FORTS, VITRIFIED. The appellation, Vitrrfied Forts, has been given to certain melted or vitrified masses of stone, which were discovered on the tops of some hills in the north of Scotland, about the year 1773 or 1774, by Mr Williams, a mineral surveyor, who published an account of them in the year 1777.
For a considerable time, they engaged the attention of some of the first characters, and gave exercise to the ingenuity of antiquarians. Various conjectures and theories were announced ; and some went so far as to con clude, that nothing short of volcanic fire had produced the vitrifications. Whether it has been owing to an idea, that their origin was involved in impenetrable obscurity, or that there seemed to be no prospect of the learned world coining to an agreement of opinion, it is certain, that a very long time has elapsed since this field of research has been aban doned, and curiosity apparently been asleep. Happily, the spirit of inquiry is now more widely diffused, and less easi ly damped ; and we shall consider ourselves fortunate, if the brief notices in the present article shall lead to a more general and accurate examination of the appearances un der review, than has hitherto been bestowed upon them. Mr Tytler (the late Lord Woodhouselee) has very justly remarked, (in a memoir written on this subject about thirty years ago, and published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,) " how curious it is, that the same appearances to different observers, lead to the most oppo site opinions and conclusions!" This clashing of opinions may sometimes be owing to the different degrees of atten tion which have been bestowed on the facts, and their rela tive connections. It sometimes happens too, when a per son has formed a theory, that he is very apt to view every thing with an eye, which sees only what accords with his own fancy, to the entire exclusion of the views of others. But circumstances of importance often escape the most ac curate observers, and lie concealed till accident leads to their discovery, or till unbiassed observers remove the ex aggerations, occasioned by fondness for a new discovery, or by attachment to a new theory.
It appears to us that, whatever may have been the cause which discovered to the inhabitants of the country the vitri fiable nature of the stones, of which we find the structures in question composed, or suggested the application (if ever it was made) of this discovery to any useful purpose, some confusion has arisen in the attempts to account for the pre sent appearance of the vitrified masses, from the want of means to trace their first origin. It has fallen to our lot to
discover such means ; and having been so fortunate, we have some hope of being able to reconcile many opinions which at present seem to be very opposite, and to open a path which may lead to the truth. For this purpose, we shall begin by describing the facts which presented them selves to our view, while examining the top of the hill of DUN CREICII in Sutherlandshire, where, we think, the true origin of the vitrifications, which have occasioned so much speculation, has been found. We trust that it will appear evident, that making signals by means of fire has occasion ed not only the appearances in Dun Creich, but those on many other hills, and has probably been the origin of this singular method of cementing stones, if indeed it was ever resorted to for purposes of architecture.
Near Creich, in the county of Sutherland, a ridge pro jects into the Firth of Dornoch, terminating in an abrupt precipitous hill. This ridge lies nearly east and west; and from the summit there is an extensive view of the sea, and the country towards the east ; and of the valley, containing the Dornoch Firth, towards the west. The access to the top is by no means easy, even where it is most practicable. Round the edge of the summit there is a rampart of loose stones, marked on the plan (Plate CCLX. Fig. I.) by the letter R. A, marks the scite of the remains of a building constructed of stone and lime. It is about thirty feet square, the walls being three feet thick, but not now more than four feet high. On the outside of this building, as marked by the letter B, is another rampart of loose stones, which is probably the remains of a structure intended for the same use, but which has been exchanged for the more substan tial and convenient building within. C is a well, which has been filled up. There is a very good spring of water on the outside of the rampart, on the south side of the hill. D marks a line, on which there is a mass of stones bearing abundantly the marks of fire, and which we traced across the whole summit. The surface of the hill within the outer rampart is uneven and rocky ; and that part of it which is crossed by the vitrified mass, is rather lower than the eas tern portion.