82 THE ETJDE STONE MONIJMENTS OF CORNWALL. 



stones standing nearly eight feet high ; the Throwleigh of about 

 the same size, with a neighbour of 60 ; the Eaybarrow of 60 ; 

 the Eingmore of 75 ; the Fernworthy of 60 ; the Merivale of 

 54 ; the Longstone Moor ; and the Sherberton ; while there were 

 still larger circles associated with the Drewsteignton Cromlech. 



But the most important feature of the stone circles of 

 Dartmoor is the fact of their general, though not universal 

 connection with a very singular class of rude stone monuments, 

 in which, as I have already said, Dartmoor takes the lead. I 

 refer to the " stone rows," so commonly and so absurdly dubbed 

 "avenues" and " parallelitha," and more accurately but quite 

 as pretentiously, " alignments." They were called avenues and 

 parallelitha, clearly enough, because it so happened that, in the 

 first examples to which antiquarian attention was called, the rows 

 were double, — whereas the single row is as common as the double. 

 And while on Dartmoor itself there are as many as seven rows 

 in a group, elsewhere there are as many as twenty- three, which 

 might fairly be called a "labyrinth." Moreover, so far is 

 parallelism from being essential, that rows frequently converge 

 or diverge ; and even alignment is put out of court by angles 

 and bends. As yet these rows have not been recognised in 

 Cornwall. Inasmuch, however, as diligent search has largely 

 added within the last two or three years to those known on 

 Dartmoor, it would be rash to say that no Cornish examples exist. 

 There are indeed said to have been " rows " near Kilmarth, but 

 Mr. Lukis saw nothing in the county resembling them, save 

 the " Nine Maidens " near St. Columb, and they, as described by 

 him, bore no likeness to the genuine article. The "spacing" in 

 his plan, however, is much less than in his text; and the 

 possibility must be left open. 



At the present moment, thirty-eight stone rows are known on 

 Dartmoor ; and, of these, at least twenty-five are associated with 

 circles. The evidence indeed is overwhelming that the Dartmoor 

 stone row, in its complete form, begins with a circle and ends 

 with a menhir, the circle commonly, though not universally, 

 enclosing a barrow or a kistvaen. And these circles, it must be 

 understood, are free-standing, and quite distinct from the support- 

 ing stones which are, not infrequently, found to form the outer 

 foundation of a barrow. They are real stone circles. 



