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Crossing writes in his Guide to Dartmoor that the cairn got its name after a baby was found on Stall Moor and adopted by local people. He was given the name Hillson and after a while moved up onto the hill and built himself a house amongst the stones of the cairn. Here he made a living making clocks...out of what it doesn't say, but it does say that a Mr Hillson who lived in Cornwood in the mid 1800s had one of these clocks.
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The strange name of Ephraim's Pinch is attached to a spot a little south east of the circle and is the result of a wager many years ago when a man named Ephraim bet that he could carry a sack of corn from Widecombe to Postbridge without putting it down en route, a distance of some 5 miles. It was at the nearby bend in the road that he finally felt the 'pinch' of his heavy load on his back and had to drop the sack.
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We went from this place over very disagreeable heaths to Morva. About the middle of the downs we came to the foot of a hill, where I observed a small oblong enclosure about 15ft by 10ft, made by granite stones set up an end. From this I observed stones set up an end in a winding form, and if I mistake not, extending from the four corners, which I thought might relate to an ancient serpent worship. About 100 yards to the west, and nearer the foot ot the hill, I observed a circle made of stones laid flat and filled with stones.
We ascended the hill and came to a circle called the Nine Maidens, it is about 23 yards in diameter and consists of 20 stones from 2 to 3 ft broard and 4 to 7 ft high, and 3 yards apart, except that there is an opening to the west 8 yards wide.
About 100 near north there is another stone....it may be supposed these were called the Nine Maidens from so many of them being higher than the rest.
'Travels Through England' Dr Richard Pocock 1750
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' Between this town (penzance)and St Burien, a town midway between it and Land's End, stands a circle of great stones, not unlike those at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, with one bigger than the rest in the middle. They stand about 12 feet asunder, but have no inscription; neithr does tradition offer to leave any of their history upon record, as to whether it was a trophy or a monument of buriel, or an alter for worship, or what else; so that all that can be learned from them is that here they are. The parish where they stand is called Boscawone, from whence the ancient and honorable family of Boscawen derive their name.
D Dafoe ' A Tour through Great Britain' 1724
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...in half an hour we were hopelessly lost in an impenetrable jungle. Vainly we scanned the hillside for those beehive huts.
In the end I rebelled, and declaimed, with some warmth that, if we wished to see eight prehistoric things before nightfall we must be humble and seek a guide.
At a farmhouse half a mile away on the hill we explained our needs to the farmer. Turning to his wife, whose face was sunburnt the colour of a nut, he said 'You take them to the huts'
As we tramped over the moor I solicited her opinion of Cornish antiquities.
'Bless you, my dear' she said 'people talk a lot about em, but they aint nothing at all, just old stones and things'
from C Lewis Hind 'Days in Cornwall' 1907
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"We saw that an effort had been made to open this barrow at one of the ends; but an old woman, whom we found at a cottage not far off, assured us 'that they that tried it were soon forced to give up thier digging and flee for the thunders came to em and the lightenings also' We endevoured to sound out the local mind of our imformant as to the history of the place and the origin of the grave, but all we could drag out of her, after questions again and again, was ' great warriors, supposing, in old times' Such was the dirge of the mighty dead, and their requiem, at Warbstow Barrow.
Rev Hawker, as quoted in 'Days in Cornwall' by C Lewis Hind 1907
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A large amount of space is given over to this "destroyed" monument in "The Romance of the Stones". In the Broderick Index, which is kept at Plymouth Local History library there is a account from a Mr West (born about 1900) who remembers his mother telling him about how she walked under a large stone supported by three others that leaned inwards. She went on to say that her father later pulled the stones down to make a haedge and covered the site with soil.
The CAU looked into this story in 1978 and confirmed this site after looking at aerial photos and the old tithe map which quoted a Borrow park at this point. A distinct circle, about 25 mters accross could be seen on the photos.
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Crossings Guide to Dartmoor tells us that the name Plague Market and also Potato Market came about when the nearby town of Tavistock was ravaged by the plague. The moorland people would travel to this site to leave food for the townsfolk.
He also states that the round stone is infact a millstone carved by a local who then decided it was not fit for the job
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Mentioned in the CPRE report of 1930 as the "Eddystone" at Musick-water.
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The coat of arms of the Tremenhere family show three standing stones. The meaning of the name in Cornish being Tre= farm or home and Menhir= stone.
Why they should put three standing stones I am not sure.
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"Cornish Feasts and Folklore" 1890
..some Druidical remains called "Kerris roundago". Some stones taken from it to repair penzance pier were fatal to the horseswho drew them, although they were young and healthy..
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MA Courtney published a book called "Cornish Feasts and Folklore" in 1890. In it he says of the key of the castle being in a sharp peak on the summit. He then adds that it was knocked down by the men who replaced the logan stone after it was pushed off the rock by Lieutenant Goldsmith in 1824.
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Sperris is supposedly Cornish for sprite, ghost or goblin (Romance of the Stones). Perhaps that is why my camera didn't want to work at first and then when it did a rainbow appeared over the quoit?This post appears as part of the blog post " The Quoits of Penwith" |
Borlase tells the story that a local miller tried to make a millstone out of the capstone. For some reason he never finished the job...did bad luck befall him?This post appears as part of the blog post " The Quoits of Penwith" |
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The legend says that the pound got it's name because St Neot sent all the crows in the parish here during sermons. Because of this the farmers in the region had no excuse to miss services.
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Mr Hamhead started as a doodle on a scrap of paper many years ago.....then he became a submariner in a series of poems that I am writing. When I needed a name for this site he just sort of popped up.
In the real world I go under the far less interesting title of Mark Camp, keen walker, historian and tourist guide.
I am lucky enough to live in Cornwall, a mile from the south coast and within half an hours drive of Bodmin Moor. Hence the sites I have contributed.
My first love up on the moors (and Cornwall in general) is industrial history, but you are never far from a lump of granite and through research for walks I have become interested in all things ancient.
It has helped that I have been listening to Mr Cope since buying Reward as a young student and have followed his career from the far west where musicians seldom come to play.
As I have said before on the site, if any TMA contributors are in the area and fancy a walk on the moor, get in touch, I will be happy to share my knowledge of everything the moor has to offer.
oh yes ..my website is at http://www.walkaboutwest.co.uk
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