THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[March, 



tli;it after tl.e di^oonifiture of tlie Philistines, the propliet Samuel 

 '•took a stiiiie, anil set it hetweeii Mizpeli and Shen, and called the 

 name of it Kben-e/.er" (Samuel, vii. ISj: indeed, frequent mention 

 is made of such stones of menu)rial throuffhout the Old Testament. 

 Jn many places, a superstitions regard is still paid to them. In 

 lona there are several of these unliewn pillars, called "hlack 

 stones," on account of the awful punishment supposed to follow 

 the violation of an oath sworn upon them. These maen-liir were 

 filso used to mark the restintr-place of the dead, though the 

 Hebrews, like other eastern people, i>referred a cave or e-vcavation 

 as a place of sepulture; when iu> rock was at hand, they made use 

 of these stones of memorial: thus we read, that when "Rachel 

 died, and was buried in the way to Eplirath," "Jacidi set a pillar 

 upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this 

 day " (Genesis, xxxv. 19,20). 



it was a custom anH)ngst the ancient Greeks to set an upright 

 stone on the summit of a tumulus: it is, no doubt, in these stones 

 of memorial that the head-stones in our modern cemeteries have 

 originated. L']iright stones were also used as a "kebla," or point 

 of observation, to which the attention of the wotshijipers should be 

 directed. Broad flat stones were used as stones of inauguration: 

 the stone under the coronation chair at Westminster Alibey is of 

 this description. It is sujijjosed to he the same that stood upon 

 the Hill of Tara, on which the kings of Ireland were inaugu- 

 rated in ancient times. There was an old ])rophe(y to the effect, 

 that the same race should reign wherever this stone sliould be; 

 conseijuently, when an Irish colony settled in North Britain, this 

 stone was sent witli them to confirm their dominion: it remained 

 at Scone, where it formed the coronation chair of the Scottish 

 kings, until the time of Edward I., who had it removed to U'est- 

 niinster Alibey, in defiance of the prophecy. Toland observes of 

 this stone, that it is "the ancientest respected monument in the 

 wdrld, for although some others may be more ancient as to dura- 

 tion, yet thus su])erstitiously regarded they are not." 



The Crotnlei-h (from ennn, "bowed or inclined," and //irA, "a 

 broad flat stone") consists of a flat stone resting upon two or three 

 Hjirights, with the up)ier stone generally inclining from the hori- 

 zontal. The largest cromlech in England is that in the parish of 

 Constantine, Cornwall: it is 36 feet in length, 19 ft. 8 in. in width, 

 and 16 ft. 1- in. in thickness, its weight being abcuit 750 tons. One 

 of great size is also found at I'las Newydd, in the island of Angle- 

 sea. These cromlechs are generally sujpposed to have been altars, 

 and are met with in every known country. It was a custom of the 

 ]>atriarchs to offer up their sacrifices at an 0|>en altar; we learn 

 from the Talmud also, that before the erection of the tabernacle, 

 religious rites were performed at open altars and on high places. 

 The first mention in the sacred writings of a place set apart for 

 Morship was at Beersheba, where Isaac built an altar in the grove 

 which his father Abraham had planted, and where he "called upon 

 the name of the Lord" (Genesis, x.wi. 25.) It had been the cus- 

 tom from time immemorial to dedicate a grove as a place of 

 worship; the rude hut or tent were too closely associated with 

 the avocations of daily life, to become impressive as temples: the 

 sultry climate of the east gave the inhabitants a great love and 

 veneration for trees, which they naturally considered as amongst 

 the most beautiful of God's creations, and they gladly retired to 

 the umbrageous recesses of the grove to meditate and pray. On 

 account of tlie idolatrous rites practised, the Jews were afterwards 

 forbidden by their law to plant gro\es for worship; hut in other 

 countries, after the erection of temples, they were surrounded by 

 a sacred inclosure, generally planted with trees, after the type of 

 the altar in tlie grove. 



\\'e find tlie mention of unhewn stone altars in Exodus xx. 25: 

 "And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou slialt not build 

 it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast 

 polluted it." And again, in Dcuteroniuny xxvii. 5, 6: "And there 

 shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: 

 thou shalt not lift \i\t any iron tool uiion them. ..Thou shalt build 

 the altar of tlie Lord thy (oid of whole stones." Among the 

 Romans, these unhewn altars or cromlechs went by the name of 

 Fanum .Mercurii. Strabo alludes to them in describing Egypt: he 

 says that be saw on every band altars of unhewn stones, composed 

 of two uprights with a horizontal block across, and calls them 

 temjiles dedii'ated to Mercury. Arrian informs us that similar 

 altars existed in Asia Minor; and they are frecpient in Italy: 



" Kar off, foiitoaleii by puitjlcd rt-eils, i'il (-tHiul, 

 OrL-Ue beneath suuie altur, lu-ur at haiitl." 



Kcloe. Third. 



It is to be fciired that under tbe Druids, these cromlechs were 

 too often stained with human blood: in many of them basins are 



scooped out of the upjier surface; and though these, as on the fire- 

 altars of Persia, might he for a different purpose, the duct or chan- 

 nel leading from the basin to the edge of the stone, would seem to 

 have been intended to carry off the blood of the victim. Accord- 

 ing to Mallet, 'Northern Antiquities,' in Sweden and Norway, they 

 are still called "W(<(/" — that is, blood-stones. Tacitus, in his ac- 

 count of the Isle of Mona (Anglesea), says that the Romans there 

 cut down forests, in which the natives had been accustomed to 

 practise the most cruel sujierstitions, making the altars smoke 

 with the blood of their captives, and consulting the Divinity by 

 inspection of the entrails of the victims; and Holinshed, speaking 

 of places "compassed about with great stones round like a ring," 

 adds, "But towards the south was one mightie stone, farre greater 

 than all the rest, pitched up in manner of an altar, whereon their 

 priests might offer sacrifices in honour of their gods." 



The Dolmm (from the Celtic /ao/ or rfdo/, "a table," and maeyi, "a 

 stone,") are nearly the same as cromlechs on a larger scale, except- 

 ing that the horizontal stone at the top is not inclined, hut level, 

 like (as its name denotes) a stone table: these are supposed to have 

 served both as altars of sacrifice and dwelling places for the priests. 

 The Fairy grottoes, or Fairy rocks as they are sometimes called, 

 are dolmens of great size; some of these have the appearance of a 

 corridor, ending in an irregularly-formed chamber; otliers approach 

 the circular form, and a few are diviiled into two or three apart- 

 ments. One of the most perfect of these constructions stands a 



.^p- 



Fairy Uock of U:igneux. 



short distance from S;iumur on the Loire, and is called the Fairy 

 Rock of Bagneux; the stones supporting the table are 7 feet in 

 height; the outside width of the dolmen is lift. +in, and the sides 

 each composed of four stones, 57 ft. 6 in. in length. A single u\ - 

 right stone in the centre gives additiimal sup|iort to the roof or 

 table. In this dolmen we see the original type of buildinirs in 

 stone: the sides slope inwards to the roof, and the huge block of 

 which this is formed gives the massive entablature; the builders 

 would perceive that it was desirable to shelter the walls from the 

 dripping of rain, and would place the horizontal block with its 

 broadest side uppermost, so as to ftu-m an overhanging ledge; when 

 thev began to hew their stones, they would chisel tliis out smooth, 

 leaving a ridge below to conceal the joining of the horizontal and 

 vertical stones, — thus producing the most ancient form of mtuild- 

 ing, the bead and cavetto: the first rude idea of an Egyptian 

 temple would then be complete. M. de Fremenville mentions 

 the remains of a dolmen on the shores of the bay of Morbihan, on 

 some of the stones of which hieroglyphics were carved; but these 

 have unfortunately been destroyed. 



The Kixt-vaeti, or stone chest, is a sort of rectangular cell, 

 formed by a flat stone resting upim three ujirights composing the 

 three sides, the fourth side being left open. They are supposed to 

 have been sepulchres, and also places of initiation. One of the 

 best specimens is in Kent, and is now called Kit's Coty House: 

 Camden supposes this monument to have been erected over the 

 tomb of Catigern, an ancient British hero. In ^^'ales there is 

 a circle composed of several kist-vaens, with a cromlech in the 

 centre; under the kist-vaens human bones have been found. 



The Circlrs of stones were sacred inclosures and places of public 

 meeting, either for civil or religious purposes. These -are aWo 

 found in various countries: a circle of stones, with an upright 

 stone in the centre, still exists near Darab, in Persia; and it is 



