only one of his saints to form his own emblem. In some foreign examples, all the Four Evangelists are winged, as may be seen in one mentioned by Mrs. Jameson in her Sacred and Legendary Art, vol. i., p. 139.

The font here has also had the emblems of the Evangelists on four of the eight panels

has moulded fillets, and retains its straphinges, which possess the peculiarity that they pass over, and not under, the fillets as usual, and follow the shape of the mouldings.

In the centre of the north and south walls of the chancel, and at about 15 feet from the floor, are two corbel heads, which perhaps supported the beam from which the light before the high altar was suspended.

The matrice of a brass remains in the aisle, and has had a canopied figure with at border having evangelistic symbols at the corners, and also there is a slab with the outlines of a cross fleury. Finally, an armorial ledger is in memory of a Mrs. "Anna Dunhami Bird," ob. April 2, 1680, æt. 27. Arms, two bars within a bordure.

Dn a Pictish Burgh near Lerwick.

BY THE REV. E. MAULE COLE, M.A., F.G.S.

TE

AVING a few hours to spend at Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, on my return from Norway the summer before last, I made inquiries in the town whether there was any old Pictish burgh within reasonable distance which I could visit in the time. Murray's Guide mentioned none, and Mousa, of course, was too far off; still, there might be a chance. For some time I met with no success-no one could answer my question. At last, however, I came across an intelligent bookseller, who said that he thought I should find what I was in search of about a mile or so from Lerwick, though there was not much of it left, and he kindly gave me directions as to the route. A party of some twelve or fifteen ladies and gentlemen, who were my companions on board ship, the City of Richmond, having volunteered to join me in the exploration, away we started, and in less than half an hour reached a spot at the head of a voe which we had no difficulty in recognising as the site of an ancient burgh.

The remains stood on a low elevation,

about a hundred yards from the shore, which was once probably an island, as the water touched it on three sides, whilst on the remaining side an elevated causeway connected it with the mainland, though we had no occasion to make use of it, and, indeed, only discovered it as we were leaving.

We first encountered an outer surrounding wall, the remains of which-in places 5 feet high-were continuous on the land side, but seemed to fail on the opposite side, as if that had been thought sufficiently protected by the water. Possibly, however, the waves had destroyed it, as there were heaps of stones lying about.

There was a narrow entrance, 4 feet wide and 32 feet long, through this wall, and two

of the wall a passage, 5 feet wide, consisting partly of steps, partly of level spaces. The wall was circular, and enclosed an area open to the sky of some 25 feet in diameter; but this we had to guess at, as the ground inside was much deeper than the outside, and we were not ambitious to break a limb. There were three openings in the wall, which evidently had served for windows, one on the inside, nearly over the entrance to the keep, looking into what we may call the courtyard, and two on the outside overlooking the water, one directly opposite to the entrance in the first-named outer wall, though on the further side of the keep; the other, at right angles to it.

It was remarkable that the entrance to the

stone chambers attached to it on the inside. The wall itself was 16 feet thick, and each chamber 8 feet wide. The height of the passage was about 4 feet. Two upright stone posts, on either side of the passage, and 12 feet distant from the outside, marked the site of a sort of primitive portcullis. The chambers were doubtless continuous over the passage, as no entry into those on the right hand was observable in the wall, whereas an inner one on the left had some steps leading to it.

Between the outer wall and the wall of the keep there was a space of 30 feet.

We now mounted this inner wall, which was from 8 feet to 9 feet high, and found it to be 15 feet in width, having in the thickness

keep was not opposite to the entrance in the outer wall, but at some fifty degrees to the left, that is to say, supposing the outer entrance to have faced west, the entrance to the inner wall faced north-west. This latter entrance consisted of a narrow passage, about 4 feet square, along which we had to creep. At a distance of 6 feet there were two upright stone posts on either side, similar to those in the outer entrance, into which a stone slab might have been dropped, so as to afford an effectual barrier. One of the level spaces above mentioned was close to the end of the passage. It had probably formed a sort of guardroom, though of small dimensions. Indeed, none of the chambers could have

be conjectured from that still standing on Mousa, or Moss-ey, as it is called in Egil's Saga. That, according to Murray, is 42 feet high. The following is Worsaae's description of it :*

"Another ancient Celtic tower, which tradition decidedly states to have been occupied by Norwegians, and which, on that account, has a particular interest for a Scandinavian, lies on the little island of Mousa (the ancient Mösey), close to the sound that separates the island from the south-eastern coast of Mainland. The tower is, fortunately, the best-preserved one of the kind in the British Islands. It rises to the height of

centric stone walls, the innermost of which encloses an open space of about 20 feet wide. The two concentric walls are each 5 feet thick, and stand at a distance of 5 feet from each other. The small space between them formed the habitable part of the tower. From the open yard we ascend a stone staircase, and, before we reach the top, seven divisions, or stories, are passed, separated by large flagstones, which form a ceiling for one story and a floor for the next. In the different compartments, which quite encircle the tower, are small square openings, or airholes, one above the other, and looking out into the inner yard."

between forty and fifty feet, like an immense and perfectly round stone pillar, but bulging out towards the middle. Its appearance from without is quite plain, and no other opening can be perceived in the wall than the entrance-door, which even originally was so low that it was necessary to creep through it. To attack the tower, even when the door stood open, was not easy, and the bulging of the wall in the middle rendered the scaling of it almost impossible. The entire tower is about 50 feet in diameter, and consists of two con

This description of the burgh at Mousa tallies with the account above given of the one which we examined near Lerwick, and shows that the two were constructed on the same principle by the same people. A slight difference, however, is observable in the fact that the one at Mousa has no external aperture except the entrance gate, whereas the one we are describing has two outside openings towards the water, one on the north, 4 feet, the other to the east, 8 feet or 9 feet from the ground, and possibly may have had more. On the other hand, these may have been later insertions.

A further and more important difference consists in the absence of any encircling wall at Mousa at least, we are told of none; and this is so prominent a feature at Lerwick that, had one existed at Mousa, it could hardly have been passed over.

There is yet another peculiar feature to be mentioned. On examining the ground between the outer wall and the wall of the burgh, a distance of 30 feet, we found in many places a number of stone walls, 3 feet to 4 feet high, forming very narrow passages and small chambers; in two instances, a narrow passage, 2 feet wide, terminated in three wider openings or chambers, like the leaf of a trefoil. It seemed as if a population of some kind had lived outside the burgh, but within the encircling outer wall, and the dwellings may be called subterranean, as they were partly earthed over.

As I have not had an opportunity of consulting any writers on this subject, with the exception of Worsaae, I am not aware what opinions are held as to the antiquity of these remarkable burghs, or by what race they are supposed to have been built. "Pictish" is the word commonly associated with them; if so, they may date back to A.D. 300. Worsaae calls them "Celtic," but I should not be surprised to find that they were older than cither, and that the race which built them, presumably a diminutive one, was the

Iberic.

P.S. Since writing the above I find that Sir Walter Scott alludes to this very burgh, near Lerwick, in his notes to "Ivanhoe." It appears that the lake is connected with the sea at high water, when the tower is completely surrounded, and even the causeway submerged, so that we must have approached it at low water, and were too intent on the ruins to notice all the surroundings. My notebook has the mysterious word "Clickamin "* written in it, and I think this must be the name of the place or the tower. My friend, Mr. W. H. C. Crump, of London, kindly assisted me in taking the measure

ments.

Chickhemin Loch.--ED.

Mona, Anglesea.

BY THE LATE MR. H. H. LINES. (Continued from p. 74.)

HE most singular feature connected with the group of ancient sepulchres on the peak of Bodafon consists of two or three successive ranges of rock-hewn enclosures leading up the side of the mountain till they approach and touch the great 7 feet carnedd on its south-east side. These enclosures extend for 100 feet below the carnedd, at least I traced them so far; but I believe they are carried to a greater distance, only want of time prevented my ascertaining that for a certainty. This series of rough terraces was a great surprise to me, as I had not before heard of such an arrangement. Commencing at 100 feet below the carnedd, we enter a roughly-shaped portal or entrance between two natural outcrops opening into a roughly-shaped semicircular area, where three ridges of the rock in situ rise one above the other, the second ridge being 2 feet above that which is below it. Passing these, we enter a pear shaped enclosure 30 feet by 20 fect, its upper end abutting close upon the largest carnedd. The rocks forming this semicircular end stand 4 feet high above the enclosure, which has been worked into its required form by a considerable amount of labour. Across the centre of the enclosure is a demarcation of stones level with the turf, giving a space of 11 feet diameter, with a gap in the rock next to the carnedd for access to it. This 11 feet space is no doubt the sacred adytum in which some religious rites or offerings were made to the spirits of the dead. I am led to this surmise by the evidence of labour bestowed for 100 feet down the side of the mountain upon the rocks in situ, the hewing out of successive terraces, terminating in an oval excavation close to the principal tomb. The natural geological formation gave the leading forms,

The

which have been hacked and hewed for the purpose required by human labour. rocks retain their rough splintery surfaces, and appear to have been wrought into shape by reducing their vertical ends to a more uniform condition. Whether this has been effected by the aid of stone celts used as