Sutherland and Caithness in Saga-Time | Page 7

lived in huts whose circular
foundations still remain, and are found in large numbers at much higher
elevations than the sites of any brochs. The brochs near the sea-coast
were often so placed as to communicate with each other for long
distances up the valleys, by signal by day, and beacon fire at night, and
so far as they are traceable, the positions of most of them in Sutherland
and Caithness are indicated on the map by circles.
Built invariably solely of stone and without mortar, in form the brochs
were circular, and have been described as truncated cones with the apex
cut off,[7] and their general plan and elevation were everywhere almost
uniform. The ground floor was solid masonry, but contained small

chambers in its thickness of about 15 feet. Above the ground floor the
broch consisted of two concentric walls about three feet apart, the
whole rising to a height in the larger towers of 45 feet or more, with
slabs of stone laid horizontally across the gap between and within the
two walls, at intervals of, say, five or six feet up to the top, and thus
forming a series of galleries inside the concentric walls, in which large
numbers of human beings could be temporarily sheltered and supplies
in great quantities could be stored for a siege. These galleries were
approached from within the broch by a staircase which rose from the
court and passed round between the two concentric walls above the
ground floor, till it reached their highest point, and probably ended
immediately above the only entrance, the outside of which was thus
peculiarly exposed to missiles from the end of the staircase at the top of
the broch. The only aperture in the outer wall was the entrance from the
outside, about 5 feet high by 3 feet wide, fitted with a stone door, and
protected by guard-chambers immediately within it, and it afforded the
sole means of ingress to and egress from the interior court, for man and
beast and goods and chattels alike. The circular court, which was
formed inside, varied from 20 to 36 feet in diameter, and was not
roofed over; and the galleries and stairs were lighted only by slits, all
looking into the court, in which, being without a roof, fires could be lit.
In some few there were wells, but water-supply, save when the broch
was in a loch, must have been a difficulty in most cases during a
prolonged siege.
In these brochs the farmer lived, and his women-kind span and wove
and plied their querns or hand-mills, and, in raids, they shut themselves
up, and possibly some of their poorer neighbours took refuge in the
brochs, deserting their huts and crowding into the broch; but of this
practice there is no evidence, and the nearest hut-circles are often far
from the remains of any broch.
For defence the broch was as nearly as possible perfect against any
engines or weapons then available for attacking it; and we may note
that it existed in Scotland and mainly in the north and west of it, and
nowhere else in the world.[8] It was a roofless block-house, aptly
described by Dr. Joseph Anderson as a "safe." It could not be battered

down or set on fire, and if an enemy got inside it, he would find himself
in a sort of trap surrounded by the defenders of the broch, and a mark
for their missiles. The broch, too, was quite distinct from the lofty,
narrow ecclesiastical round tower, of which examples still are found in
Ireland, and in Scotland at Brechin and Abernethy.
To resist invasion the Picts would be armed with spears, short swords
and dirks, but, save perhaps a targe, were without defensive body
armour, which they scorned to use in battle, preferring to fight stripped.
They belonged to septs and clans, and each sept would have its Maor,
and each clan or province its Maormor[9] or big chief, succession being
derived through females, a custom which no doubt originated in remote
pre-Christian ages when the paternity of children was uncertain.
Being Celts, the Picts would shun the open sea. They feared it, for they
had no chance on it, as their vessels were often merely hides stretched
on wattles, resembling enlarged coracles. Yet with such rude ships as
they had, they reached Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes and Iceland as
hermits or missionaries.[10] In Norse times they never had the mastery
of the sea, and the Pictish navy is a myth of earlier days.[11]
Lastly, as we have seen, the Picts of Cat had never been conquered, nor
had their land ever been occupied by the legions of Rome, which had
stopped at the furthest in Moray; and the sole traces of Rome in Cat are,
as