Stonehenge | Page 8

Away flew the devil towards Salisbury Plain, but as he sped onwards the withe cut deep into his shoulder, so heavy were the stones. He endured it as long as he could, but just towards the end of his journey, while passing over the valley of the Avon, he winced, and re-adjusted his burden; in so doing one of the stones fell down and plunged into the river at Bulford, where it remains at the present day, as witness to the veracity of this legend. Right glad to be rid of his burden when he reached the Plain, the devil made haste to set up the stones, and so delighted was he with the result of his first efforts, and with the progress he was making, that he cried aloud with glee, "Now I'll puzzle all men, for no one knows, nor ever will know, how these stones have come here." Unluckily this bold boast was overheard by a holy friar walking near, who straightway replied in right Wiltshire fashion, "That's more than thee can tell"; and then realising who the builder was, turned and fled for his life. Enraged at his discovery by the friar, and perceiving that his scheme had failed, the devil, who had just taken up a stone to poise it upon its two uprights, hurled it at the holy man, and struck him on the uplifted heel as he made haste to run. The friar's sanctity was evidently greater than his personal courage, for it was the stone and not the friar which suffered most from the impact. Even to-day the huge impress of the Friar's heel is to be seen upon the stone. At this juncture the sun rose, and the devil had perforce to relinquish his task. This accounts for the present scattered appearance of the stones.
Turning from fancy to fact, the word Hele, from which the stone takes its name, is probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb helan = "to conceal," and is so applied to the stone because it conceals the sun at rising on the day of the Summer Solstice.
THE "SLAUGHTERING STONE"
In all matters of arch?ology it is constantly found that certain questions are better left in abeyance, or bequeathed to a coming generation for solution. The "Slaughtering Stone" appears to be an admirable example of this class. Just within the area enclosed by the earthwork circle, lies a prostrate Sarsen Stone, to which this name has been given. The idea of its having been used as a place of slaughter for the victim intended for sacrifice in the "Temple" of Stonehenge, seems to rest upon a very bare foundation. It is probably a picturesque piece of nomenclature devised by certain bygone antiquaries to whom Stonehenge was a "Druidical" monument, and who, therefore, having the idea of human sacrifice, and "wicker figures" prominently before them, naturally jumped at the idea of providing a slaughtering stone for the numberless human victims whom they imagined had been slain there. Nevertheless, the stone is curious because of the row of holes which have been worked across one corner, which certainly is unshapely, and which would square up the stone very nicely if it were removed along the line of these holes. The indentations are somewhat oval, suggesting that they were made by "pecking" with a sharp instrument, rather than drilled by a rotating one, which would make a circular incision. Having recorded this, however, there is little to add, except that Mr. Gowland, who minutely examined the stone in 1901, is of opinion that the oval indentations referred to are more recent than the building of Stonehenge. Had they been contemporaneous with the erection of the Trilithons, he is convinced that the action of the water in the holes, combined with frost, would have caused a very much greater amount of disintegration than exists to-day. Yet another difficulty arises. At the meeting of the British Arch?ological Association at Devizes in 1880, a visit was paid to Stonehenge, and there were, as usual at such gatherings, papers and discussions dealing with it. Mr. William Cunnington, F.S.A., specially put on record the fact that his grandfather, Mr. H. Cunnington, and Sir R.C. Hoare, remembered this stone as standing erect. Here at all events are three conflicting statements. Under these circumstances it is well to leave the Slaughtering Stone as a problem for posterity.
[Illustration: Stonehenge. shewing the Avenue approach & the earthwork surrounding the stone Circle.]
THE EARTHWORK
Visitors entering Stonehenge are apt in their eagerness to reach the stones to overlook a definite banked Avenue leading from the north-east towards the Hele Stone, and entering the circular earthwork enclosure. This earthwork is not very considerable to-day, but in the Stonehenge of yesterday it was probably far more marked and imposing. This Avenue extends from Stonehenge in a