Sir,—My investigations in this countryside confirm Mr. Watkins’s contention that Tumuli, Stones and other marks are very accurately aligned. I cannot agree, however, that this alignment was originally intended for road or track sighting.
Identified Roman remains are very plentiful in this district, and by an immense amount of work I have constructed a Map of Camps, Forts, Stones, &c.
This leads me to the conclusion that the country has been very accurately surveyed by the Romans.
It is impossible that points could be so accurately and systematically placed on a map merely by “Sighting” survey.
These alignments were Li or Lin, from the Latin Linea—a boundary or row, as I can show from certain place names. It is erroneous, however, to assume that all place names ending in “ley” have this meaning.
Euclid, the mathematician, flourished about 277 b.c., so why should we deny that the Romans had knowledge of his methods as applied to Land Survey?
I agree with Mr. Watkins that “F. S. A.” does not go deep enough in his Etymology. We have the
word Ley in Scots, meaning land that is lying fallow, and the derivation of the Scots word is certainly not Anglo-Saxon,
neither is it the same as the above Li.—Yours, &c.,
Jeffrey Inglis.
Ellenbank, Broughty Ferry.
March 18th, 1923.
Source info: Journal named in cutting; letter dated “March 18th, 1923”.