Early Fortifications in Scotland. By David Christison, M.D. (W. Blackwood
and Sons. 21s.)—There is a good deal of the iconoclast in the best sense in Dr. Christison's work ; there is un- fortunately also a good deal of Dryaadust. In this substan- tial volume, the chapters in which at first formed part of what are known as the " Rhind Lectures in Archeology" for 1894, the Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland seems almost too inclined to run in the teeth of the Oldbuck or " Prretorian " theory of the forts with which Scotland, or at least its map, is studded. So far is he from being disposed to accept the " Roman " view of such erections, that he reminds his readers in connection with the least questioned of all Roman camps :—" It was not until 1896 that satisfactory direct evidence of Roman occupation at Ardoch was obtained, through excava- tions undertaken by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Previously its Roman reputation, apart from purely theoretical considerations, rested on its rectangular form, and the discovery of an inscribed monumental store in the seventeenth century. But it was not quite clear whether this stone was found in the station, or somewhere near it. The results of the recent excava- tions have left no doubt as to the Roman occupation, as, besides the discovery of pottery and other relics, it was found that the interior had been laid out on the usual plan of Roman stations, although from the general absence of atone foundations and the presence of innumerable poatholes and loughlike excavations for sleepers, the buildings appear to have been mainly of wood." So far well, for "of the eighty-three alleged Roman works, reckoning as one the Antonine Vellum with its forts, and including four buried ' settlements ' at which no evidence of fortification has been found, only seven have been proved to be Roman by the discovery of inscribed stones and other relics." And the sum of the whole matter is : "The scanty evidence of continued occupation by the Romans of the country even between the walls shows how alight was their hold of Caledonia at any time." Dr. Christison brings, therefore, no prejudices to his study of fortifi- cations in Scotland; it is perhaps to be regretted that he had not brought to it a more flowing style. His volume is, of course, how- ever, primarily intended for students as painstaking as himself, They will appreciate the care with which he has studied such vexed questions as vitrified forts and " motes," which are sometimes in Scotland confounded with moothills. Dr. Christison has indeed produced the manual of his subject.
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