Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/283

 r c ]^ a e 1 g I c a I Intelligence. PRIMEVAL PERIOD. The existence of a circle of stones, sujiposecl to be a Druidical monu- ment, on the southern shores of the Isle of jNIull, does not appear to have been i-ecorded by any writer on Scottish antiquities. INIr. Auldjo has communicated the following account of these ancient remains, ac- companied by the representations here given : " The druidical circle is situated in a field, called the ' Field of the Druids,' a short distance be- hind the old castle and mansion-house of Lochbuy, in the Island of Mull. It consists of eight stones, placed at unequal distances in a circle, with one stone much higher and larger than the rest, 118 feet to the west, and another small one, 15 feet to the south, of the circle. The eight stones vary in height from three to four feet above the ground, and they measure from six to nine feet in circumference. The height of the large out-lying stone is eight feet eleven inches, out of the ground ; and it measures eight feet five inches in circumference. I have met with no description of this circle in any topographical work relating to Mull, nor do I think any at- tempt has ever been made to ascertain the original dimensions of the stones, by digging to the former surface of the ground on which the circle was placed. The nature of the ground of the field is very moist and peaty; extensive draining is in progress near it, and I have no doubt that it will be possible to clear aAvay the earth from around this circle, so that we may hope one day to see it as it stood before the peat bog gathered around it. " The site is the property of Murdoch Maclaine, Esq., and I am certain that he would readily afford every facility for the accomplishment of so desirable an object." Mr. Gerard Moultrie, of Rugby, has supplied the following notice of the excavation of a tumulus in Warwickshire : " My attention having been drawn to some large swelling mounds situated in a field about two miles from the Foss-way, and contiguous to the village of Rytoh-upon-Dunsmoor, I determined to explore one of them. For this purpose I hired workmen and commenced operations on a mound about thirty-four yards in diameter and 6even feet in height. We ran a trench from east to west, but did not succeed in discovering any thing except some small frag'ments of Roman and British ware, some of it ornamented with scored lines, which my work- men threw up at the eastern extremity of the trench, about a foot beneath the surface of the mound. The discovery of these induced me to consider that there must in all probability be a deposit somewhere, which we had missed, and accordingly I directed the workmen to reverse their proceed- ings, and run a trench at right angles to the former one, from north to