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JavaScript Interview Questions You'll Most
Likely Be Asked

Job Interview Questions Series

Vibrant Publishers

Published by Vibrant Publishers, 2017.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes
no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the
information contained herein.

JAVASCRIPT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS YOU'LL MOST LIKELY BE ASKED

First edition. November 20, 2017.

Copyright © 2017 Vibrant Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1946383877

Written by Vibrant Publishers.

 JavaScript

Interview Questions

You'll Most Likely Be Asked

Job Interview Questions Series

www.vibrantpublishers.com

*****
 JavaScript Interview Questions You'll Most Likely Be Asked

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this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any
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*****
I N T R O D U C T I O N TO J AVA S C R I P T

1: What is JavaScript?

Answer:

JavaScript is a scripting language that adds interactivity to HTML pages.

2: What kind of language does JavaScript provide?

Answer:

JavaScript is an interpreted language that executes scripts without

preliminary compilation.

3: Is there any connection between Java and JavaScript?

Answer:

No. They are different in every way and JavaScript is not as powerful and
complex as Java.

4: What is the official name of JavaScript and is it supported by all

browsers?

Answer:
The official name of JavaScript is ECMA (European Computer
Manufacturer's Association) and with it, Internet Explorer 4 and Mozilla
Firefox 1.5 fully supported.

5: What does JavaScript do?

Answer:

JavaScript is meant to be an easy scripting language that helps the non-

programmers with its simple syntax. JavaScript is smart enough that it can
put dynamic text into HTML pages, it can react to events (like when a page
has finished downloading), and it can read and write HTML elements, create
cookies and so forth.

6: Does prior knowledge of JAVA ease the use of JavaScript?

Answer:

Yes. Being modeled after Java, which in turn is modeled after C++,
JavaScript should be easier to familiarize and work with.

7: Is JavaScript case sensitive?

Answer:

Yes. Unlike HTML, JavaScript has to have all variables and function names
(etc.) in capital letters.
8: How do you place JavaScript?

Answer:

JavaScript may be inserted into code with the following syntax:

<script type="text/JavaScript">

9: Where do you place JavaScript?

Answer:

JavaScript may be placed in the <head> or <body> section of HTML code,

but it is usually a good practice to place it in <head> as to not hinder your
code later on.

*****
 S TAT E M E N T S , C O M M E N T S A N D
VA R I A B L E S

10: How do you terminate statements in JavaScript?

Answer:

In JavaScript, statements are terminated by semicolons (;) and although they

are not mandatory they are a good practice to pick up.

11: Why are comments used in JavaScript and how are they inserted?

Answer:

Usually comments are added to make the code more readable but they can
also be used to explain the code. They are inserted with // (for single line
comments) and /* */ for multiple lines comments.

12: What are variables and how are they inserted?

Answer:

Variables are storing containers used for holding expressions and values.
They can have a short letter or a longer name and are inserted with the
statement: var. Because the variables are loosely typed, they can hold any
type of data.
13: What does a variable of var y=10; and var catname= "Tomcat"; do?

Answer:

With the execution of the above code, we have variables that hold values of
10(for y) and Tomcat (for catname).

Note that the inclusion of text warrants " " being used.

14: How many statements types can we find in JavaScript? Give some
examples?

Answer:

The statement types found in JavaScript are: Expression statements,

compound, empty and labeled statements.

Example: break, continue, default, do, for, etc.

15: What are conditional statements and how are they implemented in
JavaScript?

Answer:

Conditional statements are used to perform and act on different sets of

conditions declared by the programmer. They are the following: if statement;
if...else statement; if...else if...else statement and the switch statement.

16: How will you determine a variable type in JavaScript?

Answer:

A variable type in JavaScript is determined using Typeof operator. When the

object is String, Number, Function, undefined and Boolean, the operator
returns the same type. And when the object is null and array, the operator
returns “object”.

Example:

var count=100;

typeof count;

(returns “number”)

17: What is the difference in evaluating [“8”+5+2] and [8+5+”2”]?

Answer:

In [“8”+5+2],”8” is a String. So anything that trail the string will be changed

to string. Hence the result will be”852”.

In [8+5+”2”], 8 and 5 are integer, so it gets added up (13).And “2” is treated

as String. Hence the concatenation takes place and the result will be “132”.

18: Is it possible to assign a string to a floating point variable?

Answer:

Yes. Any variable can be assigned to another data type. For example,
var a1=10.39;

document.write(a1);

10.39

a1=”hai”;

document.write(a1);

hai

19: Will variable redeclaration affect the value of that variable?

Answer:

No. The same value will be retained in the variable.

Example:

var status=”cool”;

document.write(“status”); //cool

var status;

document.write(“status”); //cool

status=”chill”;

document.write(“status”); //chill

20: How will you search a matching pattern globally in a string?

Answer:

A matching pattern can be globally searched in a string using “g” modifier in

Regular Expression.

Example:

var p1=”First_Regular_ Expression_First”;

var q1=”/First/g”;

document.write(“Pattern_Match:” + p1.match(q1)); //
Pattern_Match:First,First

21: How will you search a particular pattern in a string?

Answer:

A particular pattern in string can be searched using test function. If the match
is found it returns true, else false.

Example:

var my_pattern1=new RegExp(“pp”);

document.write(my_pattern1.test(“Happy_Days”); //true

22: Which property is used to match the pattern at the start of the
string?

Answer:
“^” symbol is used for position matching.

Example:

var p1=”First_Regular_ Expression_First”;

var q1=”/First/^”;

document.write(“Pattern_Match:” + p1.match(q1)); //Pattern_Match:First

First_Regular

23: Which property is used to match the pattern at the end of the string?

Answer:

“$” symbol is used for end position matching.

Example:

var p1=”First_Regular_ Expression_First”;

var q1=”/First/$”;

document.write(“Pattern_Match:” + p1.match(q1)); //Pattern_Match:First

Expression_First

*****
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
Fig. 243.—Metatarsal Bone of Ox (front and back views), with incised symbols, from
Broch of Burrian (actual size).

any of these objects that they were certainly associated with the
earlier occupation of the Broch, and as they differ in character from all
the objects usually found in such structures, their exceptional
occurrence here can have no bearing on the discussion of the general
questions of the character and relations of the group of relics usually
found in Brochs.
That character and these relations are now distinctly established.
The general character of the relics obtained by the systematic
excavation of these northern Brochs is not that of a primitive group,
but of a group which is the product of an advanced stage of culture,
civilisation, and social organisation. The inference deducible from the
character of the relics is the same as that which has been deduced
from the type of the structure, and when the whole of the facts are
thus marshalled and their significance is calmly considered, it becomes
plain that there is even less ground for ascribing a low condition of
culture, of civilisation, or of social organisation to the people who
constructed and occupied these massive towers, than there is for
ascribing such a condition to the builders of the beehive huts and dry-
built churches of Christian times. Reviewing the various aspects of the
life of the occupants of Brochs, as these have been successively
disclosed, we see them planting their defensive habitations thickly
over the area of the best arable land, fringing the coasts, and
studding the straths with a form of structure perfectly unique in
character and conception, and for purposes of defence and passive
resistance as admirably devised as anything yet invented. We see that
this system of gigantic and laboriously constructed strongholds has
been devised and universally adopted with the plain intention of
providing for the security of the tillers and the produce of the soil. We
find their occupants cultivating grain, keeping flocks and herds, and
hunting the forests and fishing the sea for their sustenance. We find
them practising arts and industries implying intelligence and technical
skill, and apparently also involving commercial relations with distant
sources of the raw materials. The probability is that they
manufactured all the weapons and implements they used, and we find
them using swords, spears, knives, axes, and chisels of iron, and
pincers, rings, bracelets, pins, and other articles of bronze or brass.
We know that they made their own ornaments in these metals,
because the clay moulds, the crucibles, and the cakes of rough metal
have been found in different Brochs. Gold has not been found in any
well-authenticated instance, but silver and lead are not wanting. They
utilised the bones and horns of animals in the fabrication of such
things as pins, needles, and bodkins, buttons, combs, spindle-whorls,
and various other implements, ornaments, and furnishings of
everyday life and industry. They also used stone when it suited their
purpose. They made beads and bracelets of jet or lignite, and they
had other beads of variously-coloured vitreous pastes, enamelled on
the surface with spiral lines and other devices. They also made beads
and discs of highly-polished stone, such as serpentine, marble, and
mica schist, with imbedded garnets. From the commoner varieties of
stone they made millstones or querns, mortars, pestles, pounders and
hammer-stones, whetstones and point-sharpeners, bowls, cups with
and without handles, lamps, and culinary vessels of various kinds, net-
weights, sinkers, and spindle-whorls. They made pottery, plain and
ornamented of various, kinds, chiefly round-bottomed globular vessels
with bulging sides and everted rims. The women practised the arts of
spinning and weaving, and probably also made the pottery and
ground the grain, while the men made the weapons and tools of
metal, and the ornaments and implements of bone and stone, did the
hunting and fishing, and the warfare when needful, and erected the
great structures which made the industrious quietude of domestic life
possible to them.
That the people thus occupying these peculiar strongholds were the
people of the soil, and not strangers effecting a lodgement in a hostile
territory, is obviously suggested both by the character and relations of
the typical structure, and by the character and relations of the relics of
their domestic life. It has been demonstrated in the previous Lecture
that while the typical structure, taken in the totality of its
characteristics, stands absolutely alone and quite apart from all other
types of construction, ancient or modern, its essential features are
those which are characteristic of early Celtic constructions. It is
circular, it is dry-built, its doorways have inclined instead of
perpendicular sides, the roofs of its chambers are formed of beehive
vaulting of overlapping stones, and its galleries are comparable to a
series of earth-houses placed one over the other. It has now been
shown that the relics of the life of the occupants of the Brochs
constitute a group of objects differing widely from those which
characterise the Scandinavian occupancy of the north and west of
Scotland. No group of objects in its general facies, entirely comparable
to the group which is characteristic of the Brochs, exists on the
continent of Europe or anywhere out of Scotland. But when the typical
forms of the Broch group of relics are compared with those of other
groups existing in Scotland, it becomes at once apparent that they are
forms which are characteristic of the Celtic area and of post-Roman
times. This unique series of objects from a unique type of structure
illustrates a peculiar phase of the early Celtic or Iron Age culture and
civilisation of our country which until recently was absolutely
unknown. And as we find the investigation on which we have
embarked continuously disclosing series after series of similarly unique
types, it becomes increasingly apparent that its final result can be
nothing less than the establishment of the fact that Scotland has an
archæology—in other words, that the unwritten story of her early
systems of culture and civilisation is dispersed among the disjecta
membra of her scattered remains, and is only to be disclosed by the
systematic collection and study of all existing materials illustrative of
her native industry and native art, with their associated indications of
social organisation and potential culture.
 LECTURE VI.
(November 2, 1881.)
LAKE-DWELLINGS, HILL-FORTS, AND EARTH-HOUSES.

A Broch like that of Clickamin (see the Frontispiece), situated upon an

island in a loch, accessible by a causeway from the island to the shore
is practically a lake-dwelling. But there are many defensive structures
occupying similar positions which are not Brochs, although they are
often constructed of stone. Most of them are now in such a ruinous
condition that it is impossible to say what may have been the precise
nature of their form and architectural construction.
 Fig. 244.—Defensive structure on an
island in the Loch of Hogsetter, Whalsay,
Shetland. (From a Sketch Plan by Dr.
Arthur Mitchell.)
In the Loch of Hogsetter, in the island of Whalsay, in Shetland, there
is a small island containing a defensive structure of dry-built masonry
(Fig. 244) which is plainly not a Broch.[93] The structure occupies the
greater part of the available surface of the island, and its form has
evidently been determined by the form of the island. It consists of a
dry-built wall of stones with a minimum thickness of 3 to 4 feet,
enclosing an oblong oval of about 70 feet by 75 feet. A causeway, 33
yards in length, has been constructed to give access to the island from
the shore, and on the side next the causeway the enclosing wall is
amplified so as to admit of the construction of a doorway, flanked on
each side by a chamber, as seen in the detached work protecting the
entrance to the island of Clickamin. This part of the construction is
solidly built, and the chambers, which are placed to right and left of
the entrance passage, occupy the interior of a somewhat rectangular
expansion of the wall, measuring about 20 feet by 12 feet, and now
only about 8 feet high. When Low visited Whalsay in 1774, this part of
the construction was 15 feet high, and the chambers and their
entrances were quite entire. They were beehive roofed, the entrances
going straight through the back wall from the enclosed area. The main
entrance, which was 2½ feet wide and 4½ feet high, was covered by
the masonry which joined the two sides of the construction over its
lintels, and at about two-thirds of its length inwards there were checks
for a door and the usual bar-holes on either side. Dr. Mitchell states
that above the two lower chambers there appear to have been other
two forming a second tier, but as Low did not observe them, and no
trace of a stair or other access to the upper level now remains, it
seems possible that they may have been chambers of construction, or
merely vacancies left to lighten the weight on the roofs of the
chambers below. Apart from the peculiarity of its chambers, which are
unlike the guard-chambers of the Brochs in having their entrances
opening to the enclosed space and not directly opening into the
passage, this structure has more affinities with the stone cashels than
with the Brochs. Like them it adapts its form to the space in which it is
situated, and like them it consists of a simple rampart with cells in the
thickness of the wall. The wall is low, and of no great strength, and
like the wall of a cashel is merely meant to add to the defensibility of
a naturally defensive position. The special peculiarities of this
defensive construction are, that it is a dry-built structure which is not
a Broch but a cashel, and that it is situated on an island in a loch and
rendered accessible by a causeway. The island is of natural formation,
and has been thus utilised, because of its suitability for defensive
purposes.
Such instances of the adaptation of natural islands in lochs as
places of strength by constructing defensive buildings of stone upon
them are not uncommon, although it rarely happens that the form and
characteristics of the buildings themselves are so clearly traceable. But
there is another variety of defensive construction which is more
frequently found in similar positions. It possesses the additional
peculiarity of being either wholly or partially constructed of wood.
The Lake-Dwellings in Scotland, which are either wholly or partially
constructed of wood, and which on that account are known as
Crannogs, are very numerous, but so few of them have yet been
systematically explored that it is impossible to determine with any
degree of certainty the special characteristics of their typical form and
structural arrangements. Indeed, it is questionable whether this
knowledge may be in any measure attainable by investigation of their
existing remains. Constructed of perishable material, which, as long as
it survived the ravages of time, was capable of being adapted to many
and various purposes of general utility, the parts of the Crannogs that
stood above the water were almost certain to be gradually destroyed.
But whatever may have been the special form of the superstructure of
the Lake-Dwelling when it was built of timber instead of stone, the
typical Crannog, taken as a whole, differs from the stone-built
strengths that are placed in lakes not only in the substitution of timber
in place of stone as the material of its construction, but also in being
constructed usually on an island that is itself an artificial construction.
The Crannog is therefore a Lake-Dwelling, actually built up from the
lake-bottom. Of the structure which stood above the water, and gave
shelter and habitable houseroom to the inmates, there is usually no
trace whatever. Occasionally the remains of a pavement of timber or
of flagstones, or the site of a hearth with its accumulations of ashes
and food refuse marks the level of the floor, and sometimes a
succession of such indications at different levels may betoken
successive occupations. But the story of the Crannog as told by the
casual relics imbedded in and around its submerged foundations is
clearly intelligible, although it reveals nothing of the precise form and
arrangements of the habitable part of the structure.
In the Loch of Dowalton, situated in the centre of the peninsula,
bounded on the west by the Bay of Luce, and on the east by the Bay
of Wigton, in Wigtonshire, a group of Crannogs was investigated by
Earl Percy (then Lord Lovaine) in 1863, and subsequently examined by
Sir William Maxwell of Monreith, and the late Dr. John Stuart, then
Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. One of these,
situated on the south side of the loch and near the west end,
presented the appearance of a mass of stones and soil surrounded by
numerous rows of piles formed of young oak-trees. On the north-east
side of the island a number of beams of oak mortised together like
hurdles were visible, and below them layers of round logs laid
horizontally. A few vertical piles were observed, which, in some cases,
had cross-beams mortised into them. Below the layers of logs were
masses of brushwood and fern. The only sign of occupation noticed
was the site of a hearth, with an accumulation of ashes, burnt wood,
and bones of animals. In the adjacent refuse-heap a small fragment of
bronze was discovered, and close by the island a bronze basin was
found. Near the eastern margin of the loch was a group of three
Crannogs. The largest of these was about 23 yards in diameter. It was
surrounded by many rows of piles, some of which had their ends cut
square across with a hatchet. The surface of the Crannog was covered
with stones resting on a mass of brushwood, fern, and heather,
intermingled with stones and earth. The whole mass was penetrated
and kept together by piles driven through it into the bottom of the
loch. On the south side were the remains of a massive construction of
planks of roughly-squared oak, 5 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 inches
thick, laid side by side in layers crossing each other transversely, and
pinned together. The general framework of this platform-like structure
was of massive beams mortised together, the mortises measuring
about 10 inches by 8 inches. On the north-east side, and underneath
part of the timber construction, a canoe was found, 21 feet in length
and 3 feet 10 inches wide at the stern. The canoe was of oak,
hollowed out of a single tree, and the stern was closed by a board
sliding in a groove cut in both sides, and secured by a thicker piece 3
inches in height pegged down over it. A washboard projecting slightly
over the edge and pegged into the upper margin of the canoe, ran all
round the sides. There were two thole-pins inserted in square holes
on each side, and one of the thwarts remained in position. A portion
of a shoe formed of stamped leather (Fig. 245) was discovered among
the mass of material thrown out in excavating the canoe. One hearth
was discovered. It was simply a paved space, showing marks of fire
 Fig. 245.—Portion of a Shoe of stamped leather (length, 7 inches).

and an accumulation of ashes and food refuse. The bones were those
of the common domestic animals, the ox, the pig, and sheep. Among
the relies found on the Crannog were a bronze penannular brooch
with knobbed ends, the knobs somewhat quadrangular in form, two
iron hammers, and four whetstones.

Fig. 246. Saucepan of Roman form found in Dowalton Loch (height,

5½ inches).
 Another Crannog, nearly circular, and 13 yards in diameter, lay a
little to the southward. Its construction was in every respect similar to
that last described, and it was surrounded by an immense number of
piles, extending in rows for 20 yards outside the circumference of a
solid construction of brushwood and logs, covered by earth and
stones. One canoe was found on its margin, 24 feet long and 4 feet 2
inches wide in the middle; and another was found between it and the
shore of the loch, 18½ feet long and 2 feet 7 inches wide. Among the
refuse of the occupancy of the Crannog, consisting chiefly of bones of
domestic animals, were found a broken bead of glass, and portions of
two armlets of glass, one ornamented with a yellow streak and the
other with streaks of blue and white.
Between this Crannog and the shore a bronze saucepan (Fig. 246),
of the form usually associated with remains of the Roman period,[94]
was found in the mud of the loch. It is an elegant and well-finished
vessel of bronze, tinned inside, and measuring 8 inches in diameter
across the mouth and 5½ inches deep. The flattened handle springing
from the upper edge is 7 inches in length. The bottom of the vessel is
furnished exteriorly with five projecting concentric rings. In front,
opposite to the handle, is an ornamental ring, swung by a loop
projecting from beneath the upper margin of the rim, and encircling a
well-modelled figure of a human face in relief. On the handle is the
stamp of the maker, CIPI POLIBI F.[95]
About 60 yards from this last Crannog was a smaller one,
presenting no essential points of difference, and nearer the south-east
shore of the loch was a group of six, still smaller and less distinct in
outline, but all apparently similar in construction.
The other objects found in association with
these Crannogs or in the loch-bottom in their
immediate neighbourhood, were a number of
beads of variegated glass or vitreous paste,
one of which (Fig. 247) has a lining of bronze
in the perforation; one amber bead; a small Fig. 247.—Bead of glass
bronze ring; a clay crucible; several with lining of bronze
whetstones; five querns; a bronze dish (Fig. (length, 1 inch).
248), about 12 inches in diameter and 3
inches deep, hammered out of the solid, and having a flat rim 1 inch
in breadth, turned over, and slightly bent downwards; another dish
similarly made, but without the flattened rim, 12 inches diameter and
4 inches deep; and a third (Fig. 249) of thinner metal, flat-bottomed
with sloping sides, 10 inches diameter and 4 inches deep, the bottom
and sides patched in several places by pieces fastened on with flat-
headed double-toed rivets exactly like the modern paper-fasteners; a
large bronze ring attached to the upper part of a caldron of thin
bronze; a portion of a tube of cast bronze of unknown use; a wooden
paddle; and a number of fragments of articles of iron complete the
list.

Fig. 248.—Bronze Basin found in the Loch of Dowalton (height, 3

inches).

Fig. 249.—Basin of thin bronze found in the Loch of Dowalton

(height, 4 inches).
In the Black Loch, in the parish of Inch, Wigtonshire, an island
explored in 1872 by Mr. C. E. Dalrymple was found to have been a
Crannog formed upon a shoal in the lake. In the centre of the island
there was a circular mound, 45 feet in diameter, and rising to about 5
feet above the level of the loch and 3½ feet above the general
surface of the island. At a depth of about 5 feet in the centre of the
mound there was a flooring of trunks of trees, chiefly oak and alder,
crossing each other at right angles. This log flooring covered a circular
space of about 50 feet in diameter. At different levels above it and
over the whole of its area there were found many fireplaces or
hearths, formed of two long narrow slabs set on edge and parallel to
each other with a paved space between, and filled and surrounded by
ashes and bones of animals broken and split. In one of these
accumulations of ashes and food refuse there were found a fragment
of bronze and a portion of an iron knife; and in another a broken
armlet of glass. A broken double-edged bone comb, ornamented with
dots and circles, and a portion of a stone disc with a bevelled edge,
were also found. The island seemed to have been surrounded with
piles, and a small canoe, dug out of a single tree, was discovered in
the loch, near the narrow channel which separates the island from the
shore.
The general character of the group of relics obtained from these
structures is that of the Iron Age, with indications of a period
subsequent to the Roman conquest. The same character and the
same indications are presented by the group of relics obtained from
the Crannogs of Ayrshire, which have been so carefully investigated by
Dr. Munro.[96] The Lochlee Crannog, near Tarbolton, yielded a very
large collection of objects in the various materials of stone, bone,
wood, bronze or brass, iron, glass, and jet or cannel coal. But with the
single exception of a polished stone celt, the types of the Stone and
Bronze Ages are entirely absent from the group. The same thing is
true of the collections obtained from the Crannog at Lochspouts near
Maybole, and the Buston Crannog near Kilmaurs. But in these Crannog
collections there are certain groups of objects which are closely akin
to those found in Brochs. These are the hammer-stones, oblong
water-worn pebbles wasted at the ends by use, spindle-whorls and
querns, the round polished discs of stone, the peculiarly-shaped bone
pins, needles, and borers, the double-edged bone combs, the deer-
horn implements, the bronze brooches, rings, and pins, and the spiral
finger-rings. There are also certain objects in these collections which
present features of form and ornamentation clearly of the early Celtic
types, such as a bridle-bit from Lochlee (of the same form as that
shown in Fig. 101), a block of ash-wood from the same Crannog with
Celtic patterns cut in both sides, and a bronze mounting from
Lochspouts, which is characteristically Celtic in style. On the other
hand, there are certain objects which, like the harp-shaped fibulæ and
the lustrous red ware (commonly called Samian), are indicative of
post-Roman times. The bulk of the relics from the Crannogs being
thus of Iron Age types with indications of post-Roman time, and with
a striking general affinity to the group of relics obtained from the
Brochs, the place of these lake-Dwellings in the general series may be
considered as sufficiently established.[97]
There is no class of ancient remains within our country of which we
have less precise knowledge than the Hill-Forts. The reason of this is
not their rarity, because they form perhaps the most numerous and
widely-distributed class of ancient structures now existing. But the
ordinary methods of obtaining precise knowledge of their form,
structure, and contents have not been applied to them, and the
ordinary agencies of destruction, incident to a high condition of social
and agricultural progress, have long been busy amongst them.
They differ essentially from all other constructions, because they are
adaptations of naturally elevated sites for defensive purposes. The
natural site is the defensive position, and the fort itself derives its form
and in many cases also its character of construction from the form
and nature of the eminence or promontory on which it is built. It
would, therefore, be contrary to the nature of the circumstances to
expect that they should exhibit any such uniformity of plan or
structure as is so conspicuous in the case of the Brochs. Yet it is clear,
from the little we do know of them, that there are certain groups
possessing certain features of construction in common which differ
from other groups possessing other features of construction in
common; and it is evident that if a sufficient body of available
materials existed on record regarding the different members of these
groups their typical characteristics might be readily deduced. But
before this can be done with that precision and certainty which are
requisite for scientific work, it is necessary (1) that a series of plans
and sections to scale of a sufficient number of examples from each of
the various groups should be obtained; (2) that a series of
observations as to the methods of construction employed in different
circumstances and situations should be made; and (3) that a series of
examinations of the enclosed areas and surrounding ground should be
undertaken, with the view of ascertaining the character of the relics
that are associated with the structures. In the meantime it is only
possible to indicate some of their general characteristics as exhibited
by a few of the better known examples.
They naturally divide themselves into two great classes by their
construction—(1) those that are earth-works; and (2) those that are
constructed of stone.
In most cases the earth-works are so low and slight that they could
not have been of much service unless crowned with palisades. They
are usually on sites that are more susceptible of cultivation than the
hill-tops which are the common positions of the stone-works, and
hence they have suffered more generally from agricultural operations
than the forts of stone. They are usually irregularly circular or oval in
plan, consisting of a varying number of low embankments drawn
round the summit of a natural eminence. The only one of which a
scale-plan has been made is a very characteristic example (Fig. 250),
on the Midhill Head, on the estate of Borthwick Hall, Midlothian.[98]
The space enclosed by the embankments is 410 feet in length from
east to west, and 284 feet in breadth from north to south. The
embankments are four in number, occupying a space round the
enclosure, varying from 130 feet to about 80 feet in breadth. They are
nowhere more than from 4 to 5 feet in height. There are two
entrances to the enclosed space at the ends of the oval, and a third
on the south side. This example represents in a general way the class
of earthworks of most frequent occurrence, consisting of a series of
circumvallations enclosing the highest part of an eminence of no great
elevation.
 Fig. 250.—Ground plan of Earthwork on Midhill Head, Midlothian.
The Hill-Forts which are constructed of stone sometimes consist of a
single wall drawn round the brow of a hill, and enclosing the more or
less level area which forms its summit. One of this description at
Garrywhoine, in Caithness, is an oval enclosure about 200 paces long
by 65 in breadth. The foundation of the wall is about 14 feet thick,
and in some places 3 or 4 feet of its height remains. In the thickness
of the wall on the east side the remains of two chambers are visible.
There were two entrances to the area of the fort, one at the north end
and the other at the south end of the hill. The entrance at the north
end has three of the great corner-stones of the gateway still in
position. They are single stones or flat boulders about 5 feet high, set
on end, having their broad faces in line with the exterior and interior
faces of the wall, and the ends in the line of the entrance which is 7
feet wide. Only one of the stones similarly placed remains at the south
entrance. The dilapidation of this remarkable example of a stone
cashel was due to the construction of a mill-dam in the valley below,
the stones having been rolled down the hill to form the embankment.
I notice it because it is the only Hill-Fort I have seen which still retains
the stone-pillars of its gateway, and because the story of its
demolition illustrates the fate of many of the most perfect and
interesting remains of our country’s antiquity.
A more complex variety consists of two, three, or more walls drawn
concentrically round the upper part of a conical hill, at short distances
apart, as in the case of the example known as the White Caterthun in
the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire. The area enclosed is a long oval
about 450 by 200 feet. The enclosing wall has been of enormous size.
Its remains have spread themselves over a width in some places of
nearly 100 feet, and they now form a somewhat rounded
embankment of from 4 to 6 feet high, encompassing the summit of
the hill. About 150 feet lower down on the slope of the hill is another
wall, equally ruined, and below it are the remains of a third. Beyond
this there is an enclosure of an oblong form and of less massive
construction, abutting against one side of the outer wall of the fort.[99]
A fort of smaller size, but presenting somewhat similar features of
construction, crowns the spur of Ben Ledi which overlooks the ford at
Coilantogle, a little below the outlet of Loch Vennachar. The hill is
precipitous on one side, and the walls do not encircle it completely,
but the external faces of three encircling walls are in some places
visible for a considerable distance round the less precipitous part of
the hill. Abutting on the outer wall, on the side which is most
accessible, is an oval enclosure less massively constructed, as at
Caterthun.
There is another variety of these Hill-Forts which has attracted more
attention on account of the singularity of the phenomena which they
present. These are the Vitrified Forts, so called because in their walls
there is always more or less of the scorified or vitrified appearance
which is the result of the action of fire upon masses of loose stones.
Although there has been perhaps more written about these singular
structures than about any other class of antiquities, there is really little
known of their special phenomena, and less of their real character.[100]
In point of fact the real knowledge relating to the form,
measurements, and composition of the structures and the observation
of the phenomena they present has been entirely overlooked in
fruitless discussions as to the modes in which the vitrifaction of the
walls has been produced, and the reasons which may be conjecturally
assigned for it. The result is that to this day, so far as I am aware,
there is not a single scale-plan with sections, of a single one of them.
When such plans and sectional drawings are available in sufficient
numbers, we shall be able to say that the materials exist for the
commencement of a systematic investigation of the nature and typical
relations of the structures.
The fort on Knockfarril, which overlooks the valley of Strathpeffer, in
Ross-shire, encloses an oval area of about 120 paces in length by
about 40 in breadth. It was first described by Mr. John Williams in
1777.[101] Sections were then made through it from side to side, and
Mr. Williams states that on the north side he found the ruins of the
wall 12 feet high, although he came to the conclusion that this was a
section of the width of the wall which had fallen flat outwards. With
regard to the phenomena of vitrifaction, he states that the whole wall
has been run together into one solid mass, but in another place he
states that at the outskirts of the ruins and at the bottom of the hill
there was a great quantity of large stones which had not been
touched by fire, and from this he concluded that there had been some
kind of stone buildings going round on the outside of the vitrified
walls. It is to be observed that when he speaks of the whole wall
being run together into one solid mass, he is not stating a fact, which
he has observed, but a conclusion which he has formed from a partial
examination. “I am of opinion,” he says, “and it appears by the ruins
that the whole of the surrounding wall on Knockfarril has been run
together by vitrifaction much better than the most of the kind I have
seen.” He states also that immediately on the inside of the
surrounding walls there were ruins of buildings in which the
vitrifaction was much less complete, and these he imagined to have
been a range of habitations reared under the shelter of the outer wall.
Craig Phadrig, near Inverness, when examined by Williams,
presented the peculiarity of two vitrified walls, the remains of which
could be traced quite round the inclosed area, while the remains of a
third were visible at the entrance at the east end. The outer wall was
founded on the rock, about 6 or 8 paces distant from the inner wall.
Its greatest height did not then exceed 4 or 5 feet, but he found large
masses of it adhering to the rock where it was first run. The area
enclosed was from 80 to 90 paces long by about 30 broad.
The fort at Finhaven, near Aberlemno, in Forfarshire, is an irregular
oblong with rounded corners, about 150 paces in length by about 36
in breadth. The walls are greatly dilapidated, and but a small part of
their height is now visible. They appear to have been about 10 feet in
thickness, and in some places there is still 4 or 5 feet of the height
remaining. The vitrifaction is very unequal, and many parts of the wall
scarcely show the action of fire, while in others the melted matter has
run down among the interstices of the stones.
Dun Mac Uisneachan, in Loch Etive, was described by Dr. Maculloch
in 1824, and more recently by Dr. R. Angus Smith, who made
extensive investigations of the area of the fort in 1873-4.[102] It
occupies the top of an oblong hill which is either very steep or actually
precipitous on all sides. The area enclosed is about 250 yards long by
50 yards broad. It is encompassed on the verge of the hill by a wall
which is still in some places from 5 to 6 feet high. The points made
out by the investigation are thus stated by Dr. Angus Smith—(1) the
weaker parts of the dun or defensible position were walled, the outer
wall or part of wall being vitrified; (2) the wall of the western part is
double; the outer being vitrified, the inner built in layers of flat stone,
9 feet being the distance from surface to surface; (3) the walls were
built without mortar as in all these forts; (4) vitrified portions of
walling were found overlying portions built in the ordinary manner and
unvitrified. This I regard as the most interesting and important point
ascertained by Dr. Angus Smith’s investigations regarding the
construction of the so-called Vitrified Forts. It shows distinctly that the
wall of a Vitrified Fort is not always, and in every part, a vitrified wall;
and it suggests that instead of taking this for granted, in every case in
which signs of vitrifaction are observed, the inquiry ought to be
directed to the determination of the extent of such partial vitrifaction,
wherever it is found to have been partial. Another interesting result of
his researches was the discovery of the remains of dwellings within
the area of the fort. They were rectangular constructions, having dry-
built walls about 2 feet thick. A large refuse-heap of bones of the
common domestic animals was found near them. Some querns, a
portion of an iron sword, an iron ring about 2 inches diameter, and a
convex plate of bronze 1¼ inch diameter, ornamented with concentric
circles, the hollows of which were filled with red and the centre with
yellow enamel, were found in the course of the excavations. The
character of this relic, with its red and yellow enamels, is closely allied
to that of the similarly enamelled bronzes which have been already
described, some of which have been found in constructions of a very
peculiar type which have yet to be noticed.
The latest examination of Vitrified Forts is contained in a paper by
Dr. Edward Hamilton,[103] in which he gives detailed descriptions of two
such structures in Arisaig, one of which is situated on a promontory in
Loch na Nuagh. It is an irregular oval occupying the whole summit of
the promontory, and measuring about 100 feet in length by about 50
feet in breadth. The enclosing wall varies from 6 feet in thickness and
7 feet in height to about 5 feet in thickness and 3 feet in height. In
this case also the wall was not vitrified down to the foundation.
Underneath the vitrified portion there was a depth of 3 feet of walling
formed of water-worn boulders quite unvitrified. The internal part of
the upper or vitrified portion of the wall was also unvitrified. From
these appearances Dr. Hamilton concludes that the vitrifaction was the
result of fire applied to the upper part of the wall externally.
From a consideration of these examples it is evident that the
Vitrified Forts do not differ in any essential point of their character
from the forts that are not vitrified—if vitrifaction be not a feature in
the method of their construction. The results of former investigations
have not produced evidence sufficient to carry the conclusion that the
vitrifaction was accomplished at the time of their construction, or that
it was a method of construction. The determination of this question
lies at the end of an exhaustive investigation, and can only be
obtained from evidence furnished by the phenomena of the structures
themselves.
There is one fort in Scotland, at Burghead, in Morayshire, which
presents the peculiar feature of being partially constructed of logs of
oak alternating with layers of stones. The peculiarity of its dry-built
stone rampart is thus described by Dr. Macdonald:—“To strengthen it,
beams of solid oak (still measuring from 6 to 12 feet in length) take
here and there the place of stones, and similar beams inserted end-
ways pass into the mass behind.”[104] We only know the Vitrified Forts
from their greatly dilapidated ruins, and it is a legitimate object of
investigation whether any of them may yet present evidence of having
been constructed with logs and stones in the manner exemplified at
Burghead. This method of construction is characteristic of the Celtic or
Gaulish forts of France. The rampart of Murcens, on the river Lot is
constructed like that of Burghead, of unhewn and uncemented stones.
In its mass, at regular intervals, there have been laid courses of oak
logs disposed longitudinally and transversely as “binders” and
“headers.” The spaces between the logs are filled with stones, and
where they cross each other the transverse logs are fastened to the
longitudinal rows by massive iron nails. There are two rows of logs
laid parallel to the face of the wall and a little apart within its
thickness, and these are crossed at every 3 or 4 feet by logs lying
transversely and extending the whole thickness of the wall, so that
their opposite ends appear in its exterior and interior faces. This is
repeated at every 3 or 4 feet of the height of the wall. The same
method of construction, with a greater proportion of timber to the
mass of the wall, appears in the fort of Impernal, also on the river Lot.
[105]
It is obvious that by the application of fire to ramparts constructed
on this principle, a partially scorified and partially vitrified appearance
would be given to their ruins.[106] In the early annals the burning of
fortified places appears as the common method of reducing them, and
the legendary prophecy of the coming of Birnam Wood to Dunsinnane
possessed a peculiarly fateful meaning if its walls were built not of
stones alone but of stones and logs.

Fig. 251.—Section of Hill-Fort of Dunsinnane, showing underground

chambers within its area. (Not to scale.)
The Hill-Fort of Dunsinnane (a section of which is shown in Fig.
251) is an oval circumvallation crowning the summit of a conical hill,
some 800 feet in height. The rampart is now chiefly composed of
earth intermixed with boulders, and is in some places about 20 feet
wide at the base, rising to a height of from 6 to 8 feet. Fragments of
vitrified matter, cementing masses of small stones together, are found
in the rampart. The space enclosed is about 150 yards long by 70
yards wide and almost level. Towards its south-east side were two
underground chambers 20 feet in length, from 6 to 8 feet in width,
and 5 to 6 feet high. The chambers communicated with each other,
near their extremities, by two passages low and narrow, not much
exceeding 2 feet in width and 3 feet high. The floors of the chambers
were paved with rough slabs. The walls were built with undressed
stones, which at the height of 2 to 3 feet above the floor began to
converge until the roof was spanned by flagstones laid across. The
floors were covered with ashes and refuse, consisting chiefly of the
bones of horses and cattle, and horns of deer. A quern was found by
the side of one of the passages, and in another were parts of three
human skeletons. Near the entrance to the circumvallation a bronze
spiral finger-ring, described as of exquisite workmanship and formed
like a serpent, was found.[107]
Dunsinnane is the only Scottish hill-fort associated with
underground chambers. But there is a class of underground structures
of peculiar form which is common in Scotland, though unconnected
with any variety of defensive structure. They are mostly situated in
arable land now under cultivation, and have usually been discovered
by the plough coming in contact with the stones of the roof.
 Fig. 252.—Ground plan and sections of Earth-house at
Broomhouse, parish of Edrom, Berwickshire.
One was so discovered at Broomhouse in the parish of Edrom,
Berwickshire. It had been known before and most of the roofing
stones removed, but on this occasion it came under the observation of
Mr. Milne-Home, who communicated an account of it to the Society of
Antiquaries.[108] It is to such casual circumstances that we owe the
materials of our science. The structure presents the form (shown in
the ground plan, Fig. 252) of a long narrow gallery, entering by a low
and narrow aperture nearly on a level with the surface, widening and
deepening from the entrance inwards, turning first sharply to the left
and then to the right, and terminating in a closed and rounded end.
The opening (A) faced nearly to the south-east. The whole length of
the gallery, measured along the central line of the floor, was 30 feet,
its width at the entrance 2 feet, and at the widest part 6 feet. Only
three of the roofing stones (B,C,D) remained in position. The vertical
height of the walls at the widest part of the structure was 5 feet, and
under the roofing stone (B) next the entrance only 3 feet. It seemed
as if the floor had been paved with natural water-worn stones, but
this point was not clearly ascertained. At the second bend (D) there
are checks for a door, consisting of two oblong stones set on end and
still carrying a massive lintel. The side walls, from the entrance
inwards to this inner door, are vertical. In the wider part of the
structure (E) beyond the inner door they are brought towards each
other by the stones overlapping inwardly, so that the roof might be
covered by single slabs laid across. Nothing was found within it but
fragments of bones of animals, among which the roe-deer was the
only one that could be certainly determined.

Fig. 253.—Ground plan of Earth-house at Migvie,

Aberdeenshire. (From a plan by Mr. Jervise.)
At Migvie, in Aberdeenshire, an underground structure (Fig. 253)
was discovered in 1862.[109] It was situated in the summit of a gravel
hillock, and was in form a long, low, and narrow gallery, entering by
an aperture nearly on the level of the original surface, turning first
sharply to the left and then to the right, widening and deepening from
the entrance inwards and terminating in a squarish end slightly
rounded at the corners. The whole length of the gallery measured
along the curvature was 41 feet, the width at the entrance 2 feet, and
at the widest part about 5 feet. Nine stones covering the portion next
the entrance remained in position, the height of the gallery under
them increasing from about 2½ feet at the aperture to 4½ feet at the
place where the covering ceased. The vertical height of the walls
beyond this seemed to have been at least 5 feet. The side-walls were
built with rough boulder stones laid pretty regularly. When the interior
was cleared out the only objects found were a bronze ring, several
rude stone-vessels like roughly-formed cups, large quantities of ashes
and charred wood, and corroded fragments of iron implements.

Fig. 254.—Ground plan of Earth-house at Buchaam, in

Strathdon.
The similarity of these two structures is no less striking than the
excessive peculiarity of their distinctive features. These features are—
(1) their position under ground; (2) the contracted entrance; (3) the
form of the chamber—a long, low, narrow, and curved gallery
gradually widening inwards; and (4) the construction of the chamber
—with convergent side-walls supporting a heavily-lintelled roof.
Closely analogous to these in its main features is the underground
structure (Fig. 254) at Buchaam, in Strathdon.[110] It is along narrow
gallery entering by a small aperture in the narrow end nearly on a
level with the original surface of the ground, gradually widening and
increasing in height inwards, and terminating abruptly in a slightly-
rounded end. It differs in one respect from the two previously
described, inasmuch as though it is curved it has not the double
curvature which is the special feature of their form. It curves sharply
to the left, but the curvature is not repeated in the opposite direction.
It is 58 feet in length following the curve along the middle line of the
floor. Its width at the entrance is 3 feet 6 inches, and it gradually
widens until it attains a maximum breadth of 9 feet 3 inches. The
height increases from about 5 feet near the entrance to about 7 feet