stirling-1963-vol-1/05_119

Transcription

No. 92 -- DUNS -- No. 99
precipitous until, to the SE., a maximum height above
the land below of 40 ft. is reached.
At some time more than seventy years ago ¹ all the
facing-stones were removed from the wall, but traces of
the core still remain and measurement across the robber-
trenches suggests that originally the wall was about 12 ft.
in thickness and enclosed a circular area roughly 35ft.
in diameter. The entrance appears to have been on
the NW.

766908 -- NS 79 SE (unnoted) -- 7 May 1953

92. Dun, Castlehill 2 (Site). On a low rocky knoll a
quarter of a mile S. of the ruins of Castlehill farmhouse,
and at a height of 380 ft. O.D., there is a grass-grown,
stony bank which encloses an oval area measuring about
50 Ft. by 45 ft. along the axes. The bank is probably a
ruined stone wall, and a few earthfast boulders on its S.
and E. arcs may be isolated facing-stones. On the S. the
bank is spread to a width of 12 ft., but elsewhere it is
tenuous and irregular. The size, shape and situation of
the structure suggest that it may have been a dun.

760909 -- NS 79 SE (unnoted) -- 6 February 1958

93. Dun, Auchincloch (Site). Gordon's illustrated
account ² of a stone-walled structure known as "Cairn-
faal", situated on a hill called the Forebrae "above the
Village of Achincloich", leaves no doubt that, in his time,
a dun existed here and was in an excellent state of
preservation. The circular stone wall, showing eight or
nine courses of masonry and measuring 12 ft. in height
by 16 ft. in thickness, enclosed an area about 80 ft. in
diameter. There was an entrance on the E. An outwork
is shown on Roy's plan, ³ but of this Gordon says that
it was "so embarrassed and confused, that I hardly dare
offer to describe it".

c. 7679 -- NS 77 NE (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

94. Dun (probable), West Bonnyfield (Site). At a
distance of 80 paces E. of the site at Chapel Hill (No. 594),
Gordon noted ⁴ a round stone structure which measured
about 90 ft. in diameter. The hollow, flat interior that
he describes suggests that this may have been another
dun comparable with several in Kilsyth parish, though
it may perhaps have been in a more ruinous condition
as Gordon, at first view, thought that it was a tumulus.
The exact location of this structure is not known, but it
was probably in the vicinity of West Bonnyfield farm-
house.

c. 8180 -- NS 88 SW (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

95. Dun (probable), West Auchincloch (Site).
Gordon ⁵ describes in some detail a structure called "The
Chesters" which he encountered between "Rough-Hill"
(Ruchill) and Auchincloch. It was oval on plan and had
a drystone wall some 18 ft. thick which was standing to
a height of 7 ft. to 8 ft. There was an entrance on the E.
The structure has now disappeared and its exact size
is unknown, but it seems probable that it was a dun.

c. 7578 -- NS 77 NE (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

96. Dun (probable), Ruchill (Site). The ancient
structure situated at a place called "Rochhill" by Pont, ⁶
"Roche hill" by an unknown author, ⁷ "Roah hill" by
Sibbald, ⁸ and "Rough Hill" by Gordon, ⁹ cannot now be
located, but the site is presumably the prominent eleva-
tion occupied by Ruchhill farmhouse. Gordon's reference
to vestiges of stone walls suggest that the structure was
probably a dun.

754785 -- NS 77 NE (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

97. Dun (probable), Auchinvalley (Site). The parish
minister of Kilsyth in 1796 states ¹⁰ that one of several
circular stone fortifications in the neighbourhood was
situated at "Auchinvillie", but no trace of such a work
has been found.

c. 7479 -- NS 77 NW (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

98. Dun (probable), Townhead (Site). The parish
minister of Kilsyth in 1796 states ¹¹ that one of several
circular stone fortifications in the neighbourhood was
situated at Townhead, but all traces of this structure
have now disappeared.

c. 7478 -- NS 77 NW (unnoted) -- 19 June 1954

99. Dun (probable), Colziumbea (Site). Gordon ¹²
describes the "Vestiges of a small Fort" near
"Columbee"; it had a drystone wall about 14 ft. in width
and no ditch, and the circumference measured "very
nearly 500 Foot". The description suggests that the work
was probably a dun, but there is no reason to assume that
it was necessarily circular on plan, as Gordon habitually
recorded the circumference of a structure whatever may

1 T.S.N.H.A.S., viii (1885-6), 68 ff.
2 Itin. Septent., 22 and pl. III, 1.
3 Military Antiquities, pl. xxxv, where the dun is named
"Cairn Faulds".
4 Itin. Septent., 23.
5 Ibid., 22.
6 Geogr. Collections, ii, 369.
7 Ibid., iii, 125.
8 Historical Inquiries (1707), map facing p. iii.
9 Itin. Septent., 21.
10 Stat. Acct., xviii (1796), 292.
11 Ibid.
12 Itin. Septent., 21.

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