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ROYAL COMMISSION
ON THE
ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL
MONUMENTS OF SCOTLAND
[Coat of Arms]
THE OUTER HEBRIDES, SKYE
AND THE SMALL ISLES |
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[Note]
435
R1
[Crown]
The Royal Commission
on the Ancient & Historical
Monuments of Scotland |
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PRINT ROOM COLLECTION
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE |
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Library Copy [Crossed out]
PRINT ROOM COLLECTION
DO NOT REMOVE.
[Stamped] THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANCIENT MONUMENTS SCOTLAND |
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Ancient and Historical Monuments. - Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG. 1 - Kiessimul Castle, Castlebay (No. 439).
(From photo by Messrs Valentine & Sons, Ltd., Dundee.)
Frontispiece. |
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[Coat of Arms]
THE ROYAL COMMISSION
ON ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL
MONVMENTS & CONSTRVCTIONS
OF SCOTLAND
NINTH REPORT
WITH INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS
AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE OUTER
HEBRIDES, SKYE AND THE SMALL ISLES
[Symbol]
EDINBURGH
1928
Edinburgh : Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. To be purchased directly from H.M. Stationery Office at the following addresses:-
120 George Street, Edinburgh; Adastral House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2; York Street, Manchester; 1 St Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff
15 Donegall Square West, Belfast; or through any Bookseller.
Price, £1, 12s. 6d. net.
49-140-9-28 |
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BARRA] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION -- [BRACADALE
470. Dun Borve, Borve. - On the summit of a
sand-covered hill on the east side of the road
at Borve, at an elevation of 50 feet above
sea-level, is the site of Dun Borve. Every
trace of building has either been removed or
covered with sand.
Barra lxiv. 7 June 1915.
471. Dun an t'Sleibh, Borve. - The site of
Dun an t'Sleibh is the summit of a rocky emi-
nence at the township of Borve, about 1/2 mile
east of the main road. The building has been
completely removed.
Barra lxiv. 7 June 1915.
472. Dun, Vatersay Township. - On the sum-
mit of a small hill, about 150 feet above sea-
level, some 400 yards west of the township
of Vatersay, is the site of a dun. All the
stones have been cleared away with the excep-
tion of a few of the outer foundation stones.
The building seems to have been circular with
an external diameter of 41 feet. There are
suggestions of an outer courtyard to the east.
Barra lxvi. 12 June 1915.
473. Tigh Talamhanta, Balnacraig. - The place
marked Tigh Talamhanta (site of) on the
O.S. map, about 30 yards above the right bank
of the burn, Allt Gunnary, in the east end of
the township of Balnacraig, is only a site, all
traces of a structure having disappeared.
The name means "earth-house," but it has
been applied to a monument nearly 1 mile
to the north-east (No. 459), which is apparently
a ruined chambered cairn. The local nomen-
clature of two other antiquities in the immediate
neighbourhood is also misleading; the ruined
chambered cairn (No. 458) 5/8 mile to the east,
is named "Dun," and the fine monument of
the same class, "Dun Bharpa" (No. 457), is
similarly termed. The last mistake is surpris-
ing, as the word "bharpa" really means a
cairn, and is used in the adjoining island of
South Uist as well as in North Uist, in Skye,
and probably in a degraded form in Lewis.
Barra lxiv. 7 June 1915.
SKYE.
PARISH OF BRACADALE.
ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES.
474. Church (Kilmoruy (Maolrubha)), Bor-
line. - At Borline on the western shore of the
inner end of Loch Eynort are two roofless
churches, the larger probably of the 18th
century and the smaller earlier. The latter
is an oblong structure, orientated 102 ½° mag.,
and measuring 26 feet 5 inches in length and
15 feet 8 inches in breadth externally. The walls,
2 feet 5 inches thick, still stand 7 feet 6 inches
high above present level of interior. The wall
head is angled to conform with the slope of the
thatch. Some 10 feet 2 inches from the floor
at the east end there is a scarcement on the
gable, the same feature appearing in the west
gable. The door, 2 feet 7 inches wide and now
4 feet high, with checks on either side and
widely splayed internally, is placed 12 feet
2 inches from the east end of the south wall,
and a window 7 feet 4 inches from the west
end measures 11 inches wide at the outside
and 2 feet 6 inches high. There are also win-
dows in the west end and northern wall, the
former 11 inches wide and 2 feet 6 inches high,
and the latter, which is placed 6 feet 3 1/2 inches
from the east end, 1 foot 3 1/2 inches wide. A
window in the east end is placed 6 feet from the
ground. The windows have jambs rounded at
corners, 7 1/2 inches deep and with a rebate
1 1/2 inches deep inside, behind which they are
widely splayed.
The later church lies a short distance to the
west.
[Note] ?Burials
FONT. - A fine font of 15th or 16th-century
date which was found in the churchyard is now
preserved in the National Museum of Anti-
quities, Edinburgh, and the circumstances of
its discovery and preservation have been fully
related in the Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., Vol. XXI.,
pp. 412-8. The bowl, of hornblendic gneiss, is
circular, and it has no drain. The exterior is
embellished with figure subjects and other
designs in high relief (Figs. 195-6-7-8-9). The
four figure subjects, representing The Cruci-
fixion, St Michael, The Virgin and Child, and
a mitred bishop, are so arranged as to divide
the bowl into four panels, two of which, one
[Page] 138 |
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Ancient and Historical Monuments. - Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG.195 - The Virgin and Child.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG. 196 - St. Michael.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG. 197 - Inscription.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG. 198 - Mitred Bishop.
[Photograph inserted]
FIG. 199 - The Crucifixion
FONT FROM KILMORUY, BORLINE (No. 474).
To face p. 138. |
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BRACADALE] -- THE OUTER HEBRIDES, SKYE AND THE SMALL ISLES -- [BRACADALE
on either side of the Crucifixion representation,
are occupied by an effective interlaced work,
while the other two bear very worn inscriptions,
in part almost obliterated, that have not, so
far, been deciphered. A date, apparently
MCCCCXXX, is faintly discernible. The lower
portion of the bowl recedes in sloping and taper-
ing panels, between the figures, three of
these panels being ornamented by foliageous
designs, and the fourth by a conventional rose.
Beaneath the figures there are four slight rolled
projections with the ends returning on each
sloping panel near its centre. The dimensions
are:-
Diameter of bowl -- 1 foot 6 1/2 inches
Height of bowl -- 13 inches
Diameter internally -- 12 3/4 inches
Depth -- 7 1/2 inches
CROSS SHAFT. - Near the centre of the kirk-
yard is the fragment of a cross shaft broken
at both ends measuring 4 feet 9 inches in
length and tapering from a width of 11 1/2 inches
and a thickness of 3 1/2 inches at the base to a
width of 8 1/2 inches and a thickness of 2 3/4 inches
at the top. On the front of the shaft, in a panel
bordered by two broad mouldings with a narrow
beading between, is the figure of an abbott
14 1/2 inches in length carved in high relief.
He is clad in alb, chasuble, stole and amice,
and has a rather high mitre on his head, from
the right side of which depends an infula.
His right hand has two fingers raised in the
act of benediction and his left hand grasps a
crozier, the crook of which runs into the mould-
ing on the edge of the panel. He is placed
under a plain canopy with pointed arch. Above
is the figure of Christ on the Cross, the break
in the stone being just below the waist; the
legs are bare with one foot superimposed on
the other; the shaft of the cross to which he is
nailed has ragged edges. On the dexter side
of the panel alongside the moulding is the
inner half of what appears to be a palm branch,
being a design with deeply serrated edges.
On the back of the shaft is a panel bordered
by a single flat moulding and bearing a foliage-
ous and zoomorphic design. On either side of a
central wavy stem springs a conventional
foliageous pattern, the lower portion taking
the form of five spiked holly leaves and the
higher of rosettes of five and six petals. The
top of the stem terminates in a bunch of foliage.
The animal at the base shows the head elevated
and mouth open; the feet are provided with
sharp claws and three of them remain on the
ground, while the fourth, one of the fore feet, is
raised in the air. The tail curves forward
between the legs and upwards across the body
and is continued as the stem of the foliageous
design. (Figs. 266, 267.)
CARVED SLABS. - There are four grave slabs
of dark blue mica schist in the burying ground
with a claymore, or one and a half-handed
sword, and foliageous designs carved on their
upper surface. Near the west end of the church-
yard is the best preserved slab, which measures
5 feet 8 inches in length, 20 inches in width
at the top and 16 1/2 inches at the base, and
3 inches in thickness (Fig. 245). It is bordered
with a flat moulding and a bead inside and is
divided into two divisions. The upper panel
bears a cross of eight rays with a foliageous
design between them and also in the four
corners. Beneath is a claymore with straight
quillons terminating in a quatrefoil with three
slight projections placed crosswise; the pommel
is circular with a blunt spike on the top. Be-
neath the quillon on the dexter side is an animal
with one of the forepaws raised, and the tail
brought forward between the legs and recurved
over the haunch is the commencement of an
interlaced foliageous design carried to the foot
of the slab. On the sinister side is a somewhat
similar design, only the animal has a round,
human-like face with protruding ears. On
either side of the hilt the ornamentation has
been obliterated. The second slab lies beside
the last and bears a claymore with quillons set
at right angles to the hilt and a foliageous
design on either side. Above is a rayed cross.
The stone is much worn and slightly broken.
The third slab, which also lies at the west
end of the enclosure, is even more defaced,
but a claymore is distinguishable.
The last slab lies near the centre of the
kirkyard. It is 6 feet 4 inches long, and has
been over 22 inches wide at the top and 18 inches
at the bottom. There is a rayed and floriated
cross in the top panel and below a claymore
with depressed quillons flanked on either side
by a foliageous design. The ornamentation
is almost obliterated.
Lying near the cross shaft is a discoid stone
of dark blue mica schist, measuring from 20 to
[Page] 139 |
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BRACADALE] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION -- [BRACADALE
22 inches in diameter and 7 inches in thickness.
On the top is a circular stone of about 11 inches
diameter and 3 inches thickness with a festooned
moulding round the outside and pierced by a
hole in the centre 3 1/2 inches square.
There is also a moulded stone, possibly part
of a lintel or jamb.
Syke [Skye] xxxvii. 15 May 1915.
475. Grave Slabs, Bracadale. - In the kirk-
yard beside the parish church of Bracadale,
near Struanmore, which is said to be built
near or on the site of the ancient chapel of
St. Assind, ¹ are two grave slabs with a claymore
and foliageous designs carved on each. One is
in a good state of preservation and measures 6
feet 2 inches in length, 19 1/2 inches in breadth at
the top, and 17 inches at the foot. In the upper
portion is a foliageous cross, and under it is a
claymore with drooping quillons and a fan-
shaped pommel divided into seven ribs. On one
side of the sword-blade is a running scroll of
foliageous work and on the other side is a scroll
of a more open floriated and foliageous design.
A portion of the slab at the foot is much worn
and any ornamentation, if it ever existed, has
been obliterated (Fig. 246.) A third stone,
6 1/4 by 2 feet, bears in high relief the effigy of a
warrior clad in a surcoat. The head rests on
a cushion. The sword lies along the body.
1 Orig. Par., vol. ii., part I, p. 357.
Skye xxviii. (unnoted). 20 May 1915.
476. Church, Merkadale, Loch Harport. -
In a small churchyard on the southern shore of
the inner end of Loch Harport, at Merkadale, are
the ruins of a church orientated nearly east-
north-east and west-south-west. The walls,
built of stone and shell lime, are reduced to
an average height of from 2 to 3 feet, and
measure 2 feet 3 inches in thichness [thickness] at the
sides and 2 feet 7 inches at the gables. The
building is oblong, measuring internally 24 feet
9 inches in length and 11 feet 8 inches in breadth.
The door, of which only the right jamb can be
traced, is near the western end of the south
wall. The windows have entirely disappeared.
Skye xxxiv (unnoted). 17 May 1915.
DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.
(BROCHS.)
477. Dun Sleadale, Talisker. - Dun Sleadale
is a broch which though in a ruinous condition
is rather better preserved in parts than the
great majority of this class of buildings in
Skye. It occupies the south-western and
higher extremity of a short, narrow, rocky
ridge, in a high glen about 400 yards west of
the Sleadale Burn, barely 3/4 mile south of Talisker
House, at an elevation of over 500 feet above
sea-level. To the west there is rising ground,
so that the sea, although little more than 1/2 mile
distant, is not within sight. In this respect
it is unlike the other Skye brochs. The ridge
rises some 20 feet on the west and about
35 feet on the east above the hillside.
The outer face of the wall stands 8 feet high
on the south-east and 5 feet on the east and
north-west; on the south-west only the
foundation course remains, and on the south-
south-east where there is a high knob of rock
it has disappeared. In the interior there is a
great mass of fallen stones hiding much of the
structure. Building is visible along nearly the
whole of the northern arc, and, at the north-
north-west it stands 4 feet above 7 feet
of fallen stones. Towards the south-east
about 4 feet remains in position, but this is
obscured by debris. The internal diameter
varies from 39 feet from north-west to south-
east to 37 feet 6 inches from north-east to south-
west. The wall at its present summit generally
is about 9 feet thick, but at the entrance, which
is placed towards the east-north-east, it is
10 feet 3 inches thick, this measurement being
nearer the foundation. At the outside the
entrance passage is 2 feet 10 inches wide, but
about 3 feet in there are checks on either side;
that on the north side is best preserved, measur-
ing 6 inches in depth. Between the checks
and the inside the walls curve slightly, giving a
width of 4 feet 2 inches about the centre of the
passage, and 3 feet 1 inch on the inside. The
interior of the entrance is blocked with stones,
but one lintel remains in position. In the wall
some 3 feet 6 inches to the right of the entrance
the end of a narrow gallery is seen, while on the
opposite side, at a distance of 5 feet, part of
another gallery with its lintel stones in position
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