, 1885-07-31
AaouT aaocklNc aroNEs.,
The rsinous Ones of England and ireland
Supposed Religions Use.

u lithEp ilhfN
The good people OF Blackstone. Mon
mo%uthshire, England, are mourning the
loss Of their rocking stone, which has
for centuries been the chief attraction
oil the village. Indeed, the town IS
supposed to have derived its name fro u
the stone. In the old %Yernacular Of the
country, rocking and buoking were
synonymous. This rocking stone was a
natural block Of rock, so formed and so
poised on n pivot as to oscillate forward
and backward without losing its cqui
librium Ever since the town was set
tied, this stone has been the delight Of
the villagers. As thousands OF strangers
have visited the place every year on
purpose to see this famous tone and to
move II on its pivot, IL brought no
small gains to the stage-driyers and
the owners of inns and ale houses. The
stone stood on the summit of n hill, and
was, like many similar natural %curiosi-
ties. the property OF the crown. II was
overturned and rolled into the wooded
valley below by the members Of a variety
company who had been performing in
the town. As the stone weighs several
tons. and is in an u%nfayorable position,
il will probably never be restored to its
original position.
The famous rocking stone of the Mon.
mouthshire village was not the only one
OF the kind in the British islands,
though it was the one most widely
known. Similar stones exist in York
shire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Wales,
and Cornwall. They are quite numer
Gus in Scotland. Not far from Lands
End is n famous rocking stone, known
rs the Logan. Some sixty years ago.
n certain Lieut.. Goldsmith, Of the royal
navy, overturned the stone. with a
view, he said, to a scientific investiga-
ton. As the admiralty caused him to
restore it to its former position at his
own expense, and as the stone was
found to weigh ninety tons, he re-
pented at leisure and at great expense
for his folly and zeal in making scien
tifc Investigations.
Ireland has several rocking stones
which have been carefully guarded by
the inhabitants. The one at Islandmagee,
near Browns bay, is the most famous.
u not only rocks when the hand is
pressed on It, or when the wind strikes
1t, but it ,rembles and mods, or local
traditions are not to be trusted. when
ever an unjust landlord, an infOrmer,
n process server, or n malefactor ap-
prOaches near IL. IL is almost needless
TO state that it is held in high estiina
tion by the people. Rocking stones are
Hajte common in Greece, and until re-
Gently II was supposed they were shaped
and poised by ancient artisans for som
unknown purpose. Some of them con
tain inscriptions, which serve 10
strengthen the impression that the
stones themselves were fashioned by
artificial means.
The belief was general in Great Brit
am, TIL biologists apparently disproved
the theory, that these rocking stones
were fashioned by the Druids, aud that
they made use of them in practicing
their savage rites which they performed
in the name OF religion. That they used
them In their devotional exercises and
that they employed them to terrify the
people seem likely, but there IS no good
reason for believing that they shaped
and poised them in the places where
they are found. That they might have
been used by the people who preceded
the Colts for purposes Of divination is
probable. In one Of the poems Of Os-
sian men are represented as marching
round one OF these stones, singing
hymns to the gods and counting the
lumber Of vibrations rs an auguTy of
the issue of an approaching battle.
These stones were held in superstitious
Veneration long after the introduction
of ChristianitY and it was found neces-
sary to threaten accommodation
against persons who persisted in paying
homage TO rocking stones.
biologists have a theory Of their own
about the origin Of rocking stones. They
state that they are masses of rock which
" their peculiar shape to the slow dc
cay OF the softer portions of them. The
decayed portions have washed away,
leaving those not likely to become de.
composed by the action of the atmos-
phere. The point that becomes a pivot
is generally composed of very hard ma
terial, and, being protected by the
portions that project over it, retains its
hardness. Our Indians had rocking
stones which they regarded with rever-
ence. and which they consulted as ora
Giles. One Of them is at Devils Lake,
Wisconsin, and constitutes one of the
chief attractions Of the place. Had
biologists not destroyed all sentiment
concerning rocking stones, they would
be regarded with moro interest than
they arc at present.