Many of them, however, are but remnants of more elaborate structures, such as avenues, circles and dolmens, which formerly occupied the site, but which, in the course of time, have been removed by the ruthless hands of builders and agriculturists.
The largest menhir in Europe is to be seen at Locmariaquer (Morbihan), lying on the ground in four fragments, the aggregate length of which amounts to 67 feet. Originally the monument was one block of granite foreign to the neighbourhood, and according to recent calculations weighed 342 tons. The tallest pillar-stone in Scotland is Clach-an-Truiseil in the island of Lewis, standing 18 feet 9 inches above ground.
In Scotland stones used ceremonially in the act of crowning a king were called Tanist-stones, the most famous of which is the Lia Fail, formerly at Scone, but now in Westminster Abbey. Some menhirs were artificially perforated, and associated with these are various superstitious ceremonies. As examples of this class may be mentioned the Stone of Odin, which formerly stood near the circle of Stennis; the Clach-Charra, or Stone of Vengeance, at Onich near Ballachulish; and Mên-an-Tol, in Cornwall.
Alignments.—The most celebrated group of stones known under the name of alignments is to be seen at Carnac, in Brittany, situated in the centre of a district containing the most remarkable megalithic monuments in the
