faerygirl

In local folklore the Hawk Stone formed an integral part of a stone circle here, but there is little known evidence to substantiate this. In Thorn Graves’ (1980) dowsing experiments at the Rollright circle, he found what he described as an ‘overground’ linking the Circle to the Hawk Stone, but no other connecting sites are known along this line. Interestingly one legend surrounding the monolith tells how this monolith was thrown, or dragged, across the land by a old witch or hag, though we are not told from where- a motif found in connection with spirit lines across the country.

In Corbett’s History of Spelsbury (1962) the author referenced some of the folklore spoken of the holed Hawk Stone by one Mr Caleb Lainchbury who said the cleft at the top of the Hawk Stone at Dean was supposed to have been made by the chains of the witches who were tied to it and burnt. As witches seem to have been extremely rare in Oxfordshire it cannot have been a very common practise to burn them at Dean; but there may have been some kind of fire ceremonies near the stone. In name, Hawk stone may come from a fancied resemblence to a Hawk, or because there very often are hawks hovering over those upland fields: or it may simply be a corruption of ‘Hoar’ meaning old.

In pagan Celtic Britain hawks played a not inconsiderable part in their shamanic lore and,according to Ross [1967] were “malevolent birds”. This evidently important and visually impressive monolith plays a substantial part in an incredibly precise alignment (ley) running roughly east-west across the landscape.

easyweb.easynet.co.uk/aburnham/eng/hawk_stone.htm

From
legendarydartmoor.co.uk/scorhill.htm

A modern happening reported in 1998 was that a small herd of moorland ponies were seen to walk up to the circle. The herd leader entered the ring of stones and stood there for about a minute, it then rejoined the rest of the ponies. One by one all the ponies did the same thing, went into the circle stood there for 30 – 60 seconds and the came out. All the animals faced the same direction whilst they were stood in the stone ring. It was suggested at the time that the ponies were ‘taking energy’ from the stones – who knows?

A story which possibly reinforces the ‘natural energy’ theory is that of a lady who for six and a half years had suffered with a swelling in the knee. This made walking difficult to say the least. Many doctors had examined the joint but none were able to solve the problem. Living in the Chagford area the woman was aware of the stories relating to Scorhill circle, so one day she made a slow and painful trip up to the stones. Having sat inside the circle for a while she then made her way back, by the time she had reached Scorhill Gate the swelling had reduced by 50%. By and by the ability to walk soon returned and the swelling has caused few problems ever since.

The image of an unidentified man dressed in black is said to be seen standing just outside the stone circle after dark. According to legend, the 9 stones are witches caught dancing on the Sabbath to the sounds of the Devil’s fiddle playing. In this view,the man in black could be the Devil admiring his handiwork. It is also said that when the moon is full, the stones move around in a ritual dance.

chris-moss.net/homesweethome/ancientbritain.html

TRIBE website

Boscawen-ûn; Cornish name derived from bod, “dwelling or farmstead” and scawen, “elder tree”. The suffix –un comes from goon, “downland or unenclosed pasture”.

Folklore has it that Boscawen-ûn is a circle created by maidens dancing on the Sabbath being turned to stone. Whilst this story is attractive, perhaps more credible is the possibility of Boscawen-ûn being one of the three Gorsedds, or Druid Meeting Places, of Britain. The Welsh Triads which date back to around the 6th Century AD record “Boskawen of Dumnonia” as being one of the “Gorsedds of Poetry of the Island of Britain”. Certainly the circle is still an important spiritual meeting place for local Pagan groups and ritual offerings are still placed here.

- From Historic-Cornwall website
historic-cornwall.org.uk/a2m/bronze_age/stone_circle/boscawen_un/boscawen_un.htm

Lots of different fairy and devil tales for this one. One story tells of a local miner finding a Fairy Feast at the circle and was bound in gossamer thread and left there all night.There is another involving pixies enticing passers by and hosting “Little Folk” parties with dancing! There are stories of actual encounters with the Devil on nearby Carn Kenidjack, which dominates the horizon.

E.T. Cowling in “Rombalds Way” (1946) describing the Tree of life stone, records that ......

“it is one of the few known to local inhabitants, and marks the site of many May day religious services.” Mayday folklore and customs have often been related to promoting fertility in people, animals and the land. Perhaps there is a link to Yorkshires’ other carved stone The Fertility Stone