work they are accurately represented. 



The three in Glen Elg are of the same size or nearly so. 

 Those in Sutherland vary, and in some instances appear 

 to have been of somewhat smaller dimensions, as far as 

 can be judged from their present dilapidated state. It 

 is very difficult to comprehend the design of the archi- 

 tects, since the upper galleries, that lie between the inner 

 and outer wall, are insufficient to admit a man : in some, 

 a child could scarcely creep along. Nor are these 

 galleries provided with external apertures for defence, 

 a circumstance which bespeaks the purpose of that con- 

 struction in the Galloway towers, and in those keeps, which, 

 like that of Restormel Castle, consist of two concentric walls 

 with an interior space. It is probable that they were 

 merely the strong houses of the chieftains of those days, 

 the internal area being perhaps appropriated to the 



