Christian antiquities -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities
There is also a scrap of linguistic testimony which is pregnant of
ancient tradition, and which has been noted by several writers. Sir
Daniel Wilson seems to have been the first to make the fact publicly
known. The common Gaelic sentence, _Am bheil thu dol d’on chlachan?_
(Are you going to the stones?) may be rendered alternatively, “Are you
going to the church?” and is used in this second sense by the Scottish
Highlander when addressing his neighbour. Primarily, _chlachan_
(_clachan_) means a circle of stones, hence, a battle, or the scene of
single combats. The interpretation “place of worship,” is, as might be
anticipated, derivative, though not recent. So far back as 1774, Shaw,
in the chapter which he contributed to the third edition of Pennant’s
_Tour in Scotland_, observed, “From these circles and cairns many
churches to this day are called _clachan_, i.e. a collection of
stones[141].”
A word of caution is necessary to those who may be inclined to accept
too hastily, and without examination, the claims of this or that
megalith to a great antiquity. For instance, there stands at the
South-Eastern gate of Binstead church, in the Isle of Wight, a grotesque
figure, called by the villagers “The Idol.” This uncouth image has been
thought by some to be a pagan object of worship. Little, indeed, is
definitely known about the object, but it is asserted, with much
credibility, that the gate once formed the door of the church, and that
the image is merely a Norman keystone, or perhaps a corbel[142]. We
note, however, that if it were a corbel, it could scarcely have been a
portion of a doorway, though this matter is inessential. Our second
illustration shall be given in order to show the danger of dating
objects as pre-Christian, when they bear clear signs of Christian
influence. In the churchyard at Penrith there is a large tomb which
bears the nickname of “Giant’s Grave.” It happens that this name is
often applied to prehistoric barrows and megaliths, and in this
particular instance it has been proclaimed that the tomb is a
cromlech--a “dolmen” being perhaps intended. Hutchinson, Pennant, and
other writers, were greatly exercised concerning this ancient relic. But
if the reader will turn to the beautiful engraving of the monument in
the _Victoria History of Cumberland_, he will understand, even without
the aid of the letterpress, that the tomb has features decidedly
Christian. The monument really consists of the shafts of two
pre-Conquest crosses, one being placed at the head and the other at the
foot, while the space between is enclosed by three “hog-backs,” one of
which has been split longitudinally[143]. Once again, in the churchyard
of Chadwell St Mary, Essex, a large sarsen, concerning which fantastic
theories were current, was observed by the Rev. J. W. Hayes to have a
weathered concavity, or “pebble-hole,” within which were carved the
letters “N. G.,” followed by the date 1691. Referring to the parish
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