YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of

LOUIS M. RABINOWITZ

the
KXISTINU UMMAINH
01' THE
ANCIENT BRITONS,
WITHIN A SMAU. DISTRICT I. VINO BETWEEN
LINCOLN AND SLEAFOED,
nnaciunicu and illustrated,
IN A 1, UTTER
TO
Sir HnwAun Ki'ukncii Uudmiik.ad, Bart.,
h y tiiu
REV. (J. OLIVKR, J).D., ,,,, .
INCUMBENT 01' THE COI.l.BlllATK CHURCH, WOI.VKttriAMI'TONl
VICAIt 01' SCOl'WICK i MEMBER 01' Till! ANTIUUARtAN
SOCIETY Ol' SCOTLAND, &0,, 8iO., An,
Nivwli-i' i|«lil antaqiiMn natua sin aoclitartr, Id wit. semper oaso
puonmi.— Cioicuo. LONDON :
li. SPENCER, 1IU, HIGH HOLBORN.
Ul'I'INGHAM i C. W. OLIVER, H1QH-STREET.
MlHWXl.Vl.

THE
EXISTING REMAINS
OF THE
ANCIENT BRITONS,
WITHIN A SMALL DISTRICT LYING BETWEEN
LINCOLN AND SLEAFOED,
DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED,
IN A LETTER TO
Sir Edward Ffrench Bromhead, Bart.,
BY THE
REV. G. OLIVER, D.D.,
. < i
INCUMBENT OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH, WOLVERHAMPTON;
VICAR OF SCOPWICK ; MEMBER OF THE ANTIQUARIAN
SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND, &c, &c, &0.

Nescire quid antequam natus sis accideiit, id est semper esse
puerum.— Cioebo. LONDON :
R. SPENCER, 3U, HIGH HOLBORN.
UPPINGHAM : C. W. OLIVER, HIGH-STREET.
MDCeCXLVI.

A LETTER, &c.

My Dear Sir,
I shall offer no apology for addressing
this letter to you, because your well-known zeal
for antiquarian pursuits, and the encouragement
which you have uniformly afforded to every under
taking which promised to confer a benefit on
the County of Lincoln, are sufficient to assure
me that you will judge favourably of an attempt
to illustrate the existing monuments of a small
portion of the same county, which may justly be
attributed to the ancient Celtic inhabitants thereof.
It may be urged that by confining my enquiry
to such a doubtful portion of County history as
the British antiquities of a very small district,
little benefit will accrue to topographical literature :
because the evidences of British occupancy are
scanty and uncertain, and therefore, the results to
be deduced from them will not only be unimpor
tant but inconclusive.

Such, however, is not the fact. How trifling
soever the contribution may be, it ought not to be
despised on account of its narrow limits ; for it
will form a part of an important whole ; and if
original, will be valuable, not so much in proportion
with its extent, as of the use which is made of the
materials that are placed at the historian's dis
posal. It will be remembered that brevity is the
soul of wit ; although I am free to acknowledge
that the shortest dissertations are sometimes ex
tremely dull.
Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus :
Nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem vult manus et mens,
Poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum ;
Nee semper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus. — Hon.
Again, the study of Celtic antiquities has been
reduced by modern discovery to much greater
certainty than it had attained a century ago, when
Borlase favoured the world with an account of
his astonishing discoveries in Cornwall, and illus
trated them with so much ingenuity and learning.
It is true, that on such an obscure subject some
thing must ever be left to conjecture — partim
auguriis, partim conjectura, as Cicero said of the
Druidical diviners ' — but if the enquiry be con
ducted on a stable foundation, and the analogies
be reasonable and sound, it may be fairly pro
nounced that the conclusions will at least be
probable, if not demonstrably correct.
1 De divin. 1. i. c. 4 1 .

In the following pages I shall endeavour to
avoid all overstrained theories and extravagant
conjectures. The few observations which I may
think necessary to make will be grounded on facts
arising out of personal research ; and by referring
only to what I have myself examined, I may claim
the merit of having brought to light a series of
monuments which had been previously overlooked,
and some of which have already fallen before the
march of agricultural improvement.
No circumstance in the history of mankind is
more striking than the gradual progress of manners
from savage to civilized life. When hunting and
fishing are the methods which men employ for
their subsistence, society consists of but few classes
of individuals ; and these are soon instructed by
necessity to unite for mutual protection and mutual
benefit. Little experience is necessary to suggest
the places which are most favourable for habitation;
and these, rendered commodious by the erection of
huts, acquire an additional value, if the people are
not entirely savages, by being associated with ideas
of domestic enjoyment.
The patriarch, or head of a family having fixed
on a locality for settled habitation; the whole
unoccupied tract in its vicinity was considered as
the general property of his tribe ; and the care of
providing for their wants engrossed his chief
attention. A certain portion of land was marked
out for tillage, and a division of the people was
appointed to that service, whilst the rest were in
a3

arms to protect their property from aggression; and
as they alternately relieved each other, the tribe
became equally expert in war and agriculture. 2
The great difficulty which the leader of such a
rude population would have to contend against,
would be that of apportioning the produce of the
soil in a satisfactory manner. The disputes arising
from vanity, ambition, or other predominant
passions of the mind 3 enhanced by an increasing
population, would at length make it impraticable.
Under these circumstances, some safe and simple
method would be necessary to obviate the incon
venience. And the plan usually adopted in the
infancy of society was migration,4 which will

2 Some say the aborigines of Britain had no houses or
cities, not because they were unacquainted with then-
use, but because they lived in such an unsettled state
that property was insecure ; and also that they might be
at liberty to range abroad at their pleasure, and support
themselves by incursions upon other tribes.
3 Ancient writers say that the Britons were extremely
quarrelsome and pugnacious ; that they took great de
light in fighting ; occasions for which were never wanting,
because the island was peopled with several different
races of men.
4 " The progress of men in discovering and peopling
the various parts of the earth, has been extremely slow.
Several ages elapsed before they removed far from those
mild and fertile regions in which they were originally
placed by their Creator. The occasion of their first
general dispersion is known ; but we are unacquainted
with the course of their migrations, or the time when
they took possession of the different countries which

7
rationally account for the numerous colonies sent
out by ancient nations, and the progressive popu
lation of the whole habitable globe. And whether
the weaker chieftain should quit his native land by
choice, or be expelled by power ; in either case,
he would collect his followers, and set out in search
of new adventures and a new settlement.
The continent of Europe was peopled by the
grandchildren of Japhet, 6 and by the operation
of the above causes, the increasing population,
being pressed to the seacoast, our island was dis
covered in the distance. 6 A wandering tribe
called the Hord Gaeli paid it a casual visit, and
named it the Watergirt Green Plot, according to
the testimony of the Welsh Bards 1 — but having

they now inhabit. Neither history nor tradition furnish
such information concerning those remote events as
enables us to trace, with any certainty, the operations of
the human race in the infancy of society." (Robertson's
America. Book i.)
5 Bochart thinks that two of the sons of Japhet, viz.,
Javan and Tiras settled in Europe. The latter took
possession of the North of Europe, with Mysia and
Thrace ; and the former settled in the West, and peopled
Gaul, Spain, and Italy. (Geog. Sacr. 1. iii. c. 1 .)
6 Some have been of opinion that it was not an island
in these early times, but that it was joined to the Con
tinent of Europe by a narrow isthmus between Dover
and Bologne. Britannia quondam Gallorum pars una fuit.
7 The Welch triads will be my chief guides on this
subject. These compositions, like the proverbs of every
country in the world, were a series of truisms wrapped
up in pithy sentences adapted to oral transmission before

been tempted to take possession of it, they found
it so rich and so beautiful, that they changed its
name to the Honey island. This took place about
a.m. 1910, the exact period when Ninus founded
the kingdom of Assyria, or a little before Abraham
first went into the land of Canaan. 3
This tribe was subsequently dispossessed by a
stronger party under the command of Prydain,
the son of Aedd the Great;9 who, collecting
the inhabitants were acquainted with the art of writing;
and it appears highly probable, that many of the abstruse
secrets of religion ; the sacred lore of druidism ; the
institutional maxims of the bards, were communicated
in this form, as well calculated for being treasured up in
the store-house of the memory ; for we have it on record
that these secrets were contained in 20,000 verses, which
required 20 years' study to understand perfectly. (P.
Mela. 1. 3. c. 2. Ces. 1. b. c. 2.) The public triads how
ever, which were scattered amongst the people did not
exceed 300, according to tradition, (W. Arch. vol. 2.
p. 75.) of which little more than a third part have
descended to our times. (Dav. Dru. p. 30.)
8 " In Cesar's days the Gauls had quite lost sight of
their original ; all of them giving out that they sprung
from Dis ; i. e. from the earth, according to their mean
ing, but Csesar seems to mean Pinto, or the god of
darkness. The inland inhabitants also of Britain called
themselves e terra nati, although the maritime parts,
with greater judgment, acknowledged themselves sprung
from the Gauls. Now both those who asserted that
they were descended from Dis, and those who called
themselves e terra nati, meant the same thin?, acknow
ledging equally that they could not tell how, or when
they came thither." (Borl. Com. p. 1 8.)
9 Prydain formed a body politic and sovereignty m the

together some scattered tribes of the Cymri that
were friendly to his interests, made an inroad upon
the island, subdued the inhabitants, and established
an undisputed sovereignty.10 Its name was once
more changed to Prydain or Britain.
Monuments of these primitive inhabitants of
the soil still remain, in the shape of tumuli or
artificial mounds of earth, which were constructed
on similar principles in every part of the world,11

island of Britain ; and previously there was of justice
only what might be done through kindness of disposition ;
nor any law, but the strongest might oppress. (Welsh
Triad. See Owen's Diet. v. Teyrnez.)
10 The three adjoining islands to Britain were called
Ore, Mon, and Gwyth ; and afterwards the Isle of Ore
was broken so that many islands formed there, (ibid. v.
ymys.) 11 They abounded all over the eastern world, (II. yj.)
and are frequently mentioned in holy writ, (Genesis 35 c.
19, 20 v. Josh. 8 c. 29 v.— 7 c. 24, 25, 26 v. 2 Sam.
18 c. 17 v., &c.) as well as by Homer, (II. 1. ij. v. 604.
Od. 1. xiv. v. 363.) Herodotus, (1. i.) Diodorus, (1.
ij. iv.) Pausanias, (In Phoc. cap. 5.) and Xenophon,
(Cyrop. 1. viii. c. 12.) Quintus Curtius, (1. x. c. 4.)
Virgil, (En. 1. v. 760, 1. xi. v. 207.) and others amongst
the Latins. King (vol. i. p. 279.) informs us from
Strahlenberg (Descr. of Europe and Asia, pp. 325, 330,
364.) and Bell, (Journey to Pekin, vol. i. p. 209.) that
in Tartary are vast numbers of tumuli erected contigu
ously on a spacious plain, which are denominated " The
Sepulchres of the Kings," and were esteemed ancient in
time of Darius, and guarded with the utmost jealousy
by the inhabitants ; so that when Darius demanded of
the retreating Scythians why they fled before him, they

10

in pursuance of an idea transmitted from the
plains of Shinar, and adopted by all the migrating
tribes, as parts of a system used before the dis
persion of mankind.12 Many of the eminences
which exist at this day, though perhaps originally
funereal tumuli,13 were subsequently used by the

answered that it was because, having neither towns nor
cultivated lands they possessed nothing which they were
afraid of losing ; but that they had the Sepulchres of
their fathers, which, if he should discover and attempt
to violate, he would then know whether they could fight
or not.
12 The opinion that these mounds are British has not
been lightly assumed, for King asserts " that the Romans
never raised barrows over the sepulchres or ashes of
their great men, either in Italy or in any other part of the
world : and therefore there can be no proper authority
for supposing them to have done so in this country. In
truth they do not seem to have raised any barrows at all,
except in a very few instances after great battles, &c.
But these sort of battle barrows may easily be dis
tinguished from all others by the immense number of
bones they contain ; and thus they may be either Danish
or Saxon as well as Roman." (Mun. Ant. vol. i. p, 26.)
Again, " the raising of barrows over great men, according
to the ancient primeval usuage in the East, appears to
have been entirely disused by the Romans." (Ib. p. 268.)
And after some further argument Mr. King adds, "we
may therefore deem ourselves well warranted in the con
clusion, that there were no barrows raised, as particular
monuments of their illustrious commanders, by the
Romans any where ; and therefore unquestionably not
in this countrv." (Ib. p. 269.)
13 These are so numerous and of such diversified
character, that they have been classed bv antiquaries

11
Britons for civil and religious purposes.14 Various
kinds of mounds were appropriated to sundry
ceremonies attached to Druidical devotion. The
conical hill was thrown up, where it did not
naturally exist, for worship or judicature ; and the
hill altar and tumulus are alike vestiges of the
proud supremacy of a Druidical priesthood. These
were the sacred places where prayers and vows
were offered up to false gods ; and they were
accordingly constructed with immense labour ;
particularly when they were funereal. Specimens
of each of these may be found in the country
south of Lincoln.
Nor does it form a valid objection to this theory

according their form, Sir R. C. Hoare names twelve
different kinds of barrows. 1 . The Long barrow, sup
posed to be of the highest antiquity. 2. The Bowl
barrow. 3. The Bell barrow. 4 and 5. Two different
kinds of Druid barrows. 6. Pond barrow. 7. Twin
barrow, the place of interment for two friends, connected
with each other by the ties of relationship or amity.
8. The Cone barrow. 9. The Broad barrow. 10 and
11. Two other specimens of the Druid barrow. 12.
Another specimen of the Long barrow.
14 The affection of the people for these places was
cemented by the privilege which they enjoyed of afford
ing sanctuary to the unfortunate or criminal who
had violated the laws. The first of the seven famous
Statutes of Molmutius, preserved by Selden, provides,
" that the temples of the gods shall enjoy such privileges
and immunities, that a malefactor flying to them for
sanctuary, shall not be seized, or by force drawn from
them, till he had obtained a pardon."

¦^H

12

that many of the tumuli are of vast magnitude
and dimensions ; for what is too great to be ac
complished during the excitement arising out of
a veneration that descends into the heart from on
high — a veneration for the sacred deceased15 — a
respect for the beloved memory of departed friends,
whose virtues and excellencies are touchingly
apparent at the moment of their transmission
into the world of spirits ; hallowing the memory
amidst the extremity of woe ; l6 which is only
capable of being subdued and calmed by heaping!
on the deceased the posthumous honours of a
durable mausoleum.17
16 Thus, Abraham purchased the Cave of Macpelah
for 400 shekels of silver, as a burying place for Sarah"
his wife. (Gen. 23 c. 16 v.) And in the cave were
buried Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives.
(Gen. 49 c. 31 v.)
16 An affecting instance of the intensity of this feeling1
is recorded in sacred scripture, as exemplified by Joseph
and his family at the death of the patriarch Jacob, when
they went up into the land of Canaan to deposit his
remains in the sepulchre of his fathers ; " and there
they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation ;'.
and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
And when the inhabitants of the land saw the mourning
in the floor of Atad, they said, this is a grievious mourn
ing to the Egyptians; wherefore the name of it was
called Abel-mizraim." (Gen. 50 c. 10, 11 v.)
17 The tumuli of the Britons are distinguished by their
contents. With a Druid, the sacred ornaments which
decorated his person were interred. A warrior is dis
tinguished by celts, arrow heads of flint, &c. A hunts
man by the horns of deer. Distinguished females had

13
It is well known that our early ancestors pos
sessed little knowledge of the refinements of
architectural science. Their temples were but
rude heaps of unhewn stone, without walls or
roof, that no obstruction might arrest the prayers
in their ascent to the throne of God. Their
dwellings were miserable huts; and temple and
habitation are almost wholly swept away; while

their beads and necklaces of amber and jet placed beside
them in the sacred cist. Thus are all the several tumuli
known at the present day ; and by these unequivocal
marks do the spade and pick-axe of our industrious anti
quaries point out with unerring certainty, the precise
places which have been the residence while living, and
the resting place when no more, of our ancestors, princes,
priests, dignified females, and valiant chieftains ; whose
bodies were usually reduced to ashes, and deposited in
urns of unbaked clay. In the Iliad we find some notices
to the same effect, which bespeak a uniformity of practice
in nations which had no communication with each other ;
from whence it appears that not only the ashes of the
chiefs, but also of the common soldiers were placed in
urns. (II. 1. xxiii.) It was a very ancient custom to deposit
arms in the grave of a soldier. (Ezek. c. 32 v. 27.) The
same custom is mentioned by Virgil. (En. xi.) The
mounds were sometimes erected as memorials of the
noble deceased who were buried elsewhere. (En. iii.)
They were often thrown up from the nearest soil, but it
was accounted more honourable to procure the materials
at a distance. The Egyptians embalmed the bodies of
their dead, and preserved them about their houses in
wooden chests, that they might be enabled, on great
occasions, to use them as honourable decorations in
their principal apartments.

14
the huge, sepulchral mounds of earth18 with which
they honoured departed merit, and dedicated to a
tutelary deity, will never be entirely consigned to
oblivion.19 The all-devouring scythe of Time, in
its resistless progress, mows down indiscriminately
the proudest specimens of human art, the most
massive productions of human industry, but passes
harmlessly over the humble turf of the earth-built
cemetery, which nothing can remove but the re
sistless hand of man. The prodigious castellated
structures at Lincoln, Sleaford, Kyme, Temple
Bruer, and the Monasteries on the Witham, whichj
were only buildings of yesterday compared with
these monuments, exhibit only a mass of ruinous
foundations. Their strength and magnificence
were no barrier against the encroachments of their
mighty enemy; but stone after stone fell before his
slow yet certain attacks, until nothing was left to
tell the tale of their former splendour.
Our forefathers the Britons were not singular in
their estimation of the pious principle, that supe-
18 When the tumulus was raised to the proposed de
gree of elevation, the surface was usually covered with a
stratum of chalk or flints about six inches thick, that it
might be distinguished from the surrounding herbage,
and noted at the most distant point of view as a place of
sacred sepulture.
19 Numbers however have been levelled in this district,
at Rowston, Scopwick, Metheringham .Dunston, Nocton,
and other places ; but sufficient specimens remain to
illustrate the theory which explains the causes of their
original erection.

15
rior honours were due to the illustrious dead; they
did not stand alone amongst the nations of the
earth, in assigning to departed kings and heroes,
what, in their unsophisticated opinion, was equally
a splendid and undecaying tomb, and a conse
crated temple for the rites of Belin or Hee.20 We
must look at the pompous mausoleums of Greece
and Rome ; at the still more magnificent charnel-
houses of Egypt and India, which were erected
during the prevalence of the solar idolatry; and
contemplate the vast sacrifices of time and money
which those refined people incurred in the preser
vation of that mouldering crust which had been
the habitation of an immortal soul, to estimate the
intensity of a feeling which could incite our half-
civilized ancestors to dedicate to their departed
friends a series of gigantic tumuli,21 which an accu-
20 From whom so many towns in Lincolnshire derive
their names, for Belenus was no other than the Sun,
according to Elias Schedius ; who imagines, in his book
De Diis Germanorum, that he found in the name Belenus
the 365 days, of the year, in like manner as the Basi-
lideans formerly found them in those of Abraxas and
Mithras. For this purpose Schedius writes BtjKwos with
an t] that he may perfect that number.
B H A E N O 2
2, 8, 30, 5, 50, 70,200 = 365
(Montf. Ant. vol. ii. p. 267.
21 Many of these tumuli in various parts of England
have been erroneously pronounced Saxon or Danish.
The barrows on Blackheath were once considered to have
been thrown up by the Danes, but subsequent investiga
tions have proved them British. (Hasted. Kent, vol. i.
b2

16

mulation of century upon century has been unable
to obliterate or destroy.22 And while the solid
structures of brass and marble are eaten by the
corroding rust of revolving ages, the simple
mound of earth remains uninjured; its materials
will not consume ; its existence is eternal, unless

p. 14. 27, compared with Dougl. Nenia Britan. p. 56.)
The same may be said of the barrows in the isle of
Sheppy. (Hasted. Kent, vol. ii. p. 646.) Dr. Borlase
(Ant. Cornw. p. 41.) gives an opinion on Saxon and
Danish barrows in Cornwall which King (Mun. Ant.
vol. i. p. 319.) disputes. The same author says in an
other place, "as to the Saxons and Danes, there is not
any one instance, except merely in the case of Hengist
in Yorkshire and Hubba in Devonshire, that has come to
my knowledge, of a satisfactory, traditional record, con
cerning any barrow belonging to the grave of any one of
their kings." (Ibid. vol. i. p. 269.) It is true there are
many tumuli in Denmark and the northern countries of
Europe, but their existence is no proof that ours are the
work of that people; for their construction occupied'
considerable time and labour. Wormins says, that a
monument of this kind in Nanmahall employed the whole
resources of two princes two years in forming a seputS
chral tumulus. The Danes in this country never had
time for such works before' their conversion to Christi
anity ; and afterwards they were buried in the usual
places of Christian interment.
22 The three great labours of the ancient Britons are
represented in a famous Triad, to be, 1. Raising the
stone of Cetti, or constructing the mystical Cromlech. -:
2. Erecting the Emrys, or building the circular temple
with consecrated stones. 3. Heaping the mount of
Gyvranzon, or raising the mound or tumulus in honour
of the dead.

17
removed by the busy operation of human toil, in
stigated by human cupidity or antiquarian research.
It yields to no power but that strongest of all
passions, the love of money; and it is only to those
improvements of the soil, which are the result of
modern theory, and promise a fruitful and speedy
return of interest, that these imperishable monu
ments of funereal respect erected by our patriotic
forefathers, will eventually bend. .
Many of these hills were used for beacons, and
the telegraphic system was carried to considerable
perfection in this district. Intelligence was con
veyed by means of a fire by night and a smoke by
day ; and on urgent occasions by the simple expe
dient of shouting to each other from the summit of
these beacon hills, which were frequently dedi
cated to Teut, whom the Romans called Mercury.
And many of them are called Teut hills to this
day.23 Cesar noticed this practice and has re
corded it in his fifth book of the Gaulish wars.
He tells us that the system was carried to such
perfection, that on urgent occasions, the people
might be raised in twelve hours through a tract of
country 160 miles in extent. And his assertion is
amply borne out by the appearances in the country
23 There is a remarkable hill with this name at Little
Coates, near Grimsby. It consists of a magnificent
mound thrown up on the summit of a lofty eminence,
which commands a very extensive view of the surround
ing country. These Teut hills were called, &c. See
Mon Ant. Gr. p. 68. b 5

18
south of Lincoln ; for a line of beacons extended
along the heath; another occupied the ancient
road from Lincoln to Sleaford by the towns ; and
a third pervaded the high land that skirts the fens
by Walcot, Timberland, &c.,24 which at that period
was flanked with by a deep and impervious wood,
where their sacred and mysterious orgies were
periodically celebrated.
In addition to these beacons, detached tumuli
are distributed through the whole of the district.
At Kyme, on the east side of Cardyke, is a tumu
lus of large dimensions, from which were taken in
1820 some British spear heads ;25 and the prospect
from its summit is very extensive. At AnwickJ
were several ; as also at Aswardby and Asgarby ;2S

24 I have been told by an aged and intelligent war-
rener, whose early life was spent on the heath, that this
range of beacon hills is so conveniently disposed, that he
and his associates frequently used them for the purpose
of amusement ; and by placing a man upon each hill,
they could not only see each other distinctly, but were
able to communicate by telegraphic signs previously
agreed on ; although they were entirely ignorant of the
primitive use or design of these extraordinary elevations.
25 They are now in the possession of Dr. Yerburgh, of
Sleaford. 26 From As or Ms, the British Hesus. One author
says, from Jehovah came JEs or Esus, a God of the Celts,
and As, a God of the Goths. Another says, Esus or
Hesus was a corruption of the Celtic Dhia, a name for
the Supreme Being, and the same with the Hebrew Jah ;
and from the same word the Latin Deus was derived.
And a third asserts that the name Hesus comes from the

19
at Burton, Catley, Kirkby Green, Haydor, Heck-
ington.2? Scredington,28 Silk Willoughby,29 Quar-
rington,30 Walcot, Linwood; and they exist in
some other places, where the appearances are so
remarkable as to merit a particular examination.
On the high ridge of the heath, as I have already
observed, is a series of lofty conical mounds, though
much reduced in altitude by the plough, at the
distance of about half a mile from each other
which retain the name of beacon hills ; all com
posed of a fictitious soil ; and extending along the
Syrian Hizzus or Haziz, signifying strong and powerful
in war ; from which word the Phenicians had their name
of Mars, as out of Iamblicus, Julius the Apostate shows
in his oration of the sun. This was the Triad : Hesus —
Thamis — Belenus, unus tantummodo Deus. (El. Sched.
de Dis Germ. Syn. 2. 26.)
27 This hill was opened in the year 1815, and many
human bones were found in it accompanied by spear
heads. 28 Probably from Caredig, the name of a British chief
tain. One of the hills in this parish is called Cliff hill,
and another Gorse hill. There are also two others with
out any particular designation ; and on an elevated spot
adjoining is a square encampment which contains about
three acres, and commands a most extensive tract of
country. 29 On the north side of Silkby lane in a field called
Butt Lees, are three artificial hills which have not been
opened. 30 Originally Cornicton ; which is derived either from
Cairn, a stony tumulus ; or from the ings or meadows of
which it consisted, lying at the foot (Cam) of the town
of Sleaford.

20
whole line of heath. One of these hills on Blank-
ney heath is a cairn or tumulus of stone ; another
on Scopwick heath is called Butter hill,31 and is
composed of a light sand heaped on a surface of
limestone.32 From this eminence the prospect
would extend over an ancient camp in Blankney
parish, called Castle Banks, to Lincoln, before the
heath was planted. It commands the whole line
of beacons from that city to Sleaford by Methering-i
ham and Blankney ; and through an avenue in the
hills towards the north-east, the wolds between
Spilsby and Louth are distinctly visible. From
another mound on the same heath the view extends;
to Wragby.33 There is a remarkable barrow on

31 Probably it was dedicated to Bud Ner, the British
god of victory ; and Budner hill, in the mouth of the
peasantry might easily be corrupted into Butter hill. It
was a tumulus raised over the bodies' of the slain by the
conquerors, after a hard fought battle; and attended
with funereal games.
32 When this part of the heath was used as a rabbit
warren, and the tenants are now living who used it as
such, this mound of sand was a place where the rabbits
congregated in great quantities, and their burrows per
forated every part of the hill, until at length, in digging
out the young animals for sale, the warreners discovered
a quantity of human bones, which had been deposited in
the centre of the barrow.
33 Tbe old warreners inform me that Panton house, the
seat of C. Tumor, Esq., was clearly discernible with the
naked eye before the view was obstructed by planting.
Near these tumuli were two deep and wide trenches run
ning in a parallel direction due east and west for about a.

21
the heath within the precincts of Temple Bruer
which is composed of clay. This beautiful mound
has been much reduced in its dimensions by the
process of agriculture ; but at this time it measures
270 feet in circumference at the base. It is doubt
less funereal, although it bears the name of Mill
hill, as having subsequently been the site of the
Temple mill ; for by excavations made in the sum
mer of 1832, I found manifest tokens of an exten
sive interment, in calcined wood, straw, and bones
of both men and horses, forming a nucleus in the
centre of the clay, which was brought from Wel-
lingore, a distance of two miles.34
Another of these hills is situated at Rowston or
Rewystown,35 the town of Ceridwen, in a field ad-

quarter of a mile, but without any cross trenches to en
close the intermediate ground. Their use unknown.
34 This heath has been the scene of many a skirmish
between two hostile armies, in times beyond the reach of
history or tradition; for the petty tribes of ancient Britain
were always in open and dangerous feud ; and the tumu
lus before us, contains within its bowels the relics of those
unfortunate combatants who perished in one of these san
guinary conflicts. Jealousy and its attendants, hatred
and mutual animosity, were the besetting sins of the
aborigines of Britain, and their successors, till the intro
duction of laws and civilization, humanized by a mild
and genial religion, by our Saxon forefathers, infused a
better spirit into both lord and vassal, and taught them
to cherish the arts of peace, and the institutions of civil
and social life.
35 In Domesday it retains nearly the original Celtic
orthography, being spelt, Reus-tune.

22
joining the east side of the road to Sleaford ; but
it is almost levelled by the plough.36 On the west
side of the road is a tumulus which recently was
covered with furze. In a valley still further to the
east is another, quite perfect, and of very large
dimensions. It is a long barrow, being 189 feet
in circumference and 8 feet high; length from
north to south 72 feet, and breadth from east to
west 60 feet. The design of this tumulus is rather
equivocal, as from its low situation it could not
possibly be used for a beacon; and I can only sup
pose it to have been the Bedaren of a religious
ceremony used by the druids ; and there appears
sufficient reason for this conjecture, for it is situ
ated beside a large bason, now drained, which has
been an extensive sheet of water f7 and at the foot
of the hill is an inclined plain which extends from
the borders of the lake to the summit of the mound.
Many of the hills of this district contain an abun
dance of burnt bones and wood; but as far as I
have been able to ascertain, no warlike weapons,
except in the instances of Kyme and Heckington.
At Dorington, a village situated on the borders

36 This mound was designated, as many others of the
same kind have been throughout the kingdom, by those
who are unacquainted with their original destination, and
unable to account for their existence on any other prin
ciple -the Mill hill.
37 This water was occupied in the middle ages, accord
ing to tradition, as a vivarium by the Knights of Temple
Bruer.

23
of that vast forest which extended to the western
bank of the Witham, abounding in oaks, which
hence acquired the name of Daron,31 the god of
thunder, whose symbol was a venerable oak tree
with extended branches,40 is a primary mound
which bears the name of Chapel hill; although
from its conical shape and dimensions, the diame
ter of its circular base being only forty feet, and its
original height twelve feet at the least, it is impos
sible to believe that a chapel was ever constructed
on its summit ; and there are weighty reasons for
the conjecture that this was a residence of the
druidical priesthood; and probably here was a
small temple, or circle of stones. Near this hill
grew the venerable oak tree of Daron, having three
principal arms or branches of enormous size,
which had doubtless existed long before the in
troduction of Christianity into this island, and
after braving the storms of many centuries, was
finally taken down in a state of extreme decay, at
the inclosure of the lordship in 1787- The space
between this tree and Chapel hill was devoted by

38 Adam of Bremen says he was the prince of the
power of the air, and sent thunder and lightning, wind
and storms amongst the people of the earth at his plea
sure. The same deity was called Taramis by the Gauls,
and Thor by the Saxons.
39 He had the same character, and was worshipped in
the same manner as Jupiter Bpovraios or Tonans amongst
the Greeks and Romans,
40 See Taliesin. Cerdd Daronwy.

24
the Britons to the celebration of their periodical
games ;41 and it retains the name of the Play Garth
at this day.
Near to this mound, and adjoining the ancient
road from Lincoln to Sleaford, are three other
tumuli of smaller size thrown up in a triangle.
They were also conical, and in the memory of
man were about six feet high, though they are
now much reduced in altitude. Their primitive
intention is uncertain ; and as I have not had an
opportunity of examining their contents, I shall
41 These games were celebrated quarterly, and deter
mined by the course of the sun, and his arrival at the
equinoctial and solstitial points ; which, at the remote
period now under our consideration, corresponded with
the 13th February, 1st May, 19th August, and 1st No
vember. But the time of annual celebration was May
eve, and the ceremonial preparations commenced at mid
night on the 29th of April, and when the initiations were
over on May-eve, fires were kindled on all the cairns and
beacon hills throughout the island, which burned all
night to introduce the sports of May-day, Round these
fires choral dances were performed in honour of the solar
patriarch Hee or Noah, who was at this season delivered
from his confinement in the ark. The festival was phal
lic, in honour of the Sun, the great source of generation,
and consisted in the elevation of phalli, or long poles
decorated with crowns of gold and garlands of flowers,
under which the youth of both sexes performed certain
mysterious revolutions ; for it was customary to adore the
Sun by circular dances. This was the origin of the fes
tivities which were practised in many parts of England,
down to a very recent period, at the same season of the
year.

25
not venture to pronounce an opinion; but they
were certainly connected with the main tumulus,
and formed adjuncts to the system of worship
which was practised there, in reference probably
to the divine triad symbolized by the three grains,
or chief branches of the gigantic oak tree, which I
have already mentioned, and was reputed to be
the secret dwelling of the deity, Robora numinis
instar. But the most extraordinary vestige of British
occupancy of this class which I have to introduce
to your notice, is a conical hill of great diameter,
and more than 20 feet high, which is remembered
by the old people to have existed at Scopwick,42
at the intersection of two ancient roads. This
tumulus has however already been described in
the History of the Religious Houses on the River
Witham, p. 162, and more fully in the Scopwick-
iana, and therefore it will be unnecessary to enlarge
upon it here.
A British barrow existed very recently at Me-
theringham, adjoining the old road. It was a
beautiful specimen of the long barrow, and lay
due east and west; measuring 150 feet long, 60 feet
broad at the base, and 8 feet high. About half a

42 Wick, says Sir Walter Scott, meant an open bay or
sheet of water. The valley of Scopwick was, in early
times, entirely covered, and formed a broad river. The
head of the stream is just above the village, whence the
name — Scaup-wick. c

26
mile further north on the same road, was another
mound, which tradition denominated Beacon hill,
although it has been levelled more than seventy
years ; but in a more recent excavation for stone,,
the workmen found on this spot some human
bones, and a solitary spear head or Celt. These,
beacons were placed on the brow of the highest,
range of hills along the whole line of road.
So numerous were the British tumuli in the
small district before us. They form a striking,
evidence of the occupancy of that singular people;
and their identity is confirmed by the existence of
a monument which cannot possibly be attributed!
to any other race of men. I allude to the stone
idol at Anwick, alluded to in the History of Reli
gious houses, p. 172. It is evidently of a very
high antiquity, and perhaps coeval with Stoner
henge, which is perhaps the most ancient monu
ment at present existing in the world, and was
probably erected by the Hord Gaeli, the first set
tlers, in the island of whom we have any acconnt.
It occupies an imposing situation on the sloping
side of a hill, which commands an extensive pros
pect ; and a considerable number of people might
conveniently assemble on the plain to witness the
sacrifices that were periodically offered to the deity
of which it was the visible representative. It retains
its primitive appellation of the " Drake Stone,"
and stands about half a mile from Anwick Church.
In magnitude it measures about 6J feet long hy
4£ broad and 7 feet high, and may perhaps weigh

27
20 tons. The upper part is flat, and the lower
extremity has been so contrived as to present an
artificial aperture through which the human body
might pass in a prostrate position ; and it is of an
oval or egg-like form, because the Egg was an
emblem of divine power ; and the name a corrup
tion of Draig, the Celtic appellation of one of the
chief deities of ancient Britain, who was no other
than the patriarch Noah, who was almost univer
sally worshipped as the regenerator of the world.43
I have been induced to be thus particular, be
cause, although you are doubtless well acquainted
with the existence of this antique stone, it has been
little noticed by tourists and historians, notwith
standing it is one of the most remarkable monu
ments in the county of Lincoln, and can only be
equalled by the famous Hemlock or Cromlech
stone at Bramcote, in Nottinghamshire, which is
of a similar antiquity and form. It was devoted
to celebrations of great importance and solemnity,
that were practised by the druidical44 priesthood
43 Thus Mr. Owen, in his Dictionary, explains it,
Draig, a generative principle, a procreator, a fiery ser
pent, a dragon, the Supreme. In the mythology of the
primitive world, the serpent is universally the symbol of
the sun, under various appellations, but of the same
import as the Draig or Bel amongst the Cymri.
44 The primitive word drud or druid is thought to have
several significations. First it signifies a revenger;
2ndly, cruelty ; 3rdly, valour ; 4thly, estimable, Some
derive it from the Celtic Trewe, which means faith ;
others from Druit, a friend ; and some from the Hebrew
c 2

28
in times far remote and beyond the reach of accre
dited history.
The use of this description of stones is thus
described by Borlase : " These Tolmens rest on
supporters, and do not touch the earth, agreeably
to an established principle of the druids, who
thought everything that was sacred would be pro
faned by touching the ground; and therefore
ordered it so as that these deities should rest upon
the pure rock, and not be defiled by touching the
common earth. Another thing is worthy of our
notice in this kind of monuments, which is, that;
underneath these vast stones there is a hole or
passage between the rocks. What use the ancients|
made of these passages, we can only guess at ; but
we have reason to think that when stones were
ritually consecrated, they attributed great and
miraculous virtues to every part of them, and
imagined that whatever touched, lay down upon,;
was surrounded by, or passed through these stones,
acquired thereby a kind of holiness, and became
more acceptable to the gods."46

Derussim, Drussim, a people of contemplation. Keyslet
tells us that the word Draoi signifies a magician or en
chanter, from whence it is probable the word Druid may
have been derived.
« Borl. Ant. Com. p. 167. A little further on, the
same writer is more explicit : he says " it is not impro
bable but the holed stone served for libations ; to initiate
and dedicate children to the offices of Rock-worship, by
drawing them through this hole ; and also to purify Ihe

29
Now, my dear Sir, there are so many traditions
extant which are connected with the extraordinary
monument before us, that it will, be necessary,
even at the risk of tiring your patience, to consider
them seriatim. In the first place, it is believed by
the neighbouring peasantry that the devil had a
cave under the basement of the stone containing
hidden treasure; which had frequently been sought
for without success, because no one could find the
bottom of the stone ; and hence it was supposed
that the evil spirit himself protected his property
from violation.48 Still adventurers continued to

victim before it was sacrificed ; and considering the many
lucrative juggles of the druids, it is not wholly impro
bable that some miraculous restoration to health might
be promised to the people for themselves and children,
upon proper pecuniary gratifications, provided that at a
certain season of ths moon, and whilst a priest officiated
at one of the stones, with prayers adapted to the occa
sion, they would draw their children through the hole."
46 " All these things are mine," said this impure spirit
to Jesus, " and to whomsoever I will, I give them."
(Luke iv. 6.) A similar legend is related respecting a
search for treasure in the county of Durham. A saint
called Godric had been informed by a fiend where he
might find a hoard of gold hidden in the earth. Having
provided himself with a pick-axe and shovel, the saint
went to work in good earnest on the spot which had been
pointed out. When he had dug to a considerable depth,
he was surprised to see, instead of treasure, several
dwarfish fiends issue from the hole ; and with screams of
laughter they pelted him with fire-balls. The saint de
camped with all expedition, and never more attempted
to search for unconsecrated gold, Many such legends'
c3

30
dig, until the excavated hollow round the base of
the monument became of large dimensions, and
was commonly filled with water, as if the idol
stood in the centre of a lake. Then an attempt
was made to draw it out of its place by a yoke of
oxen, who strained so hard at the task that the
chains snapped asunder, but the stone remained
unmoved. But this process appears to have pro
duced some effect; for the guardian spirit, it is
said, alarmed at the probable success of the expe
dient, took flight in the shape of a Drake, at the
moment when the chains broke. Subsequently
the stone sank into the soft mud and mire at the
bottom of the water, and for a long period of time
the plough passed over it. I succeeded, without
the slightest difficulty in procuring its excavation
in the year 1832.
In all material points I should be inclined to
pronounce, these traditions purely mythological ;
for the Drake stone was but slightly fixed in the
earth, and at the time when these attempts are
said to have been made, the bottom could not have
exceeded a foot and a half from the surface of the
ground. Besides which, no one pretends that any
of these trials occurred within his own memory;
the man I have consulted merely testifies that " he
had it from his fore-elders." That such a tradition
may be found in Wright's Essays on subjects connected
with the hterature, popular superstitions, &c. of England
in the middle ages.

31
should exist -in this enlightened era, so correctly
allied in all its particulars to the original legend of
druidical mythology, is a striking proof of the invin
cible hold which ancient prejudices combined with
legendary lore, have upon the minds of men. It
appears to have been a custom of very ancient ob
servance at Anwick, before the inclosure of the
open fields, for the shepherds to meet at this
mysterious stone, where tales of olden time were
canvassed over, each relating what he had heard
from his immediate predecessors. The boys took
up the story, and when their heads became grey,
they transferred the wondrous narrative to the
next generation upon the spot, standing beside the
very drake stone which was the subject of their
speculations ; and thus the tradition has been con
veyed from father to son for nearly two thousand
years. The subject of this legend refers doubtless to
the observance of a sacred commemoration, which
was periodically celebrated by the druidical priests
as a memorial of the general deluge, and may be
thus explained. In the time of the great god Hee,
who is the same as Noah, mankind were involved
in a universal profligacy of manners. A comnuni-
cation was therefore made from heaven that the
corruptions of the world should be purified by fire
and water ; and that from the bursting of lake
Llion, an overwhelming flood of the latter element
should deluge the earth and destroy its impure
inhabitants. In consequence of this revelation, a

32
vessel was constructed without sails, in which were
preserved a male and female of every species of
animals, and also a man and woman, named Dwy-
vaur and Dwyvach. When these were safely in
closed within the womb of the vessel, a pestilential
wind arose, replete with poisonous ingredients,
which spread devastation and death throughout
the world. Then followed a fiery deluge, which
melted the rocks and split the earth asunder^
After this the lake burst forth, which inundated
the globe, and destroyed the whole creation of men
and animals, except the favoured few who had
sought protection in the sacred vessel. When the
destruction was complete, the Avanc, a symbol of
the floating ark, luas drawn out of the lake by a
yoke of oxen ; Gwydion formed the Rainbow as an
attendant on the sun, and an assurance was given
to the favoured pair by whom the world was to be
re-peopled, that the lake should burst no more.47
To perpetuate the remembrance of this calamity,
a solemn rite was instituted by the druids, the
chief feature of which was, drawing the Avanc48 out

V Strabo, 1. 4. ; Pliny, 1. 8, ep. 20 ; Taliesin Cad
Goddeu ; W. Arch. vol. i. p. 30 ; Casnodin. Ib. p. 431 ;
Triad ; Owen's Diet, v. Llion, and Banawg ; Fab, Mys.
Cab. vol. i. p. 61 ; Dav. Celt. Res. p. 157 ; Bryant, i
Anal. vol. ii. p. 41 7; Borl. Corn. p. 110; Dav. Dru.1
p. 96 et pas ; and vid. my Hist. Bev. p. 1 1.
48 The eastern nations during the performance of their
religious exercises, used the ceremony of drawing the
shrine of their deity with oxen ; which may be the reason

33
of a piece of consecrated water by a yoke of oxen,
called the Ychen Banawg, which were figuratively
said to belong to Hee the mighty.
Now, for the better understanding of this sub
ject, it may be observed that the male and female
deities of British -mythology, Hee and Ceridwen
answered to the Grecian Jupiter and Ceres,49 and
formed part of a divine triad, in conformity with
the general belief of all antiquity ; and one idol
frequently represented both; for the heathen
nations entertained a belief that the deity was of
both sexes.
Jupiter omnipotens Regum Rex ipsa deumque
Progenitur, genetrixqne deum. Deus unus et idem.so
According to the legends of the Bards, one of
why the Philistines sent back the ark of God with the
same animals. (1 Sam. vi. 7.)
49 Mr, Owen in the Cambrian Biography assigns to
Ceridwen the attributes of Venus — I think erroneouslv.
60 Val. Soran. apud Aug. de civ. dei. 1. iv. On this
curious subject the learned Cudworth thus expresses
himself : " Proclus in the Timceus says, Jove is both a
man and an immortal maid. But this is nothing but a
poetic description of appevodrfkos, male and female to
gether ; they signifying thereby emphatically the divine
fecundity, or the generative and creative power of the
deity ; that God was able from himself alone to produce
all things. Thus Damascius the philosopher, writing of
the Orphic theology, expounds it, — the Orphic theology
calls the first principle hermaphrodite, or male and female
together ; thereby denoting that essence that is genera
tive or productive of all things." (Intell. Syst. 1.1. c. 4.)

34
the sacred oxen failed to draw the avanc out of the
lake, which is particularly applicable to the tradi
tions prevalent at Anwick. They recite that "'one
of these oxen overstrained himself in drawing forth
the avanc, so that his eyes started from their
sockets:' Hence the old British proverb — the
Ychen Banawg are unable to draw the avanc out
of the deep waters.31 And here I cannot forbear
noticing the coincidence which exists between the
Anwick tradition of the drake flying out of the stone,
and the legend of the unfortunate ox whose eyes
flew out of their socket. But the drake and the
avanc were alike symbolical of the ark of Noah,
which was ultimately brought safe to land, although
the stone remained immoveable. The broken chain
is referred to in the Bardic writings.12 And Mr.
Owen, in his Welch Dictionary v. Banawg) tells
us, that a strange piece of music was used by the
bards, in imitation of the lowing of oxen and the
clank of chains which accompanied the ceremony
of drawing the avanc out of the lake. The British
name of this division of the island probably origi
nated from the above ceremony : for Coritani or
Coriceni was Cor-ychen, from cor, a circle, and
ychen, oxen ; the province of the oxen.53

51 Dav. Dm. p. 1S9.
32 Llywelyn Moel. ap. Davies, p. 111.
53 The Cor-Iceni plainly indicates that there was some
affinity or connexion between them and their neighbours
the Iceni. Some think they were two divisions of the

35
A abort distance from the Drake stone, in the
low lands, were formerly lakes of water as well as
wood, and undoubtedly a fair proportion of morass.
In this Hil.uaf.ion were several British tumuli which
have very recently been levelled by the plough ;
but one pyramidal hill remains almost entire, which
is, at this distance of time, JO feet high, and 180 in
circumference at the base. At the inclosure of the
lordship, the line of a ditch came in contact with
it, and made a deep, longitudinal division neces
sary, which disclosed a vast quantity of human
bones and cincritious remains, indicating that it
was unquestionably a British cemetery. I could
not learn whether any warlike implements were
taken out, nor what appearances the bones ex
hibited; for common labourers, if they are not
under the eye of an antiquary at such times, make
but imperfect observations on the ground which
they arc employed to excavate. This mound is
known by the name of Bloom hill, a corruption
probably oi Holme; for though Holme amongst the
Saxons signified a watery meadow; yet in the
Dritish mythology it was the insular stall of the

mime nation, and Unit Cor- Iccni meant the lesser Iccni,
from Curr, a dwarf. (Vid. lioxliolin. Lex. Brit. Lat. p. 17.)
Others imagine that both these British tri hen derived their
narrieH from the different, kinds of animals in which their
chief riches consisted, and the tending of which was their
principal employment. These derive the Iceni from
Ychen, oxen, und others from Cor, a sheep. (Carte,
vol. i. p. 10K.)

36
sacred ox :34 and it is evident that this tumulus
was an island on which there are reasons for be
lieving: the avanc was landed.
The Drake stone was a sacred object of adora
tion ; for it has been observed that the druids in
culcated the worship of rough stones ;55 of which,
beins rituallv consecrated and converted into the
supposed habitation of an indwelling deity, some
were called after the name of one particular god,
and some ci another;56 and in connection with the
dracontian worship, the same holy feeling produced
those enormous combinations of gigantic stones that
formed the Temples of Stonehenge and Abury, the
latter of which was decidedly a serpent temple.
Xow by the word Drake or Draig, the tutelary
deity of this stone, was meant a serpent or dragon,;
the type or representative of the supreme god or
his priest ; displayed in the famous banner of the
druids ;5' which was a red Drake or dragon ; and
54 Bardic Poem. Davies, p. o"6.
55 In the superstitions of Germany a curved fossil
found about Geslar is called the Drake stone ; and being
worn about the neck was considered a towerriil antidote
to fascination and enchantment.
56 Bcrl. Cora, p. 117.
57 In this bc-nrer, which is named Gounddelw, "the
figure of the leader of the army is interwoven ; together
with those of Hu, or the sun, and The Red Draig. It ii
described as Brascawd, magnum sublatum ; a huge,
raised standard, the glory of the great field of batde,
which was to accompany the army, flying in the breeze.
There was a flowing streamer attached to it interwoven

37
the dragon of gold was subsequently adopted for
a device on the royal standard of the kingdom of
Mercia. The tradition further states that the person's
name who attempted to remove the Drake stone
by means of oxen was Ilobarts, and that being
ridiculed for his failure, he acquired the name of
Bullock Ilobarts, which he retained till his death.
I am persuaded that this appropriation is also
mythological, and forms a part of the original
legend. The chief priest of II u, or the sun, who
conducted the ceremony, was called Rhwyv-bardd,
which easily slides by change of language into the
more (amihir name of Ilobarts. He had charge of
the sacred oxen,58 and from this circumstance ac
quired the cognomen of the bull or bullock of
flame'1' (Beer Hied) in allusion also to the solar
worship; for the high priest was usually honoured
with the name of the deity he served.00 In another

with the threads of wrath ; and it was regarded as pos
sessing a miraculous power of protection." (Dav. p. 583.)
88 'I he rustic custom of plough -bullocks, which is still
practised in this neighbourhood, may have originated in
the above ceremony, ami was probably instituted in honour
of Ceridwcn, the British Ceres; and Hee himself, or
Noah, the identical Drake or Draig, was a husbandman,
and " held the strong heamed plough." (lolo Goch.)
e" 'IIiub Taliusin, in his character of the Mystagogue
or Rhwyvbard, says : " I am the opening chasm ; I am
the bull of flame." (Buarth Beirdd. 2.)
u" Brvunt. Anal. vol. ii. p. 4G1.
u

38
place we find the Rhwyvbard called Tarw Ellyll,8"
the bull demon; and it is to be observed that in
the British mythology the bull and ox meant the
same thing ; and were equally objects of venera
tion and worship. Hence on the union of the two
superstitions, we find Hu worshipped under the
forms alike of a dragon and a bull ; and sometimes,
as in other countries, under the hieroglyphic of a
serpent with the head of an ox ; and the priest, or
Rhwyvbard was not only called the bull, or bullock,,
but according to the phraseology of the people of
Anwick, also the drake or dragon.
Now, Sir, you will perhaps be inclined to say
that this tale requires some corroboration. It is
freely admitted, and the corroboration is this : the
oldest man I could find assured me, that he re
membered his grandfather saying, that his grand
father had told him that, when he was boy, he had
heard his fore-elders say the same thing. This
will carry us back two hundred years, and the
story appears to have been in the same uncer
tainty as to time then, as it is now ; and therefore.
the fair presumption is that it had been handed
down from the earliest times of the druidical
supremacy. But we have still further proofs.
Underneath the Drake stone is said traditionally:;
to be situated, the devil's cave. Now Draig or
Drwg, amongst the Britons, was synonymous with
61 "Welch Arch. vol. i. p. 16, 17.

39
the devil ; and Ceridwen was called Mam y drwg,
the devil's dam ;62 and it is a remarkable fact, that
many of the most sacred places of druidical cele
bration in this island have retained the same ex
traordinary designation. On this curious subject
the learned Faber thus expresses himself: " Upon
the propagation of Christianity in the British isles,
a variety of wild legends were built upon certain
mutilated traditions respecting the use of the
Mithratic caverns, or holy places of celebration.
These were generally esteemed oracular : whence
in succeeding ages they were sometimes metamor
phosed into the purgatories of imaginary saints ;
sometimes into the dens of magicians or fairies ;
and sometimes, into the strong holds of Satan
himself."63 Mr. Aubrey thinks that the origin of

62 Baxter Glos. Brit. v. Andrasta.
63 Fab. Mys. Cab. vol. ii p. 45 1 . The stones which
formed the pastos or adytum in the famous at Abury, are
called by the country people, the devil's quoits. The
same name is given to three upright stones near Kennet
in Oxfordshire, which Dr. Plot pronounces to be British
deities. In the peak of Derbyshire is a cavern to which
this name is attached ; and the three gigantic stones in
the neigbourhood of Boroughbridge are denommated the
devil's arrows ; some druidical stones at Clatford bottom,
in Wiltshire, are named the devil's den ; and, not to be
tedious in multiplying authorities, there is an eddy near
a British encampment at Niddisdale in Scotland, which
is termed, hell cawdron ; near Darlington is a place called
hell kettles ; and in our own district there is a place near
Swarby, which, from time immemorial has been denomi
nated hell hole.
b2

40
this curious appellation proceeded from the bar
barism and ignorance which succeeded the declen
sion of the Roman empire ; for the Britons being
called away to assist their conquerors in repelling
the incursions of hostile invasion, their own land
became exposed to the attacks of hardy adven
turers. The more learned inhabitants flying for
safety into other countries, took with them their
books and records ; and hence the very names of
many public monuments were lost. The ignorant
conquerors ascribed the most stupendous works
to the agency of the devil; and hence this appella
tion so frequently attached to the most sacred relics
of antiquity. After all it might proceed from
quite a different cause. The chief druidical tem
ples were termed Dracontia, which was a name
given by all nations to the first temples dedicated
to divine worship. Now draig, draco, whence dra
contia is derived, is the Scripture name for the evil
spirit. Therefore, as language fluctuated, this
name would very naturally merge into its English
signification; and dracontia would become the
devil's temple.
Our wonder that the above series of traditions
is extant at this day, will be much allayed when
we consider that only 400 years ago, more than
one bard assures us that the old British system ol
idolatry addressed to Hee was, even then in active
operation in the principality;64 and we are solemnly

64 He is represented as receiving adoration in the loft}

41
informed by Dr. Jamieson,65 that the impressions
of the druidical system still retain great influence
over the minds of the natives in the northern parts
of Scotland.
I have now, my dear Sir, to call your attention to
a tale of sorcery and witchcraft, which is intimately
connected with the subject under our considera
tion. There exists a remarkable beacon hill at
Parham dam, in the parish of Rauceby, which was
attached to a place of celebration on the heath at
Cranwell (Crane-well) dedicated to Ceridwen ; for
the Crane66 (Garanhir), in the British mythology,
was a title of the chief druid who represented that
goddess in the mysteries. There is a tradition
that a furious and diabolical witch had a residence
in a cave near this hill.67 This unholy being
 brevibus implicata viperis
Crines et incomtum caput,
Jubet sepulcris caprificos erutas,
Jubet cupressus funebres,

character of " the Lord of mystery — the greatest —
greater than the worlds ;" and the people are cautioned
" to beware how they offer any indignity to him, the
Great and Bountiful." The sacred oxen are celebrated
by a bard of the same period.
65 Hist. Account of the Culdees. p. 29.
66 Davies informs us (Myth. Dru. p. 245.) from Bryant,
(Anal. vol. i. p, 47.) that Geranos, the Greek name of
this bird, was a title of the sun ; and the priest of Cybele,
the same character as our Ceridwen, was styled Camas.
67 I should not be much surprised if, in the appropria
tion of mythologv to the legends of romance, which took
n 5

42
Et tmcfa torpis ova rang; sanguine,
Hnmamqne noctums striais,
Herbasqne, qoas lolcos, atque Iberia
Mittil venenornm ferax. Hoe.
As might have been expected, this malevolent
creature was a terror to the neighbourhood ; for
the legend has reference to a period long antece
dent to the time when witches appear to have
confined their attention to simple mischief, and
holding nocturnal conventicles with the devil ; at
which if they have done " the most execrable mis-
chiefe, and can brag of it, they make most merry
with the devill ; but if they have been indiligent,
and have done but petty services in comparison,
they are jeered and derided by the devill and aU
the rest of the company. And such as are absent
and have no care to be assoygned, are amerced
in this penaltv, so to be beaten on the palms
of the feete, to be whipt with, iron rods, to
be pincht and suckt by their familiars, till their
heart blood come, till they repent them of their
sloth, and promise more attendance and diligence
for the future."
The witch of Lincoln heath is said to have
inflicted summary punishment on those who ap
proached the precincts of her sanctuary: from
which such horrible noises sometimes issued, that

place in the age of chivalry, the witch of the heath he
not a personification, of Ceridwen herself.

no one ventured to pass by alter sunset, lest he
should be torn in pieces.
Now, my dear Sir, as Taliesin styles the principal
female of Britain, Ceridwen wrach, " the witch or
fury Ceridwen ;" and as she was accounted the
goddess of death, I should take the entrance into
her cave to be " the dreadful passage of penance
and suffering," mentioned by the ancient myco
logists ; or in other words, a place of initiation into
the mysteries of Mritain, which were dedicated to
this divinity. The noises were probably the din
and confusion incident to the mystical ceremonies,
which, it will be remembered, were always cele
brated in a cave;'iH and these appalling sounds,
which made the hollow cavern echo with loud
reverberations, were used partly for the purpose of
intimidating the candidate, and partly with the
design of inspiring the people with terror, that
they might be deterred from prying into the secrets
of their nocturnal orgies.
It is further said that our witch was very cun
ning in the capture of young children, which she
carried to her cave and devoured. There is a
striking coincidence with this tradition in the fact,

0h During this process the most dismal howlings, shrieks
and lamentations, are said to have heen heard ; for the
death of their great; progenitor the Draig or Drake,
typilied by his confinement in the ark, was commemo
rated with every external mark of sorrow. This was suc
ceeded by the harking of dogs, the hlowing of horns, and
the voices of men uttering discordant cries.

44
that during the celebration of the mysteries, the
novices were denominated children ; and one prin
cipal ceremony consisted in their being devoured by
Ceridwen, for the purpose of reproduction ; and
born again.69
But the chief performance which is recorded of
the witch of the heath, is the terrible conflict that
terminated in her death, at a place, which, from
that circumstance acquires the name of Biard's
Leap. The legend is as follows : —
A knight of tried courage, during the age of
chivalry, had solemnly undertaken, at some favour
able opportunity, to destroy the hag, who was a
terror to the country. One day, while watering
his cattle at a pond near the Hermen Street, — for
it appears that the knight of those times was too
chary of his horses to entrust them to any manage
ment except his own, — he was seized with a sudden
impulse that the fortunate period was at hand when
he might successfully accomplish this dangerous
undertaking, and though, his horses were all well

69 Hanes Taliesin. c. 3. It is extraordinary how long
the relics of superstition will maintain their hold upon a
people. "We have seen how the Celtic Draig is preserved
at Anwick in the Drake stone, of which the Teutonic fire-
drake or Grendel was a transcript ; and in some parts of
Lincolnshire the latter name is still retained, under the
form of Gringe, which is the local name for a mischievous
bogle or goblin, " Have you seen the Gringe ?" is a
fearful enquiry to a youth of weak nerves or superstitious
temperament.

45
trained to war, it was suggested to his mind that
much might depend on las selection of one parti
cular steed, and therefore he determined to ascer
tain bv divination which of them mi^ht be destined
for this especial service. He took up a large stone
and cast it into the lake, accompanied by a secret
petition to the gods, that the chosen steed might
raise his head from the water, and display symp
toms of impatience for action, by neighing in a
spirited manner. The experiment was successful.
A horse called Biard answered the summons; and
the warrior, armed with his naked sword only.
mounted the chosen animal without hesitation.
Arriving at the mouth of the cave, he called to the
sorceress to come forth, and received an immediate
answer in the following words : —
" I mast suckle my cubs,
I must buckle my shoes,
And then I will give you your supper."
When she made her appearance, the horseman.
without parley, commenced an attack upon her bv
a blow with his sword that struck off her left
breast; but the witch by a sudden bound, evading
a second stroke, fixed her talons so deeply in
Biard's flank, that the animal became restive, and
endeavoured to escape by a series of prodigious
leaps, three of which, at least 60 yards asunder.
are still marked by the impressions of his feet.
The witch died from her wound, and, to prevent
her reappearance, she was buried at the intersec-

46
tion of the cross roads, with a stake through her
body and an immense stone placed over her grave,
which remains to the present day.
In this wild story the legends and ceremonies of
mythology are very confusedly blended ; but still
they all tend to illustrate that one point, the
identity of the witch with Ceridwen, who was
worshipped before the establishment of Christi
anity as a deity, and afterwards hated and feared
as a malignant demon. Of this fact we have un
questionable evidence in the names of places, which
time, and the revolutions of manners, customs and
language, have but slightly changed. And it is
remarkable that wheresoever the druidical myste
ries prevailed to any great extent, there still remain
traditions of witches and enchantment. The ani
mals drinking at the lake were no other than the
mythological horses which are described by Taliesin
in his poem of Canu y Meirch, in connection with
a lake or river ; and after enumerating several, he
mentions the horse Beirdd, which was his own
steed, with that of Arthur and Ceidiaw and several
others equally "able to bear the heroes through
the peril of the fight/'70
The Druids were inordinately addicted to augury
and divination; and amongst many methods of

70 Welch Archaiol. vol. i. p. 43. Can it be credited
that in the 19th century a belief in the evil power of
witches is not wholly extinguished. See the Grannie
111. p. 266 n. y

47
practising it, was this very custom of casting stones
into the water.
In the Mythology of Britain, the cave or pastos
in which the aspirant was placed for meditation,
before he was admitted to participate in the sacred
mysteries, was guarded by the terrible divinity
Buanawr, armed with a naked sword, whose vin
dictive rage was said to make earth, hell, and
heaven itself tremble.71
The witch's answer to the summons refers to a
mythological story related by the bards, in which
Ceridwen, under the degrading form of a sow,
brought forth the cub of a wolf and an eaglet,
which she suckled, and then presented to two chief
tains or princes, who, through their means, attained
to great honour.72 The buckling of her shoes,
was a subsequent addition, for the sake probably
of the jingle.
The witch makes her appearance and a battle
ensues. This is a true picture of what really hap
pened to the candidate during his progress through
the druidical regenerations ; except that in these,
the conflict was begun by Ceridwen or the witch,
who struck the aspirant such a violent blow on
the head, that one of his eyes was said to have
dropped down upon his cheek,73 which was doubt
less the prototype of the witch's left breast being

71 Hist. Init. p. 178.
72 See the whole story in Dav. Dru. p. 426.
73 Hanes Taliesin, chap. 3.

48
struck off. The remaining part of the legend is a
distinct recapitulation of the mysterious ceremonies
of Ceridwen's cauldron, or the secrets of the sacred
cave; for her common symbol was a monstrous
horse, with the head, and sometimes the wings of
a bird ; and under this figure, she is represented
by Taliesin, as catching him in her fangs and cast
ing him into a dark receptacle ;74 and in another
place, she is said, on her neighing steed, to have
leaped over the boundary. P Fable reports that she
had a magical horse called March Malen, upon
which sorcerers were accustomed to ride through
the air ;76 and after the above feat she exclaimed
triumphantly, " from my territory have I driven^
the rueful steed."77 The three leaps form an
other instance of the recurrence of the sacred
numbers.78 The witch at length died and was buried under

74 W. Archaiol. vol.i. p. 19.
7* Ibid. vol. i. p. 65.
76 Baxter, Gloss. Ant, Brit. v. Minerva.
?7 Poem of Gwidnaw. Archaiol. vol. i. p. 165.
78 It may be here observed that odd numbers were ap
propriated to the celestial, and even ones to the infernal
deities ; and in all the occurrences of life the former were ,
accounted lucky. A predilection in favour of odd
numbers still continues, and will probably never be ob
literated. Thus, in domestic concerns, a hen is usually
set on an odd number of eggs. Palladius says the same
thing was done in his time. Supponenda sunt his sem
per ova numero impari. (1. 1 . tit 27. vid. etiam Varro.
1. 3. c. 9.)

49
a large stone.79 The aspirant for the mysteries
also was placed under the stones of the Cromlech
for a specified 'period, during which he was con
sidered dead; and the bard in describing the
initiation of Arthur, says that at his (mystical)
death, " three nights was he placed under the flat
stone of Echemeint."80
The people entertained considerable fears lest
their tormentor should return to life. And their
fears were well founded, for it was the uniform
practice of the Druids, when the aspirant emerged
from the tomb in which he had been immured, to
pronounce him regenerate and born again.
The place where all this \ happened is termed
Biard's Leap, or rather Beirdd Lapp, the cheerful
path of the Bards ; but I think it highly probable
that the designation referred to the whole length
of road which extends from Sleaford to the Hermen
Street, and constituted the line of communication
between the two ancient roads ; and that in some
convenient situation near their junction at this
point, the ceremonies were performed in which

79 In the poem of Hanes Taliesin, which was written
by the prince of the bards more than 1 200 years ago ;
and contains the real traditions which have been garbled
into the legend before us ; instead of dying, the goddess
brings to life one of the persons whom she had previously
devoured. This very curious poem has been translated
by Davies and inserted in his elaborate work on the
Druids, p. 213.
80 W. Archaiol. Triad. 51.

50
Ceridwen or her representative priest bore so con
spicuous a part. This opinion is corroborated by
the tradition of her residence in a cave ; for it was
in the secret cavern of initiation where all these
mystical rites were celebrated; and this avenue
formed the connecting medium with the beacon
hill at Parham dam. Time has converted the
cavern, which undoubtedly existed here at that
remote period, into a simple hollow in the ground ;
and it is only by comparing etymology and
tradition with ancient observances, that we can
be fortunate enough to approximate to the reality of
historic truth. So much for the witch of the heath,
who appears to have been a British female deity ;81
and it is not unworthy of remark that the legend
of Biard's Leap is depicted on several ancient
British coins, which still exist in the cabinet of the
antiquary.82 As the British religion included the practice of
sorcery,83 so the Druids assigned many peculiar
81 This equestrian adventure bears some resemblance
to well known mythological story of Bellerophon and
Pegasus. 82 Vid. Gibs. Camd. Plate of British Coins; and
Davies Treatise on the same subject.
83 The writings of the early Bards abound with in
stances of this practice. They have but recently been
brought forth before the public ; but they constitute an
invaluable species of evidence, and have thrown consider
able light on British manners, customs, and traditions.
Divination was exercised among the Druids, according
to Diodorus Siculus, in a very cruel manner ; for it was

51
advantages to the possession of divining rods and
consecrated amulets,84 which themselves always
wore about their persons, and sold at very high
prices to the princes and chieftains, as preservatives
in times of difficulty and danger. The ovum angui-
num, or serpent's egg,85 was the distinguishing

their custom to immolate a man, thrusting him through
the body above the diaphragm, and to take their pre
sages from his fall, his palpitation, the issuing of the
blood, and the motions of his body, pretending the most
sure experiments for it. (See Montf. Ant. vol. ii.
p. 279.
84 The divine economy with respect to the establishment
and protection of the Jewish nation was so remarkable,
that every great event was contemplated by the heathen
with philosophical accuracy ; but they always fell into the
error of attributing the miracle to the agent or second
cause instead of the First. Hence we find all the idola
trous nations superstitiously addicted to the use of divin
ing rods, from a tradition of the wonders performed in
Egypt, and in the wilderness, by the agency of the mira
culous rods of Moses and Aaron ; and also of gems and
amulets, from a like tradition of the stones in Aaron's
breast plate, within which the Urim and Thummim was
concealed, as a medium of communication between God
and his people.
85 The anguinum or Druids' egg was said to be pro
duced by a knot of serpents, and being propelled into
the air, was caught m the vestment of the priest, and
carried off with great rapidity to avoid the fury of its
parents. This egg, if genuine, was said to float against
the stream. The method of its formation was however
fabulous, or to use the words of Mr. Davies (Myth,
Dru. p. 210.), "was but so much dust thrown into the
eyes of the profane multitude." The Druids were the
b 2

52
mark of a Druid, in addition to the crystal,86 which
was equally worn by all the orders, but the rank
was marked by a difference of colour. Thus the
Druid's crystal was white, the Bard's blue, the
the Eubate's green, and the novices wore glass
beads of various colours, and sometimes the ground
was spotted or striped with a different tint.
In an excavation made at Quarrington, a. d.
1828, all these varieties were found in great abun
dance ; and adjoining to them had been deposited
at a different period, ancient armour, fibulae, sacri
ficial instruments, an urn, and many human bones,
part of which had been consumed by fire, lying in
an artificial stratum of ashes and burnt substances,
carefully placed on a solid bed of gravel, and
covered down about four feet thick with the same
material. The former are all in the possession of
Dr. Yerburgh, of Sleaford; and the British relics
consist of every known species of amulet, the glain
neidhr, the anguinum, curiously charged with
twisted serpents; crystals of all the favourite
colours ;87 the warrior's amulets, one of which is a
serpents, and the eggs were crystals constructed under
their superintendence.
86 This amulet was variously shaped. Sometimes like
a round bead of glass (Owen's Diet. v. Glain) ; at others
like a crescent or glass boat (Kadeir Taliesin. W. Archaiol;
vol. i. p. 37.) ; now it was denommated a glass circle
(Preiddeu Annwn. Dav. Dru. Append. No. hi.) ; and now
a glass house. (Ibid.) In each case it was a powerful
talisman of protection. (Hist. Init. p. 175.)
87 Camden has correctly described these magical ap—

53
rough oblate spheroid, and encircled with a most
elegant double zigzag in blue enamel ;88 and several
glass and amber beads, which were worn by dis
tinguished females. All these are perforated for
the convenience of suspension from the neck or
from any part of the apparel.
The Druids were extravagantly addicted to
augury.89 On high occasions the entrails of sacri-
pendages. " These Gemmae Anguinae are small glass
amulets, commonly as wide as our finger rings, but much
thicker ; of a green colour usually, though some of them
are blue, and others curiously waved with blue, red, and
white." (Gibs. Camd. col. 815.)
88 Thus Taliesin, speaking of a warrior's amulet says,
" Atuyn cant ag amaerwy."
Beautiful is the circle with its enriched border. (W. Ar
chaiol. vol. i. p. 28.)
89 It is not extraordinary that we should find many of
the superstitious methods of augury and divination prac
tised by the Druids still in use amongst the people of
England, while the tradition of the Drake Stone at Anwick
remains so little corrupted by the transmission of twenty-
centuries. Meyrick enumerates some instances of this
amongst the Welch peasantry, and many similar customs
are preserved in Kesteven by the secret conclave of a
farmer's kitchen during the long evenings of December.
" Two pieces of stick of equal lengths are tied together
in the middle, and at one end is fastened an apple, and at
the other a candle. This is then suspended from the
ceiling, and a person jumps up endeavouring to catch the
apple in his mouth. If not extremely dexterous the
apple, from its rotundity, slips from his teeth, and having
received an impetus, turns round, and the candle coming
in its place, burns his face. A person then goes nine
times round the outside of the house, and holding a glove
e 5

54
fices afforded them every information they could
desire. They predicted future events from the
flight of birds ;9° by white horses ;91 by the agita
tion of water, or hydromancy, and by lots.92 The
latter process was the most celebrated, and amongst
the trinkets found at Quarrington, is a cubical
piece which I do not doubt was one of the instru
ments by which this process was performed.93
in his hand exclaims — Here's the glove and where's the
hand ? He then meets the spirit of his sweetheart, who
stretches forth her hand to obey his call, and the face he
sees will certainly be the face of his wife. A girl puts
salt in a thimble, and then places it in her stocking and
lays them under her pillow, repeating certain verses, goes
to sleep, and whoever she dreams of will be her husband.
Ivy leaves are gathered, those pointed are called males,
and those rounded are females; these are thrown into the
fire, and should they jump towards each other, then the
parties who had placed them in the fire, will be beloved
by, and married to their sweethearts ; but should they
jump away from one another, then hatred will be the
portion of the anxious person. Nuts are thrown into the
fire, and should they burn bright, then the party will live,
but if black, death will be the inevitable consequence."
9° Taliesin, Mic. Dinbych. W, Archaiol. vol. i. p. 67.
9' Borl. Ant. Cornw. p. 134.
92 Taliesin, Kadair Teyrn On. W. Archaiol. vol. i.
p. 65. Myrddin, Avallenau. Dav. Dru. p. 465.
93 Sir R. C. Hoare discovered in a tumulus near Stone-
henge, amidst some ashes and burnt bones, four small
bone trinkets somewhat like the above, which he sup
poses, not improbably, were used for casting lots. They
were oblong, three-quarters of an inch one way by half
an inch the other, and about one-eighth of an inch in
thickness. One side was flat and the other convex, and

55
From the above facts it does not appear that this
latter was a place of British interment, for here was
no tumulus ; and a funeral deposit would not have
consisted of such an indiscriminate mixture of per
sonal amulets, ladies' trinkets, and other peculiar
appendages to the Druidical system ; it rather in
dicates that at the dissolution of the order, when
persecution forced the Druids and their supporters
to seek for safety in the wilds of Caledonia, they
buried these tokens in the earth (for it would have
been dangerous to travel with such unequivocal
badges concealed about the person, as an exposure
would have subjected them to certain destruction),
bv Roman sacrifice and cremation.
In other parts of the district British antiquities
have been found. " Among some corpses," says
Gough, " dug up on Lincoln heath, near Blank
ney,94 were found several cast-brass rings, flatfish,
which some suppose to be the old British money
mentioned by Cesar.95 And at Linwood in the
same parish, a golden torques96 was found, which
they were each adorned with a separate and distinguish
ing device. This great antiquary ranks them amongst
the most valuable curiosities which he discovered in all
his extended and laborious researches ; and forming a
step towards the use of language.
94 From Belin-Kyd, the male and female deities of
Britain. 95 Camd. vol. ii. p. 376.
96 The Gauls and Britons, as Strabo writes, wore
chains of gold about their necks ; Bunduica, the British
queen, saith Xiphilin, wore a golden chain with a garment

56
the tenant sold to a Jew for less than its intrinsic
value ; an irreparable loss to the British antiquary.
At Sleaford, near the Tattershall road, was taken
up a stone axe,97 so called, but though perforated
to admit of a handle, it is too small, and the edge
too blunt to have been ever used as a hatchet ; and
was most likely worn as an amulet or ornament,
being composed of a species of marble or inferior
gem, known by the name of Lapis nephriticus
Germanorum,98 clouded with different colours, and
interspersed with small black specks of a metallic
substance. Its surface, though exceedingly smooth,
appears to be incapable of a very bright polish,
from an inherent oiliness which it possesses.99
The inference which may be drawn from the
above series of facts and arguments is undeniable.
This part of Kesteven was the chosen residence of

of many colours. (Gibs. Camd. xvii.) The above torques
was doubtless worn by a British chieftain or prince.
97 This is also in the possession of Dr. Yerburgh. A
similar one was taken up in Wales, at the beginning of
the present century from a Kistvaen, called Castell
Hafod. 98 This is a stone found in several parts of Germany,
and it abounds in South America, which the Indians work
into various forms, as those of little pillars, fish, heads
and beaks of birds, always perforated.
99 Boot, in his book, de Gemmis, gives a description of
this stone, agreeing with the appearance of that of which
this little instrument is composed. Plerumque ex viridi,
albo, caeruleo et nigro colore mixtio est — semperenim
superficies pinguis quari oleo inuncta epet videtur.

a distinct tribe of the aborigines of Britain. It is
true many of the temples, camps, towns, and fast
nesses of this people are obliterated by the steady
operation of the plough ; but I have adduced suf
ficient evidence to prove their occupancy of the
district; and in no part of Lincolnshire that I
have examined, is it better attested than on this
very spot.
Thus, my dear Sir, have I given you a brief de
scription of the monuments of our forefathers, the
occupiers of this soil two thousand years ago. I
may not have been fortunate enough to have
added to your stock of knowledge on this interest
ing subject ; and it is possible that you may have
taken a view of some points in the illustrations
which differs from my own ; but still I hope you
will do me the justice to admit that my conclusions
are not entirely destitute of probability, or assumed
on false or inconsiderate grounds. If I am allowed
even this negative merit, I shall not regret the
labour with which my researches have been at
tended ; and shall consider myself amply remune
rated if the generality of my readers are of opinion
that I have not been uselessly employed.
Believe me to be,
My dear Sir,
Very faithfully Yours,
GEO. OLIVER, D.D,
Scopwick Vicarage,
January 1, 1847.

WORKS ON FREEMASONRY,
&c, &c,
BY THE REV. GEO. OLIVER, D. D.,
Past D.G.M. of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, U.S., late D.P.G.M. for
Lincolnshire, &c, &c.
PUBLISHED BY BROTHER RICHARD SPENCER,
314, High Holborn, London,
AND SOLD BY C. W. OLIVER, UPPINGHAM.
In Demy 12mo., Price Four Shillings,
AN ACCOUNT OF
THE KELIGIOUS HOUSES,
FORMERLY SITUATED ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE
RIVER WITHAM;
BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF CERTAIN PAPERS READ BEFORE
THE LINCOLN TOPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY,
IN THE YEAR 1842.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.
OPINIONS OF THE PUBLIC PRESS.
From the Literary Gazette.
" Situated in one of the richest districts in England, and
early among the localities most enriched by commerce ; the re
mains of these wealthy and powerful Monastic Institutions offer
a fine field to reward the investigations of the archaeologist. Yet
strange to say, Lincolnshire has been as much, or more, neg
lected by antiquaries than any other county in the kingdom ;
and we are the more indebted to Dr. Oliver for directing his
researches into this interesting and prolific quarter  We
proceed to consider a little the author's own valuable exertions,
though contained in a small volume  I am, says the
author, and we rejoice to hear it, preparing an essay on the
monumental remains of the Britons southward of the city of
Lincoln, with some conjectures on the use and references of
the Drake Stone at Anwick, which will be shortly published."
From the Athenaeum.
" This is a pleasant little volume — chiefly devoted to records
of Bardney, Tupholm, and Kirkstead Abbeys, and the Priory of
Cistercian Nuns at Stixwold ; and it forms a welcome contribu
tion towards the history of a neglected, but important county —

Works on Freemasonry, by Dr. Oliver,
Lincolnshire. As far as the antiquary is concerned, indeed,
Lincolnshire will scarcely yield the palm to any other county.
The seat of government of a powerful British tribe, and abound
ing in Celtic remains, — extensively colonized by the Romans,
who also left numerous traces of their occupancy, — the scene,
at a later period, of many a conflict between the Monarchs of
Northumbria and Mercia, and of subsequent contests which
ended in partial colonization by the Danes, — rising in wealth,
population and mercantile importance during the middle ages,
to so high a station, that Boston and Lincoln, in the thirteenth
century, stood second only to London and Southampton ; — there
are few shires that can compete in interest with this. It is not
to the credit of archseologists that, although presenting so many
attractions, so little has been done towards its illustration; and we
trust that the earnest pleadings of Dr. Oliver, and the suggestions
in his preface, will awaken for it a more general attention."
From the Freemason's Quarterly Review.
" Surely our reverend author must have been horn an anti
quarian ; how otherwise could the "recluse of Scopwick find
opportunity for producing such words as the History and Anti
quities of the Town and Minster of Beverley — the same of
Grimsby — and other places; and here he gives us a most valuable
book, being a series of papers read before the Lincoln Topo
graphical Society a few years since, and now collected into one
volume. We find therein a concise history of the origin, design
and downfal of Monachism, which, generally speaking, was
hardly used by the bluff Harry ; not that the Monks were unde
serving of their punishment, but because the punishment was
inflicted with a severity too little tempered with justice. The
statistical and topographical details are ample and descriptive,
and are worthy of this Augustan age of literature. No point
escapes our author's attention — the arrangement of the whole is
perfect. To the native of Lincolnshire the work must have an
impulsive character — to the antiquarian it is deeply interesting."
From the Builder.
" Dr. Oliver, the indefatigable writer on Freemasonry, who has
done much towards the Illustration of Lincolnshire, which at
present needs attention in this respect, has just published an
interesting little volume on the Monastic institutions of the
county." From the Lincoln Standard.
_ " In our Review columns will be found a notice of the late
interesting book of Dr. Oliver ' On the Monasteries East of the
River Witham.' We have taken the liberty of extracting it in
full from that very able critical journal the Athena;um, which
ft"

Published by Bro. R. Spencer.
is looked up to by all as the arbiter on all literary matters : the
article contains so exactly our opinion of the praiseworthy efforts
of the Learned Doctor, and also of the merits of the book, that
anything we could say would be merely a re-echo of the Athe
naeum, and by extracting it we give an opportunity of shewing
our readers that Dr. Oliver is held in high esteem as an Author
and Antiquary by the first of the London Literary Critics. We
trust that his efforts to collect a General History of the Antiquities
of this city and county will find co-operators. We beg to recom
mend the work most cordially to our readers, and refer them to
the preface for an exposition of Dr. Oliver's views on the subject."
From the Nottinghamshire Guardian.
"This volume, which is neither large nor expensive, contains
much valuable information, written in a pleasing and interesting
manner, displaying the most profound learning, and the most
, unwearying research on the part of the Author. Dr. Oliver,
Vicar of Scopwick, was a member of a Topographical Society
that existed some time since in Lincoln, but which is now ex
tinct ; and being induced to turn his attention to the religious
houses that formerly existed in that county, he reduced his
observations to writing, and read them to the Topographical
Society in the shape of a number of Essays. These Essays, with
an elaborate Preface, an extended Appendix, and an amazing
number of learned Notes, form one of the most useful and
interesting works that has been issued for many years."

Just published, in 2 vols. 8vo., price 21., Masonic gilt cloth boards,
with a finePortraitof the Author, abeautiful allegorical Frontis
piece, by Bro. J. Harris, and numerous other Engravings,
Respectfully Dedicated (with permission) to
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ZETLAND, &c. &c.
M.W. Grand Master.
THE HISTORICAL LANDMARKS, AND OTHER
EVIDENCES OF FREEMASONRY,
EXPLAINED ;
In a Series of Practical Lectures, with copious Notes.
Arranged on the system which has been enjoined by the
Grand Lodge of England, as it was settled by the Lodge
of Reconciliation, at the union in 1813.
*#* A limited number printed on large paper, arranging
with the Royal 8vo. edition of " The History of Initiation," and
F

Works on Freemasonry, by Dr. Oliver,
" The Antiquities of Freemasonry," with Proof Impressions of
the Engravings on India Paper, price 31. 6s.
A most splendid Lodge Present.
N.B.— For the convenience of the Brethren, this Work may be
had in 12 Parts, at 3s. each, except Parts 5 and 12, which are
4s. each, the latter containing a fine Portrait of the Author.
This work is kept by the Publisher in a variety of Masonic
Bindings. Demy 8vo., price 6d.
ORNAMENTS, FURNITURE, AND JEWELS;
A SERMON,
Preached at Boston, before the Provincial Grand Lodge
of Lincolnshire, on the 15th September, 1841.
" The subject chosen by the reverend preacher is not new— it
has often in Lodge been adverted to by himself with great effect ;
still, in whatever falls from him, there is, notwithstanding the
repetition of an engrossing subject, a charm of novelty in its re-
clothing. In the present case this is felt, for perhaps, on no
occasion was the attention more closely riveted — the mind more
deeply impressed. His parting words were affecting." — Free
mason's Quarterly Review.

In 12mo., price 7s. 6d. Masonic gilt cloth ; 9s. 6d. half-hound ;
12s. 6d. whole bound blue calf, gilt Masonic tooling,
THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY,
BY BROTHER W. HUTCHINSON, F.S.A.
A New Edition, with copious Notes, Critical and Expla
natory, by the Rev. George Oliver, D.D., Author
of " The History of Initiation," &c.
This new edition is Dedicated to the Grand Lodges of
England, Ireland, Scotland, and to the Craft in general,
and originally sanctioned by Lord Petre, G.M., and the
Grand Lodge in 1766. Opinions of the Press.
" The Freemasons will exclaim lo Triumphe ! on the appear
ance of a new edition of Hutchinson, dressed up and garnished
by our friend Dr. Oliver. It must, indeed, be a source of grati
fication to the Brethren, that such a means of information on the

Published by Bro. R. Spencer.
subject of Masonry has heen placed within their reach. The
book contains illustrations on the chief points of Lodge business.
We find lectures on the nature of the Lodge and its furniture ;
on the apparel and jewels of Masons ; on the Temple of Jeru
salem; on the Master Mason's Order ; on secrecy, charity, and
the occupation of Masons, &c. What can the fraternity want
further ? And yet, lest there should be any point left untouched,
the Editor has prefixed a copious Introductory Dissertation of
the state of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century. This part of
the work contains much information ; and we have heen struck
with some of its chief points. We recommend the perusal of the
work to all who wish to become acquainted with the true prin
ciples of Masonry." — Lincoln Standard.
" We are rejoiced to see Freemasonry become the subject of
scientific inquiry and research. ' The Spirit of Masonry' has
gone through several editions, but the present one is illustrated
with so much new matter in the form of Notes as to invest it
with a new and interesting character ; and the Brethren — even
those who possess any of the former editions — will find so much
valuable information in those appendages, and in the Intro
ductory Dissertation, as may well induce them to become
purchasers of the present edition ; in which, as the Editor truly
says, ' they will discover a mine of information which will enrich
their minds with a knowledge of the great and valuable truths
furnished by the science and philosophy of the Order.' " —
Lincoln Chronicle.
"The pure spirit of Hutchinson would have rejoiced in the
probability that, in a future age, his works should be immor
talized in the annals of Masonry by the powerful pen of its
historian, Dr. Oliver."
" We could almost wish that every Masonic work was out of
print, provided they could, like the one before us, pass through
Dr. Oliver's alembic, and become thereby fresh, as from ' pastures
new.' As a Masonic work, Hutchinson and Oliver, united, are
beyond the reviewer's power — all is thought and bright ima
ginings. Let the aged Mason read and ponder ; let the tyro
drink deep of the precious waters that sparkle with the lustre of
life." — Freemason's Quarterly Review.

In demy8vo. 10s. 6d.,- royal 8vo. 16s., handsomely hound in blue
cloth, and decorated with gilt Masonic Tooling,
a New and Revised Edition of
THE HISTORY OF INITIATION,
IN TWELVE LECTURES ;
Comprising a detailed Account of the Rites and Ceremo-

Works on Freemasonry, by Dr. Oliver,
nies, Doctrines and Discipline, of all the Secret and
Mysterious Institutions of the Ancient World.
Brother R. S. respectfully informs his Brethren the above may
be had in a handsome blue calf binding, with the Masonic Tool
ing full gilt, price 15s. 6d. small, and 24s. large paper ; the latter
forming a splendid Lodge present.
Testimonials of the Pnhlic Press :
" The learned doctor, in the above work, has investigated the
superstitious and idolatrous systems, notions, and observances,
patent and occult, of ancient India, Persia and Greece ; of the
Celts, Goths, and Mexicans ; in the course of which his inquiries
have penetrated into the abstruse contents of many learned works,
seldom explored, we fear, in these degenerate days of superficial
reading, whence he has extracted curious facts to elucidate the
views developed in these Lectures." — Times.
" The author has furnished a key by which the study of this
subject may be successfully prosecuted." — Lincoln Standard.
" We can confidently recommend this interesting book to all
persons who may have a taste for such investigations, assured
that its contents will afford them a treat of no common order."
— Nottingham Journal.
" The work is learned, curious, and ingenious." — Gentleman's
Magazine. " This is a new edition of a previous work that has been
already received with the highest gratification by the Order; it
has undergone much careful revision, and contains valuable and
important additions. The expected revelations of those truths
with which the author has stored his gifted mind have heen fully
realized. As a literary composition the present volume is
polished and elegant ; as a Masonic illustration, it is plain yet
vigorous. We observe, with much admiration, the vast number
of learned authorities which have been consulted, not merely as
proving the great extent of the author's research, but as com
prising the value of a course of study which thereby saves the
Masonic reader a. vast deal of trouble — enables him, with less
difficulty, to comprehend those mysteries which unite morality
to science— deduces the origin of Freemasonry — conducts the
examination through every system of philosophy — explains errors
— and leaves no opportunity for the sceptic or casuist to exercise
his vocation. It is a work good for all men, and a text-book for
Masonic Lodges." — Freemason's Quart. Rev.
" No Masonic Brother should be without this book in his
library."— Lincoln Gazette.

Published by Bro. R. Spencer.
" It is a work of extensive reading and erudite research." —
Staffordshire Examiner.
" The mantle of the learned historian of Freemasonry, Mr
Preston, has fallen aptly upon the shoulders of Dr. Oliver, who
holds a distinguished position among the members of the Craft
in the province of Lincolnshire. But while to those in the secret
of Masonry the present volume is one which possesses a peculiar
charm, its contents are such as cannot fail to interest the general
reader, as the learned author has embodied in its pages the result
of multifarious hut well-digested reading on the general subject
of the mysteries of the nations of old, from the Egyptians and
Chaldeans to the Druids and modern inhabitants of Europe.
There is an easy and graceful style pervading the book, which
gives its contents an additional charm in the perusal." — Globe.
" The Rev. Dr. Oliver is a Freemason of repute, and an enthu
siast in the Crast ; considering pure or primitive Masonry ' was
certainly derived from above.' In his eyes the mysteries of
Egyptian and classical antiquity, together with the religions of
Persia and Hindostan, as well as the mysteries of the Celts, the
Druids, the Goths, and the different American nations, were all
branches of Freemasonry — pure in their fountain, but corrupted
in the streams. The object of his book is to describe the cere
monies of initiation into all these brotherhoods of yore, and to
unfold their philosophy or tenets. In the pursuit of this object
he brings together a vast number of particulars from a vast
number of sources." — Spectator.
" In this volume we have the substance of twelve lectures,
comprising a detailed account of the rites and ceremonies, doc
trines and discipline, of all the secret and mysterious institutions
of the ancient world. The work is got up with evident care,
and the arrangement being in a great measure new, and
proportionably abstruse, ' I have,' observes the author, the Rev.
Dr. Oliver, ' advanced with much caution, and have not ventured
to introduce any single fact without its accompanying authority.'
We may add, that the volume displays, in every page, marks of
extensive research ; that the materials are well digested, and the
language of the lectures uniformly recommended by ease and
perspicuity. Those who take an interest in Freemasonry will
read it with pleasure." — Sun.
" The work before us professes to contain the history of all
these idolatrous Initiations and Mysteries. It would be impos
sible for us to attempt to follow the author through the vast
accumulation of antiquarian evidence which he has collected
together with astonishing talent and industry, but we can recom
mend the perusal of it to the curious inquirer into the subject

Works on Freemasonry, by Dr. Oliver,
upon which it treats. Whether Dr. Oliver has succeeded in
establishing the antiquity and purity of the rites of Masonry, we
cannot undertake to determine, but we cannot avoid being im
pressed with the importance of the fact, that the mysteries of
idolatry bear a striking similarity to each other— that they all
exhibit traces of the belief in the triple godhead— of the creation
and the fall of man— and of the promise of a Mediator, who
should expiate sin by the shedding of His blood."— Sunday Times.
" A learned essay on the Antiquities of Freemasonry, which
the author believes to be immediately descended from the mys
teries of ancient nations." — Athenavum.

Demy 8vo, price Is. 6d.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WITHAM LODGE,
No. 374,
Holden in the City of Lincoln ;
With a description of the Ceremonial used at the levelling
of the Foundation Stone of a New Masonic Hall, and
the Sermon preached on the occasion,
15th April, 1841.
" It would be well for many Lodges if the honourable ex
ample of our Rev. Brother were more generally adopted. It is
by many considered that the transactions of Masonic meetings
will not bear the light ; this most absurd notion is dangerous at
once to the peace and good order of the members, whose general
conduct and their affairs should always be so conducted as to
court the more critical examination of the profane world. In this
case the Minute Boole of the Lodge has been examined, and many
interesting data are given. But the great object of the history
is, to comprise within its limits the founding of a Masonic Hall,
which took place on the 15th April, 1841, under the happiest
auspices, and on which occasion a sermon was preached by the
Rev. Dr. Oliver, D.P.G.M. of the province. The discourse is
replete with the soundest moral truth, and incontrovertibly com
bines the holy beauties of Christianity with Freemasonry 
After the banquet, the several addresses embraced all that moral
eloquence, combined with true social feeling, could possibly
effect. The speech of the Rev. Doctor was especially brilliant ;
and that of Sir E. Lytton Bulwer, Bart., was remarkable for its
eloquence. This ' Brief History' we recommend for general
perusal, and hope to find many similar emanations from the
Craft." — Freemason's Quarterly Review.

Published by Bro. R. Spencer.
Demy 8vo. 9s. cloth ; 15s. 6d. in blue calf binding, with gilt
Masonic Tooling,
SIGNS AND SYMBOLS,
Illustrated and Explained in a course of Twelve Lectures
on Freemasonry ; a New Edition enlarged.
" This book is well written, and merits a place in every gen
tleman's library, whether he be a Brother or not." — Gentleman's
Magazine. " We hope enough has been said to induce every Brother who
would he really a Mason, to purchase the volume ; and we can in
fraternal sincerity assure him that his acquisition will be a jewel
beyond price. To our learned Brother, the Rev. Dr. Oliver, we
unaffectedly offer the homage of grateful and sincere respect for
thelabours he has undertaken — forthe perseverancehehas shown
— for the spirit of intelligence, good will, and true piety, which,
while they shed a lustre around his ' Signs and Symbols,' teach
the heart of the Mason to love, and the soul to praise and to
magnify Him who liveth in the heavens." — Freemason's Quart.
Review.

Demy 12mo. price 4s. hound in cloth,
THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY,
From 1829 to 1841.
A New Edition (15th) of " Preston's Illustrations of
Masonry," (being an exact reprint of the 14th edition,
printed in 1 829, and edited by the Rev. Dr. Oliver) having
appeared last year without any continuation to the His
torical part of that volume, the present Work is now
published to supply that deficiency, and the Publisher
anticipates the design will be peculiarly acceptable to the
Craft, as it embraces a period of more than common
interest ; a period of stirring energy, which has produced
incidents and transactions in every quarter of the globe,
that have placed Freemasonry before the public in a new
and imposing form.
The following is extracted from the learned Doctor' s Preface : —
" In the execution of this little Work, the Author professes a
strict independence of principle, and impartiality of action.
" Historical truth disclaims prejudice and partisanship ; and
whatever opinions the Author may entertain as an individual

Works on Freemasonry, by Bro. R. Spencer,
Mason, he has endeavoured to preserve the strictest neutrality
as an Annalist. How far he may have been successful will de
pend on the opinion of his readers. He has adhered most faith
fully to that law of the Grand Lodge which prohibits the printing
of any private transactions that require to be withheld from the
public eye ; and has inserted no matter but what he has found
in the printed Quarterly Communications of the Grand Lodge,
or other sources equally available for the purposes of discussion
and remark.
" With this avowal, the work is committed to the judgment
of the Craft ; and, it is hoped, will be found not altogether un
interesting, as a detail of Masonry in its most palmy and pros
perous state."
*%* As the above History forms a Continuation of the
loth Edition of PRESTON'S ILLUSTRATIONS OF
MASONRY, edited by Dr. Oliver, they may be had
bound together, price 13s. in cloth; 1 6s. half- calf gilt ;
or 18s. in handsome blue calf binding, with gilt Masonic
Tooling. Testimonials of the Public Press.
" A narrative of the most important matters connected with the Craft,
from the year 1829 to the present day."— Athen^um.
" This is a work from the pen of the learned author of ' The History of
Initiation,' and other able productions connected with Masonry. It con
tains much interesting information connected with the proceedings of the
Brethren all over the world, having especial reference to the progress of
Masonic Institutions in this country. The work will be very acceptable to
every member of this ancient body." — Bristol Standard.
" A work highly interesting, containing accurate information of all the
remarkable occurrences and events during the period to which it refers j
and therefore must become a valuable record, highly acceptable to the
Order, emanating, as it does, from an author of so high and established
reputation as the Rev. Brother, whose literary productions have extended,
like the Order to which it refers, all over the surface of the universe." —
Lincoln Stanhard.
" The work is well written, and Dr. Oliver has drawn an exceedingly
good comparison between Masonry on its revival in England a century
and a quarter ago, and Masonry in the present day." — Fbebjiasons'
Monthly Magazine.

Demy 8vo. price 10s. 6d. in handsome cloth boards, or 15s. od.
in blue calf binding, with gilt Masonic Tooling,
The Theocratic Philosophy of Freemasonry,
In Twelve Lectures,
On its Speculative, Operative, and Spurious Branches.
C. W. Oliver, Printer, Uppingham.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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