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investigator cannot interpret it aright he destroys for ever a page, it may 

 be, of human history, and no one following him can write it afresh. No 

 explorer, no matter how experienced, can predicate what may be the 

 evidence he will have put before him in the excavation of a simple mound 

 or stone circle, and the greatest care and attention are essential if he 

 desires his exploration to be moderately successful. 



Here then we have, scattered in almost every parish in the United 

 Kingdom, the raw material, the original documents, from which it is the 

 duty of the archajologist to weave the story of prehistoric Britain. But 

 what are the present conditions of these precious documents ? What 

 attention is given to the mounds that cover our downs, to the less 

 prominent stone circles that are to be found scattered over our moors ? 

 It is true that monuments of the imposing dignity of Avebury, Stone- 

 henge, and others of great size are not likely to suffer from wanton 

 daniage because, like some human beings, their very size is their protection. 

 It is true also that in some localities of the more enlightened sort 

 committees have been formed, and the local societies have been active, for 

 the express purpose of preserving these little noted relics. But vast 

 areas remain, full of prehistoric sites, in which nothing is done in the 

 nature of preservation ; and, on the other hand, agricultural operations, 

 building, and the like, are doing a great deal in the way of destruction. No 

 better instance could be brought forward than one of recent date 

 recounted by the Rev. G. R. Buick in the ' Journal of the Royal Society 

 of Antiquaries of Ireland ' for June of the present year. ' Mr. Buick 

 states that the ancient earn locally known as the Giant's Grave, situate 

 at Loughloughan, in Co. Antrim, has recently been removed. It was a 

 circular heap of stones 52 feet by 39 feet in diameter. ' Many years ago, 

 but still in the recollection of old people in the neighbourhood, a large 

 pillar stone stood upright upon it ; it was usually spoken of as " the 

 memorial stone." . . . The earn itself stood on the farm of Mi'. William 

 Hunter, and about three miles distant from the village of Broughshane. 

 It occupied a commanding site at the head of a little ravine or dell over- 

 looking the beautiful valley of the Braid. . . . The owner sold the stones 

 of which it was composed to the Antrim Iron Ore Company, whose mines 

 are close at hand, and who required them for road metalling and other 

 purposes. His father had such a regard for the heap and such a super- 

 stitious fear of something dreadful happening if it were interfered with, 

 that he would not allow the late Canon Grainger, though rector of the 

 parish, to touch it when he sought permission to make a thorough 

 examination of it. But temjjora mwtmitur, &c. All the more reason for 

 vigilance on the part of those who know the value of our ancient monu- 

 ments and desire their preservation.' 



Such is Mr. Buick's story of a recent case in this very part of 

 Ireland. Unfortunately illness prevented him from being present at the 

 destruction, and it, was not till six weeks later that he was able to make 

 any inquiry on the spot. He then found that three cists had been found 

 in the cairn with remains of the skeletons and several fine urns of a most 

 interesting type. These were saved, no doubt owing to the protection 

 afforded them by the stone cists, and from the information supplied by 

 the workmen an approximate plan of their position was made. But 

 although these were saved who can say what was missed 1 



No better case could be brought forward of the deliberate destruction 



Vol. xxsii. p. 103. 



