A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



how near it would be to the ground and the fact of the holes being 

 splayed. It may be fairly stated that we do not know the object of 

 this arrangement of stones. The fifth stone, which formerly stood 

 100 yards farther on, is not now to be seen. In the same direc- 

 tion, north-east, there stands on Longstone Down, Boslow, a tall 

 menhir, 9 ft. high, the top of which is just visible over the hedge 

 from the circles. This is the third instance of a menhir, or menhirs, 

 being found near circles in West Cornwall. Here as elsewhere the moor 

 is dotted with barrows, and from one of them the late W. C. Borlase 

 obtained the very fine urn now in the British Museum and known as 

 the ' Tregaseal urn.' 



We are indebted to Dr. Borlase for an early mention of these circles; 

 in his MS. Parochial Memoirs (1738) he says: 'On Tregaseal-downs 

 are two circles of stones placed on end, standing east and west of each 

 other. In the eastern, 17 stones are still standing, two prostrate, one 

 broken off. Diameter, 23 paces. In the western, 10 standing, four 

 prostrate, about 26 paces diameter, called Tregaseal Dancing Stones.' ] 

 In the 164 years covered by the various plans and descriptions there has 

 been a steady deterioration of this interesting monument. 



It may be noted that these circles lie east and west of each other, 

 with the small error of i or 2 between their centres. The Scilly Isles 

 are plainly visible west-south-west. Other instances of two circles side 

 by side are found in the Grey Wethers, Dartmoor, and the Wendron 

 Circles. 



BOSKEDNAN 



Boskednan Circle is in the parish of Gulval and lies about 4! miles 

 north of Penzance, on the high moorland between Ding Dong Mine and 

 Carn Galva ; it takes its name from the farm near by, and the land- 

 owner is Mr. T. Robins Bolitho. The diameter is 69 feet, which is 

 about the average for West Cornwall, but most of the stones are above 

 that average in size. The largest stone, a fallen one (9), is 7 ft. 6 in. 

 long ; one end of it can be seen in the foreground of the photograph ; 

 another (10) stands 6ft. 4in. out of the ground, and a third (11), pros- 



1 Prehistoric Monuments, 2. 

 386 



