The Petroglyphs In Argyllshire.

the rude Celt , or pre-historic man , who sculptured these mystic figures , which are now puzzling- his posterity , was familiar with any such deeply metaphysical dogmas as the above ? Amidst so much uncertainty and variety of opinion among those so infinitely better qualified than myself to elucidate

so difficult a subject , I trust it may not be deemed altogether unwarrantable to accept Dr . C . Brace ' s invitation , and offer such suggestions as arose in my own mind on examining these archaic sculps , tures . First of all , I could have no doubt that they had a religiouscombined probably with what

, may be called a political , meaning ; and were in some way connected with astronomy . I was at once strongly impressed with the conviction that their form was derived from that of the Megalithic circles , of which I have before mentioned there are several examples in the immediate neighbourhood ;

and the purposes to which these latter were applied seem to me to indicate the probable signification of the other . These noble hypaethral structures , ¦ of which Stonehenge , Avebury , Callarnish , and , Stennis still remain such striking examples , were not only the temples of the most ancient

people that have left records of their existence in our islands , but also their senate houses and basilicae ; their sacred places for worship and sacrifice , for making and executing the laws , and , occasionally at least , for sepulture , in the cases ,

we may suppose , of men whom they especially delighted to honour . And whether their circular form was originally derived from the visible appearance of the sun and moon and all the host of heaven , and their position determined by astronomical considerations , in accordance with what

Wilson and others have taught us as to the position of some such circles , at least , with distinct reference to the one ever stationary Polar star ;* and of others in connection with " station stones " that marked the point of sunrise on the longest and shortest clays ; or whether the form naturally

commended itself to the primitive human mind by its symmetry and facilities for placing all around at equal distances from the central place of sacrifice , while still divided into their several ranks by the intermediate concentric circles ; or whether , even to the initiated , that ring-like figure , by its

continuity , symbolised the idea of eternity , and , with its avenue of approach through successive circles to the central altar , conveyed to the more enlightened among them an esoteric conception of the passage of the soul to final perfection and felicity ; whateverI say , may have been the

, original idea that led to the selection of these concentric circles round a central altar , and with an avenue of approach to it , the structure itself , its form and its distinctive features , must have been associated in the Celtic mind with the most solemn impressions of which it was capable . May it not ,

then , be well imagined that a conventional representation of these features , such as we see in these rock-scnlptnres , with their circles engraved round a marked centre , to which a channel leads from without , might very naturally pass into a sort of recognised symbol , or hieroglyph ?

Again , remembering how utterly ignorant those rude tribes were of any of our modern modes of distinguishing a peculiar site , or commemorating an important event , is it at all improbable that this sacred symbol should be sculptured on the rocks near which they held any of their places of solemn

assembly , far up in the hills , where the circles themselves which these symbols represented were not , and could not , be erected ? Bearing in mind , also , the traditional Celtic name which the rock bears where the largest collection of these petroglyphs occurs" the Flat Rock of the Hostor of

, , the Gathering , " is it a very unwarrantable conjecture that when the tribes met here for unusually important objects , additional circles might be from time to time engraved by vote of the 1

assembly to commemorate the meeting , and its results ? These circles , while agreeing in general character , might vary in details ( as we have seen they do ) according to the subjects to be commemorated . Or might they not even record the distinctive marks of the principal chiefs , or septs ,

that were present , in a manner somewhat analogous to the tattooing of primitive races in other parts of the globe ? or the cartouches of Egyptian kings ? or , near home , to the characteristic tartans of the Highland clans ? And thus , in process of time , these rock-sculptures would become the

chroniclers of the tribes—the imperishable , even if obscure , records of the principal events in their past history . It seems to me perfectly consistent with this view , that if , according to the opinion before alluded tosacrifices were offered on the top of

, the . rock , the blood might be guided through the circles representing the respective chiefs , or clans , and a more solemn sanction be thereby attached to the vote or covenant , on which the assembly mi ght have agreed . Once more : if ihis sacred character of the

symbol be admitted as probable , as well as its connection with their holiest p laces of worship , and most venerated sepulture , it need not excite our surprise to find it occasionally engraved on the inside of cist covers ; more especially if the above supposition be also conceded , that its peculiar form

mi ght bear some distinctive reference to the character , history , or rank of the chieftain , or priest , entombed therein . Still less extraordinary would it appear to find it engraved on the monoliths , or " standing stones , " which must , at any rate , have had either a religious or a commemorative character , or both .

I have thus endeavoured to record the _ impressions that were produced on my own mind , aftei attentively surveying these Argyllshire petro-