Eden, and Karl
Lofts near Shap (if this last be not Danish), that a rural chapel bears
to a stately church, or to one of our noble cathedrals. This interesting
little monument having passed, with the field in which it was found,
into other hands, has been destroyed. It is much to be regretted, that
the striking relic of antiquity at Shap has been in a great measure
destroyed also.

The DAUGHTERS of LONG MEG are placed not in an oblong, as the STONES of
SHAP, but in a perfect circle, eighty yards in diameter, and seventy-two
in number, and from above three yards high, to less than so many feet: a
little way out of the circle stands LONG MEG herself--a single stone
eighteen feet high.

When the Author first saw this monument, he came upon it by surprize,
therefore might over-rate its importance as an object; but he must say,
that though it is not to be compared with Stonehenge, he has not seen
any other remains of those dark ages, which can pretend to rival it in
singularity and dignity of appearance.

A weight of awe not easy to be borne
Fell suddenly upon my spirit, cast
From the dread bosom of the unknown past,
When first I saw that sisterhood forlorn;--
And Her, whose strength and stature seem to scorn
The power of years--pre-eminent, and placed
Apart, to overlook the circle vast.
Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn,
While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night;
Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud,
When, how, and wherefore, rose on British ground
That wondrous Monument, whose mystic round
Forth shadows, some have deemed, to mortal sight
The inviolable God that tames the proud.

'When the Abbots of Furness,' says an author before cited, 'enfranchised
their villains, and raised them to the dignity of customary tenants, the
lands, which they had cultivated for their lord, were divided into whole
tenements; each of which, besides the customary annual rent, was charged
with the obligation of having in readiness a man completely armed for
the king's service on the borders, or elsewhere; each of these whole
tenements was again subdivided into four equal parts; each villain had
one; and the party tenant contributed his share to the support of the
man of arms, and of other burdens. These divisions were not properly
distinguished; the land remained mixed; each tenant had a share through
all the arable and meadow-land, and common of pasture