112 RUDE STONE MONUMENTS ON BODMIN MOOB,. 



may be found in directions which, do not appear to have any 

 meaning, as well as in those which have, but, although the circle- 

 builders could not remove those hills, they could ignore them, 

 and their presence would help to conceal from the uninitiated (as 

 it still does) the selection of those hills on which the gaze of the 

 worshipper was to be fixed. 



To pursue the subject further in its general bearings would 

 extend this paper beyond its proper limits, but I may mention 

 that in Egyptian theology we have the Eastern Solar Mountain, 

 where the sun rises, and where he is saluted by the powers of 

 the East.* Other particulars as to the connection between 

 circles, hills, and the sun, may be found in the Archaeological 

 Journal, Vol. xlix, p. 136. With regard to the Bodmin Moor 

 circles, I may say, in conclusion, that the line drawn due north 

 through the Stripple Stones and Fernacre circles was probably 

 intended to point to the polestar, and that the line due east 

 through the Stannon and Fernacre circles to Brown- Willy, 

 evidently was meant to indicate the equinoctial sunrise, while 

 hills due south (of which there are instances here and elsewhere), 

 were kept in view as directing attention to the sun at noon. The 

 sun shining between the granite peaks of Rough Tor, as it must 

 at some time in the year, would present a very impressive 

 appearance to anyone viewing it from the Stannon circle ; and 

 the triple peak of Brown- Willy, seen from the same spot, as 

 shown in my sketch, may be compared with those in other places 

 mentioned previously. Garrow is in the line of midsummer 

 sunrise from the Leaze circle, and three smaller tors are in the 

 same line from the Stripple Stones. The lines of direction from 

 the Trippet stones and Leaze circle to Eough-Tor are probably 

 in connection with some star or stars, being too far north for 

 any reference to the sun. Rough Tor is the only one of the hills 

 which is visible from all the circles on Bodmin Moor, and may 

 therefore be considered to have been the sacred hill of East 

 Cornwall, though not quite so high as Brown Willy. There 

 are no hills of any great note to be seen on the west side of 

 these circles. 



* P. Lepage Renouf (President) in Proc. Soc. Biblical Archaeology, Vol. 18, 

 pa^e 7. 



