rock because some masons wanted to find out how such a large weight could move so easily, so they chopped at it until they destroyed its balance. Men Amber A very sensitive rocking stone called Men Amber (sometimes written as Men-Amber or Menamber) was on a high ridge in the parish of Sithney, near Pendennis, Cornwall. It is long, deep, and wide. It was toppled by Shrubsall, the governor of Pendennis, and his men about 1650 during Cromwell's Commonwealth. One rumoured motivation for the dislodging was a purported prophecy of Merlin, who supposedly said that Men Amber would stand until England had no king. Rev. Dr. William Stukeley wrote: Main Ambres; petrae ambrosiae, signify the stones anointed with holy oil, consecrated; or in a general sense, a temple, altar or places or worship William Borlase in his 1754 book Antiquities of Cornwall, claimed that Men Amber was dislodged because: the vulgar used to resort to this place at particular times of the year, and paid to this rock more respect than was thought becoming to good Christians. Logan Rock Another well-known example of a rocking or logan stone is Logan Rock of Treen in Cornwall. This huge stone weighs about 80 or 90 tons. It is one of the best-known rocking stones for several reasons. For example, Modred, in William Mason's dramatic poem "Caractacus" addressing the characters Vellinus and Elidurus, says of the Logan Rock: However, another reason that the Logan Rock of Treen is remembered is that it was the center of a famous drama. In April 1824, Lieutenant Hugh Goldsmith, R. N. (nephew of the famous poet Oliver Goldsmith), and 10 or 12 of his crew of the cutter HMS Nimble, armed with bars and levers, rocked the huge granite boulder until it fell from its cliff-top perch. Goldsmith was apparently motivated to disprove the claim of Dr. Borlase, who wrote in Antiquities of Cornwall in 1754 that: Goldsmith was determined to demonstrate that nothing was impossible when the courage and skill of British seamen were engaged. The Logan Rock fell and was caught in a narrow chasm. This upset the local residents considerably, since Logan Rock had been used to draw tourists to the area. Sir Richard Vyvyan (1800–1879) was particularly unhappy. They demanded that the British Admiralty strip Lieutenant Goldsmith of his Royal Navy commission unless he restored the boulder to its previous position at his