Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitionsBayley, Harold
History
Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitions
Bayley, Harold
Archaeology; England -- Antiquities
The circle of Long Meg is an _enceinte_, _i.e._, an _incinctus_, circuit
or enclosure; that St. Margaret of Christendom was the patroness of all
_enceinte_ women is obvious from Brand's reference to St. Margaret's
Day, as a time "when all come to church that are, or hope to be, with
child that year". _Sein_ is the French for bosom, and that Ursula of the
11,000 virgins was a personification of the Good Mother of the Universe
or Bosom of the World may be further implied by the fact that she
corresponds, according to Baring-Gould, with the Teutonic Holda. Holda
or Holle (the Holy), is a gentle Lady, ever accompanied by the souls of
maidens and children who are under her care. Surrounded by these
bright-eyed followers she sits in a mountain of crystal, and comes forth
at times to scatter the winter snow, vivify the spring earth, or bless
the fruits of autumn.
The kindly Mother Holle was sometimes entitled Gode,[237] whence we may
connote Margot, Marghet, or Marget with Big Good, or Big God. In
Cornwall the Holly tree is termed Aunt Mary's tree, which, I think, is
equal to Aunt Maura's tree, St. Maur being tantamount to St. Fairy or
St. Big.
According to Sir John Rhys, Elen the Fair of Britain figures like St.
Ursula as the leader of the heavenly virgins; St. Levan's cell is shown
at Bodellen in St. Levan, and as in Cornwall _bod_--as in Bodmin--meant
_abode of_, one may resolve Bodellen into the _abode of Ellen_, and
equate Ellen or Helen with Long Meg or St. Michael.
We may recognise St. Kayne in the Kendale-Lonsdale district of North
Britain, where also in the neighbourhood of the rivers Ken or Can, and
Lone or Lune is a maiden way and an Elen's Causeway.[238] On the river
Can is a famous waterfall at Levens, and in the same neighbourhood a
seat of the ancient Machel family. In 1724 there existed at Winander
Mere "the carcass of an ancient city,"[239] and it is not improbable
that the _ander_ of Winander is related to the divine Thorgut, whose
effigy from a coin is reproduced in a later chapter (Fig 422, p. 675).
Kendal or Candale has always been famous for its British "cottons and
coarse cloaths".
In Etruria and elsewhere good genii were represented as winged
elves--old plural _elven_--and the word _mouche_ implies that not only
butterflies and moths, but also all winged flies were deemed to be the
children of Michael or Michelet. According to Payne Knight, "The common
Fly, being in its first stage of existence a principal agent in
dissolving and dissipating all putrescent bodies, was adopted as an
emblem of the Deity".[240] Thus it would seem that not only the
_mouches_, but likewise the _maggots_ were deemed to be among Maggie's
millions, fighting like the Hosts of Michael against filth, decay, and
death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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