“Now the carrying out of their order was left to the country parsons, and partly because they had themselves been brought up to respect these stones, and partly because the execution of the decree would have brought down a storm upon their heads, they contented themselves with putting a cross on top of the stones.”—Book of Brittany, by Baring-Gould, p. 20.
[116] With regard to this Mr. Horton Bolitho has sent me the following note:—“The rising ground here is called locally ‘Lanine Hill’ (spelt Lanyon and pronounced Lanine); this is worth noticing, as it is the same name as the dolmen six or seven miles away from Boleit, and in the same district as the Men an Tôl and Boskednan Circle, to say nothing of Lannion in Brittany. Lan signifies something sacred, the place of the saint, or belonging to the saint.”
CHAPTER XXVI
THE TREGASEAL CIRCLES (LAT. 50° 8′ 25″ N., LONG. 5° 39′ 25″ W.)
There are two circles situated on Truthwall Common near to Tregaseal and not far from St. Just; the one is nearly to the east of the other, and there are outstanding stones, including four holed stones, and several barrows. The eastern temple has a diameter of 69 feet, and includes, at the present time, nine erect and four prostrate stones; the original structure seems to have contained twenty-eight stones according to Lukis.
My wife and I visited the region in January, 1906, but previously to our going Mr. Horton Bolitho, accompanied by Mr. Thomas, whose knowledge of the local antiquities is very great, had explored the region and taught us what to observe.
The chief interest appears to lie on the N.E. quadrant, where, in addition to a famous longstone on a hill about a mile away, the nest of holed stones and several of the barrows are located. Carn Kenidjack, a famous landmark, lies to the north.
Of the two circles, I confined my attention almost exclusively to the eastern one, as the other is in a fragmentary condition, though it is still traceable. It is hidden almost entirely from the eastern circle by a modern hedge.
Mr. Horton Bolitho, who accompanied us in January, has again visited the spot, with Mr. Thomas, for the purpose of further exploration, and determining the angular height of the sky-line along the different alignments, which I have plotted from the 6-inch and 25-inch maps. My readers will therefore see that my part of the work has been a small one, and that they are chiefly indebted to those I have named.
No theodolite survey has as yet been made for determining the azimuths and the height of the hills. The following approximate azimuths have been determined by myself from a 25-inch map, and the elevations by Mr. Horton Bolitho by means of a miner’s dial.