"AD946, Edmund wasted Cumbria, and having put out the eyes of the two sons of Dunmail, gave that province to King Malcolm, King of Scotland. Dun-mel-wrays is supposed to have been erected in memory of it or a boundary of Dunmails kingdom."
The Gentleman's Magazine Library Compendium 1731-1868
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How to Become a Witch
Touch a Logan stone nine times at midnight, and any woman will become a witch.
Source: Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England; or, The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall (London: John Camden Hotten, 1871), p. 321.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/monuments.html#scott
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In his excellent book, The Book of the Cailleach, Stories of the Wise-Woman Healer, Gearoid O Crualaoich tells the tale of how Emain Macha got its name.
There were three kings , Dithorba, Aed Ruad and Cimbaeth who took it in seven year stints to rule over Ireland. When Aed Ruad died his daughter, Macha Mongruad demanded her fathers turn of the kingship. The remaining two kings refused to surrender the kingship to a woman, so Matha defeated them in battle and took her seven year turn.
When Dithorba died his five sons claimed the kingship. Macha fought and defeated the sons and banished them to Connaught. Then she married Cimbeath.
Matha went to visit the five sons disguised as a hag. The sons try to trick Macha with lies but one by one she ties them up and brings them back to Ulster, where she orders them to dig a ring fort as a capital for Ulster and marked out the boundaries of the fort with a pin from her golden brooch.
The fort was founded four hunderd and five years before Christ and lasted until four hundred and fifty years after Christ.
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F.R. Coles wrote this about the stones in 1906
"Auld Wives' Lifts belong, in the megalithic folk-lore, to the section which comprises legends of women, or witches, or carlines, who transport through the air masses of stone, great or small, and here and there drop them ; thus forming cairns, groups of standing stones, or single groups of enormous blocks, like the pierres levies
'at Poictiers and other French localities. This remarkable group on Craigmaddie Muir has also associations with another phase of superstition ; for Mr Robertson observes that it is " still necessary for all strangers visiting this enchanted place for the first time, to creep through it, if they wish to avert the calamity of dying childless." He notes the old spelling was Craig-madden, and translates madden as
= moid/lean, entreaty, supplication : The rock of prayer."
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Some modern folklore from 'The Ghostly Guide to the Lake District' by Tony Walker
http://www.ghoststories.org.uk/stories/ghostlyguidelakedistrict.pdf
"In the early 1990s, a local girl called Paula Thompson and her friends decided to do a bit of ghost hunting at Long Meg. Friends had gone there in their cars late at night to sit and talk and do what teenagers do. They reported seeing flashes of light outside the car, coming from the
stones. They told Paula and they all decided to go back another night as a group.
It was late, after midnight and at first Paula wouldn't get out of her car. Her friends teased her and so, reluctantly she opened the door. By that time the others had spread out round the circle. There was some light from the moon, and so she walked over to Long Meg, the tallest stone. She saw a dark shape in front of her. As she got closer, it started to move towards her very quickly. She thought it was a male friend having a laugh and called out jokingly for him to stop. He didn't stop and she saw that he was going to run into her. As it got closer she saw the shape wasn't her friend. To her horror it ran right through her. She says she felt cold and frightened and rushed back to the car.
Another time a group of people went there late, they met a coven of witches. When you visit Long Meg, you will more often than not see offerings of flowers or suchlike around Long Meg herself, or hanging in the tree nearby. My advice would be to stay away from Long Meg after dark. These people probably mean no harm, but they don't like to be disturbed".
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Legend has it that Addlebrough was once the home of a giant who had a feirce row with the devil. Perched on the top of the crag, the rough ridge to the west, the giant hurled boulders down at the devil, but they fell short and landed at the side of Semerwater. The devil's response landed high on the flank of Addlebrough.
The giant granite boulders thrown by the giant can be seen on the edge of Semerwater and are known as The Carlow and Mermaid stones.
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"In the farmers family for at least three generations that he knew about, the circle had been used as a vet. he had been brought up with the knowledge that is, if lambs did not play in the circle, there was something wrong with them, so have a look at them".
Taken from
The Reason for the Stone Circles in Cumbria by Ray Seton
published the author.
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The earliest reference to the monument is on a 1771 map where it is refered to as "Mitten full of Stones". A local legend tells how the devil was carrying stones in his mitten to Dunbar to build a dam across the Tweed to Kelso, when the mitten burst and the stones fell on the moor. There is also a tale of gold wrapped in a hide of an ox and buried beneath the cairn.
The cairn was excavated by Lady John Scott in 1871 who "failed to find anything of interest" and then in 1924 by James Hewat Craw.
Hewat Craw uncovered a number of walls and areas of disturbance which led him to the conclusion that the long cairn may have contained "enclosed chambers of one sort or another and which have as yet yeilded only relics of the stone phase of culture"
All information from
The Mutiny Stones, Berwickshire
By James Hewat Craw F.S.A. Scot
Proceeding of the Society of Scottish Antiquities 1925
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"A witch story related by a native 25yrs ago attempts to explain two conspicuous natural features two miles apart on Pickering Moor; Blakey Topping, an isolated hill, and the Hole of Horcum, a deep basin-shaped valley. The local witch had sold her soul to the devil on the usual terms, but when he claimed it, she refused to give it up, and flew over the moors, with the devil in hot pursuit. Overtake her he could not, so he grabbed up a handful of earth and flung it at her. he missed his aim and she escaped. The Hole of Horcum remains to prove where he tore up the earth and Blakey Topping where it fell to the ground.
From our point of view the significance of this story lies in the fact that between the Hole and the Topping there is a Bronze Age settlement site at Blakey Farm, with its stone circle. The rough trackway leading from the Hole to the circle is known as the Old Wife's Way, presumably also marking the witch's flight. This, together with other Old Wife's Ways, preserves as it were Bronze Age church tracks".
The Archaeology of Yorkshire
F & HW Elgee
1933
Republished 1971 by SR Publishers Ltd.
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"Luath's Stone on the hillside some distance north of Whitehouse Station on the Alford railway, is reputed to mark the site of the death of "Luath," said to be a son of Macbeth.
Some doubt must attach to the tradition, which is repeated in connection with another site a good many miles away; even the existence of a son so-called is doubtful. The colour of the stone suggests that the present name may have been derived from the Gaelic word liath, meaning "grey"—the "Grey Stone" and nothing more".
Source
Folklore of the Aberdeen Stone Circles and Standing Stones by James Ritchie
Proceedings of The Society of Antiquities of Scotland. Vol LX.20
May 10 1926
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"The Auld Kirk o Tough circle is now almost destroyed: only one stone remains on its original site, the others having been removed many years ago by a tenant on the farm. He is said to have formed one of the stones into a field-roller, which broke just after having been put to use—a just judgment upon his interference, said his neighbours".
Source
Folklore of the Aberdeen Stone Circles and Standing Stones by James Ritchie
Proceedings of The Society of Antiquities of Scotland. Vol LX.20
May 10 1926
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Love them bees!
"The Candle Stone is a large pillar-stone which stands at Candle Ridge, Drumwhindle,
near Arnage, and there are three Candle Sills, one at Oyne, one in the parish of Rayne, and the other near Insch, within a few miles of each other. On each of these Candle Hills there are remains of a stone circle, so that al these candle-names appear to be associated with either stone circles or a standing-stone. The association has given rise to the idea that candles were employed in the ceremonies performed by the "Druids" at such places; but Professor Watson tells me that the Gaelic word signifies not a diminutive candle, but even a huge torch, so that the word might well be applied figuratively to a tall stone suggesting the shape of a torch.
Another explanation of the name, however, is possible. In former days wax candles were much used in Church services, and since the wax was derived from bees, whose honey was used for sweetening, it was not overplentiful, and was accordingly highly valued. Thus gifts of wax frequently find mention in old deeds arid charters : two stones of wax were dedicated in 1233 by the Earl of Buchan to the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin at Rattray, and another grant of 5pounds is referred to in the
confirmation of a charter of John Lord of the Isles in 1460. Grants of wax for Church use came to be associated with land suitable for beekeeping : thus the Candlelands at Ellon were dedicated to the use of the church there, and had to provide twenty-four wax candles three times a year to burn before the high altar of the Church of Ellon. These Candlelands are only some 5 miles distant from the Candlestone and Candle Ridge of Drumwhindle. It may be no more than a coincidence that the Candle Ridge near Ellon and the three Candle Hills in the Insch district have each a standing-stone or a stone circle. Naturally hill-top monuments would escape much of the destruction which visited similar monuments on arable land, so that out of the large numbers of these monuments which must have existed at one time, the hill-top examples stood every chance of survival; further, the very conditions which would account for the preservation of the stones, rough, rather high ground with abundance of heather and the characteristic vegetation of such places, would be just those best suited for the keeping of the bee-stocks which were to produce the sacred candle wax. The suggestion, therefore, is that the ancient stones have only a casual connection with candlelands from which beeswax was obtained or levied".
Source
Folklore of the Aberdeen Stone Circles and Standing Stones by James Ritchie
Proceedings of The Society of Antquities of Scotland. Vol LX.20
May 10 1926
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"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.
A short distance, some 200 yards, from the Chapel o' Sink lies the Ark Stone, very likely the recumbent stone of the circle, which would help to account for its unusual name".
Source
Folklore of the Aberdeen Stone Circles and Standing Stones by James Ritchie
Proceedings of The Society of Antquities of Scotland. Vol LX.20
May 10 1926
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A different telling of Rhiannon's tale
"Many years ago some of the stones of Mains of Hatton Circle, Auchterless, were removed to form gateposts, but the spirits, it is said, resented human interference with the circle, and it was only with great trouble that horses could ever be induced to pass through the gate. So little was the farmer prepared to encounter the spiritual enmity thus clearly indicated, that he decided to replace, on their original site, the stones which had been taken away; but it was remarked that while two horses with difficulty dragged each stone
downhill to the gate, one only found it easy work to pull a stone uphill from the gate to the circle".
Source
Folklore of the Aberdeen Stone Circles and Standing Stones by James Ritchie
Proceedings of The Society of Antquities of Scotland. Vol LX.20
May 10 1926
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The mighty Graeme C told me that a local farmer told him that the devil threw this stone to its current location. Apparently you can still see his finger marks on the side of the stone.
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"King Eric was treacherously killed by Earl Maccus in a certain lonely place which is called Stainmore, with his son Haeric and his brother Ragnald, betrayed by Earl Oswulf, and then afterwards King Eadred ruled in these districts".
Flowers of the Histories
Roger of Wendover
In his book "In Search of The Dark Ages"Michael Wood describes Eric as "The last king of the Northumbrian race"
A few more quotes relating to Rey Cross and Stainmore.
"Here was the boundary between the 'Westmoringas' and the Northumbrians, the old Glasgow diocesan border, and before that the frontier of the Cumbrians and the Northumbrians. The place is marked by the stump of a cross still called rey Cross, from the Norse word hreyrr, meaning boundary.
Some seventy years ago Prof. W. Collingwood identified this as an English-style cross with figured decoration, and suggests that it was done by an English sculptor and commisioned by sympathisers in York to commemorate their king".
"Eric's other monument survives in a more intelligible form. When his wife and family fled by sea from York to Orkney, a poet in their entourage composed his epitaph, the Eiriksmal. It is redolent of the old Scandanavian world, thoroughly pagan, soaked in the shamanistic inspiration of Odin".
"The lost History of the Ancient Northumbrians ended with Eric's death, and was rounded off with the king lists; 'Ever since, the Northumbrians have been mouring their lost liberty.' And of course, some of them still do!"
All Quotes from
In Search of the Dark Ages
Michael Wood
Published by BBC Books
1987
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"On the Moor above the village (Cotherstone) is a stone called the Butterstone, whereat a market was held once during a time of plague, and near it is a farmstead, once a school whereat Richard Cobden was at one time a pupil. It is said of this village that once upon a time the folk were so irreverent and Godless as to0 christen calves in open contempt of the sacrament of baptism, and that hence sprang up a derisive saying - "Cotherstone, where they christen calves, hopple loups and kneeband spiders." "To hopple a loup" means to tie the legs of a flea together; "To kneeband a spider" is not so easy of explanation"
From
The Enchanting North by J.S. Fletcher.
Pub 1908
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" A musing stroll across the heath from Studland, brings you to the Aggllestone, the holy stone (Helig - Anglo-Saxon for holy) hurled by the devil on to the crest of a hillock rising above the peaty waste. Fiends often do dress like angels, and it is certainly hard to detect anything of the devil when the Madonna-blue chalices of that visionary flower, Gentiana pneumonanthe, are open on the heath. But devils did traffic with holy stones in archaic England, for devils were once gods themselves fallen from heaven upon evil days, the days when the usurping Celts looked with dread upon the works of their predecessors. For the Agglestone is a menhir".
Taken from
Downland Man by H.J. Massingham
Pub 1927 by Jonathan Cape
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A variation on Rhiannon's tale taken from Janet & Colin Bord's "The Mysterious Country"
"A man who used oxen to move the stone to get at it's treasure was unsuccessful: the chains snapped, the oxen collapsed and the 'guardian-spirit of the treasure' in the form of a drake flew from under the stone, which fell back into place. This happened in 1832, according to one account. The stone was eventually buried in a hole dug beside it, because it interfered with ploughing; and in 1913 it was relocated, hauled up (in two pieces, because it had broken), and redeposited near the churchyard gate. Two drakes regularly seen sheltering beneath the stone gave it it's name."
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"There ev'ry herd by sad experience knows,
How wing'd with fate, their elf shot arrows fly,
When the sick ewe her summer food forgoes,
Or stretch'd on earth the heart-smit heifers lie"
From
Flint Chips, A guide to Prehistoric Archaeology
by Edward T. stevens
1870
An elf shot is a flint arrow head.
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