320 ARRAN. ANTIQUITIES. 



closure; that which in the progress of refinement 

 became the 7rfioixo$o(4y and uTraiQgov by which more 

 artificial monuments were afterwards protected. 



Some imperfect remains of circular structures are also 

 to be seen towards the southern end of Arran, which 

 are, as usual, imagined to be Druidical places of worship.' 

 There is little to be said in the present day on the 

 original uses and objects of these edifices, if edifices 

 they may be called ; as the subject has been long 

 exhausted by antiquaries, and as, to imperfect evidence in 

 favour of their religious destination, there is only evidence 

 equally imperfect, in support of other purposes, to oppose. 

 Yet it may be suggested, that the circular form is by 

 no means a proof that all these buildings had a common 

 object. The original forts were frequently circular, and 

 this method of building, obvious, and economical in 

 respect to the proportion between the space and the 

 enclosure, appears to have been extended to other 

 works, whether for the habitation of the people, or the 

 defence of their flocks and herds from wild beasts. 

 The frequency of the circular method of building among 

 nations of existing savages, gives countenance to this 

 supposition. It will be difficult else to account for 

 the numerous remains of circular walls which are often 

 found condensed into a small space ; without the im- 

 probable supposition that many temples were crowded 

 into one spot, or that the whole population of such a 

 tract was occupied in religious worship. Cornwall ex- 

 hibits some of the most remarkable examples of this 

 fact; the high moors which lie round Roughtor and 

 Brownwilly being covered with remains of circular 

 buildings, often of very small size, and frequently 

 accumulated together in a narrow space. The great 

 variety in the size of these, as well as in the strength 

 and bulk of the materials of which they consist, renders, 

 it probable that some were dwellings; while others 

 were perhaps sheep folds, and a third, of larger dimen- 



