we 
TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 1223 
of Aberdeenshire, as at Deer, may be assumed as pointing to the existence of a 
considerable population in early times, and if colonisation came from the east, and 
possibly Scandinavia, the most easterly point of Scotland would naturally be one 
of the earliest objective points. Leaving the inhospitable shore, where now stands 
the flourishing port of Peterhead, the new comers would move on up the valley of 
the Ugie in search of shelter, where they would find it in a disirict protected from 
the cold north by moderately high rounded hills, clothed as tradition asserts, and 
the mosses prove, by the friendly oak and hazel. That a large population must at 
an early period have here existed is attested by the numerous cairns and tumuli 
that extend on either side the river towards the west, while scarcely a height but 
retains the remains of some rath or circle within which dwelt the inhabitants with 
the Maormohr or chief. 
8. Stone Circles in Aberdeenshire. By JoHN Mitne, M.A. 
Biffie circle in Deer is a good example. It is 50 feet in diameter and is made 
up of one large horizontal block and ten erect pillars, some now fallen, connected 
by a low wall. The largest stones, as usual in such circles, are placed on the south 
side and the smaller on the north. The best stones at command were always 
taken, but any stone, though not a foot in height, served when better could not be 
got; they are mere place-markers. What would these stones tell us if we could 
understand their language, for they are evidently speaking to us? They were not 
places for defence. Some are on hill-tops, but others on hill-sides commanded by 
higher ground. Nor for worship; they are numerous in some places and not found 
at all in other places; no sanctity attached to them for long. One may be seen en- 
croaching on another whose pillars are still standing. Probably they were places 
of sepulture prepared by kings and chiefs during their lifetime, to be occupied by 
them after death. One circle had inside the outer row of pillars a large closed 
chamber filled with gravel, and on the centre of the floor was an urn. On the 
death of the builder his ashes had been carried into the chamber by a low covered 
way, and then gravel had been poured in by an aperture atthe top. It is not to be 
wondered at that urns and bones are seldom found in them. Ancient graves in 
Aberdeenshire are usually shallow, often not a foot deep, merely a small hole into 
which the ashes of a body burned beside it had been put, with a few small stones 
for a covering. The graves in the circles had probably been rifled long ago, and 
had also been subsequently examined repeatedly in search of valuables. The round 
tower of Mousa, in Shetland, had heen perhaps a tomb; it is not suited for defence. 
The great group of circles in Nairn had probably been erected by the line of Pictish 
kings who were reigning at Inverness about the time of Columba’s visit, and the 
circles in Deer may with much probability be regarded as the tombs of the 
mormaers of Buchan, mentioned in the Book of Deer. There is a certain similarity 
between the Scottish and English circles. Like the northern circles, Stonehenge 
has the horizontal stone on the south, and round it stood the trilithons, the loftiest 
to the south. 
9. Notes on a recent Antiquarian Find in Aberdeenshire. 
By Dr. F. Marrnanp Motr. 
10. The Picts and Pre-Celtic Britain. By Hype Cuarke. 
In preparing a paper for Aberdeen, Mr. Clarke, being desirous of its having a 
local bearing, chose the question of the Picts. This he proposed to deal with in 
reference to the inquiries of himself and others as to the pre-Celtic inhabitants of 
Britain. In continuing his own investigations, he set aside the distinct Basque 
hypothesis, and treated the influences historically and topographically traceable 
as Iberian in a wider sense. The Picts have presented a difficult problem, the 
materials relating to which have been most ably dealt with by Dr. Skene, in his 
edition of the Chronicles of the Picts. His ultimate conclusion was that the Picts 
