Cromlech

“ Professor J. Loth says:—‘Étymologiquement, le mot est composé de CROM, courbe, arque, formant creux, convexe, et de LLECH, pierre plate’ (Rev. Celt., xv. 223, Dolmen, Leach-Derch, Peulvan, Menhir, Cromlech) . In Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland, instead of the peculiarly Breton word dolmen (composed of dol [for tol == tavl] , meaning table, and of men [Middle Breton maen] , meaning stone) the word cromlech is used. Cromlech is the Welsh equivalent for the Breton dolmen, but Breton archaeologists use cromlech to describe a circle formed by menhirs. ”

“ When day broke they found themselves on a shoulder of down in close proximity to Cosdon. Rambling over the moor, the woman hopping and squealing as she touched the gorse with her bare legs, they lighted on the grey cromlech, and the male, curling his tongue in his mouth, produced a loud cluck. The female, as an imitative animal, clucked responsive. 'Bags!' said Cobbledick male, and by this simple formula he had claimed the cromlech as personal property to himself, his heirs and assigns. ”

“ This cromlech is called, by children in that neighbourhood, ‘Castle Correg.’ A Cardiff gentleman who asked some children who were playing round the cromlech, what they termed it, was struck by the name, which recalled to him the Breton fairies thus designated. [179] The korreds and korregs of Brittany [Pg 381] closely resemble the Welsh fairies in numberless details. The korreds are supposed to live in the cromlechs, of which they are believed to have been the builders. They dance around them at night, and woe betide the unhappy peasant who joins them in their roundels. ”

“ These were found in a cromlech in the department of the Losère aboat five miles from Mende; this cromlech, which had probably been used as a sepulchre, contained human remains, together with some bones of animals of existing species. There were also found, at the same time and place, a long flint-knife, with some spear- and arrow-heads of the same material, These latter objects, from the finish of their manufacture, and the other accessories of the burial place, indicated an epoch far more recent than that of the Aurignac cavern. ”

“ As Cromlechs are known to abound in every country where the Celts established themselves, many antiquaries have concluded that [124] they are of Celtic origin. The same doubt and uncertainty involve every consideration with respect to their use; it has been a general idea that they were intended for altars, but the upper stone is evidently too gibbous ever to have admitted the officiating priest, or to have allowed him to stand to overlook the fire, and the consumption of the victim; besides, what occasion is there to suppose a Cromlech any thing more than a sepulchral monument? ”

“ Near the little Cap de Brohel and in the islet of Boëdic are megalithic monuments. At Penraz, south-east of the village, is half of a cromlech or circle of stones 60 ft. in diameter. At Cap Brohel, ruined dolmens and fallen menhirs; at Pen-lious three fallen dolmens and some menhirs. ”

“ Kits Cotty House, in Kent; the Chun cromlech, in Cornwall (figs. 39 and 40) —the covering stone of which is calculated 54 to weigh twenty tons; the Molfra cromlech, in the same county, which consists of a compact cist closed on three sides and open on the fourth; the Zenor cromlech; the Plas Newydd cromlech, and many others which it is not necessary to enumerate, are all of the same class. The Plas Newydd (fig. 41) is a double cromlech, the two chambers being close together, end to end. ”

“ The two small cromlechs here represented, are both on the plain of L'ancresse in Guernsey; they consist of props and capstone, and have their openings to the southward; several portions of earthen vessels, celts, and arrow-points, were discovered in them in 1838; the quality of the pottery was of a finer description in several instances than that of the large cromlech on the hill near them. ”

“ It will be easy to perceive that the various heaps of human remains, which lay scattered on the floor of the cromlech, had been therein deposited at different times. The shapes of the urns in like manner, denoted an improvement in their manufacture, but it was only after having explored several cromlechs that the primeval deposit was clearly ascertained, as consisting of materials of different periods. ”

“ The megalith was completely buried beneath a mound of earth, or rather of dried mud, the amount of which was estimated at more than 37,986 cubic feet. At Lestridiou (Finistère) , a cromlech forms the starting-point of an alignment formed of seven rows of small menhirs, the mean height of which above the ground does not exceed three feet; and these alignments lead up to two covered avenues and a central dolmen. In other cases, in England and the land of Moab for instance, alignments simply lead to cromlechs ”

“ On the hill-top of Slieve-na-griddle is another circle of the same enormous boulders. A cromlech is piled in the midst of it, and an avenue of stones leads up to the circle. Its form is that of many circles [pg 046] with enclosed cromlechs at Carrowmore, though in these the avenue is missing. The thought that underlies them is the same, though they are separated by the whole width of the land; a single cult with a single ideal prompted the erection of both. ”

“ The circle is considerably more than a hundred feet in diameter, and the stones which compose it are great boulders, four or five feet high, set on end. The cromlech itself is very imposing, with massive side supports, six or seven feet high, and a mighty covering stone, flat on the under side. It is like a giant bestriding the landscape; and Betty remarked that it reminded her of the legs of Uncle Pumblechook, with several miles of open country showing between them. ”

“ They are far better known, and one may be certain of the antiquity of incidents that are known in one form or another to every Gaelic-speaking countryman in Ireland or in the Highlands of Scotland. Sometimes a labourer digging near to a cromlech, or Bed of Diarmuid and Crania as it is called, will tell one a tradition that seems older and more barbaric than any description of their adventures or of themselves in written text or story that has taken form in the mouths of professed story-tellers. ”

“ Discoveries of a similar kind have been made in the regency of Tunis, [254] and cinerary vases have been dug up at Tangier, in sinking a well at the Danish consulate, at the depth of twenty feet, being eight feet deeper than Roman tombs. These have been sent to Copenhagen, and it is said, identified with pottery found in the North of Europe. A cromlech has also been discovered on the banks of the Jordan, [255] and in the vicinity of Tyre. ”

“ Pierre-du-Bois.
“La Longue Roque” or “Palette ès Fées” at the Paysans.
“La Roque des Fées” (destroyed) .
“Le Gibet des Fées” (destroyed) .
“La Chaire de St. Bonit” (destroyed) .
In the Island of Herm there are six or eight mutilated remains of Cromlechs. In Lihou, none are left. In Sark, none are left.
It will be seen that the druidical stones are believed to be the favourite haunt of the fairy folk, who live in the ant hills which are frequently to be found in their vicinity, and who would not fail to punish the audacious mortal who might venture to remove them. ”

“ The cromlechs are no doubt the most characteristic and most striking among the monuments of Cornwall. Though historians have differed as to their exact purpose, not even the most careless traveller could pass them by without seeing that they do not stand there without a purpose. They speak for themselves, and they certainly speak in a language that is neither Roman, Saxon, Danish, nor Norman. Hence in England they may, by a kind of exhaustive process of reasoning, be claimed as relics of Celtic civilization. The same argument applies to the cromlechs and stone avenues of Carnac, in Brittany. ”

“ The island of Guernsey still contains many of those rude and ponderous erections commonly known by the name of Cromlechs, or Druids altars. The upright pillar of stone or rude obelisk, known to antiquaries by the Celtic name of Menhir also exists among us. Many of these ancient monuments have no doubt disappeared with the clearing of the land and the enormous amount of quarrying, and many have doubtless been broken up into building materials, or converted into fences and gateposts. ”

“ Ay. Cromwell brings the nine plagues on our heads.
Nahum.⁠He's an Assyrian!
Overton. He's an Assyrian! Our ills at last
Have reached their climax!
The Tradesman. Have reached their climax! Nothing do I sell!
The Soldier.⁠To go unshod, without a crust, and lie
On the cold ground. Ere long, if this endures,
While Noll his cipher on these pillars hangs,
Nought will remain for us to do, my friends,
Save to make shoe-nails of our useless teeth.
Overton.⁠We shall await his alms about his door.
Nahum.⁠What Cromwell needs is not a gilded throne,
But Haman's gibbet, or Barabbas' cross. ”

“ Broghill.⁠Cromwell is very shrewd! you stake your head.
Ormond.⁠For whom to-morrow'll be a festal day,
God alone knows. Our plot's success is sure.
This morning Rochester will hither bring
Sedley and Jenkins, Clifford, Davenant
The poet, who the King's secret commands
Doth bear to us. To the same rendezvous
Sir Richard Willis, Harrison and Carr
Will come.
Broghill.⁠But they're in prison; they are foes
Whom Cromwell holds in durance in the Tower. ”

“ The fatal step of his life was his fearing to venture in London and coming to live at Wakefield in 1851, instead of returning to Rome or Florence. As the Duke of Northumberland asked him in 1855:’Where have you been hiding yourself and all these beautiful drawings, Mr. Cromek?’Whilst he was hidden here the stream of favour glided past, and left him standing helpless and alone. It would ill become an amateur to pretend to criticise Mr Cromek as an artist. A man should himself be at least something of an artist before he judges one. ”

“ The shepherds were on the fells counting the ewes and their lambs; the traders busy in their shops; the ports full of entering and departing vessels, and the whole nation yet in a mood of triumph over the acquisition of Dunkirk. Cromwell was working feverishly, and suffering acutely. His favourite child, the Lady Elizabeth Claypole was still very ill; he had premonitions and visions of calamity that filled his heart with apprehension, and kept his soul always on the alert, watching, watching for its coming. ”

“ The three Jesters enter the great hall by the principal door, glancing at Barebones as he retires.
Trick.⁠'Tis Barebones!
Giraff. 'Tis Barebones! He has not a cheerful air.
Elespuru.⁠Fanatic!
Trick. Fanatic! Samuel of the counting-house!
Shop-keeping Jeremiah!
Elespuru. Shop-keeping Jeremiah! He it is
Who Cromwell doth supply with all this splendour.
Trick.⁠He robs him.
Giraff. He robs him. He does more: he murders him.
Trick.⁠And so his thirst for blood and gold alike
Is slaked on Noll; he seeks to take from him
His purse and life together. ”

“ Curse on thy muddy veins, thou hast no honourable desperation in thee. Come, if thou beest a man, give up thy odds. What, ho! Excalibur!
[Makes a rush to get at CROMWELL]
Crom. It seemeth that
The ungodly fret. Go, place him in the stocks.
I charge ye harm him not—
But give him ale,
Wine, and a scurvy song-book—Such as he
Do make us triumph. Fie, fie, Cornet Dean!
Well, stop his mouth, an't please ye; come, away!
[Trumpets sound.] ”

“ Trick.⁠Thus, then, the bluster of the Cavaliers
Doth Cromwell punish! To his gallows, friends,
He has more ropes than one.
Gramadoch. He has more ropes than one. Although he bears
A world upon his neek, of all of those
Of whom we speak, he, Cromwell is the maddest.
He 'd still be king, and death is at his door.
[These words arrest the attention of the other Jesters; they eagerly surround Gramadoch.
Giraff [to Gramadoch.
What say'st thou?
Gramadoch. What say'st thou? You will see.
Trick [to Gramadoch.] ... You will see. ”

“ And say to them: 'The Egyptian is a man,
Not God!'"—Behold thee, Cromwell, on thy throne
Of glory! Tremble; for the fearsome night
Succeeds the radiant day. Remember thou
Nimrod the hunter. The victorious Lord
His iron bow did break like a child's toy.
Remember Ishbosheth. That foolish king,
And vain, compelled the people to make way
When he passed by; an hundred warriors
Of Issachar, mounted and fully armed,
Rode constantly before his chariot.
But God—'tis that whereat the soul takes fright—
Doth ever cause good fortune to give birth
To evil fortune, flame to change to ashes. ”

“ The Cavaliers halt in front of Cromwell's throne, Ormond and Rochester in the first rank. Their attitude is calm and unflinching; Murray and Manasseh alone seem paralyzed with fear.—Cromwell gazes for some time with an expression of satisfaction, at the prisoners and the assemblage, and seems to enjoy the curiosity and anxiety which encompass him.—Throughout the scene Rochester makes eyes at Frances, whom he has espied in the gallery immediately on entering. ”

“ Thy power, whereof men speak despitefully,
Grant that this dagger may come reeking forth
From Cromwell's breast. Guide thou our blows, O Lord!
O merciful, and just, and clement Lord!
That so thy foes to slaughter may be doomed.
Since we do witness thus our faith in Thee,
O may thy flaming sword and tongues of fire
Gleam in our hands and on our brows, O God!
[He rises, and the Puritans, standing for some time with bowed heads, seem to pray with him.
Barebones [aside.] The abomination doth possess their minds.—
Divide my goods!
Lambert. Divide my goods! ”