Orkney and Shetland. Also wart-hill, wardill. [f. WARD sb.2 (after ON. varða, varð-r beacon) + HILL sb.] A beacon hill.
a. 1680[?]. in W. Macfarlane, Geogr. Coll. (S.H.S.), III. 252. Fabrics … from the top of which when there was any imminent danger, they made a sign by fire one to another. The like they did from Promontories or Wart Hills.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XIII. 499/2. The alarm was given by the beacons lighted on the tops of the rocks and highest mountains. These beacons, known by the name of ward-hills, are still to be seen in every island.
1822. J. Laing, Voy. Spitzbergen, 20. Along the shores are a great many ancient towers, originally known by the name of Burrows or Duns; but by the inhabitants they are now called Wart or Wardhills.
