Of MONUMENTS. 
T 1 w.ij a cuftom of great antiquity, in many nations, to bury or entomb along 
blem 1 1 eminent perfons, inftruments of their atchievements or fports ; as cm- 
rj-^ S charaders, and of the avocacions in which they took delight, 
fio^u . tran ‘\ t ' on Prom ^is cuftom, as arts improved, was natural and eafy, to the 
t, ning of thefe emblems on (tones or monuments ereded to their memory. 
kind °' tunrud * raipe d over warriors, in the firft and rude fcate of man- 
' n * , tbePe l Cu lptured (tones, in a more advanced period of fociety, became the 
ai fi.inguifhed honour paid to the prince or hero. The (tile of thefe would 
tr, ai -ua y impiove, as artifts became more expert, or as accidental advantages 
na ed them to enlarge their ideas, and improve their reprefentaticns. 
tbe courPe of this work, refledtions on the annals of the North of Scotland 
1 occur, to illuftrate the progrefs of fcience in the more early periods; and 
e lneat " l °ns ohthefe ancient fculptures, and hieroglyphical reprefentations, which 
t tececv.d the knowledge of letters, (hall be given, as the moft authentic monu- 
ments of that progrefs. 
■Of titele obelifks under eonfideration, the appendages of the chace are the 
moft general embellifhment. 
. 7" be attendance of Hawks and Eagles, were the earlieft marks of princely 
m ependence and grandeur, and therefore have become the chofen fymbols of 
c rief dignity and power in other countries, as well as in the North of Scotland. 
n France, in the eleventh century, none but the nobility are reprefented 
i earing the Hawk. The Monuments now under review, refer to a period 
nearly as diftant. r 
A bird, probably alluding to the above, is the firft figure on the obelilk 
• en e> ra 'ed; it is perched on a general trophy, which we ftiall particularly 
mveftigate hereafter. 
The figure of the Sheep or Bullock, and the Harp, fo diftindly marked, 
■ongly imply how much mufic was efteemed, and that the pafture of the herd 
and flock was the fubjed of their great enjoyment. 
There is a figure in a peculiar attitude, at the foot of the Monument, with 
rcu ar inftruments in his hands ; ’tis probable they reprefent the cymbal, 
or h ’ r u partlCular occa fi°ns, might accompany the found of the horn ; 
, , Uled as a more alar ming noife, to rouze the deer from their fecret recefles, 
• . hun 7 them into the way of the fportfmen : for that they refer to the chace, the 
icimty of the hound, the deer, and horfeman, leave but little room to doubt. 
ere are veftiges, of a fingular kind of figure on the middle part of this 
onum-mt, refembling the common reprefentation of an Angel, but much de- 
wo 0 l V omeothers of thefe obeliiks there are fimilar figures, fome with 
number. 85 * f °" r - We ^ endeavour trace their origin in a future 
Jtml™ r und £he marg5n ° f this obelifk ha d been wrought with 
Proficiency ^ ^ rUCh lab0Ur 35 "° ^ 
