THE RtJDE STONE MONUMENTS OE CORNWALL. 79 



while the Hurlers are calculated to have had originally from 

 twenty-six to thirty-three. The Duloe circle only retains eight. 

 Stone circles on Dartmoor vary in number between ten and 

 thirty-six ; and it is plain that in some of them there must have 

 been more ; while in Cumberland we reach eighty-eight. 



It is therefore perfectly evident that the number of stones 

 in the circles cannot be essential. It varies, as common sense 

 tells us it would naturally vary, with the dimensions of the circles, 

 and in a smaller degree with the dimensions of the stones. 



Neither the size nor the material of the stones, present any 

 distinctive features, so far as Cornwall and Devon are concerned, 

 Some of the stones used in the Cornish circles are quite insignifi- 

 cant ; and examples are found of all dimensions, between hand- 

 stones and the 11 ft. 9 in. member of the Stripple Stones. The 

 average size may be put at from three to five feet. As to material, 

 in the West of England the stones are invariably those of the 

 locality, chiefly granite, occasionally quartz, or, as in some 

 Devon instances, a local gabbro. Indeed the only exception to 

 the rule, that circle stones are of local origin, that I am aware 

 of, in the country, is that of the inner and ruder circle at 

 Stonehenge, which must call for its own special explanation. 



So far, then, we have been unable to get beyond our first two 

 postulates. It is clear that there is nothing to guide us either in 

 the size of the circles, or the number or character of the stones 

 forming them. 



But of late years attention has been called to their presumed 

 orientation, in respect to which very ingenious hypotheses have 

 been framed by Mr. A. L. Lewis. Now, it is impossible to 

 orientate a circle, save with reference to some extraneous feature ; 

 and, if orientation be an essential, this feature must always 

 have been present. At Stonehenge it is presumed to be the menhir 

 called the Friar's Heel, immediately behind which it is noted that 

 the sun may be seen to rise, when viewed from the so-called 

 " altar stone " in the centre of the circle, on the longest day. 

 Much the same result, though less exactly, is claimed to have 

 been observed with regard to other important monuments of this 

 class, as at Stanton-Drew near Bristol, and Arbor-Low in 

 Derbyshire, and I think that some tendency must be admitted, 

 though the explanation is open to discussion. 



