No picture of the early Celtic landscape would be complete without its stone rings or individual upright-standing stones. In fact, they have come to characterize all that is Celtic about the countryside and have become so entwined with Celtic mythology that it would be neglectful to omit references to them from this selection.
For the early Celts also, these stones were symbolic. Many of them had been left over from the great Ice Age. To the Celtic mind, they spoke of ancient giants who had inhabited the lands before them. The great stones were the dwelling places of fierce spirits who coexisted with the Celtic peoples themselves. They were to be treated with reverence.
It is not clear whether the stone circles that once predominated the Celtic lands are directly attributable to the Celts themselves or to an earlier people. In many instances, they are referred to as “druid circles,” but it is not certain that this is strictly accurate. They were thought to be places of ritual, not only for the Celts but also for the peoples that came before them. Therefore, they were places of great supernatural power. Certainly the druids, the Celtic holy men, may well have used them for their own purposes, thus adding to the occult significance of these sites.
Possibly the most famous of all these stone circles today is Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in England, which attracts tourists and visitors from all over the world. It is certainly currently the most impressive of all the great megaliths. But in times more ancient, it must have been only one of a number of such menhirs scattered all through the Celtic world. Stonehenge, of course, was believed to have been magically brought from Ireland (where it was known as the Dance of the Giants) in the days of Vortigern, an early Celtic king. There were other great rings in Scotland, the most famous being the Ring of Kingussie in the Upper Spey Valley at the foot of the Cairngorms, which was supposedly used as a courthouse by the infamous Wolf of Badenoch in the 14th century.
Cornwall, too, was full of stone circles and isolated standing stones. Some of these can still be seen today on the moors and remote hills of the country. The following extract is taken from Robert Hunt's (1807–1887) essay “Romances of the Rocks,” written around 1880. It is a clear attempt to provide some sort of “scientific” explanation for the ancient rocks and for the myths and legends (many of great antiquity) that surround them by linking them with extremely ancient and mythological traditions and histories.
Excerpt From “Romances of the Rocks”
by Robert Hunt
It is a common belief among the peasantry over every part of Cornwall, that no human power can remove any of those stones, which have been rendered sacred to them by traditionary romance. Many a time have I been told that certain stones had been removed by day, but that they always returned by night to their original positions and that the parties who had dared to tamper with these sacred stones were punished in some way. When the rash commander of a revenue cutter landed with a party of his men and overturned the Logan Rock, to prove the folly of the prevalent superstition, he did but little service in dispelling an old belief, but proved himself to be a fool for his pains.
I could desire, for the preservation of many of our Celtic remains, that we could impress the educated classes with a similar reverence for the few relics which are left to us of an ancient and a peculiar people of whose history we know so little, and from whose remains we might, by careful study, learn so much. Those poised stones and perforated rocks must be of high antiquity, for we find the Anglo-Saxons making laws to prevent the British people from pursuing their old pagan practices.
The geologist, looking upon the Logan stones and other curiously formed rock masses dismisses at once from his mind, the idea of their having been formed by the hand of man and hastily sets aside the tradition that the Druids ever employed them, or that the old Celt ever regarded them with reverence. There cannot be any doubt but that many large masses of granite are, by atmospheric causes, now passing into the condition required for the formation of the Logan Rock. It is possible that in some cases, the “weathering” may have gone on so uniformly around the stone as to poise it so exactly that the thrust of a child will shake a mass many tons in weight.
The result, however, of my own observations, made with much curiosity and considerable care, has been to convince me, that in by far the greatest number of instances the disintegration, though general around the line of a “bed way,” or horizontal joint, has gone on rapidly on the side exposed to the beat of the weather, while the opposite extremity has been but slightly worn; consequently the stones have a tendency to be depressed on the sheltered side. With a little labour, man could correct this natural defect, and with a little skill make a poised stone. We have incontrovertible evidence that certain poised stones have been regarded, through long periods of time, as of a sacred character. Whether these stones were used by the Druids, or merely that the ignorant people supposed them to have some particular virtue, I care not. The earliest inhabitants of Cornwall, probably Celts, were possessed with some idea that these stones were connected with the mysteries of existence; and from father to son, for centuries, notwithstanding the introduction of Christianity, these stones have maintained their sacred character. Therefore, may we not infer that the leaders of the people availed themselves of this feeling; and finding many rocks of gigantic size, upon which nature had begun the work, completed them and used the mighty moving masses to impress with terror—the principle by which they ruled—the untaught, but poetically constituted minds of the people. Dr. Borlase has been laughed at for finding rock-basins, the works of the Druids in every granitic mass. At the same time those who laugh have failed to examine these rock masses with unprejudiced care and hence they have erred as wildly as did the Cornish antiquary; but in a contrary direction. Hundreds of depressions are being formed by the winds and rains upon the faces of the granite rocks. With these no Druid ever perplexed himself or his people. But there are numerous hollows to be found in large flat rocks which have unmistakeably been formed, if not entirely, partly by the hands of men. The Sacrificing Rock or Carn Brea, is a remarkable example. The longer hollows on the Men-rock in Constantine, several basins in the Logan Rock group and at Carn Boscawen, may be referred to as other examples. With these remarks, I proceed to notice a few of the most remarkable rock-masses with which tradition has associated some tale.
[Editor's Note: Hunt states that much study has been given to the name of this rock mass at Trereen Dinas. The poised central stone—the Logan Rock—appears to be unsteady, and Hunt suggests that the name derives from a local Cornish word “to log,” meaning to move unsteadily or “roll like a drunk man.”]
Modred, in Mason's “Caractacus,” addressing Vellinus and Ellidurus says:
Thither youths,
Turn your astonished eyes; behold you huge
And unhewn sphere of living adamant,
Which, poised by magic, rests its central weight,
On yonder pointed rock—from as it seems,
Such is the strange and virtuous property,
It moves obsequious to the gentle touch,
Of him whose breath is pure, but to a traitor,
Though even a giant's prowess, served his arm,
It stands as fixed as Snowdon.
This faithfully preserves the traditionary idea of the purpose to which this very remarkable rock is devoted.
Up to the time when Lieutenant Goldsmith, on the 8th April 1824, slid the rock from its support, to prove the false-hood of Dr. Borlaise's statement, that “it is morally impossible that any lever, or indeed force, however applied in a mechanical way, can remove it from its present position,” the Logan rock was believed to cure children who were rocked upon it at certain seasons; but the charm is broken, although the rock is restored.
[Editor's Note: The stone was restored to its former site once again by Lieutenant Goldsmith, following a “great excitement” in the locality. A Mr. Davies Gilbert persuaded the Lord of the Admiralty to lend the Lieutenant the required mechanical apparatus in order to return it to its former position.]
A might Logan Stone was poised and blessed by Ambrose Merlin not far from Penzance. [Editor's Note: In some parts of Cornwall, the great Arthurian magician Merlin is sometimes given the Christian name Ambrose, presumably to fit in with Christian legend. Certain Cornish “conjurers,” or local wise men, also adopted this name. It is not clear from Hunt's account whom he is specifically referring to.] “So great,” says Drayton in his “Polyalbion,” “that many men's united strength cannot remove it though with one finger may wag it.”
Merlin proclaimed that this stone should stand until England had no king; and Scawen tells us:
Here, too, we may add what wrong another sort of strangers have done to us, especially in the civil wars, and in particular by the destroying of the Mincamber, a famous monument, being a rock of infinite weight, which as a burden was laid upon other great stones, and yet, so equally thereon poised up by nature only. That a little child could instantly move it, but no one man or many, remove it. This natural monument all travellers that came that way desired to behold; but in the time of Oliver's usurpation [Editor's Note: The rise of the English Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell after the execution of King Charles I in 1649], when all monumental things became despicable, one Sherubsall, one of Oliver's heroes, then Governor of Pendennes, by labour and much ado, caused to be undermined and thrown down, to the great grief of the country, but to his own great glory, as he thought; doing it, as he said, with a small cane in his hand. I myself have heard him to boast of this act, being a prisoner under him.
So was Merlin's prophesy fulfilled.
[Editor's Note: Hunt takes this as the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy—the execution of the King and the establishment of a Republic under Cromwell as Lord Protector. The above quotation is taken from C. S. Gilbert's “Historical Survey.” He also cites Scawen's “Description of the Cornish Language” and Sttukley's “Stonehenge.”]
C. Taylor Stephens, lately deceased, who was for some time the rural postman of Zennor sought. In his poem, “The Chief of Barat-Anac”, to embody in a story some description of the Zennor coits and other rock curiosities.
I employed this man for some weeks to gather up for me all that remained of the legendary lore of Zennor and Morva. He did his work well; and from his knowledge of the people, he learned more from them than any other man could have done. The results of his labours are scattered through these volumes. [Editor's Note: Hunt refers to the “Drolls, Traditions and Superstitions of Old Cornwall.”]
C. Taylor Stephens wrote me on the subject of the cromlechs as follows:
Superstitious Belief respecting the Quoits
“I was in the neighbourhood of Zennor in 1859, and by accident came across the Zennor cromlech, and was struck with the mode of its construction (not having heard of its existence before), and thinking it bore some resemblance to the Druidical altars I had read of, I inquired of a group of persons who were gathered about the village smithery, whether any one could tell me anything concerning the heap of stones on the top of the hill. One said, ‘Tes caal'd the giant's kite, thas all I know. At last, one more thoughtful, and one who, I found out, was considered the wiseacre and oracle of the village, looked up and gave me this important piece of information—‘Them ere rocks were put there afore you and me was boren or thoft ov; but who done it is a puzler to everybody in Sunnur (Zennor). I de bleve there put up there wen thes ere world was maade; but wether they was up or no don't very much mattur by hal akounts. Thes I'd knaw, that nobody caant take car em awa'; if anybody was too, they'd be brot there agin. [Editor's Note: If the stones were removed from their site, they'd be mysteriously returned before long.] Hees an' ef they was tuked awa wone nite, theys shur to be had rite up top o' th' hill first thing in mornin'. But I can't tell ‘ee as much as Passon (Parson) can; if you see he, he'd tel he hal about it”
In one of the notes received from the poet and postman, he gives a curious instance of the many parts a man played in these remote districts but a few years since:
“My venerable grandpapa was well known by all the old people for he was not only a local preacher, but a character, a botanist, a veterinary surgeon, a secretary to a burial and sick benefit society and, moreover, the blacksmith of the neighbourhood”.
Not more than two miles from Penzance stands the celebrated cromlech of Lanyon—often pronounced Lanine. This, like all other cromlechs, marks, no doubt, the resting place of a British chieftain, many of whose followers repose within a short distance of this, the principal monument.
Beyond the village of Lanyon, on a “furry down”, stands the Men-an-Tol or the “holed stone”. For some purpose—it is vain to speculate on it now—the bardic priesthood employed this stone, and probably the superstition which attaches itself to it may indicate its ancient uses.
If scrofulous children are passed naked through the Men-an-Tol three times and then drawn on the grass three times against the sun, it is felt by the faithful that much has been done towards insuring a speedy cure. Even men and women who have been afflicted with spinal diseases, or who have suffered from scrofulous taint, have been drawn through the magic stone, which all declare still retains its ancient virtues.
If two brass pins are carefully laid across each other on the top edge of this stone, any questions put to the rock will be answered by the pins acquiring through some unknown agency, a peculiar motion.
If any one suffering from a “crick in the back” can pass through this forked rock, on the borders of Zennor and Morva, without touching the stone, he is certain of being cured. This is but a substitute for the holed stone, which, it is admitted, has much more virtue than the forked stone.
In various parts of the country there are, amongst the granite masses, rocks which have fallen across each other, leaving small openings, or there are holes, low and narrow, extending under a pile of rocks. In nearly every case of this kind, we find it is popularly stated, that any one suffering from rheumatism or lumbago would be cured if he crawled through the openings. In some cases, nine times are insisted on “to make this charm complete”.
Mrs. Bray in her “Traditions of Devonshire”, gives several examples of the prevalence of this superstition over the granite district of Dartmoor.
In many parts of Cornwall we find, more or less perfect, circles of stones, which the learned ascribe to the Druids. Tradition and the common people, who have faith in all that their fathers have taught them, tell us another tale. These stones are the everlasting marks of the Divine displeasure, being maidens or men, who were changed into stone for some wicked profanation of the Sabbath-day. These monuments of impiety are scattered over the country; they are to be found, indeed, to the extremity of Old Cornwall, many of these circles being upon Dartmoor. It is not necessary to name them all. Every purpose will be served if the tourist is directed to those which lie more directly in the route which is usually prescribed. In the parish of Borlan, are the “Dawns Myin” or Men—the standing stones—commonly called “The Merry Maidens”, and near them are two granite pillars named the “Pipers.” One Sabbath evening, some of the thoughtless maidens of the neighbouring village. Instead of attending vespers, strayed into the fields, and two evil spirits, assuming the guise of pipers, began to play some dance tunes. The young people yielded to the temptation; and, forgetting the holy day, commenced dancing. The excitement increased with the exercise, and soon the music and the dance became extremely wild; when lo!, a flash of lightning from the clear sky transfixed them all, the tempters and the tempted, and there in stone they stand.
The celebrated circle of nineteen stones—which is seen on the road to Lands End—known as the “Boscawen-un circle” is another example. “The Nine Maids” or “The Virgin Sisters” in Stitithens and other “Nine Maids” or as called in Cornish Naw-Whoors in Colomb-Major parish should also be seen in the hope of impressing the moral lesson they convey yet more strongly on the mind.
The three circles which are seen on the moors, not far from Cheesewring, in the parish of St. Cleer, are also notable examples of the punishment of Sabbath-breaking. These are called the “Hurlers” and they preserve the position in which the several parties stood around in the full excitement of the game of hurling, when, for the crime of profaning the Sabbath, they were changed to stone.
Nine “Moor Stones” are set up near the road in the parish of Gwendron or Wendron, to which the above name is given. The perpendicular blocks have obviously been placed with much labour in their present position. Tradition says they indicate the graves of nine sisters. Hals appears to think some nuns are buried there. From one person only I heard the old story of the stones having been matamorphosed maidens. Other groups of stone might be named, as Rosemedery, Tregaseal, Boskednan, Botalleck, Tredinek, and Crowlas, in the west, to which the same story extends, and many others in the eastern parts of the country; but it cannot be necessary.
Numbers of people would formerly visit a remarkable Logan stone, near Nancledrea, which had been, by supernatural power, impressed with some peculiar sense at midnight. Although it was quite impossible to move this stone during daylight, or induced by human power at any other time, it would rock like a cradle exactly at midnight. Many a child has been cured of rickets by being placed naked at this hour on the twelve o' clock stone. If, however, the child was “misbegotten”, or if it was the offspring of dissolute parents, the stone would not move and consequently no cure could be effected. On the Cuckoo Hill, eastward of Nancledrea, there stood, but a few years since, two piles of rock about eight feet apart, and these were united by a large flat-stone carefully placed upon them—thus forming a doorway which was, my informant told me, “large and high enough to drive a horse and cart through”. It was formerly the custom to march in procession through this “doorway” in going to the twelve-o'-clock stone.
The stone-mason has, however, been busy hereabout; and every mass of granite, whether rendered notorious by the Giants or holy by the Druids, if found to be of the size required, has been removed.
At a short distance from Sennan church, and near the end of a cottage is a block of granite nearly eight feet long and about three feet high. This rock is known as the Table-men or the Table-main which appears to signify the stone table. At Bosavern in St. Just, is a somewhat similar stone; and the same story attaches to each.
It is to the effect that some Saxon kings used the stone as a dining table. The number has been variously stated; some traditions fixing on three kings; others on seven. Hals is far more explicit; for, as he says, on the authority of the chronicle of Samuel Daniell, they were:
Ethelbert, 5th king of Kent
Cissa 2nd king of the South Saxons
Kingilis 6th king of the West Saxons
Sebert 3rd king of the East Saxons
Ethelfred 7th king of Northumberers
Penda 5th king of the Mercians
Sigebert 5th king of the East Angles—who all flourished about the year 600.
At a point where the four parishes of Zennor, Morvah, Gulval and Madron meet, is a flat stone with a cross cut in it. The Saxon kings were also said to have dined on this.
The only tradition which is known among the peasantry of Sennan is that Prince Arthur and the kings who aided him against the Danes, in the great battle fought near Vellan-Drucher, dined on the Table-men, after which they defeated the Danes.
At low water is to be seen, off the Land's End towards the Scilly Island (probably so called from the abundance of eel or conger fishes caught there, which are called sillys or lillis) for a mile or more, a dangerous strag of ragged rocks, amongst which the Atlantic Sea and the waves of St. George's and the British Channel meeting, make a dreadful bellowing and rumbling noise at half-ebb and half-flood, which let seamen take notice of and avoid them.
Of old there was one of these rocks more notable than the rest, which tradition saith was ninety feet above the flux and reflux of the sea, with an iron spire at the top thereof which was over-turned or thrown down in a violent storm, 1647, and the rock was broken in three pieces. This iron spire, as the additions to Camden's Britannia inform us was thought to have been erected by the Romans, or set up as a trophy there by King Athelstan, when he first conquered the Scilley Islands (which was in those parts); but it is not very probable such a piece of iron, in this salt sea and air, without being consumed by rust, would endure so long a time. However, it is or was, certain I am it was commonly called in Cornish An Marogeth Arvowed i.e. the Armed Knight; for what reason I know not, except erected by or in memory of some armed knight; as also Carne-an-peal i.e. the spike, spire or javelin rock. Again, remember silly, lilly is in Cornish and Arrmoric language a conger fish or fishes from whence Scilley Islands is probably denominated. Mr. Blight says this rock is also called Guela or Guelas—the “rock easily seen”.
In the slate formations behind Polperro is a good example of a fauit. The geologist, in the pride of his knowledge, refers to some movement of the solid mass—a rending of the rocks, produced either by the action of some subterranean force lifting the earth-crust, or by a depression of one division of the rocks. The grey-bearded wisdom of our grandfathers led them to a conclusion widely different from this.
The mighty ruler of the realms of darkness who is known to have a special fondness for rides at midnight, “to see how his little ones thrive”, ascending from his subterranean country, chose this spot as his point of egress.
As he rose from below in his fiery car, drawn by gigantic jet-black steed, the rocks gave way before him and the rent at Polporro remains this day to convince all unbelievers. Not only this, as his Satanic majesty burst through the slate rocks his horse, delighted with the airs of this upper world, reared in wild triumph, and planting again his hoof upon the ground, made these islands shake as with an earthquake; and he left the deep impression of his burning foot behind. There, any unbeliever may see the hoof-shaped pool, unmistakable evidence of the days gone by.
In the western part of Cornwall, all the marks of any peculiar kind found on rocks are referred either to the giants or the devil. In the eastern part of the county such markings are almost always attributed to King Arthur. Not far from the Devil's Coit in St. Columb, on the edge of Gossmoor, there is a large stone, upon which are deeply impressed marks, which a little fancy may convert into the marks of four horse-shoes. This is “King Arthur's Stone”, and these marks were made by the horse upon which the British king rode when he resided as Castle Denis, and hunted on these moors. King Arthur's beds, and chairs, and caves are frequently to be met with. The Giant's Coits are probably remnants of the earliest types of rock mythology Those of Arthur belong to the period when the Britons were so advanced in civilisation as to war under experienced rulers; and those which are appropriated by the devil are evidently instances of priestcraft on the minds of an impressible people.