North Uist, Vallay, Rudh' An Duin

Dun, Rudh'an Duin, Vallay.

On a low rocky promontory, Rudh’an Dun, on the south-eastern shore of the island of Vallay, about ¾ mile east-north-east of Vallay House and some 200 yards south of the burying ground at Teampull Mhuir, are the remains of an almost circular dun, the internal diameter of which measures 45 feet from north to south and 43 feet from east to west, what remains of the inner face of the wall reaching a height of barely 3 feet. Towards the south-east the wall has been totally obliterated, and during very high spring tides the water washes into the interior. The outer face of the wall is traceable only in parts and shows this structure to have a width varying from 18 feet on the north to 9 feet on the east. Outside the dun to the east, on the beach, is a tumbled wall formed of blocks of considerable size, the outer face, which is traceable in parts, being 17 feet distant from the inner face of the wall of the dun at the south-east. A well-built entrance, 17 feet 8 inches in length and about 4 feet 6 inches wide, pierces the wall on the west side. Several long slabs lying in the immediate vicinity are probably the lintel stones of the passage. Along the centre of the floor of the entrance passage is a drain which, curving to the south after entering the inner court of the dun, is continued for a distance of about 15 feet, a few of the cover stones being still in position at its inner extremity.

This dun was excavated by Mr. Erskine Beveridge, the proprietor of Vallay, when there were found many fragments of hand-made pottery, some ornamented, including the handle of a vessel, 4 inches long by ¾ inch thick, and part of a small crucible; a thin fragment of bronze about 1 ½ inches square pierced by five small holes; the fragments including part of the hilt with crossguard of a much corroded iron sword, the mould of which was noted in portions of its wooden scabbard; a piece of bone, with cut marks ;three small portions of cetacean bone, and a bit of pumice. Kitchen midden refuse in the shape of ashes, bones and limpet and periwinkle shells were found in various places, chiefly about the entrance passage, but in no great quantity. A few hammer stones, a perforated ball with flattened sides, 2 inches in diameter and 1 ½ inches thick, and a thin piece of schist shaped like the letter T, measuring 4 ¼ inches across each extremity, were also recovered. A small nodule of flint was found in the dun and a small flake outside immediately to the west.

RCAHMS 1928, visited 28 July 1914

OS map: North Uist xxx.

NF77 8 RUDH’ AN DUIN

NF/7861 7618

This doubtful broch in North Uist is probably a round, thick-walled dùn and occupies a small and low-lying point of the same name towards the east end of the tidal island of Vallay. The site was partially explored by Erskine Beveridge, the then proprietor of Vallay [2: 3, 215-18 with plan] .

Description

The building is still quite well preserved [1: 3. pl. before p. 217] and the circular wall is about 5.19m (17 ft) thick, this and the size of the central court – 13.42m (44 ft) – might be thought to give the remains a broch-like nature [3]. A later description gives the overall diameter as 24.5m and the wall a varying thickness of from 5.0-6.2m [1]. The well preserved entrance is on the north-west [3, pl. after p. 216]; its width is 1.3m and its sides stand 1.0m high. Beveridge found a drain under the floor but no signs of guard cells or of door-checks were seen in 1965 [1]. The excavations produced no sign of any intra-mural features such as a staircase (or, as noted, of a door-frame in the entrance) but whether this early excavation can be said to have disproved their existence is another matter.

Discussion

The poor quality of the records of this excavation precludes any positive statements about the nature of the site or its date. However there are two interesting points which may be significant. The first is the large size of the round building and the second is the very distinctive early Iron Age rim sherd which was found with the other pottery, very similar to sherds found in that horizon at Jarlshof. The combination of these two features recalls the site of The Howe in Orkney (HY21 6) which was also a massive, round building, about the size of a broch but with no traces of hollow-wall construct-ion and which yielded early Iron Age carinated pottery. One wonders whether Rudh’ an Duin is another very early (6th/7th century BC) massive roundhouse, but it may be too late now to be sure. Fresh excavations might produce some clues.

Finds [3, 217 and plate opposite p. 218].

Iron: close to the north wall of the interior (presumably at floor level) were found many fragments of a two-edged long sword with traces of its wooden scabbard; the maximum width of the blade was 2.25 in and of the flat tang, 1 in.

Bronze: 1 thin fragment, about 1.5 in square, with 5 small holes.

Stone implements included hammer-stones (including 2 worn all round their edges) and a perforated ball with flattened sides about 2 in. in diameter.

Pottery: this included some Iron Age cordoned sherds and a large handle of a jug which is presumably later. One of the sherds has a flat-topped rim decorated with radial rows of small impressions and is almost certainly from an early Iron Age carinated vessel of the 7th/6th centuries BC; similar vessels come from Jarlshof (HU30 1).

Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NF 77 NE 4: 2. RCAHMS 1928, 57, no. 184: 3. Beveridge 1911: 4. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 46 (1911-12), 335-36 (finds): 5. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 56 (1921-22), 15 (finds).

E W MacKie 2007