the introduction of them into England higher. Dr. Wallis does indeed take it for granted, that from the time of Gerbert, who he imagines learned them at Seville, many of our countrymen learned them from the fame school, and conftantly made use of them, as Daniel de Merlac, and William de Conchis, or Shelley. I have had opportunities of confulting two manufcripts of the works of the latter, and find no inftance of any cypher or figure. There is the greatest probability they were not known or made ufe of in the school of Seville, even fo low as the beginning of the fourteenth century, for in the king's library is a tract, intituled," Introductorius Hif palenfis," which includes the elements of aftronomy, as taught in the school of Seville, wrote in that century; in which all the tables are conftantly expreffed in Roman letters, which it is fcarcely probable would have been used, had the more eafy compendious method of cyphers been known to them.

Another particular may be mentioned as not quite foreign to

the fubject, that in the Tower of London I faw, by the favour of my honoured friend George Holmes, efq. two letters from Alfonfus king of Spain, to our Edward the Firft, written on paper (the oldest fpecimen of paper now perhaps remaining), in which the dates are expreffed thus: Mcclxx11,

cclxxvII1, which are corroborating circumftances that the figures were not then in use in that kingdom.

"The pleasure of collecting and connecting them, with obfervations, and our free thoughts of them, is fo amufing as often leads us into trefpaffing on the patience of thofe we addrefs them to. This, I have reafon to fear, is my cafe at prefent. If there is any thing in these papers unobserved before, or put in a new light, which can atone for the length of them, it is the utmoft that can be hoped for, by

My lord,

Your lordship's most obliged, humble fervant, GEORGE NORTH."

"T

HERE is not, perhaps, in the hiftory of man, a more certain criterion for afcertaining his different gradations, from his primeval ftate of rudenefs and ferocity to the high polifh of his modern refinement, than a minute attention to the different modes of fortification made ufe of by him, from his age of primitive rudenefs

to that period when he attains elegance in his manners, and a taste for the fine arts.

"In Scotland, the most ancient remains of fortifications now to be traced confift of an area, surrounded by a strong rampart formed of earth and ftones, and generally fituated upon the top of a mountain, where the barbarous inhabi

tants

tants fheltered their cattle; and in huts or wigwams lodged themfelves and their corn, perhaps in a fimilar manner as the wretched inhabitants of New Holland do at prefent. At this period, their arms feemed to have confifted of fpears and arrows, headed with barbed flints and ftone battle axes, feveral of which have been found in fepulchral tumuli or

cairns.

"Upon the Mollach hill, on the estate of Dalfivinton, the remains of a fortrefs, anfwering this defcription, ftill exift.

"Ifhall fay nothing of Mr. Williams's yitrified forts, having great doubts whether they are not the effects of volcanoes, but shall pafs on to what I conceive to have been the first improvement upon the mode of fortification already defcribed, which are thefe conical towers, accurately described, firft by Mr. Gordon, and afterwards by Mr. Pennant. They must have required more art, and afforded a more comfortable shelter, than the tops of hills fimply enclosed with a trong rampart.

"In Glembeg are still to be seen feveral of these venerable ruins: as alfo in Skye; but the largest, and by far the most perfect, is fituated in Lord Rae's country, and is called Dun Dornadilla. This building is near fifty yards in circumference, and its inner area twenty-feven feet diameter. On the outfide, the wall tapers like a line, but the inner wall is perfectly perpendicular; in the heart of which, are the three diftinct tires of apartments, communicating with each other by rude flights of steps. These apartments are lighted by apertures, which look into the circular court. The door or entrance from without is placed about fix feet above the bafe of the building. What had been the

height of this tower when entire it is impoffible now to fay, but its prefent remains are about thirtyfeet high, and built of stones entirely without mortar, which are regularly formed into what masons call courfe and gage. Tradition afcribes the building of this tower to Dornadilla, king of Scotland, who, according to Lefly, was a great hunter, first established the laws of the chace, reigned twenty-eight years, and died in peace with all his neighbours, two hundred and thirty-three years before the chriftian æra.

"I am much in doubt whether the ufe of iron was known in Scotland before the arrival of the Romans. The introduction of this most useful of all metals must have made a very great change in the buildings, arms, and other implements of the Scots and it is highly probable, that fquare towers, built with cement, fucceeded the conical ones. The most ancient of these are generally to be met with on projecting cliffs overhanging the fea, perhaps intended to repel the invafions, first of the Romans, and afterwards of the favage and barbarous inhabitants of Denmark and Norway.

"Oldwick caftle upon the coaft of Cathness is perhaps one of the oldeft fquare towers in Scotland. It feems to be but a small improvement upon the conical ones before mentioned; and is built of stone and lime. The walls, which are enormoutly thick, contain fmall chambers, with narrow ftairs of communication between the lower and upper apartments, which are lighted by windows looking inte the fquare area, or middle of the tower. Some small apertures are to be feen high up, upon the outside wall, probably intended to watch the motions of an enemy.

An

"An improvement in the conftructing of fquare towers next took place, which was covering in the inner area with a strong roof of ftone vaulted and this kind of building was called in Scotland a peel, and in England, a keep or dungeon. Many ancient towers of this kind ftill remain in Scotland, fuch as, Dunftafnage in Argyle, Dunnoly in Lorn, Rothfay in Bute, Clagg in Ifla, Dunvegan in Skye, and many others too tedious to mention. Several of thefe very ancient towers were built upon an island in a deep lough, fuch as Elanftalker in Lochlinne, Kilchurn in Lochaw, the caf. tle of Rive in Galloway, Lochmaben in Annadale, Clofeburn in Nithifdale, and many others.

"It is highly probable the Caledonians learned from the Romans the art of constructing vaulted chambers; which improvement must have made a wonderful change in the comfort as well as ftability of their ftrengths and fortreffes. And it is probable the caftle of Dunftafnage was the first that underwent this material alteration of having a tower built, the middle area of which was covered with arches of ftone. This place is fuppofed to have been the refidence of the Scottish kings, from the period that Dun Dornadilla was deferted by them, until the capture of Scone from the Picts, which then became their favourite refidence.

"As the improvements in the art of war, from time to time, called for additional modes of defence, we find the original tower or peel was aided by strong walls, flanked with maffy towers, the gates of which were fecured by the portcullis. The barnakin or outer ballium was alfo added, which was furrounded by a strong rampart and wet ditch. Of this kind were the caftles of Down, Borthwick, Hume, and many

others. And this was all that was neceffary before the general use of heavy battering artillery.

Before James VI. fucceeded to the crown of England, the fituation of Scotland was fuch, as rendered it neceffary for every baron there to have his refidence more or less fortified, according to his power and confequence in the country, or according as his castle was fituated. If it flood near Edinburgh or Stir ling, where the inhabitants were more polished in their manners, and overawed by the neighbouring feat of government, all that was neceffary in fuch a fituation was a fortalice capable of refifting the curfory attacks of robbers and thieves, who, fo near the royal authority, never dared stop to make a regular investment, but only pillaged by furprise, and if repulfed, inftantly fled. The houfes Dean, Niddry, Melville, Allva, and many others fell under this defcription. But when the feat of a baron was more remote from the royal protection, as in the fhires of Perth, Rofs, or Cathnefs, then it was neceffary in addition to the ancient peel, to call the aids of outer walls, turrets with a rampart and wet ditch, to enable the owner to refift the formidable attack of a powerful adversary.

"The hiftory of Scotland, fo late as the reign of James VI. affords a number of inelancholy instances of inveterate feuds that raged with unrelenting fury among the great lords and leffer barons of that period; and every mode of fortification then in ufe proved often of little avail in defending the caftle against the ftorm or blockade of the enraged and relentless foe. Of this kind were the caftles of Duffus in Moray, Dunrobin in Sutherland, Dunotter in the Mearns, and a great many others.

"But

"But the happy period is now arrived, when internal fortification against the domeftic foe is of no ufe. The nobles and barons of the land have deferted their ftrong and gloomy castles for the more refined modern houfes of the eigh

teenth century, and the ancient and venerable remains of the great infecurity of former times are now faft falling to decay, and fhortly fcarce a trace will be left, but in history, of

their former existence."

needless to refute them. But the

human nature, arifes a defire in mankind to carry the account of their nation or family into as remote antiquity as they can. Some perfon, poffeffed of this unaccountable paffion, has endeavoured to deduce the origin of the Scots from an Egyptian princefs, foster mother to the Hebrew legiflator. As I know no other authority for this story than a fond defire of the inventor to impofe it for truth, I fhall pafs it over, and let it remain as I found it. Some chufe to derive the name of Scot from Sceot, an old word that fignifies a fhield, and from whence probably comes the Latin word Scutum. So they fuppofe the people were called Scots, quafi Scutati. Had the Scots been the only Scutati, this might very probably have been the reafon for others to give, and them to affume that name. But when the name of Scot first prevailed, all nations ufed fhields; fo that no probable reafon can be affigned why that name fhould be affixed to any one people, from a cuftom that was common to all. Some other accounts are given of the origin of this name, which are all fo evidently ill-founded, that it is

tory of Manchester feem to require a more particular confideration, as he has inveftigated British antiquities with great acutenefs and ability, and has marked out, in part, why the Scots were called by that name. His account, in fhort, is this:

"The Belge expelled from feveral parts of England the former inhabitants, who fled to Ireland, and took poffeffion of the fea-coafts. The Belgæ, pursuing them thither, compelled them to leave the feacoafts and feek for refuge among the lakes and forefts in the internal parts of this ifland. So far he copies from history, and adds, as his own conjecture, that the fugitives, thus twice reduced to the neceffity of fhifting their place of refidence, were upon that account called Scuit, which we now write and pronounce Scot. This word fignifies wanderers; and Mr. Whitaker fuppofes that the Belge gave them that name by way of infult: but if this had been the reason of calling them wanderers, that title, or epithet, was equally as applicable to the Belg themfelves, who had wandered every foot as far as the others; confequently that name could have

been

been no proper mark of distinction. Befides, as we know from hiflory that a body of Germans had very early got poffeffion of a confiderable part of Belgia, it is very probable that the Belge, who invaded England, were not of Celtic, but Teutonic origin. In this cafe, they could never have given the appellation of Scuit, to the people whom they had driven away, as there is no. dialect of the Teutonic language in which that word denotes a wanderer. The Teutonic word that comes nearest it, denotes fwiftnefs. If any perfon fhould alledge that the Belga gave that name to the others for running away, ftill the name could not have been a proper diftinction, fince, for any thing we can perceive, the Belga ran as faft, and as far after them. Mr. Whitaker indeed maintains that thefe invading Belge were Celts, because he finds that the names of the rivers and mountains in their English territories were all Celtic; but he did not reflect that rivers and mountains generally retain the names impofed by the firft poffeffors. New incomers give new names only to towns, villages, canals, and fuch other things as are of their own making. In confequence of his way of arguing on this point, it would follow that the Saxons and Normans, who afterwards became mafters of those territories, were alfo Celts, because they alfo continued to call rivers and mountains by the old Celtic names, and by which they are known at this day. But, whatever thefe Belge may have been, there does not appear in Mr. Whitaker's account of the mat ter, any fufficient reason why the name of Scuit, that is, wanderers, hould be given to the Irifh, and yet by that name they were certainly once called. Now, let us confider his account of the manner in

which he fuppofes the name of Scuit to have been transferred to the people by whom this very ancient title has been preferved and continued.

"Taking the poems of Offian as his principal guide, he gives us the following relation: the king of the Creones, who poffeffed the northweft part of Caledonia, placed one of his family on the throne of Ireland: the reigning family of the Creones becoming extinct by the death of Offian, was fucceeded by

an

Irish prince, of a collateral branch. This prince, as Mr. Whitaker fuppofes, gave to his new subjects the name of Scuit, which he had brought with him from his father's kingdom.

"But, before we can adopt this opinion as an undeniable truth, we must first take the liberty to examine its probability, by comparing it with fimilar cafes. William of Naffaw, a Dutchman, became king of Britain, but the people did not acquire the name of Naffawians, or Dutchmen; George of Hanover, a German, became king of Britain, yet its name was neither changed to Hanover nor Germany; Philip, a Frenchman, became king of all the Spains, yet Spain on that account was not called New France. I will even venture to fay, that if Philip had attempted to change the word Spain for that of France, the whole body of the Spanifli nation would probably have oppofed him, more fuccefsfully than the various powers of Europe, that were allied against his fucceffion. By parity of reafon, the Irish prince, who became king of the Creones, would find himself under the abfolute neceffity of doing as William, George, and Philip afterwards did, that is, of taking his title from the people over whom he reigned, not from the people among whom he was born.

Perhaps