148 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



as to the set of the current of migration. It is significant that as late as 

 the dawn of the historic period it was flowing strongly towards the north 

 and east. The Scots themselves were, of course, incomers from Ireland 

 and, if we can trust Continental analogies regarding the movement of 

 peoples, we may assume that the foundation of the kingdom of Dalriada 

 was preceded by a prolonged process of gradual infiltration. I have more 

 than a suspicion that the troubles which the Romans experienced, and in 

 particular the restlessness which compelled them to abandon the Forth 

 and Clyde wall, were in no small measure due to the encouragement which 

 the turbulent natives received from the passage of a steady stream of 

 reinforcements across the narrows of Stranraer. 



But the case for migration from Ireland in prehistoric times rests upon 

 a basis more stable than analogy. Further excavation and an ampler 

 supply of distribution-maps are needed to make it complete, particularly 

 for the Neolithic Period. The evidence, however, is already considerable 

 enough to furnish what may perhaps be accepted as convincing proof. 

 Some years ago Mr. A. 0. Curie, in his Rhind Lectures, drew attention to 

 the testimony supplied by cup-and-ring markings. Such markings, he 

 pointed out, are recorded as occurring in twenty counties — Wigtown, 

 Kirkcudbright, Roxburgh, Berwick, Ayr, Bute, Argyll, Dumbarton, 

 Lanark, Mid and West Lothian, Peebles, Fife, Clackmannan, Perth, 

 Forfar, Ross, Aberdeen, Sutherland and Caithness. The Royal Com- 

 mission's survey of North Uist and Benbecula enables us to add Inverness 

 to the list. But, for the proper interpretation of the record, Mr. Curie went 

 on to say, we must have regard to the number of examples that have been 

 noted in each of the various countries. The poverty of the three shires 

 that march with England — Berwick a single example, Roxburgh two, 

 Dumfries none at all — precludes the idea that the folk responsible for 

 these mysterious sculpturings entered Scotland by crossing the Border. 

 On the other hand, the area in which the markings are found in greatest 

 number and with the greatest variation of device and complexity of design 

 is exactly the region that lies over against Ireland — the coastal districts 

 of West and South-West Scotland. They abound in Wigtown and 

 Kirkcudbright, and are still more common in Argyll. As they are also 

 frequent in Ireland, the inference seems plain. 



Cup-and-ring markings, in Scotland at least, must be associated with 

 the phase of culture that was distinguished by the use of bronze. To 

 discover what happened during the phase that succeeded it we may turn 

 to the brochs. At the outset it has to be admitted that the broch was 

 not imported from Ireland. There are no brochs in Ireland. The broch 

 is a purely Scottish creation, evolved on Scottish soil. Nevertheless it is 

 hardly possible to doubt that it was from the shores of Ireland that the 

 ancestors of the broch-builders originally came. They certainly did not 

 make their way into Scotland across the Border, any more than did the 

 men who carved upon the rocks those mysterious cups and rings. There 

 are no brochs at all in Dumfries or in Roxburgh. It is true that Berwick, 

 Selkirk and Midlothian can boast of one apiece. But that is a paltry 

 display compared with Orkney's 70 and Shetland's 75. Nor is it only 

 their rarity in the south that is significant. The three sporadic examples 

 I have named seem to show the characteristic features of this type of 



