[Illustration: Cromleh in Anglesea.]
Cromlehs are among the most interesting of all monumental relics of our
ancestors; but the question of their original purposes has excited much
controversy among the lovers of antiquarian lore. They are immense
stones, by some believed to have been the altars, by others, the tombs,
of the Druids; but Mr. Toland explains the word _cromleac_, or
_cromleh_, from the Irish _crom_, to adore, and _leac_, a stone--stone
of adoration. Crom was also one of the Irish names of God; hence
cromleac may mean the stone of Crom, or of the Supreme God. The cromleac
is also called _Bothal_, from the Irish word _Both_, a house, and _al_,
or _Allah_, God; this is evidently the same with _Bethel_, or house of
God, of the Hebrews.
The above vignette represents a Cromleh at Plas Newydd, the seat of the
Marquess of Anglesea, in the Isle of Anglesea. This part of the island
is finely wooded, and forcibly recalls to the mind its ancient state,
when it was the celebrated seat of the Druids, the terrific rites of
whose religion were performed in the gloom of the thickest groves.
The Cromleh at Plas Newydd is 12 feet 9 inches long, and 13 feet 2
inches broad, in the broadest part. Its greatest depth or thickness is 5
feet. Its contents cannot be less in cubic feet and decimal parts than
392,878,125. It follows, therefore, from calculating according to the
specific gravity of stone of its kind, that it cannot weigh less than 30
tons 7 hundreds. The engraving is copied from "The Celtic Druids," by
Godfrey Higgins, Esq. F.S.A. 4to, 1827, one of the most valuable
antiquarian volumes it has ever been our good fortune to secure; and by
the aid of an esteemed correspondent, we hope shortly to introduce a few
of its curiosities more in detail than we are enabled to do at present.
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