138 ST. piran's old church. 



nave of the clmrch, is an unquestionable fact. Several skeletons 

 have been found deposited about 2 feet below the floors. Three 

 were discovered with their feet lying underneath the altar — one 

 of them of gigantic dimensions, measuring about 7 feet 6 inches, 

 and then^^ three placed beside each other without their heads : 

 their heads (which appeared to be almost cemented together) lay 

 between the knees of the skeleton deposited nearest to the south 

 wall, in all probability those were the remains of martyrs who 

 had suffered for the faith Saint Piran preached. 



On the southern and western sides of this venerable ruin is 

 the ancient burial ground, strewed over with tens of thousands 

 of human bones and teeth as white as snow, and, strange as it 

 may seem, the showers of sand which fall all around, hardly ever 

 remain on those melancholy relics of mortality. The skeletons 

 hitherto discovered are all laid east and west, with the legs 

 frequently crossed like those of the Knights Templars. Nothing 

 in the church in the shape of inscription or coin was found by 

 which any ray of light could be cast on its antiquity. 



The mode of interment in this burial ground was probably 

 such as was generally adopted in the early ages. The bodies 

 appear to have been laid in the sands uninclosed in wood,^" but 

 probably covered with linen or flannel, in graves a few feet 

 below the surface ; flat stones are usually found underneath the 

 skeletons, and similar stones placed around and over them [their 

 chests] with other thicker [stones plaeed]^^ at the head and feet. 



About fifty years ago in this burial ground were found a 

 very curious and massive silver ring and a Roman ooin.^* The 

 ring is in my possession, and shows a neatness of ornament which 

 might well be attributed to Roman manufacture, and which 

 would do no discredit to the taste of the present day. This 

 ring was, undoubtedly, deposited in the sand with its wearer. 



11. [Or " these." The writing is not clear] . 



12. [Above these words there is interlined in pencil," not in wood " in, I think, 

 Mr. Michell's handwriting. Here, as elsewhere in the MS., he seems to have attempted 

 to revise the wording]. 



13. [The words in brackets are added in pencil by Mr. Michell, apparently with 

 the view suggested in note 12 above]. 



14. [Here the words, ' of the Lower IJmpire,' have been struck through]. 



