Zombie Sheep, Grey Wethers and Things that go Baa in the Night

I love old words. Old Anglo Saxon and Celtic place names are scattered across the downs and further afield. Old words survive in conversation. One such word is wether meaning sheep. Sheep have grazed on the downs since the Iron Age. Pubs in the area have names like The Wool Pack, The Lamb, The Shoulder of Mutton, The Shears. There is a floor made of sheep’s knuckle bones at the Stiles almshouses in Wantage.

Sarsen stones lie about in the fields. These large stones are called grey wethers.

When sheep and sarsens occupy the same field it can be difficult to tell wethers from grey wethers at first glance. It is even more difficult in mist or at night.

There are all sorts of folk tales based on this confusion. One story of the Grey Wethers on Dartmoor describes how a shepherd was tricked into buying a stone flock. In another tale a shepherd and his sheep were turned to stone by the god Hu. There are also stories of people being turned into stone, for example the Merry Maidens in Cornwall, the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. All in all there’s a certain uneasiness about sheep and stones.

I was talking this over with one of the family. He described a visit to the Piper Stones in Wicklow. According to legend this stone circle is supposed to be a piper and dancers, petrified for violating the sabbath. The visit was at night, always atmospheric. He had difficulty finding the stones because the night was misty. Eventually he spotted a stone in a field at the right location. He went towards it. To his horror the stone moved. He stood firm (I would have fled at this point). He finally realised that the ‘stone’ was a cow, the real stones were nearby.

In spite of the legends I love to walk on the Ridgeway in the evening and at night. Sunsets are spectacular and the night sky is a wonder. On one walk recently we began to feel that there was someone or something nearby. There was a strange scuffling noise in the darkness. We looked behind and there they were. Zombie Sheep. We ran.

If at night you cannot sleep,
Beware, beware the Zombie Sheep,
They’ll eat your flesh,
They’ll crunch your bones
And turn you into zombie clones,
Or stones………….
1234 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wayland Smithy

Wayland Smithy

Wayland Smithy long barrow was used for burials in the Neolithic period over 5,500 years ago. It is situated near the ancient Ridgeway path about one mile west of the White Horse Hill in South Oxfordshire.

Wayland Smithy Entrance

Excavations have revealed the existence of an earlier barrow covered by the one that can be seen today. The earlier mound was a box type structure of stone and wood, covered with earth and paved with sarsen stones. The remains of fourteen people were found inside.
The second barrow was a trapezoid mound with a facade of six large sarsen stones. This later chamber contained the remains of eight people. Both tombs were the focal point of ceremonies that linked the living and the dead.

Ridgeway path looking towards White Horse Hill from Wayland Smithy

Wayland the smith was a God in Norse and Saxon folklore. He was held captive by king Niduth for a time and kept in a cave. He escaped and killed the king’s two sons. According to legend Wayland lived in various caves and burial mounds. Local belief maintains that if a horse needing a shoe is left at the smithy with a silver coin the horse will be shod.

Wayland Smithy looking along the barrow from the right hand side.

Wayland Smithy from the Ridgeway Path, South Oxfordshire

Dragon Hill

Dragon Hill is part of  a group of prehistoric sites in South Oxfordshire that includes  White Horse Hill, Uffington Fort, Wayland Smithy and a number of burial mounds. These sites are all close to the Ridgeway Path which runs from Overton Hill near Avebury in Wiltshire to Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring in Buckinghamshire.

Dragon Hill is a natural chalk outcrop, round at the bottom and with a flattened top. It situated below the ancient White Horse  and joined to the White Horse via a ridge path and set of steps known as the Shepherd’s steps. To the west is a set of hillside terraces known as The Giant’s Stair. The dry valley is called The Manger.

According to legend Dragon hill is the place where Saint George fought against and killed the dragon. During the struggle dragon’s blood spilled on to the ground. The dragon’s blood was so poisonous that it caused a bare patch of chalk on top of the hill where no grass will grow.

White Horse Hill, Dragon Hill to the left, the Giant's Stairs on the right.

St. George is traditionally thought to have been born in Lydda, Palestine to a Christian noble family in the third century  AD. He served in the Roman army and was executed by Diocletian  in Nicodemia because of his Christian faith.

Eleventh century English Crusaders discovered the tomb of St George at Lydda. He became popular in England and later became the patron saint of England. The link between St George and dragon slaying may be connected to an earlier legend of dragon slaying from Cappodocia.

Dragons feature in folklore throughout the world. A dragon can be benevolent, fearsome or evil according to the culture in which it occurs. In medieval and early modern England stories about dragons and reported sightings were commonplace. In Christian traditions the dragon or serpent represents evil.

In “British Dragons”  (B.T.Batsford publisher 1980) Jacqueline Simpson lists 58 places in England with dragon legends. Two claim to be the site where St. George killed the dragon,  Brinsop in Herefordshire and Uffington now inOxfordshire.

The word dragon comes from the Greek drakon meaning dragon or serpent. Another word for dragon is worm from German mythology. A number of English place names contain Drake or Worm for example Drake Howe in Bilsdale, North Yorkshire, Wormingford, Essex.The place name often means Dragon’s Hill and is associated with a burial mound or barrow. The idea of dragons as guardians of treasure horde is reflected in the name Drakenhorde field in Garsington, Oxfordshire.
One legend says that the White Horse will dance on Dragon Hill when King Arthur who is not dead but asleep, returns to lead his people again. In 1670 John Aubrey suggested in “Monumenta Britannica” that Dragon Hill was connected to Uther Pendragon but this is now believed to be unlikely.

In Anglo Saxon charters Dragon Hill was known as Eccles Beorh meaning Church Barrow. It is possible that Dragon Hill was used for gatherings or religious ceremonies. (Oxford Archaelogy Unit pub 203) D  Miles, G Lock, C Gosden and AM Cromarty in “Uffington White Horse and its Landscape” describe escavations  in the area 1989-1995. They suggest that the hill was the site of a church of late Roman date. A Christian church is likely to have been built on the site of existing preChristian worship.  The investigations of 1989-1995 dated the White Horse as 2500 years old. This research  did not settle the question of whether Dragon Hill is entirely natural, or  questions of its use.  The conclusion was that further investigations would be necessary.