Chapter II: Part 2

"I consider the relation between the _boths_ [beehive houses] and
the Picts' houses of the Orkneys (and elsewhere) to be evident--the
same method of forming the arch, the low and narrow doors and
passages, the enormous thickness of the walls, when compared with
the interior accommodation--exist in both. When a _both_ is covered
with green turf it becomes a chambered tumulus, and when buried by
drifting sand it is a subterranean Pict's house.... I regard the
comparatively large Picts' houses of the Orkneys as the pastoral
residence of the Pictish lord, fitted to contain his numerous
family and dependents. Such an one exists on the Holm of Papa
Westray, which, according to the Highland method of stowage, would
certainly contain a whole clan. When writing the description of it,
I had not made acquaintance with a people who would close the door
to keep in the smoke, or that nested in holes in a wall like
sand-martins....

"But the _both_ of the Long Island is only the lodging of the
common man or 'Tuathanach,' and is consequently of small
dimensions, and not remarkable for comfort. If the modern Highland
proprietor or large farmer should ever be induced to lead a
pastoral life, and adopt a Pictish architecture in his residence,
we might again see a tumulus of twenty feet in height, with its
long low passage leading into a large hall with beehive cells on
both sides."[69]

But the point of all this is that these dwellings, whether above ground or below, are known as _Picts' Houses, Fairy Halls, Elf Hillocks_, "the hidden places of _Fians and Fairies_." Thus, the three titles which I have shown to be associated in other ways are all given to the alleged builders and occupiers of those very archaic and peculiar structures.

It is true that, in their most modern form, some of those dwellings are still inhabited for months at a time. And their inhabitants are neither Fians, Fairies nor Picts. But it is among those people that stories of Fians and Fairies are most rife, and many claim an actual descent from them. And although they are certainly not pigmies, yet they live in a district in which the _small_ type of this heterogeneous nation of ours is still quite discernible; and that part of the island of Lewis (Uig), which has longest retained those places as dwellings, is inhabited by a caste whom other Hebrideans describe as small, and regard as different from themselves.[70] Dr. Beddoe states that the tallest people in the United Kingdom are to be found in a certain village in Galloway, where a six-foot man is perfectly common, and many are above that height. It is quite certain that such men could not "nest like sand-martins" in the holes in the wall described by Captain Thomas. And, in proportion as such Galloway men are to the modern Hebridean mound-dwellers, so are these to the much more archaic race with whom the oldest structures are associated. For a study of the dimensions of these will show that they could not have been conceived, and would not have been built or inhabited by any but a race of actual dwarfs; as tradition says they were.

[Footnote 18: "_La légende des Pygmées et les nains de l'Afrique equatoriale_": _Rev. Hist._ t. 47, I. (Sept.-Oct. 1891), pp. 1-64.]

[Footnote 19: For some of these references see Dr. Hibbert's "Description of the Shetland Islands," Edinburgh, 1822, pp. 444-451. See also Mrs. J.E. Saxby's "Folk-Lore from Unst, Shetland" (in _Leisure Hour_ of 1880); Mr. W.G. Black's "Heligoland", 1888, chap. iv.; and "The Fians," London, 1891, pp. 2-3.]

[Footnote 20: Gwynn the son of Nudd: for whom see Lady C. Guest's "Mabinogion," pp. 223, 263-5, and 501-2.]

[Footnote 21: "The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," edited by J.H. Todd, D.D., London, 1867, pp. 114-115.]

[Footnote 22: I. cc. 4-6 (this reference and the passage is quoted from Du Chaillu's "Viking Age," vol. ii. p. 516).]

[Footnote 23: "_Fianaibh ag Sithcuiraibh_"]

[Footnote 24: "_Dan an Fhir Shicair"; Leabhar na Feinne_, pp. 94-95.]

[Footnote 25: _Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. vi. 1888, pp. 173-178.]

[Footnote 26: _The Fians_, 1891, p. 64.]

[Footnote 27: _Ibid._ p. 33.]

[Footnote 28: _The Fians_, p. 172. The Fairy Hill referred to is "a hillock, in which there is to be seen a small hollow called the armoury" (p. 174).]

[Footnote 29: _Ibid._ pp. 12-13, 166, &c.]

[Footnote 30: _Ibid._ pp. 3-4. Glenorchy is said to have teemed with Fenian traditions about the early part of this century (_Proceedings_ of Soc. of Antiq. of Scotland, vol. vii. pp. 237-240).]

[Footnote 31: See my _Testimony of Tradition_, London, 1890, pp. 146-8; and Pennant's "Second Tour in Scotland" (Pinkerton's _Voyages,_ London, 1809, vol. iii. p. 368).]

[Footnote 32: _Proceedings_ of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. vii. p. 294, _note_.]

[Footnote 33: See, for example, an article on "Scottish Customs and Folk lore," in _The Glasgow Herald_ of August 1, 1891.]

[Footnote 34: _The Fians_, pp. 78-80.]

[Footnote 35: _Scottish Celtic Review_, 1885, pp. 184-90: _The Fians_, pp. 175-184.]

[Footnote 36: _The Heimskringla_: Dr. Rasmus B. Anderson's 2nd ed. (1889) of Mr. Samuel Laing's translation from Snorre Sturlason: chap. lxxxiii., _Of Little Fin_.]

[Footnote 37: _Leabhar na Feinne_, p. 34.

[SUBSEQUENT NOTE.--To be very accurate, one ought to say that, in the pedigree referred to, Fin's grandfather (Trenmor) is stated to have married a Finland woman.]]

[Footnote 38: Mr. W.G. Black's _Heligoland_, 1888, chap. iv.]

[Footnote 39: With this Fin of Frisian tradition may be compared Fin, a North-Frisian chief of the fifth century, mentioned in _Beowulf_ and _The Gleeman's Tale_, and whose death is recorded in _The Fight at Finnsburk_.

[SUBSEQUENT NOTE.--A suitable companion to the dwarf Fin of Frisian tradition is mentioned in Harald Hardradi's Saga:--"Tuta, a Frisian, was with King Harald; he was sent to him for show, for he was short and stout, in every respect shaped like a dwarf."--Quoted by Mr. Du Chaillu at p. 357 of vol. ii. of "The Viking Age."]]

[Footnote 40: In this connection it is worth noting that Sir Walter Scott, in referring to the aboriginal or servile clans in 1745, whom he describes as "half naked, _stinted in growth_, and miserable in aspect," includes among them the McCouls, Fin's alleged descendants, who "were a sort of Gibeonites, or hereditary servants to the Stewarts of Appin." (Waverley, ch. xliv.)]

[Footnote 41: For example, the late Rev. J.G. Campbell, Tiree, says of "the Great Tuairisgeul" that he was "a giant of the kind called _Samhanaich_--that is, one who lived in a cave by the sea-shore, the strongest and coarsest of any" (_Scottish Celtic Review_, p. 62). That this term was one of contempt, given by Gaelic-speaking people to those "giants" (and apparently based upon their malodorous characteristics), will be seen from Mr. Campbell's further observation (_op. cit._ pp. 140-141):--"It is a common expression to say of any strong offensive smell, _mharbhadh e na Samhanaich_, it would kill the giants who dwell in caves by the sea. _Samk_ is a strong oppressive smell." McAlpine defines _Samk_ as a "bad smell arising from a sick person, or a dirty hot place"; and he further gives the definition "a savage" (quoting Mackenzie). The word _Samhanach_ itself is defined by McAlpine as "a savage," and he cites the Islay saying:--"_chuireadh tu cagal air na samhanaich_," "you would frighten the very savages." From these definitions it will be seen that a word translated "giant" by one is rendered "savage" by another (though neither of these terms expresses the literal meaning). Mr. J.G. Campbell also practically regards it as signifying "cave-dweller," or perhaps a certain special caste of cave-dwellers. With this may be compared McAlpine's "_uamh_, _n.f._, a cave, den; _n.m._, a chief of savages, terrible fellow ... '_cha'n'eil ann ach uamh dhuine_,' 'he is only a savage of a fellow.'" Islay has also another word to denote a Hebridean savage. This is _ciuthach_, "pr. _kewach_, described in the Long Island as naked wild men living in caves" (J.F. Campbell, Tales, iii. 55, _n._). One of these "kewachs" figures in the story of Diarmaid and Grainne, and one version says that he "came in from the western ocean in a coracle with two oars (_curachan_)" (_The Fians_, p. 54). (His name assumes various shapes--_e.g._, Ciofach Mac a Ghoill, Ciuthach Mac an Doill, Ceudach Mac Righ nan Collach.) These three terms--_samhanach, uamh dhuine_, and _ciuthach_--all seem to indicate one and the same race of people. And these are probably the people referred to by Pennant when he says, speaking of the civilised races of the Hebrides in the beginning of the seventeenth century:--"Each chieftain had his armour-bearer, who preceded his master in time of war, and, by my author's (Timothy Pont's MS., Advocates' Library, Edinburgh) account in time of peace; for they went armed even to church, in the manner the North Americans do at present [1772] in the frontier settlement, and for the same reason, the dread of savages." (Pinkerton's _Voyages_, vol. iii. p. 322.)]

[Footnote 42: Hibbert's "Description of the Shetland Islands," Edinburgh, 1822, pp. 444-451. With regard to the "Dwarfie Stone" of Hoy, the following references may be given:--"Jo. Ben," 1529, at p. 449 of Barry's "History of the Orkney Islands," 2nd ed., London, 1808; and other writers subsequent to 1529. These speak of this stone as the abode of a "giant." Sir Walter Scott (_The Pirate_, Note P.) and many others invariably say "a dwarf."

Note also J.F. Campbell (_W.H. Tales_, p. xcix): "The Highland giants were not so big, but that their conquerors wore their clothes." Also the dwarf in Ramsay's "Evergreen" who says that he was engendered "of giants' kind."]

[Footnote 43: _Dean of Lismore's Book_, p. lxxvi.; _Celt. Scot._, vol. i. p. 131; vol. iii. chap. iii.; &c.]

[Footnote 44: _Celt. Scot._ iii. 106-7.]

[Footnote 45: In this tale, the phonetic spelling _ben-ce_ shows the unusual aspirated form _bean-shithe_. She is elsewhere spoken of as the Lady of Innse Uaine, and her son is the hero of the tale _Gille nan Cochla-Craicinn_.]

[Footnote 46: According to a clergyman of the seventeenth century, the Hebrides and a part of the Western Highlands constituted "the country of the Fians," (_Testimony of Tradition_, p. 45.)]

[Footnote 47: Miss Dempster: "The Folk-Lore of Sutherlandshire," Folk-Lore Journal, vol. vi. 1888, p. 174.]

[Footnote 48: _Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot._, vol. vii. p. 294.]

[Footnote 49: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. vii. pp. 165 and 192.]

[Footnote 50: "They are plainly no other than the Peihts, Picts, or Piks ... the Scandinavian writers generally call the Piks Peti, or Pets: one of them uses the term Petia, instead of Pictland (Saxo-Gram.); and, besides, the frith that divides Orkney from Caithness is usually denominated Petland Fiord in the Icelandic Sagas or histories." (Barry's _Orkney_, p. 115.)]

[Footnote 51: _Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot._, vol. iii. p. 141: also vol. vii. p. 191. This quotation is made by the late Captain Thomas, R.N., a sound archæologist; but I have to add that in the document of 1443, as given in Barry's _Orkney_ (2nd ed., London, 1808, pp. 401-419), while I find the statement as to the two native races, I find nothing about the stature or habits of the Picts. Captain Thomas twice quotes his statement, and as at one place he refers, not to the Bishop of 1443, but (vol. iii. p. 141) to "the Earl of Orkney's chaplain, writing about 1460," it is possible he had two manuscripts of the fifteenth century in view.

[SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE.--The Bishop's words are as follows:--

"_Istas insulas primitus Peti et Pape inhabitabant. Horum alteri scilicet Peti parvo superantes pigmeos statura in structuris urbium vespere et mane mira operantes, meredie vero cunctis viribus prorsus destituti in subterraneis domunculis pre timore latuerunt._"--From his treatise _De Orcadibus Insulis_, reprinted in the "Bannatyne Miscellany," 1855, p. 33.]]

[Footnote 52: _Testimony of Tradition_, pp. 58-60, 65, 67-74, 79-80.]

[Footnote 53: Pennant's Second Tour in Scotland; Pinkerton's _Voyages_, London, 1809, p. 368.]

[Footnote 54: Linguæ Romanæ, Dictionarium, Luculentum Novum.]

[Footnote 55: Du Chaillu: _Land of the Midnight Sun_, vol. ii. pp. 421-2. This also is one of the articles of belief in Shetland, with regard to the _trows_, as the trolls are there called.]

[Footnote 56: _Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot_. (First Series), vol. iii. pp. 127-144; vol. vii. pp. 153-195.]

[Footnote 57: _The Past in the Present_, Edinburgh, 1880, pp. 58-72.]

[Footnote 58: _The Past in the Present_, p. 59.]

[Footnote 59: Reproduced by permission of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.]

[Footnote 60: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. iii. p. 137.]

[Footnote 61: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. vii. p. 168 _n._ This appears to me to be a phonetic spelling of the _diongna_ mentioned in the passage relating to the plunderings of the Danes in the ninth century.]

[Footnote 62: _Ibid._ p. 171. On the same page, the form _Ugh talamkant_ is given.]

[Footnote 63: _Chambers's Encyclopædia_, new ed., s.v. Earth-house.]

[Footnote 64: Quoted in _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vii. 172. The reference is "Ag. Rep. Heb. p. 782."]

[Footnote 65: _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 140.]

[Footnote 66: John Stuart, LL.D., _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, viii. pp. 23 _et seq._]

[Footnote 67: Plates XIV.-XVI. Compare also Plates XVII.-XIX.]

[Footnote 68: _Op. cit._, vii. 191.]

[Footnote 69: _Op. cit._, iii. 133.]

[Footnote 70: _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, vol. iii. (First Series), p. 129. The district of Barvas is specially referred to by Captain Thomas.]

APPENDIX.

Most of the illustrations here given are reproductions of some of the plates accompanying Captain Thomas's papers in the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_. In explanation of their details the following extracts may be made.

PLATE I. (Frontispiece).--_Uamh Sgalabhad, South Uist._

(From Plate XXXV. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

Captain Thomas thus describes his descent into and exploration of this earth-house:--"An irregular hole was pointed out by the little lassie before alluded to, and some of my party quickly disappeared below ground. As they did not immediately return, I thought it was time to follow, and squeezing through the ruinated entrance (_a_), I entered the usual kind of gallery, which descended into the ground at a sharp angle. At the bottom, on the right-hand side, was the usual guard-cell (_b_); the sides of dry-stone masonry, but the end was the face of a rock _in situ_. Proceeding on, the roof rose and the gallery widened to what was the main chamber (_c_), which was 7 feet high under the apex of the dome, and 4 feet broad. Upon the west side of this chamber, and about 2 feet from the ground, is a recess, about 2 feet square and 4 feet long. At the further end, and in the same right line, the gallery (_d_) became low (2½ feet) and narrow (2 feet). Again the roof rose, and the gallery widened till stopt, in face, by a large transported rock (_f_); to the right of the rock a rectangular chamber (_e_), 2 feet broad, extended 4 feet, and ended against rock _in situ_. Round, and beyond the rock (_f_), the wall of the left side of the gallery was built, but the passage was so narrow (_g_) that I contented myself by looking through it. This incomprehensible narrowness is a feature in the buildings of this period. Some of Captain Otter's officers pushed through into the small chamber (_h_); beyond this the gallery was ruinated and impassable; the total length explored was 45 feet."[71]

[Footnote 71: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. vii. (First Series), pp. 167-8.]

FIG. 8.

"It is of a bee-hive form, about 18 feet in diameter, 9 feet high, and covered with green turf outside."

_a_ _a_. doors; 3 feet high, "higher and better formed than is usual."

_b_. fireplace (having a chimney above, which is exceptional).

_c_. row of stones marking off _d._

_d_. bed on floor.

_e_ _e_ _e_. small recesses in wall.

FIG. 9.

Dwelling and Dairy joined, "of the usual bee-hive shape, and green with the growing turf." Dairy "6 feet square on floor, but roundish externally."

_a_. doorway; "easily closed with a creel, a bundle of heather, or a straw mat."

_b_. "a very low interior doorway."

_c_. doorway of dairy.

_d_. fireplace; "the smoke escaping through a hole in the apex of the dome."

_e_. "the usual row of stones."

_f_. "a litter of hay and rushes for a bed."

_g_. niches in wall.

_i_ _j_ _k_ _l_. various utensils.]

PLATE II.--_Bee-Hive Houses at Uig, Lewis._

(From Plate XXXI. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

_Fig. 8._ Captain Thomas selects this as "the most modern, and at the same time the last, in all probability, that will be constructed in this manner"--viz., "roofed by the horizontal or cyclopean arch, _i.e._, by a system of overlapping stones." "The woman who was living in it [about 1869] told us it was built for his shieling by Dr. Macaulay's grandfather, who was tacksman [leaseholder] of Linshader ... and I conclude that it was made about ninety years back."[72]

_Fig. 9._ Sir Arthur Mitchell says of this compound "bee-hive" house:--"The greatest height of the living room--in its centre, that is--was scarcely 6 feet. In no part of the dairy was it possible to stand erect. The door of communication between the two rooms was so small that we could get through it only by creeping. The great thickness of the walls, 6 to 8 feet, gave this door, or passage of communication, the look of a tunnel, and made the creeping through it very real. The creeping was only a little less real in getting through the equally tunnel-like, though somewhat wider and loftier passage, which led from the open air into the first or dwelling room."[73]

[Footnote 72: _Op. cit._, p. 161.]

[Footnote 73: _The Past in the Present_, p. 60.]

BEE-HIVE HOUSES, FIDIGIDH IOCHDRACH, UIG, LEWIS, HEBRIDES. Inhabited 1859.]

PLATE III.--_Bee-Hive Houses at Uig, inhabited in 1859._

(From Plate XII. of Vol. III. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

See p. 47, _ante_.

BEEHIVE-HOUSES (BOTHAN) MEABHAG, FOREST OF HARRIS.]

PLATE IV.--_Bee-Hive Houses at Meabhag, Forest of Harris._

(From Plate X. of Vol. III. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

At the date of Captain Thomas's visit (1861) a man was still living who had been born in one or other of these dwellings.

GROUND PLAN OF RUINED _BOTH_ AT BAILE FHLODAIDH, ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ISLAND OF BENBECULA.

_a_. "scarcely 18 in. wide."]

PLATE V.--_Ground Plan of Bee-Hive House, Island of Benbecula._

(From Plate XXXII. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND PLAN OF MOUND DWELLING, CALLED _BOTH STACSEAL_, SITUATED MIDWAY BETWEEN STORNOWAY AND CARLOWAY, LEWIS, HEBRIDES.

"A hole (_e_), called the Farlos, is left in the apex of the roof for the escape of the smoke, and is closed with a turf or flat stone as requisite."

_Height of Dome, 7 feet._

_a, b. Doorways._

_c. Fireplace._

_d. Row of stones for seats._

_e. Centre. (Distance from e to end of cells, 7 feet.)_

_f, g, h. Cells or bed-places._

_f is "2 feet wide and 15 inches high at the inner end; is 5 feet long and 3 feet high at the mouth. The opposite cell (g) is of the same dimensions. The third cell (h) is 4 feet wide at the mouth, 5 feet long, decreasing to 2½ feet wide at the head, where it is 16 inches high."_

The above is given by Captain Thomas as an example of such dwellings "having oven-like bed-places around the internal area. This interesting summer house illustrates the most antique form of dormitory; but in the winter houses the floor of the bedroom was raised three or four feet above the ground." (Compare the side cells in Maes-How, Orkney.)]

PLATE VI.--_Chambered Mound (Both Stacseal), near Stornoway, Lewis._

(From Plate XXXII. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

With reference to the _farlos_, or smoke-hole (otherwise "sky-light"), which, in this instance, is at a height of 7 feet from the floor of the dwelling, Captain Thomas remarks:--"A man, on standing upright, can often put his head out of the hole and look around" (_op. cit._, vol. iii., p. 130 _n._). This suggests the following story, told by Mr. J.F. Campbell (_West Highland Tales_, vol. ii., pp. 39-40):

"There was a woman in Baile Thangusdail, and she was out seeking a
couple of calves; and the night and lateness caught her, and there
came rain and tempest, and she was seeking shelter. She went to a
knoll with the couple of calves, and she was striking the
tether-peg into it. The knoll opened. She heard a gleegashing
(_gliogadaich_) as if a pot-hook were clashing beside a pot. She
took wonder, and she stopped striking the tether-peg. A woman put
out her head and all above her middle, and she said, 'What business
hast thou to be troubling this tulman [mound] in which I make my
dwelling?' 'I am taking care of this couple of calves, and I am but
weak. Where shall I go with them?' 'Thou shalt go with them to that
breast down yonder. Thou wilt see a tuft of grass. If thy couple of
calves eat that tuft of grass, thou wilt not be a day without a
milk cow as long as thou art alive, because thou hast taken my
counsel.'

"As she said, she never was without a milk cow after that, and she
was alive fourscore and fifteen years after the night that was
there."

GROUND PLAN OF _BOTHAN GEARRAIDH NA H'AIRDE MOIRE_, UIG LEWIS, HEBRIDES.

_a. Dwelling apartments._

_b. Fosgarlan or Porch._

_c. Cuiltean or Milk cupboards._

_d. Stonebench or Bedplace._

_AB. Line of Section._

_CD. View as represented as restored._]

SECTION AND ELEVATION OF _BOTHAN GEARRAIDH NA H'AIRDE MOIRE_, UIG, LEWIS, HEBRIDES, AND VIEW OF SAME IF RESTORED.]

PLATES VII. AND VIII.--_"Agglomeration of Bee-Hives" at Uig, Lewis._

(From Plates XV. and XVI. of Vol. III. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

"By far the most singular of all these structures, and probably
unique in the Long Island, is at Gearraidh na h-Airde Moire,
on the shore of Loch Resort. I cannot describe it better than by
bidding you suppose twelve individual bee-hive huts all built
touching each other, with doors and passages from one to the other.
The diameter of this gigantic booth is 46 feet, and [it] is nearly
circular in plan. The height of the doors and passages about 2½
feet; and under the smokehole (_farlos_), in two of the chambers,
the height was 6½ feet.... I am informed that, so late as 1823,
this _both_ was inhabited by four families." (Captain Thomas,
_Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. iii., p. 139.)

PLAN AND ELEVATION OF A BOTH _at Gearraidh Aird Mhor, Uig, Lewis._

_a. dwellings._

_b. fosgarlan or porch._

_c. cuiltean or milk cupboards._

_d. doors._

_e. farlos or smokehole._

"One of a group of three at the garry of Aird Mhor, close to the shore and near the mouth of Loch Resort, Uig, Lewis. This compound _both_ has evidently been intended for two related families ... but there is no interior communication between the dwellings." (_Op. cit. p. 144._)]

PLATE IX.--_Compound "Both" situated near the above._

(From Plate XIV. of Vol. III. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

GROUND PLAN AND SECTIONAL VIEW OF SEMI-SUBTERRANEAN _BOTH_ AND UNDERGROUND GALLERY, MEAL NA H-UAMH, MOL A DEAS, HUISHNISH, ISLAND OF SOUTH UIST.]

PLATE X.--_"Both" and Underground Gallery at Meall na h-Uamh, Huishnish, South Uist._

(From Plate XXXIII. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

"I have next to notice," says Captain Thomas (_op. cit._, p. 164),
"that form of bo'h, Pict's house, or clochan, whichever name may be
adopted by archæologists, to which a hypogeum or subterranean
gallery is attached.... [The present example] is in South Uist,
about half a mile inland from Moll a Deas (South Beach); and the
Moll is about one mile and a half to the south of Husinish
(Husness, _i.e._, Houseness). The site of the bo'h is called Meall
na [h-] Uamh, or Cave Lump [more correctly, the Mound of the Cave,
or 'Weem.'] It consists of a partly excavated oval dwelling chamber
(_a_), 7 feet by 14 feet on the floor; the dome roof has fallen in;
there are two _cuiltean_, or niches in the wall. A low curved
subterranean passage (_b_), about 2½ feet square and 20 feet in
length, leads into an elongated bee-hive chamber (_c_), 13 feet by
5 feet, and 6¾ feet high; from thence an entrance (_d_), 2 feet by
2 feet, admits to a small circular chamber or cell (_e_), 5 feet in
diameter and 5 feet high. The main passage inclines downwards, so
that the floor of the second chamber (_c_) is nearly 3 feet lower
than that of the first (_a_); and that of the inner one (_e_) a
foot below the second (_c_)."

GROUND PLAN OF _BOTH_ AND UNDERGROUND GALLERY, OR _TIGH LAIR_, NEAR MOL A DEAS, HUISHNISH, ISLAND OF SOUTH UIST.]

RESTORED ELEVATION OF ANCIENT BOTH AND SECTION OF HYPOGEUM OR TIGH LAIR, ON THE LINE a, k, NEAR MOL A DEAS, HUISHNISH, SOUTH UIST.

"These piers were about 4 feet high, 4 feet to 6 feet long, and 1½ foot to 2 feet broad; and there was a passage of from 1 foot to 2 feet in width between the wall and them."

"On a small, flattish terrace, where the hill sloped steeply, an area had been cleared by digging away the bank, so that the wall of the house, for nearly half its circumference, was the side of the hill, faced with stone.... The hypogeum or subterranean gallery is on a level with the floor, pierced towards the hill, and is entered by a very small doorway [marked _d_ on Ground Plan, Plate XI.].... It is but 18 inches high and 2 feet broad, so that a very stout or large man could not get in." (_Op. cit._, pp. 166, 167.)]

PLATES XI. AND XII.--_"Both" and Underground Gallery at Huishnish, South Uist._

(From Plates XXXIV. and XXXV. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

"An ancient dwelling, semi-subterranean, exists at Nisibost, Harris
[and is described in vol. iii. of the _Proceedings_, p. 140].... A
still finer example exists near to Meall na h-Uamh, in South
Uist.... The bo'h, or Pict's house, as it would be called in the
Orkneys--but the name is unknown in the Long Island--that I am
about to describe lies less than half a mile above the shepherd's
house; but so little curiosity had that individual that he was
entirely unacquainted with it; and I believe it would never have
been found by us but for a little terrier (in its etymological
sense, of course) of a daughter. The child was only acquainted with
the two here drawn [of which the other--viz., _Uamh Sgalabhad_, is
here reproduced as Plate I., frontispiece]; but there may be many
more waiting the researches of the zealous antiquary." (Captain
Thomas, _op. cit._, p. 165.)

GROUND PLAN AND ENTRANCE OF UNDERGROUND GALLERY AT PAIBLE, TARANSAY, HARRIS.

"The drawing is from a photograph of the entrance, which is 2 feet 10 inches high and 1½ foot broad. The sea flows up to it at high tides."]

PLATE XIII.--_Underground Gallery at Paible, Taransay, Harris._

(From Plate XXIX. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

Describing this earth-house, Captain Thomas says:--"The drawing is from a photograph of the entrance, which is 2 feet 10 inches high and 1½ foot broad. The sea flows up to it at high tides. On crawling in, there is seen the usual guard-cell (_b_), close beside the entrance, but so small that we may be sure the sentinel, if there was one, must have been a light weight; in fact, we are almost driven to the conclusion that there were no Bantings in those days. This guard-cell is but 2 feet 5 inches high, and 3 feet in width. The gallery then turns at a right angle to the left hand. We excavated it for 22 feet.... When digging, we came upon two broken stone dishes (corn-crushers?) now in the Museum [Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]; and above the gallery were most of the bones of a small ox, placed orderly together.... Bones of the seal were common, and a few of the eagle." (_Op. cit._, p. 169.)

MAES-HOW, ORKNEY.]

INTERIOR OF MAES-HOW, ORKNEY

(_Facing inner doorway of gallery_).

_Cell or Bed in Wall._]

SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND PLAN OF MAES-HOW.]

PLATES XIV., XV., AND XVI.--_Maes-How, Orkney._

These plates represent the "Pict's house" referred to by Captain Thomas (pp. 50-51, _ante_), with regard to which he says:--"Maes howe was for three families--grandees, no doubt; but the numbers it was intended to hold in the _beds_ may be learned by comparing them with the Amazon's House, St. Kilda."

The structure last named is described by Captain Thomas and Mr. T.S. Muir in vol. iii. of the _Proceedings_ (pp. 225-228), where it is stated:--"The Amazon's House is of the same class with our earliest stone buildings--belonging to the era of cromlechs, stone-circles, Picts' castles, &c.; but while in other parts of Britain the style and type have vanished for a thousand years, in the Outer Hebrides we find them (in the Bothan [_i.e._, 'boths' or 'bee-hive houses'] of Uig) continued to the present day." The following additional remarks by Captain Thomas are also of interest in this connection:--"It appears that besides the Tigh na Bhanna ghaisgach (Ty-na-Van-a-ghas-gec), or Amazon's House--and of whom all tradition, except her name, has gone--there are the remains of other submerged dwellings and hypogea. Miss Euphemia MacCrimmon, the oldest inhabitant of that far-off island, tells that a certain Donald Macdonald and John Macqueen, on passing a hillock, heard churning going on within. And about thirty years ago, when digging into the hillock to make the foundations of a new house, they discovered what seemed to be the fairies' residence, built of stones inside, and holes in the wall, or croops, as they call them, as in Airidh na Bhannaghaisgach."[74]

It will be noticed that the "beds" in Maes-How are on a higher level than the floor of the main chamber. "In the winter houses," observes Captain Thomas,[75] "the floor of the bed-place was raised 3 or 4 feet above the ground."

The original use of Maes-How is a matter of opinion, and some have assumed it to belong to the class of sepulchral mounds, although there is no evidence in support of this belief. For many reasons, the opinions of Captain Thomas are endorsed by the present writer. It may be added that, prior to 1861, when the mound was opened, local tradition had declared that it was the residence of a "hog-boy," or mound-dweller.

[Footnote 74: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._ (First Series), vol. vii. p. 172.]

[Footnote 75: _Op. cit._, p. 164.]

THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE, NEW GRANGE, COUNTY MEATH]

DOORWAY OF THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE.]

GROUND PLAN OF THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE (as at present explored).]

PLATES XVII., XVIII., AND XIX.--_Brugh of the Boyne, New Grange, County Meath._

The diagrams here shown are from drawings by Mr. W.F. Wakeman, the veteran Irish archæologist.[76] With reference to the spiral carvings at the doorway of the Brugh, it may be mentioned that "the same kind of ornament appears on a stone found amidst a heap which had once been a 'Pict's-house' in the island of Eday, Orkney;"[77] and that in Orkney, also, there has been found, in an underground house, a large stone "saucer," or "tray," resembling the two shown in the ground plan of the Brugh. (There appears to be no settled opinion as to the uses of those "saucers.")

In connection with the identification of this mound with the "Brugh of the Boyne" of ancient Irish history, the following remarks may be quoted. The Rev. Father O'Laverty, in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (December, 1892, p. 430) thus observes:--

"In his very valuable work, _The Boyne and Blackwater_, Sir William
Wilde appears to me to have used convincing arguments to prove that
_Brugh-na-Boinne_ ... was ... on the left bank of the Boyne,
convenient to the ford of _Ros-na-righ_ (Rossnaree) at Knowth,
Dowth, and Newgrange. To Sir William's arguments one point only was
wanting: the old name had disappeared.... It is now more than
thirty years since I went to Newgrange for the special purpose of
investigating that matter. I explained to Mr. Maguire, then of
Newgrange, and to his son, that _Brugh-na-Boinne_ signified 'the
town, or dwelling-place, on the Boyne,' that the word _Brugh_ would
assume the modern form _Bro_, as in Brughshane (pronounced
Broshane), and many other townland names, and that _na-Boinne_, 'of
the Boyne,' would probably cease to be used as unnecessary at the
site. I need not say that I was greatly pleased when they informed
me that the field in which is the mound of Newgrange is called the
_Bro-Park_, while in the immediate vicinity are the _Bro-Farm_, the
_Bro-Mill_, and the _Bro-Cottage_." [And also, they might have
added, the mansion of _Broe House_.]

Any one, therefore, who duly considers the matter, in relation to the statements of both of these writers, will see that the mound at New Grange is the _Brugh-na-Boinne_ of Irish history and tradition. And this name, says Father O'Laverty, "signified 'the town, or dwelling-place, on the Boyne.'" What, then, are the earliest associations with this "town or dwelling-place?"

It is said[78] to have been built by a celebrated "king and oracle" of the people known as the Tuatha Dé, Dea, or De Danann, and to have been the residence of himself and others of his race. This chief (Eochaid _Ollathair_) is usually referred to as "the Dagda," or "the Daghda Mòr"; and of his nation it is asserted that, after having invaded Ireland and conquered its native "Fir-Bolgs," they were themselves conquered in turn by a later race of immigrants, the Gaels. This "Brugh," therefore, is said to have been the residence of the Dagda, and, after him, of Angus, one of his sons. Consequently, it is very frequently styled "the Brugh of Angus, son of the Dagda," an appellation which assumes various forms.[79] Latterly, it seems to have been most generally known as "the Brugh" (_par excellence_), or, more simply still, as "Brugh." In the Book of Leinster it is specified as one of "Ireland's three undeniable eminences [_dindgna_]"[80]; while "an ancient poem by Mac Nia, son of Oenna (in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 190 b.)," styles it "a king's mansion" and a "_sídh_." The same MS. (32 _a b_) gives the variant _Sídh an Bhrogha_, rendered by Dr. Standish O'Grady "the fairy fort of the _Brugh_ upon the Boyne."[81] This word "_sídh_," which was applied--probably in the first place--to hollow mounds such as this, but which was also applied to the dwellers in them, gave the Tuatha De Danann their most popular name. Because it was on account of their residence in "the green mounds, known by the name of _Sídh_," that they were called "the _Fir Sídhe_ [_i.e._, men of the _sídhs_], or Fairies, of Ireland."[82] The one word, indeed (_sídh_), became indifferently applied to the dwellings and the dwellers. Whichever was the earliest meaning of that word, there is little dubiety as to the etymology of _Siabhra_. In one copy of the _Leabhar na h-Uidhre_,[83] it is stated that the Tuatha De Danann "were called _Siabhras_." O'Reilly defines _siabhra_ as "a fairy," and _siabhrach_ as "fairy-like"; while "a fairy mansion" is _siabhrugh_. With Connellan, again, _siabhrog_ is "a fairy." It seems quite evident that these are all corruptions of _sídh-bhrugh_ (otherwise _Sídh an Bhrogha_, as above), and that _Siabhra_, as applied to the _dwellers_, was simply a transference from the name denoting their _dwellings_.

Numerous as are the references to this mound as a "dwelling-place," its name figures prominently in the list of the ancient cemeteries of Ireland. _Relec in Broga_, "the Cemetery of the Brugh," is referred to as one of "the three cemeteries of Idolaters," in an Irish manuscript of the twelfth century (or earlier), the _Leabhar na h-Uidhre_ cited above. Of the two others, one is "the Cemetery of Cruachan"; and, by glancing at it, in the first place, we shall obtain a good idea of the Cemetery of the Brugh. "We find that the monuments within the cemetery at Rathcroghan,"[84] says Mr. Petrie, "are small circular mounds, which, when examined, are found to cover rude, sepulchral chambers formed of stone, without cement of any kind, and containing unburned bones."[85] And the twelfth-century scribe whom Mr. Petrie largely quotes, says that there were fifty such mounds (_cnoc_) in the cemetery at Cruachan. This mediæval scholar has copied a poem on the subject, "ascribed to Dorban, a poet of West Connaught," wherein it is said that it is not in the power of poets or of sages to reckon the number of heroes under the Cruachan mounds, and that there is not a hillock (_cnoc_) in that cemetery "which is not the grave of a king or royal prince, or of a woman, or warlike poet." In another verse, he says that _each_ of the fifty mounds had a warrior under it; and, altogether, it appears that, although their number could doubtless be "reckoned," yet the burial mounds of Cruachan, in or about the twelfth century, much exceeded fifty in number. "Fifty" is simply used by the poet and his commentator to show that, like the two other cemeteries of the triad (each of which is also said to have had fifty) the Cemetery of Cruachan contained about a third of the pagan notables of Ireland.

From this we see that, about the twelfth century, the Cemetery of the Brugh contained at least fifty sepulchral mounds such as those described by Mr. Petrie at Cruachan. Mr. Petrie further quotes two passages from the _Dinnsenchus_, which specify in the following terms some of the most famous of those "monuments" at the Brugh:--

"The Grave [or Stone Cairn, _Leacht_] of the Dagda; the Grave of
Aedh Luirgnech, son of the Dagda; the Graves of Cirr and Cuirrell,
wives of the Dagda--'these are two hillocks [_da cnoc_]'; the Grave
of Esclam, the Dagda's Brehon, 'which is called _Fert-Patric_ at
this day'; the Cashel [or Stone Enclosure] of Angus, son of
Crunmael; the Cave [_Derc_] of Buailcc Bec; the Stone Cairn
[_Leacht_] of Cellach, son of Maelcobha; the Stone Cairn [_Leacht_]
of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach; the Prison [_Carcar_] of
Liath-Macha; the 'Glen' of the Mata; the Pillar Stone of Buidi, the
son of Muiredh, where his head is interred; the Stone of Benn; the
Grave of Boinn, the wife of Nechtan; the 'Bed' of the daughter of
Forann; the _Barc_ of Crimthann Nianar, in which he was interred;
the Grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver; the _Cumot_ of Cairbre
Lifeachair; the _Fulacht_ of Fiachna Sraiphtine."

These, of course, are only some of the most famous of the sepulchral monuments which existed in the Cemetery of the Brugh eight or nine centuries ago. Since that time, most of them have disappeared, their stones having been presumably built into castles, mansions, cottages and walls, while the bones of the queens and heroes have fertilised the soil of the neighbouring farms. But there still remain a few "standing-stones" and "moats" in the vicinity of the Brugh, all of which may be included in the above list.

I have cited that list for the reason that modern antiquaries, or many of them, have assumed that _Síd in Broga_ and _Relec in Broga_ are synonymous terms, and that when a king or hero is recorded to have been buried "at Brugh," that means that he was buried _in_ the Brugh itself. In other words, that a place which was known as Fert-Patrick in or about the twelfth century, as also the "cashel" and the many hillocks, graves, and cairns mentioned in the list--not to speak of innumerable others--were all situated in the chamber which is shown in Plate XIX. It does not require a moment's reflection to convince one that this is an erroneous assumption. Nor is it warranted by the "History of the Cemeteries" itself, which always speaks of the burials having been "_at_ Brugh."[86]

One other statement, however, must be referred to. In another verse of Dorban's poem, mentioned above, it is said that "the host of Meath" are buried "_ar lár in Broga tuathaig_." This is rendered by Petrie, "in the middle of the lordly Brugh." The translation is no doubt good; and it is open to any one to deduce therefrom that the chamber shown in the plan contained at one time the skeletons of the host of Meath. In that case, the "host" must have been very limited in number; and anyone who has crawled along the sixty-foot passage into the Brugh, and who adopts this view, must wonder a little as to how the corpses were conveyed along that passage, and as to the reasons which must have induced some people (prior to 1699, when the chamber was almost, if not altogether, void of such relics)[87] to drag all those bones out again, at much personal inconvenience. But "_ar lár in Broga_" may also mean "in the [burying-] ground of the Brugh"; and the descriptions quoted above from the _Dinnsenchus_ show quite clearly that the ground in which "the host of Meath" were buried embraced a considerable tract of land, dotted over with mounds and monuments, differing only in degree from those of a modern cemetery.[88]

The twelfth-century commentator of Dorban's poem states:

"The nobles of the Tuatha De Danann (with the exception of seven of
them who were interred at Talten [which was the third 'Cemetery of
the Idolaters']) were buried at Brugh, _i.e._, Lugh, and Oe, son of
Ollamh, and Ogma, and Carpre, son of Etan, and Etan (the poetess)
herself, and the Dagda and his three sons (_i.e._, Aedh, and
Oengus, and Cermait), and a great many others besides of the
Tuatha De Dananns, and Firbolgs and others."[89]

But, afterwards, "the race of Heremon, _i.e._, the kings of Tara," who used to bury at Cruachan (because that was the chief seat in their special principality of Connaught) came to bury at Brugh. "The first king of them that was interred at Brugh" was a certain Crimthann, surnamed _Nianar_, the son of Lughaidh Riabh-n-derg;[90] and the reason why Crimthann decided to abandon the burying-place of his forefathers was "because his wife Nar was of the Tuatha Dea, and it was she solicited him that he should adopt Brugh as a burial-place for himself and his descendants, and this was the cause that they did not bury at Cruachan."[91] It would appear that the ruling dynasty of the Tuatha Dea had ended in a female, both on account of Nar's action in this matter, and because her husband became known by her name--as Nianar (_Niadk-Náir_) or "Nar's Champion."

This Nar is a very interesting personage in the present connection. Because, being one of the Tuatha Dea, she was a _siabhra_, or woman of the _sídhs_; otherwise, a _bean-síde_ (modernised into "banshee"). This is plainly stated in two other Irish manuscripts, with an additional explanation which is very apposite. It is said that Crimthann was called Nar's Champion "because his wife Nar _thuathchaech_ out of the _sídhes_, or of the Pict-folk [_a sídaib no do Chruithentuaith_], she it was that took him off on an adventure." A companion statement is that made in another manuscript to the effect that "Nar _thuathchaech_, the daughter of Lotan of the Pict-folk [_Nár thuathchaech ingen Lotain do Chruithentuaith_], was the mother of Feradach _finnfhechtnach_," or "the brightly prosperous"--a king of Ireland.[92]

Incidentally, therefore, in considering the Brugh of the Boyne and the people most associated with it, we find very distinct confirmation of the main part of the contention in the foregoing treatise. From these extracts it is evident that those early writers regarded _siabhra, fear-sídh, bean-sídh_, and _daoine-sídh_ (words which may also be interpreted "mound-dweller") as ordinary folk-names for the Picts; just in the same way as any historian of the frontier wars in North America would understand by "Red-skin" and "Greaser" the more classic "Indian" and "Mexican."

[Footnote 76: Earlier illustrations, from drawings made in 1724 by Mr. Samuel Molyneux, a Dublin student, may be seen in Part II. of "A Natural History of Ireland," Dublin, 1726. Other eighteenth-century representations of the same place occur in a volume of old plates, belonging to the Society of Antiquaries (London). This volume is endorsed "Celtic Remains; I," and its contents form part of (says the fly-leaf) "a collection of plates from the Archæologia collected by Mr. Akerman when the Society's Stock was sold off and arranged more or less in Classes." The views of the Brugh will be found at pp. 239, 253, and 254 (Plates XIX.-XXII.). Colonel Forbes Leslie has two excellent plates, from drawings of his own, in his _Early Races of Scotland_ (Edin. 1866), vol. ii.; where he also refers to Wilde's _Boyne and Blackwater_ and Wakeman's _Irish Antiquities_. A recent work, illustrating the same subject, but which I have not yet had an opportunity of seeing, is Mr. George Coffey's "Tumuli and Inscribed Stones at New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth," Dublin, 1893.]

[Footnote 77: Forbes Leslie's _Early Races of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 335, _note_.]

[Footnote 78: O'Curry's _Lectures_, Dublin, 1861, p. 505.]

[Footnote 79: For most of which see Dr. Standish O'Grady's _Silva Gadelica_, pp. 102-3, 146, 233, 474, and 484.]

[Footnote 80: _Silva Gadelica_ (English translation), pp. 474 and 520.]

[Footnote 81: _Op. cit._ (English translation), p. 522.]

[Footnote 82: Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, vol. iii. pp. 106-7.]

[Footnote 83: Class H. 3, 17, Trinity College, Dublin. [I quote from Mr. Petrie's "Round Towers," Trans, of Roy. Irish Acad., vol. xx. (Dublin, 1845), p. 98.]]

[Footnote 84: Rath Chruachain, Co. Roscommon: the cemetery was styled _Relig na Riogh_, or the Cemetery of Kings.]

[Footnote 85: _Op. cit._, p. 106.]

[Footnote 86: "_Is in Brug, or Bruig_." Mr. Petrie invariably translates this as "at" Brugh. But I observe that Dr. Standish O'Grady (_Silva Gadelica_, p. 256; and p. 289 of English translation) renders the Gaelic particle by English "in." To decide between two Gaelic scholars is not within my province. But if Dr. O'Grady understands "the Brugh" to be synonymous with _Sídh an Bhrogha_ (as perhaps he does not), the adoption of his reading would lead to an inference which is opposed to common sense.]

[Footnote 87: Molyneux, writing in 1725, says that "when first the cave was opened, the bones of two dead bodies entire, not burnt, were found upon the floor." Colonel Forbes Leslie remarks: "Llhuyd, the antiquary, writing in 1699, makes no mention of any human remains being found in it."]

[Footnote 88: Since the above was written, the quarterly number, June 1893, of the _Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland_ has been issued, and a note therein confirms the suspicion, indicated in Mr. Wakeman's drawing, that the whole mound is not yet explored. But the above remarks are applicable in any case.]

[Footnote 89: Petrie: _op. cit._, p. 106.]

[Footnote 90: That is, Lughaidh of the Red Stripes; "meaning that on his person he had two such: one as girdle round his middle, another as necklace round his neck." (_Silva Gadelica_, English translation, p. 544.)]

[Footnote 91: Petrie (_op. cit._, p. 101), quoting from the "History of the Cemeteries" in the _Leabhar na h-Uidhre_.]

[Footnote 92: These two extracts are from _Silva Gadelica_, Eng. transl., pp. 495 and 544; where the references are, respectively, "Book of Ballymote, 250 _a b_," and "Kilbride No. 3, Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, 5."]

SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND PLAN OF THE DENGHOOG, ISLAND OF SYLT.]

INTERIOR OF THE DENGHOOG, ISLAND OF SYLT.]

PLATES XX. AND XXI.--_The Denghoog, Island of Sylt, North Friesland._

In addition to my original collection, I am now able to show three views of the Denghoog, in Sylt, which is the mound referred to on p. 34 (_ante_). Mr. W.G. Black speaks of it thus:--

"There is some confusion as to King Finn's dwelling. As doctors
differ, we may be allowed to claim that it was the Denghoog, close
to Wenningstedt, if only because we descended into that remarkable
dwelling. Externally merely a swelling green mound, like so many
others in Sylt, entrance is gained by a trap-door in the roof, and
decending a steep ladder, one finds himself in a subterranean
chamber, some seventeen by ten feet in size, the walls of which are
twelve huge blocks of Swedish granite; the height of the roof
varies from five feet to six feet. The original entrance appears to
have been a long narrow passage, seventeen feet long and about two
feet wide and high. This mound was examined by a Hamburg professor
in 1868, who found remains of a fireplace, bones of a small man,
some clay urns, and stone weapons. Later, a Kiel professor is said
to have carried off all he found therein to Kiel Museum, and so far
we have not been able to trace the published accounts of his
investigations."[93]

Mr. Christian Jensen, Oevenum, Föhr, to whom I am indebted for these three views, has favoured me with the following information:--

"The sketches of the Denhoog which I enclose [viz., the Ground Plan
and Sectional View] are from the drawings of Professor Wibel, who
conducted the excavation of it in 1868. From his and C.P. Hansen's
observations I contribute the following statements: Originally, the
mound was higher, but in 1868 it had the form of a truncated cone,
4½ _mètres_ [say 14 feet 9 inches] in height. As may be seen from
the picture, it slopes away to the south above the original passage
into the mound, which the dweller made use of as his entrance; so
that the extent is very considerable. The present entrance, as may
be seen from the view of the interior, was made from above, at the
north side, directly opposite the original entrance.... Dr. Wibel
says: 'At the south side of the chamber is the doorway for ingress
and egress, with the passage itself leading from it. This passage,
which was 6 _mètres_ [19 feet 8 inches] in length, was lined with
upright blocks of granite and gneiss, with a roofing and floor made
of flagstones of the same kinds of stone. It was opened up all the
way to the mouth of the passage. This [the outer orifice] lay close
to the extremity of the earth and near the floor of the mound, was
closed with earth only, not with a stone, and measured about 1
_mètre_ [3 feet 3.4 inches] in height, and 1⅓ _mètre_ in breadth.
On account of these dimensions ... one can only creep through
with difficulty, and for that reason the plan does not show with
accuracy the position of the wall-slabs, and their number is merely
conjectured to be nine.'

"Immediately after this excavation of 17-19 September, 1868, C.P.
Hansen writes as follows:--

"'There are in the island of Sylt hillocks of ancient origin, for
the most part pagan burying-places, but some of which may have
served as the dwelling-places of a primitive people. One such
hillock has just been opened at Wenningstedt. The interior was
found to be a chamber, 17 feet long, 10 feet in breadth, and from 5
to 6 feet in height, with a covered passage about 22 feet long,
trending southward. The walls of this underground room were
composed of twelve large granite blocks, regularly arranged; the
roof consisted of three still larger slabs of the same kind of
rock; the stones which formed the passage were smaller. At one
corner of the floor of the cellar there was a well-defined
fireplace, and near it were urns and flint implements; in the
opposite corner there were many bones lying, apparently unburned,
probably those of the last dweller in the cavern.'"

Mr. Christian Jensen gives an account of "Der Denghoog bei Wenningstedt" in the "Beilage zu Nr. 146 der Flensburger Nachrichten" of 25th June 1893, in which he says: