ABURY

...was to present them in such a way, and in such a light, that it wins over the reader's affection and faith as they proceed. This should be done without pointing out every single detail like a child, or using logical proofs or mathematical demonstrations, which are not appropriate for this subject. The study of antiquities must be drawn with such strong lines of probability original: "verisimilitude" and represented in such lively colors that the reader effectively sees them as they were in their earliest ages. This either brings the past down to modern times or raises the reader up through time, as if they lived when these things were first made. Then we may truly say with the poet:

In trying to follow this rule, I must inform the reader of the general purpose of this volume. It consists of four parts. Three are descriptions of the three kinds of Druid temples (or as we may call them, patriarchal temples) that I have observed in Britain. The fourth part will be reflections on their age and origin—specifically, who built them in the early ages of the world and in Eastern original: "oriental" countries. Although my papers grew to an enormous size while writing the descriptive parts of these chapters (which I did on-site and at great leisure)—and this was necessary for my own understanding—I will shorten them significantly for the public. In doing this, I will be helped by the engraved illustrations, which give the reader a better idea of these things at a glance than the most detailed descriptions.

Likewise, in the part of the work where I reason about these temples and trace the remains of those recorded by ancient authors, I will simply lay out the facts. I will show the relationship between the monuments we see today and the accounts of similar structures found in ancient texts from the oldest times. I will leave the reader to form their own judgment based on this evidence, without trying to force agreement with imagined proofs that rarely hold up when dealing with such a remote age.

After what I wrote in my previous volume on S T O N E H E N G E—which links these antiquities to the very earliest times of the world—I may venture to speak a little from first principles original: "ex priori" concerning the origin of temples in general. This will introduce my goals for the first three parts of this book: the three different types of Druid or patriarchal temples in the British Isles. If we wish to know anything about such a remote time, we must (as with all ancient history) turn to the Bible. I believe this is mentioned in Genesis 4:26: "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the N A M E of the L O R D."

Regarding this passage, I note that the explanatory note original: "gloss" in our English Bibles says "to call themselves by the name of the LORD," which is very incorrect. The word "themselves" is a complete addition original: "interpolation". If we translated it correctly, it should be "to call in the name of Jehovah," or rather, "to invoke in the name of Jehovah." Vatablus François Vatable, a 16th-century Hebrew scholar translates it as "then men began to profane the Name by calling themselves by it." Our great scholar Selden John Selden, a 17th-century polymath and legal antiquary also fell into that opinion.