Wayland Smith's Cave or Cromlech. 



319 



for his interesting communication, there were two or three points 

 in it, which invited discussion. 



In the first place there was an allusion to the origin of Boulders 

 which he, Mr. Lukis, would leave to the geologists present to explain. 

 In the next place there was the form of Wayland Smith's Cave, 

 which the Professor, in his admirable and accurate ground plan, 

 had shown to be a Latin Cross. This Mr. Lukis conceived to arise 

 from an accidental circumstance. It was well known that Crom- 

 lechs not unfrequently had side chambers subsequently added to 

 them. This may be seen in the published plans of New Grange, 

 and other Cromlechs, in the instance before us, as well as in that of 

 Du Tus, in Guernsey, and in those which abound in Britany and 

 Scandinavia. The Professor exhibits a ground plan of a fine 

 Cromlech on Lancresse Common, in Guernsey, in which a similar 

 chamber is marked ; but that one, which Mr. Lukis explored in 

 conjunction with his brothers in 1838, for the first time, barely 

 amounts to more than a small recess. These chambers, Mr. Lukis 

 conceived, were additions subsequently made, sometimes on one side 

 only, at other times on both sides of the original central construction. 

 Here, at Wayland Smith's Cave, there was a chamber on both sides ; 

 but the reason for their being opposite to each other, and in the 

 centre of the main line, so as to form with it the other limbs of a 

 Latin Cross, was apparent. The side chambers are proportionably 

 larger than the central one, and required to be inclosed in that part 

 of the barrow where they would be most covered with earth. In a 

 mound of comparatively small dimensions, the centre would present 

 the only favourable position. 



Again, Professor Donaldson seems to consider that this monu- 

 ment was never inclosed in a mound of earth. This, Mr. Lukis 

 stated, was not his opinion. On the contrary he believed not only 

 that Wayland Smith's Cave had been inclosed in a barrow, but 

 that all Cromlechs were originally so inclosed. He did not think 

 that there was any evidence to disprove this statement. All the 

 Cromlechs he had seen, and he had carefully inspected and examined 

 many in different parts of Europe, had confirmed his opinion. They 

 were, in fact, sepulchral vaults inclosing the ashes of the dead, 



