Anniversary Address. 129 



I am tempted to offer a few additional particulars and ob- 

 servations. The sculpturings referred to are grooves of moderate 

 depth, chiefly forming incomplete single circles or series of con- 

 centric circles, in some cases as many as four, around a central 

 hollow, from which a straight groove proceeds through the series 

 of circles and beyond them. The straight grooves in one or two 

 instances unite ; and from this combination of circles and grooves 

 a device results not unlike the " Prince of Wales's feathers." 

 Other sculpturings are of the shape of horse-shoes, graduated in 

 size, and placed within each other, but having still the central 

 hollow with the straight groove. They are scattered over the 

 rock, and vary in size, the largest being upwards of 2 feet in 

 diameter. A plate in Dr. Johnston's ' Natural History of the 

 Eastern Borders' will, however, give a better idea of their forms 

 and arrangement than any written description. The Rev. Wil- 

 liam Greenwell described them, and presented drawings of them 

 to the Archaeological Institute at Newcastle; but the antiqua- 

 rians there failed in their attempts to throw light on their origin. 

 When "learned doctors differ," or hesitate to give an opinion, 

 it would be presumptuous in me to adjudicate. Indeed, if these 

 sculpturings stood alone, the fear of Edie Ochiltree might scare 

 any one from indulging in a conjecture; but, when viewed in 

 connexion with other facts, some inferences may reasonably be 

 drawn. That they are of great antiquity is proved by the depth 

 of peaty soil which covers part of them, and which amounts, even 

 on the slope of the rock, to as much as 9 inches ; beneath this 

 soil, the incisions are sharper and more distinct than those on the 

 exposed surface. Similar sculpturings have been discovered by 

 Mr. Langlands on Old Bewick Hill, which is twelve miles distant 

 from Routin Linn, on sandstone rocks standing out from the 

 mass of which the hill is formed. The incisions are upon a more 

 gritty stone than that at Routin Linn, and they have been more 

 obliterated by the elements ; but enough remains to show their 

 analogous character. In both localities the sculptured rocks 

 stand eastward of ancient camps, which have the Celtic form and 

 construction ; and from this connexion, they may, without much 

 hesitation, be referred to the ancient British inhabitants of the 

 county. Some significancy, moreover, seems to be involved in 

 an eastward position; for I find that the remains of Celtic 

 dwellings, still to be seen, on Beanly Moor and on Hartside 



