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Georgian Books, The Antiquities of Cornwall by William Borlase

The Antiquities of Cornwall by William Borlase is in Georgian Books.

Observations On The Antiquities Historical And Monumental, Of The County Of Cornwall Consisting Of Several Essays On The First Inhabitants, Druid-Superstition, Customs, And Remains Of The Most Remote Antiquity, In Britain, And The British Isles: Exemplify'd And Prov'd By Monuments Now Extant In Cornwall And The Scilly Islands, Faithfully Drawn On The Spot, And Engrav'd According To Their Scales Annex'd. With A Summary Of The Religious, Civil, And Military State Of Cornwall Before The Norman Conquest; Illustrated By The Plans And Elevations Of Fcveral Ancient Caftles, An Eastern View Of The Monastery And Site Of St. Michael'S Mount: And A Vocabulary Of The Cornu-British Language. By William Borlase, A. M. F.R.S. Rector Of Ludgvan. Miratur, Facilesque Oculos Fert Omnia Circum. Ænas Capiturque Locis, Et Singula Lætus Exquiritque, Auditque Virûm Monumenta Priorum. Virg. Mdccliv.

Georgian Books, The Antiquities of Cornwall by William Borlase Chapter IX

Of the Cromlêh.

In several parts of Cornwall we find a large flat Stone in a horizontal position (or near it) supported by other flat Stones fix'd on their edges, and fasten'd in the ground, on purpose to bear the weight of that Stone, which rests upon, and over-shadows them, and by reason of it's extended surface, and it's elevation of fix or eight feet, or more, from the ground makes the principal figure in this kind of Monument. The situation which is generally chosen for this Monument is the very summit of the hill, and nothing can be more exact than the placing some of them, which shews, that those who erected them were very sollicitous to place 'em as conspicuously as possible. Sometimes this flat Stone, and it's supporters, stand upon the plain natural soil, and common level of the ground; but at other times it is mounted on a Barrow made either of Stone or Earth; it is sometimes plac'd in the middle of a Circle of Stones-erect, and when it has a place of that dignity, must be suppos'd to be erected on some extraordinary occasion; but when a Circle has a tall Stone in the middle, it seems to have been unlawful to remove that middle Stone, and therefore we find this Monument of which we are speaking sometimes plac'd on the edge of a Circlec. But we find fome Cromlêhs erected on such rocky situations, and so distant from houses, (where no Stones-erect do stand, or appear to have flood,) that we may conclude, they were often erected in places where there were no such Circles. Some of these Monuments are quite inclos'd, and buried, as it were, in the Barrow; As that of Senor [Map] in Cornwall (Plate XVIII. Fig. iii.) and that at Chûn [Map] (Plate XX. Fig. x.) and that mention'd by Wormius, pag. 4. Mon. Dan.d

Note c. Sec Pl. XIII. Fig. iii. a, and b, in Boscawen-ûn [Map] from which we may draw this Consequence; that the Cromlêhs was posteriour in date to the Circle, and the former erected there for the sake of the latter.

Note d. One only which I have yet heard of, has it's Supporters, or Side-Stones, fix'd on a solid Rock. State of Downe, pag. 199.

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