lO 



NATURE 



[November 5, 1908 



I h.'ive already given my opinion that the balance 

 (it I he evidence is in favour of the view that the 

 building period in Aberdeen was later than in 

 Cornwall. 



When more observations are available to compare 

 the lateness of North Wales with that of Aberdeen, a 

 question of great interest will be presented to the 



Fig. 8.— Ystvm Cegid (Ple'sdes). 



Welsh archeeologists ; but already it may oe gathered 

 from the preceding summary of the facts so far 

 garnered that they are in harmony with the inform- 

 ation handed down from Roman times. 



Caesar does not locate the Druids,' except that there 

 were none in Germany. But Tacitus only refers to 

 them in Anglesey (Mona), " .■\ 

 common refuge for all the discon- - - 



tented Britons."- In his account 

 of the attack upon the island (p. 30) 

 he tells us : — " The Druids were 

 ranged in order with hands up- 

 lifted, invoking the gods, and pour- 

 ing forth horrible imprecations." 

 He adds, " The religious groves, 

 dedicated to superstitious and bar- 

 barous rites, were levelled to the 

 ground." 



I cannot help thinking that 

 unless Anglesey were specially 

 Druidical, Tacitus would have re- 

 ferred to Druidisni in other parts 

 of his history, and that the Roman 

 writers refer to the occupation of 

 Anglesey by the Druids in such a 

 way as to suggest that they did 

 not come across them in force any- 

 where else. 



If a large number had taken 

 refuge in .Anglesey after they had 

 been driven bv one race or another 

 from their former haunts elsewhere, we should 

 expect their temple building to be such as we have 

 found it, i.e. a few monuments of the most ancient 

 type, showing that it . was from the earliest times a 

 druidical sanctuary, scattered among a larger number 

 of comparatively modern provenance. 



I now come to the method employed in laying out 

 the cromlechs. In previous notes I have pointed out 

 that it was to be gathered from the Cornish crom- 

 lechs that the actual direction of the completed struc- 



1 " BelloG.nllico," vi., 13-14, 16-21. 



" .\nnals, .\iv., 29. Murphy's Tr.inslation. (Dent .ind Co.). 



NO. 2036, VOL. 79] 



ture was parallel to the principal face of one of the 

 supporting uprights, and that probably this setting out 

 of the alignment was the work of one possessing a 

 greater knowledge than those who eventually com- 

 pleted the erection. This view has been entirely 

 borne out by the .Anglesey cromlechs ; Pant y Saer is 

 a good case in point; there are three stones parallel 

 to the alignment, and two at right angles to 

 it. The S.E. stone on Bryn Celli Ddu domin- 

 ates the orientation of the creepway, as I have 

 already stated. 



In the case of some cromlechs which have 

 been surveyed with great care bv Mr. Baynes, 

 and of which he has been good enough to send 

 copies of the plans which have been pub- 

 lished in the " .Archsologia Cambrensis " or 

 elsewhere, most extraordinary blunders in the 

 direction of the north point have been brought 

 to light. No wonder that the solstitial align- 

 ment of Bryn Celli Ddu was not recognised 

 when its orientation on the plan was 35° out ! 

 Although I have dealt with some of the 

 general questions which have been raised by 

 the observations made by Lord Boston, Mr. 

 Baynes, the Rev. J. Griffith, and myself on 

 the small number of North Wales cromlechs 

 which we were able to measure in the limited 

 time at our disposal, they are by no means 

 exhausted. It may also be added that when 

 v; . .. the orientations of a much larger number have 

 ' *■ been recorded the general questions raised are 



certain to be increased. 

 It is worth while to point out again that all the 

 orientations found in North Wales are identical with 

 those already noted in Cornwall and elsewhere; by 

 which, of course, I do not mean that the sight-lines 

 are parallel, but that their object was the same; and 

 no better proof ot this could be afforded than by 



-Pant y Saer (May Su 



''/loto. by Lady Locl:ye 



the facts that to secure the same object the differences 

 of latitude, azimuth, and height of the horizon, when 

 taken into account, give us the same declinations of 

 the sun at the summer and winter solstices, and for 

 the critical dates of the May year when the sun's 

 declination is 16° 20' N. and S. 



Work is also provided for the new Royal Commis- 

 sioners who, I am delighted to learn, have now 

 been appointed to study the few remnants of the 

 ancient monuments of England, Wales, and Scotland 

 which still remain to us, in spite of the ignorance and 

 carelessness of successive governments and owners. 



