astle--a square
tower, defended by a deep ditch, which at once served as a prison and
a protection to the passage. At Laggavoulin Bay, an inlet on the east
coast, and on the opposite side to the village, on a large peninsular
rock, stands part of the walls of a round substantial stone burgh or
tower, protected on the land side by a thick earthen mound. It is
called Dun Naomhaig, or Dunnivaig (such is Gaelic orthography.) There
are ruins of several houses beyond the mound, separated from the main
building by a strong wall. This may have been a Danish structure,
subsequently used by the Macdonalds, and it was one of their strongest
naval stations. There are remains of several such strongholds in the
same quarter. The ruins of one are to be seen on an inland hill, Dun
Borreraig, with walls twelve feet thick, and fifty-two feet in
diameter inside, and having a stone seat two feet high round the area.
As usual, there is a gallery in the midst of the wall. Another had
occupied the summit of Dun Aidh, a large, high, and almost
inaccessible rock near the Mull. Between Loch Guirm and Saneg, and
south of Loch Gruinart, at Dun Bheolain (Vollan), there are a series
of rocks, projecting one behind another into the sea, with precipitous
seaward fronts, and defended on the land side by cross dikes; and in
the neighbourhood numerous small pits in the earth, of a size to admit
of a single person seated. These are covered by flat stones, which
were concealed by sods.

'There are also several ruins of chapels and places of worship in
Islay, as in many other islands. The names of fourteen founded by the
Lords of the Isles might be enumerated. Indeed, most of the names,
especially of parishes of the west coast, have some old ecclesiastical
allusion. In the ancient burying-ground of Kildalton, a few miles
south-west of the entrance of the Sound, are two large, but
clumsily-sculptured stone-crosses. In this quarter, near the Bay of
Knock, distinguished by a high sugar-loaf-shaped hill, are two large
upright flagstones, called the two stones of Islay, reputed to mark
the burying-place of Yula, a Danish princess, who gives the island its
name. In the church-yard of Killarrow, near Bowmore, there was a
prostrate column, rudely sculptured; and, among others, two
grave-stones, one with the figure of a warrior, habited in a sort of
tunic reaching to the knees, and a conical head-dress. His hand holds
a sword, and by his side is a dirk. The decorat