The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-25 00:00:00

The Vitrified Forts of Scotland.

A correspondent of the Daily Review, we observe, has
been recently starting a new theory as to the origin and use
and purpose of those remarkable objects generally known
as Vitrified Forts. The theories hitherto propounded in
connection with the subject may be briefly stated. Dr
Anderson, who was among the first to draw attention to the
matter, gives it as his opinion, in the Archooloyia, that the
vitrification of these forts is an effect designed by their
builders. He supposes that the ramparts or walls were first
built of such common stones as the place afforded, and in
the cour;,e of building all the interstices between the rude
and, rough stonework was filled up with vitrescible iron ore
common enoueh in the northern parts of the island. The
wall being at last finished in this manner, a brushwood fire
was kindled all around it, which, melting the vitrescible ore,
the whole would become connected into a wore or less co•
hwent mass in proportion to the intensity of the heat and
the time the fire lasted. As the country then abounded
with wood, there would be no scarcity of fuel. Such is the
first theory. The second, that of Mr Tytler, is this :—These
forts were places of defence—a sturdier sort of Caledonian
palls designed by our unconquerable quasi Maori ancestors.
According to this theory, they first began the fort by erect•
ing a strong double row of palisades, the outline of the in-
tended structure. These palisades er upright stakes were
probably warped across and closely interwoven with branches
of trees and such brushwood as was at hand. Into the in-
termediate space between the double row of palisades or
wooden fences thus formed, all sorts of rubbish, stones of
every description, earth, branches, stems, and roots of trees,
were thrown; little care or trouble being necessary, all tha
was wanted being the filling up of the vacant space between
the palisade rows, to the required height, indeed, but any-
how and with the readiest materials that came in the way.
The fortification thus formed some neighbouring enemy
would attack, literally, with fire and sword—fire first, which
meeting with so much ready fuel in the closely interwoven
double row of palisades, would burn fiercely, acting upon
the intermediate stone conglomeration which would thus
become vitrified. The third theory is Sir G. Sinclair's. He
supposes that from fear of invasion, or otherwise in prospect
of hostile attack from some neighbouring tribe, the natives
of a remote period selected a conspicuous spot, naturally a
hill top, for lighting beacon fires upon for the purpose of
spreading an alarm from one part of the country to another.
To prevent these fires from being spread about and scattered
by the wind, they piled heaps of stones to leeward of the
fires, and hence the vitrification. To ourselves we confess
none of these theories is quite satisfactory. But supposing
them to have been designed as places of defence, we should
meantime be more inclined to go with Dr. Anderson's views
than with those of his brother theorists, The new theory
to which we have alluded, and which is to be found in a
well-written communication to the Daily Review of July
12th, is, that the hills or duns on which we find what are
called vitrified forts, were in truth the mountain altars of
the ancient fireworahippers. The author argues his case
in a very able manner. We refer our readers to the article
itself. Our object at present is merely to draw attention to
the subject, and to assure the writer of an otherwise very
clever paper, that on one point at least he is quite wrong,
He sees, or pretends to see, that the vitrified walls are never
found to be circles, but ell pses, and supposing a central
fire in the focus of these ellipses, he coolly comes to the
conclusion that this would be a designed though rade re-
presentation of the heay. nly motions, " according (he says)
to the Copernican system, which was derived from Pytha-
goras from the East, whence the system of fire worship
originally came," ergo, these are the works of the worship-
pers of fire or of the sun, and at a period long anterior to
the Christian era. All we have time to say at present is,
that there is not the shadow or a shade of proof, probability,
nor, we had almost said, of possibility, that the ancient fire
worshippers knew anything whatever of ellipses or their
foci either. The circle and the circle only—the most
simple, and perfect, and beautiful of curves—was alone
known to the ancient ire worshippers, and held by them as
sacred, and by it only. Let us further add, for upwards of
five thousand long years, was it ever attempted by the astro-
nomers of each age to account for the planetary motions,
The ellipse, it is true, was known to the mathematicians of
ancient Greece, and its properties, very different from the
properties of the circle, may, for all we know, have afforded
them an amusing subject of speculation, but nothing more.
Neither they nor the astronomers of many succeeding cen-
turies ever once thought of erecting the ellipse in the
heavens, and making the solar system move harmoniously
in obedience and subservience to its laws. This was re-
served for the immortal Kepler, who quite in modern times
—about the time, that is, that our own James VI. ascended
the English throne—after long years of undaunted perseve-
rance and toil, was the first to announce to the world the
hitherto undreamt of truth that " planets revolve in elliptic
orbits about the sun, which occupies the common focus of
all the orbits." This is Kelper's first great law, deservedly
entitling him to be styled "The morning star of modern
astronomical science." What then, let us ask the ingenious
author of the new vitrified forts' theory, what in the uni-
verse —(the term is surely fitting here, if anywhere)—what
did or could the ancient fire worshippers know of the ellipse
or its foci? What did Pythagoras or Copernicus either ?
Absolutely nothing ; as far at least as we now know it in
its connexion with the laws which regulate the movements
of the heavenly bodies. The new theory must stand or fall
without any help whatever from an "ellipse" or a "focus"
and their introduction at all, so inopportunely and irrele-
vantly, into the discussion, has, we confess, not a little
assisted in strengthening our other objections against
an otherwise very plausible and ingeniously argued out
hypothesis,

THE MURDER OF MR. BRlGGS.—lntelligence
may be anticipated in the course of a few days,
possibly hours, that the suspected murderer Muller is in
the hands of justice; as the Victoria, in which he sailed,
had been out 30 days when the steamer left which would
bring the mail due to-morrow (Friday). If the arrange-
ments of Inspector Tanner, the chief of the metropolitan
police, and Sergeant Clarke, assisted by the New York
authorities, should be successful, the American officers will
board the Victoria in the open roadstead, acccompanied by
the English officers. The American police will arrest
Muller and take him before the proper authorities at New
York. The warrant will then be produced by Mr Tanner,
and evidence given of the alleged complicity of Muller in
the murder ; and should that evidence be considered suffi-
cient, he will be remitted to England, and for that purpose
be given into the custody of the English officers. In the
event of their not being any steamer leaving within a con-
venient period of the magisterial examination at New York
being concluded, although Muller may have been given up
to Mr 'Tanner's charge, he will ba kept in ward in the
House of Detention there until the departure is fixed, when
he will be taken on board the steamer by the English
officers of justice, accompanied by the New York police,
and when safe on shipboard left entirely in charge of Chief
Inspector Tanner and Sergeant Clarke.

ACCIDENT FROM FlRE.—Yesterday morning the
family of Mr Chetwynd, Gordon-terrace, Highbury, were
aroused from their sleep, between one and two o'clock, by
loud screams and cries for help issuing from the sleeping
apartment of Miss Maynard, who was on a visit to the
family. On proceeding to her room they discovered the
lady with her nightdress and the bedding on fire. She had,
it appears, fallen asleep while reading in bed, and the candle
falling set the bedding on fire. Mr Chetwynd smothered•
the flames with a carpet, but the young lady is shockingly
burnt, and not expected to recover.
THE ATTACK ON MOBILE.—What if the report
of the Federal success of Mobile should turn oat to
be a fabrication ? The telegram forwarded by General
Butler to President Lincoln announcing Farragut's victory
has a very suspicious appearance. It purports to be taken
from the Richmond Sentinel of the Bth, on which day the
paper must have reached Butler, as he telegraphed the so-
called official despatch of General Maury, at three p.m. of
the same day, to Washington. How could General Butler
have ;ot the Richmond paper at Bermuda Hundred on the
Bth. And is it probable that the Confederate Secretary of
War eould publish such intelligence? Fourteen of Far-
ragut's fleet are stated to be wooden ships, and only four
ironclads—one of which, the Tecumseh, was sunk by Fort
Morgan. The action took place at the entrance of Mobile
Bay, thirty miles from the city, on the .sth instant, and
was telegraphed the same day to Richmond. Now, though
it may be true, it certainly looks very like a stock-jobbing
canard,--,Liverpool Courier,