thesweetcheat

thesweetcheat

Folklore

The Parade
Cliff Fort

Information from the board on-site:

Named “The Parade” because it is said to have been used as a training ground for soldiers garrisoned at Castletown, the area in front of you has had a varied past.

This was a prehistoric settlement located for safety on a promontory. Naturally protected on three sides by cliffs and by the fast flowing waters of the Sound, only the approach from land was vulnerable. To block off that neck of land, the people who lived here dug ditches and mounded the earth up into ramparts. These formed protective and defensive banks of earth, some of which were faced with stone.

Three banks were constructed with a narrow entrance route through the middle. Over the centuries the banks have collapsed and the ditches have begun to fill up leaving the rounded earthworks you see here.

When a cafe was built here over a hundred years ago, it cut into the ramparts and caused considerable damage to the archaeological site. The cafe was demolished and following investigation by archaeologists, the banks have been carefully restored to their 19th century appearance.

The area has long been a place for recreation. During the early 20th century, the Parade was used by local residents for egg rolling races at Easter. These eggs were hard boiled in water with gorse flowers to give them a rich yellow or yellow-brown colour.

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Folklore

St Patrick’s Isle
Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

The Moddey Dhoo or Black Dog is said to prowl the grounds of Peel Castle and St Patrick’s Isle:

THEY say, that an Apparition called In their Language, the Mauthe Doog, in the shape of a large black Spaniel with curled shaggy Hair, was used to haunt Peel Castle; and has been frequently seen in every Room, but particularly in the Guard Chamber, where, as soon as Candles were lighted, it came and lay down before the Fire in presence of all the Soldiers who, at length, by being so much accustomed to the Sight of it, lost great Part of the Terror they were seized with at its first Appearance. They still, however, retain’d a certain Awe, as believing it was an Evil Spirit which only waited Permission to do them Hurt, and for that Reason, forbore Swearing and all prophane Discourse while in its Company. But tho’ they endured the Shock of such a Guest when all together in a Body, none cared to be left alone with it: it being the Custom, therefore, for one of the Soldiers to lock the Gates of the Castle at a certain Hour, and carry them to the Captain, to whose Apartment, as I said before, the Way led through a Church; they agreed among themselves, that whoever was to succeed the ensuing Night, his Fellow in this Errand would accompany him that went first, and by this means, no Man would be expos’d singly to the Danger: for I forgot to mention that the Mauthe Doog was always seen to come from that Passage at the Close of Day, and return to it again as soon as the Morning dawned; which made them look en this Place as its peculiar Residence.

ONE Night a Fellow being drunk, and by the Strength of his Liquor rend’red more daring than ordinary, laugh’d at the Simplicity of his Companions, and tho’ it was not his Turn to go with the Keys, would needs take that Office upon him, to testify his Courage. All the Soldiers endeavour’d to dissuade him, but more they said, the more resolute he seemed, and swore that he desired nothing more than that Mauthe Doog would follow him, as it had done the others, for he would try if it were Dog, or Devil. After having talked in a very reprobate manner for some Time, he snatched up Keys and went out of the Guard-Room: in some Time after his Departure a great Noise was heard, but nobody had Boldness to see what occasioned it, till the Adventurer returning, they demanded the Knowledge of him, but as loud and noisy as he had been at leaving them, he was now become sober and silent enough, for he was never heard to speak more: and tho’ all the Time he lived, which was three Days, he was entreated by all who come near him, either to speak, or if he could not do that, to make some Signs, by which they might understand what had happened to him, yet nothing intelligible could be got from him, only, that by the Distortion of his Limbs and Features, it might be guess’d that he died in Agonies more than is common in a natural Death.

THE Mauthe Doog was, however, never seen after in the Castle, nor would any one attempt to go thro’ that Passage, for which Reason it was closed up, and another Way made. This Accident happened about Threescore Years since, and I heard it attested by several, but especially by an old Soldier, who assured me he had seen it oftener than he had then Hairs on his Head.

From The History and Description of the Isle of Man: Viz. Its Antiquity, History, Laws, Customs, Religion and Manners of Its Inhabitants – George Waldron (1744, W. Bickerton)

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Folklore

Lower Boscaswell Fogou
Fogou

It is a very common notion amongst the peasantry, that a just retribution overtakes those who wilfully destroy monuments, such as stone circles, crosses, wells, and the like. Mr Blight writes me – “While at Boscaswell, in St Just, a few weeks since, an old man told me that a person who altered an old Holy Well there, was drowned the next day in sight of his house, and that a person who carried away the stones of an ancient chapel, had his house burned down that very night.” We hope that the certainty of punishment will prevent any further spoilation.

From Popular Romances of the West of England, second series, collected and edited by Robert Hunt.

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Folklore

Hangman’s Stone, Hampnett
Holed Stone

According to DP Sullivan (Old Stones Of The Cotswolds & Forest Of Dean – 1999 Reardon), this is another of those hangman’s stones that takes its name from an idiotic thief:

It obtained its name, apparently, from an incident involving a sheep rustler who, when getting over the stile with his spoils fell and was hung by the entangled sheep. ... It is possible that this stone once marked a gibbet, giving a more plausible reason for its name.

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Folklore

Y Garreg Fawr
Burial Chamber

According to tradition it was originally a megalithic dolmen about 4000 years old. It has served mainly as a small platform used by preachers, the Parish Clerk and others to make public announcements. In the past there was a large tree in front of it on which were nailed fox tails and the corpses of other creatures which preyed on chickens.

Charming local customs abound. Taken from the village information board near the stone.

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Folklore

The Fairy Well
Sacred Well

This is a wishing-well of some note in the
district; people even now go there to drop in
crooked pins, and wish. It is only a square hole
in the ground high up on the cliffs, at the base of
an overhanging rock, situated at the end of a nut
grove; a stream runs along the side, and a little of
it flows into the well by a gutter.

From “Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall” – M&L Quiller-Couch (1894).

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Folklore

Mynydd Rhiw
Barrow / Cairn Cemetery

At the southwestern end of Mynydd Rhiw there is a very prominent conical outcrop called Clip y Gylfinhir:

Mrs Williams, of Pwll Defaid, told me that the rock opposite, called Clip y Gylfinhir, on Bodwydog Mountain, a part of Mynydd y Rhiw, was the resort of the Tylwyth Teg, and that they revelled there when it was covered in mist; she added that a neighbouring farm called Bodermud Isa’, was well known at one time as the place the fairies came to do their baking.

From Celtic Folkore – John Rhys (1901)

The name translates at Crag of the Curlew (literally “long beak”).

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Folklore

Capel Tan-y-Foel
Standing Stone / Menhir

According to the GAT sites record, there are two stones, one fallen/recumbent at SH22602770 to the NW of the standing one.

The record states:

The stones are known locally as Lladron Maelrhys – two thieves stole from the church and were turned into stone as they crossed the parish boundary.

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Folklore

Taff’s Well
Sacred Well

According to local legend, the ghost of a ‘Grey Lady’ once haunted the well. The lady, dressed in grey, is said to have beckoned a man collecting water from the well. As he approached she asked the man to ‘hold me tight by both hands’. The man obliged but his grip loosened. As he let go a stabbing pain caught him in the side, the Grey Lady complained his grip wasn’t tight enough and now she would remain a ghost for another hundred years. She vanished and has never been seen again ... or has she?

From the info board on site.

In Chris Barber’s “Mysterious Wales” (1982 David & Charles) he says that the well was famous for healing rheumatism and similar ailments.

It was reported that one child, who went there as a cripple, was able to throw away his crutches after a fortnight’s bathing and run about the green meadow on the riverside.

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Folklore

Castell Bach and Castell Mawr
Hillfort

From the Llanrhystud Heritage Trail leaflet:

From here you will see Castel Bach and Castel Mawr (sic), the sites of two Iron Age hillforts facing each other. Local legend suggests that there was once a terrible battle between them and the gully dividing them is know as Pantglas (Pantgalanas) the dell of slaughter. However there was once a medieval castle overlooking the village to the northeast known as Caer Penrhos. The castle was thought to have been built by Cadwaladr ap Gruffudd between 1147 – 1149. There was much turbulence at the time and records show much bloodshed which might be associated with the legend.

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Folklore

Carreg y Fendith
Natural Rock Feature

Information from the board near the site:

Earliest records show that this stone was known as ‘Carreg Ateb’ (Answer Stone) as calling across the river at this point produces an echo.

Legend has it that the Abbot of St Dogmaels blessed the river and fishing boats here, hence its modern name. The tradition has recently been revived.

What is now called The Blessing Stone may well have been the capstone of a dolmen (from the Breton tol-maen – ‘stone table’) that stood on level ground above, where the view is spectacular. Nearby, lie other stones that may have been the uprights originally used to support the capstone. Within 7 miles of St Dogmaels there are many dolmens, most notable being Pentre Ifan, Llech-y-Drybedd, Trellyffant and Carreg Coetan Arthur. The Blessing Stone is of a very similar shape to the Llech-y-Drybedd capstone. Capstone shapes often mirror the local landscape.

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Folklore

Zennor Quoit
Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech

The logan stone up on Zennor Hill has a sad tale attached to it, associated with Carn Galva to the west:

The giant of Carn Galva was a gentle character who protected the people from the more warlike giants of Lelant. He was a playful, sociable giant, fond of a young fellow from Choon, who used to visit him. One day they were playing Quoits, when the giant “tapped” his playfellow on the head with the tips of his fingers. At the same time he said, “be sure to come again tomorrow, my son, and we will have a capital game of bob”.

But the giant’s fingers had gone right through the boy’s skull, and though he tried to save him, it was no use. The giant mourned for his dead friend, but in seven years or so he pined away and died of a broken heart. The logan stone on which he used to rock himself remains at Zennor.

Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, 3rd edn, London, Chatto and
Windus, 1881

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Folklore

Meg’s Stone
Standing Stone / Menhir

From “Domesday Reloaded 1986”:

Megstone is a huge boulder at the entrance to Belladrum farm beside the A833. The story about ‘Meg’s Stone’ is that she was a witch, and when she died, two men were carrying her coffin to the graveyard. They stopped at the pub to have a drink. They were so drunk that they could not carry the coffin any further so they made a hole in the ground and put the coffin in the hole. Then they rolled a huge stone over it.

There is a piece of metal sticking out of the rock and there is a rumour that every night at midnight a metal cross rises out of the stone.

It is quite probable that the boulder was deposited by glacial action during the ice age, and most people now treat the story as no more than an interesting legend.

bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-248000-840000/page/10

The hamlet next to the stone is called Megstone.

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Folklore

Coire Raibeirt
Natural Rock Feature

From Canmore:

There are ‘two huge granite boulders, situated on a shelving rock over an abyss on the Loch Avon side of Cairngorm, with hand-made cups on them about a foot wide and correspondingly deep – “sitting on which is said to be efficaceous in cases of barrenness” ‘. Pilgrimages have been made to them within living memory.
A Mitchell 1875.

Mitchell and Drummond, A and J (1875) ‘Vacation notes in Cromar, Burghead, and Strathspey. Including notice of one of the supposed burial-places of St Columba’, Proc Soc Antiq Scot, vol.10
Page(s): 645

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Folklore

Penshaw Hill
Hillfort

Penshaw Hill is mentioned in the Mackem dialect song “The Lambton Worm” (as “Pensher Hill”), which tells the tale of the dragon:

“One Sunday morn young Lambton went
A-fishing’ in the Wear;
An’ catched a fish upon he’s heuk,
He thowt leuk’t varry queer.
But whatt’n a kind of fish it was
Young Lambton cuddent tell.
He waddn’t fash te carry’d hyem,
So he hoyed it doon a well.

cho: Whisht! Lads, haad yor gobs,
An Aa’ll tell ye’s aall an aaful story
Whisht! Lads, haad yor gobs,
An’ Aa’ll tell ye ‘boot the worm.

Noo Lambton felt inclined te gan
An’ fight i’ foreign wars.
he joined a troop o’ Knights that cared
For nowther woonds nor scars,
An’ off he went te Palestine
Where queer things him befel,
An’ varry seun forgat aboot
The queer worm i’ the well.

But the worm got fat an’ growed and’ growed
An’ growed an aaful size;
He’d greet big teeth, a greet big gob,
An’ greet big goggle eyes.
An’ when at neets he craaled aboot
Te pick up bits o’ news,
If he felt dry upon the road,
He milked a dozen coos.

This feorful worm wad often feed
On caalves an’ lambs an’ sheep,
An’ swally little barins alive
When they laid doon te sleep.
An’ when he’d eaten aall he cud
An’ he had had he’s fill,
He craaled away an’ lapped he’s tail
Seven times roond Pensher Hill.

The news of this myest aaful worm
An’ his queer gannins on
Seun crossed the seas, gat te the ears
Ov brave and’ bowld Sor John.
So hyem he cam an’ catched the beast
An’ cut ‘im in twe haalves,
An’ that seun stopped he’s eatin’ bairns,
An’ sheep an’ lambs and caalves.

So noo ye knaa hoo aall the foaks
On byeth sides ov the Wear
Lost lots o’ sheep an’ lots o’ sleep
An’ leeved i’ mortal feor.
So let’s hev one te brave Sor John
That kept the bairns frae harm,
Saved coos an’ caalves by myekin’ haalves
O’ the famis Lambton Worm.

Final Chorus

Noo lads, Aa’ll haad me gob,
That’s aall Aa knaa aboot the story
Ov Sor John’s clivvor job
Wi’ the aaful Lambton Worm.”

For the full dialect effect:

youtube.com/watch?v=XsO7SeCvgMw

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Folklore

Luccombe Down
Barrow / Cairn Cemetery

Close by but now apparently dried up, Pastscape records the site of “St Boniface Wishing Well” (SZ 5676878118):

“St. Boniface Wishing Well”, a spring formerly much venerated, especially by seamen, because an impervious stratum caused it to rise high up on the side of a chalk down.

From “Undercliff of the IOW”, 1911, 118-9. (J.L. Whitehead)

From Ward Lock’s Illustrated Guidebook:

The Wishing Well is interesting to the geologist on account of its unusual height, and to the superstitious from the reverence formerly paid to it on account of a popular belief that if one achieved the difficult feat of climbing to the spring without looking backward, any three wishes formed while drinking its waters would be gratified.

invectis.co.uk/iow/wl_ventnor.html

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Folklore

Drumashie Moor
Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

The area around Loch Ashie is the site of a reported “phantom battle” (or battles). The fullest version I have found is in the excellent “The Guide To Mysterious Loch Ness” by Geoff Holder (2007 Tempus). There appear to have been two different phantom battles:

The first was reported in newspapers in 1870-1 and was seen shortly after dawn on a May morning. In that report, the battle seems to have been contemporary, with “large bodies of men in close formation and smaller bodies of cavalry facing an attacking army marching from the east”.

The same battle was seen during the First World War and then at some time between 1950-73 by a group of picnicking Americans, who according to Geoff Holder’s book “took it to be a local pageant”.

The second battle was seen in the 1940s when a “mist-bound shepherd heard and saw a small-scale battle involving wild-looking, bearded, long-haired men in ragged clothes, armed with wooden clubs and short-bladed swords. The shepherd hid behind a rock but realised the warriors were not aware of him. After about ten minutes of combat, the mist lifted and the scene disappeared.”

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Folklore

The Stiperstones
Cairn(s)

As if the Devil in his chair and the dead of Shropshire weren’t enough:

Watch out for the Seven Whistlers. Legend has it that six birds fly up and down the Stiperstones slopes looking for a lost companion. When the seventh bird is found, the end of the world will occur

As mentioned in “Shropshire – An Archaeological Guide” by Michael Watson (Shropshire Books 2002), but no further source for the legend is given.

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Folklore

Llanfihangel Rogiet
Standing Stone / Menhir

From “Mysterious Wales” – Chris Barber (Paladin 1983):

This stone, 7 feet high and 5 feet broad, stands in the middle of a field to the west of Llanfihangel Rogiet church. One historian suggests that it was placed in the field to mark the height to which the water rose on the occasion of the Severn flood in 1606. The legendary origin is much more interesting. It was hurled from Portishead, or some other spot on the far side of the Bristol Channel, by the Devil in a fit of temper!

Sadly Barber doesn’t give any source for this legend.

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Folklore

Arbor Low
Circle henge

Slightly longer extract from “Romances of the Peak” by W.M. Turner (London 1901), including local “bravery”:

“... coming away from a visit there in the year 1897, I accosted a young herdsman who was attending some cattle grazing by the wayside. After touching on several points I came cautiously to the Druidical circle business. I wanted to know how it came there and its purpose and so forth. He could not tell. It had been there undisturbed for generations and according to the account given him by the old people, and that was all, excepting, there may have been a battle there and people buried about the place.

‘How did he come to know that?’ ‘Well, you see’, he said, ‘the folks round about never go that way at night for fear of boggarts. Several have been seen prowling about, and it is the common talk that people must have been buried there’. ‘Did you ever go that way at night?’ I asked. He said that he had not, but he bravely added, he would not mind, for he did not believe in such things.”

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Folklore

Cudden Point
Rocky Outcrop

“THIS point is situated in the parish of Perranuthnoe; the parish, it will be remembered, into which Trelawney escaped, aided by the fleetness of his horse, from the deluge which buried the lands between this and the Scilly Isles.

At the low-water of spring-tides, the children from all the neighbourhood flock to the sands around this point, in the hope of finding treasure, which they believe is buried in the sands beneath the sea, and which is, it is said, occasionally discovered. Amongst other things, an especial search is made for a silver table, which was lost by a very wealthy lord, by some said to be the old Lord Pengerswick, who enriched himself by grinding down the poor. On one occasion, when the calmness of summer, the clearness of the skies, and the tranquillity of the waters invited the luxurious to the enjoyments of the sea, this magnate, with a party of gay and thoughtless friends, was floating in a beautiful boat lazily with the tide, and feasting from numerous luxuries spread on a silver table. Suddenly – no one lived to tell the cause – the boat sank in the calm, transparent waters; and, long after the event, the fishermen would tell of sounds of revelry heard from beneath the waters, and some have said they have seen these wicked ones still seated around the silver table.”

From Popular Romances of the West of England collected and edited by Robert Hunt, p.213 1st Edition 1865

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Folklore

Old Stone (Pant-y-Caregl)
Standing Stone / Menhir

Another for the list of Radnorshire-disputed-antiquity-stones I fear. From “The Ancient Stones of Wales” by Chris Barber and John Godfrey Williams:

“A standing stone in the centre of a field called Maes y Garreg on Pontycaragh farm (SO200791). It resembles a battered human face and is 5 feet high. It is marked as Standing Stone on Ordnance Survey map of 1947. R.C.A.M. No. 80 of Radnor. One local story is that the Devil threw the stone from his chair at Craig y Don near Knighton, Radnor, aiming it at Beguildy Church, but it fell short by half-a-mile and the stone is still supposed to bear Satan’s fingerprints.”

Coflein supposes the stone to be natural:

coflein.gov.uk/en/site/306395/details/OLD+STONE%3BPANT-Y-CAREGL%2C+STONE/

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Folklore

The Wrekin
Hillfort

Just to add a bit to Paulus’ post, the reason that the Giant had such a thing against Shrewsbury was as follows:

“In the old days, when the ancient town of Shrewsbury was but newly built, its citizens, especially those who worked about the River Servern, were venturesome persons. One day three of them in quite a small boat, light and fast, with a single sail and oars went down the river. Fishing had been bad, and these men were prospecting for fresh ground, particularly for eels, of which Shrewsburians were notably fond.

Tempted by the wide smoothness of the river and the beautiful new scenery along its banks, the three pioneers went on for days, camping at nights on the bank, till they emerged on to what is now the Bristol Channel.

Turning westward into the calmer waters sheltered by South Wales, the three fishermen came to a very pleasant coast, seemingly abandoned by human beings. It was deserted because its sole inhabitant was an enormous giant, who tyrranised so cruelly over people of normal stature that the latter preferred to keep away altogether from his oppressive dominance.

Like all giants of antiquity, the South Walian individual was of incalculable strength but excessively lazy, stupid and revengeful of small injuries.

The Shrewsbury men knew naught of this. They came to a pretty little river tumbling into the Channel from beautiful mountain scenery.At the mouth of the river were some gigantic eel traps full of huge eels. Amazed at first by the stupendous size of the traps, the voyagers were so tempted by the excellence of the eels that they decided to help themselves, arguing that a few out of such quantities would never be missed.

As the three Shrewsbury fishermen finished loading their boat the giant woke from slumber on the other side of the hill. His yawns sounded like thunder, and his taking deep breaths was the wind in the tree tops. Greatly alarmed, the eel stealers got out their oars and pulled away. Fortunate for them that they did so. A few minutes later the immense hair-fringed face of the giant appeared over the hilltop. Seeing what had happened the giant strode slowly down the to the shore, and in a voice like the roaring of many bulls commanded the fugitives to stop. The tide was running up, the wind filled the sail, the two at the oars pulled strenuously, and the boat sped northward. Feeling themselves safe, the Shrewsbury men gathered courage. The steersman, a fellow with a stentorian voice, was foolish enough to shout back ‘we be Shrewsbury men, and we always get what we want.‘

Hearing it, the giant fell into a paroxysm of rage. He shook his fist, cursed, and swore he would exterminate the whole tribe of Shrewsbury folk, the three representatives of which only derided the more. Whereat the giant picked up rocks large as houses and threw them after the retreating boat, which narrowly escaped being swamped by the big waves set up.

Safely back in Shrewsbury, the three men excited astonishment and some incredulity by the story of their adventures, but the eels were incontrovertibly the finest ever brought into the town.”

This is what got the giant mad, leading to his cross-country trek with the shovel-full of sand and mud that would become the Wrekin.

From “Legends of the Severn Valley” – Alfred Rowberry Williams (Folk Press Limited).

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Folklore

Carreg Maen Taro
Standing Stone / Menhir

From Coflein:

“This is an ancient standing stone erected (according to tradition) in early British times to commemorate a battle which was fought here between two kings or chiefs, one of whom was named Ifor.

.....

About 1km to the south east of Carreg Maen Taro is the site of two burial cairns called Careg-Croes-Ifor (nprn 405021), presumably the same Ifor mentioned above, and Pen-ffordd-goch (the head of the red road) (nprn 404999), 1.5km to the south east, is said to take its name from a battle waged there; there thus seems to be a vague tradition of a battle fought somewhere in the area.

B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 13 October 2006.”

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Folklore

Birdlip Camp
Hillfort

“Black dogs are scattered fairly widely over the Cotswolds and are of different kinds; some of them are human ghosts, some of them doggy and some are evil spirits. One on Birdlip Hill is a helpful spirit who guides lost travellers. Ruth Tongue however heard of another visitant on Birdlip Hill, the Devil. She heard the following tale from a groom in Cheltenham in 1926:

‘There was a shepherd above Birdlip Hill, and there was Old Nick on the road to catch travellers. The shepherd wanted a potion for a sick ewe from the farm below.

He went afoot – horses and carts never went that road. Horses don’t care for devils. So Old Nick was glad to see him pass. ‘I’ll have him on the way back’ says he.

The shepherd had a black jack there and his drinking-horn filled to cheer him on the long uphill road, and he wrapped up the sheep’s medecine which smelt nasty and hot, and started off. Up he goes and up till he comes to the turn near Black Dog’s Lane.

He’d a notion that Old Nick might be about there, so before he passes it he has a swig of ale from the horn to hearten himself, and pours back in some of the sheep’s tonic, well-boiled.

Then he goes on up.

Out comes Old Nick and grabs him. ‘Ale!’ says he. ‘Good brown ale.‘

‘Spiced for you, sir, special,’ says the shepherd civilly, handing the horn, and taking to his heels.

Old Nick was in such a hurry to catch him that he gulped the drink down first, and then it – the sheep tonic – caught him. They heard him roar right away in Cheltenham.

He never goes near Birdlip Hill now!’”

From “The Folklore of the Cotswolds” – Katharine M. Briggs (1974 Batsford).

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Folklore

Titterstone Clee Hill
Hillfort

“Until the mid-19th century the Titterstone Wake was held on the hill every last Sunday in August. Young women ‘fine stand-up handsome wenches they were’, would meet up with their menfolk and indulge in games such as the beguilingly named ‘Kiss-in-the-ring’.”

From “Shropshire – An Archaeological Guide” Michael Watson (2002 Shropshire Books).

See also:

mythstories.com/hlf/clee/partner.html#BAGR

This site comes free with “interesting” faux-medieval Casio keyboard soundtrack.

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Folklore

Garway Hill
Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

Folklore associated with the White Rocks on Garway Hill:

“These boulders, some of Whetstone* proportions, lie scattered in a little valley near the top of Garway Hill, where they were dropped by the Devil. The story is that ‘The Devil was helping Jack [O’Kent, a local wizard] to stop up the weir, at Orcop Hill, in order to make a fishpool. But as the Devil was coming over Garway Hill, his apron strings broke, and down fell all the stones he was carrying. Then the cock crew, and he had to go home, so there are the stones to this day.’”

From “Stone Spotting in Herefordshire” – Jonathan Sant (2000 Moondial), quoting “Folk-lore of Herefordshire” – E. M. Leather (1912).

A very obliging Devil who helps make fishpools. And a pretty poor one who has to go home when the cock crows. Perhaps his mum had his breakfast ready? Mind you, this seems to be a very common occurence – a search of TMA for “Devil’s Lap” produces numerous similar tales of broken apron strings and dropped stones. A bad workman always blames his tools (or his sweat-shop made clothes), eh?

*The Whetstone is natural boulder on Hergest Ridge near Kington, which also has associated folklore.

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Folklore

Bambury Stone
Natural Rock Feature

In"On The Ancient British, Roman, and Saxon Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire” 2nd ed (1852), Jabez Allies includes an entire chapter on the stone, including entymology of the name and a woodcut. He refers to a reference to the site in Laird’s “Topographical and Historical Description of Worcestershire” (1814), which gives the opinion:

“Near the Prospect House, is Bramsbury Stone, an immense mass of rock, but of which there is no traditionary account; and which is, most likely, merely a natural production, without any reference to ancient events.”

It is shown on Dr Nash’s plan of the camp (1781) and on Greenwood’s map (1820).

Allies gives a full description of the stone, which also mentions a line of other stones, nearly aligned with the Bambury Stone (as shown in his woodcut).

He concludes the chapter as follows:

“From all that has been said, and considering that Ambreley, Amberley, Ambresbury, and Ambury [as in Croft Ambrey ], are common names of old earth works all over the kingdom, it appears more than probable that Amber Stones stood at such places in primitive times, which gave the names thereto; and that the Banbury or Bambury Stone or Rock in Kemerton Camp, otherwise Bambury Camp, on the top of Bredon Hill, was one of these Ambrosiae Petrae, or Amber Stones, dedicated to the Sun by the Celtic Druids, either in imitation or independently of the form of worship of the Amonians, Phoenecians, or Tyrians. This would, if so, tend to confirm my idea that the Kemerton Camp is ancient British, although afterwards occupied by the Romans, Saxons, and Danes.”

Not sure if any of this helps the question of “disputed antiquity” in any way shape or form!

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Folklore

Sutton Walls
Hillfort

A small bubble-burst regarding the Ethelbert story:

“Around AD25, the ramparts were raised and the huts rebuilt on the same layout. Then, as Roman power extended into the area in the middle of the first century AD, a grisly episode in the history of the settlement occurred. As the Roman army advanced, the ditch at the western entrance was hurriedly recut. Immediately afterwards, many battle-scarred bodies -some of which were decapitated – were thrown into the ditch and covered with a layer of soil. It seems the Romans, under Ostorius Scapula, attacked the settlement, massacred the inhabitants and pulled down the defences over them.

.....

Excavation has revealed no evidence of Saxon occupation to support the folk-tale that Sutton Walls was the site of one of Offa’s palaces. The story of Ethelbert’s bloody murder may represent a hazy folk-memory of of the actual slaughter which took place there many centuries earlier, though recent work has suggested that Offa may have had a palace at Freens Court, just below the ramparts of Sutton Walls*.”

From “Prehistoric Sites of Herefordshire” – George Children and George Nash (1994 Logaston Press).

*On the 1:25000 OS at SO521458 there is a “moat” near Freens Court Farm, not sure if this is relevant.

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Folklore

Wall Hills (Thornbury)
Hillfort

“The Lady Well

This well has now been tanked and there is a small reservoir. It is beside an old stretch of track on the footpath leading east from St Anna’s church.

The well is said to have been the source of water for Wall Hills hill fort. There was supposedly a secret tunnel from a pair of yew trees formerly on the edge of the camp all the way to the yew that still overshadows the well.”

From “The Healing Wells of Herefordshire” – Jonathan Sant (1994 Moondial).

The well is not marked on the OS 1:25000, but the work above gives the NGR as SO6262 5962.

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Folklore

Wapley Hill
Hillfort

“This parish [Staunton on Arrow] has one of the few chalybeate or iron-rich springs in Herefordshire. However, it is the stone-built well on Wapley Hill that is known as a holy well.

The well is within the Iron Age earthworks known as ‘The Warren’. This site supposedly belonged to Caractacus and his people, and is a perfectly situated ‘fort’ in a very beautiful spot. A footpath leads from Stansbatch through the Forestry Commission woodland, round Warren House, and up to the well. There was clearly a spring here which encouraged the well-builders to dig this deep shaft; and despite its position almost at the very top of the hill, it has never been know to dry up.

The Warren is believed to have been less a fort than a Celtic religious centre, and the well shaft may have been sunk early in the Iron Age as a ‘sacrificial pit’.”

From “The Healing Wells of Herefordshire” – Jonathan Sant (1994 Moondial) referencing “An Archaeological Survey of Herefordshire” vol II – Davies & Bevan (1897).

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Folklore

Risbury Camp
Hillfort

“Near the camp is Hill Hole or Hell Hole Dingle, locally Hello Dingle*. This is said to have been named after the holy well at Pencombe, whose water meets the Humber Brook near the spot, but it is more likely that there was a holy well at Hollywell or Hollywall Farm on the old Roman road above the dingle.”

From “The Healing Wells of Herefordshire” – Jonathan Sant (1994 Moondial).

*On the OS 1:25000 (2006 ed) this is shown as “Hill Hole”, at SO537542.

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Folklore

Aconbury
Hillfort

Some more on the well(s):

“Washing in the waters of St Ann’s Well is said to cure various ills, particularly eye troubles. The first bucketful of water collected after Twelfth Night was supposed to be the best, and was considered worth competing for. It is said that the water in the pool [St Ann’s Pool, to the NE of the well] bubbles up at midnight on this day, and is seen to emit blue smoke. However, this is of course according to those who had gone there in the hope of curing their bad eyes.

Presumably before the calendar reform, this was a Yule custom, although New Year’s Day was the favoured time for collecting medicinal waters at Dinedor Cross and elsewhere.

At the top of the field is a scrubby piece of woodland containing the Lady Well, a holy spring which is haunted by the ghost of a young woman who killed herself there. In another more elaborate version of the story she killed her lover, wrongly suspecting him of infidelity, then died of heartbreak; as a result both spirits haunt the well where this happened and where they often meet.

There is a local memory that this well is dedicated to St Catherine. ‘Lady Well’ is a common name for a well and it naturally usually be assumed to be dedicated to St Mary, as for instance at Bodenham. But if the well was pre-Christian, the ‘Lady’ would simply have been the local goddess, who in this part of Herefordshire was more probably Christianised as St Catherine.”

From “The Healing Wells of Herefordshire” – Jonathan Sant (1994 Moondial) with reference to “The Folk-lore of Herefordshire” – Ella Mary Leather (1912).

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Folklore

Stanford Bishop
Standing Stone / Menhir

“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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Folklore

St Weonard’s Tump
Artificial Mound

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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Folklore

Wergins Stone
Standing Stone / Menhir

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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Folklore

St Paul’s Epistle
Round Barrow(s)

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: british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66462

Rather less religiously, it is also known locally as “Bull’s Pissel”!

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Folklore

Cleeve Cloud
Hillfort

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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