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CORNISH CASTLES

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quaint-looking, and it bears the date 1670. The historian was born there in 1695. No wonder Borlase developed a taste for antiquities, living as he did in the midst of such a wealth of them. Close to the house is an ancient artificial cave, or vau,' which consisted of three passages, now filled up. It is quite unknown to what use such caves (for another exactly similar one is known at Bolleit and elsewhere) were put. Probably they were hiding-places used by the Celts in times when the Danes or Romans harried them.

From Pendeen we struck off to the right, and calling at a delightful old farm-house, got the courteous farmer to direct us to Chûn Castle. He gave us directions, kindly allowed us to put up our jingle1 in his farm-yard, and then, not content with having shown us the way, in order to prevent our going wrong, set out with us and walked till he could show us the spot we sought.

Chûn Castle is the most perfect of the remaining hill castles, which are all circular or nearly so. Ch'ûn, Choone, or Chy-an-Woon signifies a house on the down or common, and this is situated on a most commanding hill four miles and three-quarters west-north-west from Penzance. The castle is, of course, absolutely unlike what is called a castle in most parts of England and Wales. You see no lofty towers, no donjon keeps, no high encircling walls. Your eye might roam over it and pass on to bare country beyond, and not be arrested by anything unusual. The site is, as usual, unfortunately overgrown with rank brambles and other vegetation, and unless actually looked for could not be found. However, a close inspection shows that Chûn Castle consists of two concentric stone walls, with a space of thirty feet between them, much dilapidated. The inner wall, which is about twelve feet in thickness, the county historian, Dr. Borlase, considered to have been fifteen feet high, and the less massive outer one ten feet high, the remains in his day having evidently been much higher than they are now. Within the inner circle or wall and concentric with it at a distance of thirty feet are the remains of “ circular line of stonework," with ten or more straight lines or partitions of similar stonework connecting it with the inner wall, forming apparently so many pent-houses in 1 English equivalent is "governess-car.”

a

which the ancient inhabitants or their cattle were sheltered. The open area in the centre of all is "125 feet from east to west and 110 feet from north to south.”1

Within one of these pent-houses is a well with steps descending to the water. The entrance to the castle through the inner wall is from the west, facing Chûn Quoit, and a few yards southward from this entrance is the entrance through the outer wall. This zigzag arrangement of entrance enabled the garrison to easily guard the gate. Both openings were evidently very strongly fortified, and in their narrowest parts were even six feet wide.

Adjoining the northern side of the inner gateway a stone wall traverses the space between the two great walls, and two other such transverse walls were standing in Borlase's time, the three traverses being one-third of the circle distant from each other.

Besides these, there was a fourth traverse (which still remains) proceeding from the south side of the outer gateway towards the inner wall until within three feet of it, and then turning at right angles towards the first-mentioned traverse.

A ditch surrounds the outer wall, across which is a bridge or causeway leading into the outer gateway. The accompanying sketch of Chûn Castle, taken from Borlase's book, shows clearly the disposition of these features and how the stronghold was a century and a half ago.

2

The Chûn Quoit, or Cromlech, lies on the common to the west of the entrance to the castle at about a hundred yards distance. It looks at first sight very like what a huge, giant mushroom would be. The topping stone rests on the points of four pieces of granite forming nearly a complete square beneath, and is nearly thirteen feet long and eleven and a half broad, its elevation being about six feet. The circled cairn is hardly now discernible, but there is no doubt a ring of stones formerly surrounded it, of which

1 Borlase's Antiq., 2nd ed. (1769), p. 347.

2 "Crobm-lech (as it was formerly written) signifies a crooked flat stone. Had it been crobn-lech (which in pronunciation differs little or nothing from crobm-lech) it would have signified a round flat stone and have been synonymous with quoit, the name by which these erections are here, and in some parts of Wales, most commonly known.”—Edmonds's Land's End District (1862), p. 24.

CROMLECHS AND QUOITS

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a few remain at its base on the north side. The eastern and western supporting stones are 8 feet 6 inches and 7 feet 9 inches in width respectively and lean inwards. They are all of a very hard granite.

Cromlechs are not improbably sepulchral structures, and all, in this district of Cornwall, at any rate, seem to have been buried within burrows, the inclined planes of which

B is a wall 5 feet thick.

C is another ditch or fosse, 30 feet wide.

G is the entrance called the "Irongateway," having on the left hand the wall 12 feet thick for strengthening the entrance. On the right of the entrance there is a wall which traverses the principal ditch.

H indicates the site of the well, which has steps to go down to the

water.

D. This wall is 3 feet wide at the top, expanding into greater width at the base.

EE are several lodgments of unequal length, but all of the same breadth-30 feet. They are supposed to be shelters in rough weather. The entrance, guarded by walls crossing the ditches, faces W.S.W. These particulars are as Chûn Castle was in Dr. Borlase's time.

very likely were instrumental in enabling the huge topping stone to be placed on the tops of the supporting stones.1

Though, as I have said, all these Cornish cromlechs seem to be associated in this part of Cornwall with tombs, in other words, that all are ancient tombstones to mark the graves of mighty or illustrious dead, yet it must not be forgotten that some antiquaries advance the theory that they are really altars which were turned by later generations into sepulchral mounds. Other antiquaries express a belief that these undoubtedly very ancient stone monuments were erected by a race which inhabited the country prior to the Celtic migrations."

Others point to certain features about these cromlechs as indicating an extremely ancient origin. At any rate, it is curious to observe that in the Old Testament we find altars were to be formed of unhewn stones, and that there were to be no steps by which to ascend to these places of sacrifice, a state of things certainly fairly descriptive of the cromlechs of Cornwall and also of the dolmens of other Celtic countries.

3

Chûn Cromlech, according to the Ordnance Map, is 709 feet above the sea-level, and is placed in what is now as wild and desolate a spot as you can wish to see. No tree or even bush is near, no human habitation. Still, the ground being high, the view is fine. Nearer the sea, on the shoulder of a hill to the south, is seen that weirdly desolate and remarkable ragged outcrop of high rocks known as Cairn Kenidzhek, and clearly silhouetted against the sealine is seen the tower of the church of Pendeen we have just visited.

1 A comparison with some other quoits in Wales may be of interest: The top stone of Pentre Evan cromlech is 18 feet long and 9 broad, resting on two supporters of columnal form, the one about 8 and the other 7 feet high.

The Welsh cromlech, near Haverfordwest, now fallen, was larger than that of Pentre Evan, the cap-stone being 16 by 13 feet, and from 4 to above 5 thick.

A cromlech between Cowbridge and Cardiff has the horizontal slab 24 feet long, 17 in its greatest breadth, and from 2 to 2 thick.

The north supporter is 16 feet long, the west 9 feet.

Arthur's Quoit, in Anglesey, measures 17 by 15 feet, and is nearly

4 feet thick, but it is raised only 2 feet above the ground.

2 See Wilson's Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, pp. 68, 69,

3 Exodus xx. 25, 26; Joshua VIII. 31.