{"product_id":"2940013835931","title":"A SHORT HISTORY OF SCOTLAND","description":"CHAPTER I.  SCOTLAND AND THE ROMANS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf we could see in a magic mirror the country now called Scotland as it\u003cbr\u003ewas when the Romans under Agricola (81 A.D.) crossed the Border, we\u003cbr\u003eshould recognise little but the familiar hills and mountains.  The\u003cbr\u003erivers, in the plains, overflowed their present banks; dense forests of\u003cbr\u003eoak and pine, haunted by great red deer, elks, and boars, covered land\u003cbr\u003ethat has long been arable.  There were lakes and lagoons where for\u003cbr\u003ecenturies there have been fields of corn.  On the oldest sites of our\u003cbr\u003etowns were groups of huts made of clay and wattle, and dominated,\u003cbr\u003eperhaps, by the large stockaded house of the tribal prince.  In the\u003cbr\u003elochs, natural islands, or artificial islets made of piles (crannogs),\u003cbr\u003eafforded standing-ground and protection to villages, if indeed these lake-\u003cbr\u003edwellings are earlier in Scotland than the age of war that followed the\u003cbr\u003ewithdrawal of the Romans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe natives were far beyond the savage stage of culture.  They lived in\u003cbr\u003ean age of iron tools and weapons and of wheeled vehicles; and were in\u003cbr\u003ewhat is called the Late Celtic condition of art and culture, familiar to\u003cbr\u003eus from beautiful objects in bronze work, more commonly found in Ireland\u003cbr\u003ethan in Scotland, and from the oldest Irish romances and poems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn these \"epics\" the manners much resemble those described by Homer.  Like\u003cbr\u003ehis heroes, the men in the Cuchullain sagas fight from light chariots,\u003cbr\u003edrawn by two ponies, and we know that so fought the tribes in Scotland\u003cbr\u003eencountered by Agricola the Roman General (81-85 A.D.)  It is even said\u003cbr\u003ein the Irish epics that Cuchullain learned his chariotry in _Alba_--that\u003cbr\u003eis, in our Scotland. {2}  The warriors had \"mighty limbs and flaming\u003cbr\u003ehair,\" says Tacitus.  Their weapons were heavy iron swords, in bronze\u003cbr\u003esheaths beautifully decorated, and iron-headed spears; they had large\u003cbr\u003eround bronze-studded shields, and battle-axes.  The dress consisted of\u003cbr\u003etwo upper garments: first, the smock, of linen or other fabric--in\u003cbr\u003ebattle, often of tanned hides of animals,--and the mantle, or plaid, with\u003cbr\u003eits brooch.  Golden torques and heavy gold bracelets were worn by the\u003cbr\u003echiefs; the women had bronze ornaments with brightly coloured enamelled\u003cbr\u003edecoration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgriculture was practised, and corn was ground in the circular querns of\u003cbr\u003estone, of which the use so long survived.  The women span and wove the\u003cbr\u003egay smocks and darker cloaks of the warriors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf the religion, we only know that it was a form of polytheism; that\u003cbr\u003esacrifices were made, and that Druids existed; they were soothsayers,\u003cbr\u003emagicians, perhaps priests, and were attendant on kings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuch were the people in Alba whom we can dimly descry around Agricola's\u003cbr\u003efortified frontier between the firths of Forth and Clyde, about 81-82\u003cbr\u003eA.D.  When Agricola pushed north of the Forth and Tay he still met men\u003cbr\u003ewho had considerable knowledge of the art of war.  In his battle at Mons\u003cbr\u003eGraupius (perhaps at the junction of Isla and Tay), his cavalry had the\u003cbr\u003ebetter of the native chariotry in the plain; and the native infantry,\u003cbr\u003edescending from their position on the heights, were attacked by his\u003cbr\u003ehorsemen in their attempt to assail his rear.  But they were swift of\u003cbr\u003efoot, the woods sheltered and the hills defended them.  He made no more\u003cbr\u003eeffectual pursuit than Cumberland did at Culloden.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgricola was recalled by Domitian after seven years' warfare, and his\u003cbr\u003egarrisons did not long hold their forts on his lines or frontier, which\u003cbr\u003estretched across the country from Forth to Clyde; roughly speaking, from\u003cbr\u003eGraham's Dyke, east of Borrowstounnis on the Firth of Forth, to Old\u003cbr\u003eKilpatrick on Clyde.  The region is now full of coal-mines, foundries,\u003cbr\u003eand villages; but excavations at Bar Hill, Castlecary, and Roughcastle\u003cbr\u003edisclose traces of Agricola's works, with their earthen ramparts.  The\u003cbr\u003eRoman station at Camelon, north-west of Falkirk, was connected with the\u003cbr\u003esouthern passes of the Highland hills by a road with a chain of forts.\u003cbr\u003eThe remains of Roman pottery at Camelon are of the first century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo generations after Agricola, about 140-145, the Roman Governor,\u003cbr\u003eLollius Urbicus, refortified the line of Forth to Clyde with a wall of\u003cbr\u003esods and a ditch, and forts much larger than those constructed by\u003cbr\u003eAgricola.  His line, \"the Antonine Vallum,\" had its works on commanding\u003cbr\u003eridges; and fire-signals, in case of attack by the natives, flashed the\u003cbr\u003enews \"from one sea to the other sea,\" while the troops of occupation\u003cbr\u003ecould be provisioned from the Roman fleet.  Judging by the coins found by\u003cbr\u003ethe excavators, the line was abandoned about 190, and the forts were\u003cbr\u003ewrecked and dismantled, perhaps by the retreating Romans.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47157036843248,"sku":"2940013835931","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013835931_p0.jpg?v=1763600062","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013835931","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}