32 The Ancient Stone Crosses substantial granite building erected for the accommodation of the Orphan Girls* School, founded by Dame Hannah Rogers, we shall soon reach a part of the road that runs parallel to the railway for a short distance. As we proceed we shall notice on our left some buildings a little way down the hill ; these are the kennels of the Dartmoor hounds. Below them is Wood- lands, a hamlet on the old Plymouth road, of which, according to Risdon, there were anciently lords bearing the same name, one of them — Walter Woodland — being servitor to the Black Prince. After passing the lane that leads down to this place we shall, at the distance of about three quarters of a mile, reach a small wood, which the road we are pursuing skirts for a hundred yards or so. From this a little rivulet issues, the roadway being carried over it by a bridge formed by stones being laid across its channel, but it is only of small size. It is known locally as Potsans Bridge, and though insignificant in itself, has yet some interest attaching to it, for it was here that the inscribed stone, generally referred to as the Fardle Stone, was found. Its position in the bridge was at the lower end, a circum- stance to which it owes its preservation, for had it been placed in the centre, it would either have been covered entirely by the road metalling, and so never have been discovered, or by being in the way of the traffic have suffered injury. It was taken from the bridge to Fardle farm-court, whence it was afterwards removed to the British Museum, through the instrumentality of Sir Edward Smirke. It is a matter for congratulation that so interesting a stone has been preserved, but at the same time one cannot but feel that it would have been more satisfactory had steps been taken to effect this without removing it far from the spot on which it was found. The stone, which Sir Edward described in an article in the Transactions of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, in 1861, is said to be six feet three inches in length, two feet ten inches in breadth, and to have a thickness of about seven inches. The inscriptions upon this stone have been variously read. One side is said to bear the word Sagranui, and the other Fanoni Maqvirini,^ both in the Roman character, while along
- Other renderings are Sagramnij and Sapanui, and in the second
name Maqvisiui. The Maq is equivalent to Mac, "the son of."
