t to
bay charged him, and he fled precipitately. Coming to the hill above
Kilmichael, he strode in one step across the valley to the top of
Rudal Hill, from whence he took a gigantic leap to the summit of Dun
Add. But when he alighted he was somewhat exhausted by his great
effort, and fell on his knee, and stretched out his hands to prevent
him from falling backwards. He thereupon left on the rocky top of Dun
Add the enduring impression of his feet and knee which we see at the
present day. This myth is of comparatively recent date, and is
interesting as showing that all recollection of the original use of
the footmark and basin had died away for many ages in the district.
There can be no doubt that the footmark indicates the spot to have
been at one time the scene of the inauguration of the kings or chiefs
of the region; and the basin was in all probability one of those
primitive mortars which were in use for grinding corn long before the
invention of the quern. Dun Add is one of the oldest sites in
Scotland. It has the hoary ruins of a nameless fort, and a well which
is traditionally said to ebb and flow with the tide. It was here that
the Dalriadic Scots first settled; and Captain Thomas, who is an
authority on this subject, supposes that the remarkable relic on Dun
Add was made for the inauguration of Fergus More Mac Erca, the first
king of Dalriada, who died in Scotland at the beginning of the sixth
century, and to have been the exact measure of his foot.

King in his _Munimenta Antiqua_ mentions that in the island of Islay
there was on a mound or hill where the high court of judicature sat, a
large stone fixed, about seven feet square, in which there was a
cavity or deep impression made to receive the feet of Macdonald, who
was crowned King of the Isles standing on this stone, and swore that
he would continue his vassals in the possession of their lands, and do
impartial justice to all his subjects. His father's sword was then put
into his hand, and the Bishop of Argyle and seven priests anointed him
king in presence of all the heads of the tribes in the Isles and
mainland, and at the same time an orator rehearsed a catalogue of his
ancestors. In the year 1831, when a mound locally known as the "Fairy
Knowe," in the parish of Carmylie, Forfarshire, was levelled in the
course of some agricultural improvements in the place, there was
found, besides stone cists and a bronze ring, a rude boulder almost
two tons in wei