All our notions respecting the origin and use of these monuments are purely conjectural; it seems, however, very probable that they are the most ancient in the world, erected possibly by one of the first colonists which came into the island. As Cromlechs are known to abound in every country where the _Celts_ established themselves, many antiquaries have concluded that 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? Is it not the most natural and probable conclusion? Indeed Mr. Wright actually found a skeleton deposited under one of them in Ireland, and it must strike the most superficial observer that our modern tombs are not very dissimilar to the former in their construction, and probably derived their form from a very ancient model. MEN-AN-TOL. The next object of curiosity consists of three stones on a triangular plane, the middle one of which is perforated with a large hole, and is called _Men-an-Tol_, i. e. the _holed stone_. Dr. Borlase who, as we have often observed, has recourse to the chisel of Druidism to account for every cavity or crevice, conjectures that it was appropriated to the rites of that priesthood, and asserts, on the authority of a farmer, that even in his time, it was deemed to possess the power of healing those who would crawl through it. In a croft, about half a mile to the north-west of Lanyon, lies a very ancient sepulchral stone, called by the Cornish "_Men Skryfa_," i. e. the _Inscribed Stone_. It is nine feet ten inches long, and one foot eight inches broad; the inscription upon it is "_Riolobran Cunoval Fil_," which signifies _Riolobran the Son of Cunoval lies buried here_.[52] With respect to the date of this monument, all antiquaries agree in thinking that it must have been engraven before the corruptions crept into the Roman alphabet, such for instance as the junction of the letters by unnatural links, or when the down strokes of one were made to serve for two, &c. This practice arose soon after the Romans went off, and increased until the Saxon letters were introduced at Athelstan's conquest. The most striking deviation from the Roman orthography to be observed in this monument is in the cross stroke of the Roman N not being diagonal as it ought to be, nor yet quite horizontal as we find it in the sixth century; and hence it is fair to assign to it a date antecedent to that period.[53]