What can this cup have been intended for? It is probable that it was a receptacle for rain water, which was to serve for the drink of the dead man above whom the monolith was erected. The Rev. W. C. Lukis, one of the highest authorities on such matters, was with me at the time of the re-erection of this monolith, and it then occurred to him that the holes at the top of so many of the Brittany menhirs, in which now crosses are planted, were not made for the reception of the bases of these crosses, but already existed in the menhirs, and were utilised in Christian times for the erection therein of crosses which sanctified the old heathen monuments. Some upright stones have the cup-hollows cut in their sides, so that nothing could rest in them; but I venture to suggest that these may be symbolic cups, carved after their use, as food and drink receptacles, had been abandoned. [Illustration: _Fig. 58._--THE FURROW DOWN THE SIDE.] Mr. Romilly Allen, in a paper on some sculptured rocks near Ilkley in Yorkshire,[50] that have these cup-hollows, says, “The classes of monuments on which they are found are as follows:-- 1. Natural rock surfaces. 2. Isolated boulders. 3. Near ancient British (?) fortified towns and camps. 4. In connection with the lake-dwellings, underground houses, and Pictish towers. 5. On single standing stones. } 6. On groups of standing stones. } 7. On stone circles. } 8. On cromlechs (dolmens). } Sepulchral 9. In chambered cairns. } remains. 10. On cist-covers. } 11. On urn-covers. } 12. On gravestones in Christian churchyards. } 13. On the walls of churches themselves. “From the fact of cup-markings being found in so many instances directly associated with sepulchral remains, I think it may fairly be inferred that they are connected in some way or other with funeral rites, either as sacred emblems or for actual use in holding small offerings or libations.” Mr. Romilly Allen is, I believe, quite right in his conjecture, which is drawn from observation of the frequency with which these cup-hollows are associated with sepulchral stones. But it must be remembered that a libation is the last form assumed by the usage of giving a drink to either the dead or to a god. The conception of a sacrifice is comparatively modern, the primitive idea in connection with the offering of a liquid is the giving of some acceptable draught to some being who is in the spirit world. The fact, and it is a fact, that these cup-markings are found on Christian tombstones, shows how the old habit continued to find expression after the meaning which had originated it was completely lost.[51] These singular cup-markings are found distributed over Denmark, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Switzerland.