NEW YORK, JULY 22, 1893. 



A VISIT TO A "PICT'S HOUSE." 



BT DAVID MAO BITCHIE. 



As I have to-day visited an admirable specimen of the 

 •underground structures so frequently found in Scotland, 

 where they are popularly known as " Plots' Houses," some 

 description of it will, I think, prove interesting to the readers 

 of Science, although the place itself has long been known to 

 antiquaries. There are very many examples of these struc- 

 tures in the British Isles, notably in Scotland and Ireland, 

 but unfortunately the information regarding them (almost 

 invariably most exact and detailed.) is for the most part 

 buried in the various volumes of "Transactions" of anti- 

 quarian societies, and is thereby practically useless. If the 

 descriptions already published regarding these buildings, 

 together with reproductions of the diagrams illustrating 

 them, could be focussed into one volume, the result would 

 be of the highest interest to those who have paid attention 

 to the subject, and would be a positive revelation to those 

 who have not yet done so.' And one great advantage to be 

 derived from a comparison of the various delineations would 

 be that the student would realize that, although such struc- 

 tures are referred to under many names (such as under- 

 ground caves, souterrains, weems, cloghauns, Picts' Houses, 

 and — popularly — fairy halls), they all belong to one great 

 class. 



The specimen visited by me to-day is situated at Pitcur, in 

 Forfarshire, about two miles to the south-east of the small 

 town of Coupar-Angus, and is locally known as "the Picts' 

 house." It is entirely beneath the surface of the ground, 

 and the portion of it which is still covered over stretches for 

 about twenty feet beneath a ploughed field. That is to say, 

 its roof is covered by a foot or two of soil, through which 

 the plough passes without ever striking the flat, stone roof 

 below. In other cases, indeed, the ploughshare has often 

 been the first discoverer of these subterranean galleries. 



The ground-plan of the Pict's House at Pitcur may be 

 roughly described as of a horseshoe shape, with a shorter 

 gallery parallel to the exterior curve of one side. The 

 horseshoe itself is about 130 feet in length fi-om end to end, 

 with an average depth of 6 or 7 feet, and an average breadth 

 of about 6 feet. The shorter gallery is about 55 feet long, 

 and its dimensions otherwise resemble those of the horse- 

 shoe, except that it broadens out into a bulbshape at the 

 inner end — a common feature in such structures. The line 

 of length, in each case, is taken along the middle of the 

 gallery, there being, of course, a great difference between 

 the length of the inner and outer curves. 



Be it understood that both of these galleries are, as it were, 

 great symmetrical ditches or drains, quite underground, and 

 entered by several burrow-like doorways. Their sides have 



1 1 may mention that, a3 a small beginning in this direction, I am about to 

 Issue a pamphlet (published by David Douglas, Edinburgh) coutaining several 

 written descriptions and sketches of such structures; extracted from the 

 " Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland." 



been carefully-built walls of large, unhewn, unmortared 

 stones, and these are still to a great extent unimpaired. The 

 roof was formed by bringing the upper tiers of the wall 

 slightly together, and then placing huge slabs of stone 

 across from side to side. Two of the largest of these roof- 

 slabs measure as follows: One (the largest of all) is about 

 74 inches in length, by 58 inches in breadth, and from 11 to 

 13 inches in thickness, its shape being an irregular oblong. 

 The other is about 60 inches long, by 48 inches broad, and 12 

 inches thick. These are certainly very large specimens, but 

 one is always struck by the great size of the flag-stones used 

 in roofing these underground retreats. I have described as 

 unhewn all the stones employed in this building, but (as in 

 similar cases) one is led to conjecture that some rough pro- 

 cess of shaping must have been adopted, although the out- 

 lines are perfectly rude, and no trace whatever is visible of 

 any tool. The selection of these great stones, whether from 

 a quarry or a hillside, their carriage to the scene of action 

 (often from a very great distance), and the method used in 

 placing them in position, are all problems which have greatly 

 puzzled antiquaries. 



In the Pitcur " house" most of the roof-slabs have disap- 

 peared, having obviously shared the fate of so many monu- 

 ments of antiquity, at the hands of proprietors and farmers 

 in need of building materials and quite devoid of all interest 

 in archaeology. But (perhaps because it goes underneath 

 arable land) the northern portion of the great horseshoe 

 gallery still retains its roof; and this part of the building is, 

 therefore, in all probability, in its original condition. It 

 appears to have been of itself a "house," apart from the 

 main gallery of which it forms a portion, for it has a care- 

 fully-built doorway leading into the main gallery; and, 

 moreover, an extra ascent to the upper earth leads from the 

 side of the wall just at the outside of this doorway. On 

 going through the doorway of this inner portion, one finds, 

 on the right hand, a small recess in the wall, about 33 inches 

 high, 23 inches broad at the floor, and going into the thick- 

 ness of the wall about 21 inches. Although this cavity is 

 23 inches broad at the base, the two slabs which form the 

 supports of its little doorway are made to slant towards the 

 top, where the breadth narrows to 14 inches. Within this 

 recess it is possible for a man of 5 feet 10, and of proportionate 

 breadth, to sit in a squatting posture; but it is a very " tight 

 fit." I am particular in giving the dimensions of this recess, 

 because the late Captain Thomas, a naval officer who de- 

 voted much time and study to these subterranean structures, 

 and who found this little recess on the right hand of many 

 of their doorways, regarded them as probably identical with 

 the "guard-cells " of thePictish " brochs." Captain Thomas 

 quite realized that if these were really "guard-cells" they 

 were useless for any but men of distinctly small stature — 

 an attribute of the Picts, according to tradition. 



It is difficult to convey a true idea of such buildings by 

 written description alone, but perhaps these notes will give 

 the readers of Science some impression of an example of a 

 very interesting class of structures. 



Easter Logie, Perthshire, Scotland, July 1. 



