Books, Prehistory, Archaeologia Cambrensis 1870 Page 23

The great cromlech, called Arthur's stone, stands on that part of the hill called Cefn Bryn, in Gower, which is an outlying branch projecting from the north side of the main ridge (Cefn, or "backbone"); and the great number of earns in that locality show that it was selected as the most appropriate spot for the burial of the dead in early British times. For though several earns, or tumuli, are found on other parts of the hill, they are more scattered, and evidently occupy positions not so peculiarly chosen for the purpose. Near to the Great Cromlech is a line of four, or perhaps five, stones, standing at irregular distances from each other, and in a direction nearly east and west, which has every appearance of being the remains of an avenue. If so, it passed a little to the north of the cromlech; and though these stones only form a portion of one side, or of one row of that avenue, some of the corresponding stones may be traced on the other side, and give the avenue a breadth of about 49 ft. The five most conspicuous stones on the north side may be the isolated remains of a great number which once stood there, the intervals between them being respectively 165, 79, 149, and 107 ft.; and the whole length of the line, from the most easterly to the westernmost stone¹, nearly opposite, or to the north of the cromlech, is 500 ft. These stones stand a little to the north of a drive, or grass road, apparently made there in later times, which passes to north of the cromlech; and as the stone opposite the cromlech (the westernmost of the five above mentioned) is distant from it about 60 ft., this alone suffices to show that the avenue did not run direct to that monument.

Note 1. I am not quite certain about this fifth stone; and if really one of the avenue, it is not quite in the same line as the other four, though the direction may have been slightly altered at that part to suit the curve of the avenue.

It is difficult to determine whether a corresponding line of stones formerly stood on the opposite, or south, side, so as to form a real avenue; but even if this were so, the avenue would not, as we have already seen, lead to, but past, the cromlech, as the grass road does at the present day. It is also difficult to decide whether this road has taken the place of an older one, once the centre of the avenue, or is a drive of entirely recent origin, made for the purpose of passing near the cromlech, and round the great earn beyond it to the west; whence it continues over the adjoining part of the hill. It certainly has the usual appearance of old paths, such as we find in the vicinity about Arthur's stone in gower. 25 of ancient ruins, the grass being short and smooth; though this may have been caused by the removal of the fern and furze, and the constant use of the road after it was formed into a drive. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that the few stones, which stand here and there to the south of the grass road, constituted part of the corresponding side of the avenue, though the intervening distance of 49 ft. (6 ft. more than the width of the eastern avenue at Abury) may appear an unusual breadth for one, the stones of which do not exceed 3 to 3½ ft. in height. I may also state that other stones appear here and there, on both sides of the grass road, beyond the limits of the portion of the avenue marked by the five stones, which may be a continuation of the same double line to the east and west. They would not, however, be sufficiently conspicuous to suggest the existence of an avenue, if the five stones had not been present to prove it. Many also stand at the extreme end, to the south-east, where the first earns are met with on this part of the hill (v. plan). I need scarcely observe that it is by no means necessary that the avenue should lead direct to Arthur's Stone, and it is more usual to find a cromlech at one side of, and at a short distance from, it; that near Merivale Bridge, on Dartmoor, stands about 50 ft. to the south of the avenue, and the Dolmens in Britanny are, in like manner, placed outside the avenue. A earn also stands about 80 ft. south of the same avenue near Merivale Bridge; but about 560 ft. west of the cromlech, in the centre of the avenue, is a concentric earn, of which the diameter is about three tunes the breadth of the avenue. The position of Arthur's Stone, with respect to the avenue is, therefore, similar to that of some other cromlechs in this country and in Britanny; but while we see that the avenues of Merivale Bridge, and in some other places on Dartmoor, terminate in an upright stone, a earn, a concentric aisle, or some other sepulchral monument, we are unable to ascertain how the two ends of the Cefn Bryn avenue were closed, or to what they led.

We do, however, find two carns within the space of the 500 ft. occupied by the five stones; one between the fourth and fifth, the other close to the easternmost stone; beyond which the numerous earns are scattered over the surface of the hill, in various positions, and too irregularly placed to belong to any avenue. And it is certain that no long line of earns can be traced at regular intervals leading from or to Arthur's Stone. In fact the greatest number of earns lie towards the south-east end of the hill, which will at once be seen from the survey I have made of this portion of Cefn Bryn; and the earns, numbering upwards of eighty, are mostly distant from Arthur's Stone, in an entirely different direction from the avenue, and wholly independent of both of them. The hill has the appearance of a large cemetery, the tombs or earns of which are evidently of very great age. They are not remarkable for their size, being only from 12 to 15 ft. in diameter, and of inconsiderable height, though considerably reduced in size by time and accident, since they were put up; but the earn which stands about 355 ft. to the west of Arthur's Stone is of much greater size and importance than the rest, measuring about 68 ft. in diameter. Though it does not appear to contain a cromlech, like the neighbouring one which formerly covered Arthur's Stone, it is little inferior to it in size; and the excavations made in its centre, if persevered in, would probably have disclosed a earn, or indications of the spot where the body was burnt. A little below it, to the southward, is a hollow, evidently excavated for some purpose, about 165 ft. long by 68 ft., which is filled with water in the winter but dry in summer; and this I suppose to have been made in excavating the earth required to form the great tumulus, for it is a tumulus rather than a earn, the rain of ages having washed away the earth, leaving only the stones we now see there¹. Another earn, or tumulus, about 560 ft. to the south, is the next in size to this, and has a diameter of twenty feet. I opened it lately, but found no signs of interment beneath it. In the mass of earns on the highest part of the hill to. the south-south-east, and about one thousand feet from Arthur s Stone, is one about 30 ft. long by 12 ft., remarkable for being long instead of circular, like the rest; and another may be seen in the low ground, 450 ft. to the south-west of this, of the same shape, which is unusual in this district. A few more small earns may also be seen, from 750 to 800 ft. to the south-west of this, on the main ridge of Cefn Bryn, and others in various parts of the hill. Besides the numerous stones scattered about in the vicinity of Arthur's Stone, many single blocks are met with in various places, rarely of any great size, some of which may have been placed in situ by man, while others (and by far the greater number) occupy their present positions through mere accident.

Note 1. 1 In reality these were all tumuli of earth and stones, and not cams of heaped stones such as we find in some

About 1180 ft. south-south-east of Arthurs Stone is a similar enclosure (which on Dartmoor would be called a "pound"), once the abode of some of the ancient people who inhabited this wild district, and whose tombs occupy so large a portion of the hill. It is about 63 ft. in diameter, and within it are vestiges of small circular huts, one side frequently resting against the wall of the enclosure, which, like the huts, was mostly built of small rough stones. Its entrance, as might be expected, was on the west, the side least exposed to cold winds; and this, as well as the selection of a low depression in the hill to the west of the great earn, where the remains of two huts may be traced, shows that these hardy people were not neglectful of precautions against the east wind. I observed two other hut-enclosures about 70 ft. apart, a little more than an eighth of a mile to the north-west of Arthur's Stone (once the abode of some of the same people, who built similar enclosures on Rhossili Down, on Llanmadoc Hill, and in other parts of Southern Gower); another stands on a part of the same line of hill to the westward, from which it is separated by a ravine. It is about 1120 ft. west of Arthurs Stone. Here the huts that once stood within it are marked by heaps of small stones, and, judging from similar heaps in other enclosures, I believe they constituted the domed roofs of circular huts, constructed like the modern ovens of the country, with small stones, but cemented together with clay, in default of the mortar of later times. Wood was always less accessible than stone in this part of Gower, and hence the necessity of roofing huts in the manner I have mentioned; and the round form was adopted according to the custom of the old Britons, for whose houses, as well as villages and camps, it was preferred. This enclosure is 50 ft. in diameter, but its interest is increased by the "hollow way" which runs down the hill from it to the northward, and it soon afterwards deflected to the north-west, towards the valley, illustrating another British custom, showing the care with which the people on these hills secured themselves from observation on the approach of an enemy. The danger here expected was from the sea, by the estuary on that side. Similar "hollow ways" are traced in many other places, as approaches to British villages and camps. A path also led from the hut-enclosure to the brook in the ravine below.

Several detached huts may be observed to the southwest of this, and others in various parts of the hill on its northern slope, evidently so placed, notwithstanding their exposure to the north wind, because the danger from attack was greater in that quarter, and greater watchfulness was required there than on the well-guarded southern face of Cefn Bryn. These single huts, and small enclosures, scattered over the hill side, and often very distant from each other, fully exemplify the well known habits of the Celts to live apart from each other, which seems to be inherited by the English from their British ancestors. Though Arthur's Stone has been often described, it may not be irrelevant, in giving the plan I made of it, to state that the thickness of its massive capstone is very unusual, being 6 ft. 8 in. in breadth (varying at different parts), and 7 ft. 5 in. in height towards the north end, decreasing to 4 ft. 11 in., and 2 ft. 1 in. at the south, with a total length of from 13 ft. 9 in. to 14 ft. 6 in. It was once much larger, a considerable portion having fallen from its western side. This happened, not as some have supposed, at a late time, "thirty years ago"; for though the story of its having been split by St. David with a blow from his sword, related in the Iolo MSS., is fabulous, it shows that tradition attributes its fracture to a remote period; and whether Camden is correct or not, in stating that it was split for mill stones, his authority is a sufficient witness of its having been broken before he wrote. Besides the proof which St. David is said to have given of its not being holy, he is supposed to have commanded a spring of water to rise from beneath it, which was long believed to account for the water standing there, and only to become dry in the hottest summer; but, notwithstanding all St. David's admonitions and miracles, many superstitious practices were continued at this cromlech till within very recent times: honey cakes were offered upon it for good luck, and at certain periods of the moon, the credulous crawled round it on their hands and feet in the hopes of seeing a lover, or for some equally silly reason, which many, even at the present day, may remember, though few would be willing to confess that they had given way to such credulity.

The capstone and its supporters are of the conglomerate of the old red stone, which is the formation of Cefn Bryn, as of all the highest hills in this extreme corner of Gower, and has been thrust upwards through the carboniferous (or mountain) limestone; and the numerous blocks of large size in various parts of this ridge, particularly towards its western extremity, might well serve to suggest to an ancient Briton the propriety of raising cromlechs in their vicinity, though the only one on this hill is Arthur's Stone. It has been suggested that this cromlech appears from its low position to have been formed by excavating beneath the block which now forms its massive capstone, and which was then lying on the surface; and that it was supported artificially during the process, until its future supporters were fixed in their places, thus accounting for four only out of nine bearing, or touching, the capstone, and for their bases being so far below the level of the ground. It may, however, be observed that of the four stones, the three at the north end may have been placed there after the interments had been made beneath the capstone, in order to close the chamber, or compartment, at that end, for it consists of two parts separated by a rude partition of one central pillar, standing between the two outer ones, which was placed nearly in the centre, though it now inclines a little to the eastward, owing to the great pressure of the capstone. The other (southern) compartment may have been closed by other stones now removed, or possibly by the long stone lying about 3 ft. from the southern extremity of the cromlech. This stone measures 8 ft. 4 in. or 8 ft. 5 in. in length, by 2 in. in breadth, and is about 3 ft. 3 in. thick, which is certainly much less than the height of the other (upright) supporters of the capstone; and, indeed, it might, from its size and appearance, be taken for a maen hir ("longstone"), were it not that its position ill accords with that generally assigned to such monuments. It is rather longer than is necessary to fill the space between the other two southernmost supporters, but if its height is considered sufficient, an additional projection at each end of it, though it might disturb the regularity of the sides, would not interfere with the object of closing the chamber; and we find that one of the slabs forming the west side of the Chûn cromlech [Map] projects in like manner beyond its neighbours at the south end.

The whole height of the cromlech may have been about 11 ft. at the highest part. Its weight was reckoned by Camden about twenty tons; and when the fallen block still formed part of it, between twenty-five and thirty; but I consider that it weighs much more. That the large flat block now lying on the ground at the west side, was once a portion of the capstone is evident from its dimensions, and from the appearance of its upper surface. It corresponds to rather more than half of the thickest part of the western face, from which it was detached, not, I imagine (as Camden was told), to make millstones, but more probably by the frost, after water had entered a fissure in that part, no mark of wedges being visible at the edges. The detached piece measures about 7 ft. 3 ins. by 6 ft. 9 ins.; and is 1 ft. 8 ins., or at the north and north-west ends 3 ft. 2 ins. in thickness; and its present shape and reduced size may possibly be owing to the southern portion (beyond the line marked a, d, in the plan and elevation¹) having been broken off after its fall by those who intended to fashion it into a millstone, though it was not split off from the capstone for that purpose; and the trouble of cutting into a proper shape a block not very well adapted for a millstone, may account for their desisting from the attempt after they had performed the rougher and easier work of breaking away with sledge-hammers some of its superfluous parts². It will, however, be seen, on comparing it with the part from which it fell, that one end, corresponding to the top of the north-west corner of the capstone, projects 8 or 9 ins. (at e), the capstone having been broken away in that part since it was detached from it.

Note 1. I have marked the corresponding points on the capstone and the fallen block, in the elevation. 4th ser. vol. i. 3

Note 2. On one of its sides are certain small holes which may have been made for introducing wedges into this part of the fallen block.

It has been said by some persons that Arthur's Stone (i. e. the cap) formerly rocked; and that it has changed its position at different times, bearing more or less on some of its supporters; but the truth of these statements cannot easily be ascertained. There is a slab of irregular shape, measuring about 4 ft. 10 ins. by 3 ft. 10 ins., which lies to the south-west of the cromlech, perhaps part of the fallen portion of the capstone; and as it rocks, this peculiarity may have been transferred, by imperfect recollection, from it to the capstone. The idea that massive stones of this kind rock is not unusual; nor is it unusual to find that many do so from natural causes. They have been noticed by ancient as well as by modern writers. Pliny (N. H., ii, 96) describes one at Harpasa in Asia Minor, which might be rocked by one finger, but was immovable if pressed by the whole body; perfectly agreeing with the principle on which they move,—a too powerful thrust causing the stone to be no longer balanced on its pivot, and making it touch the opposite side of the surrounding hollow. In times of ignorance and superstition they were looked upon with great veneration; and there can be little doubt that the priests, in those days, availed themselves of the wonderful property of rocking stones to impose upon the credulous. Some are still found on Dartmoor and in other parts of England; but I can assert, from my own observation, that the immense block which till lately stood above the granite quarries of Constantine, in Cornwall, was not a rocking stone as some have asserted; nor do I know of any authority to shew that it rocked in ancient times. I can readily believe that the Druids¹ may have taken advantage of these and other natural phenomena to impose upon the ignorant Britons; perhaps occasionally imitating nature, which had given them a hint of the modus operandi, in order to produce similar miracles when required. And as the pagan priests of Italy, in old times, made frankincense to liquify at Egnatia, without fire ("flamma sine thure liquescere limine sacro"), so the hint has, in like manner, been taken in later times, and in the same country, to cause the liquefaction of another substance.

Note 1. It seems to be a fashion with some persons, at the present day, to question the existence of the Druids, though Caesar, Diodorus, Strabo, Cicero, Diogenes Laertius, Pomponius Mela, and others, better acquainted with the matter, were of a different opinion; and Cicero states that he was personally acquainted with a Druid. In i, 78, Be Divinatione, he says: "Dryades sunt e quibus ipse Divitiacum Heduum hospitem tuum laudatoremque cognovi, qui et naturae rationem quam physiologiam Grrseci appellant, notam esse sibi profitebatur." Their tenets are circumstantially set forth by other writers. They were proscribed by Claudius. Pliny (xxx, 4) says that Tiberius had before put down the Druids of the Gallic tribes; arid they are mentioned by later, as well as by several other early, writers."

This was a favourite direction for those who prayed or offered sacrifice in ancient times¹. The East was considered the commencement of the world; and not only sun-worshippers, but others in different ages, have had a superstitious fancy to direct their prayers towards sunrise². In Greek temples (with numerous exceptions) that custom was followed³, and many people buried their dead towards the east; but I cannot discover any proof of a fixed rule in the cromlechs of Britain, some opening to the south-west, others to the north or to south-south-west, one to the south-west or to the north-east, and others to different points. But it is not always easy to ascertain on which side the entrance was, or which was the last closed; and even the sepulchral chambers with entrances at the end of a passage, as in our tumps at Stoney Littleton [Map], Uley [Map], and other places, do not solve the question, since the bodies might be placed in the lateral chambers in various positions, and at right angles with the passage. It is, however, very evident that the bodies found in our tumuli are not deposited there according to any fixed rule, two being often placed together, "each having the head in an opposite direction", and some in five different positions⁴.

Note 1. Vitruvius (iv, 5) says: "If possible, temples should be so placed that the statue may face to the west, so that those who offer sacrifice at the altar may look towards the east, and towards the statue...... But temples which stand in the public roads ought to be so placed that passers by may look in, and make their salutations (to the statue)." The entrance at the west end, through the tower of our old Saxon churches, and in our cathedrals, afforded the same opportunity of looking in direct to the east end; and advantage was taken of this long line for processions. The Jews were ordered to pray towards the Temple of Jerusalem when in foreign lands (I Kings, 8, 44; Dan. 6,10); and to pray towards the east, and "worship the sun toward the east," was a heathen custom abhorred by them (Ezek. 8, 16).

Note 2. A direction variable, but not quite so much as that of Mekkeh, which may correspond to any point of the compass, according to the fixed or temporary place of the individual when he prays. Pompey observed to Sylla, that "the rising sun had more worshippers than the setting sun," the double meaning of which we have adopted.

Note 3. It was not adopted in primitive Christian churches, some of which were round, in imitation of the Holy Sepulchre; and even St. Peter's, like St. Maria Maggiore (erected in 300) and numerous early churches, is not directed to the east. Afterwards the entrance faced the west, and the so-called altar was placed at the east end, and the people prayed towards the east.

Note 4. See Bateman's Ten Years' Diggings, page 68, page 73 and page 76.

Yet, if we admit the authority of one of the Iolo MSS. respecting the orientation of British monuments (which says that it was a custom of the Britons to place in front of the entrance to their circles, at the distance of three or three times three fathoms, a stone to indicate the eastern cardinal point; and another to the north of it, to face the rising sun at the longest summer day; and an additional one to the south of it, pointing to the position of the rising sun at the shortest winter's day,—a line being drawn from these outer stones to one in the centre of the circle), we ought to suppose that the Britons had a particular veneration for sunrise and the east. But it is safer to be guided, in such matters, by facts obtained from the tombs themselves respecting the mode of depositing the bodies of the dead; and besides the evidence derived from the tumuli above mentioned, I may cite that of the tump, or chambered tomb, in Green Combe, near Park Mill, in Glamorgan, lately opened by Mr. Vivian, where the bodies were placed in various directions, and not uniformly towards the east. It is true that when three supporters of a cromlech alone remain, or when there are large openings between four or more of the supporters, it may be a doubtful question; but we have sufficient authority for concluding that it was not an invariable rule with the Britons to make their tombs face, or to place the bodies of the dead, in any particular direction. With regard to the position of some tumuli and other sepulchral monuments on heights, it is quite consistent with the feeling which made the friends of the deceased raise such memorials in honour of those they esteemed and respected. It was natural that a distinguished individual should be buried on some elevated spot; his memory was honoured by the marked position they selected for his monument; and people in early ages generally adopted this custom. And while it recalled the memory of the deceased, it stimulated those who came after him to emulate his deeds, and to show themselves worthy of a similar honour.

Some tumuli had upright stones placed round them, which call to mind the large mounds of upper Ethiopia, called Tarabeel, as well as the smaller ones in the same country, surrounded at their base by rows of small pebbles, though the Tarabeel appear to have been once covered with a rude casing of flat stones, perhaps an imitation of the Pyramids which abound there, and which differ only from them in their circular form. The tumulus is the natural monument of the dead. We find it, on a grand scale, represented by the Pyramids of Egypt, of Ethiopia, and of Mexico, with the only difference that these were rectangular; the largest tombs of the Etruscans were a circular mound standing upon a raised basement of stone, from which the grand tomb of Augustus, and that of Adrian (now the Castle of St. Angelo), at Rome, were copied; the Greeks raised tumuli over the bodies of their distinguished heroes¹, some of which remain to this day, and perfectly accord with the descriptions given of them by Homer, Apollonius Rhodius, and other ancient writers; those of the old Illyrians are seen in Dalmatia; and numerous tumuli in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, bear witness to the universality of the custom of raising them in honour of the dead. Nor was the ancient pagan use of the tumulus and the earn at once discarded by the Britons on then conversion to Christianity, and earns have been found in Wales with christian interments; for, besides that of a certain "Carausius" (a namesake of the usurper), who "hie jacet in hoc congeries lapidum," bearing the monogram of Christ, there is one in memory of David, beheaded in London by Edward 1st, and another of his brother Llewelyn, still called Carnedd Davydd and Carnedd Llewelyn. There are also Cam y Groes ("Cam of the Cross"), in Glamorgan, Ty Illtyd, in Brecon shire, and several others of Christian times in North and South Wales; and a large tumulus stands in the churchyard of Ystrad Owen, near Cowbridge, said to be of Owen ab Morgan, King of Glamorgan.

Note 1. Pausanias (Accad., c. 16) speaks of a tomb on a circular basement of stone in Greece also, "Greek Text not included". It was the tomb of Epytus, which he says was mentioned by Homer. Some other Greek tombs were of similar form.

The mound, or carn, which once covered Arthur's Stone may be traced here and there, showing that its diameter was from 73 to 74 ft. It consisted of earth as well as of stones, and on the higher ground, to the south-east and west, indications of the extent of the outer limit of the mound may be perceived¹. For though I was at one time disposed to think that cromlechs were not covered by a mound, or a earn², I have since found reason to alter that opinion; not from any conjecture, but from actual proof; and a visit to those at Marros, on the south-west border of Caermarthenshire, convinced me of the fact, and explained the presence of the remarkable masses of stone about the Rhossili Cromlechs—the Swine's, or Swayne's, houses already mentioned—given in my plan (in Plate 5), from which

Note 1. Some stones, of greater size than the rest, appear to have been placed at the edge or on the circumference of the circular mound or earn raised over this cromlech.

Note 2. Many arguments might be, and have been, used in support of the opinion that they were so covered; among the most valid of which is this, that if not covered they would be the most exposed and the worst kind of burial-place for the dead. But another, which endeavours to prove it by stating that Anglo-Saxon MSS. do not mention cromlechs as visible structures, is fallacious, since circles are also unnoticed in those documents; and no one will suppose that they were also concealed under mounds in those days; the reason really being that people at that time were not in the habit of noticing such monuments, except when one happened to mark a boundary, like "the stone kist on Holcombe", and in other instances quoted from the Codex Diflomaticus by Mr. Kemble; all which show that some at least of these hdran stanas ("hoary-stones" as they are still called), cromlechs, and others, were uncovered about nine hundred years ago. (V. Journ. Arch. Inst, xiv, pp. 132, 135.)