ARRAN. ANTIQUITIES. 321 



sions, places of defence. Greater splendour and greater 

 magnitude, together with certain peculiarities attached to 

 many of the most remarkable circular remains which 

 have been described by antiquaries, bespeak the probable 

 religious destination of those few ; and, among these 

 peculiarities, perhaps none are much more striking than 

 the extended lines described in the specimen in Lewis, 

 where it is evident that ornament and not utility must 

 have been the object. In a similar manner, the placing 

 of one enclosure within another, such as the square 

 within the circle, or the addition of the single central 

 stone, of the avenue, or of the cromlech, may be con- 

 ceived, on good grounds, to be sufficient characteristics 

 of the religious edifices, and as serving to distinguish 

 them from the more numerous circular remains for which 

 no probable uses but those above assigned can be 

 suggested. There is a witchery about Druidism which 

 seems often to have carried its modern worshippers 

 too far. 



Near Tormore are to be seen some caves in the 

 sandstone, the supposed habitations of traditionary 

 heroes not a little problematical. Fingal, like our 

 Arthur, the ubiquarian king and warrior, is said to 

 have occupied them during his hunting excursions. It 

 is not improbable that they have been inhabited in later 

 times ; as they are much better adapted for human 

 habitations than almost any caves in the Western islands, 

 being dry, light, and convenient of access ; while they 

 are capacious enough to receive a large community. 

 It is not long since the caves of Isla were inhabited, 

 and those of Bridgenorth have been converted into 

 commodious houses in the present days. In such 

 circumstances, the holes which, in the caves of Arran, 

 seem to bespeak contrivances for cookery, may have 

 been made; while the sculptures, as they are called, 

 consisting of rude lines scratched in the soft rock, are 

 more likely to be the work of the children who herd 



VOL. II. Y 



