SHAM CASTLES

327

Certain persons, about 100, 150, or even 200 years ago, had a mania for erecting towers, castles, and so on, on commanding sites. Such is Sham Castle at Bath. This Roger's Tower partakes more of the summer-house type, and so far as I could gather was never used as a residence, or indeed completed. It was certainly a gross act of vandalism and cool effrontery to plant a modern "Gothic " summer-house right down in the centre of one of Cornwall's prehistoric monuments.

It consists of a small castellated ruin, with a single chamber domed inside with small stones, an entrance, and a glassless window on either side.

The view from this point is exceptionally fine. It is one of the views of England. St. Michael's Mount and Penzance are seen away to the south, with Newlyn and St. Clement's Isle. To the north you can see the lighthouse of St. Ives, and the beautiful church of St. Buryan, eight miles away to the south-west, is clearly discernible against the sky. Ludgvan Church is also a landmark lying in a valley just north-east of Penzance. Beyond all these nearer spots the Lizard is seen running out to sea as a singularly straight strip of land.

An old writer remarks that twenty-four parish churches can be seen from this spot, which I very much doubt. He also says the hill is only 735 feet in height.1

Next I visited Chysauster, Chysoyster, or Chysoister (“the heap-shaped dwellings "), where are the remains of an old Celtic village. They were most difficult to find. We arrived at a farm-house near the spot, and the farmer good-naturedly walked with us through much rough, furze-covered land, about a mile or more, until we came to the spot. Without a guide it would be nearly impossible to find these remains. The huts, which are now roofless, show that they had been of the typical Celtic beehive order, and some of them were arranged round a central court. I came across an old cornmill, still in situ, in the wall of one of the huts. The remains are covered with brambles and ferns.

I next visited that famous relic of a past civilisation called the Lanyon or Giant's Quoit, which may not inaptly be com

1 Edmonds, Land's End District, p. 38.

pared to a colossal three-legged milking-stool. This lies two miles from Madron, after passing, at one and three-quarters miles, a road going off on the left to New Bridge and St. Just. It is situated about twenty yards from the road on the right hand, and is the most striking example of this class of monument I have seen in the Land's End district. Lanyon means the enclosure on the down." The top stone was thrown down by a violent storm in 1816 (or 1815 ?), but was replaced some years after with the same tackle used to reinstate the Logan Stone (see p. 182). The top slab formerly was sufficiently raised above the ground for a horseman to ride under it. After the accident-which some say was actually caused by lightning-the uprights were cut down to their present height of about five feet. The photograph I took shows the arrangement of the supporting stones, which are three in number. The topping stone measures 17 feet 2 inches by 8 feet, and is of irregular outline.

According to Dr. Borlase, Lanyon Quoit was in a long barrow, 70 feet by 20 feet and 2 feet high, in his day, but the form of a barrow nowadays has gone.

About the middle of the eighteenth century a dream induced the owner of the property to dig beneath it, and directly under the quoit a simple grave was discovered, cut in the natural soil, without side-stones or covering.

As this ancient Cornish mound now stands it is an example of unscientific reconstruction, for the modern renovators obviously replaced the stones in different positions from those that they formerly occupied.

In these days we rather desire to place our cemeteries in out-of-the-way spots, apart from the busy haunts of living men and thoroughfares. But among the ancients, far from the sight of tombs discouraging the living, they were placed in the high road to kindle emulation. The young were thus constantly reminded of the illustrious dead, who seemed silently to bid them imitate their glories. The Appian Way at Rome is a great thoroughfare, and one long-drawn-out burial-ground. Here repose the remains of some of the most illustrious Romans. Cicero assures us that there were buried Scipio, Metellus, and Servilius, and no doubt the Way is thickly strewn with the graves of many other famous men and women. The Japanese make