Tag: folklore

Thor Stone, Taston, Oxfordshire

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SP 3592 2208

Also Known as:

  1. Thunor’s Stone

Getting Here

Thor Stone, Taston, hiding in shadows on bright sunny day

Very easy! From which ever direction you approach the gorgeous little village of Taston, get to the Cross in the middle of the road and look up the slight hill and at the old walling on the right-hand side.  You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

An impressive seven-foot tall standing stone resting up against the walling of Martin and Martha’s Thorstone Cottage, and which appears to have been recorded as far back as the late thirteenth century in the survey of the Chadlington hundred.  Indeed, according to the respective place-name authorities, the village of Taston itself appears to get its name from the Thor Stone, as it’s recorded as Thorstan in 1278 CE. (Gelling 1954)

Less than 100 yards away is a large old stone cross, the top of it now fallen, which may once have had some earlier pre-christian relationship with the Thor Stone; perhaps originating from other standing stones close by our now solitary Thor Stone (see Folklore, below).  No other monoliths or prehistoric tombs are presently associated with this site, but its folklore tells of earlier companions…

More than a hundred miles north of here we find an etymological sister in the old village of Thurstaston and where, not surprisingly, we have another Thor’s Stone — but in this instance the name applies to a huge rock outcrop with old pagan legends attached.

Folklore

Elsie Corbett (1962) tells that the creation myth for this stone was that it originated after the great god Thor cast a thunderbolt down from the heavens and this stone appeared as a result.  But more intriguing from an archaeological perspective is what Mike Howard (he of The Cauldron magazine) told us in a short article for the Gloucester Earth Mysteries magazine in 1994, which said that our grand old Thor Stone was once part of a stone circle.  He wrote:

“At Taston…are the rather battered remains of a megalithic circle known locally as the Thor Stones. It seems the original circle was dug up many years ago and the stones now reside in a neat pile at the crossroads in the centre of the village. The whole edifice resembles nothing less than an eccentric market cross, topped by a phallic stone.”

Although he doesn’t cite any sources for this bit of info (where’d you gerrit from Mike?), we need to take a more careful look at the old cross nearby.  And we find another piece of folklore relating to the Taston cross which said that it was placed there to abate the evil influences that were supposed to come from the Thor Stone.  This piece of folklore is simply one laid down by the Church which portrayed most things it did not understand, or sought to repress, as being the work of their own demonic power, Satan.

Between these two old monuments was once a huge old elm tree which, says Caroline Pumphrey (1990), was a meeting place of the local villagers in times gone by.  Whether this implies the Thor Stone to have been a moot spot is difficult to tell, although the erection of the cross would seem to add weight to this.

More recent screwy notions comes from one woman who reckoned, curiously, that the Thorstone got its name from some completely invented made-up goddess, saying:

“I believe its more likely to be a corruption of the name of ‘Hoar’, the great Goddess. Indeed the Hawk Stone, and various Hoar stones stand widely hereabouts and probably derived their names from the same deity.”

Utter drivel of course (there’s no such goddess as Hoar)! But — like the christians and others before them — people believe what they want to believe and this sorta nonsense is increasingly found all over the internet.  As is well known, the word hoar derives from ‘har’, being ‘grey’ or ‘a boundary’ (Gelling, 1954; Smith 1956); and numerous studies show this quite clearly.

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul & Wilson, Tom, The Old Stones of Rollright and District, Cockley: London 1999.
  2. Corbett, Elsie, A History of Spelsbury, Cheney & Sons: Banbury 1962.
  3. Gelling, Margaret, The Place-Names of Oxfordshire – volume 2, Cambridge University Press 1954.
  4. Grigson, Geoffrey, The Shell Country Book, George Rainbird: London 1962.
  5. Howard, Mike, ‘From Thor to Rollright,’ in Gloucestershire Earth Mysteries 18, 1994.
  6. Pumphrey, Caroline, Charlbury of our Childhood, Sessions Book: York 1984.
  7. Smith, A.H., English Place-Name Elements – volume 1, Cambridge University Press 1956.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Dun Chathach, Connel, Argyll

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Hillfort: OS Grid Reference – NM 9674 3401

Also known as:

  1. Canmore ID 23261
  2. Dun Cathich

Getting Here

Dun Chathach (drawn by Miss J. Knox Smith 1885)

Go up from Oban on the A85, past Connel and towards Taynuilt, keeping your eye out for where the train-line crosses the road. Just before this is a small road on your left leading down to the sea, with the train line running parallel all the way down. Go right to the end and then look up to the rocky rise a coupla hundred yards on where the train line runs out of view round the coastal edge. That’s it!

Archaeology & History

When Scottish writer and historian R. Angus Smith (1885) first saw this, the close arrangement and size of the stones that make up the edges of this dun made him think this was actually a stone circle up here.  Sadly it wasn’t to be.  Following an examination of the site in 1969 by members of the Scottish Royal Commission (Argyll – Volume 2, 1975), they described Dun Chathach as,

“circular in plan…measuring 18.3 metres in diameter externally. The wall, which has been about 3.4 metres in average thickness, is now reduced to a low grass-grown stony bank, but considerable stretches of the outer face are still visible in situ. Many of the facing stones, which lie as much as 1.6 metres below the level of the summit, are of massive proportions, the largest measuring 1.4 metres by 1.3 metres and 1 metre high. It is uncertain which of the three gaps now visible in the wall indicates the site of the original entrance.”

Folklore

Legend has it that this was a hill of battles.  It was also said by R. Angus Smith (1885) to “have been used as one of a chain of beacons,” with the next fire on being lit upon a small hill nearer Connel called Tom na h-aire, ‘the mound of watching.’

References:

  1. Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, Argyll- volume 2, HMSO: 1974.
  2. Smith, R. Angus, Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach, Alexander Gardner: London & Paisley 1885.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Raven’s Stone, Elgol, Strathaird, Skye

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Standing Stone (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NG 520 144

Folklore

This once-famous standing stone appears to have gone.  It was described in Otta Swire’s (1961:230) superb book on the folklore of Skye, where she wrote:

“Overlooking Elgol is Bidein an Fhithich. Near here once stood the famous Raven’s Stone, about which the Brahn Seer prophesied. It is believed that this prophecy, however, can never be fulfilled, as seventy or eighty years ago the stone was broken up and the main portion of it is now incorporated in one wall of the Glendale church, according to the Rev. A. R. Forbes’ Place Names of Skye. The stone was believed to have had some connexion with old pagan religious ceremonies.”

The Brahn Seer (more commonly known as the Brahan Seer) was Coinneach Odhar, a 16th century prophet who is said to have foretold the Battle of Culloden and other events.

References:

Swire, Otta F., Skye: The Island and its Legends, Blackie & Sons: Glasgow 1961.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Kilmarie, Kirkibost, Strathaird, Skye

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Stone Circle (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – NG 552  172

Also Known as:

  1. Cille Mhaire

Folklore

Omitted from Burl’s (2000) magnum opus, the great Scottish folklorists Otta Swire (1961) is the singular reference to the forgotten stone circle that once existed here.  She wrote:

“The site of the old church of Kilmarie and of the stone circle whose proximity no doubt originally called it into being are now no longer to be seen. The ruins of the old church, I am told, were swept away by the sea during that great storm in the 1920s which also blew down the Dunvegan woods.  The storm followed not long after the burial near the old church of an unknown sailor taken from the sea, and there were those who believed this to be the cause of the church’s disappearance, for, as the old Gaelic rhyme says: “The sea will search the four russet divisions of the universe to find her children,” and Kenneth MacLeod advises that a body taken from the sea should always be buried near the water’s edge, or the sea, desiring to recover her own, will flood much land in search of it.

“This church is said to have stood on the site of an older church of St. Maelrhuba (Servant of Peace) who was the patron saint of south-eastern Skye.”

References:

  1. Burl, Aubrey, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale University Press 2000.
  2. Swire, Otta F., Skye: The Island and its Legends, Blackie & Son: Glasgow 1961.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 

Corwen Cross, Denbighshire

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Cross & Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SJ 0787 4340

Getting Here

Simple.  The church in the centre of the village across from the T-junction with the A5 is where it’s at!

Archaeology & History

Cross-base with cup-marks (from Owen, 1886)

At Corwen churchyard we find a number of curious old stone relics — not least of which is this seemingly 12th century christian cross, more than seven-feet tall, on the west side of the church. Not only does this have a curious history in itself, but the base on which the cross stands has what may be at least seven cup-markings etched on it.  These were first mentioned – I think – by Elias Owen in his Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd, (1886) who wrote:

“The stone basement in which the (cross) shaft is placed is elliptical in form, with transverse and conjugate diameters measuring respectively 64 and 60 inches; it is 12 inches or so thick, is of a slaty nature and might have been procured in the neighbourhood… There are seven peculiar artificial depressions along the surface of the pedestal, strongly resembling the cup-markings which are found occasionally on the capstones of cromlechs, etc. They are irregularly arranged: on the north side there are three, almost in a line; and on other parts of the stone there are four of these marks. They differ somewhat from each other in size and shape, but they are for the most part circular, though one is more of an oblong than a circle. They vary also in depth, one being two-and-half inches deep, while the others are shallow. The largest is three inches in diameter; the others are not so broad.”

Owen makes note of a previous description of the Corwen “cross” by Thomas Pennant in 1784, where sounds as if this stone had a decidedly megalithic precursor. He told us:

“A most singular cross in the churchyard merits attention: the shaft is let into a flat stone, and that again is supported by four or five rude stones, as if the whole had been formed in imitation of, and in veneration of, the sacred Cromlech of very early times.”

Two other crosses are found at Corwen church – one of which has a decidely heathen legend attached to it. The Carreg y Big yn y Fach Rhewllyd monolith is also found here, in the porch wall.  A few miles east of here we also find another cup-marked stone, shown on The Old-Fashioned Antiquarian website.  Looks a good n’!

References:

  1. Owen, Elias, Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and Neighbouring Parishes, Bernard Quaritch: London & Oswestry 1886.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Leathad Carnaich, Dalhalvaig, Caithness

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NC 89044 55882

Archaeology & History

An unexcavated ring cairn in a very good state of preservation can be seen in the field immediately west of the River Halladale.  Measuring more than 14 yards across east-west and 15 yards north-south, the site stands in association with several other unexcavated cairns.

Folklore

Although some of the cairns here have been found with prehistoric burials in them, tradition tells that the cairns here were the result of “a great battle between the native Pictish inhabitants and the invading Norsemen.” So wrote George Sutherland, many moons ago. He continued:

“The Norsemen were defeated in that battle, and Halladha, their leader, was slain. It is from him that the river and the dale take their name. The battle was fought on a hillside, on the east side of the river and that hillside is covered with cairns which are supposed to mark the graves of those slain in this battle, but the body of Halladha, the norse leader, was interred on the west side of the river, and his sword was laid in the grave beside his body. Near the circular trench where he is said to have been buried there are several heaps of stones which are supposed to mark the graves of other Norsemen of note who fell in the battle.”

References:

  1. Sutherland, G., Folklore Gleanings and Character Sketches from the Far North, John o’ Groats Journal: Wick 1937.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Serpent Mound, Scallasaig, Glen More, Inverness-shire

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Cairn:  OS Grid Reference – NG 848 202

Folklore

I’m presuming that this burial site is the right one, described in the fine Mr MacGregor’s Peat Fire Flame (1937) as being “by the roadside up near Scallasaig.”  There certainly doesn’t appear to be another alternative site close by (though if I’ve got it wrong, someone please lemme know!).  This place was, said MacGregor, a site “where the people in olden times used to worship the serpent.”

MacGregor spoke with a local man about the myths here and asked how long it had been associated with serpents.

“Och, about two thousand years,” said Mr John MacRae. “The mound was in the shape of a serpent, and when the chief of the people would die, he would be buried in the head of the serpent..”

He continued, saying, “One from London, that was going about searching things like that, opened the mound, and they found in the mound a big stone coffin with a big stone slab on the top. And there the bowl was found with the ashes of the chief of the people at that time. The bowl was taken to the Manse. That’s about fifty years ago. It was there for a few months; and they took it to Edinburgh, to some museum or something. They were saying that there was a funny noise in the Manse when the bowl was lying there. If there was any treasure in the bowl, or in the grave along with the bowl, it was taken out before. You see, had he any treasure – the chief like – guns and money and the like – I’m sure they wouldn’t be putting much money in the grave. It would be going into the grave with the dead man, so, when he would rise in the next world, he would be ready to start at the same game as he was carrying on here on Earth.”

This sounds a little like the folk-memory of an idea of a heathen afterlife – and of course it’d make sense finding such lore here at a tomb.

I’ve come across references to several other serpent mounds scattering the western side of Scotland, but their exact locations have proven hard to pin down. It makes y’ wonder how many more there once were before the christian paradigm became entangled in the myths of the country people.

References:

  1. MacGregor, Alisdair Alpin, The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands, Ettrick Press: Edinburgh 1937.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Lee Hall Well, Bellingham, Northumberland

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Healing Well:  OS Grid Reference – NY 861 797

Archaeology & History

Very little is known about this forgotten heathen water source.  It was described in some notes attached on a piece of paper accompanying John Warburton’s description of Lee Hall and its surroundings.  The notes were first printed in an early edition of Archaeologia Aeliana and subsquently included in Binnall & Dodds’ (1942) fine survey on the holy wells of the region.  It’s exact whereabouts appears to be lost, but it may be either the small pool across from the present Hall, or a small spring found in the edge of the small copse of trees just east of Lee Hall Farm.  Does anyone know?

Folklore

Written verbatim in that dyslexic olde english beloved of antiquarians like misself, the only piece of folklore said of this spring of water told:

“At the Lee hall an exclent spring, the vertue is such that if the lady of the Hall dip aney children that have the rickets or any other groone destemper, it is either a speedy cure of death.  The maner and form is as followeth: The days of dipping are on Whitsunday Even, on Midsumer Even, on Saint Peeter’s Even.  They must bee dipt in the well before the sun rise and in the River Tine after the sun bee sett: then the shift taken from the child and thrown into the river and if it swim…child liveth, but if it sink dyeth.”

The latter sentence echoing the crazy folklore of the christians to identify witches in bygone days!

References:

  1. Binnall, P.B.G. & Dodds, M. Hope, ‘Holy Wells in Northumberland and Durham,’ in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (4th Series), 10:1, July 1942.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Holy Ash Well, Bradford, West Yorkshire

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Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 15942 34208

Also Known as:

  1. Ash Well
  2. Holy Well Ash Well
  3. Pin Well

Archaeology & History

Holy Well Ash on 1852 map

Either right next to, or perhaps now beneath Bradford City’s Valley Parade football ground, was once a very important sacred well site.  Known as the Holy Ash Well and variants thereof, this healing spring was of considerable renown to people all around Bradford district in bygone days.  The site was illustrated on the 1852 OS map, and there was also a sacred stone adjacent to the well known as the Wart or Pin Stone, which had some animistic healing properties related the waters.

The old well was described by local historian Abraham Holroyd (1873) who said that:

“In Manningham Lane there is a fine well, in old deeds called Hellywell, i.e., holy well, in a field now called Halliwell Ash, now a stone quarry… Near this is the ancient Pin Stone.”

A few years later, in Robert Charles Hope’s (1893) monumental study, he described how,

“This holy well, not far from Manningham Lane, probably derived its name from having at some time been dedicated to some saint.  The inhabitants of Bradford were wont in ancient times to resort on Sundays to these wells as a common place of meeting, to drink of the waters and partake of their preternatural virtues.”

Which was another was of saying that he didn’t really know too much about the place!

The Bradford historian William Preston (1933) described this site in one of his early essays, where he informed us that local people knew the accompanying rock hereby as the Ash Stone, due to its proximity and ritual relationship to a great old ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) that grew next to the well.  The mythic history of this particular tree should not be understated: it was a Creation deity par excellence in northern and Viking myths, but whatever old tales and power might once have been had here, in Bradford, they’ve long since been forgotten.  But it was the industrial historian William Cudworth (1896) who told the most of this all-but forgotten site, saying:

“On the sloping ground between Belle Vue and the Midland Railway there once existed a spring of water, supposed to have preternatural virtues. The name it bore within present recollection is probably a corruption of Holy-well. The holy wells of England as elsewhere had not all the same virtues attached to them. Some were blessed if used for baptisms, to others were attributed curative properties, especially for sore or weak eyes, while others were supposed to possess mystical powers, insomuch as any article dipped in them became charms or safeguards against witchery.  Any traditions associated with the spring at Halliwell (or Holywell) Ash are lost, but certainly in the early part of the present century the place was a favourite resort of the townspeople on Sundays.

“The derivation of the name is doubtful. In the survey of 1638 a close called ” Helliwell Ash” is mentioned as containing 2a. 3r. 26p., but without any indication as to its locality. The spelling of the name is of little moment.  Mr. James, in his “History of Bradford,” states that he had seen the place referred to in old deeds as “Helly-well.” By his will, dated May, 1685, Thomas Lister, of Manningham, devised to his two daughters, Juliana Lambrecht and Elizabeth Stapleton, equal shares in two closes of land called “Holywell Ash” and ” Delf Close,” besides other lands in Manningham. In the will disposing of the possessions of Juliana Lambrecht, her moiety of “Holywell Esh” was bequeathed to Francis Stapleton, her nephew.  In due course the lands in question were inherited by Francis Sharp Bridges, and have latterly belonged to Sir Francis Sharp Powell, M.P., in whose writings the form of spelling is given as ” Halliwell Ash.”

“Upon the ground in question there used to be a fine well of water issuing out of the higher ground, to which tradition assigned healing virtues. Might not the name of “holy” come from this circumstance?  Sufficient importance attaches to the tradition, however, to have led the farmers of the recent ordnance plan of Manningham to preserve the name, although the widening of the Midland Railway below Thorncliffe Terrace has almost obliterated the site.”

A more recent updated overview of the site was written by one of my old school-mates, Dave Pendleton (1997), who said of the place:

“Prior to 1886 the only feature of any real note in the Valley Parade environs was a holy well that emerged near the corner of the football grounds Midland Road and Bradford End stands; hence the road Holywell Ash Lane. Today the site of the well is covered by the football pitch.

Only the road name survives as a reminder of what was apparently one of the district’s foremost attractions. On Sundays and holidays people would gather to take the waters and leave pins, coins, rags and food as offerings to the spirit that resided in the waters.

Accounts suggest that the well was covered and had a great ash tree standing over it (hence ‘holy ash’). There was also a standing stone called the wart stone of unknown antiquity. The stone had a carved depression that collected water. It was believed that the water was a miraculous cure for warts. Indeed, as early as 1638 the Holy Well had been credited with healing powers.

The well suffered a decline in popularity during the late nineteenth century and its keepers resorted to importing sulphur water from Harrogate, which they sold for a half penny per cup. The well disappeared under the Valley Parade pitch during the summer of 1886 and the wart stone was moved to the top of Holywell Ash Lane – which then ran straight up to Manningham Lane. The stone was still there as late as 1911 but thereafter it seems to have disappeared into the mists of time.”

A night-club adjacent to the Valley Parade football ground—called Bibby’s—was said to have had an old well in its cellar, which the owner of the place, Mr Pearl Gladstone Minott, said was ‘haunted’.

Unfortunately I’ve not been able to find any old photos or drawings of this lost holy well – though I imagine that some local, somewhere must be able to help us out with this one.  Surely there’s more of this site hidden away somewhere….?

References:

  1. Bennett, Paul, The Old Stones of Elmet, Capall Bann: Milverton 2001.
  2. Cudworth, William, Manningham, Heaton and Allerton, W. Cudworth: Bradford 1896.
  3. Holroyd, Abraham, Collecteana Bradfordiana, Saltaire 1873.
  4. Hope, R.C., The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, Elliot Stock: London 1893.
  5. Pendleton, David & Dewhirst, John, Along the Midland Road, Bradford City AFC 1997.
  6. Preston, W.E., ‘Some Bradford Holy Wells’, in Bradford Antiquary, volume 7, 1933.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian 


Caratacus Stone, Winsford, Somerset

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‘Standing Stone’:  OS Grid Reference – SS 8896 3355

Getting Here

You can’t really miss this.  Take the road south from Winsford, up the steep hill onto the moors and before you reach the crossroads, look up across the slope on your left where you’ll see a small building on its own.  Go there!

Archaeology & History

A curious upright monolith more than five feet long (though some of this is embedded in the ground) with the words ‘CARAACI NEPVS’ carved on one side, is strangely closetted in a silly ‘house’ of its own on the moortops!  But the origins and history of the stone are contentious.  Some proclaim it as prehistoric, others Romano-British, and others as being from the Dark Ages.  In the 1960s and ’70s, archaeological tradition had its origins in the Romano-British period, and certainly the carved lettering on the sides of the stone seem to indicate a Roman provenance; but as the great Exmoor historian S.H. Burton (1974) told,

“It is possible that the stone was erected hundreds of years before it was inscribed, and the existence of an ancient trackway alongside, leading to the Barle, strengthens this possibility.  But, like most things about the Caratacus Stone, this is guesswork.”

We know it stood here in the 13th century as it was described in perambulation records of 1219 and 1279 AD; but it’s more than likely to be a monolith erected in the Dark Ages.  Grinsell (1970) however is a little more cautious, telling:

“The likelihood of the person in whose memeory this stone was raised claiming kinship with the Caratacus who was the arch-enemy of Rome, c. AD 45-50, has on more than one occasion been questioned.  It is, however, too tempting to be abandoned by the present writer.”

The carving on the stone was deciphered by the legendary Prof. John Rhys at the end of the 1800s, telling it to have been Carataci Nepos, the Kinsman of Caratacus (and variants thereof), who held out against the Romans in south Wales until AD 50.  The old Celtic writer, R.A.S. Macalister, thought the stone to have been dedicated to a local christian hero, St. Carantoc, but this notion has been generally dismissed.

Folklore

The old stone is said to be a site where buried treasure exists — though none has ever been found.  There is also an old tradition that “ghostly horses and waggons rumble towards the stone at midnight” — but this as likely relates to its proximity with the old crossroads a short distance away.

References:

  1. Burton, S.H., Exmoor, Hale: London 1974.
  2. Grinsell, L.V., The Archaeology of Exmoor, David & Charles: Newton Abbot 1970.
  3. Page, John Lloyd Warden, An Exploration of Exmoor and the Hill Country of West Somerset, Seeley 1890.
  4. Vowles, Alfred, History of the Caratacus Stone, privately printed 1939.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian