The Giant's Ring 19 



and I think probably in Harris' time, it consists of one top stone 

 in position, one top stone fallen and seven upright stones, besides 

 the two outside disconnected stones, or eleven stones in all. Mr. 

 Borlase says " there appear to have been two covering stones, one 

 of which has fallen owing to the removal of the side ones." Yet 

 Harris in 1744 says there was only one top stone, although he 

 says the alleged side stones were then in position. So that in 

 this detail Mr. Borlase seems to contradict himself. On the 

 whole I think the evidence tends to prove that Harris' account is 

 inaccurate, and that the cromlech remains almost in its original 

 form, except that even prior to Harris' day one of the top stones 

 had slipped down to its present position from the top of the three 

 upright stones it lies between, which would still support it if 

 raised up. 



Having closed up and re-sodded all the excavations near the 

 outside of the cromlech, we proceeded to sink a narrow shaft 

 under the cromlech itself. This excavation proved that we had 

 been forestalled by someone who unfortunately never seems to 

 have placed his discoveries on I'ecord. The soil was quite loose, 

 and at nearly four feet down were fragments of modern lemonade 

 jiiid porter bottles. Every spade full of soil taken out was care- 

 fully examined. A few fragments of burned human bones 

 occasionally appeared, not a teacup full in all. Whether the 

 previous explorer had found an urn containing bones, or merely 

 found burned bones buried in soil, there was nothing to indicate. 

 Not a fi-agment of pottery was forthcoming. Had the previous 

 investigator found an urn full of bones and taken it away, why 

 would bones be found through the loose soil % On the other 

 hand, if he had found merely bones buried in soil, he may have 

 removed a portion of them, and what we found were the 

 remainder, reduced in quantity by decay more rapid after his 

 turning them up. I have made enquiries in every direction I 

 can think of as to the existence of an urn from this site, cither 

 in museums or private collections, but can find no trace of such. 

 There may have been one, but from my experience gained in the 



