Latest Folklore

Here is the quote from Copeland Borlase that tells the story of the strange round capstone, that ‘created consternation in the antiquarian world about 1860’*.

The fame of the discovery quickly spread. The Local Antiquarianism of the whole neighbourhood was awakened immediately, and savants of all shapes, sexes, and ages ‘visited and inspected’ the stone. The sphere for conjecture was of course unlimited, and ranged from Arthur’s round table, to the circular tombs of modern Bengal...

But.. edging his way through the crowd which surrounded the monument, until he had reached the front rank, an old man was heard dispelling the fond illusion in the following cruel words:
“Now what are ‘e all tellin’ of? I do mind when Uncle Jan, he that was the miller down to Polmeor, cum’ up ‘long to the croft a speering round for a fitty stoan of es mill. And when he had worked ‘pon that theere stoan; says he: ‘I’ll be jist gone to knack un a bit round like’; so he pitched to work; but ‘e wouldn’t sarve ‘es purpose so theere ‘e es still. And lor bless yer all, a fine passel o’ pepple has been heere for to look ‘pon un, but what they sees en un es more than I can tell ‘e.”

This was “minding the bigging o’t” with a vengeance, and the antiquaries could only console themselves in the reflection that the stone must have been of a rudely circular form to have induced the miller to try his tool upon it at all.

When the author saw it in December, 1871, some of the splintered pieces were lying round, and he is led to imagine that the original shape was oblong.

archive.org/stream/naeniacornubiaed00borluoft#page/277/mode/1up

It’s all very well being scared of the Witch, but what about the 30ft long conger eel that lives in the caves? To use the standard unit of measurement in these situations, it is as long as a double decker bus.

A long time ago it swam up into the Severn estuary and set itself up as King of the River. Naturally most creatures weren’t prepared to argue. But after watching the eel repeatedly ruining fishing nets, splashing about and flooding the land, and generally stuffing himself with fish, the local fishermen had had enough. They lined up their boats and drove him towards Brean Down, forcing him up the narrow River Axe. The eel had no choice but to keep swimming, and eventually squeezed himself into Wookey Hole, where he’ll probably be stuck forever. He must get pretty hungry.

It’s possible you know. Some mad cave divers set the British record by diving down nearly 80 metres, and the cave system still isn’t fully explored.

(mentioned in the collection “Reader’s Digest ‘Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain’“)

If you like frightening your children by driving with your knees while you point at prehistoric monuments, this is the site for you. Dunmail Raise is a 4m high Bronze Age cairn right on the central reservation of a dual carriageway. It marks the boundary of the old areas of Cumberland and Westmorland, and lies on what would always have been a useful N-S pass through this region.

It’s said that Dunmail, King of Cumberland, fought the Saxon army of King Edmund and the Scots led by King Malcolm (some time in the 10th century) right on this very spot. Unfortunately Dunmail met his end, and his remaining and loyal soldiers built the cairn over him. Some legends have it that he sleeps there King Arthur-style, waiting for when his country needs him.

Meanwhile (according to Kenneth Woolley) “tis said that his no1 man took his [gold] crown and flung over the top of Seat Sandal and it landed in Grisedale Tarn.Should you venture up Seat Sandal on a winter night it is said the king and his bride can be seen dancing in the moonlight.”

coast2coast.co.uk/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001423-2.html

From the information on Canmore:

“A cup marked and perforated slab lies in rough grass 20yds WSW of St Ciaron’s Chapel and 20yds N of the road. The slab is of schist 6ft by 3ft with a thickness of 6ins exposed, the rest being buried. Graham noted 22 cups in 1895 but only 18 are now visible, 6 1/2 ins in maximum diameter and 4 ins deep, clearly man-made but some having vertical sides. Two cups have penetrated the slab completely.”

The local tradition is that church-goers turned a pestle in any cup-mark and wished. The constant turning wore the cups, “in some cases right through the stone”.

A similar ritual is done with cups in the base of a cross at nearby Kilchoman (NR215632). According to the source used by Kevin Callahan in his article on rock art here:
tc.umn.edu/~call0031/folklore.html
it was still being used 1968 – the pestle would be turned 3 times sunwise, and a coin left. The cup was full of pennies and the church officer collected them up periodically.
But this cupped base just looks too neat and new.
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.p_coll_details?p_arcnumlink=416799
Was it a ritual adopted from the (presumably)older Kilchiaran?

There is a holed stone here in the churchyard. If you’re a spotless Christian, an atheist, or just feeling lucky – you may like to take the following test. Close your eyes, stick out your finger, and try to shove it into the hole. If you’re successful first time, heave a sigh of relief, as you’re off to heaven when you die. I’m afraid less co-ordinated people are going The Other Way.

The stone was also called the ‘Trial Stone’ as a similar ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ style test would tell the world if you were innocent or guilty of a crime.

(story mentioned in the Bords’ ‘Magical Atlas of Britain’ among other places).

You can see a picture of the stone on geograph.

You might also find this hollowed stone seen on Canmore,“said to be a font or holy water stoup,” so says the database. Does it look rather like a bullaun stone?

Also known as Granny Kempock and Granny Kempock’s stone, this 6ft megalith was once a landmark to ships passing Kempock point. Now it’s surrounded by buildings and probably can’t be seen from the sea?

The sailors didn’t just use it as a landmark; they would visit it for luck.

“It was chiefly in connection with the winds and sea that the Kempock Stane was regarded with superstitious dread … sailors and fishermen were wont to take a basketful of sand from the shore and walk seven times round Granny Kempock, chanting a weird song to insure for themselves a safe and prosperous voyage.”

Rev. D. Macrae, “Notes about Gourock”, 1880.

Marie Lamont was burned in 1662 after confessing to having attended a sabbat of witches intending to throw the stone into the estuary. Let’s face it she’d probably have admitted to anything in the circumstances (including, as she did, turning into a cat). And besides, by the sound of it she’d have been doing Christians a favour by getting rid of all of its attendent weirdness. She’d also have stopped another custom the church surely didn’t like (mentioned by Macrae) – that of newly wedded couples taking a turn around the stone for luck in their marriage.

And Macrae also knew of the belief that the stone revolved three times on the stroke of midnight. Perhaps the stone would even come alive:“On Hogmanay night it was one of the freaks of the Gourock lads to go and array Granny Kempock in shawl, mutch, and apron, that she might appear in dress on New Year’s morning.”

“Granny” Kempock is said to wear a hooded cloak. But ‘Granny’? Is it just my imagination, or does she look decidedly unfemale, if you know what I’m saying? Have a look for yourself at the photo on the Inverclyde Council site (where there’s also a detailed map):
inverclyde.gov.uk/Economic_Development/index.php?module=article&view=189

Aubrey Burl says that this site used to be called ‘Elfhaugr’*. Haugr means mound in Old Norse; and Elf – well, one would like to think this meant ‘elf’ rather than a person with an elf-inspired name.

Haugr may imply burial mound, (like ‘howe’) but as the stone circle on Elva plain isn’t actually a mound, could it refer to Elva Hill itself? Does the whole hill belong to the elves? Better watch out if you pay a visit, just in case.

*spotted at
britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba17/ba17int.html

Gareth Evans at ‘Time Travel Britain’ claims
“The hill itself is locally reputed to be a fairy hill and, according to some, hides a secret gateway into the otherworld, which only opens at certain times of the year.”
timetravel-britain.com/05/fall/fairy.shtml

The composer John Ireland was much influenced by the English landscape. He lived in sight of Chanctonbury Ring, and it was there and at Harrow Hill that Ireland found the inspiration for ‘Legend for Piano and Orchestra’.

On one occasion John Ireland arose early, cut some sandwiches and chose Harrow Hill as the place for his picnic. Just as he was about to start eating, he noticed some children dancing around him in archaic clothing -very quiet, very silent, He was a little put out about having his peace invaded by children; he looked away for a moment, when he looked back they had disappeared. The incident made such an impression on him that he wrote about his experience to Arnold Machen whose books had greatly influenced much of his music. The reply he received was a postcard with the laconic message “So, you’ve seen them too!”

Children – or fairies, eh?
Taken from the article by Iain Lace, quoting Norah Kirby at musicweb-international.com/ireland/lace.htm

In 1720, Stukeley wrote: “On Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge in the sheep-penning there several barrows called the Kings Graves. The stones which once stood there are lately carried away.”

The existence of these stones is apparently corroborated by the detailed drawing of Stonehenge and its surroundings made by J Hassell (for Inigo Jones’ ‘Stonehenge’): he drew stones on the side of the hill above ‘Penning Bottom’.

It’s likely the stones went for road making. And speaking of which, here’s a peculiar tale told by “the late Mr Soul, grocer and baker of Amesbury”:

The Marquess of Queensbury set out to make a road to Shrewton, the remains of which can be seen today. It left the Amesbury road just after the Seven Barrows, crossed the valley, went over the Stonehenge Avenue, and nearly got to the Cursus. But one day the Marquess rode up to see how the work was getting on and then went on to Shrewton. It was Trinity Monday, the Shrewton fete day, and he found them all so drunk that he decided Shrewton was no fit place to be connected with Amesbury.

Now what’s all that about? Various Marquesses certainly made their mark on the land round here*. Perhaps it’s based on a truth. But doesn’t the story smack slightly of the town rivalry / devil folklore you get elsewhere? Perhaps my imagination.

In ‘Notes’ on the Seven Barrows, WAM 61 (1966)

* eg see the history mentioned in the 2002 ‘Stonehenge World Heritage Site – Archaeological Research Framework’ at
apollo5.bournemouth.ac.uk/stonehenge/pdf/section2.pdf

This granite standing stone is 2.3m tall and sits on an old river terrace of the River Don. The stone fell in 1991, but was re-erected the following year after the hole had been partially excavated (the original packing stones were reused). Info at Canmore’s record
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=17168

The stone is also called the ‘Treasure Stone’ as some was buried there by a Pictish prince. When someone attempted its removal they suffered a heart attack*. Another name for the stone is the Bullhide Stone, but I can’t find an explanation. It is a motif found at other sites, eg Lled Croen Yr Ych and Maiden Bower.

*This modern-sounding medical diagnosis is from a snippet of information at the ‘Alternative Approaches to Folklore’ bibliography at
hoap.co.uk/aatf1.rtf.
the original info in Northern Earth 64.

This lone 5’8” stone is said to have once been part of a stone circle. The other 10 or 11 stones were removed c.1835, according to the 1905 source mentioned in the Canmore record. It was also said that the surviving stone originally had projections from two edges so that it resembled a cross. They were supposedly knocked off when the circle was destroyed. This tradition was collected in the 1930s (and was still known in the late 60s) – it seems quite a strange idea? The stone does have a kind of ‘waist’.

You can see a picture of it from 1904 at
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.p_coll_details?p_arcnumlink=680007

Clach an Righ circle is now in a forest clearing. Two stones remain standing opposite each other; one is 6ft high, the other 8ft. Other stones from 5ft to 9ft lie fallen.

‘Clach an Righ’ means ‘King’s Stone’. The stones were also known as ‘King Harrald’s Pillars’. They were said to commemorate a victory of King William the Lion (or perhaps his army, led by Ragnvald Gudrodson / Reginald of the Isles) over a Norse army (led by Harald Madadson, Earl of Caithness) in 1196 or 1198.

Field clearance heaps in the area were said to be the burial mounds of the dead soldiers, including Harald Madadson, from whom another alternative name ‘Dalharrold’ (or Dailharraild), is said to be derived. The mounds have now been ploughed and planted with trees.

Info from the Canmore record.
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=5540

This granite standing stone is over 2 metres tall. An urn was apparently found almost underneath it “some time ago” (according to a source in 1866). It was also recorded that:

It is remarkable that the corn grows very luxuriant around this solitary pillar to a distance of fifteen yards, and has always been eighteen inches higher than the crop immediately beside it.

This surely implies some pretty special fertility-promoting quality of the stone. When visited in 1996 the field was in cultivation, so perhaps you can check its powers for yourself.

Information from the Canmore database, at which you can find photos from 1904 and 1910.
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_image_summary?inumlink=19480

The huge Recumbent Stone at Arn Hill is also known as the Ringing Stone or Iron Stone: it is said to give off a clear metallic noise when struck. The information on the Canmore database goes on to describe it as “set absolutely vertical, on a base 8ft 10” long by 3ft 4” broad. Its extreme length is 11ft 7” and it stands 10” clear off the ground. There are traces of much weathered concentric rings on the NE, which may be artificial.”

Canmore also has photos of the stone from 1909 (looking stoney and much like it does today) at
rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_image_summary?inumlink=17827

“In the farmers family for at least three generations that he knew about, the circle had been used as a vet. he had been brought up with the knowledge that is, if lambs did not play in the circle, there was something wrong with them, so have a look at them”.

Taken from
The Reason for the Stone Circles in Cumbria by Ray Seton
published the author.

The Somerset Historic Environment Record has this to say:

Measures 6ft by 5ft 4ins by 5ft. Composed of hard sandstone of irregular shape, somewhat hollowed out on the sides and partly smoothed and rounded at the top. Several holes on the upper sides.

Local legend has it that the devil gripped it at these holes and flung it at the nearby church, or that hearing of the intended building of the church here, gathered some stones as he approached but fell asleep and dropped the stones.

It also seems that there are a number of similar, smaller stones in the vicinity (suggesting the natural nature of the Devil’s Stone) but still, the stone is near the crossroads at the heart of the village.

At Staple Fitzpaine, a few miles west of Taunton, there is by the roadside a big ‘Sarten,’ known as “the Devil’s Stone”, because, having come overnight with a lot of big stones on his back, wherewith to pelt the builders of a church which he heard was to be built, against his wish, in that then benighted place, he suddenly saw in the morning the beautiful tower of the finished church; and in his chagrin and amazement he was so taken aback that he dropped his budget of stones from his back; and this big one in particular, from off his shoulder, remains on the spot to this day, as a strong (though dumb) witness of the fact!

Sent in by ‘F’ on p61 of
Notes and Queries
The Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1. (1889), pp. 53-63.

Canmore’s record tells us that this 8ft+ standing stone called St Marnan’s Chair is now within the walls of a churchyard, at NJ 59705020. There is another, smaller stone (perhaps moved from its original position SE of the Chair) at NJ 59715024.

The entry states the Chair “is almost certainly all that remains of a stone circle, probably one of the pillar stones of a recumbent stone circle centred to the NE where the church stands.”

A little further afield, in Banffshire, just beyond the Aberdeenshire boundary, two standing-stones represent all that remains of a circle which stood on the site of the present parish church of Marnoch. The taller of the two is known as St Marnan’s Chair, though it bears no resemblance to such an article of furniture in its present state. As, however, it seems likely to have been one of the pillar-stones associated with the recumbent stone, its original position may have given some excuse for the designation. St Marnan, or Marnoch, was a seventh-century missionary who is said to have died at his church here in 625.

This is from Ritchie, J., Folklore of Aberdeenshire Stone Circles, in Proc. Soc. Ant. of Scotland, LX, 1926, pp304-313.

Naturally the chair is where St Marnan (or St Marnoch, the name of the village/church) is said to have preached. He is associated with a curious bit of folklore – that his skull was taken from the church and washed every Sunday in his renowned (but now defunct) holy well near the river, the washing water being given to the sick*. One might be tempted to think of ‘Celtic head cults’ and the like. I don’t think drinking water out of a skull would make me feel any better, personally.

*from ‘Wishing Wells’ by Sandy Maclennan at
bath.ac.uk/lispring/sourcearchive/fs7/fs7sm1.htm
original source – ?

Canmore also mentions that one of those geometric favourites, a 7-knobbed carved stone ball, was found somewhere in Marnoch (but is now far away in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford).

The 1845 ‘New Statistical Account’ recorded the belief that this stone was set up to commemorate the death of Duncan II. He was unkindly but alliteratively murdered here at Mondynes by Mormaer Malpei of the Mearns in 1094. It also states “’Duncan’s shade’ or ‘field’ lies nearby.”

A later account of 1914 by J C Watt said (unbelievingly) that the stone was the judgement seat of the Barony of Mondynes.

It is apparently 6ft 9ins tall but leans to the NW, and stands “in a prominent position.. commanding a wide view.”

Aerial photographs from 2001 may show an enclosure around the stone, about 25m in diameter, with the stone inside the south edge.

(basic info gleaned from record on Canmore)

The Stone of Morphy.---This is an obelisk situated on the lands of the same name, in the western division of the parish. With reference to it, the writer of the former Account [ie the first Statistical Account] says, that it is difficult to determine whether it had been erected to preserve the memory of some gallant warrior of the name of Graham, to which Noble family the lands of Morphy originally belonged, or whether it may be a remnant of a Druidical temple; while, at the same time, he appears not to have been aware of the existence of a tradition, which says, that it was erected in memory of a son of Camus, or some other important personage in his army, who was killed here in an engagement with the Scots, after the defeat and death of the Danish leader at Panbride. The Danes, on that event, immediately retreated northward, and, according to the tradition, encountered the Scots near the Stone of Morphy; and that a battle had there taken place, is probable, from the immense number of stone-coffins, containing human bones, which have been found, particularly in and near a field called “the sick man’s shade,” close by the stone. The farm adjoining that on which the pillar stands, bears the name of Comeston, or, as it is written in old records, Camuston..

p282 in The New Statistical Account of Scotland, vol 11, 1845. Online at Google Books.

According to Canmore,
“it was knocked down shortly before 1856. Digging prior to re-erection revealed part of a human skeleton, buried in black unctuous earth.”

Canmore says:

‘...the name appears to have arisen from an old belief that the place was haunted by a ghost, and at this cairn St Knauchland conjured or subdued it. It is likewise known by the name of Devils Cairn.‘
Name Book 1867.

This grassy bump sits atop of Bo Hill. Beneath was alleged to be the kirk and holy well of St Knauchland (the most recent record on Canmore is most sceptical of both claims). It’s possible that ‘Knauchland’ is from St Nachlan, a saint renowned for his ability to grow crops when everyone else’s were failing.

You might also want to look out for the remains of ‘Kemp’s Cairn’, also close by. In 1745, a large cist was found at NJ 564514. It was said to be covered by a large stone. The farmer who was quizzed in the 1960s pointed out this reputed capstone, now built into a wall at NJ 5642 5141. “The stone is flat and measures 1.5m x 0.8m x 0.2m, being roughly rectangular.”

(this is not ‘strictly’ in Aberdeenshire, but in a tongue of Moray that sticks into it, so is surrounded by Aberdeenshire sites.)

Stukeley wrote in 1743: “In an orchard near the church is a cove consisting of three stones.. this they call the parson, the bride and bridegroom.”

Aubrey, who visited in 1664 knew the stones as the Bride, the Parson’s Stone and the Cooke’s Stone. (Presumably the groom had sneaked off into the pub?)

Within the Camp, near the brow of the hill are ‘Fairy Sleets’, these, as the Rev. HH Winwood explained, are ‘slits’, narrow and shallow trenches formed when ore has been found by cutting through the rock to follow it out.

I found this in the 1904-08 volume of the Somersetshire Arch Soc Proc (Bath Branch). Perhaps someone knows more about to what it refers?

Much in former times has been written on their miraculous origin, and still superstition has not entirely died out, for a native told Prof. Lloyd Morgan that if he hit the stones with his hammer he would smell the brimstone.

Lloyd Morgan was professor of psychology at Bristol University. He ‘spoke to the natives’ on a field trip c1887.

From the Somerset Arch. Soc. Proc. (Bath Branch) for 1906.

In the parish of Columb Major stands Castell-an-Dinas. Near this castle, by the highway, stands the Coyt, a stony tumulus so called, of which sort there are many in Wales and Wiltshire, as is mentioned is the ‘Additions to Camden’s Britannia,’ in these places, commonly called the Devils Coyts. It consists of four long stones of great bigness, perpendicularly pitched in the earth contiguous with each other, leaving only a small vacancy downwards, but meeting together at the top; over all which is laid a fiat stone of prodigious bulk and magnitude, bending towards the east in way of adoration (as Mr Llwyd concludes of all those Coyts elsewhere), as the person therein under it interred did when in the land of the living; but how or by what art this prodigious flat stone should be placed on the top of the others, amazeth the wisest mathematicians, engineers, or architects to tell or conjecture. Coit, in Belgic-British, is a cave, vault, or co[r?]n-house, of which coyt might possibly be a corruption.” --Gilbert’s Parochial History.

also from Hunt’s book (as below)

Plenty of testaments to the well’s healing properties can be found in Hunt’s ‘Popular Romances of the West of England’ (1886), online at the sacred-texts archive, here:
sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/prwe/prwe148.htm

You can also find out when you will be married:

In Madron Well--and, I have no doubt, in many others--may be found frequently the pins which have been dropped by maidens desirous of knowing “when they were to be married.” I once witnessed the whole ceremony performed by a group of beautiful girls, who had walked on a May morning from Penzance. Two pieces of straw, about an inch long each, were crossed and the pin run through them. This cross was then dropped into the water, and the rising bubbles carefully counted, as they marked the number of years which would pass ere the arrlval of the happy day.