THE WEDDINGS.

THERE is an old proverb common in Somersetshire, “Stanton Drew, a mile from Pensford, another from Chue;” which should denote some peculiar regard and excellence in that town, and direction for the ready finding it: and in fact it highly deserves to be celebrated, upon account of that remarkable monument, vulgarly called the Weddings, whose name only is but just known to the curious and learned world. To redeem it from further obscurity, I took a journey thither from the Bath in July 1723, where calling on my friend Mr. Strachey, a worthy fellow of the Royal Society, and who has shewn his knowledge in his nice remarks upon the neighbouring coal-mines, we made mensurations of this notable work together. I find it is the most considerable remnant of the ancient Celts which I yet know, next to Stonehenge and Abury. Mr. Aubrey, that indefatigable searcher-out of antiquities, is the first that has observed it; and I believe Mr. Strachey, living near the place, is the first that measured it, since the original ground-line was stretched upon the spot. To open a more exact view of this noble antiquity, observe we that there is a little stream runs into the Avon between Bath and Bristol, called Chue, arising near here at a synonymous town, and first passes under a stone bridge at Stanton Drue, where making a pretty turn, as it were, half inclosing our monument, a little further it comes to Pensford; which is an old British name, for it is written Pennis-ford, Pen isc signifying the head of the river. It was a common usage among all ancient nations, so with our ancestors, to pay a sacred reverence to the fountains of rivers, and frequently were they sought for upon religious occasions, judging a divinity must needs reside where so beneficial an element takes its rise. The road from Pensford to Chue goes along the north side of the river; and there, half a mile above, and half a mile below the bridge, lie two great stones, called Hautvil’s Coyts, according to the apprehension of the common people, said to be pitched there by Sir John Hautvil, of these parts, a famous champion, of whom legends are printed under the name of Sir John Hawkwell, as vulgarly pronounced. These stones now lie flat upon the ground by the road side, but said to have been standing, and much larger than they are at present; for some pieces have been knocked off. We measured that toward Pensford 13 foot long, 8 broad, and 4 thick, being a hard reddish stone. Stanton Drue church bears here south-west. What regard this has to the temple which it overlooks on the other side the river, and from higher ground, I cannot say; whether it is the remnant (together with the former) of some avenue, or whether it was carried thither, or laid for some direction to those that lived on that side the river. Repassing the bridge, and entering the inclosures east of the church which belong to a farm there, we come to the Weddings. Here is an old manor-house adjacent, which has been a castle; for the walls are crenated, and some half-moons built to it. The farm-house is an old stone building, said to have been a nunnery, probably founded by some pious lady of the manor. There is a great hall in it, open to the cieling, handsomely made of timber work, and two arched windows with mullions on each side; and all the windows of the house are arched in the same manner: at the east end is a winding stone stair-case, and near it, in the yard, an elegant stone dove-cote, round, with six buttresses. This house, with the church and that part of the grounds which is the site of our monument, is a knoll of rising ground, of an oval form, stretched out with a whole broad side against the river, half embracing it with a circular sweep, and but little space between it and the river; and that side from the river has a delicate acclivity or valley winding round it, answerable to the river. The longer axis of this knoll is from north-east to south-west: the major part of it declines manifestly gently toward the river, or northward, and is finely guarded from the north winds by a ridge of hills adjacent; upon the summit of which is an ancient fortification, called Miz knoll, in the road to Bristol: this is a pleasant place, full of hedges and trees growing very tall, especially elms. The country is stoney, covered over with a reasonable stratum of sandy ground, mixed with clay, which is rich enough. One would imagine this knoll was pitched upon by the founders for the sake of its figure, and because capable of giving a sufficient liability to their work: its declivity carries off the rain, always regarded in this manner of building; for that would loosen the foundations. Here is a fine large area between the temples, for the rites of sacrifice, &c.

I wondered that I observed no tumuli, or barrows, the burying-places of the people about it, as in other cases, but suppose it owing to the goodness of the soil; for they wisely pitched upon barren ground to repose their ashes, where they could only hope to lie undisturbed: and on Mendip hills, not far off, they are very numerous. This particularly I am told of seven that are remarkable. This monument about ten years ago must have made a most noble appearance, because then perfect. It seems the nuns, and all the possessors of the estate, had left it untouched till a late tenant, for covetousness of the little space of ground they stood upon, buried them for the most part in the ground: he was justly punished, for the grass at this time will not grow over them, but withers, because there is not a sufficient depth of earth: however, for the pleasure of the curious, it is not difficult to retrieve its original figure from what remains. It is the general case of fine monuments, in their perfect state disregarded and obscure, but their ruins are caressed and adored: and this was really an elegant monument, and highly worth visiting, and claims an eminent place in the history of Celtic temples.

The monument consists of four distinct parts, three distant circles, and a cove. The stone it is composed of, is of such a kind as I have not elsewhere seen; certainly intirely different from that of the country, which is a slab kind. If any stone ever was, this would tempt one to think it factitious, though I think nothing less: it looks like a paste of flints, shells, crystals, and the like solid corpuscles crowded together and cemented, but infallibly by Nature’s artifice. The long current of years passing over it, and its most perishable parts being wasted away, leaves the rest much corroded externally, and as it were worm-eaten by dint of time: yet of itself it will stand for ever; for its texture is extremely hard, and beyond that of marble, at least those of Marlborough downs. If I have any judgement, by oft surveying these kind of works, and with a nice eye, I guess by its present appearance, and consideration of its wear, to be older than Abury and Stonehenge. One would think, from its dusky and rusty colour, that it is a kind of iron stone: it is very full of fluors and transparent crystallisations, like Bristol stones, large, and in great lumps; so that it shines eminently, and reflects the sun-beams with great lustre. I cannot but think that it is brought from St. Vincent’s rock, near the mouth of Bristol river, as Mr. Aubrey says expresly; though Mr. Strachey, who has curiously observed every thing of this kind, cannot affirm it: and if its comes no further, we may well admire at the strength and manner requisite to convey them hither over that rocky country, wholly consisting of hills, and dales, and woods: but the notion of religion fully answers all difficulties; and the founders well provided for the perpetuity of their work, in the election of their materials. I found some stone like this by the sea side, this Summer, at Southampton; and the walls of the town are mostly built of it. The stones in our work are apparently very shapely, and squared, though with no mathematical exactness, that is, not hewn with a tool, but rather, as we may suppose, broke by flints, and a great strength of hand, in those early ages, when iron tools were not found out: the greatest number of the stones are now visible, either standing, fallen, or buried in the ground by the person before mentioned; the places of such for the most part are apparent enough, the grass growing but poorly above, as we said before, so that the purpose of interring them is defeated, and more grass lost by their lying than when they stood in their places. Many may be found by knocking with one’s heel upon the spot, whence there is a sound; others, by thrusting an iron rod into the earth. The species of the stone renders it useless to be wrought up in building, especially in this country, that abounds with more manageable stone for the purpose. From the regular figures of the stones, as well as their order of positure, the eyes of a spectator would have been charmed with the sight of this work when in perfection, and the whole plain open to the view: at present they are separated by hedge-rows, yards, orchards, and the like; and the persons that laid them out have aukwardly cut them off by the middle, or by segments: the great single circle now stands in no less than three fields, and the other great concentric circles have a ditch and quickset hedge running across one side: the lesser circle is divided in the middle, one half remaining in a pasture, the other among the apple-trees in an orchard. The cove stands in the middle of another orchard by the church and farm-house, which we said was a nunnery, as tradition goes.

The idea upon which some of these stones are formed, is different from any I have observed elsewhere. Abury and Stonehenge, and all others yet come to my knowledge, are broad stones: these are square, or what we may call pilasters; I mean those of the innermost circle, or cell, of what I name the Planetary temple: the rest are all of equal dimensions, being six foot broad, nine high, and three thick; so that their base is a double cube, their length a cube and a half, which shows sufficiently that the builders of this work, as in all others of the like, studied proportion, whence beauty flows. The stones of the outer circle at Stonehenge are of the same model as to the base, but higher upon the breadth, being likewise a double cube. I understand all the while in our monument, that these are Celtic feet, for such I found them, and by that scale is the construction of the whole: also what I speak of is their measure above ground; for I did not desire to indulge a dangerous curiosity in searching how deep they are set in the ground, which has been too fatal already in these antiquities.

[TAB. LXXVIII.]

The four parts which make up this monument, as we said, are the cove, two single circles, and a quincuple circle. The cove, as most commonly, consists of three stones, set in a half-moon figure, or, to be more exact, upon the end of an ellipsis, whose focus, I suppose, would be in a line upon the foremost edges of the two wings. This is situate in the south-west part of the oval knoll of ground that contains the whole; at present in an orchard south of the church, and west of the nunnery before mentioned. The wings are standing, but much diminished by age or violence; some great pieces being broke off: the stone on the back is fallen down, being a larger one: it is 13 foot long, and 8 broad; therefore of the same dimensions with Hautvil’s Coyt, before spoken of. This cove opens to the south-east. Four hundred foot from this, going eastward, and with an angle of 20 degrees southward, in another orchard east of the dove-cote, is a lesser single circle, which is 120 foot diameter: this stands upon the southern side of the knoll, and consists of 12 stones, consequently set at the interval of 30 foot, the same as those of the circles at Abury. Here are all the stones left upon the spot, but prostrate, half being within the hedge, half without. This I call the Lunar Temple. This circle is the same diameter and number of stones with the inner circles of the two temples in the work at Abury. Five hundred foot distant from this, going north-easterly, viz. with an angle of 20 degrees northerly from the east, and across the orchard, and a pasture, is the circumference of the greater single circle: the centre of it is in the next pasture to the north-east: it is 300 foot in diameter, and composed of 30 stones, set at the distance of 30 foot, as before: about 20 of the stones are remaining, but of that number only three standing. The whole circle is contained in three pastures: the plain on which it stands descends gently toward the river, and keeps it constantly dry. But 30 foot from this circle is the circumference of the outer circle of the quincuple one, or five concentric circles, the centre whereof is in an angle of 20 degrees more southerly from the line that connects the centres of the two single circles; so that it bears a little northerly of the east from the solar circle. The manner of thus conjoining five circles in one is very extraordinary, and what I have no where else met withal; and its primitive aspect must have had as remarkable an effect, by the crebrity of the stones, as their intervals: and, upon moving towards them, or sideways, they must have created the same beautiful and surprising appearance to the eye, as the more learned architects have endeavoured by the multiplicity of columns in their portico’s, forums, and the like, of which Vitruvius speaks: yet I think, in my judgement, this circular work must needs vastly have exceeded, in this particular, those most celebrated works of the Greeks and Romans; because in a strait walk there is but always the same variety (if we may talk so) presented to the eye; whereas in ours, the circles not being exactly at the same distance from one another as the stones are, and therefore not confining themselves to so strict a regularity, it must have heightened that agreeable diversification. It is very obvious, that the compilers used art and consideration in adjusting the diameters with the number of the stones, and that one circle should not be vastly disproportionate to another: thus the outermost circle is 310 foot in diameter; therefore it receives 32 stones at 30 foot interval: the next is 250 in diameter, with 28 stones: the next, 230; consequently requires 22 stones to complete it: the next is 150 foot in diameter, consisting of 16 stones: the innermost is 90, therefore has 9 stones; but then two of them are crowded together, and set at an angle a little obtuse, so that they form a sort of niche, or cove, of a different manner from any other. Several of these stones are fallen, several stand; which may be better understood by surveying the drawings, than by a tedious recapitulation: therefore I took different views of the work hereabouts, where it is most intire, that in after-times, by comparing the prints with the life, the difference may appear, if any shall be; but I hope they ever will be useless to those that view the place itself, and that the owners of the estate will preserve the monument for the glory of their country.

78·2⁠d. The Cove at Stanton Drew

Stukeley del.

83·2⁠d. Celtic Temples

Biscaw wn in Cornwal
Meineir gwyr Carmardynshire.
Maen yu daus In Maddern Parish in Cornwall

82·2⁠d. A perspective Section of the Giants Castle in the vale of Glenbegg Scotland.

81·2⁠d. The Celtic Temple at Classerness on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

80·2⁠d.

On a Mountain near the famous Fortification At Dynegeguill near Bellenrope in the County of Mayow, but in Inys-Kynhairn Parish, ’tis 29 Paces diameter.
Karrachan by Lochbury in Mull
A Druid Temple at Mynydh Garreg, in the Parish of lhan Gyndeyrn. The Circle about 10 yds. diam., the highest stone not 3 foot.
By Mawnog Grigog in Penmorva Parish Carnarvonshr.

In reflecting upon these matters as I travelled along, it seemed to me not much to be doubted, that, as Stonehenge is an improvement upon Abury, so Abury is executed upon a grander plan, taken from this, or some such like. I can scarce think there ever was an avenue to this work, nor any ditch about it. It is true, there is a ditch, or mote, now round the north side along the river: but I believe it was only a fish-pond, or canal, made for the use of the manor-house, or the nunnery, in whose demesnes soever it were; and it is plain there is no sign of a ditch on the south side, where most occasion, because the river on the other side produces the use and effect of it: and if those stones called Hautvile’s Coyts were not set there for direction of the old Britons which way to come in this woody country, or where a ford of the river was, why might they not be stones dropped by the way in journeying to the temple? and they are of the same dimensions with that on the back of the cove. I am very apt to think there was another work, a cove at least, in a triangle with the other and the lunar circle; and the rather, because the manor-house and offices being built upon its situation, it were easy for them to throw it down under some foundation: and then the area, or whole content of the oval knoll, would be filled up handsomely, and with great regularity. And indeed I am shocked at the number of the works at present, being four; whereas that of five seems much more eligible in this case, both as an odd number, and an harmonic: for I doubt not but the Druids, the contrivers of these structures, had a good notion of music, as I could evidence in some observations I have made in the very matters before us; but I fear to be thought whimsical in a thing of this nature, and in a subject so wholly new. It is certain Pythagoras, the Arch-druid, as I venture to call him, completed this art. Now, what can be plainer than the conformity between this work and Abury? the same situation, near the spring of a river, upon a knoll in a large valley, guarded from severity of weather by environing hills: here is the cove of three stones; the circle of twelve; that of thirty stones, all set at the same intervals of thirty foot: here are the concentric circles. But then Abury is a vastly more extensive and magnificent design; the stones of much larger dimensions, and much more numerous. Here are two circles, the one of twelve, the other of thirty stones; but at Abury they have repeated them, and doubled them, by setting one within the other: the quincuple circle they have infinitely exceeded by the prodigious circular portico of a hundred stones on a side; then by the mighty ditch and vallum encompassing it; by two avenues three miles in length, each of a hundred stones on a side: by the temple on Overton hill, by Silbury hill, and other matters, they have so far exceeded their copy, that in the total they have outdone themselves, and created a Celtic wonder of the world, or the eighth. But to return to our present subject.

The stones of our innermost circle of the quincuple one are twelve foot high above ground, and are of a square form, being four foot broad on each side, whence they compose three solids, one set upon another, and therefore appeared higher above the tops of the rest. Five of them are standing, and the roots of them two which are placed close together with their edges, and which make the cove; for the stones themselves are split from their foundation by some unaccountable violence, which, upon consideration, I can attribute to nothing less than a stroke of lightning; nor can I conceive that any other impulse, except that of a cannon bullet, could have so disjointed or fractured them. This set of circles are placed on the eastern side of the knoll, and have a fine declivity two or three ways for carrying off the rain. This niche, or cove, if such it be, opens to the north, and a little westerly: several of the stones of the outer circles stand on the other side of the hedge, and two or three are sunk into the ditch: those are vulgarly called the Fidlers, as the others the Maids, or the revel rout attendant on a marriage festival; for the people of this country have a notion, that upon a time a couple were married on a Sunday, and the friends and guests were so prophane as to dance upon the green together, and by a divine judgment were thus converted into stones: so I suppose the two stones so close together in the inner circle were reputed the Bride and Bridegroom: the rest were the Company dancing, and the Fidlers stood on the outside. I have observed that this notion and appellation of Weddings, Brides, and the like, is not peculiar to this place, but applied to many other of these Celtic monuments about the kingdom; as the Nine Maids in Cornwall, nine great stones set all in a row: whence possibly one may conjecture, in very ancient times it was a custom here, even of the Christians, to solemnise marriage and other holy rites in these ancient temples, perhaps before churches were built in little parishes: and even now they retain, or very lately did, in Scotland, a custom of burying people in the like temples, as judging them holy ground; without all doubt, continued down from the Druidical times. Or there may be another conceit offered, of which the reader may chuse which pleases him best; that is, that such names of these places may be derived from the mad, frolicksome, and Bacchanalian ceremonies of the ancient Britons in their religious festivals, like those of all other nations which are recorded to us in history. However, I think it is a confirmation of what wants none, that these are the temples of the Gods, made by our British predecessors; of which we come next to deliver our opinion.

We are to consider, upon the plan proposed, what regard is had to the Celtic Deities, which we said were seven in number; and methinks it is easy to point out at this day the particular Gods worshipped in these places, as I have named them upon the Plate. The Sun and Moon, no doubt, claim the highest place in the opinion of all nations; therefore their temples are situate in the midst of the plain of the oval knoll: these are the two single circles: the Sun’s is easily distinguishable from the other by its bulk, and being toward the right hand, and toward the east, the more worthy part: this consisting of 30 stones, and the other of 12, seem to mean the Solar month, and Lunar year: the quincuple circle I suppose consecrate to the five lesser planets; and that the cove appertained to the Service of the Goddess of the Earth, therefore opens to the South, respecting full the meridian power of the Soul of the World, without whose beams it is dead and inert. Hence therefore the reason of their order in Situation: the Lunar temple is next the earth, because so in the heavens; the Sun next above; and the planets highest, according to the order one would be apt to suppose they observed in Nature. It seems likely that the Celtic philosophers reckoned the north the highest part or end of the world, either from the elevation of the north pole to us of northern latitude, as our geographers now practise in maps and charts, by making the north part uppermost; or because they came from that quarter of the world in the progress of nations: but we must join the east with it; for that, ever since the Creation, in all systems of religion, and nations, has been especially reverenced, because of the Sun’s rising: and the west was reckoned the lower part of the world, the hell and region of the dead, the Elysian Shades, and the like; because the Sun sets there, and seems to go down: therefore we may observe the reason of the cove being placed most westerly, because the earth possesses the lowest place, the rest mounting north-easterly. The niche or cove of the innermost planet regards the north, or a little westerly, as denoting, beyond the stars was stretched out the great inane of Nature, or infinite space, the empty north, as most distant and dissonant from the south, where was the Sun and world, the foundation of being. If one would enter into their theology, one might conjecture that they meant likewise the creation of the world; for the north, or immense void, being uppermost in their esteem, showed that the world was produced from nothing, by the Supreme Power. To this purpose holding night prior to day, they reckoned their time by winters, nights, etc. One other remark I made on the genius and geometry of the founders of the Weddings; that in the inner circle of the Planetary temple, which is but 90 foot diameter, and therefore an eye in the centre is very near them, there is a considerable artifice used in its component stones; for, though they be square, yet they are so managed that the face on the outside of the periphery is somewhat broader than the other three; hereby it is caused, that the two sides upon the radius respect the centre of the circle. This is contrived to prevent the great offence to the eye which would otherwise have been caused in this lesser circle, had the stones been perfectly square, and, instead thereof, give a particular delight.

I mentioned before, how much I suspected a cove which had stood near the manor-house in the north-west part of the knoll: this I would have dedicated to the element of Water, or particularly to the river flowing by, the Isca, which I have shewn to be its Celtic name: and this cove, thus situate, would offer itself conveniently to the course of the stream, and meet, as it were, to salute the Nymphs or Naids moving down the Stream eastward. I think likewise this might be another reason of their pitching upon this piece of ground; for probably they might think there was more sanctity in a river that ran eastward: it is certain the ancients accounted it more wholesome, for a physical reason, as meeting the Sun’s rising beams, to purify it from all noxious vapor: and for this same reason is there another similitude between this work and that of Abury, the Kennet running eastward its whole length.

As soon as I came on the ground, I observed the form of the hill or knoll that contains this work, and that it perfectly resembles that of the ancient circus’s; and the fine lawn on the south side, together with the interval northwards between it and the river, made an admirable cursus for races of horses, chariots, and the like, as I doubt not in the least to have been the practice in old British times at this very place. This notion is exceedingly confirmed by the remarkable turn in the road, humouring exactly the circuit of this cursus, and coinciding with part of it, as is apparent in the view of the country Plate; and just on the south side the manor-house is a declivity at this day, and so quite round, admirably adapted to the benefit of the spectators, who, running round in a lesser circle, might easily equal the swiftness of the horse, and be spectators of the whole course. I suppose all the sorts of games practised here, which are mentioned in Homer upon the death of Patroclus: this was done at their great religious festivals, and at the exequies of renowned commanders, kings, and chiefs; for it is remarkable at this very day, all those sports mentioned by the most ancient poet are now practised among us; which shews our Asian extract from the early times, and only accounts for that surprising custom of chariots mentioned to be among the Britons by Cæsar, which they wisely applied to war likewise, whilst the Romans used them only upon their circus and diversions. The great plain in the middle of the area was convenient for the works of sacrificing, and after for feastings, wrestling, coyting, and the like: and from the memory, perhaps, of these kind of exercises, sprung the notion of Sir John Hautvil’s Coyts, he being a strong and valiant man, and expert in these games of our hardy ancestors: the vulgar confounded the two histories into one, and, fond of the marvellous, applied the name of Coyts to those monstrous stones. So in Wales to this day they call the Kromlechea, Arthur’s Coyts.

Thus therefore we may in imagination view a solemn sacrifice of magnanimous Britons, the Druids and other priests, the kings and people assembled: we may follow them imitating the course of the Sun, and, like the ancient Greeks at their solemn games, celebrating splendidly, in honour of their Gods, upon the winding banks of the rivers. The temple at Diospolis in Egypt, described by Strabo, XVII. is not unlike our Celtic ones, having a dromos, or circ, before it, with stones cut like sphynges to mark out the route, and a portico quite round. The walls, says he, are as high as the temple, which is without roof, and covered over with sculpture of large figures. There is one part composed of abundance of huge pillars set in very many rows, having nothing painted or elegant, but seems like an empty labour, as he expresses it; and this was, because the Grecian temples of his country were covered over, and the walls adorned with painting and carving, and all sorts of curiosities in art. In this temple (he proceeds) were formerly great houses for the priests, men given to philosophy and astronomy: but now that order and discipline is failed, and only some sorry fellows left, that take care of the sacrifices, and show the things to strangers. Eudoxus and Plato went hither, and lived thirteen years to learn of them. These priests knew the minute excess of the year above 365 days, and many more like things; for, says he, the Greeks were ignorant of the year at that time. Thus far Strabo. It is notorious from the foregoing particulars, how near a resemblance these had to our Celtic temples, and likewise to the famous ruins at Persepolis, which I always looked upon as a great temple of the Persians. Those that think it the ruins of a royal palace, run away content with the report of the ignorant people living thereabouts. This temple of the Egyptians, which Strabo describes, had no roof; and therefore it would be absurd to place paintings in it, and fine carvings of ivory, gold and marble, from the hand of Phidias, or Praxiteles, as was the usage of the Greeks; whence Strabo takes occasion to throw a sarcasm upon people that he would not have thought so elegant as his countrymen. It is certain the Egyptians, as well as our Celts, studied greatness and astonishment, beyond the nice and curious; as is visible in all their works, such as the pyramids, the obelisks, Pompey’s pillar, the monstrous colossi and sphynges, of which we have many accounts in writers, and many of their prodigious works still left, which defy time by their magnitude, like our Celtic: but the Greeks ought to be so grateful as to acknowledge by whom they profited; for they learnt first from the Egyptians; nor will we deny that they improved upon them. When Strabo mentions these roofless temples, and walls covered with sculptures of large figures, and the abundance of huge pillars set in many rows, who sees not the exact conformity between this work, and that of Persepolis? and these collections of pillars, though I suppose set in a square form, are no other than our quincuple circle. I took notice too, that these temples are set in such straggling order as ours here at Stanton Drue, and by examination find that the two largest are at an angle of 20 degrees of one another (I mean, their middle points, or centres) from the cardinal line, or that which runs from east to west: here is likewise the same number of five temples, and like diversity of number of stones, and manner of forms in each, as of ours: the only difference consists in the one being square, the other round; owing to the particular notions of the two people, judging this, and that, most apt for sacred structures. The work at Persepolis too is made upon an artificial eminence, or pavement of most prodigious stones, instead of a natural one, the ascent to which is by steps; which is enough to overthrow any notion of a palace: but they that see not its intent, that it was wholly a religious building, and that there is not one symptom of its being a civil one, ought to be disregarded. All the sculptures are religious, being processions of the priests to sacrifice; which has nothing to do with a palace: the work of pillars never had a roof on it, because of the flower-work at top: besides, there are no walls, never were; and what the incurious spectators take for walls, are only single stones set like those of our monument: and the doors are no more than one stone laid across two more, as those of Stonehenge: the mouldings of them go quite round; so that, had there been a wall, half of them would have been covered. But it is lost time to speak any more of that affair.

79·2⁠d.

Stukeley d.

A View at Stanton Drew

I make no doubt but the name of Stanton Drue is derived from our Monument; Stanton from the stones, and Drue from the Druids. It moves not me, that some of the name of Drew might have lived here formerly; for such a family might take the denomination of the town, and, leaving out the first part, retain only that of Drew. It is sufficient conviction, that there are so many other towns in England, and elsewhere, that have preserved this name, and all remarkable for monuments of this nature. The number of the stones are 160.

INDEX
TO
ITER BOREALE.

INDEX
AD
COMMENTARIOLUM GEOGRAPHICUM
RICARDI WESTMONASTERIENSIS,
EJUSQUE MAPPAM.

THE
PLATES
IN
ITINERARIUM CURIOSUM, Cent. II.
And where explained.

VOLUME I.

Page

1

 Monument of Littlebury in Holbeach Church

20

2

 Holbeach Cross

23

3

 Boston Cross

32

4

 View of Croyland Abbey

33

5

 Prospect of Alcester, Alauna

40

6

 Alauna, another View

40

7

 Tamese, Tame

43

8

 Branavis, Banbury

48

9

 Præsidium, Warwick

49

10

 Spinæ, Newbury

63

11

 Cunetio, Marlborough

63

12

 Glevum, Gloucester

67

13

 Durobrivis, Caster in Northamptonshire

82

14

 Brig-Casterton

84

15

 Ancaster

86

16

 Abontrus, Wintringham

95

17

 Aquis, Aukborough

96

18

 Thornton College Gate-house

100

19

 Caster in Lincolnshire

101

20

 Syser Spring there, a Roman work

102

21

 Crocolana, Brough

103

22

 Vernometum, Burrow hill

108

23

 Roman Building at Leicester

109

24

 Rawdikes, a British Cursus near Leicester

109

25

 View of Rawdikes

26

 Another of the same

27

 Another View

28

 Benavona, Weedon on the Street

114

29

 Durocobrivis, Berghamstead

116

30

 Roman Wall at Rochester

120

31

 Prospect of Kit’s-Coty House, Kent

120

32

 Ditto to the North-east

33

 View from Kit’s-Coty House

34

 Another View of it

35

 Portus Rutupia, from Sandwich

124

36

 Amphitheatre at Richborough

125

37

 Prospect towards Deal, from a Barrow near Walmer Castle

38

 Roman Dubris

127

39

 Prospect of Dover

128

40

 Appearance of Dover when Cæsar landed

41

 Roman Monuments found at Bath

148

42

 Pars Brigantia, a Map

6

43

 Silchester Amphitheatre

178

44

 Caleva Atrebatum, Farnham

202

45

 Roman Camp at Bere Regis

189

46

 Regnum, Ringwood

190

VOLUME II.

[47]

 Cæsaromagus, Chelmsford

12

[48]

 Camulodunum, Colchester

[49]

 Profile of Julius Cæsar, from a Marble of Dr. Mead’s

[50]

 The Carpentry of Cæsar’s Bridge over the Rhine

[51]

 Side View of Cæsar’s Bridge

[52]

 Cæsar’s Camp at Deal

[53]

 Cæsar’s Passage over the Stour near Chilham

[54]

 Cæsar’s Camp on Barham Downs

7

[55]

 View from a Roman Tumulus on Barham Downs

[56]

 Julaber’s Grave

[57]

 Another view of Julaber’s Grave from Chilham

[58]

 Cæsar’s Camp at Shepherton

2

[59]

 Cæsar’s Camp on Greenfield Common

7

[60]

 Cæsar’s Camp on Hounslow Heath

2

[61]

 Cæsar’s Camp at Pancras

1, 8

[62]

 Cæsar’s Camp at Kingsbury

2

[63]

 Roman Camp at Ravensbury

64

 Roman Inscriptions (Vol. I.)

67, 91

[65]

 Roman Gate at Chester

31

[66]

 Roman Altars found at Chester

32

[67]

 Carving on a Rock near Chester

33

[68]

 A Sculpture found at Rissingham

[69]

 Roman Monuments in Durham Library

71

[70]

 Roman Altar found at Elenborough

49

[71]

 Back View of the Altar found at Elenborough

49

[72]

 Basso Relievo’s found at Elenborough

49

[73]

 Roman Inscriptions found at Elenborough

49

[74]

 Inscriptions found near the Picts Wall

61

[75]

 Prospect of Chester on the Wall, and the Picts Wall

60

[76]

 Antiquities at Housteeds near the Wall

60

[77]

 Track of the Wall towards Newcastle

66

[78]

 Cove at Stanton Drew

172

[79]

 Two Views at Stanton Drew

173, 176

[80]

 Druid Temples

[81]

 Druid Temples

[82]

 View of the Giant’s Castle in Glenbegg, Scotland

[83]

 Celtic Temples

[84]

 British Circus near Penrith

43

[85]

 Six Barrows near Stevenage, Herts

[86]

 Celtic Monuments in Germany

[87]

 Celtic Monuments in Ireland

[88]

 Celtic Monuments in Zeeland

[89]

 Celtic Monuments in Ireland

[90]

 Devil’s Arrows near Burrowbridge

74

[91]

 Druid Temple and Grove at Trerdrew, Anglesey

[92]

 Druid Temple at Winterburn

[93]

 Kromlechen

[94]

 Celtic Sepulchres

[95]

 Celtic Sepulchres

[96]

 Brass Celts

[97]

 View of Malling Abbey

[98]

 South Arch of York Choir

[99]

 Kirkley’s Abbey, Yorkshire

[100]

 Religious Ruins

101

 Temple of the Winds at Athens (Vol. I.) Pref.

102

 Temple of Minerva at Syracuse (Vol. I.) Pref.

103

 Bust of Marcus Modius at Wilton (Vol. I.)

185
Mappa Brittaniæ Faciei Romanæ, secundùm Fidem Monumentorum perveterum depicta.

THE END.

ERRATA.

Vol. I. Page 185. for TAB. XLIV. read TAB. CIII. 2d Vol.
202. for TAB. XLVI. read TAB. XLIV. 2d Vol.
Vol. II. Page 49. Iter Boreale, for TAB. LXIII, read TAB. LXXIII.
71. ————— for TAB. LXXIV. read TAB. LXIX.
177. Last line, for of nature, read, of this nature.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Covinus Cimbricus, sicut hodie utuntur.

[2] In one of the carved monuments Venus stands in an apartment of a building, seeming to be combing her hair; perhaps from a bath. However, at Rome was a statue of Venus holding a comb, not an improper utensil for the goddess of beauty, not a little of which consists in the hair. Thus says Claudian,

Thessalico roseos nectebat pectine crines.

[3] Solinus cap. XXII. de mirabilibus Britanniæ. Mela de Situ Orbis lib. III. cap. V.

[4] Iliad Σ. v. 606. & Ξ. v. 200. Florus Histor. Rom. lib. I. cap. XIII. Rutilii Numat. Itin.

[5] Strabo de Geogr. lib. I. p. 4, 9, &c.

[6] Exodus cap. III. v. 3.

[7] Stromat. lib. VI. p. 658.

[8] Aristoteles lib. de Mundo c. III. Plinius Nat. Hist. lib. II. c. LXVI. LXVII. LXVIII. &c. M. Capella lib. VI. &c. &c.

[9] Strabo Geogr. lib. passim. Dionysius Characenus passim. Mela de Situ Orbis lib. I. c. 1. & III. c. 1. Æthicus, Rufus Festus Avienus de Ora Marit. v. 390, &c. &c.

[10] Johannes Tzetza variæ Histor. Chiliad. 8. Philostratus L. apud Photium, p. 1011.

[11] Orpheus, Homerus, Cointus Smyrnæus, &c. fere omnes.

[12] Fere omnes, uno ore.

[13] Cosmas Ægyptus Cosmogr. Christian. lib. II. p. 131, &c. &c.

[14] Vide infra N. 45. & Ricard. p. 12. XII. &c.

[15] Æneid. lib. VIII. v. 727. B. Hieronymus ad Gerontiam sub fin. Plinius N. H. lib. XIX. c. I. Julius Celsus in vita Cæsaris, p. 44.

[16] Servius Honoratus, ad loc. cit. Virgilii.

[17] e XII. Panegyricis unus p. 265. Edit. Stephani.

[18] Æthicus Cosmogr. p. 705. Isidorus Hisp. Orig. lib. XIV. c. VI.

[19] Catullus in Cæsarem epigr. 30. v. 13.

[20] Vet. Epigram. apud Scaligerum.

[21] Apud Jornandem de Rebus Geticis.

[22] XII. Panegyr. p. 258.

[23] Sed vide Cæsar de Bello Gal. lib. V. c. XIII.

[24] Pag. 1.

[25] Caput de Brit.

[26] In Cæsarem epigr. XXX. v. 4.

[27] Ad Furium & Aur. epigr. XI. v. 12.

[28] Ode XXXV. ad Fortunam.

[29] Tom. V. p. 848.

[30] Hegessipus lib. II. c. IX.

[31] Ricard. p. 25.

[32] Hegessipus.

[33] De Bello Pharsal. lib. VIII. v. 442.

[34] Lib. X. v. 456.

[35] De Malii Theodosii Cons. v. 51.

[36] Solinus Cap. de Britannia.

[37] Vet. Poet. apud Scaligerum.

[38] Isidorus Hisp. orig. lib. XIV. c. VI. e Virgilio Ecl. I. v. 67.

[39] Alfredus apud Higdenum.

[40] Vet. Poet. apud Scalig.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Lib. III. c. X.

[43] Appianus in Præf. vide & Isidorum Hisp. vel potius Solinum apud Ricardum p. 101. XXI.

[44] L. Florus lib. III. cap. X.

[45] De Secundo Cons. Fl. Stilichonis v. 149.

[46] Cosmogr. Christ. p. 113.

[47] Lib. LX. p. 957.

[48] Vet. Poet. apud Scalig.

[49] Hegessipus.

[50] Maximiano & Constantino dictus p. 258.

[51] Ibid.

[52] Vellejus Paterculus Histor. Rom. lib. II.

[53] Panegyr. supra-laudatus p. 262.

[54] Cap. II. p. 98. editionis Havn.

[55] Lib. de Mundo. c. III. Plinius Nat. Hist. lib. III. cap. I.

[56] Tacitus vita Agricolæ c. XXXVIII.

[57] Dio Cassius Hist. Rom. lib. XXXIX. pag. 114.

[58] Nat. Hist. lib. IV. cap. XVI.

[59] Cap. de Britannia.

[60] Lib. VI.

[61] Lib. I. cap. II.

[62] Cosmogr. p. 730.

[63] Cap. I. p. 67.

[64] Hist. Eccl. lib. I. cap. I.

[65] Cap. II. p. 97.

[66] Hist. Rom. lib. LXXVI. p. 867.

[67] De rebus Geticis.

[68] Elphinstone’s new correct Map of North Britain.

[69]

°´
Joh. Speed in Theatre, p. 131. ad6025
Herm. Moll in Tour through G. B. vol. III.5920
Rob. Gordon Atl. Blavian. vol. VI.5918
Joh. Senex General Atlas, p. 233.5913
Rob. Mordon in Cambd. Brit.598
De Wit and Danckert’s Maps592
Tim. Pont. Atl. Blav. vol. VI.5857
Jos. Kelly Navig. p. 91.5847
J. Seller’s Tables, p. 292.5837
J. Elphinstone’s Map, 1745.5831

[70] Secundum pag. 94. LIV.

[71] Solinus cap. de Brit.

[72] Observationes ad P. Melam Hagæ comitis 1658. 4.

[73] Johannis, Jacobi & Abrahami Gronovii Editiones Pompon. Melæ, Julii Honorii, Æthic. &c. Lugd. Bat. 1685. 8. 1696. 8. & 1722. 8. Maj.

[74] Primitus hæc insula vocabatur Albion ab Albis rupibus circa littora maris a longe apparentibus. R. Higdeni Polychron. lib. I. p. 191.

[75] Pag. 157.

[76] Aristoteles lib. de Mundo cap. III. Plinius H. N. lib. IV. c. XVI. Ptolemæus Geogr. lib. II. c. III. &c. Buchananus eam Albium appellat.

[77] Diodorus Siculus Biblioth. Hist. lib. II. c. III. è Hecatæo, &c.

[78] Platonis Timæus.

[79] Plin. N. H. lib. VII. cap. LVI. Κασσίτερα apud Steph. Byzant. de urbibus.

[80] Vopiscus in Floriano. Prosper Aquitanus apud Cambd. Brit. p. XXVII. Gildas de excid. Brit. cap. V. X. & XIV. Ricardus Corin. lib. I. cap. VI. 29. &c.

[81] Silius Italicus lib. XVII. v. 421. Ricardus Corin. lib. I. cap. VI. 50. e Cl. Claudiano de IV. cons Honorii v. 32. Arnsgrimus Jonas Specim. Island. Hist. parte II. pag. 120. Sir Robert Sibbald apud Cambdenum edit. Gibsoni, p. 1089, &c.

[82] Cambd. Brit. pag. 27. Seldenus in Polyolbion, p. 20.

[83] Cambdenus, ut supra.

[84] Lhuydii Archæolog. Brit. pag. 219. col. 4.

[85] Histor. Rom. lib. LXII. pag. 702.

[86] Plin. N. H. lib. IV. cap. XVI.

[87] Perottus, Lilius Gyraldus, Cambdenus, &c.

[88] Lib. de Mundo c. III.

[89] Vide Notes on Cambden’s Brit. Edit. Gibs. p. 18. (X).

[90] Bocharti Canaan, lib. I. c. XXXIX.

[91] Strabo Geogr. lib. II. p. 191.

[92] N. H. lib. XXXIV. cap. XVI.

[93] Ut supra pag. 721.

[94] a Brith, Britannica voce, addita Græca terminatione tania pag. 28, 29, 30. Edit. Gibsoni.

[95] Glossarium Antiq. Britann. voce Alvion, p. 13.

[96] A littoribus ferventibus, & mari vel oceano circumfluo tam mire semper æstuoso. Glossarium ad X. Scriptores voce Britannia.

[97] Consulas omnino Daviesium, Lhuydium & Boxhornium, qui Lexica Britannicæ ling. scripserunt.

[98] History of the World, lib. I. cap. VIII. § 5. nec non & Robinson Annal. Mundi, pag. 97.

[99] Hist. ut supra. l. c.

[100] De Situ Orbis, lib. III. cap. I.

[101] Ptolemæus Geogr. lib. II. c. II.

[102]

Transiit (D. Paulus) Oceanum & qua facit insula portum,

Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque ultima Thule.

Venantius Fortunatus, &c.

[103] Hist. of Great Brit.

[104] In Glossar. ad X. Script. voce Brit.

[105] Unam tantum exhibere volo. Inter Cn. Pompejum & Cn. Vibium humili loco natum, tantus error extitit de paribus lineamentis, ut Romani Vibium Pompeji nomine, Pompejum Vibii vocabulo cognominarent. Solinus cap I.

[106] Aristoteles, Diodorus, Strabo, Ptolemæus, Agathemerus, Polyænus, Dio, Clemens Alex. Epitom. Strab. D. Joh. Chrysostomus tom. III. Joan. Tzetza, &c.

[107] Cleomedes, Nummus Alabandensis, M. Heracleota, Chrysostomus tom. IV & V. Polyænus, &c.

[108] M. Heracleota, p. 57, 58, 59, 60, Ptolemæus apud Steph. de urbibus.

[109] M. Heracleota, p. 57, 58, 59.

[110] Apud Camb. Brit. p. 1.

[111] Dionysius Char. Polybius, Joh. Tzetza, &c.

[112] Aristoteles, M. Heracl. p. 9, 33.

[113] Ptolemæus, Agathemerus, &c.

[114] Johan. Tzetza.

[115] Lucius Ampelius.

[116] Lib. VIII. p. 526.

[117] Aped Gruter. p. CCCCLXXXII.

[118] Strabo, &c.

[119] Dionysius, &c.

[120] Monachi fere omnes.

[121] Juvenalis Lib. V. v. 705. Martialis lib. IX. epig. 22. Inscriptiones variæ.

[122] Inscrip. variæ, Ausonius, &c. Romani suos provinciales constanter Britannos, dicunt; quanquam ipsi provinciales sese Brittones appellari gaudeant. Buchan. Rerum Scot. lib. I. c. I.

[123] Lib. IV. c. XVI.

[124] Pag. 673. tom. III. p. 676 tom. III. p. 696. tom. V. p. 635. tom. V. p. 846. tom. VI. p. 111. tom. VIII. &c.

[125] Joh. Tzetzæ variæ Hist. Chil. 8. cap. CCXVII. v. 719, &c.

[126] Lib. de Mundo cap. III.

[127] Orbis descrip. v. 565.

[128] Lib. II. de Geogr. cap. IV. p. 39.

[129] De Mundo liber.

[130] Dionysius Characen. Orb. desc. v. 566, &c.

[131] Chil. 8. 678.

[132] Lib. I. de Geogr. c. II. p. 5. Vide & Non. Marcell. c. I. de prop. sermon.

[133] Noct. Attic, lib. II. cap. XXII.

[134] Lib. de Mundo, cap. III.

[135] Johan. Tzetza, Chil. 8. 626.

[136] De situ Daniæ, cap. I.

[137] De situ Orbis, lib. II. c. VI.

[138] De Geogr. lib. IV. cap. 45. & V. cap. 4.

[139] De situ Brit. lib. I. cap. VIII. 10.

[140] Cæsar de Bello Gall. lib. II. cap. IV.

[141] Cæsar de B. G. lib. V. cap. XXIII.

[142] Notæ in Cæsar. p. 124.

[143] Descript. Orbis, v. 284, &c.

[144] Edit. Oxoniæ Hudson. 1717. 8. p. 50. No. I.

[145] Hist R. lib. XXXIX. pag. 114. consulas & Phil. Trans. N. 193.

[146] Hist. Nat. lib. III. cap I.

[147] e Thesauro Oyzeliano XXVII. Tab 12. exhibet Grævius in Florum p. 526. Edit. Amst. 1702. 8. Maj.

[148] Hist. Rom. lib. LXXVI. p. 867.

[149] Edit. Havniæ 1757, p. 67.

[150] Cosmog. p. 731. Edit. Gron.

[151] Hist. lib. I. cap. II.

[152] Rom. Hist. lib. LXXVI. p. 867.

[153] In Geticis suis.

[154] Vide infra, pag. 162.

[155] Hist. Eccl. lib. I. cap. I.

[156] Origin. lib. XIV. c. VI.

[157] Caput de Brit.

[158] Apud Salmasium. Plin. Exercit. cap. XXIII.

[159] XXX oportet legere.

[160] Editor Bedæ oper. Cantabr. 1722. Fol. Maj.

[161] Nat. Hist. lib. II. cap. CVIII.

[162] Censorinus de Die Nat. cap. XIII.

[163] In oratione Ægyptiaca.

[164] Ogyg. p. 11, 12, &c. Inis Mor. apud Cambd. Brit. p. 6. (h.)

[165] Philostr. Dion.

[166] Geogr. script. Græcorum min. 8. Oxoniæ 1703.

[167] Vide supra, pag. 157. N. 52.

[168] Mela de situ Orbis, lib. III. cap. VI.

[169] Comment. de B. G. lib. V. c. XIII.

[170] Biblioth. Hist. lib. V. c. XXI.

[171] Geogr. lib. IV. p. 199.

[172] De Bell. Gal. lib. V. cap. XIII.

[173] Philos. Trans. N. 330. pag. 266.

[174] Bibl. Hist. lib. V. cap. XXI.

[175] Geogr. lib. II. pag. 63, & 128.

[176] De Bell. Gall. lib. V. cap. XIII.

[177] Bibl. Hist. lib. V. c. XXI.

[178] Geogr. lib. IV. p. 199.

[179] Iliad Σ. 487.

[180] Ptolemæus, &c.

[181] Bibl. Hist. lib. V. c. XXI.

[182] De Bell. Gall. lib. V. cap. XIII.

[183] Bibl. Hist. lib. V. cap. XXI.

[184] Geogr. lib. IV. p. 199.

[185] Ibid. lib. II. p. 128.

[186] N. H. lib. IV. c. XVI.

[187] Lib. IV. p. 215.

[188] Cap. de Brit.

[189] Geogr. lib. II. p. 104.

[190] N. H. lib. IV. c. XVI.

[191] N. H. lib. III. c. I.

[192] Philos. Trans. N. 330. p. 266.

[193] P. 79. & 161.

[194] Vita Agricolæ, c. II.

[195] N. Salmon’s New Survey of England, vol. II. p. 841.

[196] Geogr. lib. II. p. 118, & 122.

[197] Descriptio Orbis, v. 7.

[198] Geogr. lib. II. p. 127, & 137.

[199] Polybius lib. II. p. 142. Plin. N. H. lib. III. c. V. Solinus c. VIII.

[200] Hist. Rom. lib. CV. apud Tacitum. Vita Agr. c. X.

[201] Apud Tacitum, l. c.

[202] Climat. VII. part. II. p. 272.

[203] Bibl. Hist. lib. V. c. XXI.

[204] Geogr. lib. IV. p. 199.

[205] De situ Orbis, lib. III. c. VI.

[206] Nostra autem ætas ex multis multorum itineribus certam quodammodo totius insulæ jam deprehendit dimensionem, a Tarvisio enim circumactis curvatisque littoribus per occasum ad Belerium plus minus DCCCXII mill. pass. numerantur, inde conversa in austrum littoris fronte ad Cantium CCCXX mill. pass. Hinc secundum Germanicum mare angulosis recessibus per DCCIIII. mill. pass. ad Tarvisium protenditur, ut hac ratione totius insulæ ambitus MDCCCXXXVI. mill. colligat. Brit. p. 2. id est, 2140 milliaria Regia Statutaria.

[207] N. Hist. lib. IV. c. XVI.

[208] Supra, p. 90 & 100. Anonymus Ravenn. Geogr. lib. IV. cap. iv. & xi. Frontem codicis, qui in Biblioth. D. Marci Venetiis extat, ornat effigies Ptolemæi, vestitu regio induti, imposita capiti corona, error est, nonnullis quoque viris recentioris ac medii ævi. Symoni Grynæo in Præfat. ad Almagestum Basileæ 1538. &c. &, ut Vossius de Scient. Mathemat. p. 162. testatur, ante eum aliis.

[209] Lib. de rebus Geticis.

[210] De Bell. Gall. lib. V. c. XIII.

[211] Vide Horsley’s Britannia Romana, p. 361. nec non Philos. Transact. No. 190, 241, 255.

[212] Vide Dr. Stukeley’s Carausius, p. 134 & 169, &c.

[213] Geogr. lib. II. c. III.