1 907-1908.] Clava: ^^ The Stonehenge of Scotland" 55 



YI.—CLA VA : " THE STONEHENGE OF SCOTLAND." 



By Mr S. ARCHIBALD, Corresponding Member. 



(Read February 26, 1908.) 



A FEW sentences by way of introduction. 



Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, is, as every one 

 knows, " no mean city," and for many centuries has been a 

 town of great importance, a result largely due to its geo- 

 graphical position and the natural amenities of its site and 

 surroundings. Inverness possesses many very interesting 

 historical associations, and tradition assigns to it a very great 

 age, for it is said to have been founded in 60 B.C. Whether 

 that is quite authentic or not, there can be no doubt that it is 

 of very high antiquity, and the whole district around shows 

 unmistakable signs that even in those remote ages of the 

 past it was the abode of a considerable population. The 

 town itself was surrounded by a chain of forts, of which that 

 on Craig Phadraig to the west is one of the best examples of 

 vitrified forts to be seen in Scotland ; and the country all 

 round both sides of the Moray Eirth is rich in objects of 

 antiquarian interest — such as stone circles, hut circles, 

 tumuli, stone cists, &c. Not long after coming to reside in 

 the north I read of the stone circles of Clava, said to be the 

 most extensive on the mainland of Scotland, and as soon as 

 convenient paid them a visit. Here, thought I, is something 

 worth knowing and writing about. But considerable reading 

 and another visit to obtain some drawings were needed to 

 enable me to send anything at all presentable. 



Mr James Fraser, C.E., Inverness, in a very exhaustive 

 paper ^ enumerates twenty- five circles which are known to 

 have existed in the Nairn valley in the twenty-five miles of its 

 length, measured from its mouth, and other fourteen between 

 the Nairn valley and the Ness. Many of them have, how- 

 ever, been completely cleared away (more's the pity ! ) in the 

 interests of agriculture ; many are in a very fragmentary con- 



1 In 'Transactions of the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club, 

 vol. ii. 



