the doorway between two narrow fillets. Over the centre of the arch is a representation of the crucifixion.1 In the middle of the height of the jambs on either side are raised panels bearing figures in relief of men habited as ecclesiastics. One bears a pastoral staff of the form peculiar to the early Celtic church, having a curved head resembling that of a walking-stick. The other bears a book on his breast and carries a crossheaded or tau-staff, which is of exceedingly rare occurrence, either in this country or any other. At the lower part of the jambs, on either side, are the figures of two crouching beasts.2 One is a winged griffin, and both bear a close affinity to the figures of nondescript creatures carved on the early sculptured memorial stones. The pellet border round the doorway has also a certain resemblance to a similar border round one of these stones at Iona, on which is also sculptured a Scriptural subject. But these and other analogies of style and ornament will fall to be discussed as part of the special subject of Christian art which will engage our attention at a later stage. In the meantime we have to do chiefly with the typical characteristics of structure presented by the Scottish round towers. the cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice; on the east window of Termon Church, county Clare; on the doorway of Killeshin Church, county Carlow; on the cross of St. Munn, at Taghmon, county Wexford, and elsewhere.Journal of the Arch. and Hist. Ass. of Ireland, vol. iii., fourth series, p. 73.

1 In the round tower at Donoughmore, in the county of Meath, a representation of the crucifixion occupies a similar position over the head of the doorway.-Petrie's Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, p. 406.

2 On each side of the arch of the doorway and on the same stone with the crucifixion are two blank panels of similar projection, each 1 foot 10 in. long by 6 in. in width, which seems to have been intended for sculptures never executed. The crucifixion measures, including its pedestal, 1 ft. 8 in. high; the width of the panel across the arms is 1 ft. 6 in., and across the lower part 4 in. The figure on the right side of the doorway measures with its pedestal 1 ft. 9 in., and the width of the panel on which it is cut is 5 in. The figure on the left of the doorway measures with its pedestal 1 ft. 10 in., and the width of the panel on which it is cut, 5 in. The panels at the foot of the doorway on which the crouching beasts are cut are each 11 in. by 8 in.

The Round Tower at Abernethy, Perthshire (Fig. 8), stands

Fig. 8.-Round Tower of Abernethy.

(From a Photograph.)

partly within and partly beyond the enclosure of the churchyard. It is 72 feet in height from the roadway. It is built of stones dressed to the curve, and laid in courses from 12 to 16 inches in height-the beds horizontal, and the joints vertical. It thus differs from the Brechin Tower in the character of its masonry.1 But it has another special feature of much importance which, I think, has not been sufficiently insisted on. For about twelve courses above the ground level the material is a hard gray sandstone which has resisted the influence of the weather. Above this the whole of

1 Mr. Muir remarks that the peculiarities which distinguish the Abernethy Tower from that of Brechin, are especially observable in the decidedly Norman type of its upper windows, and in the stones of the general building, which for the greater part approach very nearly to the small

cubical form of those we constantly find in Romanesque masonry.-Notes on

Remains of Ecclesiastical Architecture, etc., Edinburgh, 1855.

the rest of the tower is built of a buff-coloured freestone con

siderably weather-worn, es

pecially at the joints. The

thickness of the wall at the

base of the doorway is 3 feet 6 inches, and the internal diameter 8 feet. At the top, the internal diameter is 8 feet 5 inches, and the thickness of the wall 2 feet 7 inches. There is thus a very slight batter, so very slight as to be imperceptible to the eye, and the tower is therefore wanting in that grace of proportion that distinguishes Brechin. The doorway faces the north, and the sill is about 2 feet above the present level of the ground inside the churchyard, where it is considerably higher than on the other side of the tower which stands in the road. Like that at Brechin this doorway has inclined instead of perpendicular jambs, and a semicircular

head cut out of one stone externally, the remainder of the thickness of the door

head being covered by an arch formed of six stones, cut to the

round, but having no regular key-stone. The height of the doorway to the soffit is 7 feet 8 inches, the width at the sill being 2 feet 7 inches, and, at the spring of the arch, 2 feet 4 inches. A plain flat band, or architrave, about 6 inches wide encompasses the doorway, with a projection of about 2 inches. Internally the tower was divided, as seen in the section (Fig. 9), into 6 stories of unequal height, by stringcourses, about 10 inches deep, and 6 inches projection. The first of these is 13 inches beneath the sill of the doorway. The height of the first story is 14 feet 8 inches; of the second, 11 feet 8 inches; of the third, 13 feet 2 inches; of the fourth, 12 feet 11 inches; of the fifth, 10 feet 8 inches; and of the sixth, measuring to the top of the parapet, 5 feet 2 inches. The tower is lighted by three lower windows placed in the second, third, and fourth stories respectively, and, also, as at Egilsay and Brechin, by four windows in the top story placed facing the cardinal points. The window in the second story faces the south, and is angular-headed, with inclined jambs, the head cut out of one stone. It is 2 feet high from the sill to the apex, 10 inches wide on the sill, and 9 inches under the head. This window is placed at a height of 7 feet 5 inches above the string-course that supported the floor. The window in the third story faces the west, and is placed at a height of 7 feet 3 inches above the string-course. It is semicircular-headed, with slightly inclined jambs, and measures 17 inches high, by 6 inches wide. The window in the fourth story is of similar form and dimensions, but placed facing the east. The four windows in the upper story are placed facing the cardinal points. These are semicircular-headed, with inclined jambs, revealed externally, and ornamented with nook-shafts in the reveals, which have almost perished. The openings of these windows are 4 feet 9 inches high to the spring of the arch, 1 foot 8 inches wide at the base, and 1 foot 5 inches at the spring of the arched head. They are

thus of exceptionally large size, and the inclination of the jambs is strongly marked.

In the general features of their form and construction the two towers of Abernethy and Brechin are strikingly similar. They resemble each other as closely as two stone celts. Each differs from the other in its special features and dimensions, but the total effect is in both cases so similar that no one can hesitate to pronounce them both examples of one specific type. They are both situated in ancient churchyards, and both unconnected with any remains, whether of monastery or church. From their form and structure it is apparent that they never have been so connected, and that they were designed from the first to stand alone. From the solidity of their construction, and the completeness of their preservation, it is also reasonable to conclude that if there had ever been many like them, traces of their remains would have been left in other localities to bear witness to the former existence of a type of structure so strong and so striking. But there are no such remains, and there is no evidence of any kind that there ever were more of these towers on the mainland of Scotland. Yet looking to their completeness of character, and their general correspondence of form, structure, and arrangements, it is impossible to regard them as freaks, or accidental products of local circumstances. Thus the archeologist conducting his investigation on scientific principles, is inevitably led to the conclusion that they are outlying specimens of a well-marked type, which must have existed somewhere, if not in Scotland. Taught by the same principles that the rarity of a strongly-marked type in one area may be a sign of its abundant existence in some contiguous or associated area, he proceeds to look for the area from which the type here represented by these two specimens must have been derived. That area is found in Ireland. Seventy-six round towers of this specific type are known to exist in that country, and