From the above observations. we think, may reasonably lie drawn the following conclusions, namely, that the erection of all structures of this kind is to be attributed to one race of people, and their appearance in such different and distant quarters to the fact of that race bring migratory or nomadic.
The monuments erected by the Celts may be divided and classed as follows :—Lithoi, composed severally of cue. two, and three stones, to the first of which is applied the distin guishing appellation monolithon, and to the last, that of trilithon. They have all the common name of Crondehs. After these come the kist-vaens, or chests, composed of four stones, and lastly, circles comprising a large number of stones. Further, we have logan, or ales, tobnen stones, cheese-rings, and cairns.
, • The most simple of these structures are the monontryit, or single stones, of which we find a great number in various parts of the lb-itish Islands. The first Mention of such stones we find. is of that set up by Jacob after his dream, which I l• named Bethel ; the next is that set up by Joshua under an oak by the sanctuary. as a witness unto the Israelites, lest they denied their God. Another stone is spoken of at a later period, called the stone of Abel, upon which the ark was rested ; and another, which was placed by S:unnel between Mizpeh and Shen as it memorial of the Divine rcad also of the stone Ezel, and the great stone in Gibson. Many such stones are seen in I 'alest ine at the present day. but not in the places mentioned in the I )Id Testament. The same kind of stones are altruist universal in India. few. it' any, of the temples being without them ; there are two also in Tyre. It is suggested, that the pillars of I I erenles were of this and with some probability. as Arrian says, that "Galles was built by the Plounieians ; the sacrifices and ceremonies there performed are :ill after the Plocuidan manner ;" and Siva bo adds. that there were here pillars dedicated to lIcreules Plato mentions a pillar connected in some way with the Amazons, and similar litho? were to lie seen at llegara, at Cheromea. in Thessalv, Ionia and Mauritania, one also within the \Valls of Athens. Cyrus erected obelisks over the grave of Abradates, king of Susa, and over those of his wife and ittlicers. hurt her north we find such stones in Denmark,
Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, and in our own country.
• As these stones are of necessity much alike in all cases, Nye need only give a description of one, to atlind a general idea of the whole of them ; we select that of fludstone, in the Kast Biding of Yiwkshire. It stands about titer yards from the north-east corner of Iludstone (larch, and rises above the ground t I've;; it, its is stated, it mea. suro, the same below ground, its total length will be fOrty eiidu feet ; its breadth is six feet, and thickness two feet; all four sides arc convex. The stone is of a very hard and its weight is calculated at above forty tons.
The uses oft he monolithoi seem to have been various. That some were used as sepulchral numuments, is allowed by all ; and some allow them to Kaye had no other use; such was the pillar set up by Jacob over ilachers grave, also those erected by Cyrus, as before mentioned. Some were trophies of vic tories, as that erected by Samuel after his defeat of the Phi listines; some were w itnesses to covenants, as that set up by davob and Laban, and that of Joshua; whilst others arc merely boundary stones.
Similar in description are the curious round towers so pre valent iii Ireland, which are generally found in the locality or it Christian church, a situation which is accounted for by the supposition that the Christian missionaries were accustomed to oar their edifices near the spot where the pagan temples hail stood. It is certain that these towers are very old, as they were considered ancient even in the twelfth century ; they vary both in height and construction, but their general earanee is that of a circular obelisk tapering gradually too ands the summit, and finishing in a conical root: See These obelisks are also termed Cri 'midis, a word signifying it stone of adoration ; also Botha'. which doubtless is t he same as the I lebrew. Ilethel. both terms signifying the I louse of cod. ruder these names are also included monuments of two or three stones, the tenter comprising an upright pillar with a eriiss-pieee on the top, and the latter two upright stones, with a third at the top, stretching front one to the other; the latter are named likewise trilithons.