The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . ble inves-tigator of the history of these peculiar structures only remarks, Theround tower of Brechin in Scotland there is every reason to believewas erected about the year 1020, and by Irish ecclesiastics.^ Indimensions this ancient structuie somewhat exceeds that of Abor- Beda, L. -5, c. 21. - Ecclesiastical Arcliitccture of Irelaml, ^^c, 8vo, p. 410. ^06 THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD. nethy, measuring eighty-five feet to the cornice/ above vvliich a roofor spire of later date has been added when the cathedral church wasre-erected in the thirteenth
The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . ble inves-tigator of the history of these peculiar structures only remarks, Theround tower of Brechin in Scotland there is every reason to believewas erected about the year 1020, and by Irish ecclesiastics.^ Indimensions this ancient structuie somewhat exceeds that of Abor- Beda, L. -5, c. 21. - Ecclesiastical Arcliitccture of Irelaml, ^^c, 8vo, p. 410. ^06 THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD. nethy, measuring eighty-five feet to the cornice/ above vvliich a roofor spire of later date has been added when the cathedral church wasre-erected in the thirteenth century. In every other respect it ofterssuperior attractions to that of Abernethy, surrounded as it is with themore recent yet venerable and characteristic memorials of ancientecclesiastical art, and adorned witli sculptures of a singular and veryremarkable character. The masonry of the tower, as will be seen fromthe drawing of the doorway, is of that kind which has been traced asgradually arising out of the cyclopean work of ancient Greece. Tlie. stones are polygonal, carefully hewn, and fitted to each other with theutmost neatness and art; the courses of masonry being mostly liori-zontal, though with more or less irregularity, and the joints not uni-formly vertical. It is tlie same style of work which characterizes thewalls of the ancient cities of Etruria, and is also found in Ireland tohave succeeded to tlie ruder primitive cyclopean masonry. But the Itinor. Soptent., p. liio. Pennant says,ip;lit from gvnunil to voof eighty feet, and, including the spiro, one luindred and tlircMfeet.—Tour, vol. iii. p. K12. PRIMITIVE i:CCLE8IOL0GV. 597 jieculiar feature of the Brechin Tower is its sculptured doorway. Itsdimensions are as follows: The breadth at the spring of the arch isone foot seven and a half inches, and at the base one foot eleven height of the entrance to the centre of the arch is six feet oneand a half inch, and the entire height of the doorway from the
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