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Standing Stone / Menhir
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The blowing stone legend is related to King Alfred, like many places in the local area. The victorians were very fond of King Alfred and romanticised him heavily. The statue of him in the marketplace at Wantage is a lasting testiment to their love of the 'first english king'.
The legend concerns the battles of King Alfred against the mighty Dane. It is said that he called his armies to battle by using the blowing stone as a huge horn which echoed around the vale (of the white horse).
I have found many references to the blowing stone being moved from somewhere on the ridgeway to its present position. This seems very likely. The legend is surely just a legend created much later in the life of the blowing stone.
Could it be more like a continuation of a pre-christian (i.e. heathen) tradition of 'kissing the stone' - pagan stone worship in the 21st Century? in the middle of rural Oxfordshire?
maybe, maybe not but you kiss the blarney stone in Ireland as well...
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Posted by wysefool
4th November 2003ce
Edited 6th May 2007ce
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