[1] The inscription on his tomb states that he was 76 at his death on
the 23rd of December 1607 (Lord Clermont's _Hist. of the Family of
Fortescue_, 377), but according to a statement ascribed to himself,
he was born the same year as Queen Elizabeth and therefore in 1533
(Bucks. Architect. and Archaeolog. Soc. _Records of Bucks_, i. p.
89).
[2] David Lloyd's _State Worthies_ (1670), 556.
[3] _Annales_, 613.
FORTEVIOT, a village and parish of Perthshire, Scotland, on the Water of
May, a right-hand affluent of the Earn, 6-3/4 m. S.W. of Perth. Pop. of
parish (1901) 562. It is a place of remote antiquity, having been a
capital of the Picts, when the district was known as Fortrenn, and
afterwards of the Scots. The army led by Edward Baliol camped here
before the battle of Dupplin (1332), in which the regent, Donald, earl
of Mar, was slain along with 13,000 out of 30,000 men. The parish of
Findo-Gask adjoining it on the N.W. contains remains of a Roman road,
station and outpost, besides the "auld hoose" of Gask in which the
Baroness Nairne was born, and which forms the theme of one of her most
popular songs. The new house in which she died dates from 1801.
FORT GEORGE, a military station of Inverness-shire, Scotland. It lies 12
m. N.E. of Inverness, and is the terminus of the small branch line
connecting with the Highland railway at Gollanfield junction. It
occupies a sandy promontory forming the extreme end of the southern
shore of Inner Moray Firth (also called the Firth of Inverness), which
is here only 1 m. wide. There is communication by ferry with Fortrose on
the opposite coast of the Black Isle. The fort was begun in 1748, partly
after the plan of one of Vauban's works, and named in honour of George
II. Wolfe, who saw it in course of erection in 1751, was much impressed
with it and thought it would, when finished, be "the most considerable
fortress and best situated in Great Britain." It covers 16 acres and
contains accommodation for nearly 2200 men. It is the depot of the
Seaforth Highlanders, and a military training-ground of some size and
importance because the surrounding country gives ample facilities for
exercise and manoeuvres. General Wade's road is maintained in good
order. Fort George, it is said, had almost been chosen as the place of
detention for Napoleon when the claims of St Helena were put forward.
About 2 m. S.E. is the fishing village of Campbelltown, in growing
repute as a seaside resort. Midway between the fort and Inverness stands
Castle Stuart, a shooting-box of the earl of Moray.
FORTH, a river and firth of the east of Scotland. The river is formed by
two head streams, Duchray Water (12 m.) and Avondhu (10 m.), or Laggan
as it is called after it leaves Loch Ard, both rising in the north-east
of Ben Lomond in Stirlingshire, and uniting 1 m. west of Aberfoyle. From
this point till it receives the Kelty, the Forth continues to be a
Perthshire stream, but afterwards it becomes the dividing line between
the counties of Perth and Stirling as far as the confluence of the
Allan. Thence it belongs to Stirlingshire to a point 1-1/2 m. due west of
Cambus, whence it serves as the boundary between the shires of Stirling
and Clackmannan. Owing to the extremely tortuous character of its course
between Gartmore and Alloa--the famous "links of the Forth,"--the actual
length of the river is 66 m., or nearly double the distance in a direct
line (30 m.) between the source of the Duchray and Kincardine, where the
firth begins. The river drains an area of 645 sq. m. Its general
direction is mainly easterly with a gentle trend towards the south, and
the principal tributaries on the left are the Goodie, Teith, Allan and
Devon, and on the right, the Kelty, Boquhan and Bannock. The alluvial
plain extending from Gartmore to the county town is called the Carse of
Stirling. The places of interest on the banks are Aberfoyle, Kippen,
Stirling, Cambuskenneth, Alloa and Kincardine, but after it crosses the
Highland line the Forth does not present many passages of remarkable
beauty. There are bridges at Aberfoyle, Gartmore, Frew, Drip and
Stirling (2), besides railway viaducts at Stirling and Alloa, and there
are ferries at Stirling (for Cambuskenneth), Alloa (for South Alloa) and
Kincardine (for Airth). The tide rises to 4-1/2 m. above Stirling, where
the river is navigable at high water by vessels of 100 tons. There is,
however, a brisk shipping trade at Alloa, where the dock accommodates
vessels of at least 300 tons.
The Firth of Forth extends from Kincardine to the North Sea, that is, to
an imaginary line drawn, just west of the Isle of May, from the East
Neuk of Fife to the mouth of the Tyne in Haddingtonshire--a distance of
48 m. Thus, according to some calculations, the Forth measures from
source to sea 114 m. The width of the firth varies from 1/2 m. at
Kincardine and 1-1/2 m. at Queensferry to 6-1/2 m. at Leith and 17-1/2
m. at the mouth. The chief affluents are, on the south, the Carron,
Avon, Almond, Leith, Esk and Tyne, and on the north, the Tiel, Leven,
Kiel and Dreel. The principal ports on the south shore are Grangemouth,
Bo'ness, Granton and Leith, and on the north, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy;
but fishery centres and holiday resorts are very numerous on both
coasts. Since the opening of the Forth Bridge (see Bridges) in 1890 the
ferries at Queensferry and Burntisland have greatly diminished in
importance. The fisheries are still considerable, though the oyster
trade is dwindling. The larger islands are Inchcolm, with the ruins of
an abbey, Inchkeith, with fortifications and a lighthouse, and the Isle
of May, with a lighthouse. The anchorage of St Margaret's Hope, with the
naval base of Rosyth, lies off the shore of Fife immediately to the west
of the Forth Bridge.
The Forth was the _Bodotria_ of Tacitus and the Scots Water of the
chroniclers of the 11th and 12th centuries; while Bede (d. 735) knew the
firth as _Sinus orientalis_ (the Eastern Gulf), and Nennius (fl. 796) as
_Mare Friesicum_ (the Frisian Sea).
FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT. "Fortification" is the military art of
strengthening positions against attack. The word (Lat. _fortis_, strong,
and _facere_, to make) implies the creation of defences. Thus the boy
who from the top of a mound defies his comrades, or shelters from their
snowballs behind a fence, is merely taking advantage of ground; but if
he puts up a hurdle on his mound and stands behind that he has fortified
his position.
Fortification consists of two elements, viz. _protection_ and
_obstacle_. The protection shields the defender from the enemy's
missiles; the obstacle prevents the enemy from coming to close quarters,
and delays him under fire.
_Protection_ may be of several kinds, direct or indirect. Direct
protection is given by a wall or rampart of earth, strong enough to stop
the enemy's missiles. The value of this is reduced in proportion as the
defender has to expose himself to return the enemy's fire, or to resist
his attempts to destroy the defences. Indirect protection is given by
_distance_, as for instance by a high wall placed on a cliff so that the
defender on the top of the wall is out of reach of the enemy's missiles
if these are of short range, such as arrows. This kind of defence was
very popular in the middle ages. In the present day the same object is
attained by pushing out detached forts to such a distance from the town
they are protecting that the besieger cannot bombard the town as long as
he is outside the forts. Another form of indirect protection of great
importance is concealment.
The _obstacle_ may consist of anything which will impede the enemy's
advance and prevent him from coming to close quarters. In the earliest
forms of fortification the protecting wall was also the obstacle, or it
may be a wet or dry ditch, an entanglement, a swamp, a thorn hedge, a
spiked palisade, or some temporary expedient, such as crows' feet or
chevaux de frise. The two elements must of course be arranged in
combination. The besieged must be able to defend the obstacle from their
protected position, otherwise it can be surmounted or destroyed at
leisure. But a close connexion is no longer essential. The effect of
modern firearms permits of great elasticity in the disposition of the
obstacle; and this simplifies some of the problems of defence.
Protection must be arranged mainly with reference to the enemy's methods
of attack and the weapons he uses. The obstacle, on the other hand,
should be of such a nature as to bring out the best effects of the
defender's weapons. It follows from this that a well-armed force
operating against a badly-armed uncivilized enemy may use with advantage
very simple old-fashioned methods of protection; or even dispense with
it altogether if the obstacle is a good one.
When the assailant has modern weapons the importance of protection is
very great. In fact, it may be said that in proportion as missile
weapons have grown more effective, the importance of protection and the
difficulty of providing it have increased, while the necessity for a
monumental physical obstacle has decreased.
The art of the engineer who is about to fortify consists in appreciating
and harmonizing all the conditions of the problem, such as the weapons
in use, nature of the ground, materials available, temper of assailants
and defenders, strategical possibilities, expenditure to be incurred,
and so forth. Few of these conditions are in themselves difficult to
understand, but they are so many and their reactions are so complex that
a real familiarity with all of them is essential to successful work. The
keynote of the solution should be simplicity; but this is the first
point usually lost sight of by the makers of "systems," especially by
those who during a long period of peace have time to give play to their
imaginations.
Fortification is usually divided into two branches, namely _permanent
fortification_ and _field fortification_. Permanent fortifications are
erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of
constructive and mechanical skill, and are built of enduring materials.
Field fortifications are extemporized by troops in the field, perhaps
assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable, and with
materials that do not require much preparation, such as earth, brushwood
and light timber. There is also an intermediate branch known as
_semi-permanent fortification_. This is employed when in the course of a
campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best
imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample
resources and skilled civilian labour being available.
The _objects of fortification_ are various. The vast enceintes of
Nineveh and Babylon were planned so that in time of war they might give
shelter to the whole population of the country except the field army,
with their flocks and herds and household stuff. The same idea may be
seen to-day in the walls of such cities as Kano. In the middle ages
feudal lords built castles for security against the attacks of their
neighbours, and also to watch over towns or bridges or fords from which
they drew revenue; whilst rich towns were surrounded with walls merely
for the protection of their own inhabitants and their property. The
feudal castles lost their importance when the art of cannon-founding was
fairly developed; and in the leisurely wars of the 17th and 18th
centuries, when roads were few and bad, a swarm of fortified towns,
large and small, played a great part in delaying the march of victorious
armies.
In the present day isolated forts are seldom used, and only for such
purposes as to block passes in mountainous districts. Fortresses are
used either to protect points of vital importance, such as capital
cities, military depots and dockyards, or at strategic points such as
railway junctions. Combinations of fortresses are also used for more
general strategic purposes, as will be explained later.