Our guide insisted upon our sitting in the Giant's Chair,
where King Arthur, he said, had sat before us. It was no easy matter to
climb into the chair, and we had to be assisted by sundry pushes from
below; but once in it we felt like monarchs of all we surveyed, and the
view from that point was lovely. Near by was the Giant's Bowl, and
finally the Giant's Grave, an oblong piece of land between the rocks,
which my brother measured in six long strides as being eighteen feet in
length. The Logan or Swinging Stone was estimated to weigh about eighty
tons, and although it was quite still when we reached it, we were easily
able to set it moving. It was a block of granite, and continued to
oscillate for some little time, but formerly it was said that it could
not be moved from its axis by force. This led to a foolish bet being
made by Lieutenant Goldsmith of the Royal Navy, who landed with his
boat's crew on April 8th, 1824, and with the united exertions of nine
men with handspikes, and excessive vibration, managed to slide the great
stone from its equilibrium. This so roused the anger of the Cornish
people that the Admiralty were obliged to make Mr. Goldsmith--who, by
the way, was a nephew of Oliver Goldsmith, the author of the _Vicar of
Wakefield_--replace the stone in its former position, which, owing to
its immense weight and almost inaccessible situation, was a most
difficult and costly thing to do.
Pages:
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237