The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-11-24
Stonehenge.
It's Proposed Restoration with Theories
About It's Uses and Builders.

cording to the London Standard, the possibility
OF this sacrilege being committed was secuted
as too terrible even for discussion, an enthusi-
astic clergyman even going so far as to declare
that if the wonderful megaliths of Salisbury
Plain were to be rnined in the mistaken idea
of preserving them he would be the first tos
KNOCK the desecrator on the head"
Now is his time. Stcnehenge, which for ages
has been the Mecca of antiquaries, will, before
long, consist of a series of stones safely but
tressed, like SO many other ancient erections,
by props and scaffolding. Should this report
prove true-though we would fain doubt tit
is evident that Sir John Lubbock's bill for the
preservation of ancient monuments has been
too long delayed. Indeed, SO long has Stone
henge standing weird-like in the midst of the
solitary Plain of Salisbury, been regarded as de
iure the property of the nation, that one is apt
to forget that de facto it has a landl ord quite
much as has the Cat and Bagpipes or the Blue
Boar taverns, and that so far as the written
Law of the land could restrain him he might to-
morrow break up these memorials of bygone
age into metal for the muddy road that runs
hard by.
Stonehenge and the plain on which 1t is
erected are indeed singularly rich in historical
memories. Sepulchral mounds dot this undu-
lating solitude, and the dikes, trenches, mark
lines and boundaries of the ancient tribes Of
South Britain are commingIed with earthworks
fortresses, and other defensive works of their
conquerors Here is a British 'trail," there a
Roman road. The mound where the keenest-
eyed antiouary has considerable trouble in trac-
kl,ar f,oo of ctr nd IN w
cessiyely a stronghold OF Cells, Romans and
Saxons. 1t is still as it was in Pepys's time
ga stupendouS monument"-and antlquaries
have not, in the course of two centuries. in
spite of all their speculatons over the great
stones, got much beyond the pious "God knows
what their use was'' of the quondam president
of the Royal Society 1t looms before us on
the solitary plain as grand and mysterious as
ever. This, however, we know-when COM
plete it must have consisted of two concentric
circles of upright stones, inclosing two elipses,
the whole structure surrounded by double
mound and circular ditch
Outside this boundary was single upright
stone, and the approach was by an avenue also
bordered on each side by m ,und and . ditch,
The out-r circle consisted of about 30 blocks OF
stone each about 16 feet from the ground,
placed at intervals of 81 fact from each other,
and connected along the top by series OF im-
posts. This outer circle is composed OF Wilt
shire ''sarsens," si,iceous stone found in the
immediate neighborhood But the inner circle
which also consists of 80 pillars is made up Of
syenite and ther rocks, which must have been
brought from great distance. most probably
from the Lower Siluran of North Pembroke
shire and Carnavonshire. Unlike the outer
CIRCLE the inner one is of unhewn blocks and
very indistinct But the finest part of Stone
henge is the ellis inside the circle. lt is
formed of 10 or II blocks of sandstone, 10 TO ~
feet in height aud furnished with an impost-
while innermost of all is another ellipse, Com
posed of 10 uprights of syenite, similar IN size
to those of the inner circle. Iu the cell thus
formed is the so-called "altar,' consisting OF
slab of the mic sandstone OF the neigh
borhood.
If the plan of Stonehenge is doubtful, its use
is utterly problematical Indeed, every theo-
ry-and the literature OF the subject would till
a moderately sized library-is so much in the
realm of fancy that Horace Walpole was not
more cynical than just when he declared that
each commentator attributed to IL that kind OF
antiquity of which be himself was most fond.
Nearly every prominent historical person from
the de vii to the Druids have at one time
or another been credited with its erection The
former is still by the Wiltshire rustics believed
to be the architect; the latter, however, have
the suffrages of the arcb@ologists. Geofrey OF
Monmouth held the doctrine that It was a mon
ument over the Britons murdered by Hengist
and that the stones were brought from Ireland,
by the aid of Merlin, the Enchanter. Iuigo
Jones favored the idea of its being Roman
temple dedicated to the god CBus, and wal
ter Charlton attributed IL to the Danes, who IN
popular esteem divide with the Romans the
credit OF building all great works which can
not be very clearly assigned to any one else.
Kylett Sammes will have it that the Phenl-
clans were the builders of Stoneheuge; aud
Bishop Gibson suggests the Britons. Dr.
Stukely, however, was the first who gave rea-
sons for chasing Stonehenge as Druidical
structure, view which has since that date
been accepted by the majority of arcbe 3logists.
OF course, the theorists who are ever on the
lookout for astronomical monuments" have,
to their own complete satisfaction, demon
strated that these great stones we're erected on
Salisbury Plain to tix the exact point at which
the sun rose on Midsummer day, and that they
indicate q knowledge of the sidereal courses
almost TOO profound to be natural In the
midst of these angry disputants it is pleasant
TO light on Sir Richard Hoare, who, though he
spent the better part of life in the neigbbor-
hood of Stonehenge. declines to pass Judgment
in favor of any of them.
Iudeed, of late the Druidical thery has been
falling into somewhat evil odor aud extreme
skepticism is being displayed as to the age OF
the Stonehenge group. The fact OF the stones
being hewn would point to their being of a
more recent date than the many like struc-
lures scattered over the country while the
discovery of circles, almost Identical IN neariy
every country from India to Peru, has shak-n N
the old belief in their having au, thing 10 90
with the Druids. The probability seems to DO
that, like tho ruder, unhewn masses OIL ave
bury, they mark the spot whore the primitive
Celtic tribes met TO administer justice and dis
cuss their national affairs Similar circles,
which we know were used for this purpose,
still exist both in this aud other countries