the Lands-end, at the expense of much time and labour. Some of these appear to have been formed by accident; the falling, or decomposing rock having rested on a point, on which it was so delicately poised as to admit of being put in motion by the hand.

The purpose to which these stones was applied, can now only be conjectured. That which Mason has assigned to them, in his drama of Caractacus, is a highly probable one; viz. that the British priests, in whom were united the priest and the judge, made these logan or rocking stones the test of the innocence, or guilt of the persons brought to their tribunal. In illustration of this, he introduces two young men, charged with being traitors to their king and country, and placed before the judgment seat of the Druids; whom the Arch-Druid thus addressed, at the same time pointing to this solemn test..

"Thither youths

Turn your astonish'd eyes-behold yon huge
And unhewn mass of living adamant !
Which, pois'd by magic, rests its central weight
On yonder pointed rock.-Fix'd as it seems,
Such are its strange and virtuous properties,
It moves, obsequious to the slightest touch

Of him, whose breast is pure; but-to the traitor !
Although a giant's prowess nerv'd his arm,
It stands as firm as Snowden. No reply;
The Gods command, that one of you should now
Approach, and touch it.---Priests, in your snowy vests
The lots deposit, and, as our wont is,
Present them to the younger.

It is certain from the structure of this test, that it must move on being touched, unless prevented previously, which might easily be done by the insertion of a small wedge between the pivot and the edge of the socket in which it was intended to move. Another relic of British antiquity is that which is termed the Tolmen, that is the "Hole of Stone." The Tolmen was either an immense stone, so placed on an opening or small chasm in the rocks, as that an aperture was formed between its supporters; or it was a stone with a hole artificially pierced through it, of a size sufficient to admit a child, and some of them a grown person, to be passed through.

In Cornwall, it was the general opinion that, by being thus passed through or under a tolmen, children were cured of weakness in their limbs; as were invalids of every description, of their different maladies. This was the belief and practice in Cornwall at no very distant period. Borlase notices the Tolmen in the following manner:- "There is," says he,

another

kind of stone deity, which has never been taken notice of, by any other author that I have heard of; its

common name in Cornwall and Scilly is Tolmen, or the "Hole of Stone;" it consists of a large spherical stone, supported by two others, between which there is a passage. There are two of these on the Scilly isles, one on St. Mary's Island, at the Salakee downs; the other on the little isle of Northwithee. The top stone of the first of these is forty-five feet in girt, horizontally, by twenty-four perpendicular measurement.-But the most astonishing monument, of this kind, is in the tenement of Mên, in the parish of Constantine, in Cornwall; it is one great oval pebble placed on the points of two natural rocks, so that a man may creep under the great one, between the supporters, through a passage of about three feet wide, by as much high. The longest diameter of this stone is thirty-three feet, being in a direction due north and south. Its height, measured perpendicularly, over the opening, is fourteen feet six inches; and the breadth, in the widest part, eighteen feet six inches, extending from east to west. I measured one half of the circumference, and found it, according to my computation, forty-eight and a half feet, so that this stone is ninety-seven feet in circumference, lengthways and about sixty feet in girt, measured at the middle; and by the best information it contains about seven hundred and fifty tons. Getting a ladder to view the top of it, we found the whole surface worked, like an imperfect or mutilated honeycomb, into basins; one, much larger than the rest, was, at the south end, about seven feet long."*

The salutary idea attached to passing through these apertures is very probably a modern one. In Nor

* Dr. Borlase here seems to have viewed this part of his subject solely through the medium of the antiquary; the geololike cavities to decomposition; and they are to be seen where gist views it in a very different light, and attributes these basonthere is not the least vestige of druidical antiquity. It would appear to have commenced with soft places in the rock, which have retained moisture, and thus subjected those parts to the and frost and thaw in winter. These spots seem to have been decomposing effects of alternate heat and moisture in summer, the central points from which the decomposition has proceeded, in different directions, sometimes producing circular and at other times elliptical cavities; and it is surprising how accurately some of the circles are formed; so that, if previously correct, nor is the spherical scooping performed with less marked out with compasses, they could not have been more nicety. When a number of these have formed near each other, and by their gradual extending come in contact, they have then produced the honey-comb appearance, which Dr. Borlase describes. It still is probable that some of them may have been would be visible, as in the knobs and cavities of the trilithons made by art; but, in this case, the mark of the iron instrument at Stonehenge.

We have now completed a cursory view of those remains of stone erections in this country, which are generally attributed to the British Druids. Destitute of inscription or sculpture, which might refer them to any particular period or origin, we have had to derive what knowledge is at this day attainable, from their respective semblances to the unhewn pillars, &c. of patriarchal times, as described in the pages of sacred history; nor has our research, it is presumed, been altogether an unsatisfactory one, since we have, in the first place, ascertained that they are of patriarchal origin, and common to both Israelites and Canaanites, the latter being a name given to the Phoenicians on account of the commercial habits of that people.

We have also ascertained that the Phoenicians themselves, introduced them into this country, which they had discovered in the course of their enterprizing voyages, and on account of the tin which Cornwall produces, they settled a colony there; as they did in every place which favoured the extension of their commerce and the encouragement of their manufactures, in which the Tyrians and Sidonians far surpassed all other nations. Of this we may form an adequate idea from the various works which Hiram the Tyrian was capable of executing, as recorded in 2 Chronicles chap. ii. Homer, also, to enhance the character of some curious pieces of needle-work, says

that they were all the work of Sidonian maids. These notices were taken of the Tyrian and Sidonian manufactures about one thousand years before the present era; the state of their commerce and skill in navigation, at the same period, is evident from the circumstance of the King of Tyre and King Solomon's fitting out a fleet of discovery, that was absent three years sailing along the Mediterranean shores of Africa, circumnavigating the whole of that peninsula, and returning by the red sea to the Isthmus of Suez.

The article of tin being mentioned by Moses is a proof that the Phoenician colony in Cornwall was then settled, and working the tin mines in his days, that is 1500 years B. C. An additional proof of the presence of the Phoenicians in Britain is the remains of their language in this country and in the north of Ireland, where the language of one province is decidedly Phoenician, as Colonel Vallancey has most clearly proved, in his "Collectanea De Rebus Hibernicis."-By thus determining the origin of these ancient remains in our own

There are monuments of this kind in Ireland; one of which, called St. Declan's Stone, is thus noticed in the " History of the County of Waterford," p. 70. It lies shelving upon the point of a rock, and on the patron-day of this saint, great numbers creep under this stone three times, in order, as they

pretend, to cure and prevent pains in the back. This stone, they tell you, swam miraculously from Rome, conveying upon it St. Declan's bell and vestments."-ED.

TISSINGTON FESTIVAL,

OR, THE FLOWERING OF THE WELLS.

THIS annual ceremony (briefly noticed in p. 30), is said to have originated in a traditionary story that, at a very remote period, Tissington was the only place for many miles around which afforded water for the supply of the neighbouring villages. The following lines, connected with the tradition, suggested themselves on reading the ensuing account of this festival; which was communicated to the writer by an intelligent friend, who was an eye-witness of the scene, on Holy-Thursday, 1817.

Tissington is the seat of the Fitz-Herbert family, (baronets) the chief part of the estates having descended to them from the Meynells, in the fifteenth century. The village is most pleasantly situated in respect to the mountainous scenery around, and consists of three or four streets, irregularly built, and branching off from the village green; the principal buildings being the church, or chapel rather, and the mansion of the Fitz-Herberts.

The annual spectacle, designated "The Flowering of the Wells," is a most gratifying one, but how it originated, no person in Tissington seems to know. There are five wells in different parts of the village, of beautifully fine water; the principal of which, called St. Helen's Well, is in the street opposite to Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert's house; the water flows from a very large stone basin, into two smaller ones, and thence runs down the road. This well has a large stone alcove over it, around which there was a very broad border of laurel leaves, edged with a van

Every house seems to vie with each other in dressing the wells; but where they obtain the flowers is wonderful, although there is a garden before almost every dwelling. The Well that pleased me most, was one that stood in a retired garden; it had an arbour formed of trees with wreaths of laburnum, and the common blue hare-bells thrown all over; at the top was a figure of Pity, (holding a medallion of the King) bending to Hygeia, with her accustomed offering of fox-gloves. The drapery of the figures defies all description, the colours were so well chosen. On the right hand of Pity was a globe most exquisitely designed; upon one part you might see the word "England;" on the left a ship with all her sails hoisted: on the figure was the crown and the words "God save the King," in sweet-briar leaves upon a ground of lilacs. The other Wells were highly ornamental, and displayed an infinitude of taste and design.

There was service at the church, appropriate to the day. The Rev. Mr. Belcher, of Ashborne, has the living; and, in leaving church, the clergyman walked in his gown to all the Wells, and read a collect, and the singers gave an anthem, praising the supreme being for such plenteous streams. Until within these last few years the ceremony had been little observed; but it now appears to be increasing in splendour and joyousness with every renewal.—

Or friend, or stranger, whosoe'er thou art

That wanders here, awhile thy steps repress;
If rural elegance can charm thy heart,
Or nature, smiling in her brightest dress,
Thine eye can cheer; if aught
Can aptly please, untaught,
Unless by nymphs and swains,

Such as Arcadian plains

Could boast of old, then stop, and muse on scenes divine, By legendary lore ordain'd, at Godhead's shrine,

Ye brooks and rills! Ye sacred fonts and wells!

Whence the pure limpid streams exhaustless glide, Thro' cooling shades and groves, thro' woods and dells, Or, roll adown the mountain's craggy side;

Or, sooth'd in gentle currents, spread
Thro' smiling mead, or cheerful plain,
Where waving Ceres rears her head,

Or Flora sports her blooming train :

Of you! so priz'd by neighb'ring nymphs and swains,
The humble muse thus sings in tributary strains.
How grand the theme which each revolving age,
By gratitude's spontaneous impulse taught,
Records in memory's enlivening page

Of miracles of old, benignly wrought

In dread affliction's baneful gale!
'Twas sad experience learnt the tale ;-
Surviving manhood's vigorous fire
Then stamp'd its truth, and now conspire
Both age and youth in awe sublime

T' impress it on the wings of time;
Whilst pregnant nature copious sheds her stores,
And grateful off rings spring from sparkling flowers.

Heard ye yon hoary Sire rehearse the tale?

In times remote, in Nature's early reign,
When desolation wing'd its fearful gale

O'er hills and dales, and wide extended plain;
Him heard ye mark the fatal hour

Of ghastly groans and dire dismay,
When Death assum'd remorseless power,
With want and parching thirst, to slay;
When nymphs and swains, and herds and flocks,

All cheerless, wild, and panting rove;

Streamless the fonts, the wells, the rocks,
No trickling rill to glad the grove;
No humid spring to cool the plains,
No dews, nor heav'n descending rains.
How dire the scene! when famine rag'd around,
And general Nature felt the afflictive wound!

But here, blest scene! pure, insulated space!
Chosen of Heav'n! 'twas thine the boon to share
Of life, no horrors stalk'd with ruthless pace,
No dire disease, to taint the ambient air.
Though Nature, wearied and aghast,
Threaten'd around dissolving doom,
Yet hence, kind Fate withdrew the blast,
Its rage restrain'd, dispell'd its gloom :
Here Nature's fruits of varied shade,

And teeming sweet, maintain'd their reign,
Whilst purling streams enrich'd the glade,

And grateful Zephyrs fann'd the plain :

The Pilgrims here would fondly roam,

Whilst strangers flock'd from distant vales;
'Twas here, the care-worn sought a home,
Or fainting caught the western gales,

Or parch'd with thirst would hail the gurgling font,
From whence pellucid streams abundant glide,
Grateful as hallow'd waves from Jordan's swelling tide.

For gifts like these, by gracious Heav'n bestow'd,
Each nymph and swain in annual consort roves,
Culling of Flora's sweets, the pond'rous load,
From wide spread plains and distant groves:

Gaily they skip through cheerful dale,
And rifle thence its brightest smiles;
Or sauntering roam the silent vale,

Where modest worth rewards their toils;
Or bound the waste, or trackless plain,
Where varied groups more wildly reign;
Or brave the mountain's highest brow,
Fearless of yawning gulphs below;
Or nimbly climb the craggy steep,
Where evergreens with ivy creep;
Or sportive mount th' aspiring hills,
Midst sloping banks and purling rills;
Or skirt the shelt'ring woodland's side,
Where flow'rets bloom in lavish pride:
Thus all around them plenteous stores supply,
To raise the votive pile to HIM, most high!
Whose presence glads the heart, whose bounties cheer the eye.
The massive tablet grac'd with sculptur'd lay,
Awhile holds faithful to its sacred trust,

But time resistless in its sov'reign sway,
Ere long impels it to the mould'ring dust;
Yet sudden Fate nor varying Age
The records of th' Almighty's praise
Can e'er o'erwhelm! sacred each page!
Indelible the mystic lays!

Whilst time, propitious in its circling race,

Each trophied rite sustains with ever blooming grace.