An Interesting Relic.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7965, 31 October 1905, Page 3

An Interesting Relic.

An interesting survival of prcliis- | tone England is threatened with dc--sttuclioa to That is the "CVrnc liiant," a col .sal human figure cut on the side of a lofty hill that overlooks tlie picturesque village oi Cerne Abbas, eight miles north of Dori&csler. It is several years since the furrows which outiined the giant's figure were scoured and relined with chalk. (Iradually the latter has lieen washsd away \i\, the winter rains, and it is now barely visible. tiidss has so uicroa'tied on the channels that, seen iroin a distance, the details oi llie. gigantic figure are hard to trace, lliough the uncouth human form is Jit ill lec.eiins.ilile 'Hie cost ni renovating the giant i* estimated al about £l2, hut ini oi,lit the locality knows wheic the money is ti> collie ir»ni. The "Old Man," as lie is styled by the natives of CYrne Ai>tus (the "Abbot's Cermi" of Hardy Wessex novels), is built on truly heroic lines. He stands ISO ft. high, and his right hand grasps a Knotted club 121 ft long. Tlie unknown artist had his own notions oi tlie just; proportians of the human Maine, as will be si en from ;li ■ following measurements Lang tli of ~Kidy 77(?\ legs, MH't ; head 22it ; lisht arm, liWit ; nose lift ; tliamefer of eyes 21ft. The antiquity of the figure it* accepted by all archaeologists. Most auitiorni<s ascribe it to the Ciltic period,, while some have held that it renreseins an idol once worship-l«-il by the pagan West Saxons. Another view is tlial it was the work 01 the lllntiks of the then liewly-fouiiil-(d Ijincdiciini- Ai.liey of Cerne. Some Colour is cnen to Ihi, tlin.ry by, the existence of ,i similar Ihuie at' Willllillgtoii, in Sli>>e\, oi Ce stuod a Hen. die tine I'lion,