314 



PRE-IIISTOPJC HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 



[1855. 



right, the methods in question not having been patented or the patents 

 having expired. 



8. That notwitlistanding the gi'eat and obvious advantages of per- 

 fecting the combustion of fuel, and the certainty that the cost of 

 doing so -n'ill be amply repaid by the saving effected, such is the 

 indisposition of practical men to depart from the beaten track, that 

 nothing but the force of law is likely to ensure the care and attention 

 necessary to protect the public from a grievous nuisance, the manu- 

 facturers themselves from heavy unnecessary expense, and the 

 national resources from grievous waste of fuel to the amount of millions 

 a-year. 



9. That though the absolute and immediate prohibition of smoke 

 could not be enforced without compelling most of the owners of 

 furnaces to incur very heavy expenses, its reduction to a very small 

 amount may be effected with comparative ease, and with very great 

 benefit both to themselves and others ; while it cannot be denied, that 

 any who produce more smoke than others who use fuel for the same 

 purposes, do produce more than is practically necessary. 



10. That the enforcement of smoke regulations can be most easily 

 and quickly effected by the appointment of constables to keep a regular 

 and constant watch upon all chimneys liable to emit much smoke ; and 

 that the prevention of smoke will be more quickly and certainly 

 effected by constant supervision and immediate information of any 

 breach of the regulations, than by heavy penalties irregularly imposed. 



11. That great facility in the prevention of smoke would be afforded 

 by the publication of the specifications and descriptions of patented 

 and other inventions for the prevention of smoke, by which those 

 interested could be informed what they could and could not do in this 

 matter, without infringing upon any patent right. 



12. That great facility would also be afforded by the appointment of 

 officers specially qualified, and not connected with any patentee, or 

 manufacturer of boilers or furnaces, to superintend the police oificers 

 employed to suppress the nuisance of smoke, and to advise owners of 

 furnaces how best to comply with the provisions of the law, and to 

 report upon cases of its infi-ingement. 



Prc-Iiistoiic History of Scotland.* 



Geology, properly speaking, is a branch of history which reveals the 

 current of past events, not by the aid of documents, or ttie interpreta- 

 tion of traditions, but by the observation of skeletons and remains of 

 vegetation. Consequently, the greater, and by far the most striking, 

 part of geological history, relates to what took place before man ap- 

 peared upon the scene. There is, however, a long interval between 

 tbe occupation of the world by man and the commencement of history 

 proper. Take, for example, the case in this respect of our own 

 island. From the time when Pharaoh was contemplating the erection 

 of 'lie pyramids, or Cecrops founding Athens, or Joshua besieging Je- 

 richo ; from the time, in fact, when mankind began to disperse over 

 the world to the landing of Julius Cassar at Deal, what does history tell 

 us of the habits and customs of the early inhabitants of Britain— of 

 our savage ancestors ? Nothing. There may, however, be said to be 

 a geological formation lying over the newest tertiary, deposited ere 

 history began her records, and containing the fossils of men who have 

 dwelt in it, but of men of we know not what tribe or nation, and of 

 whom history has never given, and never can give an account; yet 

 the researches recently made geologically into the anthropological 

 formation, if we may so term it, have at least thrown some light into 

 that which was utter darkness. 



Antiquarianism, notwithstanding its having been a very favourite 

 pursuit with many, has never until quite recently attempted to solve 

 this problem. Indeed, to the antiquary, the unknown savage, of 

 whom history told no tale, was an object of contempt. He must have 

 a Danish axe in his coffin, or a Koman toga for a shroud, before anti- 

 quarian sympathy can be roused. Antiquarianism was thought a 

 branch, and a subordinate branch of history, and not a science of it- 

 self ; and still less a geologically connecting link between geology and 

 history, destined in some sort to fill up the blank and dreary space 

 that extended between the two. Of late, however, this has been 

 amended. The Scandinavian antiquaries have geologically deduced 

 some important facts regarding the pre-historic period ; and Dr. Wilson 

 has foUowed up the inquii-y, with regard to Scotland, in a manner 

 worthy of all praise. His work upon the pre-historic antiquities of 



.ZZ'^^^Y"'?^}*"''^ of Scotland, by D.iDiel WUson, L.L.B., UniTersity CoUe<-e, To- 

 ronto. Abstract of an article in the Westminister EeYie;y, July 1S65. """"=''' ""^ 



Scotland contains an immense mass of facts, with a due proportion of 

 rational deduction. Taking it for a guide, we may conclude pretty 

 nearly as follows : — 



Scotland (and unquestionably England and Ireland also) has, with- 

 out doubt, been inhabited for a very long time ; probably for mauy 

 centuries before the Roman invasion, and the beginning of historical 

 records. From a diligent examination of ancient tombs and their con- 

 tents, and of other monuments and remains, it is made clear that 

 three different subformations, if we may so call them, may be traced 

 in Scotland, extending from the colonization of the land to the com- 

 mencement of history. The first may be called the Stone formation ; 

 because the men that lived during it, and whose remains are found in 

 it, were acquainted with no weapons, implements, or utensils, save 

 such as were constructed out of stone. The second may be denomina- 

 ted the Bronze formation ; as during its prevalence, we have evidence 

 that the inhabitants were acquainted with tin and copper, and con- 

 structed weapons, ornaments, &c., of bronze — a compound of these 

 two metals. The third is the Iron formation; so called, because, those 

 who figured in it knew and employed iron — and with the close of this 

 formation begins the dawn of history. 



It is curious to think that, during the deposition of these prehistoric 

 formations, Scotland was a forest, and that where now is mile after 

 mile of moss and blackness, there flourished oaks ; and that among 

 these lived numerous wolves, wild boars, and savage bulls. To secure 

 himself from these enemies, even if he had none such in his brother 

 man, the aboriginal Caledonian required a dwelling ; and even in the 

 stone period, he contrived to have some such protection. The dwell- 

 ings of the men of this state were like those of the badgers, and indeed 

 like those of certain natives of Siberia at this day — underground. 

 Dr. Wilson has collected curious instances of such. They are, he tells 

 us, most uniformly found in groups — a striking instance of the pro- 

 pensity of mankind to sympathize with each other. The rudest of 

 them are merely excavations in the ground, and do not appear to have 

 been longer than eight feet, and not even stones were employed to 

 make them more substantial. 



Stones, however, were often employed in constructing them. " The 

 Aberdeenshire cavei'ns," writes Wilson, "are constructed of huge 

 masses of granite, frequently above six feet in length ; and, though by 

 no means uniform either in internal shape or dimensions, a general 

 style of construction prevails throughout the whole. Some of them 

 have been found upwards of thirty feet long, and from eight to nine 

 feet wide. The walls are made to converge towards the top, and the 

 whole is roofed in by means of the primitive substitute for the arch 

 which characterizes the Cyclopean structures of infant Greece, and 

 the vast temples and palaces of Athens and Yucatan. The huge stones 

 overlay each other in succession, until the intervening space is suffici- 

 ently reduced to admit of the vault being completed by a single block 

 extending from side to side. They have, not unfrequently, smaller 

 chambers attached to them, generally approached by passages not 

 above three feet in height ; and it affords a curious evidence of the 

 want of efficient tools in the builders of those subterranean structures, 

 that when these side apartments are only separated from the main 

 chamber by the thickness of the wall, the stones, though placed flush 

 with the walls of the latter, project irregularly into the small cells, 

 giving them a singularly unshapely and ragged appearance." 



These subterranean dwellings are very common in Scotland, and 

 there is scarcely a moor, perhaps, in which, if sought for, they may 

 not be found. The remains of foxes and animal bones are found in 

 them, together with weapons, personal ornaments, and implements, 

 all made of stone. Upon one or two occasions, the weapons, or part 

 of the stone weapon that had inflicted death, has been found in the 

 tomb containing the skeleton of the murdered man. It seems almost 

 strange to find, in so rude and barbarous an age, personal ornaments ; 

 but such abound. Among the most remarkable of these, are two stone 

 imitation horse-collars, which were found near Glenroy, and which 

 are elaborately carved. Generally speaking, however, these orna- 

 ments are not well finished, and very often are only necklaces made of 

 oyster and cockle shells strung together. 



The skeletons found in the sepulchres belonging to the stone period, 

 tell ns that the Aborigines were a short and poorly developed race, 

 particularly in their hands and feet. Their crania are very remarkable. 

 The jaws and zygomata and bones of the face are large, while the 

 skull cap is small ; in fact, they present just such a conformation as 

 we should expect to find among savage hunters who had no opportunity 

 of intellectual exercise. We infer from the examination of these cra- 

 nia, that their possessors belong to Prichard's division uf the human 



