tion of the precipitous front facing the east, with piles of
loose water-worn stones. At first view they appear only an irregular
mass, and seem to be there only to make the ascent more slippery and
difficult. Mr Skene, in his _Celtic Scotland_; points out that here we
have the remains of an ancient fort. It is only recently, however,
that the subject has come in for thorough investigation by Dr.
Christison, one of the Rhind lecturers on Archaeology, who, by careful
measurements and by the extensive knowledge which he has brought to
bear on the subject, has quite established the fact. One sees that
from the east side of the hill the position is by nature impregnable
against attack; while on the south, west, and north sides, it is the
triumph of the antiquarian's research and skill to re-build for us in
imagination a series of fortified lines and enclosures, the original
sites of which time has not altogether obliterated. The fortress was
known in early days as Dundurn, and must have been a stronghold of
considerable importance.[2]

Looking down upon the plain below, the little chapel at our feet,
called the Chapel of St. Fillan, also takes us back to antiquity,
though to a less remote one than the fortifications. It takes us back
to pre-Reformation times. There is no record of the century to which
it belongs, and the only relic that has been preserved to us from the
pre-Reformation period is a holy water font. It stood in a niche in
the wall of the chapel. When, however, it was deemed advisable to
remove the tottering roof and to preserve what of the building would
make a picturesque ruin, the font was taken in charge by Colonel
Stewart of Ardvoirlich, and handed over by him to the Trustees of the
Dundurn Parish Church. Placed on a suitable stand, and with an
appropriate inscription, this font will represent an interesting link
between the past and the present.

This old chapel, doubtless at one time a place of worship, was
abandoned at the Reformation, and was taken possession of by the
Stewart clan as a burial vault about the year 1580. For a long time
this interesting old burying-ground was allowed to remain in a state of
shameful neglect. There seemed to be no direct responsibility on the
part of any heritor for its upkeep, and what seemed everybody's
business became nobody's. This condition of _laissez faire_ was
confirmed by a sentimental though unreasonable objection to shifting
into their right po