It did not belong to the author’s subject; to inquire, how the fact of so few of the memorials of the mural line being of the age of Severus, comported with the popular idea that he built the Wall! [Sidenote: BURNSWARK HILL.] _BURNSWARK_, or Birrenswork.—A solitary hill, nearly three miles to the north-west of Middleby, rises to the height of nearly seven hundred and forty feet above the level of the sea. 'On its top lies an unequal plain, about nine hundred feet long, by four hundred and fifty of mean width—almost inaccessible on two of its sides, and by no means of easy attainment on any.'[132] From this elevated summit, the mountain ridges which are scattered over not fewer than six of the Scottish counties can be descried; looking eastward, the Nine-nicks of Thirlwall are in sight; southward, the familiar forms of Skiddaw, Saddleback, and Cross-fell rise into view; to the south-west, the craggy peaks of the Isle of Man arrest the attention in favourable states of the atmosphere; and, not unfrequently a long, black streak, on the distant verge of the ocean, indicates the position of Ireland. According to the former political divisions of the British empire, four kingdoms were thus to be seen from Burnswark-hill. So commanding a position was not neglected by the ancient Britons. 'Around the area of the summit may still be traced the remains of a wall, composed of earth and stones, which seems to have been raised at every spot where the precipitous rock did not of itself afford sufficient protection.' Unhappily most of the stones have been hurled into the valley below, to form a long boundary fence. The enclosure is divided into two compartments of nearly equal size; one of them contains a circular range of stones, the remains apparently of an ancient cairn or watch-tower. [Sidenote: CAMPS ON THE HILL.] On two of the sides of Burnswark are the vestiges of Roman military works. The largest, which is on the southern slope, encloses an area of twelve acres. It has been originally encompassed by two ramparts, separated, as usual, by a deep trench; it had three gates on the upper, and apparently the same number on the under side, with a single one at each end. These gateways have been protected by circular mounds, thrown up before them, and fortified on the top. The pretorium, or general’s quarters, defended by an entrenchment of its own, was placed on the north-west angle of the camp. This circumstance would seem to warrant us in supposing, that, even in the stationary camps of the Wall, the pretorium was not uniformly placed in the upper part of the central area, where, according to the usual theory, we should expect to find it. All the entrenchments are of earth, and on the north side they are peculiarly bold.