CHAPTER III 



MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND 



AND IRELAND 



THE stone circles of Scotland have been 

 divided into three types — the Western 

 Scottish, consisting of a rather irregular ring or 

 pair of concentric rings ; the Inverness type, in 

 which a chamber entered by a straight passage 

 is covered by a round tumulus with a retaining 

 wall of stone, the whole being surrounded b}^ a 

 regular stone circle ; and the Aberdeen type, 

 which is similar to the last, but lias a ' recum- 

 bent ' stone between two of the uprights of its 

 outer circle. 



The first type occurs in the southern counties, 

 in the islands of the west and north coasts, and 

 also extends into Argyll and Perthshire. The 

 most famous example is the Callernish Circle in 

 the Isle of Lewis. The circle is formed by 

 thirteen stones from 12 to 15 feet high, and its 

 centre is marked by an upright 17 feet high. From 

 the circle extends a line of four stones to the east 

 and another to the west. To the south runs a 

 line of five uprights and several fallen stones, 

 and to the N.N.E. runs a double line, forming 



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