Neil Fairbairn (in his Traveller’s Guide to the Kingdoms of Arthur) says the site is also known as Cadon Barrow. It is the grave of Cador, an Earl of Cornwall and close friend of Arthur. Guinevere was supposed to have been living at his house/castle when Arthur met her.
In the Dream of Rhonabwy (in the Mabinogion) his name is spelt Cadwr, and he is named as the man responsible for arming Arthur as he goes into battle.
Don’t get too excited – tradition has it the cist had ‘treasure formerly buried in it’ – so it looks like you’re too late if you were hoping to find some gold.
(recorded in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’ 1976)
Dinas Emrys is a small hill-fort in the valley of Nant Gwynant. It is thought to be originally Iron Age, but was reused many times since.
Nennius wrote about some of the happenings at the fort (with his usual embroiderings). You can read a translation of the original at the
Internet Medieval Sourcebook - this is rather a precis.
Vortigern had a bit of an embarrassing episode in which he had a child with his own daughter. His advisors told him it might be best to find a nice quiet place in the country and build a secure fort there. Vortigern found an ideal site at Dinas Emrys and arranged for builders and carpenters to start work. However, after the building materials were delivered, they mysteriously disappeared during the night. This happened three times.
The advisors were called in again – what was going on? Apparently it wasn’t the neighbours stealing stuff – what Vortigern actually needed was to find a boy born without a father, and then to sprinkle the foundation stones with the child’s blood. Despite already having a poor reputation Vortigern didn’t seem to see anything wrong with this and sent his men out to search for such a boy – and eventually they found one (his mother claimed that she had never slept with a man).
The boy was brought back to the king. Unimpressed by the sound of his fate he showed Vortigern the true source of his problems. Under a pavement lay a pool – and in the pool a vase containing a tent. In the tent were two dragons, one red and one white. They began to fight. The white one seemed to be winning, but then the red one prevailed and the white was driven from the tent. The boy explained the scene – it represented how the Welsh would eventually recover their lands from the Saxons.
He added that the citidel was actually destined for himself, and that Vortigern would have to go elsewhere. Which he did. The boy’s name was Ambrose (Emrys in Welsh, and this bit could be a fudge to fit other stories) – later known as Merlin.
I suppose the king (brenin) in the name of this cairn could be Arthur, or some other nameless king lost to memory. It would be more exciting though if it were the spooky Brenin Llwyd – the Grey King of Snowdonian myth. But I suppose he’s not really mortal enough to need a grave.
Read about the Brenin Llwyd at Mary Jones’s site:
maryjones.us/jce/breninllwyd.html
This stone is a pointy 7’6” tall, with a (natural?) oval hollow in its southerly face. It is said to be the spot where a Danish general called Ulric is buried – he was killed in a battle here (Ulric, incidentally, means ‘wolf’). There are several prehistoric (and some more recent) cairns in the vicinity too.
(information on Canmore)
This standing stone would be 4m tall if it stood upright – but it leans somewhat. This is because Rocky Campbell dug beneath it looking for treasure (some time before 1900, apparently) – he stopped rather hurriedly no doubt when he saw it starting to bend towards him. Whether it was doing this deliberately to put him off looking is more than I can say. That story is mentioned by Grinsell (collected in his ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’) – the following was heard by Angus Martin much more recently and can be read at kintyremag.co.uk/1998/20/page8.html. It seems that a group of tinkers were partying it up at the stone on the Sabbath – drinking, gambling, swearing – when suddenly a hole appeared in the ground next to them and out popped the Devil himself. No doubt they were pretty startled, but Auld Nick just said ‘Carry on, ye’re doin’ fine’ and left them to continue with their game.
Thom suggests that the stone was used as a lunar observatory. If you visit it be sure to look carefully at its south face as it has at least 17 cup marks (some very faint).
Grinsell (’folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain’) does not explain the folklore that goes with this site very much – but it sounds rather like your witch/giantess/devil + broken apron strings story: he says the stone was being carried by a (presumably rather large) old woman, and that it fell to the ground when one of her withies broke (withies are ropes made of long whippy willow twigs). (story recorded 1927).
East of the chambered cairn is a round cairn, known as the Fairy Knowe, due to its one-time? otherworldly inhabitants.
(Grinsell – ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
One imagines the fairy hill of the story to be the cairn at Kintraw.
Many years ago, the wife of the farmer at Kintraw fell ill and died, leaving two or three young children. The Sunday after the funeral the farmer and his servants went to church, leaving the children at home in charge of the eldest, a girl of about ten years of age. On the farmer’s return the children told him their mother had been to see them, and had combed their hair and dressed them. As they still persisted in their statement after being remonstrated with, they were punished for telling what was not true.
The following Sunday the same thing occurred again. The father now told the children, if their mother came again, they were in inquire of her why she came. Next Sunday, when she reappeared, the eldest child put her father’s question to her, when the mother told them she had been carried off by the “Good People” (Daione Sìth), and could only get away for an hour or two on Sundays, and should her coffin be opened it would be found to contain only a withered leaf.
The farmer, much perplexed, went to the minister for advice, who scoffed at the idea of any supernatural connection with the children’s story, ridiculed the existence of “Good People,” and would not allow the coffin to be opened. The matter was therefore allowed to rest. But, some little time after, the minister, who had gone to Lochgilphead for the day, was found lying dead near the Fairies’ Hill, a victim, many people thought, to the indignation of the Fairy world he had laughed at.
from
Lord Archibald Campbell, Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, Argyllshire Series, vol. 1 (London: David Nutt, 1889), pp. 71-72.
Campbell’s source: Mrs. Annie Thorpe née Miss MacDougall of Lunga, Ardbecknish, Lochow.
online at Folklore and Mythology
Electronic Texts
pitt.edu/~dash/abduct.html#fairyhill
Below Gwal-y-Filiast the Afon Taf snakes through a wooded valley, and in the river is a naturally created hollow called Crochan Arthur (Arthur’s cauldron).
Wirt Sikes mentions it in ‘British Goblins’ (1880):
This [feature] is under a cromlech at Dolwillim, on the banks of the Tawe, and in the stream itself when the water is high; it is a circular hole of considerable depth, accurately bored in the stone by the action of the water. This hole is called Arthur’s Pot, and according to local belief was made by Merlin for the hero king to cook his dinner in.
Perhaps Arthur kept his dog in Gwal-y-Filiast (the lair of the greyhound bitch) to keep her out of the way while his dinner was stewing.
Lud’s Church may also be named after Walter de Lud Auk, a ‘Lollard’ who prepared the way for the adoption of the Bible in English in this country (can’t go letting people actually read the thing for themselves, surely?)
Read more at the BBCi ‘Legacies’ site:
bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/stoke_staffs/article_1.shtml
This is a rather curious site. Its name means ‘hollow of the stone’. It looks like a round barrow, but on its top is a 5’4” high stone. It is said that the stone was removed by an Edward Roberts in the 1860s – he rather fancied it as a gatepost. However he had enormous trouble trying to stand the stone up in its new location, and suffered the usual string of troubles associated with Meddling With Stones. He had no peace of mind until he replaced it where it belonged.
(folklore from Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
This poor barrow has had to suffer some indignities. It was cut into during road construction at the beginning of the 19th century (when they found a cremation in an urn). Now power lines appear to cut across the site too. But the field is called ‘Maes yr Esgyrn’ – ‘Field of the Bones’. It once had – still has?- a reputation for being haunted and being a rather undesirable place to frequent after dark.
(Grinsell: ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
The survivor of the ‘Cairns of Two’ – the both were raised in memory of two beautiful maidens (or were they more otherworldly – goddesses?) who unwisely fought a duel over the affections of one bloke. Was he worth it? When will women ever learn? :)
(mentioned in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
Said to have been thrown from Dyffryn Circle – presumably by Arthur himself, in his giant guise.
(Grinsell- folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain)
Maen Morddwyd means the ‘thigh stone’. It is supposed to be cemented into St Edwen’s church. The church was falling down so was largely rebuilt at one point – but is the stone still there? As you can see, it had an excellent reputation as a homing pigeon, so it really ought to be.
Giraldus Cambrensis (1146-1223) wrote in his “Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales”:
As many things within this island are worthy of remark, I shall not think it superfluous to make mention of some of them. There is a stone here resembling a human thigh, which possesses this innate virtue, that whatever distance it may be carried, it returns, of its own accord, the following night, as has often been experienced by the inhabitants. Hugh, earl of Chester, in the reign of king Henry I., having by force occupied this island and the adjacent country, heard of the miraculous power of this stone, and, for the purpose of trial, ordered it to be fastened, with strong iron chains, to one of a larger size, and to be thrown into the sea. On the following morning, however, according to custom, it was found in its original position, on which account the earl issued a public edict, that no one, from that time, should presume to move the stone from its place. A countryman, also, to try the powers of this stone, fastened it to his thigh, which immediately became putrid, and the stone returned to its original situation.
There are three round barrows / cairns in this wood – this large one has been dug into in the past to leave a crescent shape. The devil originally dropped the stones here one morning when he stayed up too late, and was surprised when he heard the cock crow.
Folklore of Gwent: Monmouthshire Legends and Traditions
T. A. Davies
Folklore, Vol. 48, No. 1. (Mar., 1937), pp. 41-59.
Carnedd y Ddlew means ‘cairn of the image’. This must be an amazing location – perched on a desolate mountain ridge with views all around. I think if I dragged myself up here I’d be hallucinating all sorts of images – but perhaps the name doesn’t refer to the imaginary type but to a solid article, an image as more of a religious figure? Grinsell (in ‘folklore of prehistoric sites of Britain’) records that a ‘gold image’ was found in or near the cairn in the eighteenth century. The man who found it took it home. He soon found that his house was filled with eerie noises and strange happenings – to stop the hauntings he threw away the image. I think I might have been too scared to merely throw it away – such items usually need returning to their place of origin to get back your peace?
This is where the dog was snoozing when his giant master chucked Ffon-Y-Cawr at him to wake him up – he was supposed to be guarding the sheep. Maen y Bardd is also known as Cwt Y Bugail – the shepherd’s hut.
(Grinsell – folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain)
I hope this stone is still here – it is certainly mentioned as an ancient monument on Coflein – and must be a natural entrant for the ‘Don’t mind me..’ category.
One and a half metres high (with a bit of a lean) the stone is apparently cup-marked. Not far from the Avon Ogwr, it sneaks down to the water on Christmas morning at cockcrow for a drink.
It is said that an other-worldly lady waits at this 2.7m high leaning standing stone for anyone who intends to search for treasure beneath it. I’m not sure whether she’ll be in a good mood if you are. It is called ‘Lady’s Gate’ because it once flanked a gateway onto a track- it is also said that a matching stone stood 300 yards away.
(Grinsell’s ‘folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain’ / info on Coflein)
On certain nights – particularly Midsummer’s Eve and All Hallow’s Eve, Maen Ceti gets up and goes to the sea to drink and bathe.
(Grinsell: folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain)
This stone on Mynydd Drumau goes to the Neath river for a drink every Easter Sunday morning, according to Grinsell’s source in ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’. The link below mentions that children used to race to the stone on Easter Sunday – I guess that they were trying to get there before it slunk off, or to get there before it got back?
The stone is 4.3m tall, so does not look particularly well camouflaged in its current guise as a gatepost, as you can see from the photos on Megalithica.
Mr J. G. Wood, M.A., F.S.A., contributes the following account: – ‘This ‘maenhir’ is at the place now called ‘Druidstone’ on the old Cardiff-Newport road. The stone is somewhat of a pyramidal shape according to the drawing in Mrs Bagnall-Oakeley’s account’ and I should doubt its having anything but a natural origin if it were not for the name which Mrs Oakeley gives to the farm, Gwael-y-filast, which has now disappeared from the map. This is plainly a corruption of Gwal-y-filiast, or ‘The Greyhound’s Bed’ [...]
The N.W. face is covered with pock-marks which have the appearance of tooling or pounding done with rude implements (such as stone hammers for instance). The foreman mentioned a story that the stone is said to go down to the water for a swim when the cock crows at night.‘
In O.G.S. Crawford’s ‘The Long Barrows of the Cotswolds’ (1925).
This reasonably petite stone (3ft high according to the Somerset Historic Environment Record) stands on top of Whitstone Hill. It was a Hundred Stone – the meeting place of the High Sheriff’s court every October, when wine would be poured over it at the meeting’s start.
I’m kind of loathe to add this – is it really prehistoric? It’s certainly in what must be a prominent spot on high ground. Why would you have a tradition of pouring wine over a stone if it was only a boundary marker to you? The hill and Hundred are named after it (white stone) – would you name your Hundred after a stone you put there yourself??
There are traces of fourteen – or maybe even more – Bronze Age round barrows on top of Small Down Knoll. They’re enclosed by the banks and ditches of a later hillfort. The builders didn’t consider all those barrows to be in the way?
One of the barrows contains a golden coffin – but which one? How confusing.
(mentioned in Grinsell’s 1976 ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’, originally from the Somerset Year Book for 1933., p107.)
It is said that
“Norton was a market town
When Taunton was a vuzzy down.”
For you city dwellers out there, vuzzy means furzey, which means covered in gorse.
(mentioned in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
The two cairns each conceal a golden coffin, containing the body of a king. A flock of birds protects them and chases away intruders – perhaps you’ll see them wheeling round if you visit? It is said that attempts to dig a Home Guard lookout at the site were interrupted by a flock of birds..
(mentioned in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
From Westcot’s History of Devon.
Harl. MSS. No. 2307. (1630?)
If Cadburye-castle and Dolbury-hill dolven were,
All England might ploughe with a golden sheere.
Cadbury-castle, (alias Caderbyr) the land of William de Campo Arnulphi, and after of Willowby, Fursden, and now Carew. This castle may be seene farr offe (so they terame of highe upright, topped hill) by nature and slyght art anciently fortified, which, in those Roman or Saxon warrs, might be of goode strength, conteyninge within the compass thereof, near... acres. Here you may see some fyve mile distant, to the south-east, in the parish of Broad Clyet, another down, called Dolbury-hill:- between these two hills (you may be pleased to hear a pretty tale) that is said (I sett not downe those wordes to lessen your belief of the truthe of the matter) but to lett you know that, nil praeter auditum habeo:
Take yt on this condition
Yt holds credyt by tradition;That a fiery dragon, or some ignis fatuus in such lykeness, hath bynne often seene to flye between these hills, komming from the one to the other in the night season; whereby it is supposed ther is a great treasure hydd in each of them, and that the dragon is the trusty treasurer and sure keeper thereof, as he was of the golden fleece in Cholcos, which Jason, by the help of Medea, brought thence; for, as Ovid sayth, he was very vigilant.
A watchfull dragon sett,
This golden fleece to keep,
Within whose careful eyes
Come never wink of sleep.And, as the two relations may be as true one as the other, for any thinge I knowe, for it is constantly believed of the credulous heer, and some do averr to have seene yt lately. And of this hydden treasure the ryming proverbe here quoted goes commonly and anciently.
Quoted on p168 of A provincial glossary by Francis Grose, new edition 1811.
Be suitably warned that the parson of Widcombe opened this burial chamber – and the very next night his house was destroyed in an explosion.
(from a 1911 source, noted in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
Ringmoor Down is stuffed with prehistoric remains – the stone row, stone circles, hut circles, round cairns... but do resist the urge to dig them up even though “Whoever shall find the treasure hidden on Ringmoor Down may plough with a golden ploughshare and yoke his oxen with golden cross-sticks.” – this is a saying recorded in 1850 (and put by Grinsell in his ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’). If I found the treasure I reckon I’d give up farming and pay someone to plough for me with the usual wood and iron kit.
Grinsell records that during the annual beating of the bounds of Gidleigh common, the first man to reach the long stone was given money as a prize.
(’folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain’)
“The person who pulled down this cromlech is said to have brought a number of misfortunes about him in consequence; thus his cattle died and crops failed, which left a warning impression on the minds of his neighbours.”
From an 1861 source quoted in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’.
At the turn of the last century the oldest local people said that this was the last remaining stone of a circle. It was removed (“about 70 years ago” – maybe the 1830s) but all the cattle in the vicinity suddenly died, prompting its hasty return.
(Grinsell – Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain)
At Killishmont, near Keith, Banffshire, was a piece of ground called “the Helliman Rig.” It lay on the top of a rising ground, and commanded a very wide view of the country, stretching for many miles over the hills of Banff and Moray. In a part of it the rock--a kind of slate--came to the surface. In the rock were cut out nine cups in three rows. Tradition has it that a tenant long ago began to cultivate it. No sooner had the plough touched it than one of the oxen fell down dead. It is not very many years since it was brought under cultivation.
From Notes onThe Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland By Walter Gregor [1881]. Let’s hope the rock is still there.
This roughly triangular stone is five and a half feet tall and stands on a steep slope above the road. It is mentioned in Notes on The Folk-Lore
of the North-East of Scotland, by Walter Gregor
[1881], now online at the sacred texts archive.
Here is a tradition of a monolith on the farm of Achorrachin in Glenlivet. The farmer was building a steading, and took the stone as a lintel to a byre-door. Disease fell upon the cattle, and most unearthly noises were heard during night all round the steading. There was no peace for man or beast. By the advice of a friend the stone was taken from the wall, and thrown into the river that ran past the farm. Still there was no peace. The stone was at last put into its old place in the middle of a field. Things then returned to their usual course. The stone stands to the present day in the middle of the field, and in some of its crevices were seen, not many years ago, small pieces of mortar.
Visitors may care to note that it is very near to the Glenlivet distillery.
Grinsell notes that just west of the stone circles used to be the Moor of Ardoch Sithean. A sithean is a fairy knowe, or cairn. Clearly the fairies didn’t hold much fear for the people who destroyed it.
(mentioned in Grinsell’s ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’)
This 5’5” tall slab stands just outside the cemetery on Kirk Hill (is this an old or a new name I wonder?). It is named after a saint who is said to have converted many local people to Christianity (see cushnieent.force9.co.uk/walloch.html – Firth’s Celtic Scotland) and Grinsell (in ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’) says it is incised with a Celtic cross.
Lulach was (the real) Macbeth’s stepson. He was killed in battle in 1058 – so presumably the story goes that this stone commemorates him.
The information on canmore makes it sound quite a strange shape, as it bulges out towards the top. It is 2.5 metres high and stands in the middle of a circular banked enclosure. A boulder inside the circle ‘has been carved at a relatively recent date probably with a cold chisel’ to make a stone ball.
Grinsell (in ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites..’) mentions a rumour that the stone (deliberately?) crushed a treasure seeker to death, so be warned.
CuChullin’s dog was called Luath – it means ‘swift’ in Gaelic. Sometimes you want to know where your dog is – it’s hard to keep an eye on it when it’s dashing about everywhere. So CuChullin would occasionally tie Luath with a bit of string to this stone, when he needed to get on with things undistracted.
The stone is 10ft tall, and stands on a saddle between two hills. It is mentioned in James MacPherson’s ‘The Poems of Ossian’ which he compiled in 1761. (solomonspalding.com/SRP/Ossian/MacPhr03.htm)
F R Coles (1903*) was told locally that the stone was sometimes called Macbeth’s Stone.
*I don’t know what this article is though – but it’s mentioned on the RCAHMS record for the site.
It is said that witches used to convene their covens around this huge 3.5m stone.
(Grinsell – Folklore of Prehistoric Sites of Britain)
A source from the turn of last century said it is supposed to be the last remaining stone of a stone circle (noted on the Canmore database). But especially considering its enormous height, this seems particularly unlikely? and I doubt it is still an entertained theory. Was it the wishful thinking of an antiquarian? Or was it a genuine folk story about the stone? Either way it seems to point to somebody’s feeling about the site’s importance in the past?
This five and a half foot high granite megalith leans over. It used to be upright but tipped over (willfully?) to crush a man to death who was looking for a pot of gold said to be buried beside it.
Interestingly, another account says that it was a farmer who was crushed, who was looking for ‘a bull’s hide full of gold’.
Grinsell also offers this verse:
The man who never has been born
But frae his mither’s side been shorn
Sall fynd the plate and gowden horn
Anaith the Stane O’ Corticram.
(all from Grinsell’s collectings in ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain’. I neglected to note his sources, but the verse at least may be from Scottish Notes and Queries: second series Vol 3, July 1901 to June 1902, p29)
It seems to be an interesting area, Skelmuir Hill. There are a number of other stones in the vicinity, and it is in the region that is the major flint source in Scotland.
“In the large and almost complete circle at Cothiemuir, in the parish of Keig, the recumbent stone is of peculiar rounded shape, and has numerous hollows upon its surface, caused by weathering. Two of these on the outside, rather larger than their fellows, are known as the ” Devil’s Hoofmarks,” their shape resembling the mark of a cloven hoof.”
From: Ritchie, J., Folklore of Aberdeenshire Stone Circles, in Proc. Soc. Ant. of Scotland, LX, 1926, pp304-313.
Burl has suggested this is the remains of a recumbent stone circle, but more recent thought (see CANMORE) suggests it was a cairn which has been progressively robbed out, leaving some of the large kerbstones left at the edge.
According to Grinsell, (quoting from a 1901 source in his ‘Folklore of Prehistoric Sites..’) “in early days an attempt was made to build a chapel within the stone circle, but.. each night the walls sank out of sight and the building began anew every morning, until eventually the unlucky work was abandoned in despair.”
It’s no good trying to Christianise these places you know.
Not far away at NJ705190 is the ‘Ark Stone’, suggested by the antiquarian source above to be the lost recumbent stone of the circle, but boringly stated by modern archaeology to be a perfectly natural (though ark-shaped) granite boulder.
Only one stone is left of this circle, perhaps a flanker of the recumbent stone. It seems the others had been carted away by the turn of last century – actions which sit uncomfortably by its apparently respectful name of ‘the Old Church’? CANMORE suggests the site is still known by this name locally.
A number of streams course down the hill at this point, and a waterfall is marked on the map very nearby. The site nestles between Red Hill, Green Hill and Black Hill.
Ultach Fhinn translates as Fingal’s armful, or lift. It’s a pretty big armful – this recumbent stone is 23 feet long, up to 6 and a half foot wide, and 16 inches thick, aligned roughly north to south.
CANMORE records that it lies in the centre of a shapeless, heather-covered mound of earth and stone, but whether it is a cairn can’t be told without an excavation. There are cavities below the stone which have obviously been used as a shelter in times gone by. Judging from the map this must be a fairly impressive location – the site overlooks Loch Caravat.
Grinsell (in ‘folklore of prehistoric sites in Britain’) tells us that there is a 30cm by 10cm indentation on the stone – which is Fingal’s thumb mark.
It’s thought perhaps that the famous ‘Screaming Skull’ of Bettiscombe Manor is the remains of one of the original (prehistoric) inhabitants of Pilsdon Pen. You can read more at Castle of Spirits.
or get the lowdown from Mr Udal here:
https://www.archive.org/stream/proceedings31dorsuoft#page/176/mode/1up
*
Janet and Colin Bord (in Prehistoric Britain from the Air) describe how inside one of the excavated huts on Pilsdon was a crucible, with beads of gold still attached: a goldsmith’s workshop.
Robert Chambers had another explanation for the hill (related in his ‘Picture of Scotland’ of 1827).
Michael Scot was an infamous magician in these parts – and he had three demons who served him: Prig, Prim and Pricker. They were such a nuisance that he had to keep them continually busy. After he’d got them to cleft the Eildon Hills and bridle the Tweed with a curb of stone, he got them twisting ropes of sand. And when they’d done that, he commanded them to level Largo Law. However, they’d only just started – chucking one shovelful, which landed to form Norrie’s Law – when they were called away to do something else.
Here is another story connected to the Fairy Knowe, from Robert Chambers in his 1826 ‘Popular Rhymes of Scotland’.
There was once an honest miller who lived in Menstrie. He had a pretty wife whom he loved very much. She was so beautiful that she took the fancy of the fairies who lived in the Fairy Knowe, and they took her away to live with them. It was bad enough for the miller to be without her: but every morning, although he couldn’t see her, he could hear her singing.
She sang:
“O! Alva woods are bonnie
Tillicoultry hills are fair
But when I think on the braes o’ Menstrie
It makes my heart aye sair”
One day he was ‘riddlin’ some chaff at the door of his mill when he just happened to move into a particular posture: “as the hens do in rainy weather”. Unknown to him this was a magical gesture, and the enchantment which bound his wife was immediately broken – suddenly there she was beside him once more.
Nennius wrote in c800 of one of the marvels of Wales:
There is [in the region which is called Buelt] a heap of stones, and one stone superposed on the pile with the footprint of a dog on it. When he hunted the boar Troynt, Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, impressed his footprint on the stone, and Arthur afterwards collected a pile of stones under the stone [...] and it is called Carn Cabal. And men come and carry the stone in their hands for a day and a night, and on the morrow it is found upon its pile.
The hunt is described in Culhwch and Olwen. Culhwch is determined to catch the boar because it is the only way he can win permission from Olwen’s father to marry her. The boar, Twrch Trwyth and his seven piglets are pretty wily and it’s supposed to be an impossible task, but with help from Arthur and his men he manages to accomplish it. At some cost though, as Arthur’s sons were killed in the process. You can see the monument to their bravery at Cerrig Meibion Arthur.
In the 1840s, Lady Charlotte Guest, a translator of the Mabinogion, realised where Nennius’s cairn existed. She ‘prevailed upon a gentlemen’ to go and check it out. He wrote the following account, which I found on the Clwyd and Powys Archaeological Trust website.
“Carn Cavall, or, as it is generally pronounced, Corn Cavall, is a lofty and rugged mountain, in the upper part of the district anciently called Buellt, now written Builth, in Breconshire. Scattered over this mountain are several cairns of various dimensions, some of which are of very considerable magnitude, being at least a hundred and fifty feet in circumference. On one of these carns may still be seen a stone, so nearly corresponding with the description in Nennius, as to furnish strong presumption that it is the identical as to furnish strong presumption that it is the identical object referred to. It is near two feet in length, and not quite a foot wide, and such as a man might, without any great exertion, carry away in his hands. On the one side is an oval indentation, rounded at the bottom, nearly four inches long by three wide, about two inches deep, and altogether presenting such an appearance as might, without any great strain of imagination, be thought to resemble the print of a dog’s foot . . . As the stone is a species of conglomerate, it is possible that some unimaginative geologist may persist in maintaining that this footprint is nothing more than the cavity, left by the removal of a rounded pebble, which was once embedded in the stone.”
To confuse matters, ‘caballus’ in Latin (the language Nennius was writing in) is actually a horse. So perhaps it’s Arthur’s horse’s footprint you should be looking for.