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"Just beyond the hustle of the Home Counties, Wiltshire is one of the most tranquil – and least populated – parts of the country, where patience is not just a virtue but a way of life. There are few better places to get away from it all without having to take a compass and survival kit." Nice one Moss. Running along similar lines to that is Kathryn Hughes who, writing in the Guardian (8 August 2009) on the reissue of Geoffrey Grigson's 1960s guide to touring the countryside* says - "You won't find any sloppy lyricism here, no hey-nonny-noing. Instead, Grigson takes a tough approach to the evidence, refusing to be drawn into romantic fantasies of old Englishness when there is another, more serviceable narrative to hand. "The clearest instance of this astringency comes in the entry on dolmens which, as Grigson's daughter Sophie explains in her foreword, were something of a bête noire with her father. From the early 17th century, the idea had grown that these giant stone table structures - of which Stonehenge is the supreme example - were grand altars on which druids had thrillingly made human sacrifices. Geoffrey Grigson took pithy pleasure in explaining to his readers that "'druidical' remains do not exist" (note the sarcastic quotation marks which hint at his contempt for anyone who has fallen too heavily for the cod-Celtic version of British history). Instead, those striking structures which look so much like a giant's domestic furniture belong to the neolithic period, and thus pre-date the iron-age druids by several centuries. Anyone hoping for an excuse to dress up for a "druidical" reconstruction, complete with robes and mistletoe (another of Grigson's pet hates), would have to look elsewhere for encouragement."** * The Shell Country Alphabet: From Apple Trees to Stone Circles, How to Understand the British Countryside. ISBN: 9781846142123 ** http://www.guardian.co.uk/book[...]ntry-alphabet-geoffrey-grigson NB Apologies for the home link but a bit more about Grigson, John Aubrey and Nikolaus Pevsner (at Clyffe Pypard) can be found here - http://aveburymatters.blogspot.com/ Reply | with quote |  21st November 2009ce 20:33 In reply to: Walking in a Winter Wonderland (moss) |
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