The descent to Dartmeet [from New Bridge] by the road is one of over five hundred feet. Halfway is the Coffin-stone, on which five crosses are cut, and which is split in half - the story goes, by lightning. On this it is customary to rest a dead man on his way from the moor beyond Dartmeet to his final resting-place at Widdecombe. When the coffin is laid on this stone, custom exacts the production of the whisky bottle, and a libation all round to the manes of the deceased.

One day a man of very evil life, a terror to his neighbours, was being carried to his burial, and his corpse was laid on the stone whilst the bearers regaled themselves. All at once, out of a passing cloud shot a flash, and tore the coffin and the dead man to pieces, consuming them to cinders, and splitting the stone. Do you doubt the tale? See the stone cleft by the flash.

Over against the foot of Hawkshaw-Burn in a Kairn beside the High road is the Giants Grave, so called from a huge and mighty Fellow, that robbed all on the way, but was at length from a Mount in the over side of the River supprised and shor to Death as Tradition goes.

In effecting some improvements, a few years ago, on the farm of Ardross, it was found necessary to remove one of these cairns; but the people had a tradition that "the plague was buried under it," and refused to touch it; and it was with no small difficulty, that they were at length induced to assist in its removal.

In some of the cairns which were removed, sculls and bones of a very large size were found. One of these cairns bears the name of Carna nam Fiann, i.e. the cairn of the Fingalians.

The next example of reputed Druidical remains in this county, which I shall describe, is to be found in Saddleworth. There is a lofty hill, called by the neighbouring people Pots and Pans. Upon its summit are abundance of craggy stones scattered up and down, which, when viewed from the east, look like the foundation or ruins of some stupendous fabric.

One of these stones, or rather two of them, closely joined together, is called the Pancake. It has upon its surface four basins hollowed in the stone, the largest, being nearly in the centre, is capable of holding 8 or 10 gallons; but it is not possible to ascertain whether these hollows are artificial or natural. This stone is about 76 feet in circumference; another long uneven hole upon this stone is called Robin Hood's Bed.

A little westward of this is another stone, about 20 feet in heght, and about 56 feet in circumference at the base, but much narrower at the top, from whence proceed irregular flutings or ridges down one side, of about 2 feet long, by some supposed the effect of time, and by others the workmanship of art.

More westward, and nearer the valley of Greenfield, the ground is called Alderman's, and overlooks that valley, opposite to a large and high rock called Alphian. Upon the level of this ground is a fissure in the earth, about 12 or 14 yards long, each end terminating in a cavernous hole in the rock, one of which is capable of admitting dogs, foxes, or sheep: the other large enough to receive men. Neither of these caverns has been thoroughly explored by anyone within memory.* One person who went into the larger with a light, returned after having gone down a sloping descent of about 60 yards. Tradition says, into the other hole, once went a dog in full chase after a fox, but neither of them ever returned.

*This is an extract from an account of these rocks written fifty years ago. Since that time demolition has been at work, and what time has spared has been wantonly injured. Many of these large and ponderous stones have been removed by crows and levers, for the purpose of trying how far they would tumble. Thus we find the hand of violence uniting with the devouring teeth of time, determined scarcely to leave one stone upon another upon this once sacred ground.

In modern times, everything unaccountable, however harmless it might be in itself, was ascribed to the agency of the devil. By the hope of a trifling reward - too often the soul of his employer - he might be induced to undertake the execution of any kind of structure. The Pikes on Carrock Fell are specimens of his diabolical architecture, though for what they were intended, tradition does not inform us; and the stones scattered about the summit of the hill, are the result of an accident that happened to him whilst engaged in their erection. He had finished one, and was bringing in his apron a sufficient quantity of stones to complete the second, when the apron-strings burst, and the greater part of his materials scattered in all directions. And this, it appears, is the reason why one of the Pikes is so much smaller than the other. The heap of stones in Ullswater is ascribed to a similar accident. On this occasion also he had his apron laden, and was striding in great haste from the Nab to Barton Fell, when the stones fell into the lake, and formed a bank dangerous to boats at some seasons.

There is a reputed well in the rock of Clegyr Voya that is supposed always to have water in it, but to fill especially when the tide flows. It is a small hollow in the igneous rock, from which a core or crystal has fallen, and is about large enough for the fist to be inserted. This "Fynnon" is still in repute, and its water is regarded as sovereign, especially for sore eyes.

Whilst I was engaged on the exploration of Clegyr Voya, I went several times a day to the reputed spring, but never found water in it, though the rock and sediment at the bottom remained wet.


A tradition exists that, eighty years ago, a party of men resolved on treasure seeking in the camp. The first day, they had hardly begun to dig before a pouring rain came on which drove them away. They went again, and next day a thunderstorm broke over them; but they did not leave till they had uncovered a kettle. They attempted the third day to dig out the kettle, but on reaching the rock thunder and lightning played about it, and the storm continued with such violence, and so long, that they retreated and abandoned the attempt. The origin of the story seem to be this:-- It is commonly held that a subterranean passage connects Clegyr Voya with St. David's Cathedral, and that considerable treasure is hidden in it.

The solitary pillar of the circle at Ballinrait is said to have served the purpose of a sun dial, just as a tree or post in the same neighbourhood was the clock of the clachan. The other stones of the circle were broken up some sixty years ago. It is related that one old man used every morning to walk round the circle three times before beginning work, from the belief that his so doing would bring him good luck.

In the parish of Rosskeen there is a large boulder-stone called Clach ceann nam meur, the "Stone of the Finger Ends," at the east of the Farm of Dalnacloich, "the field of the stone." Connected with this stone is a tradition which shows it as a horrible memorial of feudal times - that a laird of Achnacloich, when settling marches, asked a youth, whom he had taken to witness the settlement, whether he would remember that as the march-stone. On his replying that he would, the Laird commanded him to lay his hand flat upon the stone, and with a stroke of his sword cut off the tips of the lad's fingers, saying, "You will remember it now." And posterity still remembers it.

Holy Well, Humphrey Head. -- This celebrated medicinal well is said to have been used by lead miners from the time of the Romans. The patients come for a two or three days' stay to "get the poison out of their systems." The site is three and a half miles nearly due south from Cartmel. The water, which has a very peculiar taste, comes down from the hillside and flows into a small artificial basin or grotto. The key of the door is kept at a neighbouring farmhouse. Close to the well is an untenanted building formerly used by indigent sufferers. The wooded cliff forming "The Head" is of singular beauty, overlooking the waters and sands of Morecambe Bay. On Hennet's map of Lancashire (1828) the well is called "Spa Holy Well." ..

Mr. W. O. Roper, in his Churches, Castles, and Ancient Halls of North Lancashire, writes: "One other appendage to the Priory of Cartmel should be mentioned, and that is the well known as the Holy Well. On the sea-shore, close under the towering cliffs of Humphrey Head, and almost immediately below the natural arch of rock which leads to the recess known as the Fairy Chapel, bubbles the well to which in former days the Priors journeyed in state from their neighbouring Priory, and to which in more recent times large numbers of people resorted, hoping to derive benefit from its medicinal qualities."

Mr. James Stockdle, in Annals of Cartmel, writes: "Near to this holy well (Humphrey Head) are two cavities in the mountain limestone rock called the 'Fairy Church' and the 'Fairy Chapel,' and about three hundred yards to the north there used to be another well, called 'Pin Well', into which in superstitious times it was thought indispensiable that all who sought healing by drinking the waters of the holy well should, on passing it, drop a pin; nor was this custom entirely given up till about the year 1804, when the Cartmel Commoners' Enclosure Commissioners, on making a road to Rougham, covered up this 'Pin Well'. I have myself long ago seen pins in this well, the offerings, no doubt, of the devotees of that day."

Mr. Hope, in his Holy Wells of England, says that "this is a brackish spring celebrated as a remedy for stone, gout, and cutaneous complaints.."

There is a curious mound by the side of the Blackadder, on the north of the stream, called "the King's Grave," which may be a natural eminence, or may have been formed by the debris of a rush of water through a ravine nearly opposite to it, but which certainly has the appearance of having been stirred - dug into - on a part of its extent, the tradition connected with which, seems to carry the mind back to the same stern times [of the sixth century].

The residence, according to this old tale, of a British Chief was surprised by Saxon assailants in his absence, and all who belonged to him were murdered or carried away, with the exception of one infant child who was a twin, who happened to have been carried out at the time in the arms of his nurse, and was by her concealed and preserved.

Many years afterwards this British Chief met a Saxon army, and the place of meeting must have been some where near to these lines. It was proposed by the Saxon leader and agreed to, that the matter in dispute between them should be decided by combat, one champion being chosen from each army. The Saxon champion was the Briton's stolen son, whose life had been spared by his enemies when they put to death the other members of his family who were in their power. It was his twin brother who represented the British host - and the two kinsmen both fell - mutually slain, and lie buried, as the tradition which I seek to give says, under the large and contiguous cairns on the "Twinlaw," a prominent eminence of the Lammermuir range, a few miles to the west. The armies having afterwards engaged in battle on the southern descent of the Lammermoors, near to Wedderlie, the British Chief was himself either mortally wounded or slain in the action, and, on the route of his dispirited army, was interred in that lonely mound by the Blackadder.

Ffynon Fair (St. Mary's Well). -- This is a spring and well near the church. It was a holy well and under the guardianship of the Virgin. Its water was used for the sacred uses of the Church, as in the font for baptism, etc. , and in years gone by it was held in great repute for its curative properties, especially as a bath for rheumatic complaints and cutaneous disorders. It was formerly held also to have talismanic properties as a protective against curses, witchcraft, and other evils of life. But what was the superstitious cantrap necessary to be used to make it efficacious is not now known.

Under the cliffs of Peninnis Head on St Mary's there is a cavern, termed the Piper's Hole, which extends a long distance under ground, and is absurdly said to communicate with another cave of the same title, the entrance to which is in the island of Tresco. This legend would make the length of the cavern at least four miles; and the inhabitants of the locality tell you of dogs let in at the one entrance coming out, after a time, at the other with most of their hair off, so narrow are some parts of the cave. So there is a tradition in Scotland of a man getting through a similar cave, but paying the penalty in the loss of all his skin.

On this down and its environs, are a number of rocks and columnar stones, of various sizes and in various figures. They are thus noticed by a correspondent of Dean Milles:

"On Maddoc-common, one stone is of a remarkable size, and one only. It is of a conic figure, not so large at the base, as near its center, occasioned by the sheep rubbing against it. At the center, it measures fifteen feet four inches. The height, about which I could not be so exact, I take to be eleven feet, if not more. In a line parallel to this great stone, from south to north, and at the distance of twenty-four paces, lies a trunk of stone, about a foot from the ground, whose diameter is two feet eight inches. About twelve paces distant from this, in a line from west to east, is a stone not a foot above the ground, and about a foot in diameter. Were there another to correspond to the large one, these four would include a space of ground, whose opposite sides would be equal.

I counted more than an hundred clusters of stone in different parts. In some places, six, eight, or more are to be seen together, but not remarkable for their height. At one groupe of six, the eye is particularly engaged. These stand circular-wise, and are the only ones in which the circular figure can be discovered. At the distance of four paces from this circle, is the trunk of a stone, nearly three feet above the surface, whose diameter measures about three feet.

The opinion of the country is, that the first stone I have described being one entire solid stone, was erected by human hands. Concerning these stones, we have two traditions. One is, that there was a battle fought between Biry, or Berry, and Maddoc, two potent lords; and that Maddoc erected these monuments to perpetuate his victory.

The other tradition is, that two Lords had a battle on this spot of ground, and that, though the conqueror is forgotten, the name of the vanquished was Maddoc, and that the slain were all buried in a common adjoining to this, hence called Deadbury common: Yet I could perceive no tumuli there."
Thus writes a Gentleman from Barnstaple in 1751.

[.. Another correspondent] writes "On the north-side of the parish of East-Down, is an estate which, though now inclosed, still bears the name of Maddoc's-Down. On this place stands a remarkably large stone of the spar kind - in the midst of a plain, about twelve feet above ground, and of a size too large ever to have been fixed there by art. At the distance of some yards, are several other stone, lying flat - which they call the Gyants' Quoits."

When at the Longstone or Mote-stone which gave its name to Mottistone, in the Isle of Wight, the other day [the writer] was told by an inhabitant of the locality that the two stones were said to have been thrown there from St. Catherine's Down (seven miles away as the crow flies), the larger one by a giant and the smaller by the Devil; and that the giant had to stoop to throw his stone because it was so heavy.

[An] interesting derivation is suggested by local tradition, which was mentioned to me many years ago by an intelligent neighbouring farmer. (The late Mr. Wm. Charlton of Rushy Law, which is the next farm to Pitland Hills eastward. His father lived to the great age of 102 years. Both were well-versed in the folk-lore of the district. Pickland Hills is still the more common local pronunciation.)

He informed me that his "fore-elders" called the place not Pitland, but "Pictland or Pickland" Hills, and that the ancient people, the Picts, or "Picks," as he preferred to pronounce the word, had a settlement here, and in working for iron and coal in the shallow pits on the moor first used the implements which our miners still call "picks," thus named after the people who introduced them.

It is noteworthy that the cairns scattered over our wild Northumbrian uplands, as at High Shield Green previously described in this paper, and on those of the Scottish Borders, are often associated with that fierce race of invaders from the north, whose name and deeds became a terror to the Romanised Britons of the Lower Isthmus, and probably for long afterwards.

"On the moors of Northumberland, such heaps are pointed out as places where a Pict's apron-string had broken, as he was carrying a load of stones to some of his superhuman erections." (Rambles in Northumberland p104.)

A legend exists of Lidwell, Lithewell, or Lady-Well under Haldon, not far from Dawlish, that a monk resorted to the practices of a highwayman to gain means to enjoy the luxuries of the table. He assumed nightly the garb of a wayfarer, and trudged along the roads, demanding "Your money or your life" of well-dressed and wealthy travellers.

He would decoy women to his chapel, and after robbing them, would throw them into a disused well. Hence the name of this place. After the suppression of the chapel this well was found to contain a large number of human bones, which it is affirmed on examination were those of women and young children. The shadowy forms of women are frequently seen hovering over the spot, while the wailing cries of children fill the air.

S. Hewett.

....

Lidwell Chapel is a ruin situated under the brow of Haldon, not far from Dawlish, in which, in 1881, the Holy Well long lost sight of and supposed in recent times to have been outside the building, was discovered, in exact accordance with the old story, to be within the walls and close to the altar.

The late Rev. R.H.D. Barham, in 1882, conducted the members of the Teign Naturalists' Field Club to the ruins and pointed out the well. It is to be seen at the north-east corner of the chancel [...] He remarked that about the beginning of the present century an attempt was said to have been made to explore this receptacle, as it was thought to be, of the murderer's booty but after descending a considerable distance the adventurers were driven back, so they declared, by evil spirits.

According to another tradition the well is of unfathomable depth, passing under the Teign, and at length finds issue in Kent's Cavern, where articles dropped down the opening at Haldon, have re-appeared.

P.F.S.A.

My wife had inquiries to make concerning occupants of her relative's household, and in one case an incident was related to us which seems worth recounting here, as showing how ancient superstition in connection with remarkable stones still lingers in a secluded district.

With regard to this incident, it is first necessary that I should refer to the Glenveigh evictions, which were carried out with great harshness fifty years ago, and which at that time made the neighbourhood of Gartan notorious. The evictions were the work of a new proprietor, Mr Adair, who had come from the South of Ireland with every desire to be fair to the peasantry, but with whom he quarrelled as to the exclusive right of sporting over his new posession. Mr Adair by these evictions had become the aversion of all the neighbourhood.

Reverting now to the retainer of the Gartan household, at first no reply was given to my wife's inquiry, and then with bated breath the reply came, "Oh, she had a dreadful death! She was engaged in washing, and fell into a boiling cauldron, from which she could not be got out alive." But the awful thing about her death was, that the very morning it occurred she had been heard to be bargaining with a man to go on her account for a payment of £5 to Tory Island, off the Donegal coast, where there is a stone which, if it could be turned, and the name of Mr Adair repeated over it, would have been sure to bring about his death within a year. [..] It would have been interesting if we could have visited Tory Island to have seen this baleful stone; but there was no direct communication from Gartan, and the island is a considerable distance from the mainland.

I have spoken of Gartan as being held on very reliable records to have been the birthplace of St Columba, and I may further mention that a great celebration was held there in 1897, on the 1400th anniversary of his death, similar to that which, it may be remembered, was held at the same time at Iona.

The family of the saint occupied a princely position, and for four generations, since St Patrick himself had converted and baptised the great-great-grandfather of the saint, the family had been Christian. Their permanent abode or fort was about ten miles from Gartan. But at Gartan there is the "natal stone" as it is called, which is said to be the actual spot where St Columba was born. His mother, the Princess Ethne, so tradition says, had been brought here for the birth.

This stone, to my surprise when I visited it, I found to be at one end covered with cup marks. Whatever these marks mean or were made for, there seems to be little doubt that they were connected with some pagan rite or practice; and the interest attached to this particular stone to my mind is that a Christian family still held it in so much veneration, probably for good luck, as to have brought the lady to it from her own home at such a critical time.

The size of the stone is about eight feet long by six feet broad and one and a half feet thick, fairly flat, and slightly raised from the ground around it. It bears no trace of any building, either permanent or temporary, having ever been raised over it. Its situation is on a slightly elevated ridge of cultivated land, from which there is a good lookout all round. I saw no other stones like it in the immediate vicinity.

Besides this stone being held in reverence as the actual spot of St Columba's birth, a curious belief is attached to it, that whoever sleeps on it will never know home-sickness; and many a man starting for America is said to have tried the remedy. May this be a reverential reflection on the grace obtained by St Columba, who was able to transfer his affection from the land of his birth in pious devotion to the land of his adoption?

Drewyn Gawr made Caer Drewyn in Deyrnion, the other side of the river from Corwen. And to his sweetheart he made that Caer, to milk her cows within it.

In the land of Merioneth in the parish of Dolgelly in the commote of Talybont, is a mountain that is called Cader Idris. And about the foot of this large hill are several lakes. Large and high is the mountain, and though so high, and so though difficult to cross over, yet (so they say) if a stick be thrown into any of those waters, you will find that piece of wood in the other lake on the opposite side of this mountain. And as it is not easy to believe that it can go over the top of a mountain as high as this, it is supposed that there is some cave or hollow from one lake to the other under the mountain, so that a thing that is in one lake can be moved to the other.

And on the highest crown of this mountain is a bed-shaped form, great in length and width, built of slabs fixed around it. And this is called the Bed of Idris, though it is more likely that it is the grave in which Idris was buried in ages past. And it is said that whoever lies and sleeps on that bed, one of two things will happen to him - either he will be a poet of the best kind, or go entirely demented.

And from one of the lakes that is under the mountain runs a large river. And when a very dry summer happens there is a lack of water to grind the mills built on the bank of that river. So it was frequently necessary to release the water from the lake. And (so they say) no water was ever released from that lake without at once there being some storm and downpour of rain, and thunder and lightning, happening in the same spot.

And in this high mountain formerly lived a big giant, and he was called Idris Gawr. And in this same parish is a mountain called Moel Yscydion, the abode of a great giant called Yscydion Gawr. And not far from Moel Yscydion in the parish of Llanfachreth is a hill called Moel Ophrom, where formerly lived Ophrom Gawr. And in the parish of Llanelltyd is another hill called Moel Ysbryn, because Ysbryn Gawr had his dwelling there. And all these giants were of enormous size, and in the time of Idris Gawr, and Idris was king and chief over them.

Llanrhaiadr-Yn-Mochnant.
Its parochial history and antiquities.
By Thomas W. Hancock.

Careg-y-Big; (the stone of contention, or the Bickering stone). - This stone is surrounded by curious traditions. The following remarks respecting it, from a MS note by the Rev. Edward Edwards, Rector of Llanymynech, have been kindly furnished us by the Rev. Robert Williams, of Llangadwaladr.

"1790. About 150 years ago, Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant was remarkable for its 'Careg-y-Big,' a pyramidal stone pillar in the village. To ascend this pillar, and to say 'Captain Care-y-Big,' was a general challenge which was sure to end in mischief and bloodshed. These riots often happened on a Sunday evening, and the common enquiry on Monday was, as to how many were killed at Llanrhaiadr the evening before. Mr. Maurice of Penybont [Llanerchemrys], removed the stone and buried it in a deep pool near his own house. There is a tradition that he was drowned in that pool, and the country people believed that the misfortune was a punishment for removing Careg-y-Big."

The stone was removed doubtless at the instance of the Rev. David Parry, the vicar of Llanrhaiadr, from 1675 to 1682. The poet Huw Morris, in the following stanzas addressed to the Rev. David Parry, alludes to this stone.

"Cas wyd, coeg wyd, cegiden - cweryl,
Careg big y gydben,
Cwynaw tolciaw - can talcen;
Codiad bai yw cadw dy ben.

Lle byddai'r ffraeau rhy ffrom - gwaith rhydost,
A gweithredoedd Sodom,
Duw o'i ras a wnae drosom,
Bwyntio sant i Bant y Siom."

[Vile art thou, deceitful art thou, the elf - of quarrels,
The bickering-stone of struggles,
There are groans - the bruising of a hundred heads;
To preserve thee is to uphold sin.

Where there existed frays, very severe - shocking work,
And the deeds of Sodom,
God in his grace hath for us,
Appointed a devoted man, to this vale of discontent.] T.W. H.

Tradition says that Mr Maurice removed the stone with a team of oxen, to his residence at Penybont, and that upon its arrival there quite a grotesque scene took place among the horned and unhorned beasts of all kinds in the place. The evil genii accompanying the stone set the whole group in a ferment, and a furor possessed them; and they indulged in all sorts of wild and eccentric antics, each strove to possess the 'captaincy' of the stone, in imitation of the Llanrhaiadr frays. Gory fights among them were the result, so that the good gentleman was glad with all speed to remove the stone and cast it into the depths of the nearest pool in the river Tanat. Mr. Edwards describes the stone as 'pyramidal'; 'Big,' verily has the meaning of 'pointed' or 'pyramidal', but it also means 'spite,' 'bickering' &c. Stones called 'Careg-y-big', are still found, and not unfrequently, in Wales. It is not certain what was the exact shape, or size of the stone. Some old people state that it was used as a horseblock; if so, it probably had an ancient history.