274 Dr. Mac Culloch on the Vitrified Forts of Scotland. 



not perfectly correct account is given by Owen Salisbury Brereton 

 Esq. in the third volume of the Archseologia. On applying to the 

 present most respectable octagenarian proprietor, (descendant of this 

 ancient family,) to whose regard for the superior comforts of a 

 modern house we are indebted for the destruction of this singular 

 and venerable remain, I was informed that the west end alone had 

 been vitrified. The vitrification was so entire and continuous, as to 

 form one uniform glassy surHice over the whole of the wall, and 

 thus to conceal even the joints of the masonry. The wall itself was 

 of grey mottled sandstone, about 18 inches thick. I have examined 

 the vitrified crust in a specimen transmitted to me. It is scarcely 

 the twentieth part of an inch in thickness, and consists of a green 

 transparent glass, perfectly superficial. Its appearance would lead 

 me to conclude that it had been produced by the application of 

 alkali or salt to the surface of the wall, previously to the process of 

 firing by which the vitrification was effected. The proprietor Is 

 inclined to think that the vitrified wall was of greater antiquity than 

 the rest of the building, but offers no conjecture relative to the time 

 of its erection. It is only known that the family can be traced 

 on the same spot to a period as far back as that of Edward the 

 Confessor. 



We have here then additional accessory evidence to prove that the 

 art of vitrifying buildings after their erection, was an art practised 

 in Britain. In this case it was evidently intended for the purpose of 

 excluding the weather, and certainly a more effectual expedient 

 could not have been devised. The vitrified forts of Scotland, more 

 solid and less exposed to the ravages of art, have but partially 

 yielded to the universal enemy, time. The more slender structures 

 intended for habitation, have disappeared in the lapse of years, or 

 have suffered from the taste of other improvers. 



