Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/53

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Shetland Folk-Lore

mass of stones used in the building is enormous. The Parish Church of Nesting stands at the base of the broch, and is built wholly of stones taken from the ruin. Yet, notwithstanding this, the heap that remains forms a conical mound measuring about 70 feet in diameter at the base, and 15 feet deep in the centre.

One of the most perfect Pictish strongholds, both on account of its size and also its insular position, is the Broch Holm of Lundawick, in Unst. It is referred to by Hibbert in the following words: “West of the Moul is a rock where are the remains of an ancient burgh, destroyed by time and wilful delapidation.” This description is at fault as regards the bearing from the Blue Mull. The broch is E.N.E. from the Mull, and Hibbert’s appellation of a “rock” is scarcely fair, for although much diminished in area since the days of Hibbert by the inroads of the sea, yet it can graze a few sheep all the year round.

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