Sermons in stones
And good in every thing.--SHAKSPEARE.
What means the mysterious circle of stocks and stones on the other
side? Such will be the question of many a lover of fun, novel,
fiction, and romance; and though we cannot settle their origin with
the quickness or the humour of Munden's _Cockletop_, we will try to
let our inquirer into the secret with the smallest show of mysticism
possible.
Our engraving represents the Temple of Abury, the most extensive of
all the ruins in Wiltshire, attributed to the Druids. Such was its
original state, before the Vandalism of modern times destroyed and
levelled much of its monumental grandeur. It consisted of a grand
circle, containing two minor circles. The outer circle contained
upwards of 28 acres, and was surrounded by a ditch. There was a circle
within each of the two circles, contained within the circumvallation;
and according to Dr. Stukely, the antiquarian, the original was thus
composed:--
Outward circle, within the vallum 100 stones
Northern Temple, outward circle 30 --
Ditto, inward circle 12 --
Cove, or cell 3 --
Southern Temple, outward circle 30 --
Ditto, inward circle 12 --
Central Obelisk 1 --
Ring Stone 1 --
The Temple occupied a spot to which there is a gradual and
imperceptible ascent on all sides, and was approached by two avenues
of two hundred stones each. Its general form was that of a snake, in
by gone ages, the symbol of eternity and omniscience. "To make the
form still more elegant and picture-like, the head of the snake is
carried up the southern promontory of _Hack_pen Hill--and the very
name of the hill is derived from this circumstance."[1]
[1] Dr. Stukely, who says, that _acan_ in the Chaldee signifies
a serpent, and _hac_ is no other than a snake. In Yorkshire
they still call snakes _hags_; and in the British language
_pen_ denotes a head.
The whole figure thus represented the circle, snake, and wings. By
this the founders meant to picture out the nature of the Divinity;
the circle meant the supreme fountain of all being, the Father; the
serpent, that divine emanation from him, which was called the Son; the
wings imported that other divine emanation from them, which was called
the Spirit, the _Anima Mundi_. That the Temple was of a _religious_,
and not of a warlike nature, is proved by its ditch being withinside
the agger of earth, contrary to the mode adopted in works of defence.
Of the devastation and decay of Abury, the following data will afford
some idea:
The grand total of stones, included in the temples and avenues, was
650; in the original temples, 188.
In Aubrey's time, A.D. 1663 73 stones
In Dr. Stukeley's time, A.D. 1722 29 --
In 1815 17 --
Of very late years, says Sir Richard Colt Hoare, I do not imagine the
dilapidations of the temple have been very great.
It should, however, be mentioned, that the tracing of the _snake form_
is due to Dr. Stukeley; for his predecessor Aubrey mentions the avenue
as "a solemn walk leading to a monument upon the top of the hill,
without any allusion to the supposed design or its connexion with the
Grand Temple at Abury."
It is a matter of greater speculation than we can here enter into,
as to the _date and founders of Abury_; and their history is as
dislocated as are the masses of its ruins. Antiquarians agree on the
purpose for which it was founded, viz. for the performance of the
religious ceremonies of the Druids. Sir R. Colt Hoare illustrates this
point by supposing the flat ledge projecting from the vallum, to have
been intended for the accommodation of sitting, to the spectators who
resorted hither to the public festivals; and adds he, what a grand and
imposing spectacle must so extensive and elevated an amphitheatre
have presented, the vallum and its declivities lined with spectators,
whilst the hallowed area was preserved for the officiating Druids, and
perhaps the higher order of the people!
Gentle Reader! be ye lordling or lowlier born, once more _turn back to
the engraving_. We have a subject of yesterday rife and ready for you,
on the next page; but _turn to the engraving_. Look again at those
circles, and the fantastic forms that compose them, and think of the
infatuated thousands that were wont to assemble round them, and of the
idolized sons of power that once stood within their hallowed area.
Think of those days of sacrifice and superstition--those orgies of
ignorance and barbarism--and contrast them with the happy, happy
age of religious liberty in which it is your boast and blessing to
live--and then you may read "sermons in stones," to the masterminds of
your own time. To us, the stones of Abury are part of the poetry of
savage life, and of more interest than all the plaster toys of these
days. But they may not be so with you and "FINIS." We were once
compensated for missing Fonthill and its finery, by witnessing
day-break from Salisbury Plain, and associating its glories with the
time-worn relics of STONEHENGE!
The _engraving_ and data are from Mr. Higgins's Celtic Druids, for
the loan of which and a portion of this article, we thank our friend
"JAMES SILVESTER," whose valuable note on "_Circular Temples_" must
stand over for our next.
* * * * *
We had penciled for our Supplement the following beautiful lines from
Mr. Watts's "Literary Souvenir," but they will be more in place here.
_Silbury_ is an immense mound adjoining the road to Devizes, and
opposite Abury; Sir R.C. Hoare thinks it part of Abury; but H. and
many others think it the sepulchre of a King or Arch-Druid.