The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-04-01

spans Of stones. This, it is not. Wha
then, it may be asked, is it?
When first saw the Giants Cause
wny it presented the general appcaranc,
of an old stone building Of grand proper
tions,. in ruins. When one stands off a
q distance and looks at it, the appearance
is that Of vast amount of stones which
have been thrown in every direction
| from structure Of enormous size, with
here and there scme Of the original
structure remaining. On approaching
nearer, this first impression passes away
| and another, in accordance with the
| iaCtS in the case is made. The coast O,
Ireland, Oh which is situated the Giants
Causcway. is winding ut that point in q
northeast and southwest direction
AS above said, the shore is not a level
plain, but high, prccipitous bluff,
suppose, is near two hundred feet high.
From this bluff there juts out into the
sea n strange stone structure, which
gradually decreases, until it is covered
by the waters Of the North Channel.
In fact, there are three causeways,
which are distinguished by the names of
the Little. the Middle or Honey Comb,
and the Great or Grand Causcway.
All Of them are tongues protruding
from the side Of the prccipicc and ex.
tending into the sea. At the point where
the great Causeway projects from the
side Of the prccipicc it is forty feet high
and about the same in width. 1t gradu-
ally widcns and becomes lower, until. at
the distance Of two hundred and ten
yards, it comes in contact with the sea
and is concealed from view.
In all this, it may be said there is
nothing very wonderful about the Giants
Causeway. This is true. Perhaps 9TH
CT cragsy tongues could be found which
project out Of prccipitous bluff and run
down in gradual slope into the sea,
but after all there is only one Giants
Causeway, and that one is in County
Antrim, ireland.
The wonderful thing about the Giants
Causeway is its peculiar construction
1t is not one rock, or a number OF rock.
piled one on another, but thousands of
stones standing on their ends, like pill.
lars. The pillars are generally hcxago-
nal, or six sided, and fit so closely to
each other that sheet of paper cannot
be slipped between them. The pillars
vary in size from fifteen to twenty-six
inches in diameter. 1t is said that some
one with nothing to 20, and who had
great curiosity, counted over f5fty thus
and Of these pillars. 1t has been cam
putcd that there &iv- Owe. evt /, tho ousand
pillars in the three causcways. There
is one triangular pillar, three Of nine
sides, few arc square, and the rest are
all either five, six or seven sided. These
pillars nrc continuous, but are made up
OF several pieces which are placed orc
on top of the other. Where they Join,
the end Of one is concnvc and the end Of
the other is convex. thus fitting each
other perfectly. How far these pillars
extend downward, or, in other words,
how deep they are in the ground, no
one knows. They cross tho North
Channel and arc seen At Staffa, Scotland.
The rock is what is called basalt, and the
hexagonal form Of the pillars is due, it
is supposed, to an intense heat to which
this rock was at one time subjected.
When the Giants Causcway sprang into
existence no ono knows. 1t is manifest
that it is the work Of God, and not of
any created being. Still strikingly re-
semblcs work Of man. IT, is this re-
scmblancc to work Of man that gives
to it interest.
1t is not impossible TO learn when or
why it was given the name which il
bears. There is a tradition which the
guides tell with apparent delight and
which is very old and exceedingly plaus-
iblc. 1t is as follows: At one time,
away back in the dim past, there lived
two noted giants, one in Scotland and
the other in Ireland. The name Of the
Scotch giant was Bcnandonncr, that of
the Irish Fin-Mac-Cool. The Calcdo-
Man giant lived at Staffa and Fin Mac
Cool had his abode somewhere in the
north Of Ireland, in County Antrim.
Benandonner, it seems was the hero of
all Scotland. can not tell all that he
did or could do, but in the graphic lam
guage Of an Irishman, "hc just bate out
all that came before him." Not only so.
but he spoke very disrcspectfully of
Fin Cool and declared were it not
for wetting his feet he would cross over
the sea and give Fin a good drubbing.
BY some one whose name is no longer
Fin Mac Cool was informed
Of the Boosting threat Of Benandon
Previous to this Fin Mac Cool and Ben
andonner were not on very good terms
Benandonner had "bste out' some of