Elcock — Pre-Bistoric Monuments at Carrowmore. ±S7 



edge, measuring nearly ten feet above ground, and as wide as 

 high : its thickness is about seven inches. It has a large quad- 

 rangular hole cut through it, large enough for a man to creep 

 through with ease. It forms a " mearing point " for the three 

 adjoining parishes. Why it was erected, or when, is quite lost, 

 and I could learn no tradition respecting it. Is it one of the 

 old Pagan oath stones, such as the Maen-an-Thol, in Cornwall, 

 or as " The Long Stone " at Minchinhampton, in Gloucester- 

 shire ? Besides being used for swearing, such stones were used 

 for curing children who had the measles, whooping-cough, &c, 

 by passing the child through the hole ! A superstition which 

 it is hoped is now quite gone. 



There is yet one more of the antiquities in Carrowmore 

 which must be mentioned, although properly speaking not 

 exactly belonging to the Moytura monuments. This is The 

 Caltragh, a large Pagan burying ground, about a quarter of a 

 mile due east of Cromleac No. 13. It may be seen from the 

 field in which this cromleac stands, and from Listoghil. The 

 Caltragh is an irregularly circular mound, about one hundred 

 and fifty yards in diameter, enclosed by a wall. Some slight 

 excavations made here and there many years ago, showed it to 

 be full of human bones. The examination was difficult, owing 

 to the prejudices of the neighbourhood. No burial has ever 

 taken place there within the reach of tradition, and the ground 

 is regarded as under a sort of taboo. Undoubtedly it dates 

 from a very remote antiquity — probably much older than the 

 Carrowmore monuments. 



The whole of these monuments are included in the Act for 

 the Preservation of Ancient Monuments. 



There is now little doubt that the stone enclosures known as 

 Druidical Circles, Druid's Altars, and such like, are invariably 

 sepulchral, with which the Druids had no sort of connection as 

 to worship. The stone circles in all probability mark the 

 burial places of the common soldiers who fell in the battle, and 

 the cromleac in the centre, the grave of the chieftain— the 



