 Previous 20 | Showing 21-26 of 26 folklore posts. Most recent first
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Inevitably for this part of the country, the folklore relating to the Bowl Rock is giant-ish. The stone was used in the games of bowls (hence the name, nothing to do with soup or pudding) played by the giants who lived on Trencrom Hill.
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"Stanford Bishop was probably named after the 'stone ford' at Jumpers Hole on the ancient trackway through the parish. Jumpers Hole in turn was named after a curious stone in the bed of the stream there, and the legend attached to it.
The stone at Jumpers Hole is on the north-west side of the crossing place, and it bears three very clear horseshoe-shaped dents, each about 7" long, and an oval hollow. The legend is that a witch stole a loaf of bread and fled on horseback*. As the horse jumped the brook, the loaf fell onto a stone; the impressions of the loaf and horse's feet are miraculously preserved in the stone.
One version of the tale is that the bread was stolen from Stanford Bishop: presumably from the church, hence the miracle. Another says that the witch went to a cottage at the Dovehills to beg a loaf; when the cottager refused she stole the loaf, and cursed both the farm and (oddly) the gate near the brook"
As told in "Stone Spotting in Herefordshire" - Jonathan Sant (2000) Moondial.
*What self-respecting witch uses a horse. Surely a broomstick or simply disappearing in a flash of smoke would be more suitable if wanting to make a quick exit?
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Some additional folklore:
There was a standing stone near the barrow*, which disappeared in the 1990s, which had the following associated with it:
"'when hanging was meted out to sheepstealers, a man was found one morning dead, leaning up against the stone, with a sheep tilted over the upper edge, with its four legs tied together for carrying'. The man had rested and the sheep to which he had tied himself had somehow slipped or struggled and strangled him. This was told to explain the bronze age cup marks on the stone, looking like imprints of a pair of sheep's trotters.
The road is said to be haunted by the ghost of the man, with the sheep on his back; he crosses the road and disappears into a yew tree."
As told in "Stone Spotting in Herefordshire" - Jonathan Sant (2000 Moondial)
*The stone was listed in "Herefordshire Register of Countryside Treasures" - E.C. Davies/County Planning Department (1981) published by H&W County Council:
"Standing Stone, St Weonards
A pillar of red sandstone lying N-S. 1m high with base section 0.6 x 0.3m. Two cupmarks discernable on the E side.
At roadside near to crossroads S of St Weonard's on A466. (497235)."
I wonder if anyone has any pictures of this before it went missing?
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A slight variation/addition to the folklore:
"at noon on Wednesday 16th February 1642 an extraordinarily strong wind dragged the upright Wergins Stone 120 yards away, making an 18" dent in the ground the whole distance, and carried the base stone 440 yards away through the air; a satanic black dog was seen running before one of the stones"
From "Stone Spotting In Herefordshire" - Jonathan Sant (2000 Moondial), referring to "Civil War in Herefordshire" - John Webb (1879)
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The barrow appears to have had the name since at least 1777, when it was marked on Taylor's Map of Gloucester as "Paul Aposd".
"It has been suggested that an epistle was read there at the beating of the parish bounds, which run close by. In the mid 19th century, however, the name 'Paul and the Epistles' was sometimes used and was said to refer to the number of trees."
From: 'Parishes: Dowdeswell', A History of the County of Gloucester: volume 9: Bradley hundred. The Northleach area of the Cotswolds (2001), pp. 42-69. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66462
Rather less religiously, it is also known locally as "Bull's Pissel"!
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Generally the fort is thought to originally date from the early Iron Age, with the single bank and ditch being doubled in the last couple of centuries BCE.
Huddlestone's Table (information from "Cleeve Hill: The History of the Common and its People" - David H. Aldred 1990 [Alan Sutton Publishing Limited]):
Traditionally the stone is said to mark the spot where King Kenulf of Mercia took leave of various important guests after the 811 dedication of Winchcombe Abbey. In 1779 an article about the stone appeared in "Gentlemen's Magazine" linking it in true antiquarian style with Druids and so on.
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Previous 20 | Showing 21-26 of 26 folklore posts. Most recent first |
Twin interests are music and prehistory - music obviously includes Mr Cope, but wide variety of other things including Durutti Column, New Order/Joy Division, Billy Bragg, Smiths, Chameleons, Cardiacs, 50s rock'n'roll, etc. Many hols (and every opportunity) spent dragging very patient girlfriend to see vaguely discernable stone lumps obscured by mud and vegetation, particularly in West Penwith, also the Peak District and Herefordshire/Shropshire. Used to live in Yorkshire (Blakey Topping and High Bridestones being favourites) now live in Gloucestershire and pining for stone circles. Also blaming TMA in general and Gladman in particular for increasing levels of obsession where Wales is concerned. And now also blaming Drewbhoy for the urge to move to Drewland, RSC Central. No car (and can't drive) so sites are visited by public transport and on foot, which is still just about possible, despite the efforts of our beloved government to reduce/stop less profitable services by cutting funding everywhere. Appreciate a nice pint after a hard day's stone spotting (particularly in the Tinners Arms at Zennor).
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