124 Richard Edmonds, Jun., Esq., on the 



nineteen stones (see the plate in Dr Stukeley's Stonehenge, 

 p. 20). So, too, the temple of Classerniss, in the isle of 

 Lewis, " called a heathen temple," consisted of an avenue of 

 nineteen stones on each side leading into the circle of twelve 

 others.* 



I will now cite a passage from Diodorus Siculus,t in sup- 

 port of the general opinion that these circles were temples 

 of the sun. The passage begins with an apparent reference 

 to Mounfs-bay, the most southern and the mildest part of 

 Great Britain, and the only place in this island considered to 

 have been frequented by the ships of the Phoenicians and 

 Greeks : — 



"Amongst them that have written old stories much like 

 fables, Hecataeus, and some others say, that there is an island 

 in the ocean over against Gaul (as big as Sicily) under the 

 arctic pole where the Hyperboreans inhabit ; so called be- 

 cause they lie beyond the breezes of the north wind — that 

 the soil here is very rich, and very fruitful ; and the climate 

 temperate, inasmuch as there are two crops in the year." 



That Mount' s-Bay is the place alluded to by the Grecian 

 author, may be inferred from the fact of its still producing 

 much earlier, and therefore more crops in the year than any 

 other part of Britain. But to proceed with the passage from 

 Diodorus : — 



" They say that Latona was born here, and therefore that 

 they worship Apollo above all other gods ; and because they 

 are daily singing songs in praise of this god, and ascribing to 

 him the highest honours, they say that these inhabitants de- 

 mean themselves as if they were Apollo's priests, who has 

 there a stately grove and renowned temple of a round form, 

 beautified with many rich gifts : that there is a city likewise 

 consecrated to this god, whose citizens are most of them 

 harpers, who playing on the harp chant sacred hymns to 

 Apollo in the Temple, setting forth his glorious acts.'' " The 

 sovereignty of this city, and the care of the temple (they 

 say) belong to the Boreades, the posterity of Boreas, who 

 hold the principality by descent in a direct line from that 

 ancestor." 



* Borlase's Antiq., p. 190. t Book ii., chap. iii. Booth's Translation, p. 139. 



