caithness-1911/05_161

Transcription

[Page] 84 -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF LATHERON.

Lodge, are the very indefinite remains of a number of constructions
situated on a green knoll. They appear to have been small oblong
buildings with two or three chambers. One more definite than the
rest measures interiorly some 16" x 7".
On a green hillock on the right bank of the same burn, about
1/4 m. SSE. of the road bridge, are the ruins of a similar structure.
The corners have been rounded; the walls are about 2' thick and
now low, and there have been two apartments. These appear to be
the ruins of sheilings.
O.S.M., CAITH., xxix. ("Tumulus"). Visited, 14th July 1910.

303. Sheilings (ruins of), Easan Burn, Dunbeath, Strath. - About 1 1/2 m. N. by E. of
Achnaclyth towards Cnocan Con na Craige is a spot marked "Picts'
Houses" on the O.S. map. Here, near the source of a small burn,
are some half-dozen green mounds, on the top of which the founda-
tions of small oblong houses, evidently sheiling bothies, are visible;
while westwards a mile or so by the banks of the Raffin Burn are
the remains of another settlement.
O.S.M., CAITH., xxxii. Visited, 29th July 1910.

304. Constructions, Ballentink. - At Ballentink, about 200 yards
SSW. of the road bridge of Rhemullen across the Burn of Houstry,
on a grassy hillock, the foundations are visible, beneath the turf, of
several circular enclosures built with large stones. Towards the SE.
an entrance passage has been partially exposed, with a width of 2' 7",
passing beneath a large lintel and suggesting the entrance to a broch.
The dimensions and outline, however, of such a structure are not
evident. It is possible that the circular enclosures are secondary
constructions superimposed on the ruin.
O.S.M., CAITH., xxxix. and xliii. ("Mound"). Visited, 28th July 1910.

SITES.

305. Clyth Castle (Gunn's Castle), Buail' na Creige. - On the summit
of a peninsular rock running parallel to the cliff face on the mainland,
and only approachable from the shore at the W. end, up a steep
glacis of rock, are the foundations of a small rectangular keep.
Formidable as the position has been rendered by nature, it has been
further strengthened by the building of a wall across the upper side of
a shelf of rock by which access might have been gained to the summit
from the SW. The keep has measured over all some 37' x 23', and
has had walls some 3' in thickness. Immediately outside the build-
ing, at the NE. angle, is a circular depression some 9' in diameter and
2' to 3' in depth, which probably indicates the position of the well.
This keep was one of the strongholds of the Clan Gunn.
See The Gunns, p. 190.
O.S.M., CAITH., xxxiv. Visited, 16th July 1910.

306. Halberry Castle. - On the top of Halberry Head, at Mid
Clyth, are the foundations of Halberry Castle. The promontory is
formed by a deep inlet or geo separating it from the land on the
westward side, while the open sea dashes against the base of the cliffs