It is manifest, however, that a table of this kind can have no permanent value, beyond giving a full and accurate statement of discoveries up to date, as further researches may not only change its numerical data, but give a totally different aspect to inferences based on the existence or absence of these remains in certain districts. Thus it is only within the last few years that Ayrshire could be included in the lake-dwelling area, so that, previously, the conflicting statement made by Chalmers,[40] that Galloway was colonised by the Irish about the eighth century, derived some countenance from the archæological discoveries in Loch Dowalton, and other lakes in the neighbourhood, when taken in conjunction with the prevalence of analogous remains in Ireland. Though we cannot, therefore, argue definitely from the present geographical distribution of Scottish Lake-Dwellings, the indications are so clearly suggestive of their having been peculiar to those districts formerly occupied by Celtic races that the significance of this generalisation cannot be overlooked. Thus, adopting Skene's division of the four kingdoms into which Scotland was ultimately divided by the contending nationalities of Picts, Scots, Angles, and Strathclyde Britons, after the final withdrawal of the Romans, we see that of all the crannogs proper, none have been found within the territories of the Angles;[41] ten and six are respectively within the confines of the Picts and Scots; while no less than twenty-eight are situated in the Scottish portion of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde. Nor is this generalisation much affected by an extension of the list, so as to include those stony islets so frequently met with in the Highland lakes. On the other hand, that they have not been found in the south-eastern parts of Scotland may suggest the theory that these districts had been occupied by the Angles before Celtic civilisation—or rather the warlike necessities of the times—gave birth to the island dwellings. In that case we would suppose that their development dates back to the unsettled events which immediately followed the withdrawal of the Roman soldiers, to whose protection the Romano-British population in the south-west of Scotland had been so long accustomed. But this leads me to notice some of the historical phenomena associated with the localities thus referred to.
Section II.
Historical and Traditional Phenomena associated with their Area of Distribution.
(Compiled chiefly from Dr. Skene's works.)
In the year A.D. 79, Julius Agricola, with his legions, entered that portion of Britain afterwards known as the kingdom of Scotland by way of the Solway Firth, and, quickly subjugating the tribes occupying its northern shore, garrisoned the country as he advanced. The work of the following winter is thus described by Tacitus:—
"To introduce a system of new and wise regulations was the business of the following winter. A fierce and savage people, running wild in the woods, would be ever addicted to a life of warfare. To wean them from these habits, Agricola held forth the baits of pleasure, encouraged the natives, as well by public assistance, as by warm exhortations, to build temples, courts of justice, and commodious dwelling-houses. He bestowed encomiums on such as cheerfully obeyed; the slow and uncomplying were branded with reproach; and thus a spirit of emulation diffused itself, operating like a sense of duty. To establish a plan of education, and give the sons of the leading chiefs a tincture of letters, was part of his policy. By way of encouragement he praised their talents, and already saw them, by the force of their natural genius, rising superior to the attainments of the Gauls. The consequence was, that they, who had always disdained the Roman language, began to cultivate its beauties. The Roman apparel was seen without prejudice, and the toga became a fashionable part of dress. By degrees the charms of vice gained admission to their hearts; baths, and porticos, and elegant banquets grew into vogue; and the new manners, which, in fact, served only to sweeten slavery, were by the unsuspecting Britons called the arts of polished humanity."—(Vit. Agric. chap. 21.)
During the following summer, A.D. 80, Agricola pursued his journey northwards and entered on a country hitherto unknown to the Romans, and described by Tacitus as occupied by new nations, which he laid waste as far as the Firth of Tay. During the six following years this general was engaged in bringing the wild Caledonians under subjection. In the year 81 he erected a chain of forts between the Firths of Forth and Clyde. Subsequently he visited Argyll and Kintyre, as well as the eastern counties, and explored the interior as far as the Grampian range of mountains. At the same time, the fleet, sailing northwards along the east coast, circumnavigated the island and returned by the straits of Dover to its former station. These exploits roused the warlike spirit of the Caledonians, and all the northern tribes combined to resist the progress of the invaders, the result of which was the famous battle of Mons Grampius (A.D. 86), in which 30,000 Caledonians were totally routed. Tacitus in his description of the battle states that the Caledonians were arranged in lines along the slopes of the rising ground, having their charioteers and cavalry in front, and that their weapons were arrows, long pointless swords, and small targets; whereas the Romans used large shields and short pointed swords, which gave them the advantage at close quarters. As soon as the battle was known at Rome, Agricola was recalled through the jealousy of the Emperor Domitian, so that no advantage was taken of the campaign, and the result was that the northern tribes beyond the Tay retained their independence.
From the recall of Agricola till the accession of the Emperor Hadrian, A.D. 117, nothing is known of the condition of this part of the island. Hadrian visited Britain in the year 120, and appears to have put down a threatened insurrection by giving up Agricola's line of forts, and limiting the frontier of the province to a line right across the territory of the Brigantes from the Solway Firth to the river Tyne. Along this line he constructed an immense barrier consisting of, first, on the north side, a ditch, then a stone wall, and then an earthen rampart. Between the two latter were roads for the transmission of troops, with stations, castles, and watch-towers. But this barrier did not act for a long time as a check to the independent section of the Brigantes, who, early in the reign of Antoninus, crossed the wall and overran portions of the Roman Province. But Lollius Urbicus, who was sent to Britain, quickly subdued these hostile tribes (A.D. 139), and again extended the Province to its former limit, viz., the line between the Firths of Forth and Clyde, where he constructed an earthen rampart—"Alio muro cespiticio submotis barbaris ducto."
In A.D. 162 an attempt on the Province by the northern tribes was quelled by Calphurnius Agricola.