CROMLECH.. It has been common among British archaeologists, until lately, to apply this name to a rude structure of two or more unheesn stones, placed erect in the earth, and supporting a larger stone, also zenhewn. According to its etymology, however, cromlech (Celt. crow, circle, and leek, a stone) is the proper term for circles of erect atones like Stonehenge (see STA CDIN6 and the name dolmen (Celt. dent, a table; maen, a stone) Is now considered more appropriate for what used to be called a cromlech. Monuments of the kind above described, whether we call them dolmens or cromlechs, are known among the common people by other names, such as "the giant's grave," "the giant's bed," "the giant's quoit," "the fairies' table," "time devil's table," "the raised stone," "the old wives' lift, the hag's bed," and the like.
Cromlechs are found in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Channel isles, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, and some other countries of Europe; in Ilindustan and elsewhere in Asia; and in America. They are generally without any inclosure; but occasionally they are fenced round with a ring of tmhewn stones. In a good many instances, cromlechs have been discovered in the heart of earthen mounds or barrows. In such cases, the rude chamber or inclosure of the C. is found to contain sepulchral remains, such as skeletons or urns, together with weapons or ornaments generally of stone or bone, fragments of pottery', and bones of animals. Similar remains have been found in the chambers of cromlechs not known to have been at any time covered by barrows. These facts have led modern archaeologists do believe that the C. was a sepulchral monument. The theory of the older antiquaries, that the C. was a Druidical altar, is without any foundation in what has been recorded of worship by trustworthy writers. In a C. found under a barrow in Derbyshire, a skeleton and frag
ments of urns were discovered, along with Roman coins of several emperors.
Among the more remarkable cromlechs in England are Kit's Coty house in Kent, Wayland Smith's cave in Berkshire (commemorated by sir Walter Scott in Iien27aDo,'ih); and Chun Quoit in.Cornwall. The weight of the flat stone in this last C. is estimated at about 20 tons. In the marquis of Anglesey's park at Plas Newydd, in Wales, there are two cromlechs close beside each other: iu the larger, five erect stones support a fiat Stone about 12 ft. long, 10 ft. wide, and from 3f ft, to 41} ft. thick. Cromlechs are com paratively rare in Scotland. The best among the well-ascertained examples is perhaps that called "The Auld Wives' Lift," near Craigmeddan castle, in the parish of Balder neck, in Stirlingshire: the recumbent stone, a mass of basalt, is 18 ft, tong, lift. wide, and 6 or 7 ft, thick, and the two stones which support it are of nearly the same size. It may be doubted if the partial elevation of the "Witch's stone" at Bonnington Mains, near Ratho, in the co. of Edinburgh, has not been produced by natural causes. Among the Irish cromlechs, one of the most striking is that of Kilternan, about 6 m. from Dublin: the recumbent stone, which rests upon six blocks, is 23i+ ft. long, 17 ft. wide, and 6I ft. thick. A cromlech called "The Broadstone," in the co. of Antrim, is sur rounded by a circle of standing stones, or erect unhewn pillars. A C. in the Plnanix park, Dublin, was discovered in 1833 in removing a large barrow: specimens of the sepulchral remains found in it are shown in the museum of the royal Irish academy.
See DOLME:i.