1921.] LIST OF DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 31 



The name "La Pouquelaye " is found in several 

 " Lettres sous Sceau " and " Extentes " of the fifteenth 

 century, and it is also a common name for dolmens in Jersey 

 and in the Cotentin, but so far as I am aware, it is not used in 

 Brittany. It is one of the few Celtic, or Gaulish, words 

 which has survived in Guernsey our Norman invasion and 

 the subsequent change of our language into* Norman French. 

 According to Mr. G. Metivier it is derived from two Celtic 

 words, " pok " (to kiss), and " lec'h " (a stone), and sig- 

 nifies " pierre ou l'homme adore. (1) Another derivation is 

 from " Pouck'lech," fairy stone or goblin stone (compare 

 the Irish " Pukh," a goblin, and our English Puck). 



" Le Trepied," the Tripod, is a name obviously des- 

 criptive of the appearance of a large flat capstone supported 

 by three upright stone props. 



The name " Le Dehus" can be traced in Guernsey as 

 far back as the fourteenth century, namely on the Rent Rolls 

 of the priory of St. Michel du Valle of I3c;z. (2) This name 

 " Dehus " is also of Celtic origin and is derived from the 

 old Gaulish "dusius," a demon or faun, of whom St. 

 Augustine wrote: dcemones quos Dusios Galli appellant S l) 

 Metivier (4) says that in Brittany "le Theusig, ou dehuset 

 est un petit homme noir qui danse autour de ce qu'on 

 appelle aujourd'hui cromlech." M. A. de la Borderie (5) also 

 traces the derivation of " Teus ou Teuz " qui designe chez 

 les Bretons de nos jours un lutin rustique ou esprit follet, 

 parent plus ou moins proche du Korrik " — back to " ce 

 Tuthe ou Tuz du moyen age . . . le meme aussi que le Duz 

 ou Dus Gaulois dont parlent St. Augustin . . . Isidore de 

 Seville, Hincmar, Thomas de Cantimpre et autres auteurs 

 cites dans du Cange au mot Dusii (edit : Didot t. II. 

 p. 966-967)." It is curious to note that in Guernsey the word 

 Dehus followed the same etymological change as in Brittany, 

 and that in comparatively modern times. Mr. F. C. Lukis 

 states that the great dolmen of Le Dehus, Vale, was alterna- 

 tively called " du Tus," while the " Dehusets " of the 

 Extentes of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries 

 became the " Tuzets " or " Tusets " of later times. 



(1) Dictionnaire Franco-Normand, G. Metivier, p. 404. See also A. de Courson 

 Histoire des Peuple^ Breton dans la Ganle et dans les lies Britanniques. V.I 

 Glo-saire, mots * Lech '—pierre, ' Poccan '— baiser, Armoricain 'pok.' 



(2) Authenticated copies of the o^i^inals in th^ Archives de la Manche, Fonds 

 Mont St. Michel, at St. Lo, are in the Greffe of the Royal Court. 



(3) Soc. d'Emulation du Cotes du Nord, t. xxviii, p 235. Art. Saint Mandez, par 

 A. dela Borderie. 



(4) Diet. F. N., p. 169. 



(5) Saint Maudez , A. de la Borderie. 



