Rhiannon

Another and seemingly older interpretation of the name:

Oaks of a great size, firm and sound, have been taken out of a large moss on Bewick-Moor, called King‘s Moss, by the road from Chillingham to Alnwick, near a noted aperture in a freestone-rock, called Catherine‘s cave.

From ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of Northumberland‘, v1, by John Wallis (1769).

And for another version of the story about bold adventurers exploring the tunnel, it’s rather fun to see George Tate himself do the retelling, in The Border Magazine, November 1863.

The rocks are marked on old maps at NH628437, a short distance from the cairn. There is a well marked close by on the modern OS map, which is conceivably the same mentioned below? Or maybe the water runs straight from the rock?

Above the Inverness District Asylum, and immediately below the ascent to Craig Dunain, is “Fuaran a Chragain Bhric,” or the Well of the Spotted Rock. This was in former times a place of great resort, the waters, among other healing virtues, being supposed to be strongly diuretic. The bushes around were adorned with rags and threads; while pebbles, pins, and shells might be observed in the bottom of the spring. We have seen one juniper bush close by so loaded with rags and threads as to be hardly distinguishable. This was also a fairy well, and if a poor mother had a puny, weak child, which she supposed had been left by the fairies in place of her own, by exposing it here at night, and leaving some small offering, as a dish of milk, to propitiate the king of fairyland, the bantling would be carried off, and in the morning she would find her own, and restored in health.

-Alex Fraser, Northern Folklore on Wells and Water, p. 17.

Quoted by R C Hope in the Antiquary, v 1 (1880).

Another description comes from Reminiscences of a Clachnacuddin Nonagenarian (1886, but written 1830), which also mentions another well with an alleged druidic collection with the stones at Leachkin.

Fuaran a’ Chragan Bhreic, or Well of the Spotted Rock,
which forms an apt description, as the spring is situatednear a mass of rock, spotted with various specimens of moss. The water is said to be strongly diuretic, and used to be as much thought of, and resorted to by the inhabitants of Inverness, as now are the wells at Strathpeffer. A juniper bush grows beside the spring, and the mossy hillocks about it afford a seat to the tired pedestrian, whence he obtains a panoramic view of Inverness and the Moray Firth, which well repays the fatigue of the walk and ascent from the town.

The last celebrated spring in Inverness, which remains for us to notice is
Fuaran Ault an Ionnlaid, or Well of the Anointing Burn.

This is situated on the estate of Muirtown, opposite the toll-gate, and immediately below Craig Phadric. Tradition states, that Montrose, while being conveyed a prisoner from Sutherlandshire to Edinburgh, on passing this well, begged of his guards to unloose him from the horse to which he was tied, and allow him to quench his thirst at this well. The request was complied with, and the noble prisoner expressed the great relief and refreshment which it afforded him.

Above Leaken, and between this well and the one previously mentioned, are the remains of a Druidical temple, and it is said the Anointing Well derived its appellation from the circumstance of the Druidical priests resorting to it to bathe and anoint themselves previously to engaging in their solemn religious rites. Like the other springs before specified, this fountain was celebrated for the wonderfully curative effect of its waters, until about 1730, when a soldier’s wife is said to have therein washed her child afflicted with scurvy, since which the healing properties of the Annointing Well have forsaken the fluid. [...] The late proprietor, Colonel Duff, had inscribed upon the neat stone-work that protects the spot, the following words:--
Luci Fontisque Nymphis.

Somewhere nearby there was another stone with child-related fairy folklore. Canmore summaries its mention in a journal from 1885:

The hollow stone lies on the summit on the ridge of Leachkin above the Mental Hospital. The stone is flat and hollow in the centre [and] resembles in size and shape a child’s coffin. The greater part remains but the foot is broken or weathered away. At one end it used to be hooded over like a cradle and was known variously as Cradle-stone and Clach-na-shia (Fairies’ stone).

Alas the OS could not find it in 1962. But I would hope that’s not a definitive end to the matter.

Archaeologia Cambrensis for 1889 has a translation of the 12th century confirmation charter of Strata Florida abbey. It mentions ‘the Grange which is called Castell y Flemmis’, so the name is clearly an old one. The c19th notes offer an explanation for the name: “a considerable encampment, supposed to have been formerly thrown up and occupied by the Flemings of Pembrokeshire”. Maybe that theory about the name draws onGiraldus Cambrensis‘s report of people from Flanders being settled in Wales.

Baring-Gould mentions another name in his ‘Lives of the British Saints’: Vuarth Caraun / Buarth Caron – meaning Caron’s cattle-fold. He says “at” Castell Fflemish, near Tregaron. But what else round here would act as a good cattle-fold? It must surely refer to the fort?

Caron is the patron of nearby Tregaron (Plwyf Caron).If you wanted, you could see mixed up in the story a barrow and a christianised site?

The local tradition, still curent, varies – that he was a prince, a brave chieftain, or a bishop – but it agrees in saying he was buried where the church tower now stands, and that over his grave a large mound was raised. We have here evidently traditions of two distinct persons, a chieftain and an ecclesiastic, who have become mixed up in the popular mind.

Back in Tregaron on the other side of the Teifi, there was and is his well:

His Holy Well there, Ffynnon Garon, was at Eastertide, in days gone by, a centre of great attraction for the young of both sexes. On Easter Eve crowds of children resorted thither, each one bringing a small mug or cup and a quantity of brown sugar, and drank copious draughts of the water sweetened with sugar. On Easter Day, or Low Sunday, the swains met their sweethearts at the spot, and made them gifts of white bread (bara can), which they ate, washing it down with the crystal spring water in token of affection.

On the other side of the rock (f) in fig. 9, Plate VII. is an exact circular hole, as is seen in fig. 11, Plate VIII.* which is a South view of the Tor. I found there was no possibility of getting near enough to examine this rock, but I should suppose, from the little channels on the other sides, that there are rock basons on the top.

There are many large rocks scattered about, which must have fallen from the top, where, when they stood erect, filling up every part of this elevated Tor, the effect must have been sublimely striking to the superstitious Britons, who had been taught to venerate those sacred rocks.

That the Druids had fixed upon this hill for the celebration of their religious rites, I think cannot be doubted; it was usual to inclose their places of worship, and here a fence of large rough stones now plainly appears to have surrounded the rocks near the bottom of the hill.

Some druidic imaginings in An Account of the Druidical Remains in Derbyshire. In a Letter to the Right Honourable Frederick Montague, FAS. By Hayman Rooke, Esq. FAS. In Archaeologia v12 (1796).

I cannot see (f) in fig. 9 here but I guess it’s the one right at the top.

(*seems to be labeled no.12, but that is my bad cropping of the picture.)

At the South-west end of Stanton moor, in the Peak, and in Hartle liberty, is an assemblage of rocks, which stand on the summit of a circular hill called Graned Tor, but more commonly known by the name of Mock Beggar’s Hall.

When I had the honour of communicating to the Society some years ago an account of the Druidical monuments in that neighbourhood, I had not an opportunity of examining this Tor with that accuracy which is necessary in the investigation of these ancient monuments; but having been since in the vicinity of these rocks, at the house of my worthy friend Bache Thornhill, esq. to whose politeness I am much indebted, I requently examined every accessible part of this Tor, and, notwithstanding the many large rocks that have fallen from the top, there is sufficient evidence of its having been a curious group of Druidical monuments.

Fig. 9, Pl. VII. is a North-west view of Graned Tor; the rock marked (a) with four rock basons, is 29 feet in circumference, and plainly appears, from its present position, to have fallen from the top. The three stones (b, c, d,) seem to have been placed by art, and the uppermost is, I think, very likely to be a rocking stone, but there was no possibility of getting near enough to make the experiment.

Whilst I was taking a drawing of this Tor, an old man who stood by, told me that he remembered when he was a boy, his grandfather’s pointing to the stone (b), and saying, it had always been called the Great Altar, and that several other rocks had names, but he had forgot what they were. We are led by traditional accounts to form probable conjectures; and, as the Heathens always placed their altars on their highest ground, there is great reason to suppose that this elevated rock was a Druidical altar.

At the bottom of the third rock from the top, marked (d), is a large rock bason of an oval shape, diameter 4 feet by 2 feet 10 inches, which evidently appears to be cut with a tool; the rock (e) is placed slopingly against the rock (d), and forms a kind of cavity, big enough to hold three or four people, in which is the rock bason above-mentioned.

Fig. 10 is a near view of this aperture, whence there is a very extensive prospect, of course well calculated for the purpose of divination.

Stone (a) is the one on the left with four big holes in it. Stone (b) is the highest on the right, with (c) and (d) beneath it, and (e) being the pointy one overlapping (d).

From An Account of the Druidical Remains in Derbyshire. In a Letter to the Right Honourable Frederick Montague, FAS. By Hayman Rooke, Esq. FAS. In Archaeologia v12 (1796).

There is in the Peak of Derbyshire a very remarkable rocking stone, called by the country people Robin Hood’s Mark; it stands on the edge of a declivity near the top of a hill on Ashover common, looking down upon Overton hall, an estate of Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. the respectable President of the Royal Society, who will undoubtedly preserve this curious Druidical monument.

Fig. 1. plate V. represents the South view of this rocking stone, which, from its extraordinary position, evidently appears not only to have been the work of art, but to have been placed with great ingenuity; the two upper stones (a and b) have been shaped to fit exactly with the two upright stones (c and d) on which they rest; and so artfully contrived, that the lower stone (b) moves with the upper stone (a). It measures about 26 feet in circumference.

That this is a Druidical monument formed by art, cannot, I think, be denied; we are assured that the Druids were well skilled in the art of magic, by which the superstitious Britons were led implicitly to believe in the miracles performed by these rocking stones.

At about two hundred yards North of this rocking stone, is a singular shaped rock called the turning stone. See fig. 2. plate V. It stands on the edge of a hill on Ashover common; height nine feet. It was a very ancient practice among the Britons to make three turns round their sacred rocks and fires, according to the course of the sun. Martin, in his account of the Western isles, says, “that in the Isle of Barry there is one stone about seven feet high, and when the inhabitants come near it, they take a religious turn round according to the ancient Druid custom.” Hence there is great reason to suppose, that the above-mentioned stone was a rock idol to whom the Druids offered up their devotional rites.

From ‘An Account of the Druidical Remains in Derbyshire. In a Letter to the Right Honourable Frederick Montague, FAS. By Hayman Rooke, Esq. FAS.’ In Archaeologia v12 (1796).

Of the Bolleit cave it is said that the roof will fall in and crush any one who remains there more than a certain number of minutes.

Just to cheer you up if you’re visiting. From Churches of West Cornwall by J T Blight (1885).

Edward Lhuyd gives us to understand that the parish church of Cellan, in Cardiganshire, which he writes “Keth-Lhan,” is dedicated to [St Callwen], and that there is a spring there called “Ffynnon Calhwen.” All Saints is the dedication now usually given to the church. On one of the mountains in the parish is a cistvaen called Bedd y Forwyn, the Virgin’s Grave.

Maybe this is the right place. Coflein doesn’t mention the name. But The Cambrian Traveller’s Guide says “Upon the mountain to the N. of the river Frwd, are two beddau or graves; and on an eminence to the S. are two more, one of which is called Bedd-y-forwyn, or the Virgin’s Grave.” So it’s in the right sort of place.
Edward Llwyd was writing in the 17th century.

There were curative wells at Cerne; one called Pill Well, now dry, and St. Austin’s Well, anciently Silver Well. Hel Well still flowing, in a marshy place covered with trees and brushwood, was not curative. A man now living, named Vincent, aged fifty-five years, had a crippled child. Every morning, for several months together, Vincent carried his child, wrapped in a blanket, to St. Austin’s Well, and dipped it into the well, and at last it was cured. Sore eyes are healed by bathing them, and feeble health is restored by drinking. A farmer used to go down to this well every morning and drink a tumblerful of the water. (Jonathan Hardy, aged 65, born at Cerne, and now sexton there.) I have not analysed the water, but can affirm that it is not chalybeate. The spring sometimes “breaks,” that is, suddenly begins to flow with increased energy. Its water never freezes.

[...]

If anyone looks into St. Austin’s Well the first thing on Easter morning he will see the faces of those who will die within the year. (--Miss Gundry.)

St Austin’s Well also seems to be called St Augustine’s well. But it’s interesting that it gets a non-religious name too? The well is just south of the Abbey, which is to the south of the Giant and Trendle hill.
From ‘Dorset Folklore Collected in 1897’ by H. Colley March, in Folklore v10, Dec 1899.

In front of a blacksmith’s shop here, occupying a vacant spot a little out of the upper road leading to Ledbury, near Colwall Green, is a mass of rough limestone rock, which bears the name of “Colwall Stone.” I observed this name inscribed on an old map of Herefordshire; but have been unable to ascertain the purport of the stone, or its origin. I should feel inclined to consider it of the Druidical age, or at any rate a boundary or manorial “hoar stone;” but Mr. Allies states [... see other Folklore post].

The tradition I myself heard respecting the stone (which would carry us back to the times of Celtic heathenism) was, that it had been a place of worship (an idolatrous stone?) before the church was erected, and that the poor of the parish formerly received pay on this stone.

From ‘Pictures of nature in the Silurian region around the Malvern Hills..‘ by Edwin Lees (1856).

How the north side [of the chamber] was formed there is no evidence to shew. If a single slab stood there, it must have been removed when a pit was dug in front of it, some years ago, by a treasure-seeker. We have here again the old story, so often told in connexion with the destruction and plundering of ancient monumental structures. A miner in the neighbourhood had long set a covetous eye on the barrow as the storehouse of great riches; and one night he had so impressive a dream, bringing vividly before him a great crock of gold, that at dawn he proceeded to the mound, and dug the pit just referred to, exposing the kistvaen, into which he got full access; but what he found there, my informant, whom I accidentally met near the spot, and who knew the miner, could not tell; and as the explorer himself has since left Cornwall, there seems now to be but little chance of ascertaining what the cell contained, a state of things much to be regretted, as from its structure and peculiar position the barrow is of more than ordinary interest.

From Archaeologia Cambrensis v13, s3 (1867).

The only existing cromlech in the parishes of Llanllechid and Llandegai is situated in the upper part of the parish of Llandegai, near a small farm called Ffynnonbach. It goes locally by the name of “yr hen allor” (the old altar), and tradition, as usual, ascribes its erection to the Druids; and the use to which it is said to have been applied, is indicated in its being called an altar. But that the cromlech was a mere burial-place, has long since been settled. The cap-stone measures in breadth 5 feet; in length, 14 ft. 5 ins.; in thickness, about 1 ft. 6 ins. throughout.

More on the state of the stones in 1867, along with associated finds, in volume 13, series 3 of Archaeologia Cambrensis, viewable at the Internet Archive.

The fort is mentioned in a miracle play written down in 1504: ‘Beunans Meriasek’ – the Life of St Meriasek. It’s been suggested that it’s a subversively anti-English. It was written in Cornish, which few toffs would understand, and the villain is called Teudar, which sounds remarkably like Tudor. Teudar is an invader who is reigning by force. Meriasek says he needs baptising but Teudar isn’t having it and wants Meriasek hanged. The saint is warned in a vision and hides easily from Teudar’s soldiers under a rock, consecrating the spring there to cure the insane, and then runs off to Britanny.

The second part of the play introduces Teudar’s nemesis, the Duke of Cornwall, who vows to get rid of Teudar for having driven away the saint.

Me yv duk in oll kernow
indella ytho ov thays
hag vhel arluth in pov
a tamer the pen an vlays
tregys off lemen heb wov
berth in castel an dynas
sur in peddre
ha war an tyreth vhel
thym yma castel arel
a veth gelwys tyndagyel
henna yv o[v]fen tregse

I am Duke in all Cornwall:
So was my father,
And a high lord in the country
From Tamar to the end of the kingdom.
I am dwelling now, without a lie,
Within the castle of Dynas
Surely in Pidar,
And in the high land
I have another castle,
Which is called Tyntagel:
That is my chief dwelling-seat.

Pydar is one of the hundreds of Cornwall. You can see the play here in Whitley Stokes’ translation, published 1872. There is much interesting discussion of it here in J P D Cooper’s ‘Propaganda and the Tudor State’ (2003).

[A mysterious cavern] at Bolleit, in the parish of Buryan, which was so large and perfect in the time of the Great Rebellion, that Cavaliers were for some time concealed there; where, like the prophets of old, they were fed by Mr. Levellis of Trewoof, until opportunity offered for them to return to the King’s army.

From the second series, volume 4 of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London (1868).

One day, [Sawyl] and his party broke in [to the monastery of S. Cadoc], and carried off meat and drink, but did no further damage. Cadoc was absent at the moment, but on his return learnt what had been done, and was further informed that the marauders were at a little distance, eating and drinking what they had ravished from his larder and cellars.

After they had gorged themselves with meat and ale, Sawyl and his rogues lay down to sleep. Cadoc seized the opportunity to inflict on them a stinging insult. He set his monks to shave half the heads of the drunken men, and then with the razors to slash off the ears and lips of their horses.

We are informed that Sawyl and his men had retreated to a hill-top for their carouse, and if our identification of the localities be accepted, this can have been none other than the Garn Goch. When the barbers had done their work, Cadoc and fifty of his clerics assumed their ecclesiastical vestments, and marched in procession to the hill to meet, and if possible, to mitigate the resentment of the freebooter.

What happened is veiled in fable. The earth opened and swallowed up Sawyl and his men, “and the ditch where they were engulfed is known unto this day to all the passers-by”. That nothing of the sort took place we may be pretty sure. What probably occurred was that the settlers in the neighbourhood assembled and assumed a threatening attitude, and the bully was fain to decamp.
[..] After this, Cadoc sang Te Deum, and blessed the men who had made his adversaries ridiculous, and had so barbarously mutilated the dumb beasts.

That last sentence sounds like S B-G disapproves of animal cruelty, which is pleasing. Surely saints shouldn’t be asking people to do such things. He supposes Sawyl might have been based at Pen-y-Ddinas (although that seems rather a long way to walk to go pilfering from monasteries). From The Lives of the British Saints, volume 2, by Sabine Baring-Gould (1908).

It was possibly whilst Cadoc was at Llangadog that he was annoyed by Sawyl Benuchel, who had established himself in the pleasant mountain basin of Cynwyl Gaio, where a bunch of rock, starting out of the level bottom that was once a lake bed, offered a suitable position for a caer, commanding as it did the entire basin. It bears the significant name of Pen-y-Ddinas, showing that at one time a stronghold occupied its crown, but the ruins of prehistoric fortifications have disappeared, as the hill has been converted into a rabbit-warren.

Below it stands Llansawel, leaving us to suspect that this ruffian in his old age turned saint and founder [...] The church is supposed to be dedicated to S. Sawyl Felyn ab Bledri Hir, and this may have been the chief who worried Cadoc, and later turned serious and founded the church [...]

Coflein notes that the area known as ‘the Warren’ was said to show remains of the fort at the turn of the 19th century. The hill has since been quarried.

A legend featuring Sawyl is connected with Carn Goch.

From The Lives of the British Saints, volume 2, by Sabine Baring-Gould (1908).

It’s possible this story relates to the fort (or indeed, it could relate to the Roman one of Cicucium, upriver). Whichever, you’d imagine the grain would be pretty manky. Which makes you wonder if it’s a remembrance of a real discovery somewhere here, combined with the stories of the saint?

Whilst Cadoc studied at Llanspyddid, famine raged in the land, and the master and his pupils were put to straits for food. However, Cadoc observed a mouse carrying a grain of wheat. He succeeded in catching it, and borrowing a thread from a widow, tied it to the foot of the little creature and let it run; whereupon it darted into a hole. Cadoc dug on the spot, and discovered an underground chamber stored with grain. Such secret granaries were by no means uncommon, and are found in many ancient Welsh, Irish and Scottish forts. Or it may have been that one of the hypocausts that have been discovered at Y Gaer had been used as a storehouse for grain. On this supply the master and his pupils were able to live for some time.

From ‘The Lives of the British Saints‘, volume 2, by Sabine Baring-Gould (1908).

Stoney connections and more on the well. The ‘great flat stones’ call to mind Moss’s post below.

Adjoining the church is the chapel of St. Beuno. The passage to it is a narrow vault covered with great flat stones, and of far greater antiquity than either church or chapel; which seem nearly coeval. [...] In the midst is the tomb of the saint, plain, and altar-shaped. Votaries were wont to have great faith in him, and did not doubt but that by means of a night’s lodging on his tomb, a cure would be found for all diseases. It was customary to cover it with rushes, and leave on it till morning sick children, after making them first undergo ablution in the neighbouring holy well; and I myself once saw on it a feather bed, on which a poor paralytic from Meirioneddshire had lain the whole night, after undergoing the same ceremony.

From Tours in Wales by Thomas Pennant, written in the late 18th century. By the time the edition in the link was published in the 1880s, the tomb had gone.

There are some recent photos of Ffynnon Beuno at the super Well Hopper website.

Also, a link where you can read about the offerings of special bullocks with slits in their ears in depth: in Baring Gould’s ‘Lives of the British Saints‘ here.

I admit this may be a bit unconvincing. But the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust do list it as an ‘alleged barrow’. So it may yet be there, and it may yet be something prehistoric.

Bach ab Carwed or Carwyd was the founder of Eglwys Fach [...] the parish is situated partly in Denbighshire and partly in Carnarvonshire [...] He is supposed to have been a Northern chieftain and warrior, who, retiring into North Wales, fixed upon this sequestered spot, and dedicated the close of his life to religion. [...]

Edward Lhuyd in his Itinerary of Wales (1698-9) says that Bach killed a certain wild beast which was the cause of much annoyance to the inhabitants on the banks of the Carrog near the church. The beast was a kind of wild boar, and they called it Carrog. A little after the slaughter Bach happened to kick the monster’s head, but through contact with one of its tusks bruised his foot, and died of the wound (cf. the case of Diarmait in the Irish legend). Another version represents this monstrous boar, which played the part of a mediaeval dragon, as having been killed by the united action of the inhabitants. There is yet another tradition, which attributes its slaughter to S. Beuno, who paid Eglwys Fach a special visit for the purpose. According to this, Carrog somewhat resembled a flying serpent, which made its appearance in the daytime, kidnapping and eating children. S. Beuno, from the church tower, directed an arrow to the tender spot on its throat – the only vulnerable part on its body – and this took fatal effect. There is a tumulus, called Bedd Carrog, at Eglwys Fach, which tradition points out as the monster’s grave. The word carrog means a brook or torrent and is the name of some half a dozen streams in Wales. A good number of the Welsh river names bear a “swine” signification, or are in some way or another associated by legend with swine.

From Lives of the British Saints by Sabine Baring-Gould (1907).

A bit more about St Aelhaiarn’s well, one of the springs below the fort. This is from Lives of the British Saints by Sabine Baring-Gould (1907).

S. Aelhaiarn’s well is an oblong trough of good pure water, by the road side, in which the sick were wont to bathe, and there are seats of stone ranged along the sides for the accommodation of the patients awaiting the “troubling of the waters,” when they might step in, full of confidence, in expectation of a cure.

This “troubling of the waters” is a singular phenomenon. At irregular intervals, and at various points in the basin, the crystal water suddenly wells up, full of sparkling bubbles. Then ensues a lull, and again a swell of water occurs in another part of the tank. This is locally called “the laughing of the water,” and it is said in the place that the water laughs when any one looks at it.

The Well now supplies the village with water. It was walled round and roofed by the Parish Council in 1900, after an outbreak of diphtheria in the village. The entrance is now kept locked.

Baring-Gould’s book also gives the saint’s story from the Itineraries of John Ray (1760). Please indulge me as it is so full of ancient weirdness.

“We were told a legend of one St. Byno , who lived at Clenogvaur, and was wont to foot it four Miles in the Night to Llaynhayrne, and there, on a stone, in the midst of the River, to say his Prayers; whereon they show you still the Prints of his Knees. His Man, out of Curiosity, followed him once to the Place, to see and observe what he did. The Saint coming from his Prayers, and espying a Man, not knowing who it was, prayed, that if he came with a good Intent, he might receive the Good he came for, and might suffer no Damage; but if he had any ill Design, that some Example might be shown upon him; whereupon presently there came forth wild Beasts, and tore him in pieces.

Afterwards, the Saint peceiving it was his own Servant, was very sorry, gathering up his Bones, and praying, he set Bone to Bone, and Limb to Limb, and the Man became whole again, only the part of the Bone under the Eyebrow was wanting; the Saint, to supply that Defect, applied the Iron of his Pike-staff to the Place, and thence, that Village was called Llanvilhayrne.

But for a punishment to his Man (after he had given him Llanvilhayrne) he prayed (and obtained his Prayer) that Clenogvaur Bell might be heard as far as Llanvilhayrne Churchyard, but upon stepping into the Church it was to be heard no longer; this the People hereabout assert with much Confidence, upon their own experience, to be true. The Saint was a South Wales Man, and when he died, the South Wales Men contended with the Clenogvaur Men for his Body, and continued the Contention till Night; next Morning there were two Biers and two Coffins there, and so the South Wales Men carried one away, and the Clenogvaur Men the other.”

The story of the restoration of Aelhaiarn out of his bones, one small bone being missing, is an adaptation of a very ancient myth. It occurs in the Prose Edda of Thor on his journey to Jotunhein. It is found elsewhere. The duplication of the body of Beuno has its counterpart in the triplication of that of Teilo.

Something a bit older, from ‘Memoires of the Family of Finney, of Fulshaw, (near Wilmslow) Cheshire, by Samuel Finney of Fulshaw, Esquire’, 1787. It’s printed in The Cheshire and Lancashire Historical Collector no. 11 (November 1853).

Lower down the Hill, just below the Beacon, is a Spring of very clear Sweet Water, that issues pretty plentifully out of the Rock, called the Holy Well, which, no doubt, in times of Superstition, had its Virtues, which are now unknown, though many young people, in the Summer time, resort to it in parties, and regale themselves with this water, which is still supposed to have a prolific quality in it.

There are at least nine wells at different parts of the Edge, the more conspicuous being the Wizard Well and the Holy Well. These, and especially the latter, were in ancient times connected with well-worship, and propitiatory offerings were made by people to the presiding deities, and also were frequently resorted to in Christian times, but doubtless the cult was observed here in much earlier days.

Their healing powers were considered to be unfailing; the barren, the blind, the lame, and bodily-afflicted constantly made their way thither; maidens whispered their vows and prayers over them, their lovers and their future lives being their theme. Crooked silver coins were dropped into the well, but these have been cleared out long ago.

At the present time the devotees are satisfied, in their economical habit, to offer mere pins and hairpins; the custom is not dead yet, for some of the immersed pins are still quite uncorroded and bright. Some of the sex deposit the pins in their straight and original form, others bend them only at right angle, and as many again seem to consider the charm alone to act effectively when carefully and conscientiously doubled up. Maidens of a more superficial cast just give the slightest twist to the object.

To judge from the state of corrosion, and the old-fashioned thick, globular heads, some of these pins must have been in the well for at least sixty years. We have brought three cases to show the various forms into which the visitors have tortured the pins, and classified them into groups. There are occasionally to be seen also a few white pebbles in the two wells.

From Recent archaeological discoveries at Alderley Edge by C Roeder and F S Graves, in the Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society for 1905 (v23). I seem to remember that Alan Garner said he got his pocket-money from (the Wizard’s?) well when he was a child.

The Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society had an outing here in May 1911. The ‘extensive prospect’ was ‘said to include thirteen counties’ (quite a claim). Sadly, ‘the summer haze prevented any such view at the time’.

Connected with Carn Brea Castle (the relic of which, now standing, bears but the shadow of the name), there has been, from a remote period of Cornish history, handed down from father to son, a legend [...] to the following effect:-
“I, John of Gaunt,
Do give the graunt
Of all my land and fee;
From me and mine-
To thee and thine-
Thou Basset of Bumberlie.”
This “John of Gaunt” was believed to be about the last of the giants (whether mystical or real) who once peopled Cornwall, and he resided in the Castle on the “Brea.” He could stride –
“From Carn Brea Castle to Tuckingmill Stile,”
a distance of several miles.

In

... the manor and see
Of Umberleigh,
And in token of my truth,
Do seal it with my tooth.”

– Umberleigh being the ancient seat of the Bassett family, near Barnstaple.

Fitzcoraldo’s story appears pretty much word for word in ‘The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend’ for December 1889 (p 548-550). It’s followed immediately by this:

We may observe that what is commonly known as Fairy Butter is a certain fungous excrescence sometimes found about the roots of old trees. After great rains, and in a particular state of putrifaction, it is reduced to a consistency which, together with its colour, makes it not unlike butter; hence its name. When met with inside houses it is reckoned lucky. Why so, we cannot tell.

To the south-east of the village, near the river Codbeck, is a tumulus, popularly called “pudding pye hill;” the origin of which had long been a disputed point, some affirming it to be the remains of a watchtower pertaining to the Castle of Thirsk, others maintaining its sepulchral character. This dispute was finally set at rest in August, 1855, when Lady Frankland Russell the owner, employed a number of men, under the superintendence of Mr. James Ruddock of Pickering, to excavate the hill. [...]

The popular legend is -- that this hill was raised by the Fairies, who had their residence within; and if any person should run nine times round it, and then stick a knife into the centre of the top, then place their ear to the ground, they would hear the Fairies conversing inside.

From The Vale of Mowbray by William Grainge (1859).

When I first mentioned the Cadbury mound to my Auntie Bridie, she recounted a story from the 1950s about a man suffering a heart attack while felling one of the trees that grew upon it. This was attributed to the fairies taking retribution. More recently, I came across an account of a man who dug the ‘fairy mound’ and broke his leg. Another version of this tale tells of a strange face that appears under the branches of one of the trees at Hallowe’en and is thought to be that of a man who attempted to dig the mound and went missing that night. That these ‘suburban myths’ persist reveals much about local people’s regard for the past.

From Michael Stanley’s article ‘Chocolate and Community Archaeology’ in Archaeology Ireland (v25, no. 4, Winter 2011).

A subterranean passage was said to exist between the abbey [of Hailes] and Coscomb, and also to Beckbury, the camp above Hailes Wood; but no one in the present day can point out the whereabouts.

From the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for 1884-5.

The 12th century version of the story, in William of Newburgh’s “History”, book 1, chapter 28, ‘of certain prodigies’:

In the province of the Deiri, also, not far from the place of my nativity, an extraordinary event occurred, which I have known from my childhood. There is a village, some miles distant from the Eastern Ocean, near which those famous waters, commonly called Gipse, spring from the ground at various sources (not constantly, indeed, but every alternate year), and, forming a considerable current, glide over the low lands into the sea: it is a good sign when these streams are dried up, for their flowing is said unquestionably to portend the disaster of a future scarcity. A certain rustic belonging to the village, going to see his friend, who resided in the neighboring hamlet, was returning, a little intoxicated, late at night; when, behold, he heard, as it were, the voice of singing and reveling on an adjacent hillock, which I have often seen, and which is distant from the village only a few furlongs. Wondering who could be thus disturbing the silence of midnight with noisy mirth, he was anxious to investigate the matter more closely; and perceiving in the side of the hill an open door, he approached, and, looking in, he beheld a house, spacious and lighted up, filled with men and women, who were seated, as it were, at a solemn banquet. One of the attendants, perceiving him standing at the door, offered him a cup: accepting it, he wisely forbore to drink; but, pouring out the contents, and retaining the vessel, he quickly departed. A tumult arose among the company, on account of the stolen cup, and the guests pursued him; but he escaped by the fleetness of his steed, and reached the village with his extraordinary prize. It was a vessel of an unknown material, unusual color, and strange form: it was offered as a great present to Henry the elder, king of England and then handed over to the queen’s brother, David, king of Scotland, and deposited for many years among the treasures of his kingdom; and, a few years since, as we have learnt from authentic relation, it was given up by William, king of the Scots, to Henry II, on his desiring to see it.

Online at Fordham University’s Internet History Sourcebooks Project.

Household Tales with Other Traditional Remains by S O Addy (1895) says that

There is a stone called “the wishing stone” in a wood known as the Faybrick at Ashover, in Derbyshire. If you sit upon it and wish three times your wish will be granted.

I think it’s less of a wood now, but it’s marked on old maps as Fabrick Wood, and the stone is renowned locally if the discussions on Rootsweb are anything to go by. Some say it was used to build the church (which is 14th century) which gives a bit of a holy link. But it’s pronounced ‘Fay Brick’ – could it be named after the fairies? The rootsweb forum mentions someone local who ‘always believed it was a ‘fairy stone’.’ Just be careful with the wishing. You might get what you ask for.

The third [fort in the area] is much defaced but of greater note. It is called Doonmeeve on the maps, but Doonmihil and Dooneeva, locally. There are two segments of curved fosses coming out at a slope near the shore; they are cut through drift, and when a block of shale was met with it was neatly cut to the slope of the bank. the inner is dry, but a water runnel courses down the outer one. They are 6’ to 10’ deep and wide at the bottom in parts, the inner 28’, and the outer 20’ wide at the top. The bank between these is 22’ wide at the top. It probably enclosed a space on the cliffs, and could hardly be a promontory fort whose promontory was washed away by the unresting sea. Bronze implements have been found on the shore at the foot of the cliff which bounds its enclosure.

A very curious tradition as told us in the neighbourhood. A certain man, in not very remote past years, began to dig up the space inside its trenches, before he had been long at work he fell down and lay to all appearance dead. News was brought at once to his wife a reputed “wise woman,” who was evidently equal to the emergency. She rushed to the nearest fairy spot, did magic, and ran to Dooneva to her apparently lifeless husband. She then addressed herself to the unseen inhabitants of the fort and imperiously ordered them to bring back her husband at once. Rapidly as the deceased brother of the unvirtuous de Birchington, of Ingoldsby, the insensible man sat up and recovered complete strength, while a stick was carried off in his stead. After all the story in its facts, apart from their deductions, may very well have happened, and even the charms may have been done in as good faith as many others worked to our personal knowledge.

In Thomas Johnson Westropp’s Ancient Remains Near Lehinch, Co. Clare, online at Limerick City Library.

There’s a rather amusing photo of the author posing amidst ancient stones (and clutching his umbrella in a prepared fashion) on Wikipedia.

I wonder if the ‘stick carried off in his stead’ alludes to when the fairies replace healthy babies with a ‘stock’, a lump of wood disguised to look and act like a sickly baby.

From that spa-town [Lisdoonvarna] we go eastward, crossing the river valley, and seeing on a bold bluff a lofty mound – a reputed “fairy hill.”

Lissateeaun, Lis an tsidhean, the fairy fort, lies in a townland called Gowlaun, from the “fork” (Gabhal) of the stream. It is a mote-like mound, shaped out of the natural bluff, but raised and rounded so as to form a high flat-topped platform sufficiently imposing as seen from the road bridge to the east. A shallow fosse runs round it on the side of the plateau in a semicircle. There are no other mounds or hut sites, nor is it easy to fix its actual height, as it runs into the natural slopes. The summit lies about 400 feet above the sea.

Its resemblance to a burial mound may have helped its reputation as a sidh, but it very probably was, if not in origin, at least in use, a true lis or residential fort, as its name implies. Sidhean in Co. Clare living usage, by the way, implies rather a passing gust or whirl of wind in which the fairies travel. It is a prophylactic usage to bow or take off your hat as the gust reaches you.

The fort is reputed to give its name to the Castle of Lisdoonvarna, “the fortified fort of the gap.” The gap is the river gully, and the levelled ring wall at the head of the slope to the north is Caherbarna.

From Thomas Johnson Westropp’’s article on the Burren in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland v 5 (sixth series) 1915.

Above the stone and the houses here is Parc Common and its modern gorsedd circle.

Carreg Fasnach
A spot, with a natural outcrop of rock, where tradition has it that Machynlleth markets were held during an outbreak of plague, the money used in barter being washed in the adjoining brook, called Nant yr Arian. -- Visited, 20th April, 1910.

An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the county of Montgomery (1911).

There are here two white stones, known as ‘y fuwch wen a’r llo,’ ‘the white cow and calf,’ standing close to one another on the moorland near the source of the Severn. They are best approached from Eisteddfa Gurig. The larger of the stones is 6 feet high, and the smaller 4 feet high. no local tradition would seem to be connected with them. -- Visited, 5th July, 1910.

An Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of the County of Montgomeryshire.

Ffynnon Geiliog.

A well situated about 20 yards to the west of the camp on Allt Dolanog, of great popular resort on Trinity Sunday. The name (’The Cock Well’) may have been derived from the practice of cock fighting which was carried on close to the spring.

An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Montgomery (1911).

Lled Croen yr Ych, ‘the Width of the Ox’s Hide’.

The tradition explanatory of this name is thus given by the late Mr. Richard Williams, F.R.hist.S.: “Once upon a time two ‘ychain bannawg’ (long-horned oxen) were separated, one being placed on the top of this mountain and the other on the top of the hill between Llanbrynmair and the Cemmes; that the two bellowed to each other until both died of grief because of their separation, and that the one which died here was skinned, and his skin spread out over the spot where he was buried, this circle of stones being set up to mark its dimensions” (’Hist. of the Parish of Llanbrynmair,‘ Mont. Coll., 1888, xxii, 308).

Quoted in An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the county of Montgomery (1911).

Near the top of the hill is a huge stone in the hedge to the right of the road. This is the Buck Stone, and in olden days, when the passengers used to toil up the hill behind the coach, a practical joke was often played on guileless travellers. They used to be told to put their heads near the stone to listen to the tide coming in over the Bay miles away, and if they did so their heads were knocked against the stone. Now the narrow old coach road is private, but Mr. Bainbridge at Greenlands Farm would allow anyone to inspect the stone if desired.

From T Pape’s Warton and George Washington’s Ancestors

(1913).

I can’t see this marked on a map so I’ve given it the grid reference for the Dog Holes cave for now.

Not far from the Dog Lots is a large natural seat in the face of a great limestone boulder, which towers to a height of eleven feet. The seat will accommodate three or four people, and is known as the Bride’s Chair. It was customary years ago when a marriage took place at Warton Church for the bridal party to repair to this spot and for the bride to sit in this seat and look out over the wide expanse of Morecambe Bay. By doing so happiness in their married life was ensured to the newly wedded couple.

Almost sheer down two hundred feet below is the road to Silverdale, and in the direction of that village can be seen the large stone column at Jenny Brown point.

From Warton and George Washington’s Ancestors by T Pape (1913).

I think this stone and its tradition was mentioned in Lucas’s history of Warton, written in the first half of the 18th century (but i’ve not seen a copy – in fact, has anybody, full stop?!).

The Dog Holes Cave is known locally as “Three-fingered Jack’s Cave.” According to tradition the cave consisted of two storeys and a highwayman used one for his horse and the other for himself.

From Warton and George Washington’s Ancestors by T Pape (1913).

On the eastern side of Warton Crag is a small fissure cave situated in the face of a cliff immediately below one of the numerous limestone terraces. It is called the Fairy Hole, which trends for twenty-five feet in a north-easterly direction. In this cave also there were fragmentary human remains. According to report the cave extends to Leighton Hall. It certainly does not come to a full stop at the limit of twenty-five feet. If more debris were removed the chamber would open up considerably.

Old people used to tell of the fairies, having been seen by other old people, dancing about heaps of gold or silver or bleaching fine linen or they were frequently heard batting their clothes. There are still some of the old people in the village who believe that the passage from the Fairy Hole extends to Leighton Hall.

From Warton and George Washington’s Ancestors by T Pape (1913).

Under the famous Hanging Stone, with its mystic “cup and ring” sculptures, the rock is hollowed out forming a deep overhanging cavity, and I am told that this ancient rock-shelter has been known from time immemorial as “Fairies’ Kirk,” and traditions of its having been tenanted by those tiny sprites, the fairies, still exist among old people in the neighbourhood. When the Saxons established themselves at Ilkley they were going to build a church up here, but the fairies strongly resented. They would have none of it, and so their little temple was erected in the vale below. The fairies distrust any intrusion upon their own sacred places [...] I cannot go into all the details I have heard of the antics of these mysterious little people here and in the neighbouring gills.

From Upper Wharfedale by Harry Speight (1900). He also writes:

Hanging Stones (west of Cow and Calf), cup and ring marked. Some vandal has been imitating the primeval sculptures by chiselling on the same stone, but the freshness of the recent work is at once seen. It is to be regretted that quarrying has been permitted to get so near this exceedingly valuable monument of antiquity, a relic which, as the ages roll on, must gather an ever-deepening interest.

The “Cow” which I find was called in 1807 “Inglestone Cow,” a name now quite forgotten, bears no mean resemblance to a castle, while the “Calf” may be likened to a keep; the two rocks having possibly been united by a wall or bulwark of turf and stones forming a secure and chief enclosure. The “Cow,” as it now stands, is I should say the largest detached block of stone in England, measuring eighty feet long, about thirty-six feet wide and upwards of fifty feet in height. From one point of view it presents, like the jutting face of Kilnsey Crag, as seen from the north side, the appearance of a huge sphinx, which may be intentional, or it may be natural, probably the latter.

The face of the rock bears a depression that looks like a human foot, and local tradition concerning it is that the genius of the moors, a certain giant Rumbald, was stepping from Almias Cliff on the opposite side of the valley, to this great rock, but miscalculating its height his foot slipped, leaving the impression we now see.

Both the “Cow” and the “Calf” have cups and channels on their surfaces, which were conjectured by Messrs. Forrest and Grainge in 1869 to be connected with Druidical priestcraft, and that their purpose was “to retain and distribute the liquid fuel which fed the sacred flame on grand festivals of the year.”

From Upper Wharfedale by Harry Speight (1900).
Another page reads:

Cow and Calf, basin, cup and channel marked. Described above. Some think the “basins” are due to natural weathering. I have heard it said the “Calf” fell from the “Cow” during a terrific storm about a century ago, but this is extremely doubtful. Anciently the Cow was known as the Inglestone.

And here:

Many of the rocks have been broken up for making the roads and other purposes in recent times. The largest and most notable of these was a monster slipped-boulder which stood near the road below the “Cow and Calf.” It was as large as an ordinary cottage and was known as the “Bull Rock.” To the regret of many it was destroyed. Old people tell me that these isolated rocks have borne the names of Bull and Cow and Calf time out of memory, but no legend is known to attach to them.

There is also a certain rent due unto the Lord of this hundred [Knightlow], called Wroth money, or Warth money, or Swarff peny, probably the same with Ward penny. Denarii vicecomiti vel aliis castellanis persoluti ob castrorum praefidium, vel excubias agendas, says Sir H. Spelm. in his Gloss. fol. 565, 566. This rent must be paid every Martinmas day in the morning, at Knightlowe Cross, before the sun riseth; the party paying it must go thrice about the cross, and say The Wrath money, and then lay it in the hole of the said cross before good witness, for if it be not duly performed, the forfeiture is thirty shillings and a white bull. The towns that pay this Wrath money are as follow: [...]

A word or two now of the place, whence it takes the name, which is a tumulus, or little heap, of earth, standing on the brow of the hill upon the great roadway leading from Coventre towards London, as you enter upon Dunsmore heath, commonly called Knightlow hill, or Knightlow cross, the latter syllable Lowe (as we now pronounce it) but anciently and more truly Lawe, signifying a little hill; and so Mr. Cambden in his Remains observes, that the Scots who border nearest to England do use the word in that sense to this day.

From The Antiquities of Warwickshire illustrated by Sir William Dugdale. This is the 2 volume edition of 1730, the 1656 version doesn’t seem to mention it in such detail.

(moth --> flame)

The largest tumulus, which is nearly circular, is about 60 feet in diameter and 5 feet high at the highest part. In the centre it is only 2 feet 6 inches. The site of this tumulus is marked upon the ordnance map and it is locally known as the “Punch Bowl” or “Devil’s Punch Bowl,” a designation which, as is well known, has been often applied to barrows, and originated doubtless in the legends and superstitions which found favour with the country people in former days; the bowl or cup-like form being due either to the pernicious habit of explorers, when excavating tumuli, of excavating a shaft or pit in the very centre of the mound, with the expectation of dropping at once on the anticipated treasure, perhaps finding nothing and abandoning the work, or from the fact of the barrow having been raised over cists containing urns or interments by inhumation, which gradually perishing and giving way, led to a subsidence of the soil in the crown of the tumulus.

There is a tradition current among the labourers on the estate that in this hollow portion of the “Bowl” a large stone formerly existed, and it was removed from its position by mischievous people, and sent rolling down the hill, and that, for some time after, it was to be seen near to a ditch or path adjoining Nunwell House. We instituted a careful search with one of the labourers, but was unable to trace the stone. It is possible that it had some association with the tumulus, and perhaps some significance as a limitary mark, or it may have been only placed there in recent times for the support of a staff or pole, the situation of the mound being one which might even be selected for a beacon.

From Excavations of Tumuli on the Brading Downs, Isle of Wight by John E Price and F G Hilton Price, in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, February 1882. There is a drawing of the antler artefact that TSC mentions.

On the south side of the railway on Ty Llwyd Lands is a stone marked in the Ordnance Map as “Carreg Myrddyn”, which has Oghams, and on its north-western side a hollow near the top. The tradition respecting this monolith is that Merlin Ambrosius prophesied that a raven would drink up a man’s blood off it; and a rather remarkable coincidence is said to have taken place within the memory of persons who were alive about fifteen years ago. A man hunting for treasure-trove sought, by digging on one side, to get at the base. The earth gave way, and the stone fell upon and crushed him to death. The proprietor of the soil ordered the stone to be placed back in its original position, to effect which it took the full strength of five horses drawing with strong chains.

From Archaeologia Cambrensis for 1876.

Local stories reflect the feeling that sands have shifted and covered previous landscapes and towns:

The old people sometimes talk of an extensive forest called Coed Arian, ‘Silver Wood,’ stretching from the foreshore of the Mumbles to Kenfig Burrows [...] All this is said to be corroborated by the fishing up every now and then in Swansea Bay of stags’ antlers, elks’ horns, those of the wild ox, and wild boars’ tusks, together with the remains of other ancient tenants of the submerged forest. Various references in the registers of Swansea and Aberavon mark successive stages in the advance of the desolation from the latter part of the fifteenth century down. Among others a great sandstorm is mentinoned, which overwhelmed the borough of Cynffig or Kenfig, and encroached on the coast generally: the series of catastrophes seems to have culminated in an inundation caused by a terrible tidal wave in the early part of the year 1607.

From Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx by John Rhys (1901).

Marie Trevelyan has the following in Folk-lore and folk-stories of Wales (1909).

Kenfig Pool, near Porthcawl, Glamorgan, has a tradition attached to it. A local chieftain wronged and wounded a Prince, and the latter, with his dying breath, pronounced a curse against the wrongdoer. The curse was forgotten until one night the descendants of the chieftain heard a fearful cry: “Dial a ddaw! Dial a ddaw!” (Vengeance is coming!). At first it passed unnoticed, but when the cry was repeated night after night, the owner of Kenfig asked the domestic bard what it meant . The bard repeated the old story of revenge; but his master, to prove the untrustworthiness of the warning, ordered a grand feast, with music and song.

In the midst of the carousal the fearful warning cry was repeatedly heard, and suddenly the earth trembled and water rushed into the palace. Before anyone could escape, the town of Kenfig, with its palace, houses, and people, was swallowed up, and only a deep and dark lake or pool remains to mark the scene of disaster. In the early part of the nineteenth century traces of the masonry could be seen and felt with grappling-irons in the pool. The sands near by cover many old habitations.

Some stoney folklore from the large number of stories in ‘Folk-lore no. 1: The Fenian traditions of Sliabh-Na-M-Ban’ by John Dunne, in ‘Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society’ v1 (1851) pp333-362.

Drom-seann-bho, situate on the high road between Callan and Kilkenny. This means, “back of the old cow.” I have often been told that a neighbouring nobleman (the late Earl of Desart) blasted this rock, thereby reducing it to a level nearly with the road; and after the operation, he jokingly remarked to a seannchaidhe, who was stood hard by, and whose favourite theme was prophecy – “Now can the raven drink of human blood from the top of Drom-seann-bho?” Whereupon the seannchaidhe at once replied – “Until now, my lord, I had thought it impossible; but no longer does the shadow of a doubt remain on my mind as regards the prophecy; your lordship has now made Drom-seann-bho low enough for the raven, whilst standing upon it, to dip his bill in human blood – all will come to pass in due time!”

It is said to have been a detached fragment of rock, about five feet in height, of a different kind of stone from that of the locality. It was very remarkable from having in the centre of its smooth face an indentation resembling the impression of a giant hand on the soft surface of stucco. It is traditinoally said to have been cast by the hero Fionn, from the top of Sliabh-na-m-ban, and the indentation was looked upon as the impression made by his hand as he balanced it for the throw. As it lay by the road side it may have been considered an impediment to the traffic, or the object in removing it was, perhaps, to falsify the prophecy concerning which the peasantry were so credulous.

Fionn [Mac Cumhail], as the tale goes, like many a modern “gallant gay,” had from time to time paid his addresses to several of the fairest belles of his day, on all of whose hearts he had made a strong impression, but without actually committing himself to any by asking the important question which decides such delicate affairs. Each fair lady fondly flattered herself that she would be the chosen bride of the great chieftain, but each of course cordially hated her numberless rivals, and the result was a general quarrel amongst them, carried on with such implacable acrimony as threatened to throw the whole country into a hopeless embroilment.

Fionn saw that with him alone rested the power of putting an end to this very unpleasant controversy, but as it was possible that he could only please one of his admirers by taking her hand, and he was sure to make relentless enemies of all the rest – a consummation which he by no means devoutly wished – he found himself placed in a very unpleasant position, to relieve himself from which it was necessary that some stratagem should be resorted to without delay. Accordingly he made a public declaration of equal affection and admiration of all the numerous candidates for his hand, but announced that, as he could not marry them all, he would leave the decision of the important question to the agility of their own pretty feet.

Sliabh-na-m-ban was chosen as the site of the memorable race, and the chieftain himself stood at the top of the hill to receive and proclaim the successful competitor. Amongst the bevy of beauties, however, there was one whose charms had made a deeper impression upon the hero’s heart than all the rest, and to her he did not scruple to whisper in private a word of advice, by adopting which she might be certain to gain the much coveted prize. This lady was Graine, or Grace, the beauteous daughter of Cormac Ulihada, monarch of Ireland; and the counsel which her lover gave her was simply this, that she should not attempt to run too fast in the outset, so as to exhaust her breath.

The advice was strictly followed. Graine for some moments appeared to have been left far behind all the other runners, who put forth their utmost strength at once to breast the acclivity. The exertion, however, was too much for them; soon they became heated, lost breath, and finally sank down one after another, completely exhausted, on the heath; and had the mortification to see the princess, who had at first seemed to make little way, pass by them fresh and unruffled, and smiling triumphantly in full consciousness of possessing the secret of success. Several made a last effort again to outstrip her, but in vain; for she alone gained the summit and won the much coveted prize.

The princess had now gained as firm possession of the chieftain’s hand, as formerly she had won his heart, and a long life of connubial bliss was fondly anticipated for the distinguished pair. But the lady proved as frail and false as her lord was chivalrous and confiding, and after the expiration of a few short months she eloped with the most cherished friend of her husband, Diarmuid O’Duibhne.

From ‘Folk-lore no. 1: The Fenian traditions of Sliabh-Na-M-Ban’ by John Dunne, in ‘Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society’ v1 (1851) pp333-362.

The Clare County Library has put the Ordnance Survey Letters on the web here, which is a superb thing.

There is a long version of the story about the Glas Ghoibhneach cow and her owner the smith Lon Mac Loimhtha here.

The Field Book of 1839 states:--

“[...]Ballinaltigbeg Altar. A rock situated near the centre of Ballynaltigbeg townland, on a gentle rising ground, and about one and a half miles north of Castletownroche.

This altar is a rock (which stands near the northern boundary of a field), on the four sides of which there are projecting parts about two feet from the ground. It is altogether a natural rock, which is said to have been formerly used as an altar, and is up to the present time held in great veneration by the inhabitants, who often come to pray at it.”

I fear it must have lost some of the veneration claimed for it in 1839, as I found some difficulty in finding it. People living near it, whom I questioned as to its locality, had never heard of it. I fortunately met Dr. Johnson, of Lisnagourneen House, who accompanied me to the spot. The above description from the Field Book is a very fair one as it is at present (see photo).

Dr Johnson writes:-- “The country people say there is a  passage running from Corbally covert in the direction of the ‘Altar,’ that it runs right under the stone. The length would be about four hundred yards, but as no one has apparently ever explored it, it is only conjecture.”

[...] Mr Thomas Furlong, who is now an old gentleman of eighty-nine years of age, and who lives at this place, has heard that, in the reign of King James I., when Roman Catholics were not allowed to have chapels to worship in, they used frequently to meet at the “Altar,” where Mass would be celebrated.

There is a cave at Corbally fox covert, with passage running toward the Altar.

From Colonel James Grove White’s notes about Cork, v1 (1906?).
Pleasingly, the outcrop is on the Sheduled Monuments list, number CO026-071.