BARROWS, are mounds of earth, generally of a conical form, which were raised, in ancient times, over the dead bodies of heroes, and persons of distinction. The natural desire of cherishing the remembrance of departed worth, has given rise, in all nations, to the custom of erecting monuments to perpetuate the names of those whose deeds had merited public grati tude or admiration, and to mark out to affectionate curiosity the spot consecrated by their ashes. The form, as well as the materials of these monuments, varied with the circumstances of the people who rear ed them, and particularly with their improvement in the arts; but the obvious and simple mode of heap ing mounds of earth over the graves of the deceased, seems universally to have prevailed during that rude state of society, when the art of architecture was unknown. Accordingly, mounds of this kind are still to be found in all the quarters of the globe ; and it is curious enough to trace, in these receptacles of the dead, the gradual progress of elegance and refine ment, and the variations in the public taste. At first, perhaps, these barrows consisted of loose earth thrown upon the body, and gradually augmented, like the cairns in Scotland, by the casual contribu tions of pious passengers. The height of these bar rows, being thus proportioned to the general reve rence for the deceased, would be supposed to confer a corresponding distinction ; the affection or the pride of individuals, would lead them to claim for their departed relatives, an honour at first bestowed by public favour ; and the great and the wealthy would emulate each other in the magnificence of their family monuments. Hence, in Egypt, where mag nitude was supposed to constitute grandeur, the sim ple cairn or barrow swelled in time to the dimensions of the stupendous pyramid. In Greece, the barrow long retained its original simplicity of form ; though those of the rich and eminent were distinguished by the valuable and splendid urns which they enclosed. Homer, in describing the funeral ceremonies per formed in hondur of Patroclus and Hector, has gi ven us an account of the construction of these bar rows. We shall quote, from Mr Pope's translation, the description of the interment of Patroclus, which is somewhat more minute than that of Hector:— -" Where yet the embers glow, Wide o'er the pile the sable wine they throw; And deep subsides the ashy heap below.
Next the white bones his sad companions place, With tears collected, in a golden vase.
The sacred relics to the tent they bore; The urn a veil of linen eover'd o'er.
That done, they bid the sepulchre aspire, And cast the deep foundations round the pire; • high in the midst they heap the swelling bed Of rising earth, memorial of the dead." In process of time, as the Greeks began to acquire ' a taste for magnificence, their barrows were decora ted with the statues of animals, or with pillars bear ing inscriptions in praise of the illustrious dead.
The Asiatic barrows, though less stupendous than the pyramids of Egypt, were sufficiently grand to excite the admiration of all who beheld them. One of the most famous of these was the tomb of Alyat tes, king of Lydia, and father of Crcesus, which stands in the midst of several others, on the bank of the lake Gygmus, where the burial places of the Lydian princes were situated. The surrounding
barrows are of various dimensions ; some of them tower to such a height as to appear at a distance like hills ; but they are all greatly overtopped by that of Alyattes, which, reared on a lofty basis about three quarters of a mile in circumference, rises to the height of 200 feet. All these barrows are covered with green turf, and still retain their conical form, without the smallest sinking in of their summits.
The savage tribes of America raise the same kind of monuments in honour of their dead. Mr Jeffer son, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, gives a par ticular account of the opening of a very large barrow in his neighbourhood ; which consisted of thick stra ta of bones, promiscuously strewed with alternate strata of earth. It is not ascertained on what occa sion these barrows may have been made ; but they differ from all others in this, that they are the gene ral receptacles of immense numbers of dead bodies, and not the monuments of individuals. It seems pro bable that they were raised on the scene of memora ble battles, and enclosed the bones of those who had fallen for their country. They are at least of consi derable notoriety among the Indians ; for Mr Jeffer son informs us, that " a party of them passing about thirty years ago through that part of the country in which this large barrow is, went through the woods directly to it, without any instruction or inquiry, and, having staid about it some time, with expres sions which were to be construed to be those of sor row, they returned to the high road, from which they had deviated about six miles, purposely to pay this visit." Innumerable barrows are scattered through various parts of England, but particularly in the downs of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. Many of these have been opened, and found to contain skeletons, urns, ashes, beads, and other relics. In Scotland and Wales, the barrows are in general made of loose stones, and are known by the name of cairns. (See CAIRN.) But in the links of Saudwick, one of the Orkney islands, there are a great number of round barrows, some formed entirely of earth, and others of stones covered with earth. As these barrows generally contained two tiers of coffins, it is probable that they were family vaults, and that, on the death of any one of the fa mily, the barrow was opened, and the body interred near its kindred bones. In Ireland, too, barrows are very numerous ; and are supposed by Ledwich to have been of Scythian origin. Odin, the deity and legis lator of the Goths, ordained that large barrows should be erected to the memory of celebrated chiefs : these barrows were composed of stone and earth, and their construction bespeaks amazing labour with no small degree of art. The most remarkable monument of this kind to be seen in Ireland, is that at New Grange, in the county of Meath. It is founded on a vast col lection of stones, covered with gravel and earth. Its base extends over two acres of land : it rises to the height of 70 feet ; and is 300 feet in circumference at the top. (For a moreparticular account of this mound, see NEW GRANGE. ) Sepulchral monuments of the same description as that at New Grange, are frequent in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Poland, and the steppes of Tartary ; and hence it has been conjectured that this mound is of Danish construction.