Wiltshire Books, Pamphlets, and Articles. 271 



place of origin for them ; not being aware, apparently, of the important 

 discoveries of Mr. Teall, lately printed in this Magazine, showing that all 

 these rocks may well have come from North Devon. 



The general conclusion to which he comes is that the structure dates from 

 the Eoman period, in ,fact that it is one of the temples which Agricola 

 (A.D. 79) is said to have encouraged the Britons to build — and that the 

 fact that Agricola himself had studied at Massilia accounts for the employment 

 of a Greek unit of measurement in setting out the building. By a most 

 ingenious turning inside-out of the traditional story of Ambrosius and Merlin 

 he finds confirmation for his theory even in this — for he suggests that the 

 truth of the story is that Ambrosius and Merlin set to work, not to build 

 but to take down the already-existing structure, in order to transport the 



< stones to Ambresbury to make a monument for the British chiefs slain there 

 — and that they did actually remove the five piers and twenty lintels which 

 are now missing from the structure ! 



Altogether the argument, ingenious as it is, can hardly be said to be con- 

 vincing, or to bring us much nearer to the solution of the Stonehenge 

 problem. The weak point in the book is the almost total absence of references 

 to the megalithic structures of other countries, such as India and Arabia 



I which are largely analogous in their nature. If the riddle of Stonehenge is 

 ever to be solved, it will not be by even the closest examination of that 

 structure alone, but rather by a wide and comparative study of those circles 

 and remains which most nearly resemble it in all parts of the world. 

 Favourable notices have appeared in The Antiquary, vol. xxxi., p. 319, 



! Oct.; Notes and Queries, Aug. 31st; Salisbury Journal, Aug. 17th. 



\ The People's Stonehenge, with Illustrations, by J. J. Cole, F.E.A.S. 

 John Doney, High Street, Sutton, Surrey. Pamphlet. Post 8vo. N.D. [1895]. 

 Price 6d. pp. 16. 



This latest contribution to Stonehenge literature professes apparently (for 



! it has no preface or introduction) simply to give an account of the structure 

 as it is. It consists of ten process illustrations, from photographs, of the 



' stones, and a couple of plans, with a few short explanatory notes to each. 

 The author has his own ideas, and states them for the edification of " The 



: People" freely. They have the merit, at least, of being many of them 

 original. The space between the vallum and the outer circle was " probably 

 once occupied by the dwellings for the serving priests ; as in ' the 

 Close' round a Cathedral." The stones of the outer circle are "from 



i Marlborough Downs, conveyed chiefly on rafts by the Avon. Some stones 

 on their way fell into the river." " The Offering or Slaughtering Stone 



I was not for the slaughter of human beings, but of animals for the sacrifice 



« and for the serving priests of the temple, for priests must live — around it 

 is a trench to receive the blood and the water from washing the auimals. 

 Across one corner is a row of holes to take the metal supports of the grating 



i for burning or roasting them." The holes in the blue stone impost are 

 "two bowls for water," analogous to holy water stoups at the entrance of 

 Christian Churches. " The two bowls at Stonehenge seem to imply a 

 separation of sexes — we hope not." ! The groove in one of the blue stone 



