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The mawnan must be described separately from the mawbynna, because they differ from them in an important particular, i.e. that the former may be erected to commemorate the father, while the latter are set up to perpetuate the memory of the ancestors on the female side of the family. Mawnam consist of three upright stones and one flat table-stone in front.
It is of great importance to notice the fact that here in Ireland, as elsewhere in the megalithic area, e.g. A good example of this exists at Gaulstown, Waterford, where a table-stone weighing 6 tons rests on six uprights, three of which form the little portico just described. The famous dolmen of Carrickglass, Sligo, is a still more developed example of this type.
Stones with top coverings or carved heads are however rare. In front of the line of menhirs is a large flat table-stone resting on stone supports, the top of the uppermost plane being some 2 to 2 1/2 ft. from the ground; this flat stone is sometimes as much as a foot or more thick. The largest table-stones are to be seen at Nartiang, in the Jaintia Hills, and Laitlyngkot in the Khasi Hills.
At Cherra two effigies called Ka Puron and U Tyngshop are prepared and dressed up; the former is intended to represent Ka Iawbei, the first ancestress, and the other U Suidnia, the first maternal uncle of the clan. These effigies are held in the hands of the dancers. In the meantime two lines of upright stones consisting of three each, with a table-stone in front of each line, have been set up.
The large central stone is called u maw thawlang, or the stone of the father, and the upright stones on either side are meant to represent the father's brothers or nephews. The flat table-stone is ka Iawbei, i.e. the grandmother of the father, not the first grandmother of the clan, as in the case of the mawbynna.
As far as my information goes at present, I am inclined to classify the stones as follows: Taking the above main divisions seriatim, mawlynti, or mawkjat, may be described as follows. These generally consist of three upright stones, the tallest being in the centre, and a flat table-stone being placed in front.
Copley was serious, however, in his intention of finding out if possible who was on the island; and when they had passed up the rough path to the round table-stone, Ruth had got over her little shivery feeling and was as eager as Chess himself. They passed carefully through the fringe of brush and reached the open space where the blasted beech tree stood.
A careful search has been made for this stone, with the result that a flat table-stone has been found near the above village, where goats are still annually sacrificed to the Kopili. The doloi reports that this is an ancient custom. None can remember, however, having heard that human victims were ever sacrificed there.
It would be unsafe to base any conclusion on the solitary folk-tale about the Iew Ksih table-stone; but the tale certainly furnishes food for reflection.
These ceremonies having been completed, they erect a flat table-stone, or mawkynthei, for the ghost of the departed to sit upon, and return home, where they propitiate their ancestors with offerings of food. In the case of the murdered victims of the thlen superstition the same ceremonies are observed.
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