stirling-1963-vol-1/05_104

Transcription

No. 64 -- FORTS -- No. 68
64. Stone Setting, Blairessan, Spouthead (Site). An
entry in the Statistical Account of Scotland ¹ refers to
"several stones set on edge" at the source of the small
burn above Blairessan Spout, but nothing of the kind
can now be seen.

c. 527867 -- NS 58 NW (unnoted) -- 3 September 1952

HUT CIRCLES

65. Hut-circle, Double Craigs. This hut-circle is
situated at an elevation of 1250 ft. O.D. in rough pasture
110 yds. NW. of spot-level 1232 and about 300 yds. NE.
of the crest of Double Craigs. It consists of a low turf
ring, from which a few boulders protrude, and measures
about 28 ft. in diameter internally. There is a gap 6 ft. in
width in the S. arc.

634873 -- NS 68 NW ("Hut Circle" in ordinary type)
15 September 1952

66. Hut-circle, Waterhead. A hut-circle, consisting
of a low ring of turf from which a few boulders protrude,
lies in rough pasture 700 yds. NE. of Waterhead farm-
house. The position is at a height of about 810 ft. O.D.
on a slight rise near the left bank of the River Carron.
The hut measures about 40 ft. in diameter internally.

654841 -- NS 68 SE (unnoted) -- 15 September 1952

67. Hut-circle, Todholes. The following three hut-
circles, each of which is defined by a low, grass-covered,
stony bank, are situated in the vicinity of Todholes
farmhouse. (1) In rough pasture three-quarters of a
mile N. of the farmhouse and 260 yds. NW. of the
northernmost angle of a large rectangular sheepfold. It
stands on a knoll, at a height of about 1100 ft. O.D., and
measures 45 ft. in internal diameter. (2) At a height of
780 ft. O.D., half a mile NNE. of the farmhouse and
360 yds. SSE. of the sheepfold referred to above. It
measures about 30 ft. in internal diameter and has at
some time been under the plough. (3) On a little knoll
(750 ft. O.D.) on the left bank of the aqueduct between
the Endrick Water and Loch Walton, 610 yds. N. of the
farmhouse. It measures about 45 ft. in diameter internally
and there is a gap some 15 ft. in width in the N. arc.

1 674873
2 676868 -- NS 68 NE (all unnoted) -- 15 September 1952
3 673866

FORTS

68. Fort, Dumyat. The Ochil Hills stretch from the
Firth of Tay WSW. for a distance of 30 miles, for the
last twelve of which they are bounded to N. and W. by
Strathallan and to S. and E. by the River Devon. This
section of the hills is up to seven miles in breadth and
is crossed by no pass. The southwesternmost of the
major heights, Dumyat, rising to a height of 1375 ft. O.D.,
stands three and a half miles NE. of the confluence of
the Allan Water and the River Forth. Its summit peak
is steep and inhospitable, rising abruptly from the
shoulders of the hill which reach heights of between
900 ft. and 1100 ft. O.D. To the N. the shoulders slope
gently down to the valley of the Loss Burn, some 400 ft.
below and one mile distant, but to the S. there is a very
steep descent of 1000 ft. to the plain in which the River
Devon joins the River Forth.
The fort (Fig. 7, Pl. 7 B) is situated near the brink
of this descent at a height of a little over 1000 ft. O.D.,
on an unnamed part of the shoulder some 500 yds. SW.
of the summit of the hill and 400 yds. ESE. of the name
"Castle Law" on the O.S. 6-inch map. The innermost
feature is an oval enclosure which occupies the highest
part of the site and measures 90 ft. in length by 55 ft. in
breadth within the massive debris of a ruined stone
wall (A). No stones of either face can be distinguished
among the rubble, which is spread to an average width
of about 15 ft. The entrance is not distinguishable with
certainty but was probably in the W. arc. The interior is
featureless. A shallow depression with a slight external
upcast-mound, which borders the E. arc of the debris,
may be a result of the robbing of the outer face of the
wall.
A ragged band of rubble (B) appears on the steep slope
35 ft. NE. of the NE. arc of wall A, and runs thence
through S. and SW. at about the same interval for about
90 ft. Towards its end it bends more sharply and runs W.
to merge with the debris of wall A. Another line of
rubble (C) branches from the SW. arc of wall A and
runs WNW.for 110 ft. to reach the debris of the outer
walls described below. The fragmentary nature of B
and C renders speculation about the original character
and purpose difficult, but clearly the possibility exists
that they might represent the ruin of a single wall which
has been partly overlaid by wall A.
The outer walls (D and E) have been designed to cut
off the nose of the hill from the landward approach, and
are drawn across what is in effect the neck of a pro-
montory. To S. and E. the steep faces of the hill form
adequate defences, while to NE. an equally effective
natural obstacle is provided by the precipitous sides of a
rocky defile in which a stream called Burnwarroch runs
off the hill. The inner of the two walls (D), a mass of
rubble about 18 ft. in width among which some vitrified
material was found, appears first on the steep N. part
of the site and runs thence W. and S. to the entrance,
which is 20 ft. in width. It continues thereafter along
the crest of a broad, grass-covered, rocky knoll for 130 ft.
and ends where the flank of this begins to slope steeply S.
The outer wall (E), of similar appearance to D, starts
on the lip of a rocky gully which continues SE. to join
the Burnwarroch defile; the wall runs at distances varying

1 Vol. xvi (1795), 122.

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