circus. It lias been pretended that
it was the famous stronghold in which the
Caledonians defended themselves so
gallantly from the Romans, as to prevent their
farther progress towards the north. It is
similar in the character of its situation
to other vitrified remains, being placed on
a view-commanding peak of the Grampians.
It lies seven miles to the north-east of Crieff,
immediately above the lovely glen of the
Almond, where (as Wordsworth and others tell
us) tradition has placed the grave of Ossian.

The beacon-fire theory deserves notice, as
it paved the way for the correct interpretation
of vitrified remains. It led to the
observation of the two important facts, that
they were always found on situations
commanding a wide panoramic view, and that
the vitrifaction was so destitute of uniformity
as to preclude the idea of its being the result
of design. An anonymous writer in a Scottish
provincial newspaper first promulgated
the fire-altar theory, about twenty years ago.
It was advocated afterwards by Doctor
Cormack, in a paper read before the Scottish
Society of Antiquaries on the second of May,
eighteen hundred and forty-two, but which,
we believe, has never been published in
extenso. From an abstract, given at the time
in the Edinburgh Courant newspaper, we
derive our information on this branch of the
subject. The ingenious anonymous writer,
after giving an account of what he shows to
be vitrified remains upon the Black Hill of
Cowdenknows near Earlstoun, in Berwickshire,
propounds his theory in the following
words: " I believe, then, that these vitrified
forts are nothing else than the mountain-
altars of the ancient fire-worshippers. We
know that in Persia, where that primitive
and simple idolatry had its origin, the
worshippers never confined the symbol of their
deity in temples, till (in some countries) at a
later and more idolatrous (or more civilised)
age. In such an age, the mountain-tower of
Babylon was indeed converted into a temple
or altar; and probably in all level countries
the inhabitants had recourse to similar
artificial elevations; but the fire-worshippers of
Persia still prefer the open canopy of heaven
to the most gorgeous dome, and the mountain
height to the noblest temple." After
showing that the worship of the Sun, or
Baal, or Fire, for they are all the same
divinity, was once the form of this country's
idolatry, he thus continues:—"For the simple
purpose of a fort, the vitrifying of the exterior
of the wall would not be of the slightest
use—which none we have seen is — against
a hungry fox or wolf; and the occasions and
circumstances in which they might possibly
be used as beacon-lights must have been
too few ever to produce such regular
vitrifaction. But conceive them to have been
fire-altars, on which a constant fire was
maintained, and on which, on the great
annual Baal festivals, hundreds of animals
and human beings were sacrificed, we have
flames of sufficient intenseness to account for
the effect. To test this, we tried a piece
of the common rock of the hill in a
blacksmith's fire, and in less than ten minutes
it was completely fused, and, when cooled, it
was much more blistered than the specimens
we got, showing a more intense or rapid
agency."

Though Doctor Cormack agrees with the
anonymous writer in the general conclusion
arrived at, he rejects the beacon-fire theory
upon other grounds. He conceives that this
hypothesis is most satisfactorily put out of
court by the fact, that vitrified remains are
often found in too close juxtaposition to
sanction the belief that they were the sites
of beacon-fires; and he also states that the
situation of some of them—as, for example,
the "burnt islands" near Arran—could
never have been of the least use as stations
for signals.

This new explanation of the origin of the
vitrified remains found on our northern hills
weakens that claim to a very remote
antiquity, which they formerly kept without
challenge. It was taken for granted that
they were the relics of great works of masonry
erected before the use of cement was known,
and that, consequently, they were referable
to a period anterior to the Roman invasion.
There were fire-altars in Britain at a much
later date. Indeed, long after Christianity
was introduced into this country, the Sun,
and his representative Fire, was worshipped
and many a sacrifice offered to him on our
hills. The obstinacy with which our
forefathers clung to fire-worship was intense.
Even after Druids were no more, and when
Christianity had shed much of its soothing
influence over the whole island, they, like
the backsliding Jews of old, superstitiously
sacrificed to Baal on the high places. Human
beings were even then immolated on his
devouring altars; and long after such horrors
had ceased many superstitions connected
with fire-worship remained. Cattle and
children were made to pass through the fire
to Moloch. To this day, in some remote
places, there are curious remnants of these
ancient rites. The people, though ignorant
of their origin and meaning, still cling to
them with fanatical fondness. The history
of the Beltane usages, as practised in Scotland
and the North of England during
the last hundred years, and which are not
yet extinct, curiously link together the ancient
Paganism with the modern Christianity of
Britain.