Si History of the Sarsens. 
“Sarsen ”’ is referred to “Saresyn,” as applied by the Saxons to 
pagans and heathens in general, and to stones grouped in temples 
popularly attributed to heathen worship, and hence called Saresyn 
or heathen stones. “ J.W [aylen].” 
Mr. Long, in the Wilts Mag., (Nos. xlvi.—xlvii., June, 1876), 
vol. xvi—* Stonehenge and its Barrows ”—pp. 1—241 ; pp. 68—74, 
“ Geological character of the Stonehenge Stones,” observes. that 
Sarsen or Saresyn may mean pagan stone; for “Sarrasin” is com- 
monly given on the Continent to any roads and buildings of Celtic 
or. Roman construction (prior to the Christian era). He quotes 
Waylen’s “ History of Marlborough,” p. 529, and H. L. Long’s 
“Survey of the Early Geography of Western Europe” (quoting 
French archeologists, &e.), p. 10d. 
Mr. Bristow (Catal. Rock-specimens, 1862, p. 163) supports this 
derivation from ‘ Saracen,” and says that the word “Saracen ” is 
applied in some parts of England to any foreigner, and that the 
Sarsens in popular belief were originally brought by foreigners, “In 
Cornwall large heaps of refuse from the mines are known by the 
name of Attle-Saracen, or heaps of rubbish left there by the Sara- 
cens.”’? These Orientals, however, could not have been known to 
the Britons or the old Saxons (though there is a reference to an 
army of Saracens in a book written in Anglo-Saxon, Jud. ¢. 16), 
nor to the English generally until the time of the Crusades. Nor 
do we find the epithet “Saracen” applied to Stonehenge or Abury 
(both Saxon terms), or to any other heathen temple or monument 
in this county, as Mr. Adams truly observes; and he adds that 
these stones must have had a local name before Saracens were heard 
of in this country, and it is unlikely that it would have been re- 
placed by so vague a term as “ Saracen.” Rev. John Adams, Joc. cit. 
V.—Gero.iogicaL History or THE SARSENS. 
In order to understand the circumstances under which these great 
irregular blocks of stone were formed and deposited, those who are 
not well acquainted with geology must ignore the present geography 
of the country, and bear in mind that in bygone ages there were in 
this district sand-beds accumulated perhaps 100ft. above their heads, 
