Lancashire Folk-lore: Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs and Usages of the People of the County PalatineHarland, John
History
Lancashire Folk-lore: Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs and Usages of the People of the County Palatine
Harland, John
Folklore -- England -- Lancashire; Lancashire (England) -- Social life and customs
Dr. Borlase, in his _Antiquities of Cornwall_, notices the existence of
Druidical Rock Basins, which appear to have been scooped out of the
granite rocks and boulders which lie on the tops of the hills in the
county. Several such cavities in stones are found on Brimham Rocks,
near Knaresborough, and they have also been found at Plumpton and
Rigton, in Yorkshire,[75] and on Stanton Moor, in Derbyshire. The writer
first drew attention to the fact of similar Druidical remains existing
in Lancashire in a paper read before the Historical Society of
Lancashire and Cheshire, in December, 1864. They are found in
considerable numbers around Boulsworth, Gorple, Todmorden, and on the
hills which separate Lancashire from Yorkshire between these places.
Commencing the enumeration of the groups of boulders, &c., containing
rock basins, with the slopes of Boulsworth, about seven miles from
Burnley, we have first the Standing Stones, mostly single blocks of
millstone grit, at short distances from each other on the north-western
side of the hill. One is locally termed the Buttock Stone, and near it
is a block which has a circular cavity scooped out on its flat upper
surface. Not far from these are the Joiner Stones, the Abbot Stone, the
Weather Stones, and the Law Lad Stones [? from _llad_, British,
sacrifices]. Next come the Great and Little Saucer Stones, so named from
the cavities scooped out upon them. The Little Chair Stones, the Fox
Stones, and the Broad Head Stones lie at no great distance, each group
containing numerous like cavities. Several of these groups are locally
named from resemblance to animals or other objects, as the Grey Stones
and the Steeple Stones on Barn Hill, and one spur of Boulsworth is
called Wycoller Ark, as resembling a farmer's chest or ark. On Warcock
Hill several groups of natural rocks and boulders are locally named
Dave or Dew Stones. On the surface of one immense Dave Stone boulder is
a perfect hemispherical cavity, ten inches in diameter. The surface of
another contains an oblong basin of larger dimensions, with a long
grooved channel leading from its curved contour towards the edge of the
stone. On a third there are four circular cavities of varying
dimensions, the largest in the centre, and three others surrounding it,
but none of these is more than a few inches in diameter. At the Bride
Stones, near Todmorden, thirteen cavities were counted on one block, and
eleven on another. All the basins here and elsewhere are formed on the
_flat_ surfaces of the blocks; their upper surfaces being always
parallel to the lamination of the stone. Along Widdop Moor we find the
Grey Stones, the Fold Hole Stones, the Clattering Stones, and the
Rigging Stones; the last named from occupying the rig or ridge of the
hills in this locality. Amongst the Bride Stones is an immense mass of
rock which might almost be classed among the rocking stones. It is about
twenty-five feet in height, at least twelve feet across its broadest
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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