Auchendavy or Auchendowie, a hamlet in Kirkintilloch parish, Dumbartonshire, 2 miles ENE of Kirkintilloch town. One of the forts of Antoninus' Wall stood here, but was obliterated partly by the forming of the Forth and Clyde Canal, partly by subsequent operations. A pit 9 feet deep, situated immediately beyond the SW angle of the fort, was accidentally discovered at the forming of the canal, and found to contain four Roman altars, part of another altar, a mutilated stone figure, and two ponderous iron hammers. ` Three of the altars, ' says the Caledonia Romana, ` had been broken through the middle, and all were lying huddled together, as if they had been hastily thrown in, and then covered with earth to conceal them from view, telling, as they lay, a silent but expressive tale of the sudden order of retreat, the precipitate muster of the garrison, the hurried dismantling of the station, and of the retiring footsteps of the legionary cohorts, as they defiled upon a southern route; while, perhaps, the shouts of the advancing Britons were already heard in the distance, startling the wild boar in the woods beyond Inchtarf, and the waterfowl among the sedges of the Kelvin. '
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