Their construction is more probably
to be ascribed to very early unrecorded maritime raids of pirates of
unknown race both on regions far north of the eastern coast protected
later by the Count of the Saxon shore, and on the northern and western
islands and coasts, where also many ruins of them survive.
In Cat dwelt the Pecht or Pict, the Brugaidh or farmer in his dun or
broch, erected always on or near well selected fertile land on the
seaboard, on the sides of straths, or on the shores of lochs, or
less frequently on islands near their shores and then approached by
causeways;[6] and the rest of the people lived in huts whose circular
foundations still remain, and are found in large numbers at much
higher elevations than the sites of any brochs. The brochs near the
sea-coast were often so placed as to communicate with each other for
long distances up the valleys, by signal by day, and beacon fire at
night, and so far as they are traceable, the positions of most of them
in Sutherland and Caithness are indicated on the map by circles.
Built invariably solely of stone and without mortar, in form the
brochs were circular, and have been described as truncated cones
with the apex cut off,[7] and their general plan and elevation were
everywhere almost uniform.
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