| Long
Meg and Her Daughters - Stone Circle - NY571372
Theme - Archaeology Long Meg AR92, Long Meg Ring Mark AR21, Long Meg Stone Circle AR22, AR93 |
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Long Meg, close to Little
Salkeld (near Penrith in Cumbria) is, despite it's lack of fame, the third
largest stone circle in Britain, and is unusual in having ring marks carved
on it's outlier - Long Meg herself.
Long Meg Stone CircleAR93 |
The
stone circle originally contained about 70 (uncountable - I couldn't count
them!) stones, 27 of which still stand, with an average weight of 10 tonnes.
The largest stone weighs an incredible 28 tons (even more as tonnes - lift
that!). The layout is oval - about 109 x 93 metres on a gently sloping
hillside, and traces of a bank outside suggest an original henge monument.
It is estimated that about 120 people would have been needed to construct
it.
Traditionally Long Meg and her daughters were a coven of witches who were turned to stone by an early Christian saint or by Michael Scot - a Wizard from Scotland. Wordsworth came here in 1822, may or may not have attempted to count the stones, and wrote: "A weight of awe, not
easy to be borne,
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| Other traditions are that
a local squire attempted to remove the stones but provoked a terrifying
storm, causing strong feelings of insecurity and the abandonment of the
project.
Also it is direly forecast that if Long Meg were ever to be shattered she would run with blood. Long Meg herself (3.7m tall) stands outside of the ring, and provides a midwinter solstice sighting point for sunset. She is made of much redder (not blood-red) sandstone than the stones in the circle (granite), and is thought to have come from a site about 1.5 miles away |
Long Meg AR92 |
Long Meg Ring Mark AR21 |
Long Meg has several carved
decorations, including the ring marks shown opposite. While notoriously
difficult to date (and interpret!) their worn appearances suggest that
they may well be contemporary with the circle itself, which is thought
to be one of the oldest in Britain. Dates between 4000 and 2000 BC have
been suggested, without any radiocarbon confirmation (difficult) or excavation
so far. However its design characteristics (large, many and big stones,
formal entrance, outlier stone, and circular/oval form) attest to considerable
antiquity
You can see other excellent examples of prehistoric stone carvings via our page on "Roughting Linn" |
By the way - according to Burl (see below) Wordsworth also said - presumably to Long Meg:
"Speak Thou, whose massy
strength and stature scorn,
The power of years -
pre-eminent and placed
Apart, to overlook the
circle vast -
Speak, Giant-Mother"
but received no reply. Neither did we.
Reference books:
"The Stone Circles of the
British Isles" Aubrey Burl, 1976, Yale University Press, ISBN 0 300 01972
6
"Prehistoric England" Richard
Cavendish, 1983, Orion Publishing Group, ISBN 1 85605 169 2
"A Guide to Ancient
Sites in Britain", Janet & Colin Bord, 1979, Granada Publishing Ltd.,
ISBN 0 586 08309 X
"Ancient Mysteries of Britain"
Janet and Colin Bord, reprinted 1992, Diamond Books, ISBN 0-261-66001-2
