Dr. Mac Culloch on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. 347 



arrow. It is equally evident that it could not have been any part of 

 the design of this work to bring the supposed roads within a limited 

 and fixed distance, as although the vertical distance of the lines is 

 equal, their horizontal one varies extremely according to the inclina- 

 tion of the ground, so that approximate lines which are in some cases 

 but 100 feet asunder will in others be separated to 1000 and more. 



If we consider them lastly as intended for a species of decoy it 

 will be necessary to discover by what means the deer were to be 

 enticed into them : the hunters who now drive the forests of Ben 

 Gloe or Mar would smile at him who should attempt to drive a 

 herd of deer into a fenced lane. In fact they bear no resemblance to 

 any practicable species of decoy, and we have fortunately still pre- 

 served in the island of Rum vestiges of a real decoy used for this 

 purpose. It appears to have consisted of two stone dikes arising 

 high in the hills and gradually contracting in their dimensions till 

 they terminated in a tall circular enclosure, in which the deer were 

 at length confined and killed. It may be added finally that the great 

 number of these lines as well as their proximity are also arguments 

 against this notion. 



Viewing them indeed in the most vague light as roads, even if we 

 do not attempt to assign an object for them, they are either deficient 

 in the qualities which a road requires, or they do not exhibit the 

 marks by which it would be characterized, or lastly they are arranged 

 in a manner so capricious as to render a motive for their disposition 

 unfathomable. 



Wherever the hill is formed of a soft alluvium they possess the 

 greatest breadth, while, on the contrary, wherever the ground is 

 rocky, they are scarcely to be traced. It is plain that they should, if 

 they had been roads, have exhibited superior permanence in the 

 most durable materials. We cannot escape this objection by saying 



