since done. Had Pryce consulted the same authorities, he would most probably have called Botalac the dwelling of the high serpent, or the high dwelling of the serpent; or he might have translated it, and perhaps more correctly, the dwelling of the serpent god; by admitting only that the Druids adopted the Hebrew word AL, for God. It would then resolve itself into Bod al hac, or Botalac, the d and t being commutable letters. There is no improbability in this, since many Cornish words are derived from Hebrew roots; and more than any other, it is probable that the solemn word AL, was known and retained by a priesthood so ancient as were the Druids, and that they applied it to their own deities, or to places dedicated to religion.

Taliesin, the Welsh bard, in his poem "Kadair Teyrn On," in the fourth line of the first stanza, adopts the phrase "AL adur," the glorious God. And, in p. 94, Davies says, "In the mystic bards and tales, I “find certain terms which evidently pertain to the "Hebrew language, or to some dialect of near affinity, "as Adonai,' the Lord; AL Adur,' the glorious God; Arawn,' the Arkite; and the like."

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All this, it may be said, is mere verbiage, and proves nothing if unsupported. But it is strengthened if the following observation be a fact, which, as far as my present research goes, I believe it to be: that at or near all the places whose names terminate in hac, or ac, which is but its abreviation, some Druidical remains are found. At Kenijac are those of which we are now speaking; at Botalac were the interesting circles spoken of by Borlase;

116 near Bossuliac are two cromlehs and a circle; at Tredenhac the same; at Menalac, in Paul parish, is Kerris Roundago;-many others might be mentioned if necessary. And it is also very probable, that a Dracontium once existed between Botalac (the dwelling of the serpent god), and Kenijac (the head or the ridge of the flying serpent). Borlase says, that even in his day, there were a vast number of stones pitched on end in the lands of Botalac. Mr. James, as has been before observed, remembers that there were a great many such in various confused positions, and particularly, circles resembling the " nine maidens," which were applied to the building of hedges. And even within the last ten years it is well known that many have been carried off for building. So that it is not surprising, that we can now trace so little or no remains of a Dracontium, since the destroyer, in one shape or other, has been at work from the commencement of the Christian æra down to the present day.

OUR ANCESTORS SOLAR AND SERPENT WORSHIPPERS.

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The conclusion, which follows from the whole that has been advanced, is, that our ancestors in this county were both solar and serpent worshippers. And that most of those monuments which we are accustomed to call Druidical remains, and perhaps some others, were temples, or parts of temples, dedicated to some of the planets, or to the serpent; or, more probably, they were common to both institutions as each prevailed or were united.

Much has been written on arkite worship, and it has been asserted that the arkite, solar, and serpent worship

were but modifications of the same superstition. Without raising that question, it may be permitted to observe, that the name "Arthur's bed," given to some of our rock basons, countenances the belief that the arkite superstition was known to our ancestors. One of these basons is at Bosworlas, in this parish, of which Borlase has given an engraving in his Antiquities (plate xx.) with a description. Another of the same name is on a rocky Tor, in North-hill parish. Davies, in his “ Mythology of the British Druids," says (p. 187), "I rather think "that Arthur was one of the titles of the deified patri"arch Noah. And with this idea the accounts we have "of him in the Bards and the Triads perfectly accord," of which he gives many instances. If this were so, then "Arthur's bed" would mean the grave of Noah,

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Bedh," in Cornish, being a grave. And this would go far to show that the arkite worship was, at least partially, practised by the Druids, and mixed up with their other superstitions.

There may be a question, also, whether the ellipses, found among circles, might not have represented the mundane egg, the symbol, as Davies tells us, under which the ark was represented in the general mythology of the heathens.

Should these pages chance to fall into the hands of some able antiquary, and stimulate him to take up and investigate the subject, as it is presumed to deserve, the writer will feel amply rewarded.

However that may be, he trusts that his time has not been mis-spent, for he can truly say, that whether

walking amidst the chaos of scattered rock and stones which formed these idolatrous temples, studying their history in ancient authors, or recording the few remaining traces of their former existence with his pen, he rises from the task most deeply impressed with the great need there was for a Revelation from Heaven, and truly thankful that he and those to whom these sheets are dedicated live under the Christian Dispensation.

ADDENDA.

Note to page 12, line 29.

1. Troutbeck, in his Survey of the Scilly Islands, speaking of St. Sampson, says, "This "Island appears to have been much larger in former times than at present; for at low water, "after spring tides, are seen the ruins of houses, which is not to be wondered at, when we "consider its situation in the sea, and the various storms to which it must have been subject "in the course of years. There are hedges of stone six feet under the common run of the "sand banks, and at low water the people pass on foot from this Island to Tresco and Brehar "over the sands, in new Grimsby Channel, where at full sea are ten or twelve feet depth of "water. And in the course of the passage are seen the remains of hedges and such other "things as serve to shew that these Islands have undergone some very singular revolutions "of which history is silent. There are certain evidences that the Islands last mentioned "were once continued tracts of land divided into fields, and cultivated even in these low "parts which are now overrun with sea and sand. It is most likely that these Islands have "been separated by an earthquake." So says Mr. Troutbeck: but is it not very probably that this land subsided at the same time with, if it did not constitute part of, the territory denominated the Lionesse ?

Note to page 16, line 24.

2. In this little town are lately established two Stationers, one having a Printing Press. In the year 1710, and how much later I know not, there was none in the county, as the following anecdote will prove. In that year the miners had been very riotous, and the Stannators had assembled in full Convocation at Truro for the settlement of urgent business relating to the Stannaries. On Sunday the 29th of April, it was ordered, That the address to the Lord Warden, and his answer, consisting of a few lines only, be printed.

Mr. Tonkin having undertaken it, supposed it might be done before the breaking up of the Convocation on the following Wedesday. There being no Printing Press in Cornwall, Mr. Philip Bishop, Printer, of Exeter, was appointed by Mr. Buller, the Speaker of the Convocation, to print the same. It would be done now in less than an hour at St. Just, which was then only a small insignificant village.

Note to page 35, line 14.

3. After the text had been in print, it was thought advisable to give an engraving of this ring, for which see Plate, page 24. Together with it, a learned Antiquary, who has had much practice in reading old inscriptions and writings, has favoured me with his opinion, which is not only very ingenious, but carries with it an air of great probability.

In allusion to a former correspondence, he says, "I am still convinced that the Inscrip"tion on the ring (in old French) is AVEC or AVEZ MOUN CUER. And if you will look "particularly at the word which I read MOUN, you will observe (at least I think I do) the "distinctness of the letters O and U;-M and N are very clear. Whether the first word "is AVEC or AVEZ I cannot determine, but I think it is AVEZ.

"It was not at all uncommon in Norman French to omit the pronoun nominative, so that "nothing of difficulty arises on that score. The last letter of the word looks more like a Z

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"than any other letter." It may therefore be rendered in modern French, Vous avez mon cœur. "What the means I cannot say, but if it was, as it might have been, a wedding ring, may the Cross have been placed there as a symbol of the holy union, and that it was "not merely the simple preference of the parties for each other, but that their affection was "sanctioned by the Sacrament of Matrimony and the Church's Blessing?"