ANTIQUITIES, 
monuments are of small circuit, and such are 
sometimes found at no great distance from 
each other; as they were not only some- 
times erected merely as temples to Odin, 
Thor, Freyga, and other Gothic deities, but 
every chief, or iord of a manor, having juris- 
diction over many servants and slaves, such 
small courts became places of necessary awe. 
The houses seem to have been entirely of 
wood or turf ; but in some spots singular ex- 
cavations are found rudely lined with stone : 
these are called Weems, and it is likely that 
they were always adjacent to the wooden 
residence of some chief, and were intended 
as depositories of stores, &c. the roofs being 
too low for comfortable places of refuge. 
The stations and camps of the natives are 
distinguished by their round form, while 
those of the Romans belong to the square. 
Under the next epoch it would be difficult 
to discover any genuine remains of the Dal- 
riads. The houses, and even the churches, 
were constructed in wattle-work ; and the 
fnneral monuments were cairns or heaps of 
stones. It is probable that Christianity did not 
immediately dissolve ancient prejudices, and 
that even the Atticottic kings were buried 
in this rude manner ; for the genuine chroni- 
cles do not affirm that they were conveyed 
to Hyona, or Ilcolmkill ; and the sepulchres 
there shewn of Irish and Norwegian kings 
must be equally fabulous. To the sixth 
epoch may probably belong a chapel or 
two, still remaining in Scotland, for Bede 
informs us that Nethan III. A. D. 715, ob- 
tained architects from Ceolfrid, abbot of 
Jarrow and Weremouth, to build a church in 
his dominions, probably at Abernethy; but 
the round tower there remaining seems of 
more recent origin. About the year 830, 
Ungust II. founded the church of St. An- 
drew; and the chapel called that of St. 
Regnlus, (who seems unknown in the Ro- 
man calendar) may, perhaps, claim even 
this antiquity. It is probable that these 
sacred edifices in stone were soon followed 
by the erection of those rude round piles, 
without any cement, called Piks-houses : yet 
they may more properly belong to the 
seventh epoch, when the Danes may share 
in the honour of the erection, for such edi- 
fices have been traced in Scandinavia. They 
seem to have consisted of a vast hall, open 
to the sky in the centre, while the cavities 
in the wall present incommodious recesses 
for beds, &c. These buildings are remark- 
able, as displaying the first elements of the 
Gothic castle; and the castle of Conings- 
burg in Yorkshire forms an easy transition. 
The engraved obelisks found in Forres, and 
in other parts of Scotland, have been ascrib- 
ed to the Danish ravagers, who had not 
time for such erections. They are, proba- 
bly, monuments of signal events, raised by 
the king or chiefs; and as t some are found 
in Scandinavia, as recent as the fifteenth 
century, it is probable that many of the 
Scottish obelisks are far more modern than 
is generally imagined. 
We are next to consider the antiquities of 
Ireland. The original population of this 
country passed from Gaul, and was after- 
wards increased by their brethren the Guy- 
dil from England. About the time that the 
Belg® seized on the south of England, it 
appears that kindred Gothic tribes passed 
to the south of Ireland. These are the Fir- 
bolg of the Irish traditions, and appear to' 
have been the same people whom the Ro- 
mans denominated Scoti, after they had 
emerged to their notice by not only extend- 
ing their conquests to the north and east in 
Ireland, but had begun to make maritime 
excursions against the Roman provinces in 
Britain. But Ireland had been so much 
crowded with Celtic tribes, expelled from 
the continent and Britain, by the progress 
of the German Goths, that the Belgae al- 
most lost their native speech and distinct 
character; and from intermarriages, &c. 
became little distinguishable from the ori- 
ginal population, except by superior fero- 
city, for which the Scoti, or those who af- 
fected a descent from the Gothic colonies, 
were remarkable : while the original Gael 
seem to have been an innocent and harm- 
less people. The epochs in Ireland to which 
its antiquities are referrable are the follow- 
ing: 1. The first historical epoch of Ire- 
land is its original population by the Celtic 
Gauls, and the subsequent colonization by 
the Belgte. 2. The maritime excursions of 
the Scoti against the Roman provinces in 
Britain. 3. The conversion of Ireland to 
Christianity in the fifth century, which was 
followed by a singular effect ; for while the 
mass of the people retained all the ferocity 
of savage manners, the monasteries pro- 
duced many men of such piety and learn- 
ing, that Scotia or Ireland became cele- 
brated all over Christendom. 4. This lus- 
tre was diminished by the ravages of the 
Scandinavians, which began with the ninth 
century, and can hardly be said to have 
ceased when the English settlement com- 
menced. The island had been split into nu- 
merous principalities, or kingdoms as they 
were styled ; and though a chief monarch 
