BESIDE THE CROMLECH. 203 



frequent in these Keltic regions. It seems 

 natural enough] to suppose that ancient 

 British monuments should be carefully 

 preserved In such outlying spots as these 

 where the Ancient Britons still survive in 

 almost unmixed purity. But, as a matter of 

 fact, the cromlechs are really less preserved 

 here than elsewhere, because their barrows 

 have mostly been washed away, and the body 

 within has long since disappeared. The best 

 preserved cromlechs are, of course, those 

 which you cannot see at all, because they are 

 still covered with their encloslnof mound of 

 earth and still contain the bones and relics 

 of the dead man within them. It is the 

 desecrated tomb that we call a Druidical 

 monument ; the undesecrated we only de- 

 scribe as a prehistoric barrow. 



There can be very little doubt that this 

 cromlech, like all others, was once upon a 

 time the tomb of an early chieftain. From 

 the general character of its workmanship, and 

 the very slight extent to which the stones have 



