Books, Prehistory, Essays by a Society of Gentlemen at Exeter

The cromlech [Drewsteighton Cromlech aka Spinsters' Rock, Devon [Map]] is the most considerable monument of any that now remain . The only one in the county is situate on a farm called Shel-stone, in the parish of Drewsteignton (so named, I should conceive, not from the Norman Drogo, as Risdon hath asserted,) but from this and other relics therein remaining, appropriated to the Druids, simply deriving its appellation from the residence of the Druids on the river Teign . The Cromlech here, is perhaps the most perfect in the kingdom . The covering stone or quoit hath three supporters; it rests on the pointed tops of the southern and western ones, but that on the north fide upholds it on its inner inclining surface somewhat below the top, its exterior sides rising several inches higher than the part on which the super-incumbent stone is laid . This latter supporter is seven feet high - indeed they are all of such an altitude, that I had not the least difficulty in passing under the impost erect, and with my hat on; the height, therefore, of the inclosed area, is at least six feet . Of the quoit I made a measurement, and found the dimensions to be, from the north to the southern edge, 14 feet and half; and from the east and west it was of similar length . These edges or angles seeming to present themselves (as far as I could make an observation from the sun,) exactly to the cardinal points . The width across was ten feet . The form of this stone was oblate, not gibbous, but rounding from the under face, rising from the north about 13 inches higher than in the other parts; yet so plane on its superficies, that I could stand on it, or traverse it without apprehension of danger . That the Cromlech was a monument of the Britons, there can be no doubt; but that it was a Druidical altar, and of old, applied to sacrificial uses, cannot now be ascertained . Borlace and others who have treated this subject, judge the species of monument to have been sepulchral; and there is reason for the supposition, since they are often found erected on barrows, which are avowedly sepulchral . Indeed, in Ireland, the matter hath been sufficiently elucidated; for bones have been absolutely found in the area which some of them inclosed . Though Borlase, therefore, failed in Cornwall, it rests on more than probability, that, to whatever other purposes it might have been applied the use and intent of the Cromlech, that is, the crooked (or as some interpret the word, consecrated stone,) was primarily to distinguish and do honor to the dead; and at the same time to inclose the venerated reliquiæ, by placing the supporters and covering stone in such a manner as to be a security to them on every side .

This opinion receives additional weight, and is corroborated by the usage of the northern nations; for though they were chiefly Gothic, yet some of their ritual observances and religious customs were analogous to those of Celtic origin; indeed we may well suppose, that in those early and barbarous ages, the habits and customs of men were nearly the same in every part of the globe; "for the more mankind are considered in a state of wild and uncivilized life, the greater resemblance they will be seen to possess in their manners, because savage nature, reduced almost to mere brutal instinct, is simple and uniform; whereas art and refinement are infinitely various." - Olaus Wormius 'authenticates the existence of monuments of this nature among the northern tribes, and the uses to which they had been applied.' "Sed neque veteribus Gothis, aliifque Gentibus in Septentione, defuit memoria majorum, quin et eis exhiberent (quos humi recondere placuit) honorabiles statuas lapidum excelforum, prout hodie cernuntur mirâ compagine immensa Saxa, in modum altissimæ latissimæque Januæ sursum transversumque viribus Gigantuan erecta¹." The ignorance of succeeding ages not being able to comprehend how such stupenduous edifices could be constructed by the common race of mortals, have attributed them to giants and dæmons; but although we derive from the mechanical powers a variety of fuccours in the transporting and raising large and ponderous bodies, of which we well know the founders of these monuments could not have the assistance, yet it hath been well observed, that great things might be accomplished by men of such mighty force, as we are certain many of these antient tribes possessed in strength and remarkable stature, co-operating together . The lances, helmets, swords, and other arms, which have been preserved in the museums of the curious; the accoutrements of the heroes of other times, are a full conviction of their vast size, and are objects of curiosity and astonishment to those whose ancestors are reputed to have wielded them . This circumstance, however, is not solely applicable to Europe, for by our later discoveries we learn, that the Americans (particularly those of Peru,) unaided by the engines we apply to these purposes, have raised up such vast stones in building their temples and fortresses, as the architect of the present times would perhaps not hazard the attempt to remove . One may, however, conceive, that perseverance, united with strength, might be enabled to convey such immense stones from one place to another, by means of the lever and artificial banks . Down the slopes of these they might cause them to slide, and afterwards set them upright by letting them down into perpendicular pits; having, by the same means, placed their transoms on them, they might clear away the mound which they had raised . I shall quit the discussion of the Cromlech with the conclusion, that most probably they were tumuli honorabiliores 'that they were the appropriated monuments of chief Druids or of princes; and this is confirmed by the appellation of the famous Cromlech in Kent, known by the name of 'Ket's Coity-house [Map],' being the sepulchral monument, or quoit, over the body of Catigeon, a British prince, who was slain in a battle, fought with the Saxons near Aylesford, in the year 455.

Note 1. "But neither were the ancient Goths, nor other nations of the North, lacking in remembrance of their ancestors; indeed, they paid them honor by erecting noble statues of tall stones over those whom they chose to bury in the earth—just as can still be seen today in the form of immense stones, wondrously arranged, raised upward and across in the manner of a very high and wide gate, set up by the strength of giants."