“On Salisbury Plain stand the ruins of the weird Circle of Revolution,
Cor y Coeth in Welsh, the Circle of Dominion, the holy anointed stones of
Ambresbiri (_ambree_, anointed; _biri_, Hebrew for holy ones), at once a
sanctuary and a sundial (3000 years ago the only clock in Britain),
regulated by the sun and moon for days and years. But the beautiful old
British names since the sixth century have been blotted out by the
terrible title _Stonehenge_ or stone gallows—Stanhengen in Anglo-Saxon.
A permanent gallows of stone was used by the Saxons for the execution of
criminals, and wishing to aim a death-blow at British power, no surer way
was found by the invaders than by hanging British leaders upon the
consecrated stones of their revered temple. The road from the village of
Amesbury to the Circle is still called Gallow’s Hill.”
_From Mrs. Gordon’s Pamphlet_.