338 Wakeman — Antiquities at Knockninny. 



The locality is a perfect wilderness, abounding in stone, so that 

 there was no temptation to any one to invade them. Immediately 

 adjoining is a beautiful miniature New grange, its chambers intact, 

 and its earn almost perfect, as it has suffered less from the denud- 

 ing influence of time than from the operations of rabbit-hunting boys. 

 Why should this tumulus remain almost perfect, while the neighbour- 

 ing dolmens and cromleac (supposing they had been ever mound-en- 

 closed) are found cleanly and completely denuded ? The principal 

 Knockninny "giants' grave" or dolmen measures 49 feet in length, by 6 

 feet in average breadth. It extends as nearly as possible N."W. and S.E., 

 and is composedof about twenty-five sandstone slabs. There is no trace of 

 any covering. The interior is divided by stone partitions into three cham- 

 bers, all of which were found to contain portions of human skeletons, 

 largely mixed with bones of oxen, sheep, and other mammals. The bones, 

 it should be observed, do not appear to have been subjected to the action 

 of fire, although some small pieces of charcoal were found with them. 

 They lay in utter disorder, and at various depths. Canon Grreenwell, 

 who has devoted much attention to the exploration of barrows of the 

 Stone age, as found spreading over the wolds of Yorkshire, is of opi- 

 nion that many of the remains which they held showed indications of 

 cannibalism having been practised ; and Dr. Thurnam, another high 

 authority on the subject of British barrows, " sees no difficulty in 

 acceding to the conclusion of Mr. Green well — -that in the disjointed, 

 cleft, and broken condition of the human bones in many of the long 

 barrows, especially in those examined by him in Scamridge, near 

 Ebberstone, and near Budstone, Yorkshire, we have indications of 

 funeral feasts, where slaves, captives, and others, were killed and 

 eaten." Are we to look on these Knockninny bones as the remains 

 of a funeral feast ? 



The second "giants' grave," situate at a considerable distance 

 from that just described, has been greatly ruined, and need not be 

 referred to at any length. 



No notice of Knockninny would be complete without some par- 

 ticular mention of the well already referred to. This spring has been 

 enclosed within the walls of two covered structures, the inner one 

 being probably of the era of some of our oldest churches. The outer 

 building, which is comparatively modern, is in plan almost a square, 

 measuring 5 ft. 7 in. by 5 ft. 13 in. It stands about 4 ft. in height. 



Another architectural relic on Knockninny, but one of a widely 

 different class from any which I have hitherto noticed, consists of 

 a small square tower-house, or fortified residence, of the Elizabethan, 

 or perhaps a later, period. It stands not far from the principal giants' 

 grave. There would seem to be some misty tradition that this quaint 

 pile was at one time the residence of the learned Bishop Bedell. 



