274 ST. CORMAC*S ISLES, &C. GEN. DESCRIF. 



inscription. The piscina has been broken off from the 

 wall, but is otherwise uninjured ; being ornamented with 

 a pattern of some elegance, and supported from be- 

 low by four grotesque figures, in a style of design 

 and execution sufficiently barbarous, but very usual in 

 the works of these times. Four empty and rude niches 

 are to be seen in the wall; the places, probably, of as 

 many images which have been dislodged by the holy 

 and iconoclastic rage of the Synod of Argyll. Besides 

 these, there is a large cavity wrought in its substance, 

 which appears to have been intended for purposes of 

 concealment ; a precaution not unnecessary in the times 

 of St. Columba and his successors. 



At a small distance from the chapel is an inclosure, 

 containing a rude sarcophagus firmly built with stone 

 and lime, and still very entire; at the west end of which 

 is a sculptured cross now in a ruinous state. This may 

 possibly, from its importance, be the tomb of St. Cormac 

 himself; but it is, like the former, without inscription ; 

 so that the fame of its tenant has perished in that revolu- 

 tion of public opinion which has rendered the example 

 of the eremite as little instructive to posterity as his life 

 was useless to his contemporaries. Another cross is 

 seen on the highest part of the island. It is now broken 

 in two, but both the parts remain, and though much 

 corroded by time, the sculptures are still visible. On the 

 one side is the well known intricate pattern so common 

 in all the sculptures of those days, while the other repre- 

 sents the crucifixion. Two women are standing by the 

 cross, which is surrounded by three fleurs de lis : whether 

 this is an accidental feature, or bears any relation to that 

 country of which it is the emblem, cannot be conjectured. 

 I have been the more particular in describing these re- 

 mains because they appear to be scarcely known, even 

 in the immediate vicinity ; nor have I been able to discover 

 that the industry of antiquaries has elicited any thing 





