Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/54



Like all the brochs, time has wasted it, and also wilful delapidation. The laird of Lund built a booth on the Holm with stones taken from the ancient walls, while hundreds of tons have been carried away as ballast by the fleet of haaf boats that fished from the Ayre of Newgord. In its original form this must have been one of the most extensive of the brochs. Even in its ruined condition it is sufficiently prominent to be used by fishermen as a landmark at sea for meithing (marking) the Burgascurs. It is clear that the greater part of the stones required in the construction of this broch have been transported from the mainland, and tradition says that they were quarried in the Gill o’ Scraers and shipped to the Holm at the Geo o’ Kurkaby. I believe such was not the case, because the Picts were not so unpractical as to fetch stones from a great distance, involving tremendous labour, when the same material could be obtained within easy distance. The Gill o’ Scraers