I doubt not, but there are more such temples in the Britannick isles, called Knaves-castles or the like. One I remember to have seen, on a great heathy common, by the Roman Watling-street in Staffordshire. And Mr. Toland takes notice of a winged temple of our Druids in the Hebrid or Hyperborean islands, Shetland. Abaris a Druid of this country, fir’d with a desire of knowledge, travell’d into Greece where philosophy flourish’d; after that to Pythagoras in Italy, and became his favourite disciple. Pythagoras imparted to him his best notions in philosophy, which perhaps, in the enigmatick way of those times, they call the shewing to him his golden thigh. Abaris on the other hand, presented to Pythagoras Apollo’s arrow, which he brought out of his own country, where it had been deposited in a winged temple. They tell you further, that Abaris rode on this arrow in the air to Greece. This undoubtedly would proceed from the notion they entertain’d of the Druids practising magick.
I cannot help thinking, after what I have said in Stonehenge, concerning the magnetick needle, that this arrow of Apollo’s which Abaris made use of in his journey from Shetland to Greece, was an instrument of this sort, which the Hyperborean sage gave to Pythagoras. And the Druids possessing such a secret as this, would reciprocally create, and favour that notion of their practising magick. Calling it Apollo’s arrow seems to throw the possession of it up to Phut the most famous navigator, we before treated of: nay it seems that we may trace it still higher, even to Noah himself. Sanchoniathon the Phœnician writer tells us, among other remarkable things concerning Ouranus, who is certainly Noah, “that he devised Bætulia, or contriv’d stones that mov’d as having life.”
Besides the interpretation, we may very naturally affix to this account, of anointed stones or main ambres: we may well judge that the knowledge of the magnet is here understood; which at first they placed in a little boat, in a vessel of water, and then it would move itself, ’till directed to the quarters of the heavens. Atheneus Deipnosoph. affirms, that Hercules borrow’d his golden cup wherewith he sail’d over the ocean, of Nereus. Nereus is Japhet eldest son of Noah, and the golden cup was a compass box in all probability.
Among the ancient constellations pictur’d on the celestial globe, is an arrow; said by Eratosthenes the most ancient writer we have on the Catasterisms, (as called,) to be the arrow of Apollo, which was laid up in the winged temple among the Hyperboreans. Diodorus Siculus from Hecateus and other older writers, shews, the Hyperborean island was in the ocean, and beyond Gaul, to the north, under the bear; where the people liv’d a most simple and happy life. Orpheus places them near the Cronian sea; a word purely Irish, as Mr. Toland shews, Croin signifying frozen. He shews further and that very largely, that the Hebrid islands, Skie, Lewis, Harries, Shetland, are the true Hyperborean islands of the ancients. Among them therefore was the winged temple; whether made of mounds of earth, like those two on the Humber, and on Navestock-common; or made of stones like other Druid temples.
There are other Druid temples in those islands, made of stones, I shall give a print of one, in my next volume. Further there is a famous one in Cornwall call’d vulgarly the Hurlers, which I take to have been one of our alate temples, made of stones set upright.
The learned Bayer in his fine designs of the celestial constellations, represents the arrow of Apollo beforemention’d, as a magnetick needle; and he took his designs chiefly from a very ancient book of drawings. I observe likewise that the isle of Skie, in the language of the natives, is call’d Scianach, which signifies winged. And in that probably, was the winged temple we speak of; which gave name to the isle.
We mention’d before that Phut married Rhode, whence the isle of Rhodes had its name. Rod in the Psalms and the Prophets signifies a snake. Nay Pliny in vii. and 56, of his natural history asserts, that Rhodes was originally call’d Ophiusa, a word equivalent. Most likely they built a serpentine temple there, which gave the name. So the isle of Tenos, which Bochart shews, means a serpent in the oriental language, was call’d Hydrusa and Ophiusa. The isle of Cyprus was call’d Ophiodia by Nicœnetus. So Hydra an isle just before Carthage, which was first built by Cadmus. Ophiades insulæ on the Arabian coast of the Red-sea. Pausanias mentions a place called Opheos Cephale, the serpent’s head; the same as our Hakpen on Overton-hill in Abury.
In the isle of Chios is a famous mountain higher than the rest, called Pelineus, which had undoubtedly one of our great Dracontian temples. The learned Bochart I. 9. shews its name signifies the prodigious serpent: a story of the sort is annex’d to it. Nay this famous temple gave name to the whole island, for he shews that ’tis a Syrian word חויא Chivia a serpent, so that Chios isle is the serpent’s isle: the word is the same as Hivite: probably Cadmus or some of his people built it. Hesychius and Phavorinus mentions Jupiter Pelineus, the name of the deity worshiped.
Virgil in Æneid II. describes the two serpents that destroy’d Laocoon coming from the isle of Tenedos.
I described the barrows about Humbers castle, to be like beds. They are all long barrows, of very different lengths, higher at the head than the feet, (if we may so express it) and with a cavity the whole length of them, drawn off at the feet, to the turf: So that they represent the impression of a person that has lain on a very soft, downy couch. One which I dug into near the temple was 60 cubits long: the other two near it 40 each, [plate xxxix]. The sight of them necessarily intruded into my mind, the ευνη or couch of Typhon or Phut, which Homer says, was in Arimis. ’Tis natural for us to imagine, he means exactly such a tumulus of the hero, as these we are speaking of.