Rhiannon

King Lud’s Intrenchments were long considered to be Saxon – the King Lud in question being Ludeca of Mercia (a bit too far for King Lud, legendary founder of London?). However, it’s now thought that the bank and ditches are prehistoric and part of an extensive boundary system stretching from Northamptonshire to the Humber: the ‘Jurassic Spine’. The Intrenchments cross it at right angles. Three banks run parallel, separated by two ditches (one originally V-shaped, the other U-shaped, apparently). To the East they join a prehistoric trackway called Sewstern Lane (Sewstern Drift)*. The parish boundary runs along their entire length.

A Bronze Age barrow cemetery lies alongside – there were at least twelve barrows originally but now only one (or two?) survive. They were reused for burials in Saxon times.

Near the barrows is an area known as ‘The Tent’, a small quarry where legend has it King Lud kept his horses (according to Leonard Cantor in his ‘Scheduled Ancient Monuments of Leicestershire and Rutland’ (1993) – other info from the EH record accessed at MAGIC) and see * this book also.

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.

red4.co.uk/ebooks/itinerary.htm

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).