The
first thing we came to was an earthen mound, or dyke, extending from the
one precipice to the other. A little farther on was a strong stone-wall,
not high, but very thick, extending in the same manner. On the outside
of it were the ruins of two houses, one on each side of the entry or
gate to it. The wall is built all along of uncemented stones, but of so
large a size as to make a very firm and durable rampart. It has been
built all about the consecrated ground, except where the precipice is
steep enough to form an inclosure of itself. The sacred spot contains
more than two acres. There are within it the ruins of many houses, none
of them large,--a _cairn_,--and many graves marked by clusters of
stones. Mr. M'Queen insisted that the ruin of a small building, standing
east and west, was actually the temple of the Goddess ANAITIS, where her
statue was kept, and from whence processions were made to wash it in one
of the brooks. There is, it must be owned, a hollow road, visible for a
good way from the entrance; but Mr. M'Queen, with the keen eye of an
antiquary, traced it much farther than I could perceive it. There is not
above a foot and a half in height of the walls now remaining; and the
whole extent of the building was never, I imagine, greater than an
ordinary Highland house. Mr. M'Queen has collected a great deal of
learning on the subject of the temple of ANAITIS; and I had endeavoured,
in my _Journal_, to state such particulars as might give some idea of
it, and of the surrounding scenery; but from the great difficulty of
describing visible objects[609], I found my account so unsatisfactory,
that my readers would probably have exclaimed
'And write about it, _Goddess_, and about it[610];'
and therefore I have omitted it.
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