Talk:Boscawen-Un

message: I've taken several photos of the circle this week which I will upload drekkly.  Unfortunately due to the position of the circle within a small enclosure it wasn't possible to get the whole circle in one shot.  I will upload what I have and people can tell me which ones they like best.  Mammal4 22:26, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Photographs

message: I have added the OS grid reference to the article - is there a way of linking it to a mapping service eg 'Getamap' so that readers can click on the grid ref and be taken to a map? DuncanHill 08:55, 6 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank Jim! DuncanHill 13:31, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Grid reference

message: Is it known/speculated that the leaning stone was placed at an angle, or whether is is irregular subsidence?LessHeard vanU 14:06, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Leaning centre stone 

message: Another unusual feature of this stone circle (amongst its contemporaries in Penwith) is that one the stones in the circle is different to the others... the stone that the central pillar leans away fromis a big quartz block. I don't have a good photo of this stone (either due to shadows or taking a long exposure at night using a torch for lighting). Are there any interpretations of this stone, if it has any special 'significance'? I've read stuff about the pillar and quartz representing 'male and female energies' but this is a bit vague. JimChampion 10:53, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: The quartz stone

message: I've had a go at expanding and de-stubbifying The Merry Maidens stone circle article. It now has subheadings, references using templates, see also etc. You might like to use it as a guide as to go about de-stubbifying this page. I've kept the physical description of the site, the archaeological interpretations and the "myth and legend" separate - in the scholarly style! JimChampion 10:53, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: De-stubbifying Boscawen-Un

message: I have added the sentences about the alignment between this site, Men-an-tol, and the church at St. Buryan. This is easily verifiable with Google Earth.--Carfax6 22:36, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I've removed this speculation. Firstly the leaning stone points roughly east-north-east - certainly not at the Mên-an-Tol. Perhaps what was meant was that the stone circle itself is in alignment with these two sites. But such alignments are very easy to make - one could equally say it's on an alignment with Carn Euny and The Merry Maidens, etc. Pasicles (talk) 17:35, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alignments 

message: Despite all the suggestions I raise below. I like the article. I just didn't want to plough into it unannounced. I also suggest and would like this post to be archived (or deleted) after due consideration, if thought appropriate.
The article currently states:
:It is possible that it was a meeting place for druids in the Iron Age.
Whilst there is no reliable evidence against this proposition, I warn that it shares this possibility equally with everywhere else in the British Isles and Gaulish France (monument or no monument). Current academic thought is perhaps best summarized thus:
:"We can know virtually nothing of certainty about the ancient Druids, so that — although they certainly existed — they function more or less as legendary figures." - Ronald Hutton. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain. 2009, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. .
No site or artifact has been definitively associated with Druids, scientifically (with the disputed exception of the too general "Island of Anglesey", north-west Wales). The only [almost] contemporary writers of them described the overwhelming abundance of gold, and so many pearls they dumped them in large mounds on the beaches in the Celtic (and Gaulish) lands. How reliable were Cicero, Pliny the Elder, Tacitus and Cicero about that?
And while I am here ...
The etymology is not quite correct. Scawen does not mean an older tree. It refers to the Elder tree (sambucus racemosa - the species known as the European Red Elder or Elderberry - perhaps you've tasted its wine or Sambuca). It is still called that in rural Cornwall (i.e. all of it). Forgive my very rusty Cornish language skills (not much call for it here in California), but I believe scawen is the plural form. If editor(s) feel that "Elder trees" (which should not be capitalized in the article) might continue to be misconstrued for "older trees", I suggest using the alternative equivalent English name "elderberry trees".
The article also states:
:The location was apparently carefully selected, because it lies within visual range of The Merry Maidens stone circle and the two Pipers standing stones. In addition, a view of the sea, rare in this area, is offered here.
I would suggest either removing the first six words (or seven), or providing a precise citation for this in a published reliable source. Wikipedia reports on verifiable reliable content, above any apparent or obvious truth. How would a contemporary reliable author know how much care went into site selection?
Never knowing when to shut up ...
* Dumnonia definitely included all of modern mainland Cornwall. Only its Eastern boundary moved and was subject to speculation, and that was far enough away from Cornwall and "undreds" away from Boscawen-Un.
* LessHeard vanU asked for an ancient historical name. Yes it has one. Combining modern orthography with the ancient alphabet, the ancient name is Boscawen-Un. It is Cornish, a language very closely (somewhat mutually intelligibly) related to Welsh, the oldest written language currently in use in Europe.
* It isn't formerly in Penwith. It is still in Penwith (not to be confused with the local district government entity of the same name from 1974-2009).
* Personally, I would like the See Also specified domain to be expanded beyond circles (and ellipses!). Chysauster, Men-an-Tol and other ancient Penwith sites could then be included. 
* In my opinion. Wikilinks to this article should be added to Penwith: Places of interest, Places of interest in Cornwall, and many other articles and lists. See Category:Visitor attractions in Cornwall and Category:Cornwall-related lists for some ideas. (Sorry. I couldn't insert links to category pages, for some reason).
* I guess it isn't really important or relevant, but the main shopping street in Cornwall's capital city is named Boscawen Street. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truro#mediaviewer/File:Boscawen 1810.jpg/2. It hasn't changed.
Despite any appearance from all of the above that I didn't like this article, none was implied, and none should be inferred. I like it very much indeed, except for feeling homesick just before Christmas. Thank you dh.
ChrisJBenson (talk) 03:02, 22 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Druids and too many other suggestions 

message: I have added a rough date to the reference to Wm. Camden's Britannia in the History section. Since Britannia was published in many editions over 20-odd years, I picked the date Camden is said to have visited Devon (& possibly Cornwall). Perhaps a scholar familiar with the work can provide a better date? --D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 05:40, 28 March 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Britannia - Date?