A HISTORY OF CORNWALL how near it would be to the ground and the fact of the holes being splayed. It may be fairly stated that we do not know the object of this arrangement of stones. The fifth stone, which formerly stood 100 yards farther on, is not now to be seen. In the same direc- tion, north-east, there stands on Longstone Down, Boslow, a tall menhir, 9 ft. high, the top of which is just visible over the hedge from the circles. This is the third instance of a menhir, or menhirs, being found near circles in West Cornwall. Here as elsewhere the moor is dotted with barrows, and from one of them the late W. C. Borlase obtained the very fine urn now in the British Museum and known as the ' Tregaseal urn.' We are indebted to Dr. Borlase for an early mention of these circles; in his MS. Parochial Memoirs (1738) he says: 'On Tregaseal-downs are two circles of stones placed on end, standing east and west of each other. In the eastern, 17 stones are still standing, two prostrate, one broken off. Diameter, 23 paces. In the western, 10 standing, four prostrate, about 26 paces diameter, called Tregaseal Dancing Stones.' ] In the 164 years covered by the various plans and descriptions there has been a steady deterioration of this interesting monument. It may be noted that these circles lie east and west of each other, with the small error of i or 2 between their centres. The Scilly Isles are plainly visible west-south-west. Other instances of two circles side by side are found in the Grey Wethers, Dartmoor, and the Wendron Circles. BOSKEDNAN No. Height Length Breadth Thickness No. Height Length Breadth Thickness ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. I 4 o leans out 3 * i 6 7 fallen 4 6 2 3
2 leans out, 5 6 i 9 i 8 8 4 8
i 6 i 8 nearly down 9 fallen 7 6 2 6
IO 6 4
2 I i 6 3 3 IO
i 6 2 3 1 1 down, 6 o
- 9
4 3 9 leans out 3 10 I 2 covered with furze 5 3 9 ditto 2 5 I 6 leans in, 4 7 2 O O IO nearly down Boskednan Circle is in the parish of Gulval and lies about 4! miles north of Penzance, on the high moorland between Ding Dong Mine and Carn Galva ; it takes its name from the farm near by, and the land- owner is Mr. T. Robins Bolitho. The diameter is 69 feet, which is about the average for West Cornwall, but most of the stones are above that average in size. The largest stone, a fallen one (9), is 7 ft. 6 in. long ; one end of it can be seen in the foreground of the photograph ; another (10) stands 6ft. 4in. out of the ground, and a third (11), pros- 1 Prehistoric Monuments, 2. 386
