A Description of Some Archaic Structures in Cornwall and Devon. Author(S): A
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A Description of Some Archaic Structures in Cornwall and Devon. Author(s): A. L. Lewis Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1 (1872), pp. i-ix Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2841277 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 22:22 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 185.44.78.115 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:22:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions APPENDIX. Proceedingsof the Anthropologicaland EthnologicalSocieties of Londonprior to thedate of amalgamation. ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. DECEMBER 20TH, 1870. DR. CHANNOCK,VICE-PRESIDENT, IN THE CHAIR. TH1Eminutes of the last meetingwere read and confirmed. The followingnew memberswere announcedc:-HENRYWALTER BELLEW, Esq., Peshawar,India; CHAS. CORNISH BROWN,Esq., F.R.G.S., 7, Lansdowne Place, Clifton; and FRANCIs TAGART,Esq., F.R.G.S., Old SneydPark, near Bristol, and 34, CravenHill Gardens,W. The Rev. W. W. LA BARTE,-M.A., of 1, VictoriaPlace, Brighton, was electeda Local Secretaryfor Brighton. The followingpresents were announced, and thanksof themeeting votedto the donors. FOR THE LIBRARy. From the SOCIETY-Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou. No. 1, 1871. From the EDITOR-Nature; to date. FromE. J. BRILL, Esq.-Catalogue du Magasin de livresanciens et mo. dernes de 1870. From the INSTITUTE-Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute. No. 1. The followingpaper was read by the author: I.-A DESCRIPTION of,some ARCHAIC STRUCTURES in CORNWALLand DEVON. BY A. L. LEWIS,ESQ., F.A.S.L. ON attendingthe meetingof the BritishAssociation at Exeter, (1869), I took advantage of being so far on the road to pay a visit to some of the megalithicand otherremains in the southernextremity of Britain, and I have venturedto bring a shortdescription of those I visited beforeyour notice-not because I have anynew factsto mentioncon- cerningthem, but because it is well to multiplyauthentic descriptions of these monuments,which are so frequentlybeing destroyed, and be- cause it occurredto me that,though manyFellows of this Societyare farbetter acquainted than myselfwith that part of the country,there are probablysome who have not hithertogiven much attentionto the remarkableremains of whichit containsso many. Before consideringthe antiquities of Cornwall it may be well to mentionsome things,which, though not unlike antiquities,are of a very moderndate. Thus the archaeologistwill see in the middleof a b This content downloaded from 185.44.78.115 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:22:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ii Proceedingsof theAnthropological Society. fielda stone pillar,which he maytake fora small menhir;but he will, if he looks carefully,see these in so many fields,that he will at last make inquiries,and will findthat theyare placed therefor cattle to rub against. As, however,this custom does not prevail in many other parts of Britain,I am inclinedto thinkthere may be some lingering relic of superstitionabout it, the more so as thereseemed some little hesitationin replyingto inquiries on the subject. Similar posts are sometimesused for fencingoff parts of the fieldsby means of wires runningbetween them. The archaeologistwill also findin some fields small tumuli,frequently covered with large cabbages, but he must not mistakethese forsepulchral barrows, inasmuch as they are merelya kind of manure heap. But perhaps the most dangerous source of error,and one which has, I believe,really misled many able anti- quaries,is the fantasticmanner in whichthe native granitefrequently crops up throughthe thin soil. With these preliminaryobservations I will proceedto describethe various structureswhich I visited. My firstexcursion was fromPen- zance to DANCE MAEN(St. B3uryan's),now betterknown locally as the " MerryMaidens;" and here I may remarkthat nearlyall the circles in this neighbourhoodare called "Merry Maidens,"or "Nine Maidens," irrespectiveof the numberof stones reallycontained in them-the tale runningthat the stonesare maidenspetrified in the act ofdancing on Sunday. Dance Maen is as nearlya circleas possible,the diameters being seventy-fiveto seventy-sixor seventy-sevenfeet. It consists of nineteenupright stones, each fromthree to fourfeet high,one and a half to threeand a halffeet wide, and.six to eighteeninches thick. The distancesbetween the stonesvary fromfive and a half to eleven feet,but on the east side is a gap of twentyand a half feet,where another stone may possiblyhave stood,or whichmay have been left as an entrance. There are two flat stones fortyto fiftyfeet in a southerlydirection, and one flatstone about a hundredand eightfeet in a north-easterlydirectioD; these stonesare about the same size as those composingthe circle,and may once have been upright. The positionsof these outlyingstones correspond as nearlyas possiblewith those described by Col. Forbes Leslie, as connectedwith a circlein India, and they also correspondwith similar stones in otherEnglish circles. It is also worthyof note that the presentnumber of stones in the circle,nineteen, is the same as is supposedto have formedthe small inneroval at Stonehenge. The small size of the stones,and their situationin the middleof a ploughedfield render it wonderfullyfortti- nate that they should have been so long and so perfectlypreserved. A shortdistance to the northor north-eastare two stones,about thir- teen and sixteenfeet high, which are suipposedto be the "Pipers" who played to the " Maidens", and were involved in the same doom,blit I do not know whetherthey had reallyany connectionwith the circle. Near Dance Maen, by the side of a road, is also a stone,about four or five feet high,having a hole throughit of about six inches dia- meter. From Dance Maen I foundmy way to the LOGANROCK, a huge block of granite.weighing, it is said, sixtyto seventytons, whichis perched This content downloaded from 185.44.78.115 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:22:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Lewis on ArchaicStructures in Cornwalland Devon. iii on the summitof the cliffsby the sea-coast,and rocks slightlywhen pushed. This was long believed to be a work of the Druids, but is beyondall reasonabledoubt a naturalphenomenon. The promontory on which it stands (called TrerynCastle) has, however,been cut off by a double if not a trebleline of banks and ditches. On returningto Penzance I turnedoff to see a circle called the "NINE MAIDENS" at Boscawen-un,but the manner in which it was overgrownwith furze, and the gatheringdarkness prevented my taking measurementsof it. It appeared,however, to be about sixtyfeet in diameter,and to consist of nineteen stones,about the same size as those at Dance Maen (and the same number),with one nearlyin the centre,leaning in a north-easterlydirection, and about nine feethigh, by two and a halfby one and a half. Colonel Forbes Leslie and Dr. Borlase give an engravingof some circlesat Botallack,interlacing one another in a most remarkableand inexplicablemanner, and my next excursionwas in search of these. I am not prepared to say positivelythat they did not exist when Dr. Borlase wrote,a centuryago, or that they do not exist now,*but, al- though I made carefulinquiries, the only thing I could find in the neighbourhoodwas a circle called the " NINE MAIDENS," situated on the southernside of a hill called Carn Kenidjack. This so-called circle is reallyan oval, its diametersbeing about sixty-fiveand sixty- nine feet. It consistsat presentof thirteenstones, of which nine are uprightand fourfallen-about eight more would be requiredto make the circle complete. The stones are fromthree to fivefeet high or long, sixteeninches to twofeet nine inchesbroad, and ten to eighteen inches thick. The granitecrops iip il patches all round this circle, and indeed quite up to the top of Carn Kenidjack, where it formsa naturalwall, several feet high; and in anotherfield, about thirtyvyards west, are some small stoneswhich appear to formthe half of a circle, twelvefeet in diameter,with one in the centre,and two in a north- easterlydirection, but I believe these are naturallyplaced. From this spot I made my way to CHUN QUOIT, a dolmenof the kind whichI have in anotherplacet classifiedas sepulchral. It con- sists of four uprightstones, two of them seven and a half to eight and a half feet long, and one to one and a half feet thick,rising about four feet above the ground outside,and seven feet above the groundinside: they stand about fivefeet apart, forming the sides of a chamber,one end of whichis almost entirelyclosed by anotherstone, risingabout fourfeet above the groundoutside and fourfeet in width, the otherend beingpartly closed by a stone,which was about a foottoo narrowfor the purpose,and the sort of narrowdoorway thus leftwas apparentlyfilled up with loose stones,about the size of the granite cubes used forstreet paving, which have since been throwndown in- side the chamber,but one of the large side-stoneshas slipped to such an extentas to close up this entrance. This chamberis coveredwith a slab, about twelve feet across each way and eighteen inches thick. * W. C. Borlase,Esq., F.S.A., a descendantof Dr. Borlase,tells me that theystood in fiontof Botallack Manor House, but do notnow exist.