Recent Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, and Artichn. 331 



18th and 20th he takes the Dartmoor avenues and alignments and comes 

 to the conclusion that many of them are of astronomical origin, connected 

 with, in some cases, the setting of the star Arcturus, giving warning of 

 the May-Day sunrise. The avenues at Merrivale, on Dartmoor he 

 considers to be of this nature, and he finds that the cursus at Stonehenge 

 is "roughly parallel to the avenues at Merrivale, and I think therefore 

 was, like them, used as a processional road, or via sacra, to watch the 

 rising of the Pleiades on May morning." From its direction he concludes 

 that the cursus was in use before the Merrivale avenues, and he puts its 

 probable date roughly at 1950 B.C., or "about 300 years before the 

 solsticial restoration " at Stonehenge. 



The avenues of Brittany he concludes are monuments connected with 

 " the worship of the Sun of the May year," the alignments at Carnac, 

 &c., having been erected to watch the May and August sunrise. 



He regards the kistvaens, barrows, and dolmens, now connected with 

 the avenues and circles on Dartn)oor and elsewhere, as sepulchral ad- 

 ditions to the original astronomical and religious structures. 



" In favour of the astronomical theory it must be borne in mind that 

 the results obtained in Devon and Cornwall are remarkably similar, and 

 the dates are roughly the same. Among the whole host of heaven from 

 which objectors urge it is free for me to select any star I choose, at 

 present only six stars have been considered, two of which were certainly 

 used afterwards at Athens ; and these six stars are shown by nothing 

 more recondite than an inspection of a processional globe to have been 

 precisely the stars, the " morning stars " wanted by the priest astrono- 

 mers who wished to be prepared for the instant of sunrise at the critical 

 points of the May or solstitial year." 



In the number for Dec. 4th he considers the "Folk-lore and Traditions." 

 Cormac, Archbishop of Cashel in the 10th century, states that in his 

 time four great fires were lighted up on the four great festivals of the 

 Druids, viz., in February, May, August, and November. The landmarks 

 of the Church year were made to correspond with the old Pagan festivals. 

 Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday with Feb. 4th (the beginning 

 of spring); Feb. 3rd was dedicated to St. Blaize, and Candlemas was 

 fixed on Feb. 2nd, Ascension Day and Whitsun-Day corresponded with 

 May 6th (the beginning of summer). The old festival of Lugnassad, in 

 Ireland, held at the beginningof August, was changed into the Christian 

 Lammas, from A.S. hlafmaesse, loaf mass, or breadmass— the thanks- 

 giving for the beginning of corn harvest. 



" The fact that Nov. 11th is Quarter Day in Scotland, and that mayors 

 are elected on or about that date, shows, I think, clearly that we are here 

 dealing with the old 'Pagan' date." "The Feast of St. Martin (on 

 Nov. 11th), Martinmass, took the place of an old Pagan festival and 

 inherited some of its usages." In the Isle of Man, tenure of land and 

 the annual hiring of servants terminate on Nov, 12th, there called 

 " Hollantide." 



The next article, Jan. 4th, 1906, is on " Sacred Fires," and the 

 traditions and customs connected with Irish and Scottish Beltane Fires 



