A little to the south-west of Redruth is a Tor,[1] called Carn-brea or Karn-breh, with an old castle on the top. This hill forms a ridge extending from E.N.E. to W.S.W. and the highest point of it is six hundred and ninety-seven feet above the level of the sea. The northern side is covered with heaps of granite blocks, which are probably the debris of a part of the ridge. The rock appears to be of a very tender texture, and the water retained at the surface by the mould which covers it, contributes, no doubt, very powerfully to its decompositionq.[2]
Carn Marth, another small hill, the summit of which is elevated eight hundred and forty-nine feet above the level of the sea, is distant two miles S.S.E. from Redruth. It is the highest point in the neighbourhood, and from it may be seen the two channels and the port of Falmouth, which is about seven miles distant in a straight line. The upper part of Carn Marth (about one-third) is granite; large blocks are strewed over this part of the mountain, and they appear to have been rolled from the summit. In general, all these
- ↑ The small round hills in this part of Cornwall seem to be better known by the name of Kar, or Carn, than that of Tor.
- ↑ We are so apt to form our opinions on those of others, and to see things only as they have been seen before, that to speak of Carn-brea without immediately recognizing it to have formerly been a place consecrated to the worship of the Druids, is almost an insult offered to the greater number of those who have visited the place. Nevertheless, I must freely confess, that the Druidical barrows which are said to be here so distinctly marked, did not appear to me as such, and in my opinion are by no means to be compared to those in other parts of Cornwall, as well as in the north of Scotland. And I can never believe that those rocks which are distinguished by the pompous names of Judicizing, Sirloin, and Sacrificing stones, were ever excavated by the hand of men: indeed I never saw any thing which could more reasonably be attributed to the operation of time. If the Druids had ever made the Alps their habitation, there is no doubt that homage would have been paid to the Table au Chantre, the Pierre ronde, &c.
