Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/37

 All the hills and outruns of the islands are ramified by a network of the remains of old stone dykes. Those vestiges (which seldom have any name) are very ancient, probably coeval with the brochs. There is a place in Unst, near the broch of Underhool, where what appears to be the outer dyke of an old town can be traced; but for a considerable distance the mark of the stead was lost to view, and I concluded that the dyke had either never existed or the stones had been removed. But what was my surprise, on returning after many years’ absence, to find that the crofters, on cutting the ground for peats, had uncovered the whole length of the old dyke, leaving it almost entire, after being buried for centuries under four feet of peat moss.

Since I am referring to these ancient enclosures, I may mention that a short time ago, while a party of workmen were engaged in the construction of a road inside this old dyke, a burial place was