CARL S WARK. I 79 



taught that all may be attributed to the action of frost and 



snow, and wind and rain. That the old antiquaries did not 



take this scientific view is evident from Havman Rooke's 



paper,* where he not only notes the wonderfully overhanging 



stone, weighing many tons, which still projects be3'ond the 



wall-like escarpment of the northern side of the fort, and is 



partly supported by small stones, artificially inserted, but goes 



on to see Druidical remains all around, till one imagines he 



regardeil the place as a sort of fortified temple of the Druids. 



He speaks of several rocking-stones, and after referring to the 



overhanging stone, says : — 



" On the top is a large rock bason 4 ft. 3 ins. in diameter, dose to 

 which, on the south side, is an hollow cut like a chair, with a step to 

 rest the feet upon. This, the country people say, has always been 

 called Cair's chair ; from whence we may suppose this to have been a 

 seat of justice, where the principal Druid sat, who being contiguous to 

 the rock bason, might have recourse to appearances in the water, in 

 doubtful ca.ses. It is natural therefore to imagine, from the many sacred 

 erections, that this place must have been intended for holy uses, or a 

 court of justice." 



We, of course, dismiss all notions of Druidic purposes and 

 look upon Carl's Wark as a small fortress of a remote past, 

 remarkable for the evidence it retains of the care which was 

 exercised to render the place practically impregnable. As 

 Mr. Pennington says : " The rampart, I should think, could 

 hardly be improved on by modern engineers. . . . Thus every 

 weak point is secured, and I know of no ancient fortress which 

 so strongly conveys to the mind the ability in design, and the 

 skill in execution of the long-forgotten people by whom this 

 citadel was constructed." 



Geological Note. 

 Both Carl's Wark and its neighbour, Higger Tor, are outliers 

 from the main mass of the bed known geologically as the 

 Third Millstone Grit. These isolated patches may be des- 

 cribed as islands left when all the surrounding mass had been 

 disintegrated by atmospheric action and gradually washed 

 away. 



* Arch<Tologia, vii., ]i. 175. 



