the legacy of the stone

8/7/2019 THE LEGACY OF THE STONE

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THE LEGACY OF THE STONE

ATESTAT LA LIMBA ENGLEZA

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Summary:

1. Foreword

2. Stonehenge

3. Avebury

4. Silbury Hill

5. Castlerigg

6. Duloe

7. The Hurlers

8. Long Meg and her Daughters

9. Men-an-Tol

10. Merry Maidnes

11. The Pipers

12. Nine Stones

13. The King Stone

14. The King’s Men

15. The Whispering Knights

16. Stanton Drew

17. Lanyon Quoit

18. The Druids

19. Conclusion

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Foreword

The British Isles have ancient and venerable tradition of stone craft, and many of the

sites were already old before the Romans came to settle in England and parts of Wales and

written history arrived. Ten thousand years have past between the early Stonehenge building

experience and the unique stone construction that we see today standing on the Sulisbury

Plain. Across the British Isles almost a thousand stone circles are the quite evidence of Man’s

activities, hope and aspirations.

Why anyone ever decided to build the stone circles remains a mystery, with theories

ranging from religion to astronomy. These stone circles and their purpose remain an enigma

even now. They could have been temples, astronomical calendars, guide to the heavens or

sexually symbolic sites, and there may be many more theories that haven’t even been

explored or discovered yet.

Jutting out from the green landscape of England countryside, the stone circles emit a

power that must have been grained in the site itself. But it is a magnetism that can’t be

explained by architecture alone. Much of Stonehenge’s intrigue stems from the fact that

stones are shrouded in mystery, a characteristic that is magnified by its age.

Although these sites may not be as majestic as they were, they still convey a sense of

power that seems to enclose people in their mystery, allowing no one to escape from the

riddle of their pur0pose. Today, there is enough left of this stones to speculate on their

purpose, but not enough to say for sure why or how they were constructed. Astronomers,

archaeologists and historians continue to debate theories on their construction and purpose,

but the only thing that can be said for certain is a description of what still exists today.

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Stonehenge

Certainly the best known of all megalithic sites, Stonehenge stands in isolation on the

undulating chalk of Salisbury Plain, west of Amesbury, between the busy A303 and A344

roads. At first sight this unique and enigmatic site appears smaller than imagined, but the

tallest upright stone is 6.7m (22ft) high, with another 2.4m (8ft) below ground.

The outermost element of

the site is the Avenue that runs

straight down a gentle slope for

530m (560yds) into Stonehenge

Bottom. The Avenue consists of

twin banks about 12m (40ft)

apart with internal ditches, and

it begins at the entrance to the

earthwork enclosure. Here is the

Heel Stone, a large upright

unworked sarsen (hard sandstone) which lies immediately adjacent to the A344 road. It is

worth noting that the nearest source of stones of the size represented by the large sarsens at

Stonehenge is on the Marlborough Downs, about 30km (18mi) to the NE. It can only be

assumed that these stones (the heaviest of which weighs about 45 tons) were transported on

some type of sledge.Moving inwards from the Heel Stone is an earthwork enclosure that consists of a ditch

and an interior bank, the height of which was calculated by Professor Atkinson as being about

1.8m (6ft). It is known that there were at least two entrances, the one now visible (facing NE)

and one to the south. Lying within the entrance is an unworked and now recumbent sarsen

stone, stained a rusty red caused by rainwater acting on iron, and known as the Slaughter

Stone. Arranged around the inner edge of the earthwork bank were originally four small

uprights: the Station Stones, of which two are still visible. Immediately adjacent to the bank is

a ring of 56 pits, known as the Aubrey Holes, marked by circular concrete spots. The area

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between the inner edge of the bank and the outermost stone settings includes at least two

further settings of pits: the Y and Z holes.

On the central area of the site there are the stone settings, the sophisticated

arrangements that set Stonehenge apart from any other prehistoric monument in Europe. In

their construction two types of stone were used: sarsen and bluestone. The sarsens used in the

central settings are much larger. The bluestone is a mixture of rocks found on the Preseli

Mountains in SW Wales. The most widely accepted theory regards the arrival of the

bluestones on Salisbury Plain as the result of human effort, with the route being partly

overland and partly by water.

In its complete form the outermost stone setting consisted of a circle of 30 upright

sarsens, of which 17 still stand, each weighing about 25 tons. The tops of these uprights were

linked by a continuous ring of horizontal sarsen lintels, only a small part of which is now still

in position. The stones in the sarsen circle are carefully shaped and the horizontal lintels are

joined not only by means of simple mortice-and-tenon joints, but they are also locked using

what is effectively a dovetail joint. The edges are smoothed into a gentle curve which follows

the line of the entire circle.

The bluestone setting, concentric the outer sarsen circle, consisted originally of about

60 stones, but many have fallen, dissolved or been crushed. Inside these two circles lies the

sarsen horseshoe, consisted originally of five sarsen trilithons (a Greek word that means three

stones), each comprising two uprights with a horizontal lintel. Although now fragmentary, the

arrangement shows the careful grading of the five trilithons, the tallest of which is 6.7m (22ft)

high above ground level. Enfolded within this massive horseshoe lies a smaller horseshoe

arrangement of upright bluestones.

Current archaeological research shows that this site was constructed and modified on

various phases, spanning several centuries: Pre-Stonehenge (9th-8th millennium BC): at least

4 Mesolithic pits which originally contained big pine posts, in a line about 200m from the

present henge site; Stonehenge 1 (from 3100 BC): construction of the circular bank, the ditch,

and the 56 Aubrey Holes which probably originally contained timber posts; Stonehenge 2

(from 2550 BC): pottery, animal bones, and cremated human remains placed in ditch;

cremations deposited in some of the partially filled Aubrey Holes; complex of posts in interior

and in entrance causeway; Stonehenge 3 (from 2100 BC): sequence of stone-related

structures, which was probably as follows: Bluestones from Wales erected in q and r holes

and then dismantled; Sarsen circle and trilithons erected, possibly also a bluestone setting

which may have included trilithons, this latter then dismantled; Bluestone circle and oval

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setting; Arc of bluestones removed from oval to leave present horseshoe setting; Y and Z

holes dug, probably for stones which were never erected; during this phase the avenue was

also constructed.

Early mention of Stonehenge was made in 1135 by chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth,

who claimed that it was brought by a tribe of giants from Africa to Ireland, and from there

flown by the wizard Merlin across the sea. Another legend claims that the stones were stolen

from an Irish woman by the Devil, and re-erected on Salisbury Plain by Merlin for Ambrosius

Aurelianus, the King of Britons.

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Avebury

Avebury is the largest stone circle in the world: it is 427m (1401ft) in diameter covers

an area of some 28 acres (11.5 ha). Although not so immediately impressive as Stonehenge, it

is an extraordinary site formed by a huge circular bank (a mile round), a massive ditch now

only a half its original depth, and a great

ring of 98 slabs enclosing two smaller

circles of 30 stones each and other

settings and arrangements of stones.

The outer bank, still very impressive,

was originally 17m (55ft) high from

ditch bottom to bank top. The stones,

each weighing about 40 tons or more,

were left rough and not dressed as were

the Stonehenge blocks. They were obtained from the same place, the nearby Marlborough

Downs. Now there are only 27 in place, because a few hundred years ago many of the stoneswere broken up by lighting fires beneath them and pouring cold water over them. They were

then used to construct the present village which grew up within the earthwork.

In the 14th century some of the stones were buried. In that period, a man was killed by

one of the stones falling over unexpectedly in the pit which was being prepared for its burial.

No attempt was made to extract his body. A pair of scissors, a lancet, and three silver coins

was found next the poor skeleton, and the stone is now called the Barber's Stone. Other

remarkable stones are the Swindon Stone, the largest (it weighs about 60 tons), the Devil's

Chair (local legends attribute mystic powers to the stone such as the ability to summon the

devil if you run round it 100 times anti-clockwise) and the Repaired Stone, which has been

reconstructed in an odd shape.

The two smaller circles within the great ring were probably the heart of the ritual or

ceremony. Of the northern one, only few stones are visible. Two of the central ones are called

The Cove and may have been erected first, even before the great circle.

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Silbury Hill

This impressive Neolithic tomb, situated on a prominent chalk ridge near Silbury Hill

and not far from Avebury, is one the largest chambered long barrows in Britain. The county

of Wiltshire alone contains 148 out of 260 of Britain's long barrows. In many parts of Europe

this type of tomb has been given giants' names, as a reminder of their size and presence. But

one of their puzzling aspects is that they are very long, for no apparent reason.

West Kennet is more than 100m (320ft) long and 2.4m (8ft) high and at the left end is

a row of large, upright sarsen stones which were repositioned in 1956. Behind these is the

passage-grave which occupies only 1/8 of the barrow's length and runs back into the mound

about 10m (33ft). Entering the tomb beyond the forecourt there are two burial chambers either

side or a larger polygonal one, 2.3m (7.5ft) high, at the end of the passage.

The construction of West Kennet commenced about 3600 BC, which is some 400

years before the first stage of Stonehenge. In the past the mound has been damaged by

indiscriminate digging, but scientific excavations in 1859 and 1955-56 found a total of 46

burials, ranging from babies to old people. The latest excavations also revealed that the sidechambers occur inside an exact isosceles triangle, whose height is twice the length of its base.

It is thought that this tomb was in use for as long as 1,000 years and at the end of this period

the passage and chamber were filled to the roof by the Beaker people with earth and stones,

among which were found pieces of pottery, bone tools, and beads.

A local legend tells how this tomb is visited on Midsummer Day by a ghostly priest

and a large white hound.

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Castlerigg

Castlerigg is one of the most beautiful stone circles in Britain, set in a splendid

position, in an open field crowned by the Lake District's mountains, 213m (700ft) above sealevel. It is thought to be one of the earliest circles in Britain, and it dates from around 3000

BC.

Thirty-eight stones are placed

in an slightly oval shape of 30m

(100ft) in diameter; a further 10 small

stones are arranged as a rectangular

enclosure on the south-east side of the

ring: this is a feature unique to

Castlerigg, nothing similar being

present in other stone circles. The

largest stone of the circle, not far

from the enclosure, is 2.5m (8ft 3in) high and it weighs about 16 tons: most of the others,

much smaller, are 1 to 1.5m (3-5ft) high. At the north of the ring is an entrance marked by

two slightly bigger stones, and about 90m (295ft) to the south-west, by a stile at the edge of

the field, is a single outlying stone, 0.9m (3ft) high.

There are many theories about Castlerigg's function. In Professor Alexander Thom's

opinion, the circle was an astronomical observatory (the tallest stone being in line with

November or Samhain sunrise), while Professor Aubrey Burl wrote that one of Castlerigg's

many functions may have been to act as an emporium connected with the Neolithic stone axe

industry in the Langdales. The close mountainous source of the tuff used for such tools and

the stone axes found at the site support this theory. Probably, Castlerigg had a variety of

functions: easily approached from all directions, it was probably used for trading, religious

ceremonies, and tribal gathering. The rectangular enclosure was excavated in 1882, and only

charcoal was found. No other excavation has taken place, either within the enclosure or

outside.

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Duloe

South of Bodmin Moor, beyond

Liskeard and on the road to Looe on

the south coast stands the Duloe Stone

Circle. In complete contrast to the

bleak moorland sitings of the area's

other Bronze Age antiquities, this

small circle sits incongruously in a

field behind a small village on theB3254.

This unusual circle differs in other ways to its neighbors in the northern reaches of the

moors too. In comparison to the likes of Stannon and Fernacre, it is tiny, standing only 11.9 x

11.3m in diameter.

Unlike Cornwall's other stone circles, which are made from local granite slabs and

often shaped with tools, Duloe's huge white stones, up to 2.65m high, are of unhewn quartz,

believed to have been carried from the Herodsfoot lead lode about 2 miles to the northwest of

Duloe village.

The stones are aligned to the points of the compass, suggesting that astronomical

observations were made at the site. However, in 1861, when the stones of the circle were re-

erected upon removal of a hedge which cut across the site, a small urn full of bones was

discovered beneath the largest stone. This and the presence of a small mound at the centre of

the circle, suggests dead were buried here also.

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The Hurlers

Near the moorland village of Minions, once prosperous from copper mining but now

reduced to a scattering of houses, lies a Bronze Age stone temple known as The Hurlers.This unusual site consists of three large aligned stone circles, running from NE to SW, built in

a pass, between the River Fowey and the River Lynher, the sides of Stowe's Hill and Caradon

rising to north and south. Multiple or associated circles are not unusual in the south-west of

England and they often lie between rivers at suitable positions for converging people and

traders.

The southern circle is the smallest

(32.9m/108ft across) and it has only

nine stones left; the largest is the

central circle, slightly egg shaped, with

a diameter of 41.8 x 40.5m (137 x

132ft) and 14 stones, while the

northern circle is 34.7 (113ft) across:

15 stones are here, of which four have fallen, and there were probably a further nine. The

central and the northern rings were once linked by a granite pathway along their axis.

All the stones in the circles have been carefully erected so that they all appear the

same height. Some are diamond-shaped, others round, and one has been shaped so that its

uppermost edge is cloven. A spread of quartz crystals in the central circle may have come

from shaping the stones with hammers. The northern circle was crossed by a boundary bank,

and two stones 120m (393ft) to the WSW from the central site could be boundary posts,

although astronomical purposes have been assigned them.

The name The Hurlers refers to an old tradition that the circles are men or women

turned to stone, like The Pipers, The Merry Maidens, Stanton Drew, The King Stone and The

Rollright Stones. According to another legend, it is difficult to count the number of the

Hurlers at Minions, but should you do so correctly, a misfortune will befall you.

Less than 0.8km (0.5mi) away from this circle lies the Rillaton round barrow and

Trethevy Quoit, a fine portal dolmen, is 3.2km (2mi) south.

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Long Meg and her Daughters

On a sloping hillside near Penrith, Cumbria, lies the third largest stone circle in

England (after Avebury and Stanton Drew). Long Meg and her Daughters is composed of alarge ring (more an ellipse than a circle) measuring 300 x 360 feet, and several large outlying

stones. The largest of these outliers is Long Meg, the "mother stone".

Long Meg is a 12 ft high piece of red sandstone standing about 240 ft from the circle

of "daughter" stones. There are faint traces of spiral carvings in the face of Long Meg, in a

style associated with the Bronze Age

(c. 2000-900BCE). These carvings

face away from the circle, a fact which

has prompted speculation that the

stone was erected at a different time

period from the circle. A date of 2500-

2000 BCE has been suggested.The

circle itself is composed of 59 large

stones (the largest is a hefty 29 tons).

These stones are of local porphyritic material. The relationship of Long Meg to the circle

suggests the possibility that it may have been used to sight the midwinter sun. Although on

the ground the stones appear to be unprotected, aerial views show that there was once an

earthen ring surrounding it.

More fascinating than the circle itself (unless you are an archaeologist) are the legends

associated with it. Local folklore says that the stones were a coven of witches. They were

celebrating their Sabbath when a magician (or a saint) found them at it and turned them into

stone. It is said that if the circle is moved or destroyed terrible misfortune (perhaps in the form

of a ferocious storm) will fall upon those responsible.It is also said that the stones are

uncountable (this is a common legend associated with stone circles). Further, the legend says

that if anyone does manage to count the stones twice in a row, the spell will be undone.

Another legend is unique to this site; it is said that if Long Meg herself was damaged, she

would begin to bleed.

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The C.A.U. further speculated that the holed stone would have most likely stood in

line with the perimeter of the circle, with the hole facing the centre such that observations

could be made from the circle in NNW or SSE directions. Suggesting that this site was a

unique example of a ritual site or of an astronomical observatory.

Kris Bond and Andy Norfolk have calculated that the major southern standstill

moonrise could be viewed through the in-line holed stone when sitting near to the centre of

the circle. Bond also notes the similarity in architecture between the proposed Men-an-Tol

circle, the Merry Maidens, (also in Cornwall), and the Little Hound Tor circle in Devon. Each

are orientated on the major southern standstill moonrise. It is also interesting to note that the

remaining line of three stones, a central stone and two flankers, are reminiscent to the great

recumbent stone circles of Aberdeenshire which are also believed to be lunar observatories.

Sir Norman Lockyer identified that the axis of the row aligns with the Beltane (1st of

May) and Lughnasad (1st of August) sunrises to the NE, and to the Imbolc (1st February) and

Samhain (1st November) sunsets in the reverse direction. In addition, John Michell has

reported an alignment with a courtyard settlement at Mulfra, a standing stone, Chysauster

ancient settlement terminating at the hilltop enclosure of Castle-an-Dinas.

Although a number of holed stones are known to exist in Britain, none are specifically

incorporated into stone circles. A stone at Machrie Moor Circle 5, Arran has a small

perforation but can hardly be compared to this site. A holed stone used to exist near to the

great circle henge complex at Avebury, and the holed Stone of Odin used to stand between the

Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness on Orkney.

The unusual nature of these holed stones has attracted much folklore over the

centuries. They are regarded to have special properties of healing, fertility, and divination and

have often been used to seal bargains (see The Long Stone, Gloucestershire). Here, children

were thrice passed naked through the hole and drawn on the grass three times against the sun

(widdershins) to obtain a cure for scrofula (lymphatic tuberculosis) and rickets. Adults too

would crawl through the hole as a cure for scrofula or back complaints. But they would need

to pass through nine times to find healing. Paul Devereux has shown that the radiation levels

around the inside edges of the hole are approximately twice that found in the background

environment - coincidence or relevant?

It has also been suggested that passing through the stone could signify a ritual

rebirthing process, perhaps performed as a rite of passage or to ensure fertility. Robert Hunt,

writing in 1856, recalls the belief that the holed stone could answer any question put to it by

moving two brass pins laid across one another on its top edge.

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So, even after all of the attention that this site has attracted over the millennia, it still

manages to retain its secrets. This mysterious and enigmatic structure is one of the many

jewels in the crown of West Penwith. It is perhaps best visited on a crisp and sunny winters

day when the gorse is less likely to be an obstacle and the pure air facilitates a clear view

across the heath on this ancient and magical peninsula.

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Merry Maidens

The most well known, most accessible, best preserved and most popular of the stone

circles at the Western tip of Cornwall, on a warm summers day the Merry Maidens receive a

steady stream of visitors of all nationalities and descriptions.

The Merry Maidens themselves consist of nineteen dressed granite blocks of between

0.9 and 1.2 metres in height with a diametre of around 23 metres and is therefore very similar

in size and design to the more secluded Boscawen-un a few miles to the North-West.

However, while Boscawen-un has it's guardian standing stone in the centre of the circle, the

Maidens also known as the Rosemodress or Dans Maen (Stone Dance), have theirs outside of the circle, the two massive Pipers stand out of sight in a field to the North-East. There are also

two other stones associated with this site, and herein lies some confusion. Some sources quote

The Fiddler, just to the West of the circle, while others mention The Blind Fiddler, a couple of

miles to the North, and shown above.

The Merry Maidens are also called Dawn's Men. This name has nothing to do with

sunrise: it is a corruption of Dans Maen, or Stone Dance in Cornish: a story of nineteen

maidens dancing on a Sunday who were transformed into stones. The pipers that had played

for them were petrified too: the two standing stones called the Pipers are in a field to the

north-east of the circle. This legend was probably initiated by the early Christian Church to

stop the pagan Cornish peasantry continuing old habits.

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The Pipers

The Pipers are two tall stones lying in a field not far from the Merry Maidens stone

circle. Local tradition tells that 19 maidens were turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday to

the music of two pipers, who were also petrified for their transgression of the Sabbath.

The first of the two stones is 320m to the north-east of the circle: it is 4.6m (15ft)

high and is the tallest stone in Cornwall. The other Piper is almost 100m (328ft) up the hill: it

is 4.2m (13ft 7in) high and is not visible from its stone partner. It is worth noting that these

standing stones were never visible from the circle even after an inconvenient stone wall was

temporarily removed to facilitate an astronomical survey. In contrast, the Goon Rith standingstone, 2.7m high, is plainly visible to the west of the Merry Maidens circle.

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Nine Stones

It is a little, elliptical stone circle 9.1 x 7.9m (30 x 26ft) wide situated beside the main

road (A35) within a railed enclosure and shaded by trees. There is a resemblance to Kingston

Russel, a slightly larger stone circle two and a half miles south-west, for both sites were once

graded to the north

Also known as the Grey

Ladies, or just plain Nine Stones, this

circle is the only site left in

Derbyshire with stones as high as aperson, though others may have

existed once and the stones at Arbor

Low would have been taller when

they were erect. The site stands on a

rise of ground, west from Stanton

Moor, and lower lying. It is close to the large Castle Ring hill fort, dating from the Iron Age, a

millennium later.

Only four large stones are all that now remains of Nine Stones Close, and the damage

does not seem to be recent, as earlier records of the site show it to be in a similar state. The

Nine Stones, in fact, contain two conspicuously taller stones, 1.2m (3.9ft) and 2.1m (6.8ft)

high, on either side of a low block at true north. As one is a thin pillar and the other a broad,

almost square slab, they could possibly be sexual symbols. Opposite to them are the lowest

stones of the complex.

The biggest stone, eight tons in weight, needed many people to move and erect it, but

the ring itself could accommodate only a few. The site might more suitably be seen as a focal

point for one or two participants, the remainder of the small community outside watching

ceremonies that here, unlike in the North of Britain, contained no cremation deposits. This

stone circle, like many of the scattered Dorset ovals, is probably of the Bronze Age.

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The King Stone

The King Stone lies 73m to the north-east of the

Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire, not far from a burial

chamber locally known as The Whispering Knights. This

2.5m (8ft) tall and 1.5m (5ft) wide standing stone is

placed behind an iron fence, across the road that runs

between the menhir and the circle. In fact this twisted

stone, bent like a hunched hag and still undated, lies in

another county: Warwickshire. Recent excavations

indicated that the stone could have been a marker for aburial mound, and a round cairn was discovered a few

meters across, to the NNW. A natural mound which once

stood nearby, called the Archdruid's Barrow, is now

reduced by ploughing.

The legend says that all the stones in this area were once human beings: a king and

his army. They were met by a witch who owned the land over which the ambitious conqueror

marched. She said to the king:

Seven long strides shalt thou take,

If Long Compton thou can see

King of England thou shalt be.

And the king shouted:

Stick, stock, stone,

As King of England I shall be known.

But when he had taken the seven strides, all he could see was the Archdruid's Barrow,

which blocked his view of the village in the valley below.

The witch cried:

As Long Compton thou canst not see,

King of England thou shalt not be.

Rise up stick, and stand still stone,

For King of England thou shalt be none.

Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be

And I myself an eldern tree.

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So the King became the solitary King Stone, his men the Rollright Stones circle, and

his knights the Whispering Knights burial chamber.1

The King Stone may originally have been somewhat bigger than it is now; people

used to chip pieces off it as good luck charms. They included soldiers who took the chips into

battle, and Welsh drovers who came by with their herds of cattle. There are many other

legends attached to the King Stone. It is said that dreadful noises were heard when a man,

using 24 horses, removed the stone to his house; when he took it back only two horses were

needed for the return journey. Another story tells how the King Stone goes down to a spring

in Little Rollright spinney to drink, but only when he hears Long Compton church clock strike

The King's Men

The most extensive monument is a ceremonial stone circle known as the King's Men.

This is a ring of 77 stones, about 35 metre in diameter. The stone circle is currently

surrounded by a

slightly wooded glade

of fir trees.

The trees

around the stone circle

are open on the Eastern

side, allowing a view to

the horizon. The rising

of the Sun and, more

importantly, the Moon, had special meanings to some ancient peoples. From one spiritual

perspective they symbolised the resurrection of their King. That idea may have had greater

importance for the society, and a deeper meaning, than it does today.

1 .Geoffrey Wainwright, Thames & Judson. The Henge monument: Ceremony and Society in Prehistoric Britain.

1989.

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The Whispering Knights

About 100 metres from the

King's Men, in a location that

doesn't seem to have any special

significance today, is a group of 5

large stones, known as the

Whispering Knights. The

Whispering Knights formed aNeolithic burial chamber, a long

barrow. Over the course of millennia, the chamber has been looted, the soil removed, and the

stone structure has collapsed.

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Stanton Drew

This huge megalithic complex consists of three stone circles, two stone avenues, a

cove of stones and an outlier. The Great Circle, the second largest English stone ring after

the outer circle at Avebury, is 112m

(368ft) in diameter and is composed

of 27 stones. Beside it lies the

North-East Ring. It is 29.6m (97ft)

across and its eight massive

boulders, four of which still

standing, are the biggest of the

entire complex. The South-West

Ring, badly ruined and on private

land, is not open to the public.

From the two visible circles there are two avenues running eastward towards the river Chew.

The avenue starting from the North-East Ring, composed of seven surviving stones, and the

wrecked one extending from the Great Circle, if continued, would have merged into one. The

Cove, in a straight line with the centre of the two accessible stone circles, consists of two

huge upright stones with a recumbent slab lying between them. They are blocks of dolomitic

breccia, while the circles' stones are of pustular breccia and oolitic limestone. The Outlier,

also known as Hautville's Quoit, lies half a kilometer (1850ft) north-east of the circles, on a

high ridge. It is a sandstone boulder, now recumbent, and it is in a straight line with thecentres of the Great Circle and the South-West Ring.

English Heritage's Ancient Monuments Laboratory scientists, in recent geophysical

research of the site (examining it with a portable magnetometer, without having to dig), have

discovered that within the Great Circle are the remains of a highly elaborate pattern of buried

pits that once held massive posts. They are arranged in nine rings concentric with the stone

circle, at the centre of which are further pits. The rings vary in diameter from 23m to 95m

(75.5ft to 311.7ft). The magnetometer survey also revealed that the Great Circle is itself

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contained within a very large ditch 135m (443ft) in diameter. Twice as large as Stonehenge,

this prehistoric ceremonial site has been described as the biggest in Britain.

There are several local traditional stories about the megalithic complex. The best

known tells how a wedding party was turned to stone: the party was held throughout

Saturday, but a man clothed in black (the Devil in disguise) came and started to play his violin

for the merrymakers after midnight, continuing into holy Sunday morning. When dawn broke,

everybody had been turned to stone by the Demon: so the stone circles are the dancers, the

avenues are the fiddlers and the Cove is the bride and the groom with the drunken churchman

at their feet. They are still awaiting the Devil who promised to come back someday and play

again for them. Another legend, shared with Long Meg and Her Daughters and many other

megalithic monuments says that the Stanton Drew's stones are uncountable. John Wood

reported this story in 1750; when he tried to count the stones, a thunderstorm broke out.

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http://www.stonepages.com/england/longmeg.html

http://www.stonepages.com/england/longmeg.html



Lanyon Quoit

Lanyon Quoit is the best-known Cornish quoit, as it stands right beside the road

leading from Madron to Morvah. This dolmen collapsed during a storm in 1815 and was re-

erected nine years later, with money raised

by subscription among the local inhabitants.

The reconstruction was not accurate because

one of the uprights broke during the collapse

and only three were reused. As a result, the

quoit is now not so high as it was in the past.In fact, until the 18th century it was possible

to sit on horseback beneath it. The capstone is 2.7 x 5.25m (9ft x 17.5ft) wheighing 13.5 tons;

the chamber height is about 2m (7ft).

Believed to be the burial chamber of a long mound, Lanyon Quoit is unusual in many

ways and may have been more of a mausoleum or cenotaph than a grave. Recent theories

suggest that these megalithic monuments were never completely covered by mounds but that

their granite capstone and front portal stones were left uncovered to form a dramatic

background to the ceremonies performed there.

A number of other barrows once stood close by Lanyon Quoit in addition to a longstone

about 90m (100 yards) to the north-west. At the southern end of the mound surrounding the

quoit are the remains of a number of stone burial boxes (cists), but it is unclear whether these

formed part of a single elongated mound with the quoit, or whether they were a quite separate

later addition to the site.

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THE DRUIDS 2

The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient Celtic nations

in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our information respecting them is borrowed from notices in

the Greek and Roman writers, compared with the remains of Welsh and Gaelic poetry still

extant.

The Druids combined the functions of the priest,

the magistrate, the scholar, and the physician. They stood

to the people of the Celtic tribes in a relation closely

analogous to that in which the Brahmans of India, the

Magi of Persia, and the priests of the Egyptians stood to

the people respectively by whom they were revered.

The Druids taught the existence of one god, to

whom they gave a name “Be’ al,” which Celtic

antiquaries tell us means “the life of everything,” or “the

source of all beings,” and which seems to have affinity

with the Phœnician Baal. What renders this affinity more

striking is that the Druids as well as the Phœnicians identified their supreme deity with the

Sun. Fire was regarded as a symbol of the divinity. The Latin writers assert that the Druids

also worshipped numerous inferior gods.

They used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor did they meet in

temples or buildings of any kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones

(each stone generally of vast size), enclosing an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in

diameter, constituted their sacred place. The most celebrated of these now remaining is

Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, England.

In the centre of the circle stood the Cromlech or altar, which was a large stone, placed

in the manner of a table upon other stones set up on end. The Druids had also their high

places, which were large stones or piles of stones on the summits of hills. These were called

Cairns, and were used in the worship of the deity under the symbol of the sun.

The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The former took place in the

beginning of May, and was called Beltane or “fire of God.” On this occasion a large fire was

2 Thomas Bulfinch (1796–1867). Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. 1913.

25



kindled on some elevated spot, in honor of the sun, whose returning beneficence they thus

welcomed after the gloom and desolation of winter. Of this custom a trace remains in the

name given to Whitsunday in parts of Scotland to this day. Sir Walter Scott uses the word in

the “Boat Song” in the “Lady of the Lake”:

“Ours is no sapling, chance sown by the fountain,

Blooming at Beltane in winter to fade;”

The other great festival of the Druids was called “Samh’in,” or “fire of peace,” and

was held on Halloweve (first of November), which still retains this designation in the

Highlands of Scotland. Besides these two great annual festivals, the Druids were in the habit

of observing the full moon, and especially the sixth day of the moon. On the latter they sought

the Mistletoe, which grew on their favorite oaks, and to which, as well as to the oak itself,

they ascribed a peculiar virtue and sacredness. The discovery of it was an occasion of

rejoicing and solemn worship. “They call it,” says Pliny, “by a word in their language, which

means ‘heal-all,’ and having made solemn preparation for feasting and sacrifice under the

tree, they drive thither two milk-white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time bound.

The priest then, robed in white, ascends the tree, and cuts off the mistletoe with a golden

sickle. It is caught in a white mantle, after which they proceed to slay the victims, at the same

time praying that God would render his gift prosperous to those to whom he had given it.”

They drink the water in which it has been infused, and think it a remedy for all diseases. The

mistletoe is a parasitic plant, and is not always nor often found on the oak, so that when it is

found it is the more precious.

The Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of religion. Of their ethical

teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from this we

may gather that their views of moral rectitude were on the whole just, and that they held and

inculcated many very noble and valuable principles of conduct. They were also the men of

science and learning of their age and people. Whether they were acquainted with letters or not

has been disputed, though the probability is strong that they were, to some extent. But it is

certain that they committed nothing of their doctrine, their history, or their poetry to writing.

Their teaching was oral, and their literature (if such a word may be used in such a case) was

preserved solely by tradition. But the Roman writers admit that “they paid much attention to

the order and laws of nature, and investigated and taught to the youth under their charge many

things concerning the stars and their motions, the size of the world and the lands, and

concerning the might and power of the immortal gods.”

26



The Druidical system was at its height at the time of the Roman invasion under Julius

Cæsar. Against the Druids, as their chief enemies, these conquerors of the world directed their

unsparing fury. The Druids, harassed at all points on the mainland, retreated to Anglesey and

Iona, where for a season they found shelter and continued their now dishonored rites.

The Druids retained their predominance in Iona and over the adjacent islands and

mainland until they were supplanted and their superstitions overturned by the arrival of St.

Columba, the apostle of the Highlands, by whom the inhabitants of that district were first led

to profess Christianity.

27



Conclusion

During the last century archaeologists and antiquarians started to adopt a morescientific approach to the study of "megalithic piles".

The realization was dawning that human prehistory was much older than had

previously been suspected, and the division of prehistory into the Stone, Bronze and Iron

Ages was firmly established. There were theories that claimed that The Druids had been

responsible for all megalithic things, but these theories started to lose favour as rigorous

fieldwork became the flavour of the day.

At the same time interest in stellar alignments was growing. It was suggested that the

King Stone was aligned with the rising of the star Capella or the setting of Alpha Centauri,

and various attempts were made to compare the architecture of the Rollrights with that of

Stonehenge. All sorts of known theories proposed to support idiosyncratic ideas. However,

the ancient builders of the Circle did create an sightline to the major rising of the midsummer

moon.

The period between the 1920's and the 1950's saw a revival of straight archaeology at

Stone Circles. Some astrologists made some research into the astronomical alignments,

geometry and mathematics of Stone Circles, in which he demonstrated that many megaliths

served an ancient astronomical function. Orthodox archaeology considered that Neolithic men

and women possessed considerable, and now lost, mathematical skills. Since then, interest in

megalithic studies has been on the increase, with some of the more radical claims for

prehistoric science being balanced by traditional archaeology.

But, even though there are many theories that try to explain the purpose of the Stone

Circles, these monuments continue to remain an enigma for us.

Stone Circles remain a steadfast observer of the world, watching the seasons changing

from summer to winter to spring and back again thousands of times over. But it also bears

witness to movements in the heavens, observing the rhythm of the Moon, and more

noticeably, of the Sun.

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Bibliography

• Terence Meaden: “The Secrets of the Avebury Stones” .Edit. Chancellor

Press-1990

• Thomas Bulfinch. “Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes.

Edit. Nivera-1978

• Geoffrey Wainwright, Thames & Judson. “The Henge Monument: Ceremony

and Society in prehistoric Britain”. Edit. Amazon-1995

• *** “The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology”. Chancellor Press-1998

• easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~aburnham/eng/swinside.htm

• web.ukonline.co.uk/megalithics.htm

• www.anima.demon.co.uk.htm

• www.visitcumbria.com-easter.htm

http://www.anima.demon.co.uk.htm/

http://www.anima.demon.co.uk.htm/

the legacy of the stone

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