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The Capstone of St. Lythans Cromlech will spin round three times on Midsummer's Eve. Wishes made at the site on Hallowe'en are guaranteed to come true, apparently. Guess where I'll be in late October...asking for a million pounds.
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Maen Madoc, the standing stone's latin inscription reads: 'Of Dervacus, Son of Justus. He lies here'. This dates from the fourth century, although the stone may be much older.
It is unclear whether the romans chose to bury Dervacus at this site because their road, Sarn Helen, passed it and it was an obvious landmark, or they raised it to commemorate him. To some the inscription may negate the stone's validity as a prehistoric monument.
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There is more to the story of the White Cow associated with the Callanish Stone Circle. It is said that a woman was on the point of throwing herself into the see and drowning at a time of famine in the area when a beautiful white cow appeared from the sea. It ordered her to take her milking pail to Callanish, where she and her neighbours were able to milk it each night.
Everyone was able to milk a single pail until a witch came and milked the cow into a sieve until she was dry. The cow vanished from Lewis and never returned. (Source; Secret Britain, Guild Publishing, London).
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In 'Secret Britain', (published by Guild Publishing, London), it was said 'that in lean times, a beautiful white cow appeared at Mitchell's fold. No matter how many came to milk her, so long as each person filled just one pail, she would never run dry. But when an old witch called Mitchell milked her dry by milking her into a sieve she vanished, never to return.'
In some versions the cow is said to have transformed into the rampaging Dun Cow of Dunchurch, Warks, which was eventually killed by Guy of Warwick.
The story of the Witch and the White Cow is said to have been attached to the circle in the 18th Century. At around the same time, another story told of 'Medgel's Fold', a place where a giant kept his cows. The name is a suggestion that the circle was a 'pound' or 'fold' of a giant.
The story of the magic white cow is also associated with the stone circle at Callanish, Lewis.
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There is a story that tells of how the henge was given its name.
In the book 'Oxfordshire Folklore', by Christine Bloxham (tempus 2005), it is said that the Devil was playing a game of quoits and was told off by God, because it was a Sunday and there was to be no recreation.
In a petulant fit of anger the Devil threw the quoits as far as he could and where they landed became the site we now know.
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If you go into old Taston,
You will see, along the road's edge,
A curious, nosey old stone there,
Peering shamelessly through the hedge.
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I was lucky enough to meet up with Jane and Moth two weekends ago and we went to visit Devil's Quoits.
It has to be stressed that there is still NO PUBLIC ACCESS to this site and they do not welcome visitors, but Jane was able to work her magic and we were granted brief access to the site. This point needs to be made as if you try and make your way to the site you are going to be setting yourself up for disappointment and a wasted journey. It is well and truly off limits.
I have to say I was impressed by what I saw. Much work has been done since the last postings and the site now resembles a henge and stone circle, as opposed to a filthy great pit or building site.
The henge has been fully reconstructed and two of the original three stones, in addition to six new stones have been erected. There is still much to be done but it was wonderful to gain a tangible view of what the henge must have once looked like.
The largest of the original stones has still to be erected but it's trench is dug and it has been raised on to wooden struts, so hopefully this will be done soon.
Slightly disappointingly, the company that bought the site from Hansen, WRG (Waste Resource Group) Ltd's PR Manager said that no work was scheduled for the foreseeable future.
Two factors are affecting the site, feathers and rabbit holes. I would say, when building a rabbit fence around something, that you check there's no rabbits inside what you're enclosing. Either that or the fence is completely innaffectual. One area of the henge has become riddled with rabbit holes.
And when the sun shines the whole area shimmers silvery white, by the feathers shed from various thousands of geese and other birds that have used the site as a temporary home whilst they make use of the lake to the south of the area.
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In the North Oxfordshire countryside, about one mile from the village of Tadmarton, you will find a triangle of steeply banked hills. They are known as Jester's Hill, Round Hill and Madmarston Hill.
Madmarston Hill is the site of an ironage hillfort which dates back to circa. 200 BC. The site is now used for farming purposes and nothing remains of the original fort, although it is possible from the west and east, to detect the remains of the earthworks that would have surrounded it. The earthworks enclose a site of around seven acres.
A roman road, now a bridle way, popular among horse riders and walkers, runs south along the site so it is possible to get a good view of the place, despite the land being private.
The site was the interest of an archaelologist, P J Fowler, and he spent two years from 1957-58 excavating the site. Several row barrows were uncovered and pits containing fractures of pot, animal bone as well as a natural spring were also discovered.
Madmarston hill and Jesters hill are both natural formations and both plateau to an even flat summit. Madmarston was presumably chosen as the site for a fort as it is a rounder formation to its longer narrower neighbour.
The Ordnance Survey map of the fort (ref SP386389) illustrates the remains of the earthworks on the hill in good detail.
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Jacksprat is an Oxfordshire bilbob. Now sadly abroad in East Sussex which, while very bracing on the downs, seems devoid of the stone circles he loves.
He is particularly fascinated in the folklore & fairy tales associated with ancient sites and how it is that these wonderful stones and locations have obviously enthralled and captivated us down the centuries.
Favourite sites: The Hawkstone and Rollrights.
Other interests include: speaking of himself in the third person, playing guitar, mandolin, cross running, rugby, playing bad chess.
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