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by Finella. The large tumulus, from which Fettercairn derives its name, is supposed to mark the spot where the deed was perpetrated, and where, it is likely, Kenneth was buried; for there is no account of his body being conveyed to Hyona. The name of this traitress has never been forgotten in the Mearns. Besides the ruins we have described, called Finella's Castle by the common people, there is a hilly ridge, part of the lower Grampians, stretching westward from Fordoun and Auchenblae, called Finella Hill, or Strath Finella Hill; and many suppose that the neighbouring castle of Kincardine was also her residence. Stat. Acco. vol. iv. p. 498-9.—After the murder she fled, and is said to have concealed herself for some time in the deep recesses of a woody dell, still called Den-Finella, which is situated in the parish of Ecclesgreig, now St Cyrus. Her hiding place being at length discovered, she was conveyed from this retreat to suffer for her treason. Tighernac mentions the assassination of Kenneth. The Annals of Ulster and Chron. Elegiacum concur in the time, place, and circumstance, of this king's violent death, which happened A. D. 994.

At Kincardine, Baliol made submission to Edward I. July 2, 1296. Playfair's Descr. of Scot. vol. ii. Tytler's Hist. of Scot. vol. i.

In the parish of Logie-Pert, in Forfarshire, there are several remarkable tumuli. About a mile west of the House of Craigo, are the three Laws of Logie; and on the border of Montrose parish, there is a fourth, called Leighton's Law: two of these tumuli have been opened; and in one was found a stone coffin, containing a human skeleton, mostly entire; the bones were of an extraordinary size, of a deep yellow colour, and very brittle:

Stat.

in the other tumulus, there were found, about a foot from the surface, four human skeletons of gigantic proportions; and near to these was discovered a beautiful black ring, like ebony, of a fine polish, and in perfect preservation : this ring is 12 inches in circumference, and 4 in diameter, flat in the inside, and rounded without; and it would fit a large wrist. In the same tumulus there was found an urn, which was full of ashes. Acco. vol. ix. p. 51-2. In two sepulchral tumuli, near the manse of Dun, in the same neighbourhood, there were found several clay urns, with sculptures, and containing ashes and pieces of bones. Stat. Acco. vol. iii. p. 362. The skeletons of extraordinary size found at Logie-Pert, and in various parts of Scotland, some of them fully seven feet long, confirm the tradition, that of old there was a race of giants in this country. We need not think it strange that they were able successfully to resist the terrible northmen, many of whom are also supposed to have been of gigantic stature; nor need we marvel at the exploits of Fingal, and the other Ossianic heroes. If Galgacus had many such men under his command at the battle of Mons Grampius, whose stature was seven feet, and who had wrists four inches in diameter, the wonder is, that with their huge swords they did not hew the army of Agricola in pieces, and knock the large Roman shields to shivers. Angus was the country of the Picts proper; and these remains are in direct opposition to the vulgar tradition respecting the stature of the Picts. Throughout Scotland the vulgar account is, "That the Pechs were unco wee bodies, but terrible strang," that is, that they were of very small stature, but of prodigious strength. It is commonly added, "That the meal (oatmeal) was a

penny the peck, when they built the Hie Kirk of Glasgow;" for the building of all the cathedrals, and in general every thing very ancient, is ascribed by the common people to the Pechs. It is rather odd, that this tradition regarding the small stature of the Picts should be uniform in every part of Scotland, and yet that it should rest on no foundation. They are said to have been about three or four feet in height; but no skeletons of full grown persons, of that size, have been found in any of the cairns, or tumuli, which have been opened in Pictavia. Pinkerton takes no notice of this tradition, which ill accords with his notion of the irresistible prowess of the tremendous Goths.

Burning the dead, and urn sepulture, were practised by various tribes in the British islands before the introduction of Christianity. Indeed, they seem all to have burned their dead in very early times, though the manner of inhumation would doubtless be somewhat different among different tribes, and according to the rank of the deceased. The sepulchral remains of the earliest inhabitants of North Briton, consist of barrows, cairns, cistvaens, or stone-chests, stone-coffins, and urns; also upright monumental stones, which were continued to a late period. The greatest number of the barrows and cairns are circular heaps, resembling a flat cone. Many are oblong ridges, like the hull of a ship, with its bottom upward. Some of them are composed of earth; the most of them of stones; many of them of a mixture of earth and stones, and a few of them of sand. The distinction between the barrow and the cairn, consists in this, that the first is composed only of earth, and the second of stones. In South Britain barrows are most common; in North Britain cairns prevail; and this is

probably owing to the country abounding in lapideous substances; both of these, when they are of a round shape, and covered with green sward, are, in Scotland, called, by the vulgar, hillocks, and by the learned, tumuli. Much dispute has been about the derivation of barrow, and whether the word be Celtic or Gothic. Bar, in the different dialects of the Celtic, signifies a summit, an excrescence; plural, barau. Bera, in British, signifies a pyramid, a heap; and in Gaelic, Borra signifies a pile. Stat. Acco. vol. xiv. p. 257. Cairn signifies a heap. In the Gothic, Byrig is a burial place; and in Old Saxon, Beorg is a little hill; hence burg and burgh, towns being anciently placed on eminences. We incline to think that the word belongs to both languages; derived from the former, it is written barrow, and from the latter, burrow.-In these tumuli are often found the arms of the warrior, with the horn of a deer, or the tooth of a horse; sometimes beads, and rings of iron, or of brass, with other female ornaments which belonged to the British ladies. Upright monumental stones are often called by the country people Cat stanes, from the British cad, or the Gaelic cath,* a battle; and near to these are commonly found fragments of arms. We may here notice the hatchets and heads of arrows made of flint, which are often found in barrows. The flint hatchets have occasioned much discussion among learned men; but they appear to have had the name of Celts, from the nature of the material whereof they were made: Celt, in British, signifies a flint stone. The hatchets of the Britons were frequently made of brass; and these seem to have been common among the Caledonians.

* Pronounced Cat.

The flint arrow heads are called Elf-shots by the vulgar, who have a notion that they are shot by elves, or fairies, at cattle; and many of the diseases to which bestial are subject were formerly imputed to elf-shots: to cure the animal, it was touched with the elf-bolt, and made to drink of the water wherein it had been dipped. We have met with aged people who believed in elves; but during the last century the fairy superstition lost ground rapidly; and, even by the ignorant, elves are no longer regarded, though they are often the subject of a winter evening's tale.

The round tower at Brechin now attracts our attention. It is similar to that at Abernethy, and both of them have been the subject of much antiquarian disquisition: though the dates of their erection be uncertain, they must both be very ancient, being indubitably fabrics of Pictish construction. The tower at Brechin is situated close to the church, and is 80 feet high, 8 feet diameter within the wall, and 48 in circumference. It has no stair, and only two windows, or loop-holes; but there are four in the roof, or octagonal spire, which is 23 feet high. That these round towers were belfries, is sufficiently evident, from the circumstance of their having windows or openings at the usual height, necessary to emit the sound of the bell. Separate belfries are not uncommon in many countries, and even in some parts of England, to this day; and must have been necessary for security, while the rude churches were constructed of wood. When the cathedral of Brechin was erected, in the twelfth century, the round tower would probably be preserved as a venerable relic, like the chapel of St Regulus, close by the cathedral of St Andrews. It is not

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