446 Mr. Tate on Yevering Bell, &c. 



of which the cromleeh is constructed. Ure refers the tradi- 

 tion to the Druidesses, who he says "might at this place 

 superintend the sacred rites." Such traditions and phrases, 

 however, more probably have their origin in the belief in 

 witchcraft supposed to have been exercised by old women. 



This cairn was the largest in the district. When I ex- 

 amined it in 1857, only one half of it was remaining; but I 

 ascertained that, when complete, it was 240 feet in circum- 

 ference. The remaining half was taken down in 1859 to 

 build a boundary wall -, and so great had this cairn been, 

 that this fragment supplied stones to build more than a 1000 

 yards of a wall, which is 5 feet in height and 2 feet 2 inches 

 in breadth. The removal of the stones, however, proved the 

 cairn to have been sepulchral ; for underneath its eastern 

 portion a Cist-vaen of the usual kind was discovered, which 

 was 3i feet long and 18 inches broad, and placed in the 

 direction of north-west to south-east. The bottom was flag- 

 ged and a very large slab covered the top. Nothing how- 

 ever was in the Cist excepting a few bones which mouldered 

 away on exposure. 



The facts elicited from the examination of the Barrows 

 tend to shew, that cremation of the dead was practised per- 

 haps not exclusively but to a certain extent by the Ancient 

 British or Celtic people in the neighbourhood of Yevering. 



In estimating the age of the antiquities explored, we must 

 distinguish between their original construction and later 

 occupation. Indeed we are more likely to find relics of the 

 later than of the earlier population. But though the relics 

 discovered at Yevering mark different periods, yet all the 

 Forts, fortified dwellings and hut circles examined, appear to 

 me to be pretty nearly of the same age and to be the work of 

 one people or race. Their general character allies them to 

 the antiquities explored last year in the Valley of the Bream- 

 ish. The diggings at Yevering have been more productive of 

 stone weapons and instruments of the simplest kind made of 

 flint; and their presence unmistakably indicates an early 

 period ; and this conclusion is strengthened by the rude pot- 

 tery associated with them. We may therefore safely refer 

 the first construction and occupation of the Forts and dwell- 

 ings to the Celtic or Ancient British race, and to a time 

 long anterior to the Roman invasion. Here, however, this 

 people lived for many generations and centuries, progressing 

 somewhat in civilization and art ; yet during this lapse of 



