By William Long, Esq. 69 



that the large stones of Stonehenge were in their granular character, 

 closely allied to the marhle of Carrara/' and another careful visitor of 

 Stonehenge was of opinion that the stones were artificial. 

 Mr. Sowerby, in 1812, describes the stones thus : 

 " The outer circle and the great trilithons, with their imposts, are 

 of sarsen ^ stone, a fine-grained silicious sandstone. 



' In the Addenda and Notes to " Abury Illustrated," the following is given 

 as an explanation of the word " Sarsen : " " The term Sarsen, or Saresyn, was 

 applied by the Anglo-Saxons, simply in the sense of Pagan, to the stones which 

 they found scattered about the Wiltshire Downs. As all the principal specimens 

 of these mysterious blocks were perceived to be congregated into temples popu- 

 larly attributed to heathen worship, it naturally came to pass that the entire 

 formation acquired the distinctive appellation of Sarsen or Pagan stones. The 

 same epithet of ' Saresyn ' the Saxons also applied to their invaders the Danes 

 or Northmen, who, on their coming into this country, were universally pagan. 

 Thus Robert Ricart (quoted in Roberts' History of Lyme) says, ' Duke RoUo 

 Le Fort was a Saresyn come out of Denmark into France ; ' and a spot in 

 Guernsey is still designated by the same term from having constituted the tem- 

 porary stronghold of certain Norman freebooters." — Waylen's History of 

 Marlborough, p. 529. 



The following is from Mr. Henry Lawes Long's ' ' Survey of the Early Geography 

 of Western Europe : " " In addition to the suggestion advanced that our word 

 Sarsen, as applied to the Druid sandstone, is, in fact, a corruption of Saracen, 

 I may add that Sarrasin is the name commonly given on the Continent to 

 ancient objects whether of Celtic or Roman construction, thereby inferring a 

 period anterior to any remains of Christian origin. Roman denarii, which in 

 the north of France still occasionally are current as sous, bear the name of 

 Sarrnsins. The Roman bridge near Aosta is called the Pont de Sarrasins." 

 And I may add the following extract from the " Journal de I'Architecture," 

 (of Brussels,) 4"". annee, p. 84 : " Les traditions locales attribuent la con- 

 struction des chaussees romaines aux Sarrasins. Les mines, les tuiles antiques, 

 les poteries, les medailles, etc., que Ton trouve chaque jour, ne sont connus, 

 comme on salt, que sous les noms de Masures, de Vahes, de JiJonnaies, ou de 

 puits des Sarrasins, Cette denomination remonte evidemment aux temps des 

 Croisades, lorsque les esprits etaient remplis du nom des infideles. Du reste, 

 les armees et les populations qui revenaient de Terre-Sainte, en suivant les 

 chaussees romaines, n'auront pas peu contribue a repandre aux environs I'epi- 

 th^te injurieuse de Sarrasin et de pai/en, dans laquelle ils auront confondu les 

 Romaines si, comme il est probable, un faible souvenir de ce grand peuple 

 vivait encore a cette epoque dans le souvenir de nos peres." Mr. Long quotes 

 the following from Col. Symonds's Diary, which his cousin, Mr. C. E. Long, edited 

 for the Camden Society: " 12"' Nov. 1644, Tuesday, though a miserable wett 

 windy day, the army moved over the playnes toMarlingsborough, where the King 

 lay at the Lord Seymour's howse, the troopes to Fy field, two myles distant, a place 



