The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-09-24

body, the head had evidently turned
downward so that the chin rested on the
breast.
Full of curiosity and surprise, I
turned back once more to look at the
whole effect of this almost unrecog-
nized memento of the past, n NOTICED
how m~arvelously the designs harmon
lied together, the different <colors and
shapes Of the shells blending SO tbet
from the foot of the steps that led into
it. as far as the eye could see. 1t looked
like a miniature chapel ornamented
with the finest mosaic work. IL Is dit
ficult to guess for what purpose 1t could
have been built. 1t Is certainly not a
christian temple; nor Is 1t DruidfcaL
as the Druids never worshiped under
ground, but on hills and In forests. 1t
is more likely to be a relic of Scan
dinavian mythology-it is suggestive OF
the Vikings, though 1t is generally be-
lieved that these bold riders Of the
waves preferred to let their lifeless
bodies drift out to sea in ships and sink
in the cold, %populous graves" of the
ocean they loved 30 well, rather n
be laid in the damp and wormy earth.
Whatever 1t be, the Shell Grotto at
| Margate deserves a better name II a
! wider fame, and so 1t will prove when
antiquarians and scholars shall have
given it proper consideration, and have
freed it from its present common sur
%roundings. Sixpence, for seeing so
beautiful and extraordinary q place.
seems ar absurdly small sum, consider
ing what guides" as a rule, charge
for showing sights not half so inter-
esting: yet that humble silver coin is
Tho anI., lra,, ~a1,Yi,.aJ ~ Y,r1roIx fhos
wonders of a palace almost as beauti-
full as one of the scenes In Hans Chris
tian Andersen's Little Mermaid" "
Before leaving / asked the gentle and
obliging damsel of the grotto If many
people visited the place.
Sometimes a great many she re-
piled, but they just scramble through,
and never ask any questions. | don't
| suppose they stop to think whether 1t
is an old relic or a modern building.
Some of the roughs try to pick h
shells out n destroy the panels; we
have to watch very carefully to pre-
vent mischief being DONE"
She showed me one place where the
ruthless fingers of some particularly
destructive AIRY had broken away the
centre petals of a rose, and l was IL
to discern more closely than ever the
exquisite beauty and finenes of the
work. 1t would be absurd, indeed, to
imagine such a place to be modern,
for who, In these busy days. would be-
stow SO much time, labor and patience
on the building and ornamentationsof
q sub%terranean chapel with shells? AT
a rough calculation, l should say that
1t would take a nan an entire day.
working hard every hour, to make
| one square foot of this she'll work, and
there are two thousand square feetl of
it altogether. The trouble of collecting
the shells, sorting and arranging them,
the infinite patience, skill n de1icacy
of finger required to bed them in the
clay, apart from the knowledge of art
exhibited in the plan of each design on
the panels, all this taken into consider
alton, h%eightens the interest and in
creases the value of this Grotto as a
splendid example of early artistic eff
fort. The name of the hill in which it
was ~excavated. "the Dane" suggests
the idea that perhaps when the Danish
hordes ravaged the coast in the time of
the ancient Britons, the place may
have been used for secret worship of
some kind. 1t was evidently not a
mere hiding place: it was not a dun
geon. for the lavish ornamentation of
the walls and the spaciousness of the
building would, In such a case, have
been quite unnecessary. At any rate,
it affords a field for students of early
art and architecture, and | shall be
glad II my description of the place in
duces those who are learned in the
land to visit it and give public voice
to their ideas respecting its origin. 1t
is as wonderful in its way as Fingal's
Cave, or the Blue Grotto at Capri,
both of which magnificent natural
structures are celebrated throughout
the world; while the Shell Grotto, bad
ly named, and badly advertised, and.
moreover, having the disadvantage os
being at over popular Margate. re-
Mains temporarily in obscurity.
All mention of it has been lately
omitted from the Margate Guide-bQpk.
| hear that it was once alluded = to
there, en- PEASANT, in two or three lines, s
but in the new editions even that allu-
sion has dropped out. The place
should be called The Shell Tomb of
the vikings THE Norseman's Cave"
"TThe Scandinavian Shell Temple any
taking descriptive title-anything but
the "Grotto;' for, say what we will, a
Margate "Grotto' cannot be divided
from the idea of shrimps-yea, even
horrible suggestions are presenteds of
periwinkles and pins. Everybody OF
taste and refinement will and must
avoid a Margate "Grotto," even il they
know nothing of it but its name.