[Stones] The dreary vault

[littlestone]

Impressive collection of photos there Andy. Off to watch the TV prog on Silbury. Meanwhile, thanks to sam and Nigel on TMA for the link to John Skinner's words -

"...he came to a mouth of a passage covered with a square stone similar to that at (nearby) Plasne-wydd, anxious to reap the fruits of his discovery he procured a light and crept forward on his hands and knees along the dreary vault, when lo! In a chamber at the further end a figure in white seemed to forbid his approach. The poor man had scarcely power sufficient to crawl backwards out of this den of spirits..."

The poem by Emmeline Fisher (1825-1864), which was left in Silbury is entitled, Suggested by the opening made in Silbury Hill, Aug 3rd 1849 contains the lines -

"Hark, as we move,
Runs no stern whisper through the narrow vault?
Flickers no shape across our torch-light pale,
With backward beckoning arm? No, all is still."

Very similar. Emmeline Fisher's poem can be found in full at  http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/  (January 2008 Archives).
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