The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Uffington White Horse

Hill Figure

Miscellaneous

"There seem to be few genuine traditions attached to the Horse, for its 'traditional' attribution to King Alfred is almost certainly due to Francis Wise in 1738 and is not mentioned by Baskerville or Defoe"

Can't let that pass, the person who wrote it had obviously not read Jacquetta Hawkes on the subject or H.J.Massingham - two favourite books, if you want to read about the emotional love affair people have with their English countryside ;) look no further than early 20th century literature.
The scouring ceremony is first mentioned by Aubrey and the best early record dates from 1677 when Baskerville wrote;-
"Some that dwell hereabouts have an obligation upon their hands to repair and cleanse this Lande marke, or else in time it may turn green like the rest of the hill and be forgotten"
The Uffington White Horse sired nearly every other 18th century chalk horse in the district!

He holds within his image, the beautiful celtic curvilinear design to be found on the horse furnishings around this area, he can be called a Saxon horse because of association with King Alfred and white horses, and of course he belongs to St.George and his dragon. His various mythical and magical guises link him to gods and harvest ceremonies....
moss Posted by moss
4th June 2007ce

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to add a comment