The most important monuments left by the ancient Britons who inhabited
this country previous to the Roman invasion are the several remains of
villages. Cæsar, in describing what the Britons call a town, says:--"It
is a tract of woody country surrounded by a vallum and a ditch for
the security of themselves and cattle against the incursions of their
enemies." Strabo confirms this, and says further:--"That within the
inclosures formed of felled trees they build houses for themselves and
hovels for their cattle: these buildings are slight, and not designed
for long duration." The vallum is expressed in Welsh by _caer_ or
_dinas_, the same with the Gaelic _dun_. Diodorus Siculus and Strabo
tell us that the houses of the Gauls were wretched cottages, being
constructed with poles and wattled work in the form of a circle with
lofty tapering or pointed roof, and Cæsar also says that the houses
of the Britons were similar. These it is true were of south Britain,
but it is reasonable to infer that with little alteration those of the
northern inhabitants would be similar. Some authors suppose the present
Welsh pigsty to represent the form of the ancient British house. This
is a circular building with a conical roof, and having a large circular
enclosure attached.
In the district under consideration there are remains of earthworks
which may be considered of this character. They generally consist of
ridges of earth and stones varying in height from one to three feet,
forming irregular squares, circles, passages, &c., covering a greater
or less area of ground. In five of these are to be found small
circular enclosures generally six yards in diameter, with a gap or
opening on one side; each of the other larger enclosures have also an
entrance and in some places a sort of street or passage communicates.
The most extensive and distinct are the remains of Long Dale, which
are skirted by the Roman road: in the middle part of these are seven
or eight of the small circles. Another though much smaller is on
Wickerslack Moor: this has five small circles, with two or three
irregular squares and a large circle; a large area is also enclosed
on the high side which is not cut up by any earthworks. In two of
the small circles was found a rude pavement formed of large slabs of
sandstone rudely laid down and fit together with smaller boulders of
granite, &c., but no limestone; these stones bear evident marks of
having been exposed to fire. The ground chosen for these enclosures
without exception are upon the hard limestone rock, covered by a very
thin layer of earth; this with the loose rock has been bared off and
used to form the earthworks. They are also generally at a considerable
distance from water.
Yow Locks, another of these villages, is on the open moor called Slack
Randy; here only one or two small circles can be traced; but the ridges
are very marked, many of them being formed of large boulders rolled
together. These are very plentiful near; there are two peculiar oval
enclosures formed solely by large boulders, the longer diameter of each
being nine yards. Another village may be seen in a field near Gilts;
though very irregular, yet it affords traces of eight or ten of the
small circles.
How Arcles, a little above Wood Foot affords a large circle, but only
one or two of the small ones; these may have been obliterated by
the plough. Bellmouth, probably a corruption of Bermont, is another
between Reagill and Sleagill; part of this is quarried away, and about
twenty years ago a human skeleton was found behind one of the outer
earthworks. Another on Wickerslack Moor has only one small circle
attached to a larger one, and enclosed by a large irregular square.
The new road cuts through it, and the plough will soon obliterate
all trace of it, as it doubtless has done of many others in the now
cultivated parts of the country. At Harberwain is another though in
a great measure obliterated, yet still exhibits a few squares, &c.;
connected with it is a rampart of earth; this seems to have been for
some extraordinary defence.
Other entrenchments are still to be found more or less obliterated by
the advance of agriculture; some of a strategic character which will be
afterwards noticed, and others again that will forever puzzle enquiry
for what purpose they were raised and by what people.
To the most ancient inhabitants many authors ascribe the origin of the
various stone circles to be found in different parts of the country.
There are two remarkable ones in this district, one in Gunnerskeld
bottom, and another near Odindale Head. The former is situated on a
level area elevated a little above the bed of the stream. It is a
circle of large granite boulders eighteen in number, some of which are
still standing upright seven feet high, while many have fallen one way
or the other. The circle is thirty-eight yards in diameter; and within
it is another formed by thirty-one stones much smaller in size and
eighteen yards in diameter; within this has been apparently a mound,
most of which is removed for the sake of the stones and the earth has
been thrown into a heap outside; there are still some large stones left
and three in the centre are situated as though they may have formed
part of a cromlech. There is no record of anything having been found,
and the word Gunnerskeld is of too modern a character to throw any
light on the matter.
The one near Odindale Head is similar, at first sight inspires a truly
Ossianic feeling. It is situated on a hill of "dark brown heath," it
is formed of an outer circle of thirty stones not so large as those at
Gunnerskeld, twenty-five yards in diameter, within which is another
circle of twenty-one stones closely packed to each other seven yards
in diameter; within this are a number of other stones irregularly laid,
similar to Gunnerskeld. It was opened in presence of Rev. J. Simpson,
but nothing was found excepting a small portion of black carbonaceous
matter. A peculiar feature is that there is an upright stone placed
outside the inner and within the outer circle on the south-east side.
On the north side about seven yards distant is the remains of another
circle, fourteen yards in diameter, having another within of four
yards, but many of the stones have been removed.
Respecting the origin of these circles authors differ considerably,
some considering them to be the temples of the Druids, within whose
mystic bounds sacrificial rites were performed; while others attribute
them to a later people, the Pagan Saxons, Angles or Danes.
Odindale, like Gunnerskeld, is a name significant of the latter people.
Odin was the one great god of the Gothic nations, from whom they all
claimed descent, and to whom, of course, their greatest honours were
paid.
There are also other circles much smaller in size and each on elevated
ground, one near Threaplands is formed of seven granite boulders, and
is five yards in diameter; some of the stones are six feet in length.
Another on Harbyrn Rigg is six yards in diameter and formed of eight
stones and another outside. On Wicker Street is another formed by
eleven stones five yards in diameter, and near to it is a small one of
four stones, three yards in diameter. Another on Harkeld is formed by
ten stones, and is six yards in diameter; in digging in this one, a few
inches deep was found a stratum of charred bones. The one on Harbyrn
Rigg has three stones in the centre, but no trace of ashes: some of the
stones are six or seven feet long, and have all originally been placed
upright. These we may also attribute to the ancient Britons, probably
the monuments erected around the funeral pile of important personages
whose names and fame they have failed to record, but yet, in the words
of the poet, "have spoken to other years."
The Druids in their temples had generally a spring or stream of water
near. This is the case with the one at Gunnerskeld, but not so with the
other, unless we can associate Anna's Keld with it; which is, however,
half a mile distant. This well is mentioned by Camden, who says that
like Euripus of old it ebbs and flows with the tide.[3] However it may
have been then, it is not the case now; but devoid of this interest
its position is one of dreary grandeur, being situated in the midst of
the dark brown heath. To what people we may attribute the saintly name
of Anna is doubtful, but it has at some time been an important spot,
from the fact that it is the source of Crook Syke, whose waters have
run through the gigantic temple at Shap, now known as Carl Lofts; a
temple like Avebury in the south dedicated to the dread worship of the
serpent.[4] It is now almost destroyed, but it is considered to have
been one of the most important monuments of antiquity in the north of
England.
As Mr. Bland arouses our curiosity as to the origin of remains of
this kind, it may interest readers to have a short account of the
various opinions which have been expressed on the subject. These have
been based mainly upon researches in Wiltshire, more particularly at
Stonehenge and Avebury; and if these relics prove their founders to
have possessed much knowledge and ingenuity, it can hardly have been
more marvellous than that embodied in some of the theories formed
about them.
The first scientific report on Stonehenge was made by Inigo Jones,
at the wish of James I.; he thought it was a temple erected by the
Romans, after the Tuscan order. Charleton, physician to Charles II.,
held that it was a monument of the Danish period. Aubrey, about the
same time, attributed it to the Druids. Next came Stukeley's famous
theory. Stukeley, a man of great learning, had read of the Druids,
and had seen the circles; then he found a grotesque story in Pliny
about an egg, miraculously produced from the saliva of serpents, and
regarded as a charm by the Druids. So, he reasoned, the Druids made
the circles for serpent worship; and, according to his argument, the
complete temple consisted of a diagram of a snake, miles long, done in
boulders, the circles being the reptile's coils! To demonstrate this,
Stukeley made a plan of the Avebury remains. The result was not very
convincing; essential parts of the creature's anatomy were wanting;
and a snake is nothing if not continuous. But he sketched in these
missing parts out of his own head, and the thing was done. Somewhat
similar results were got from a hurried survey of Shap, about 1725.
Such is the groundwork of the popular belief in "Druids' Circles,"
and yet, at the time, it was received almost as a revelation. John
Wood, of Bath, about 1747, introduced the idea that the numbers of
the stones corresponded to certain astronomical cycles or periods of
time. Rev. Edward Duke, writing in 1846, saw in the Wiltshire remains
a vast plan of the solar system as known to the ancients; the small
circles at Avebury were the sun and moon at the summer solstice;
the avenue of stones on either side was the northern portion of the
ecliptic; Silbury Hill, a mile south, the Earth. Four miles north of
Silbury, Winterbourne Basset circle stood for the planet Venus; south
of it were Mercury; Mars; Jupiter, represented by Casterly Camp,
nine miles from Silbury; and Saturn by Stonehenge, sixteen miles
off. The vastness of the scheme will be appreciated by saying that
an equivalent of this in Westmorland would place Saturn at Tebay,
Jupiter at Shap, and the Earth at Eamont Bridge; or, following the
railway, the viaduct crossing the Eamont. Mr. Duke notices that all
the points are in almost exact line due north and south; and that
Stonehenge points directly towards the sunrise at the summer solstice.
About twenty years later, a good deal was made of practically the
same fact, that from the so-called Altar Stone within Stonehenge, the
sun on Midsummer Day appears to rise immediately over a distant stone
called the Friar's Heel; hence it is argued that Stonehenge was an
observatory. This is the modern popular theory, possibly because of
its simplicity. Fergusson, about 1870, published a most interesting
argument that these circles were set up after the Romans left; his
conclusion is not generally accepted, though his views are treated
with respect. Those who think that archæology must be dull, should
read his racy satire at the expense of poor Stukeley. One of his
suggestions is that Long Meg, or perhaps the Grey Yauds circle, may
be a memorial of King Arthur's battle in the Caledonian Forest. The
best opinion is that of Mr. W. C. Lukis, who thinks that the object,
in the first instance, was that of burial-places; that they were
formed before the Roman invasion; while Mr. Arthur Evans assigned to
Stonehenge an approximate date of 450 B.C.
[3] The exact wording is:--"Near the head of which (the Lowther) is
a well which, like Euripus, ebbs and flows several times in a day,"
a much less remarkable thing. Apparently Mr. Bland's informant has
misquoted in conversation. The second edition of Camden's _Britannia_
(1723) comments that this phenomenon is not infrequent in rocky
country, and not usually lasting; and that there was then no ebbing
fountain to be heard of near Shap.
[4] This idea is that of Stukeley; it had, at the time, a very large
following, but is now rejected.