CORRESPONDENCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19171, 25 November 1924, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE

STONEHENGE. (To the Editor). Sir, —About a week ago, an article appeared in the “Chronicle,” written by Sir Wm. Boyd Dawkins, on Stonehenge, in wfcich he claims that this great monument dates back to 1300 B.C. I have also a little book by Mr Frank Stevens, curator of the Salisbury Museum, malting the same claim for remote antiquity. I have recently read an article by the Rev. A. B. Grimaldi on the subject differing from their views, and from the evidence he offers, think Mr Grimaldi is right. Mr Grimaldi says: “Its Ancient British name was Cor Emmrys (Circle of EmXnrys), after Aurelius Ambrosius, wkich is the Latinised name of Emmrys, the last king of the Britons, at the time when Hengist, the king of the Saxons, invaded Britain in A.D. 474, and eventually gained a settlement in the counItry. The Saxons called this great jmanument “Stonehenge,” or “The | Stones of Hengist.” “Ancient British and Saxon writers make constant and full allusions to this gigantic fabric. At least nineteen poems by early British bards allude to the Cor Emmrys.” If these stones had been erected before the Roman Conquest, why is there no mention of Stonehenge in Caesar's commentaries? The first arrival of the Romans under Caesar was in B.C. 55. In course of time, Britain was conquered and colonised, up to the Roman Wall, and roads were made connecting all parts of the country. These roads must have taken quite a long time to make, for they were made of such durability, that they are largely used at the present time. A Roman road passes near Stonehenge, and it must have been impossible, but that some mention of this great monument, should have been made, if it had been in existence at the time. The Roman occupation lasted about 500 years. Wherever the name Chester, or Cester, or Castra appears in English place names, it shows that it was originally a Roman military encampment, for Chester is the Roman name for “camp.” This word does not mean a military encampment under canvas, as the word “camp” would convey to-day, but a permanent military establishment, with barracks, officers quarters, villas and baths, round which, grew up quarters for traders, to supply commercially the requirements of the military. These camps would in the present day be called “garrison towns.” T.he Great West Road from London to Bristol, passes over Salisbury Plain, through Winchester, and on its way goes through Bath. Here the Romans erected over the hot mineral springs, baths such as they were accustomed to use in Rome, with cubicles for dressing and undressing. These baths have been restored, and are still in use for persons suffering from rheumatism, and arc of great curative value. It would not have been possible for the Romans to be 500 years in a country, where they made such roads and encampments, and lived in such a highly civilised manner, without knowing of such an erection as Stonehenge, if it had been there at that time, and if they had known of it some mention of it would have been made in their reports. Large numbers of Romans, lived in it, and wrote about it up to A.D. 474, the time of the Saxon invasion, and yet during the 500 years of their occupation, no mention is made of stonehenge. Would this have been possible if it had existed, and had been built centuries before? Pliny gives a long and full account of the Druidic religion, but makes no mention of Stonehenge. The Romans erected a stone in what is now Cannon Street, London, to mark the spot from which point they made their survey of Britain. This stone is called “The London Stone.” It has been moved a few feet from the spot, where the Romans placed it, for the sake of preserving it. It now stands near the wall of a church in Cannon Street, with a strong wire netting round it to protect it. For the moment I forget the name of the church, but think it is St. Swithins. The Romans erected a stone about 20 feet high, near where Birmingham now stands, which according to their surveyors marked the centre of England. The place is still called “Meriden,” it having lost an “i” in the spelling of its original name of “Meridian.” This will show how thorough was the Roman knowledge of the country. The fabric of Stonehenge which was comparatively entire' in the early part of the last century, has been so much defaced in recent years as to be at first view little more than a confused pile of moss-grown stones. When entire, it consisted of two concentric circles of upright stones, enclosing two ellipses, the whole surrounded by a circular mound of earthwork and a deep fosse. The outer circle consisted of 30 blocks of sandstone fixed upright at intervals of 31 feet, and connected at the top by a continuous series of imposts, 16 feet from the ground. The blocks were all squared and rough hewn, and the horizontal imposts dovetailed to each other, and fitted by mor-tice-holes in their under sides to pivots in the uprights. About nine feet within this circle was the inner circle, composed of 30 unhewn stone pillars, from 5 to 6 feet high. The grandest part of Stonehenge was the ellipse inside the circle, formed of 10 blocks of sandstone, from 16 to 22 feet in height, arranged in pairs, each pair separate, and furnished with an impost, so as to form five trilithons. Within these trilithons was the inner ellipse composed of 19 uprights of the same stone as the inner circle, and of the same size. In the space thus formed was the so-called altar, a large slab of blue marble. Quoting from the British history, Brut y Breninoedd Nys Prydain (Chronicle of the Kings of Britain) says that Emmrys or Ambrosins, the last British king, consulted Merlin, the greatest engineer of the time, as to the best plan for uniting the Britons and restoring the ancient constitution. Merlin advised him to obtain the sacred cor of blue stones from Kildare and erect it at Ambri (Ambresbury. This was accomplished under the superintendence of Merlin and Pendragon (Arthur). In A.D. 474 Hengist invited the British chiefs to a conference to settle their dispute. It ended in a quarrel and British defeat. Subsequently Hengist added the second circle and second ellipse, thus completing the structure. These were made of the local sandstone. This statement is repeated by Geoffrey of Moumouth and Giraldus Canibrensis. The circular form has suggested the idea of a connection with the worship of the sun, especially as, watching the rising of the sun at the summer solstice, and having the altar stono and the separate outside stone in line, the sun rises exactly over the outside stone.

According to the Bardic poems, Stonehenge was used for civil and religious purposes, assemblies, councils, and musical entertainments, etc. Quite close to Stonehenge there are numerous burial mounds or barrows. Excavations of these have found pottery, weapons of stone and bronze, and occasionally ornaments of gold and amber, and dagger heads of flint which show a high standard of workmanship. Of course these barrows are not confined to the neighbourhood of Stonehenge, but are found in many places, not only in the British Isles, but in Europe and South America. Sir Wm. Boyd Dawkins says that a link between Stonehenge of Egypt has been found by the discovery of some Egyptian glass beads in one of these burial mounds. “These beads have been met with in other bronze age burials, as far north as Scotland, and been traced southwards through Gaul to their place of manufacture in Tel-ol-Amarna and other localities in Egypt.” He suggests that they were used for purposes of barter with the natives of Europe, in the days of Akenatou, the king who founded Tel-el-Amarna, and made it the capital of Egypt. The finding of these beads in n tomb near Stonehenge, does not prove that Stonhenge was built in the time of the person, with whom the beads were buried, especially when he says they have been found in tombs as far away as Scotland. It proves, however, that there was a travelling connection between Britain and Egypt, at the time the Israelites came out of Egypt. The clay tablets found some time ago, at Tel-el-Amarna, are letters, written at that time by Governors, in Canaan, asking for help to withstand the invasion of these escaped Israelites. I hope this letter will be found interesting to some of your readers, and will not be thought too long.—l am, etc., ELIZABETH ASHTON.