A Book of Dartmoor: Second EditionBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A Book of Dartmoor: Second Edition
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Dartmoor (England)
There is no district known so rich in stone rows as Dartmoor. As many
as fifty have been observed. The finest are those of Drizzlecombe,
where there are three double rows, not parallel; Down Tor, a single
line; Merrivale Bridge, two parallel double rows, but the stones
constituting them small; Stall Moor, a single line that looks like
a procession of cricketers in flannels stalking over the moor;
Challacombe; at Glazebrook are thirteen rows; also Staldon Moor.
Some of these rows which are small are nevertheless instructive. On
the north slope of Cosdon is a cairn that originally contained three
kistvaens, one of which is perfect, one exists in part, and evidence of
the existence of the third was found on exploration. From this cairn
start three rows of stones, one for each kistvaen. A remarkably perfect
set of stone rows is on Watern Hill, behind the Warren Inn, on the road
from Post Bridge to Moreton. It is actually visible from the road, but
as the stones are small it does not attract attention. It starts from a
cairn and a tall upright stone set at right angles to the rows, which
are brought to a termination by blocking-stones. Another perfect row
is at Assacombe, starting from a cairn with two or three big upright
stones, and running down a rather steep hill to a blocking-stone which
remains intact.
The longest of all the rows is that on Staldon, which springs from a
circle of 59 feet 9 inches in diameter, inclosing the remains of a
cairn, runs with a single line for two miles and a quarter, and crosses
the Erme river. Had a straight line been followed, an obstruction in
the precipitous bank of the river would have been encountered, to
avoid which the builders of this great monument took a sweep eastward,
where the bank was more sloping. In the Cosdon lines of stones already
referred to, the rows waver so as to avoid a platform of rock in which
the constructors were unable to plant their stones.
At Drizzlecombe there is a cairn with which is connected a row 260
feet long, with an upright stone 17 feet 9 inches high at the end of
the row.
All sorts of random guesses have been made about these rows. Some have
made them out to be sacred _cursi_, where races were run, but then some
lines are single, some are eightfold. Others have supposed that these
were the supporting stones to cattle sheds, but these stones are often
not more than 2 feet 6 inches high, and the rows often run for over 600
feet.
We must, as already said, look to present usage for their
interpretation, and that afforded by the practice of the Khassias of
the Brahmapootra, and by the Bedouin, seems the simplest--stones set up
as memorials or tributes of respect to the dead man who is buried at
the head of the row.
There would seem to have been no feeling attached to the direction in
which these lines run.
One singular feature is that in several cases a second row starts off
from a small cairn in or close to the main row, and runs away in quite
a different direction.[8]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account