Dr. Borlase confidently asserts that the ancient Druids used these rock basins for baptismal and sacrificial purposes--a conjecture which the authors of the _Beauties of Derbyshire_ admit to be probable; and so does Higgins in his elaborate work on the _Celtic Druids_. The supposition is supported by the fact of their occurring in such numbers mostly _on the tops of hills_, in so many counties, and in such different materials as the granite and the millstone-grit formations.[78] Whether they have been formed by natural or artificial means is still a matter of dispute. On the whole the writer's opinion is, that the rock basins of Scilly, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and East Lancashire are partly natural, and partly artificial; the former being comparatively few, and easily distinguished by their varying depths and forms.[79] Whether wholly or partially natural or artificial, he thinks it safe to conclude that they have been appropriated by the Druids to their religious worship, as furnishing the means by which they could offer their sacrifices and perform their ablutions. They would also suffice for baptism, and preserve the rain or the dew from being polluted by touching the earth. The Tolmen on the neighbouring hills[80] may be taken as an additional reason for associating Druidical worship with such remains. These contain small basins on the summits, which differ in no respect from those here enumerated. They have, therefore, most probably been used for similar purposes. Those above described form a curious chapter in the oldest folk-lore of Lancashire. ELVES AND FAIRIES. "Like elves and fairies in a ring."--_Macbeth._