A rather amusing 18th Century Hoax that had some rather unfortunate consequences for all parties involved. 

Link: Wikipedia on Beringer's Lying Stones

Link: The Geological Society

And you can read (well, I was just there for the illustrations) the original manuscript here: https://books.google.ca/books?id=3PhcAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Droll indeed, although I can see how wanting so badly to believe led to errors (and mischief) all round...

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