248 ANNUAL EXCURSION. 



"Dinas" on the to^D of the hill. Its dedication to "St. Denis" 

 may have been in consequence. Within the building the modern 

 renovator was again found to have been at work, and the interior 

 may be described as " brand new." The tower arch has its side- 

 shafts capped with an angel on the south, and an Archbishop 

 " St. Denis " on the north. The ancient font was seen lying in 

 a corner close by, having been replaced by a modei-n one. There 

 is an ancient cross near the church-entrance on the south. 



Hals wrote as follows of this place : — 



" The church is erected on a bleak elevation, and is sur- 

 " rounded by a direful strag of rocks, visible above ground, of 

 "various and tremendous shapes & sizes, affording pasture for 

 "little else beside sheep, rabbits, hares, goats, & horses. Upon 

 " these stones in the year 16(34, at night, rained, for about an acre 

 " of ground of them, a shower of blood* which fell down in drops 

 "of the breadth of a shilling sterling; which blood remained 

 " visible on the stones for many years after, &, on such as were 

 "carried thence & kept dry, the drops of blood were visible of a 

 " crimson color, twenty years after, — four or five drops upon some 

 " stones ; some of which I have seen. After this shower of blood, 

 "broke out the plague of London whereof great numbers of 

 "people died ; the Dutch & French Wars; and the burning of 

 "the city of London," 



A hasty glance was next taken at the church's exterior, with 

 its unique two-staged tower and stumjj j)innacles, the newel being 

 circular, a somewhat rare feature in tower architecture. Walking 

 to the verge of the gi-ave-yard on the northern side and mounting 

 the extraordinarily cumbersome dry wall (part of the old fortifi- 

 cation perhaps), the undulating country and sweep of moorland 

 scenery were viewed, and all were charmed with the prospect. 



* The alleged fall of drops of blood, as rain, 1664, at St. Denis, has just had a 

 parallel which explains it. In February, 1903, red, orange, or yellow rain fell on 

 many of the high parts of Cornwall. A previous occurrence was noticed not long 

 before. The deposit was examined and analysed, and was found to contain particles 

 of silica of a crimson, and of a yellow hue, together with organic and other sub- 

 stances. They were considered terrestrial, not stellar, in origin ; and it has been 

 surmised that as the wind was very tempestuous and from the south and south- west, 

 the particles may have been from a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert. -W. Iago, B.A. 



