XXXII.—Dry River Channels in the Neighbourhood of Muirkirk

Abstract

Whilst hunting up archaeological remains in the parish of Muirkirk in October, 1894, I stumbled across some curious old Dry River Channels, of which I shall now give a short account. First. —For a short way in the neighbourhood of Priesthill the Ponesk Water flows west, then with a radius of about two furlongs it wheels round and flows through a deep glen in a south-easterly direction. Towards the south-west side of this bend there are—on the inside of the curve—two projecting promontories of rock, both of which have been cut off to a certain extent by two channels. When on the high ground on the south side of the Ponesk Water I saw the first one—that lowest down the stream—for a time I was fairly deceived by it, believing it to be the ditch or moat of an ancient fort. After an examination I have now not the slightest doubt that the point of land cut off by this old high and dry channel has been used at one time as a fort. It is scarped round the side towards the stream, and right across the centre of the ditch or channel there is an entrance roadway, raised 5 feet above the bottom, exactly in the manner we see adopted in connection with many of the existing old forts. The length of this channel is 321 paces; it curves slightly, and towards its south-east end it is between 20 and 30 feet deep. It appears to be cut entirely out This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract