130 History of the Sarsens. 



" Sarsen " is referred to " Saresyn," as applied by the Saxons to 

 pagans and heathens in general, and to stones grouped in temples 

 popularly attributed to heathen worship, and hence called Saresyn 

 or heathen stones. " J.W [aylen] ." 



Mr. Long, in the Wilts Mag., (Nos. xlvi.— xlvii.,"June, 1876), 

 vo l. X vi—" Stonehenge and its Barrows"— pp. 1—241 ; pp. 68—74, 

 « Geological character of the Stonehenge Stones/' observes that 1 

 Sarsen or Saresyn may mean pagan stone ; for " Sarrasin " is com- 

 monly given on the Continent to any roads and buildings of Celtic 

 or Roman construction (prior to the Christian era). He quotes j 

 Waylen's " History of Marlborough/' p. 529, and H. L. Long's 

 " Survey of the Early Geography of Western Europe" (quoting 

 French arehseologists, &c.), p. 105. 



Mr. Bristow (Catal. Rock-specimens, 1862, p. 163) supports this 

 derivation from " Saracen," and says that the word " Saracen" is 

 applied in some parts of England to any foreigner, and that the )f 

 Sarsens in popular belief were originally brought by foreigners. "In 

 Cornwall large heaps of refuse from the mines are known by the 

 name of Attle-Saracen, or heaps of rubbish left there by the Sara- 

 cens." These Orientals, however, could not have been known to 

 the Britons or the old Saxons (though there is a reference to an 

 army of Saracens in a book written in Anglo-Saxon, Jud. c. 16), 

 nor to the English generally until the time of the Crusades. Nor 

 do we find the epithet " Saracen" applied to Stonehenge or Abury 

 (both Saxon terms), or to any other heathen temple or monument 

 in this county, as Mr. Adams truly observes ; and he adds that 

 these stones must have had a local name before Saracens were heard 

 of in this country, and it is unlikely that it would have been re- 

 placed by so vague a term as " Saracen." Rev. John Adams, he. cit. 



V. — Geological History of the Sarsens. 

 In order to understand the circumstances under which these great 

 irregular blocks of stone were formed and deposited, those who are 

 not well acquainted with geology must ignore the present geography 

 of the country, and bear in mind that in bygone ages there were in 

 this district sand-beds accumulated perhaps 100ft. above their heads, 



