It's Christmas ....

These old Christmas cards by the Swedish artist Jenny Nyström feature the Tomten and Julbocken (Yule Goat) of Nordic folklore. The little chaps are likely the origins of the Hobs and Brownies in Britain - so kindrid spirits of sorts.

 The Swedish scholar, Viktor Rydberg wrote a poem called 'Tomten' in 1881. Here it is recited in Swedish with English subtitles ...

As guardians of the home (Hus-tomten) perhaps we should raise a glass to these wee fellas, that they may never be forgot.

Image credits Jenny Nyström   http://jennynystromsbilder.kalmarlansmuseum.se/

The Brimham Noon Stone - Pillar of the Sun

 The Noon Stone is a 4 metre high rectangular block of stone standing on a low hill 1/4 of a mile to the south of Brimham Rocks, and 8 miles to the north west of Harrogate.

 Today the rock stands amongst trees planted on the hill side, but in the past it stood alone on the ridge, and formed a conspicuous local landmark.

 The travel writer Thomas Pennant visited the unusual rock formations at Brimham Rocks in the summer of 1777, and wrote ..."On my arrival on the summit of the hill, the seat of wonders, my astonishment was unspeakable ; the whole was new to me; a flat covered with stones of forms the most singular, and many of sizes most stupendous." (Pennant, 1804).

  After describing several of the oddly shaped outcrops in the main group, he noted ... "I finally take leave of these wonderous phenomena by saying, that opposite to a weaver's-house, beneath the crags, is a round small mount, on which is a rectangular natural stone, quite erect, and, at a distance, taken for a tower ; it is about thirteen feet broad, and about three feet thick. The country people call it the Noon-Stone as the meridian is made known to them by the shining of the sun on it."

Freda of Wensleydale and the Fairy Well

 The Fairy Well is located in a field on the west side of Harmby village, 1 mile to the south-east of Leyburn in Wensleydale.

 A strong spring emerges on a grassy hillside in the field, with the water flowing into an old metal trough. Tumbled dry-stone walling partly surrounds the trough, while an old Hawthorn tree over hangs the well - a 'Fairy Thorn' perhaps ?

 We first visited the Fairy Well over 30 years ago with Edna Whelan and Ian Taylor, who were researching for their book Yorkshire Holy Wells and Sacred Springs (1989). This was in the days BC (before computers) when research involved reading books, visiting libraries, and contacting people for information. Edna had spoken to a local lady called Freda White who had grown up in Harmby, and knew the history and folklore of the well - even having written a song about it.

Roseberry Topping - Odin vs Saint Oswald?

 A previous post noted that the impressive peak of Roseberry Topping seems to have been regarded as a holy hill in the past.

 Anciently known as Othenesberg or Odin's Hill, this dedication, along with the possible lost shrine altars at Airy Holme, and a nearby placename suggesting a Danelaw Thing gathering location, could point to the hill being one of the main Anglo-Scandinavian religious sites in the region. The hill's dedication to Odin and the old religion, might also explain the later reference to a hermitage being located on the hill top. Perhaps the past history of the hill warranted the presence and prayers of a holy man, and yet a hermitage could also be seen as providing a continuity of religious practice on the hill.

Return to Elbolton Hill - the Burial Cave

The Elbolton burials by artist Celia King

  A previous post highlighted the Faerie folklore connected with Elbolton Hill, near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales. The hill is also significant in archaeological terms as it is the location of a Neolithic burial cave. The modern OS maps mark it as Elbolton Cave, but in the past it was called the Knave Knoll Cave. The local Dales accent must have baffled the OS map surveyors in the 1840's, who recorded it as "Navvy Noddle Hole".

 A visit in August 2021 found the entrance to the cave just below a limestone outcrop high up on the east side of the hill. Unfortunately there is a 8m vertical drop down into the actual burial cave, which means that today it is only really visited by cavers with climbing gear. This was a little frustrating as the excavation of the cave had revealed a group of rather unique burials, carbon dated to the early Neolithic (3900BC), and so it would have been interesting to look inside the cave.

The Barden Fell Rocking Stone

The Barden Fell Rocking Stone

 Barden Fell is an area of high moorland 2 miles to the north of Bolton Abbey, and 14 miles to the west of Harrogate.

 After the disappointment of finding the Thornthwaite rocking stone had been destroyed by Victorian quarrymen, a visit to Barden Fell also failed to identify the rocking stone marked there on the old OS map. A couple of large rocks at the location seemed likely candidates, but no amount of pushing and shoving could get either rock to move. On that occasion it was suspected that the rocking stone was the longer of the two rocks, and that it had been pushed off its pivot point. However, a return visit in October 2022 had more success, and identified the adjacent 3 metre long 'anvil' shaped boulder as the rocking stone (SE 08055 58520). Standing on top of this rock at its highest point, and using body weight, it was quite easy to set the boulder in motion. As with other rocking stones in this region the movement is not particularly dramatic - but this is still moving a rock weighing several tons. It is possible that pushing the 'nose' end of the rock may also set it moving, but this was not tried on that occasion.

Somewhere a little different - the Lycian Way

Royal tombs in the hill top necropolis at Simena in southern Turkey, dating to around 500 bc. From these raised up sarcophagi, winged spirits carried souls to the afterlife.
The archaeological remains in this region really are a wonder to behold.

Return to Hood Hill - another hill of Odin?

  A previous post described the Altar Stone which used to stand on the top of Hood Hill near Sutton Bank, 5 miles to the east of Thirsk.

 Local folklore records that the large block of stone was originally a Druid altar, which was dropped on the hill by the Devil, but unfortunately the rock was totally destroyed in the 1950's when a jet aircraft crashed into it.

  In the early 1900's, Edmund Bogg noted another piece of folklore connected with the rock ...
“when the dinner-bell rang at Osgodby Hall the stone rolled down for its repast, and regularly returned to the crest after the meal.” (Bogg, 1906).

Roseberry Topping - the high altar of Odin?

Beneath the shade the Northmen came,
Fix'd on each vale a Runic name,
Rear’d high their altar's rugged stone,
And gave their Gods the land they won.

 The mountain like peak of Roseberry Topping is located 5 miles to the south east of Middlesborough, and forms part of the Cleveland Hills range running along the northern edge of the North York Moors.

 At over 1000 feet in height Roseberry can be classed as a mountain, and its distinctive shape has seen it referred to as the Yorkshire Matterhorn. Being such an imposing landmark, it is no surprise to find this hill features in the folklore, and even the ancient mythology of the region.

 When the hill starts to appear in land documents during the 12th century its name is recorded as Othenesburg, meaning 'Odin's Hill'. This name points to the early Anglo-Scandinavian settlers in this area having dedicated the mountain to their chief god Odin. Some confirmation of this being a holy hill may also come from the Airy-Holme placename, which is marked on the first edition OS map (1856) as a location on the east side of the hill, and half a mile to the north of Airy Holme farm.

Airyholme - the Hovingham Horg?

Google Earth view of Hollin Hill and Airyholme farm - 2002

 Airyholme is located on the Howardian Hills, 1.5 miles to the south of Hovingham, and 6 miles west of Malton.

  "Airyholme with Howthorpe and Baxton Howe" is the rather long winded name of a township in the Hovingham parish. The township consists of just 4 farms, and its name appears to be derived from the ancient burial mounds in this area. In the early 1900's, the author Rev. Arthur St Clair Brooke described the Hovingham parish, and specifically mentions Airyholme ...
"Airyholme. This last is an interesting word. It is written Ergunholme in Domesday, and is derived from Horgum, plaural of Horg, old Norse for a sacrificial stone. The word is seen in transition in Dodsworth's Notes where it is written Arg-holme. Airyholme is therefore the holme near the sacrificial stones. Opposite the place, to the north, is a knoll of green grass, called Hollin Hill, on the side of which are some huge flat stones, the upper- most resting on a roller of old oak. They have all the appearance of having once formed a heathen altar, and the fine old oaks which grow on the hillside help to confirm the impression. " (Brooke,1904).

The Devil's Stride - Roulston Scar

"Ye see, as our foore olders hev alous sed,
the giants yance wer maisters of all this hill country"

The Devil's Stride - Roulston to Hood Hill

 A previous post peered into the Devil's Parlour Cave near Sutton Bank, 5 miles east of Thirsk. The cave is located in the rock face below Roulston Scar - an exposed section of high cliffs on the western edge of the Hambleton Hills. A wooded valley below the cliffs separates Roulston Scar from an outlying ridge called Hood Hill, with the gap between the cliff tops and Hood Hill being known as the Devil's Leap or the Devil's Stride.

  Writing in the mid 1800's, Thomas Gill noted that the Devil's Leap name came from a local story about the Devil flying from Roulston Scar and dropping a large rock on top of Hood Hill (see the Hood Hill Altar Stone page) (Gill, 1852). An alternative explanation for the name is said to be that the Devil once leapt or strode across the gap to show off his strength and abilities. These are not uncommon folklore themes, however there are hints that the legends may not have originally been about the Devil.

The Hell Hole Rock - Crosper

 Crosper is located three miles to the south east of Harrogate.

 The Crosper place name survives today as Crosper Farm, on the road between Harrogate and the village of Spofforth. Crosper is thought to mean 'cross hill', perhaps from a cross having stood there in the past, although no cross exists today. In the fields around Crosper farm there are several large rock outcrops - part of the nearby Plumpton rocks group, which are thought to be the source of the Devil's Arrows standing stones at Boroughbridge, nine miles to the north. One of these outcrops on the east side of the farm is known as the Hell Hole rock, probably from the large cavity passing through one side of it.

 Harry Speight provides a description of the site in his Nidderdale book (Speight 1894) ...

The lost Rocking Stone of Thornthwaite

1854 OS map  (Map credit NLS)

 Thornthwaite township is a scattered community spread along the Padside Beck valley, 8 miles to the west of Harrogate.

 The first edition OS map (1854) marks a Rocking Stone at Rowantree Crags on the high ground to the south west of Thornthwaite. The Rocking Stone does not appear on later edition maps, which ominously mark a quarry at the same location. However, overlaying the old OS map onto a modern satellite image seemed to show that a large rock still existed at the location marked for the Rocking Stone. Was it possible that the Rocking Stone had survived?

 Unfortunately, a visit to the site in Sept 2021 found no sign of the Rocking Stone, and very little sign of the Rowantree Crags, which appear to have been totally quarried away. The piece of rock visible on the satellite image turned out to be an exposed section of bed rock, which for some reason had not been quarried, and curiously, is very close to where the Rocking Stone was located. It is likely that the Rocking Stone sat on a similar section of rock within a few metres of this location.

The Hood Hill Altar Stone - Sutton Bank

Hood Hill (centre) and Roulston Scar (left)

 The 'Altar' was a large block of stone located on top of Hood Hill near Sutton Bank, 5 miles to the east of Thirsk.

 Hood Hill is a prominent outlying hill separated off from the main Hambleton Hills escarpment. Up until the 1950's a large block of stone (known locally as The Altar) sat on the ridge of the hill, where it was described as being rectangular in shape, approximately 15 feet in length, 10ft wide, and 6 feet high. The Altar Stone is also said to have had a foot shaped cavity on top of the rock, and so it is perhaps no surprise that it was a local landmark, and also featured in the areas folklore.

  Unfortunately the Altar rock was destroyed in 1954 when an RAF jet aircraft crashed into the hill during a training flight. The circumstances of the crash were something of a mystery at the time, as the jet seems to have nose dived vertically into the Altar Stone, totally destroying both the aircraft and the rock. The Altar Stone appears to have exploded into hundreds of small pieces, and today there is only a crater where it once sat, with a small piece of the rock in the bottom of the hole (SE 50376 81258).

T' Hob o' Tarn Hole

 Erdmänneken - (Schmidt, 1873)

  (As pointed out in the Buckingham Stone post last year, Tarn Hole is privately owned land, and not part of the open access area just to the north.)

Tarn Hole is a large wooded valley on the edge of East Bilsdale Moor, two miles to the south-east of Chop Gate on the North York Moors.

 At one time this valley was home to the Tarn Hole Hob, although next to nothing is known about this secretive little fella. A Hob is a supernatural dwarf-like being, recorded in folklore across the North York Moors and other parts of Northern England. (See the Hob-Thrush of Over Silton). Unfortunately, all we have is the Tarn Hole Hob name, which appeared in a list made in the early 1800's by George Calvert of Pickering (Home, 1905). In this list he noted all the Hobs he had heard about on the North York Moors. At one time there would have been a local story to explain the Hob's connection with Tarn Hole, but it was not written down, and so the folklore has been lost.

Fairy Bank - Fell Beck

  The Fairy Bank is a section of the Fell Beck stream valley, located two miles to east of Pateley Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales.

 Like the Fairy Table at Kilburn, the only record of this fairy site appears to be on the first edition OS map (1854). The name was noted down several years ago, but for some reason it remained on the 'to do' list, even after visiting the nearby sites at Brimham Rocks and Boggart Crag. The Fairy Bank came back into focus after visiting the Fairy Table outcrop at Kilburn (on the edge of North York Moors) which led to an interesting quote from a German website, translated as ......

"Where mighty masses of stone stare down,
there they have their 'fairy houses'.
There they eat at the 'fairy table'."

 This quote seemed to encapsulate a folklore pattern which had been noted at several Faerie and Hob sites in this region. These usually feature prominent rock outcrops, crags, or cliffs, perhaps with a cave, and a nearby source of water. With this is mind it was decided to visit the Fairy Bank site as a sort of 'test case'. Having never seen the location, and with no details available, it would be interesting to see if the Fairy Bank would fit the pattern.

The Fairy Table - Kilburn

"Where mighty masses of stone stare down,
there they have their Fairy houses.
There they eat at the Fairy Table."

The Fairy Table outcrop

 The Fairy Table is a rock outcrop located on a wooded hillside, one mile to the north-east of Kilburn village on the edge of the North York Moors.

 The outcrop is marked on the first edition OS map (1856), so it had  some local significance before this date, but there appears to be nothing on record to explain the interesting name.

 There is another rock outcrop called the 'Fairies Table' located on the wooded slopes leading down to the river Lyne, to the north of Carlisle in Cumbria. This is described as a large flat topped rock on which the fairies would dance on moonlit nights. The fairies were also said to live in a cave nearby.

The Devil's Parlour Cave - Roulston Scar

 The Devil's Parlour cave is located in the cliff face at Roulston Scar, half a mile to the south of Sutton Bank, and 5 miles east of Thirsk.

 The cave takes the form of a tall but narrow fissure in the rock face at the base of the cliffs. The passage is not much more than two feet wide, and extends about 30ft into the rock before it becomes impassable. There appears to be nothing particularly 'devilish' about this cave, so how did it come by its curious name? The answer would seem to lie in a local story which connects Roulston Scar with the Devil, and the prominent ridge of Hood Hill, half a mile to the west.

The waters return to Trollers Gill

February 2022

 Previous visits to Trollers Gill noted the curious sight of a flowing stream disappearing underground half way down the ravine, only to re-emerge in the empty stream bed to the south of the gorge.

Same view  June 2021

 For much of year the stream bed in the gorge forms a rocky path used by walkers trekking up the ravine (see pic below), but after winter rains the underground section of the watercourse cannot flow all the water, and so the stream runs in a torrent down the full length of the gorge.

 The origins of this extra water can be traced to a spot about a mile to the north of Trollers Gill where an underground stream emerges from the Stump Cross Caverns cave system - but only after prolonged or heavy rains. The water rises up from several crevices and openings in the rocks alongside the normally dry stream bed, and then starts to flow down towards Trollers Gill.

  This intermittent stream is called the Dry Gill, which at certain times of the year carries the waters flooding out from the extensive cave system underlying this area. Above ground, and further to the east, a dry stream valley curves around the north-east side of High Crags Hill, suggesting that the water may have also flowed along this route in the past. Following this dry valley eventually leads to a sink hole where a fast flowing stream plunges down into the same underground cave system. This stream is also called the Dry Gill (or Mongo Gill), and so people in the past must have realised that the two sections are linked by an subterranean passage. This upper section of the Dry Gill stream flows out of a large boggy morass on the south side of High Crag Hill. This is also the source of the river Washburn, with the river heading south and the Dry Gill running north. So much water flows out of this area that it suggests there are many buried springs within the morass, and the water is actually emerging from within the hill.

The Arnecliff Wishing Stone - Glaisdale

  Arnecliff Woods are located half a mile to the east of Glaisdale village, on the North York Moors.

 A footbridge across the river Esk leads to a woodland path which runs alongside the river, before winding its way up the hillside through the wood. After 500m or so the path passes a large split boulder, which is known locally as the Wishing Stone (grid reference NZ 78625 04964).

 The Wishing Stone is not marked on the OS maps, nor does it seem to have been recorded in any local history books. The little information we do have comes from the local author Peter Walker who grew up in Glaisdale, and briefly mentions the rock in his book Folklore of the North York Moors (Walker, 1990). A Google search produced several old images and postcards of the Wishing Stone dating from the early 1900's, but no real details about it. A couple of brief internet references to the stone mention that people would walk around it three (or 9) times whilst making a wish. The second reference says that young women would stand on top of the stone and wish for a good husband. This climbing up onto the rock and wishing for a husband sounds suspiciously like an old fertility practice, which earlier writers may have been reluctant to record. At the Giant's Lapstone in Baysdale, women would climb on top of that boulder to perform an elaborate fertility ritual to ensure an easy birth and healthy children. While a story about another Wishing Stone on Ingleby Greenhow Moor involved women (witches) standing on top of the rock to perform a ritual which involved babies.

The Fairies Parlour cave - Sutton Bank

 The Fairies Parlour cave is located below the White Mare Crags (Whitestone Cliff) on Sutton Bank, 5 miles to the east of Thirsk.

 In his book Vallis Eboracensis, Thomas Gill described his visit and exploration of this small cave, known locally as the Fairies Parlour.

  "In an almost inaccessible part of the rock is a large cave called "The Fairies' Parlour." The place is somewhat difficult of access, but when attained it will amply repay the adventurer for his trouble. The parlour or cave is a natural formation. A large crevice of the rock forms the entrance, after which you descend a rugged cliff of three yards perpendicular rock. Another descent of two yards or so, introduces you to the area of the cave, with a projecting arch of twenty or thirty feet in height, very spacious, and running in a parallel line some twenty or thirty yards, with streaks of light glimmering into it through the narrow fissures of the rock. The mythology of the district declares it to have been the retreat of the giants, ......" (Gill, 1852)

The Lost Stone Circle at Brimham Rocks

 Around the year 1785, the antiquarian Hayman Rooke visited Brimham Rocks in search of 'Druidic monuments'. As an early archaeologist, Rooke was following the current theory that stone circles, standing stones and other rock features were erected by the ancient Britons and their Druid priests. He presented his findings to the Society of Antiquaries in 1786, and a report appeared in the societies Archaeologia journal. (Rooke, 1787).

 In his report Rooke speculated that some of the naturally eroded crags and boulders at Brimham may have been adapted by the Druids for their religious practices, such as the oddly shaped Idol Rock, the group of Four Rocking Stones, and the Cannon Rocks etc. Amongst his speculations, Rooke also mentions that ....
"About eighty yards S. W. of the oracular stone, or great cannon, is a large tumulus of earth and stones one hundred and fifty feet in circumference : on the west side there seems to have been a little ditch and vallum, which probably enclosed the tumulus, and may have been destroyed for the repair of walls and roads, a thing which too frequently happens to these ancient monuments. About a quarter of a mile farther to the west is a Druid circle, with a vallum of earth and stones, thirty feet diameter. It is exactly of the same construction as those on Stanton Moor, in the Peak of Derbyshire. There are likewise several small tumuli. Thirteen of them are ranged in a kind of circle, the largest not above eighteen feet diameter. They are formed of earth and large stones. Two of these I opened; towards the bottom, the effects of fire appeared on the stones, and ashes were scattered about, but there were no urns to be found."