The stones of which the Pillar Towers are built were carefully and judiciously selected, and were often brought from a distance. They are fashioned into an oblong square form, accurately adjusted to each other, and embedded in a small quantity of shell lime,* the interior being common rubble work. The dressed stones are laid in horizontal layers, or in some cases in a somewhat spiral form, rising from the left to the right, in order apparently to add strength to the building.

The Pillar Towers were built by different races of mankind for various purposes; their construction extending over a period of several centuries, which fact will assist us in explaining many of their peculiarities. This has induced me to arrange them as Pagan or primitive, transition or Saxon, and Christian or Norman, which classification will be found more useful, than perhaps, strictly correct.

1. The Irish Pillar Towers of the primitive, early or simple form are few in number, and are more mutilated than the others owing to their age, to the stones having been selected with less care, and to

Clondalken near Dublin. Ross Camk near Galloway. Drumcliff near Sligo.t

* Ulster Journal, vol. I, p. 146.

A road contractor tried the effects of gunpowder in reducing this venerable tower for road purposes.

the dressing and arrangement not being so good as in the other classes. Like the early erect stones or obelisks of the North East of Scotland, they were numerous and were erected by Pagan workmen ; but they underwent considerable changes as the people advanced in knowledge, social position and religious opinions.

These are examples of the primitive Pillar Towers, which appear to have been erected by Buddhists between the first and the fourth centuries, as is indicated by the sacred symbols of the sun or deity. They were unacquainted with the use of the arch. This is a strong indication of their Asiatic origin: for, amidst the most graceful and splendid remains of Buddhism in Asia, the absence of the arch is most striking. It was with the object of propagating their faith, that the Buddhist Missionaries visited Ireland; and at this early period they would find the country in a rude condition, and governed by numerous chieftains in constant collision with each other, while exposed to the inroads of seafaring robbers: not united enough to resist effectually, but too strong to submit to their tyranny. It was among these turbulent factions that the Buddhists first found it necessary to erect the Pillar Towers, both as a sacred emblem, and as the most simple and effectual means of obtaining personal security, as well as a safe deposit for the sacred relics and most precious effects of their religious worship.

The Chinese Travellers who visited India to study the Buddhist religion, and saw the use to which the Pillar Towers were put, enable us to explain the means employed to call the congregation to their devotions. This was done by the use of cymbals, horns, and drums; and this explains the use to which the brass trumpets were put, which are still sometimes found in the neighbourhood of the Pillar Towers in Ireland.

Besides the Pillar Towers figures of which are given, the following belong to this division: that of Luck in the county of Dublin; those of Tighado, Kildare; and Clones, Monaghan.

The Towers of the second class were constructed during the transition period, and were built by native artists as sacred monuments, and owing to their acquired power, with more care and skill than the primitive towers. This may explain the retention in general of the distinctive form of the earlier edifices, which were intended as safe places of retreat and defence.

Fac

Cloyne, Ireland. Abernethy, Scotland.

The Cloyne Pillar Tower may be instanced as an example of this class. The top of this graceful tower was injured by lightning, and a battlemented top was built upon it. The reddish coloured sandstone of which the tower is built, was obtained in the neighbourhood, and is still in excellent preservation. The curvature of the tower was worked with a chisel-pointed hammer. The stones are large and flat-bedded, and carefully worked into the form required. The thickness of the wall at the door is 3 feet, and the diameter is 9 feet 2 inches throughout. The door-way looks

SE by E. and is 113 feet from the ground. It is flat topped, being covered with a lintel, and is wider below than above. The tower has six stories; the first being on a level with the door, and the others resting upon ledges projecting from the wall; the height of these chambers is 111 feet. The four top windows face the cardinal points, and like the door, are broader below than above, in the Pelasgic and Egyptian style. Below, there are several small openings, one of which, over the door, is larger than the others, and has a marked modification of the arch.

Only two round Pillar Towers exist in Scotland. These have the same peculiar form and structure as those of Ireland, appear to have been built at the same early period, and afford good examples of the two varieties already described, while they are surrounded by the same mystery as to their uses.

The following description of the Abernethy tower is extracted from a previous essay of mine.

'Abernethy,* in Fifeshire, was the capital of one of the Pictish Governments, but the Pillar Tower which is situated there is not mentioned in any of our ancient histories. We only know that the people

* The name is derived from aber confluence, of the small stream Nethy, that passes down to the town and into the river Earn; and the town is sometimes still called by the Scoto-Irish name Invernethy.

were christianised, and the town and adjacent district were dedicated to God and Saint Bridget, in the fifth century (A.D 456)*. It is probable, at this early period, that they followed the heathen custom of worshipping in the open air, (sub dio) at sacred stones; for we find in the eighth century (A.D. 711) that Nectan III., King of the Picts, being dissatisfied with the primitive custom of worship, and desirous to follow the Romish ritual, wrote to Ceolfred, Abbot of Jerron, in Northumberland, requesting information regarding certain disputed observances, and asking for architects to build a church, which was to be dedicated to St. Peter, the Prince of the apostles. The architects were accordingly sent, and the church was built of stone, like that of the Romish church. This has passed away; new churches, and a collegiate establishment formed by the Culdees, and a priory, established in 1273, have disappeared: since then, another very old church has been taken down, and in the beginning of this century, another was built rather remarkable for its superior style of architecture. During these changes, extending over a long period, the Pillar Tower has stood, and is still distinguished by its form, and by the admirable manner in which the material was selected and the building executed.

The Abernethy Tower stands on a sloping bank, at a short distance from the Ochill hills, and a mile south of the river Tay, near where it joins the Earn. The view from the tower is contracted towards the south by the proximity of the hills, where a beautiful valley stretches southwards; while to the north, there is an extensive prospect of a rich and undulating country, the granary of Scotland, towards which direction the entrance of the tower looks. The building is 75 feet in height, and 48 feet in circumference; and its extreme diameter at the top is 13 feet 9 inches, increasing to the bottom, where it is 15 feet 6 inches; the thickness of the wall at the top being 2 feet 9 inches, and at the bottom 3 feet 7 inches. The tower is now without a roof, and the coping over the wall is probably modern. It is divided into five stages, each supported by stone abutments. The tower is built of sand-stone, which is now much disintegrated, except on the lower and western side, where there are twelve courses of grey freestone, little changed by exposure to the weather. The stones are all carefully dressed, convex on the exterior, tapering inwards, and concave on their inner *Innes' Critical Essays, vol. 1, pp. 111, 122, 117. † Bede, L. 5, c. 21.

surface, to give a circular form to the tower; and they are accurately adjusted in regular courses with but little lime or cement. The doorway is six feet above the base of the tower; but in consequence of the graveyard adjoining having become greatly elevated above the general surface of the soil, the door is now only two feet above the ground. It is 7 feet 9 inches high, 29 inches in width at the spring of the semicircular arch, and 271⁄2 inches at the base. Four windows near the top of the tower face the cardinal points: they are 3 feet 10 inches in height, 1 foot 4 inches in width above, and 1 foot 6 inches below, and seem to differ from each other in their architectural form. Gordon, in his Itinerary, mentions, at the beginning of last century, that " each window is supported by two small pillars;" traces of which are still very evident in one or two of them. Those in the west window are entirely gone. Dr. Wilson supposes* the windows may be modern; but after a careful examination, on the spot, I have come to the conclusion that they were prepared at the same time as the rest of the tower. Besides the four windows, there are three small openings to give light.

'This tower was repaired thirty years ago, when seven human skulls were found within it, lying together. Some of them were of a dark colour, as if they had undergone some process of embalming. Along with these, several long bones were found, some of which had been so recently deposited that they had still their ligaments attached to them.† The tower stands about twenty yards to the SW. of the parish church, which is a modern structure. It is now used as a belfry, and the beadle informed me that it is "pretty well" adapted for this purpose. It also contains the village clock; and the ancient Jouge, or pillory, is attached to it.

"The Pillar-Tower of Abernethy is said to have been built by Nectan III., A. D. 720, in the capital of a Pictish kingdom. The Culdees afterwards had a college there; and in 1273 this was converted into a priory of regular Canons of the Augustine order.'

*Prehistoric Annals, p. 595.

+ Small's Roman Antiquities of Fife, p. 154, and Appendix F.

The name which the Highlanders give to Abernethy is Obair Neachtain, or Abair Neachtain, i. e., "the work of Nectan." This Nectan or Nethan desired architects to be sent to build a church, [see Bede] perhaps that of Abernethy. Fergustus episcopus Scotia Pictus,"-i.e., Fergus, the Pictish bishop of Ireland, was in the Roman general council, A.D. 721-[a Binis, t. 3, quoted by Pinkerton, Inquiry, II, 267; see also Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. x., p. 435.