1847.] 



ISleilgherTy Hills, S^c. 



119 



gherries facsimiles of those in Europe, but that the same legend is 

 attached to both. 



Cromlechs, found chiefly in Wales and Cornwall at home by an- 

 tiquaries, are considered to have been altars used by the Druids upon 

 which they kept the sacred lire constantly burning. The one per- 

 haps best known is called Kits Cotty House, near Aylesford in Kent, 

 and consists of three flat stones sustaining a fourth. A drawing of 

 this Cromlech in my possession is an exact representation of one of 

 the most conspicuous at Achenny on the Neil gherries. 



By some the word Cromlech is derived from the Armoric term 

 crum^ meaning crooked or bowing," and leh " stone," alluding to 

 the reverence paid to them by bowing. 



Mr. Rowland derives it from the Hebrew words caremluach, sig- 

 nifying a " devoted or consecrated stone." 



The following is an account of some Cromlechs in the Isle of 

 Anglesea. 



*' In the woods behind Plas Newydd near the Menai Strait are 

 some very remarkable Druidical antiquities. Amongst them are two 

 vast Cromlechs. The upper stone of one is twelve feet seven inches 

 long, twelve broad, and four thick, supported by five tall stones. The 

 other is but barely separated from the first ; is almost a square 

 of five feet and a half, and supported by four stones. The number 

 of supporters to Cromlechs is merely accidental, and depends on the 

 size or form of the incumbent stone. These are the most magnifi- 

 cent we have, and the highest from the ground ; for a middle-sized 

 horse may easily pass under the largest. In the lands of Llugwy, 

 indeed, there is a most stupendous one of a rhomboidal form. The 

 greatest diagonal is seventeen and a half feet, the lesser fifteen, and 

 the thickness three feet nine inches, but its height from the ground 

 is only two feet : it was supported by several stones. In the woods 

 at this place are some Druidical circles nearly contiguous to each 

 other." 



It is very remarkable that the two largest Cromlechs at Achenny, 

 like the ones above described, are " barely separated from each 

 other." 



At Trer Dryn in Anglesea " were also the relics of a circle of 

 stones, with the Cromlech in the midst ; but all extremely imperfect. 

 Two of the stones are very large ; one, which serves at present as 

 part of the end of a house, is twelve feet seven inches high, and 



