On Three Stone Circles in Cumberland, with Some Further Observations on the Relation of Stone Circles to Adjacent Hills and Outlying Stones. Author(s): A. L. Lewis Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 15 (1886), pp. 471-481 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2841826 . Accessed: 11/06/2014 13:04

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions A. L. LEwIs.-On ThreeStone Circles in Curnberland,&c. 471

The followingpaper was read by the author:

On THREESTONE CIRCLES in CUMBERLAND,with somefuather observationson theRELATION of STONECIRCLES to ADJACENT HILLS and OUTLYINGSTONES. By A. L. LEWIS,F.C.A., M.A.I. [WITH PLATEXX.] ABOUT four years ago I had the honour of reading a paper beforethis Instituteon the " Relationof Stone Circlesto Out- lyingStones or NeighbouringHills," whichwas printedin the Journalfor November, 1882. In that paper I showed,from an examinationof eighteenstone circles in England and Wales, and the bearing fromthem either of singlestones or of other circles,or of prominenthills, that there was in that particular a very marked preponderanceof relationor referenceto the north-east(the quarterin whichthe sun risesin this countryat midsummer); the quarterswhich took the second and third places,though at a considerabledistance, being the south-east and south-west;so that we may take the line south-westto north-eastas being speciallycharacteristic of circles,iD opposi- tion to the line nlorth-westto south-east,which is mostusual in stonechambers and similarpurely sepulchral monuments. Since that paper was publishedI have visited three well- knowncircles in Cumberland,and as what I have observedin connectionwith them,although not preciselywhat I expected, is even mnoreremarkable than I had anticipated,I propose in the firstplace to describethose circles and theirsurroundings to you as brieflyas I can, thento groupthe resultsobtained from themwith those stated in my formerpaper, and, in conclusion, to make somegeneral observations on the subject. The largest circle in Cumberlandis "Long Meg and her Daughters,"about seven miles north-eastfrom Penrith. It con- sists of about seventystones of various sizes, of which only twenty-sevenare now erect,forming a ratherirregular oval, 305 feetfrom north to south,and 360 feetfrom east to west,having a clearlymarked special entranceto thesouth-west, indicated by two stones placed outside the others,one on each side of the entrance; this entranceleads directlyto the largest stone of the group," Long Meg " itself,which is 13 feethigh, and stands as nearlyas possibledue south-westfrom the centreof the ring, about 250 feetfrom that point, and 80 fromthe circumference. Althoughthe entranceand outlyingstone, which are the most remarkablefeatures of this circle,stand to thesouth-west, instead of the north-east,they are in the same generalline, south-west to north-east,of which I have previouslyspoken, and there is, I 2 i 2

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 472 A. L. LEwIs.-On ThreeStone Circles in Cumberland,&c.

think,great reason to believe that a stone or stones formerly stood not exactlynorth-east from the centre of the circle,but about 60 degrees,or two-thirdsof the way, north from east. About 1,100 feetfrom the centreof the circle in this direction I noticed a peculiarprojecting angle in a fencewhich appears to have been run out to thatpoint as though some landmark had formerlystood there,and, at this angle,at the footof the hedge,was a loose stone,about 3 feetby 2 by 1, while another smaller but considerablefragment was built into a fenceclose by. After I had writtenthe sentencesI have just read,I was placed in communicationwith Mr. Jared Turnbull, schoolmaster, of Maughanby,who has kindly made inquiries amongstthe oldest inhabitants,and has found two old men who remember the small stone at the angle I have just mentionedfrom their boyhood,so that it is not a recentdeposit. One of these men also remembersa small standingstone close by. Mr. Turnbull has sincefound other stones close by this spot,some brokenand someburied, but whetherin situor not is uncertain. Thesemay have formedpart of a " circleof twentystones 50 feetdiameter, and at some distance above it a single stone regardingit as Long Meg does her circle,"of which Stukeleyspeaks, but in a mannerwhich would lead to the beliefthat it was furtherawav fromLong Meg; whether,however, it was. a circle (and Mr. Turnbullthinks that the one mentionedby Stukeleymust have been close by) or whetherit were only one or morestones that stood there,the north-easterlyposition in referenceto Long Meg would be the same,and I thereforeregister Long Meg as showing certainreferences to thesouth-west and north-east.I have taken you at somelength through the various steps by whichI have been able firstto suspect,and thento establish,the formerexistence of these stones,because I thinkthere can be no betterproof of the persistenceof the north-easterlyreference in thecircles than that a beliefin it shouldhave enabledme to restorethe memory of these stones,all knowledgeof whichwould otherwiseperhaps have been lost.' Theremay, however, possibly have been anothernorth-easterly referenceat Long Meg; 27 degreesnorth of east,and 638 yards fromthe centre of that circle (according to Mr.Dymond's measure- ment),are eleven stones of good size, close to each other,and formingin theirpresent position a sortof horse-shoe, surrounding

1 Camdensays ofLong Meg (1557): " Inside the circleare twoheaps of stones underwhich theysay the bodies of the slain were buried." These heaps had nearlydisappeared in Stukeley'stime (1750), and no tracesof them are to be found,now. It is not unlikelythat intermentsmay have been made inside the ring; but I do not fora momentbelieve that sepulturewas its principalobject.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions A. L. LEwIs.-On ThreeStone Circles in Cumberland,&c. 473

a hole which formerlycontained a cist. Up to about twenty years ago these stones were almost covered with earth and cobble stones, which were then removedto be put on the surroundingfield, the cist being uncoveredand destroyed. The Rev. J. Simpson,in describingits discoveryto the Societyof Antiquaries,in January,1866, statedthat an urn of verycoarse materialand not ornamented,which fell to pieces, was foundin the cist,and was full of burntbones and charcoal,that the cist also was fuLllof black earthdifferent from that outside,but that nothing else was found. An observationwhich bears more particularlyon the point I have in view I give in his own words: "As most of the large stonesforming the circle were coveredwith earth, and all ofthem partly so, it is not too much to inferthat the circleof stonesmay firsthave existed,that the cist was formedand theurn containing burnt bones and charcoal depositedtherein, and the cairn over them formedat a later periodthan when the stoneswere first plwaed in the circle." If this were so we should have this little circle about 18 feetin diameter(some of the stonesof which, however, would have been 6 feethigh), standing 27 degrees northof east fromLong Meg, and possiblyforming with it and the othercircle mentioned by Stukeley,the remainsand approximatesite of which I have already spoken of, a system of circles somewhat resembling those at Stanton Drew, in Somersetshire,in character,though differingfrom them considerably in details of arrangement. A circumstancewhich makes it moreprobable that this littlecircle was, as Mr. Simpson suggests,originally uncovered, is that on the stone nearest the north-eastare the faint remains of a concentricmarking and a spiral markingwhich would have been less likelyto have been cut on a stonewhich was intended to be buriedthan on one which was intendedto be exposed. There are also concentricmarkings on "Long Meg" herself. Anotherpoint is that, if this circle were originallyuncovered and were at a later period throwndown and covered up to form a tomb, its original constructionmust have been very early,since the intermentitself was not of a verylate type.' The next circle which I have to draw your attentionto is a mile and a half east fromKeswick. It is known as the " Druids' Temple,"and consistsat thepresent time of forty-eight stones; it is about 105 feetin diameterfrom north to south,by 95 feetfrom east to west,and it occupies the grandestposition in which I have ever seen a circle placed. Standing in the

t Mr. Simpson also says: " In an adjoiningfield nearerto Long Meg there appearsto have been anotherstone circle,but I could not learn whetherthere had been a cairn,and if so when and by whom it was removed." This was probablyStukeley's circle already mentioned.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 474 A. L. LEwIS.-On ThreeStone Circles in Curmberland,&c.

centre,and lookingnorthward through what seemsto have been the entrance,the visitor sees a gap orvalley flankedby Skiddaw on the north-westand by Blencathraon the north-east;these giganticsentinels beinig only from three to fourmiles away,and rising about 2,000 feet above the level of the circle,not only withoutany interveeninghills to dwarftheir height, but withan interveningvalley to increaseit, are by far the most striking objectsin the surroundinglandscape; their summits are not exactlynorth-east and north-westfrom the centreof the circle, but aboutten degreesnorth of thosepoints. Had thecircle been placed furthernorth so as to bringthose summits to truenorth- east and north-westit would have stood upon much lower ground,and the view fromit in other directionswould have been spoiled; still it standsso symmetricallyin relationto those twohills thatit can hardlybe doubtedthat its buildersselected thesite with special reference to them. Thereis, moreover,a stone (7 or 8 feetlong by 4 wide) lying prostratein a lane perhaps 100 feetnorth-west from the circle: this stonehas not,so faras I know,been noticedby any one else, but it no doubt formerly stooderect either at truenorth-west or in line withthe summit of Skiddaw a littlenorth of true north-west. There was most likely a similar stone to the north-east,but I could findno tracesof it, so supposethat if it ever existedit has been buried or brokenup. The summitto thenorth-east, Blencathra, it must be remarked,presents a triple peak as seen fromthe circle; while that to the north-west,Skiddaw, presents only a single peak. The hills in other directions,though inexpressibly beautiful,exhibit no such strikingfeatures as those already noticed; they are either lower,or furtheroff and masked by interveningbut smallermasses, and oftenhidden by cloudsand mist. The higheststone in the circle (7- feet high) stands about as much northfrom south-east from the centreas Blen- cathra is northfrom north-east, and, lookingover it, the eye rests upon a summit. There is also a notable summitabout truewest, one about ten degreesnorth of east,and anotherabout seven miles due south; but the others,which are many,do not stand at any leading point of the compass. I registerthis circle,therefore, as exhibitinga special referenceto the north- east, north,north-west, and south-eastcertain, and east, south, and west doubtful. (Plate XX, fig.1.) Thereis a detail of constructionin this circlewhich I have neverheard of elsewhere. In that part of it whichis between east and south-eastfrom the centreis an oblong enclosure22 feetby 11, the east end of whichis formedby the circleitself, the otherstones of whichit is composedbeing only 3 feethigh.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions A. L. LEWIS.-On ThreeStone Circles in Cumberland,&c. 475

I have no evidence as to its purpose,but it suggestsan ininer courtor sanctuary. At Swinside (or, as it used to be called, Swineshead),about six miles northfrom Millom, in Cumberland,and fourwest from Broughtonin Furness,is a circle,the last I have to describe, whichGough (Camden's " Britannia,"p. 432) says the country people call the " Sunken Kirk,"i.e., the church sunk into the earth; a name which,I may point out,suggests a traditionof use for some dead and buried formof public worship. This circle,which is about 90 feetin diameter,has 55 stonesremain- ing, the measurementsof which vary from1 to 8 feet; the entrance,6 to 7 feet wide,is markedby a secondstone placed on each side of it outsidethe circle,and facesnearly south-east. Gough speaks of some stones sunk in the earth in the centre whichare not now visible. I did not findany outlyingstones, but thereis a veryprominent hill almost due south-westfrom the centreof the circle,and towardsthe north-eastthere is a lower groupof three summits. I thereforeregister this circle as having special referencesto the north-east,south-west, and south-east. (Plate XX, fig.2.) It does not appear fromthe accounts given of theseremains by the antiquariesof formergenerations that they have suffered any greatdamage during the last hundredyears or more,though manyunnoted stones near "Long Meg " seem to have been movedand brokenwithin the last thirtyyears. Extremely excellent plans and descriptionsof the three circlesI have just describedhave been publishedin theJournal of the BritishArchaeological Association (1878) by Mr. C. W. Dymond,C.E., F.S.A., to whichI may confidentlyrefer you for any furtheror moreminute details as to the sizes of the stones, &c. Mr. Dymond pointsout thatthe stonesof all these circlet are set in a slight bank, the banks at Keswick and Swinside being composedof small stonesso as to make the larger ones stand more steadily; and that,all three being furnishedwith speciallymarked entrances, it is more probable thatthey were used for processionalceremonies of some kind than that they were,as some would have us believe,places of intermentand nothingelse. Mr. Dymond, who has also surveyedseveral other circles in the same minutelyaccurate manner,says, in a letter to me: " I too have in many instances observedthe referenceof strikingfeatures to a north-eastand south-west line, but not with sufficientemphasis or consistencyto lead to formingany theoryon the subject." On referringto the annexed table,showing the totalsof the previouslist of eighteencircles added to thetabulated particulars of the threecircles just described,we finda vast preponderance

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 476 A. L. LEWIS.-On ThreeStone Circles in Cumberland,&c.

of strikingfeatures towards the north-eastin particular,and also in the line north-eastto south-west,and on looking more ninutelyat the detailsof each case we findsome otherpoints worthyof note. Where the ground is comparativelyflat we find single outlyingstones or other circles,but in veryhilly countriesthe singlestones seem to lead the eye up to prominent hill-tops,or even to be altogethersuperseded by them. I have freqtuentlythought that an objectionmight fairly be made to the connectionof the circles with the hills on account of the distance between them,and I was thereforepleased to find, fromSir Charles Warren?sbook, " The Temple or the Tomb," that there was an altar on th-eMoullt of Olives to whichthe High Priestand his assistants;went annually in processionfrom the Temple at Jerusalem,a.nd where theyburnt a heifer,and that this altar was due east or slightlynorth of east fromthe sanctuary,according to the'Talmud,which says, "All the walls werehigh except the eastermwall, that the priestwho burned the heifermight stand on the top of the Mount of Olives and look straightinto the doorof the -sanctuarywhen he sprinkledthe blood." Takingthis fact in conjunctionwith the vision of Ezekiel (viii,16), in whichhe saw " at thedoor of thetemple of Jehovah, betweenthe porch and the altar,about five and twentymen, with theirbacks towardthe templeof Jehovah and theirfaces toward the east" (thatis towardthe Mount of Olives),worshipping " the sun towardthe east,"it would seein probable thatthis annual processionto the Mount of Olives was in some measure a Judaic concessionto an earliersun worship,such as has been frequentin Christiantimes-and countries; nor is it unlikely that thatpart of the vision of Ezekiel was simplya statement of a very usual occurrence,for, says Captain Conder in his " Heth and Moab "-" The menhiris the emblemof an ancient deity,the circle is a sacred enclosurewithout which the Arab still standswith his face to the risingsun." My special object, however,in mentioningthe Mount of Olives is to show that there is nothingunreasonable in connectinga prominenthill with a sanctuaryor circleat a moderatedistance from it, and so high a value is attachedto anythingrelating to the temple at Jerusalemthat I presumeno betterinstance could be wished for; indeed,I ratherfear that this possible similaritymay be seized upon by some ingeniouspeople as a 999th identification of the British with the lost tribes,but I would remind any such personsthat sun-worshipwas not so much a Jewishas a Canaanitishpractice, or perhaps I should say a practicemore or less commonto all pagans. An American traveller,Dr. Robinson,says, for instance,of a temple at Baal Hermon,"It frontsdirectly upon the great chasm, looking up the mighty

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Vol. XV, PI. XX.

,~~~

FIG. 1 THE "DRUID STONES" NEAR KESWICK.

FIG. 2.-CIRCLE AT SWINSIDE, CUMBERLAND.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions A. L. LEwIs.-On ThreeStone Circles in, lumberland,&c. 477

gorge as if to catch the firstbeams of the morningsun rising over Hermon." There is yet anotherpoint worthnoticing about these out- lyinghills, which is indeed that which I referredto in the first instance as being particularlyremarkable, namely, that on the north-eastside of the circle we frequentlyfind a group of three summits instead of a single summit; this is the case at Penmaenmawr,at the Hoar-stone in Shropshire, and at two out of three of the Cumbrian circles I have just described; and it may also be the case elsewhere,without having been noticedeven by myself,for it is not until several instanceshave forcedthemselves upon one's observationthat any importanceis attached to them. In otherdirections than the north-eastI have only noticed single summits,and a sym- bolismof three and one mayoften be detectedin the arrangement of the stonesof our rude stone monuments. The Abb6 Collet (writingabout 1869) says that thereis a beliefin a certainpart of Brittanythat the sun risingover the Pic de Malabri presents on TrinitySunday threediscs which afterwardsunite in one; here we have the sun and the mountainsmixed up witha trini- tarianbelief in a mannerwhich is doubt]essthe resultof some such ancient superstitionor symbolismas I suppose to have influencedthe buildersof the rude stone monuments. Triple summits,indeed, as, forinstance, the Eildon Hills, have always been an object of superstitioustraditions, and the life-giving rays of the sun fallinginto a circleover a triple summitmay notunreasonably be regardedas an instanceof phallic symbolism. In the relation betweenstone circles and adjacent hills and outlyingstones, we may thereforefind suggestionsnot onlyof sun-worship,but of mountainworship and phallic worship,not all of which,however, would necessarilyhave been any more obviousto everyworshipper in the circlesthan are theemblems which the initiatedcan trace in the architectureof our own ecclesiasticalbuildings to everyworshipper in them. Amongstthe many curious points conniected with this subject of orientation,I must,in conclusion,call your attentionto the following:-The sides of all rectangularsacred buildings in Egypt were set north,east, south,and west; but in Chaldea the angles of the sacred buildings,with only one knownexception, were set to thosepoints, so thatthe sides faced north-east, south- east,south-west, and north-west,the north-eastside being called the Eastern region (so that the north-eastand the east may be regardedas verymuch the same forall symbolicpurposes), the south-eastside being called the Southernregion, the south- west side the Western region, and the north-westside the Northern region. The Greeks looked on the omens that

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 478 A. L. LEwls.-On Thr"eeStone Circlesin Cumberlcand,&c.

appeared to their right as being prosperous,but the Romans looked on those that appearedto 'theirleft as beingprosperous. Cicero noticed this difference,but I do not know that he or any one else has ever fullyexplained its cause,which I take to be this:-The Greeks in theiraugural ceremoniesturned their faces to the north,and their riaht hands to the east, so that the favourablequarter would be in the north-east; but the Romans stoodfacing the east,so thatthe north-eastor favourable quarterwas on theirleft. We see, then,that bothpeoples con- sideredthe favourablequarter to be thenorth-east, which is the quarterI have shownto be mostfavoured by the circle-builders, the south-eastaspect being reservedby them for sepulchral chambersand winteraltars, even as the statuewith a southern aspect at Memphis,which Herodotus speaks of, went by the name of winter,and was entirelyneglected, while that which looked to the northwardwas adoredunder the name of summer. The small amount of evidencewhich I have as yet obtained indicates that the Roman temples were placed like those of Egypt,but I am not certain about the Greekbuildings; some I know followedthe Egyptianrule, but the Lycian tombs,great part of one of whichwas placed by Sir C. Fellows in the British Museum,followed the Babyloniansystem. There may even be a certaincorrelation of the Roman augural positionwith the Egyptiansystem of orientation, and ofthe Greekaugural position with the Chaldean systemof orientation:for, if a man stood at the north-eastor fortunateangle of a squareset in the Egyptian manner he might assume either the Greek or the Roman position,probably the latter; but if the square were set in the Chaldean manner,he would almostcertainly assume the Greek position. The positions of the outlying stones and hills in referenceto the circles seem,however, to be nlore in accord- ance with the Chaldean system of orientationthan with the Egyptian,'nor is this the only thing in which a resemblance may be traced between the customs of Western Europe and Chaldea.2 It may be that an indirectChaldean influencewas conveyed in our directionby a Greco-Phbenicianchannel, and that this questionof orientationmay hereafterbe foundto have some small value amongstother thingsin indicating-different lines along whichthought and culturehave travelled. I The annexedtable shows manymore references, not onlyto the north-east, but to the south-west,south-east, and north-west,than to the north,east, south, or west,especially when the proportionbetween certain and doubtfulis taken into account. 2 See my paper on "ApparentCoincidences of Custom and Belief amorngthe Ancient Chaldeansand Peoples of WesternEurope " in the " Journ. Anthrop. Inst." for1816.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SECOND LIST OF CIRCLES measuredin SouthernBritain, showing the nature and directionof any apparentreferences in them 1 or by externalobjects, to differentpoints of the compass.,

Name. N. N.E. E. SE. S. S.W. W. N.W. I2

Long Megand her Daugh- ... Stone or stones, ...... "Long Meg" ters(near Penrith,Cum- formerlystand- and entrance berland). ing 600 N. of E. S.W. fromcen- -_ from centre of tre of circle. circle. Druids' Temple(Keswick, Entrance at N. Triple summit Largest stone in ... m Cumberland). Skiddaw Moun- of Blencathra ii | circlec .aand hihill- j tain and fallen Mountain to A hlll-top. top in line. w A hill-top. w - A hill-top. stone to N.W.2 c N.E. Small enclo- < I sure in S.E. AJ quarter of circle. Sunken Kirk (Swinside, ... Three hill-tops ... Entrance atS.E.E .. Summitof Black- .. Ahigh hill, C Cumberland). to N.E. combe due bJ t not g S.W. standing co out so . clearly as - - ______theothers.

Total of second list... 3 1 certain. 3 certain. I doubtful. 2 certain. 1 doubtful. 2 certain. I doubtful. 2 {1 certain.} 11 certain. du Total of firstlist ...... 18 | ...... do ubtful. f4 certain. 431 certain. 5certain. 2dbt1 f2 certain. |l5nL 4 u b3 doubtful. 1 doubtful. 11 doubtftul. ou. 2 doubtful. ?

Total of both lists ... 21 1 certain. 18 f 14 certain. 4 dfo { 3l 6 certain. f3 certain. 8 7 certain. {3 certain., 4 doubtful.f3 doubtful. 5 12 doubtful. ii doubtful.|}3 doubtful. 6 3 doubtful.

1 First List published in "Journ. Anthrop. Inst.," November, 1882. 2 Mr. Dymond has lately suggested to me that this stone may be part of a circle which Stukeley says formerlyexisted in the next field.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 480 Disaussion.

Explanationof Plate XX. Fig. 1.-Reproduction of part of Sheet 29 (formerly101, south- east) of the One-inch Ordnance Map of England, showingthe relationof the circle near Keswick to Skiddaw and Blencathra. Fig. 2.-Reproduction of part of Sheet 98, south-westof the One-inchOrdnance Map, showingthe positionof the SwinsideCircle in relationto Blackcombe. N.B.-In both maps the circlesare situated at the junction of the radiatinglines, which run due north and south,east and west,north-east and south-west,and north-westand south-east.

DISCUSSION.

Dr. MICHAEL W. TAYLOR,late of Penrith,expressed his estimation of thevalue of Mr. Lewis' observationson the prehistoricmonu- mentsof Cumberland.Probably from not having had hisattention directedto the subject,the speaker had failedto observethe point broughtforward by the author,of the relationof the principal stonesin thesecircles to the prominentfeatures of the countryor to a givendirection of the compass. With some ofthese circles, however,there were connected avenues of stones,notably at Shap, wherethe directionof the line of stoneswas fromsouth-east to north-west.On theplateau of MoorDimmock above Ullswater, he had exploredthe numerouspartially obliterated sepulchral remains whichcover that area, and he foundcairns and circlesconnected togetherby a double line of stones,forming an avenue,extending also in thedirection of south-east and north-west.Here alsoexisted the remainsof one ofthe great100 feetcircles, similar to thoseof Keswick,Eskdale Moor and Gunnerkeld. This, like the above- namedcircles, contained within the enclosurethree or foursupple- mental cairns or barrows,in this case attached to the inner circumferenceof the boundaryalong the northernsemicircular segment. In othercases theseincluded cairns lay separatewithin the area. He referredalso to the singularconfiguration of two cairnsexisting on Moor Dimmock. Fromthe circumference ofthese thereproceeded three spoke-like projections or pavementsof stone, extendingradially to a distanceof 20 or 30 feet. The directionsin whichthese causeways point are a littleto the southof east,to the south,and a littleto thenorth of west. To thesehe had giventhe nameof " Star-fishcairns." A corroborationof the same formation of structure has been affordedby the discoverylately of a similar cairnat Chlvaon CullodenMoor. Mr. LEWIS said thatthe cairnsand circlesconnected by a double line of stonesand the verycurious " Star-fish" cairnswhich Dr. Taylorhad mentionedwere no doubtsepulchral, and the direction followedby them was that whichhe had alreadypointed out as

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Discussion. 481

belongingto sepulchralmonuments rather than to thosefor worship or assembly,namely, north-west to south-east. He was not surprised that the question of the relation of outlyingstones and hills had not attracted Dr. Taylor's attention. If he himselfhad not firstmade acquaintance with Stonehenge and the Roll-rich, and been led by a similar position of the "Friar's Heel " and the " Kingstone" respectively,in referenceto those circles,to look in other cases for what he could findoutside the circles, he would probablynot have noticed4he peDclliarities he had pointed out regarlinrgthe circles in Cumberlandand elsewhere. A Shropshire archaeologist,refer- ring to his paper on Shropshirecircles, which was publishedby the Institute, and illustrated by a reproduction from the Ordnance map, had lately written to him saying: " Mitchell's fold, &c., I have oftenvisited, and am surprisedat the accuracy of the bearing of the Hoarstone fromit; . . . the line you draw on yoar map over Stapeley Hill is almost exactly correct for the point of sunrise." This gentleman, like Dr. Taylor, though a constant visitor to the monuments of his own county, had not had his attentioncalled to the questionof outlyingstones and hills, and for that reason only had not noticed the coincidence. The evidence of the Ordnance map on these matters was very gratifying,since they had been prepared long before he had taken the subject up, and by surveyorswhose authoritycould not be questioned.

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.111 on Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:04:10 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions