.]

[Footnote 57: _The Past in the Present_, Edinburgh, 1880, pp. 58-72.]

[Footnote 58: _The Past in the Present_, p. 59.]

[Footnote 59: Reproduced by permission of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland.]

[Footnote 60: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. iii. p. 137.]

[Footnote 61: _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vol. vii. p. 168 _n._ This
appears to me to be a phonetic spelling of the _diongna_ mentioned in
the passage relating to the plunderings of the Danes in the ninth
century.]

[Footnote 62: _Ibid._ p. 171. On the same page, the form _Ugh talamkant_
is given.]

[Footnote 63: _Chambers's Encyclopaedia_, new ed., s.v. Earth-house.]

[Footnote 64: Quoted in _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, vii. 172. The
reference is "Ag. Rep. Heb. p. 782."]

[Footnote 65: _Op. cit._ vol. iii. p. 140.]

[Footnote 66: John Stuart, LL.D., _Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot._, viii. pp.
23 _et seq._]

[Footnote 67: Plates XIV.-XVI. Compare also Plates XVII.-XIX.]

[Footnote 68: _Op. cit._, vii. 191.]

[Footnote 69: _Op. cit._, iii. 133.]

[Footnote 70: _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_,
vol. iii. (First Series), p. 129. The district of Barvas is specially
referred to by Captain Thomas.]

APPENDIX.

Most of the illustrations here given are reproductions of some of the
plates accompanying Captain Thomas's papers in the _Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_. In explanation of their details the
following extracts may be made.

PLATE I. (Frontispiece).--_Uamh Sgalabhad, South Uist._

(From Plate XXXV. of Vol. VII. of _Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland_, First Series.)

Captain Thomas thus describes his descent into and exploration of this
earth-house:--"An irregular hole was pointed out by the little lassie
before alluded to, and some of my party quickly disappeared below
ground. As they did not immediately return, I thought it was time to
follow, and squeezing through the ruinated entrance (_a_), I entered the
usual kind of gallery, which descended into the ground at a sharp angle.
At the bottom, on the right-hand side, was the usual guard-cell (_b_);
the sides of dry-stone masonry, but the end was the face of a rock _in
situ_. Proceeding on, the roof rose and the gallery widened to what was
the main chamber (_c_), which was 7 feet high under the apex of the
dome, and 4 feet broad. Upon the west side of this chamber, and about 2
feet from the ground, is a recess, about