MISCELLANEA. 375 



SO with a growth of heather over its whole surface. Formerly, 

 before the destruction of the natural wood, it must have been 

 more or less concealed from view, and when the young plantation 

 now surrounding it has grown up it probably will be so again, 

 that is, if the farmers and others do not quarry it entirely away 

 first, and portions of it have ah'eady in this way disappeared. 

 We felt much disappointed in an attempt to trace the circles on 

 this now celebrated stone. It has been figured so often, and by 

 good authorities, that we expected to find what we were not able 

 to see. It was somewhat difficult to trace out even a few of the 

 circles, and such as we saw were not comparable with those on 

 Weetwood Moor, and in a few years these will have vanished. 

 This proves that their preservation to the present time is due to 

 their having been covered with peat and heather, the removal of 

 which, as at Old Bewick and other localities, has led rapidly to 

 their effacement. On Ford Moss we saw better examples on 

 some parts of the exposed rock-head affording what we wished 

 to see, distinct evidence that some of the circles are crossed by 

 elevated ridges of harder veins. 



In concluding these remarks it may be stated that the only 

 evidence adduced in support of the artificial origin and symboli- 

 cal meaning of these circles is the circumstance of their being 

 frequently found in the neighbourhood of Celtic encampments, 

 and the fact that they have been found on stones employed in 

 sepulchre for covering cists and urns, but surely both these cir- 

 cumstances may be as purely accidental as of their having been 

 found on old walls at Black Heddon. It is suggested that they 

 may have been formed by the use of blunt implements. If on 

 carefully remo\ing the peat which has covered all of tliem ori- 

 ginally, tool marks of unquestionable character could be found, 

 then their artificial origin would be at once established. I am 

 not aware that such evidence has been found, but I have scon 

 some circles on Weetwood Moor tampered with recently by some 

 modern idler. 



Tlic chief evidence for their natural origin is that they occur 

 generally on the rock-head and laminated surfaces of sandstone. 

 I am aware of, and have seen one stone, found by the late Mr 



