Folklore

ISSN: 0015-587X (Print) 1469-8315 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rfol20

Circling as an Entrance to the Otherworld

Samuel Pyeatt Menefee

To cite this article: Samuel Pyeatt Menefee (1985) Circling as an Entrance to the Otherworld,
Folklore, 96:1, 3-20, DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.1985.9716327

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.1985.9716327

Published online: 30 Jan 2012.

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 Folklore vol. 96:i, 1985 3

Circling as an Entrance to the Otherworld

SAMUEL PYEATT MENEFEE

I T is five minutes to midnight in the Great Court of Trinity College, Cambridge, but
the quadrangle is not deserted. It is thronged with students—some spectators, some
participants in the drama which is about to unfold. Many have stripped to their
shirtsleeves; others are warming up with the intricate rituals known only to the
athletic. A hush falls as the chapel clock strikes the first stroke of twelve. In a rush,
runners are off, impelled by the cheers of fellow students, reaching, striving to
1
complete a circuit of the quad before the last stroke of the clock.
Kit's Coty House at Aylesford, Kent, on the other hand, consists of the remains of a
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chamber tomb. Here,

It is a persistent tradition that if a personal object is placed upon the capstone, and the donor thereof walks
round the monument, three times, then the object will disappear; this ritual must be carried out on the
night of the full moon. Interested persons have carried out this ritual at intervals right up to this year
[1946] when the activities of a local investigator were fully reported in the local press.2

In addressing the question 'why have such rituals?', this paper will consider folklore
involving circling at archaeological sites, and compare it to traditions of human-fairy
interaction, witchcraft, and the devil. It will consider supernatural summonings in
divinatory rituals and touch briefly on historical antecedents to demonstrate that the
original intent of the practice was to open an entrance to the Otherworld. Additionally,
it is hoped that this investigation will highlight some of the problems inherent in
applying folklore to archaeological remains.

T H E ARCHAEOLOGICAL T R A D I T I O N

T h e Kit's Coty 'ceremony' is only one developed example of an entire spectrum of

circling beliefs concerning megalithic monuments and other archaeological remains.
3
Another site is Chanctonbury Ring hill-fort in Sussex, of particular use to this
discussion because its oral traditions have been extensively reported and collected by
Dr. Jacqueline Simpson. The earliest example which she reports occurs in Arthur
Beckett's The Spirit of the Downs: 'If on a moonless night you walk seven times round
the Ring without stopping, the Devil will come out of the wood and hand you a basin
4 5
of soup.' Others substituted a glass of milk, or stated that Satan will 'offer you
6
porridge from his bowl' after you have run thrice round the earthwork. Several
variants of this version have been collected from newspapers and from oral informants
7
during the past fifteen or so years.

If you run round seven times while the clock is still striking midnight, the Devil will come out. There's
8
something about porridge, but I cannot remember what.
9
I f you run round backwards seven times at midnight, the Devil will give you a glass of milk.

It is said that if you run round the Ring three times at midnight on Midsummer Eve, the Devil comes out
10
from the trees and offers you a bowl of soup.

Other versions of the circumambulation also involve raising the Devil; thus, a teenage
girl reported that seven circuits at 7.00 a.m. on Midsummer morning would raise
 4 SAMUEL P. M E N E F E E
Satan." Another informant stipulates that the circling is to be 'three times
2
anticlockwise on Midsummer E v e , " while a more earthy variant calls for the
5
practitioner to circumambulate '17 times stark naked on a night of the full m o o n . "
One informant illustrates the confusion which often appears in such circling beliefs: 'If
you run seven times round Chanctonbury Ring—or is it nine times?—the Devil will
4
come out and catch y o u . " In some cases, the circling activity is thus believed to bring
on supernatural retribution. Dr. Simpson's own recollection (c. 1945) 'is of being told
that the Devil appears after only one circuit, at any time of day, and chases you to the
5
Devil's Dyke (about nine miles ofi)." A teenage girl recalls this belief as follows:

I f you run round seven times, the Devil comes out and chases you all the way to—somewhere a long way
16
off, but I forget where. M y aunt told me when I was nine, and scared the life out of me.

While most informants treated these tales in a jovial spirit, one young man had an
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attitude towards it which was markedly different from that of all other informants; he took it completely
seriously, declared that nothing would induce him to go round the Ring, and deprecated any frivolity or
17
skepticism on the subject.

The Devil, however, was not the only one being raised—three circuits brought a view
18
of 'a lady on a white horse,' while twelve rounds at midnight on Midsummer Night
1
conjured u p a Druid. ' In the 1940's, some people apparently feared to circle the Ring
at night 'lest they should meet the old white-bearded ghost that walks with bent head,
20
seeking his treasure.' Finally, a 50-year-old teacher reported that circling seven times
at midnight on Midsummer Eve would mean that 'all your wishes will come true. We
21
all believed that when I was a girl.'
Let us summarize what may be learned from these variants. First, it should be
obvious that there is no single version of the practice—rather, it is represented by a
series of variable accounts. Any single variant connected with an archaeological site
should, therefore, be treated with care and not relied on as an interpretative tool for
that complex. Even one informant might know multiple versions of a belief or might
show confusion in recalling the tradition. Similarly, variants may acquire meaning in
context. One author notes that 'more than one of my vagabond friends . . . have told
me that if I went to Chanctonbury Ring alone and at midnight, I might meet the
22
Devil.' It is only through awareness of the totality of the beliefs, however, that a
researcher would realize the high probability that this too was a fragmentary circling
belief. T h e fluid nature of the circling tradition's content is paralleled by divergences
in belief—thus, the same tradition, retailed at the same time within a community,
could be told 'lightheartedly' (presumably without belief) or 'seriously,' depending
upon the individual raconteur. One could go further and postulate that more minor
variations may occur when the tradition is recounted by a single oral informant under
differing circumstances. Dr. Simpson notes that
most popular writers on Sussex (e.g. Arthur Mee and E. V. Lucas) have no knowledge of this or any other
legend about the Ring, nor does it appear in standard guide books; certainly it has never become a
commercialized stereotype . . . Consequently, it is interesting to find that it is widely known at the present
2 i
day, and flourishes orally with many variations . . .
This indicates a danger in relying on standard written sources for such traditions and
hints at the variety and complexity of the myriad of traditions which have already been
lost.
Turning more specifically to the content of the Chanctonbury circumambulation
traditions, Dr. Simpson identified 'the most intriguing feature of the legend' as 'the
 CIRCLING AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 5
basin of soup/bowl of porridge/glass of milk,' adding 'it is a pity that no version
24
explains whether one ought to accept it, or what will happen if one does.' She
considers at arm's length L. N . Candlin's suggestion that the tradition 'might come
from folk memories of some rite actually practised on the Romano-Celtic temple of
Chanctonbury centuries ago in which the priest gave a ritual drink to the
25 26
worshippers' and supplies additional facts which could be cited in support.
However, Dr. Simpson wisely refrains from endorsing this theory:

I f one is to prove that a legend has preserved for many centuries a memory of heathen ritual practised at a
particular spot, it would be desirable to show that the legend has been exclusively associated with that spot
for a considerable time, and in this case the evidence seems too recent and too slight to carry such weight.
That the Chanctonbury Devil is a dim memory of a Romano-Celtic god is an attractive hypothesis, but no
27
more/'
Dr. Simpson could have added that the widespread nature of circumambulation beliefs
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makes it highly unlikely that any one version is connected with the history of a specific
monument. This does not mean that, taken as a whole, such traditions may not have an
import for the archeologist or ethnologist; what it does show is the danger of examining
part of a folk tradition without reference to its analogues. Many folk beliefs, including
this one, are associated not only with prehistoric monuments, but with more modern
structures, and often with purely natural landscape features.
In reference to the Chanctonbury circlings, Dr. Simpson noted that 'the idea that a
supernatural being will offer food or drink to passers-by at some prominent natural or
man-made feature seems to be an international floating motif known elsewhere in
28
England.' The example that springs to mind is of course the theft of the Fairy Cup,
of which the best known text is the account by William of Newburgh, written in the
twelfth century and connected with Willy Howe:

In the Yorkshire province . . . not far from the place of my birth, a miraculous thing occurred, which I have
been familiar with since my boyhood . . 1A1 countryman went to call on a friend who was staying in the
next village. Late at night he started the return journey, and he was rather drunk. Well, suddenly from a
nearby mound (I have seen it quite often; it is about VA mile from the village) he heard the voices of people
singing, like the members of a Festal banquet. Wondering who would break the silence of the dark night
with ceremonial rejoicings in that place, he decided to investigate more closely into this mystery, and,
seeing an open door in the side of the mound, he drew near and looked inside; he saw a spacious building,
well lit, filled with people reclining at tables, as many men as women, apparently there for a ceremonial
meal. Now one of the attendants, seeing him standing at the entrance, offered him a cup. Taking it, he
deliberately refrained from drinking, but threw out the contents, kept the container, and went off with it at
top speed. Uproar broke out at the banquet over this theft of the goblet, and, when the guests pursued him,
it was through the speed of his beast that he escaped and took refuge in the village with his remarkable
booty. In the end this goblet of unknown material, unusual colour, and unfamiliar shape, was bestowed on
2 9
Henry the Elder, King of the English . . .

Another version is told by Gervase of Tilbury in his Otia Imperialia. Gervase gives the
following description of the locale:

There is . . . in the county of Gloucester, a forest abounding in boars, stags, and every species of game that
England produces. In a grovy lawn of this forest there is a little mount, rising in a point to the height of a
man, on which knights and other hunters are used to ascend when fatigued with heat and thirst, to seek
some relief for their wants. The nature of the place, and of the business, is, however, such that whoever
ascends the mount must leave his companions, and go quite alone.
When alone, he was to say, as if speaking to some other person, 'I thirst,' and immediately there would
appear a cupbearer in an elegant dress, with a cheerful countenance, bearing in his stretched-out hand a
large horn, adorned with gold and gems, as was the custom among the most ancient English. In the cup
nectar of an unknown, but most delicious flavour was presented, and when it was drunk, all heat and
 6 SAMUEL P. M E N E F E E
weariness fled . . . Moreover, when the nectar was taken, the servant presented a towel to the drinker, to
wipe his mouth with, and then having performed his office, he waited neither for a recompense for his
services, nor for questions and enquiry.

Mr. Grinsell suggests that 'one of these authors (probably Gervase) obtained the story
from the other; and William of Newburgh probably got it from a Scandinavian source
31
where it is common.' Versions of this tradition are also found at Fairy Hill round
32 33
barrow on the Isle of Man (dating from 1744) and Dun Osdale on Skye; The Rev.
Sabine Baring-Gould reports an account of the tradition in connection with Rillaton
34
Barrow on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. However, Mr. Grinsell notes that Baring-
Gould's

story seems unsupported by any other published source prior to his own. One suspects that he was unable
to resist the chance for a good story offered by the find of the gold cup [a Bronze Age cup was found at the
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barrow in 18371, combined with his own immense erudition."

Such stories, however, are not the only examples of what Dr. Simpson has termed
36
supernatural offers of food or drink to passers-by. In particular, the Continental story
of the 'Fairies' Gift' provides a parallel, often even to the extent of the cutlery which is
37
purloined. Some examples of this story occur in the British Isles, including one
38
connected with the Creux des Fees in Guernsey, a megalithic monument.
Other elements in the Chanctonbury circling traditions are also of importance, and
will be seen to recur elsewhere. Special dates, such as Midsummer, nights with a full
moon, or without any moon, are required for the perambulation; times such as
midnight or 7.00 a.m. (for seven circuits) are also often preferred. Emphasis is
sometimes placed on completing the circuits while the clock is striking—a point, we
may recall, similar to the Trinity College race. Additionally, there is sometimes what
could be termed a 'hierarchy of vision' which depends upon the number of circuits
completed. A letter from Miss Davey to the West Sussex Gazette notes that

I f one runs three times round the clump one sees a lady on a white horse, and if you can manage to struggle
39
round seven times, you are rewarded by a sight of the Devil.

It may be tentatively suggested that the first apparition should be viewed as a warning,
or a 'red herring' put out by the supernatural agency to deter or distract the circum­
40
ambulating individual from his goal. Backwards or anti-clockwise motion, mentioned
in some Chanctonbury variants, are of course commonly associated with raising the
supernatural—they are used, for example, in numerous love divinations to summon a
41
future spouse. Additionally, the number of circuits—three, seven, nine, twelve and
seventeen—are commonly associated with magic and the supernatural; most are odd,
42
while twelve is associated with the borderline zones of noon and midnight. Nudity,
43
often found in ceremonies involving a change of state, is also present here.
A corpus of circling beliefs can show the development of the tradition. In 1866, a
trove of Anglo-Saxon coins was ploughed up, not at the Ring itself, but at a farm 'at the
44
foot of the hill.' T h e antiquary reporting this noted that

There is a singular tradition connected with the site of the discovery, which has been handed down in the
neighbourhood from father to son, that a very aged man with a long white beard is occasionally to be seen,
towards the dusk of evening, poring on the ground as if in search of hidden treasure; whilst another version
45
of the same legend describes an old man clad in white, without a head, haunting the spot.
 C I R C L I N G AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 7
Simpson therefore suggests that the form of the circling belief involving the 'white-
bearded ghost' was probably the result of a transfer of the ghost story 'from Chancton
46
Farm to the Ring, presumably under Blackmore's influence.' This resulted in an
47
acquisition o f ' t h e motif of circumambulation by conflation with the Devil legend.'
Similarly, the tradition of raising a Druid may be seen as an offshoot of this (one girl
48
identifed the ghost as 'that of a Druid, in a long white robe and beard'), or as a late
development similar to the belief that correctly counting the trees of the clump 'would
4
raise the ghosts of Julius Caesar and all his armies.' ' It is of additional interest that the
youthfulness of many of Dr. Simpson's informants, and the direct testimony of one
teenager, suggest that the belief, like some megalithic movement traditions ('the stone
50
moves when it hears the clock strike') is passed on primarily as a child's tale, although
one with no ascertainable purpose.
Having illustrated some ramifications of circling traditions through an in-depth
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examination of one archaeological site, it seems appropriate to illustrate the scope and
variability of the belief by a few general references to other locations. In August 1950,
Mr. Grinsell was told by a local of Alton Priors, Wiltshire, that if someone runs seven
51
times round Adam's Grave, 'the giant will come out.' He had collected a similar
tradition concerning the Giant's Grave at Milton Lilbourne some twenty years
52
earlier. In Sussex, running four, six, or seven times around the Devil's Humps (four
53
round barrows) would raise Old Nick, while seven circles of Mount Caburn, which
54
has a hillfort on top, will cause the Devil to jump out at you.
T h e ceremony at Kit's Coty has already been mentioned. From paper watermarked
1819 comes a tradition that running nine times round Newport Pagnall barrow
55
(Bucks.) without stopping will cause the fairies to appear. A more involved tradition
is found at Pudding Pie Hill, Sowerby, North Riding, a round barrow supposed to
have been 'raised by the fairies.' Here, it was believed that 'Those who run round it
nine times and then strike a knife into the centre of the top, and place their ear on the
56
spot, will hear the fairies conversing inside.' In Moray, a person has only to walk
57
three times round the Deil's Stanes at midnight for the Devil to appear. Finally, it is
held that 'those who have walked at midnight alone round the Rounds of Tivla,' three
round cairns at Uist in the Shetlands, 'are said to be proof against fear from the
58
presence of trows.'
Some additional facts can be ascertained from these traditions. First, it seems
apparent that raising the Devil is most common in the southeast of England and in
Scotland—in the West of England, giants are featured, while in the Midlands and the
north, the fairies are connected with this tradition. Of particular interest is the account
of the practice at Pudding Pie Hill in which a knife is stuck into the centre in order to
hear fairy speech. This will be discussed below at greater length, but can be compared
to a story concerning Dun Borbe on South Harris, in the Hebrides. T h e fort was
believed to be a fairy abode, and on one occasion:

a sailor of Harris . . . sat down to rest on this fairy knoll and heard great lamenting therein. He was curious
by nature and also kindly, so he set out to try to find out what was causing the Little People such distress.
Being a practical man he decided that the best way to find out was to go into the dun and ask, and he set off
walking round it slowly and carefully seeking the entrance. No sign of a door could be seen, but the cries
and piteous sobbing continued, indeed seemed to grow more hopeless. He stood wondering what to do
next, when he noticed a knife plunged to the hilt in the earth. Without thinking, he pulled it out; instantly
an unseen door opened and out rushed the Little People, to surround him and, with cries of joy and
welcome, to hurry him into the dun to their Queen. As soon as he saw her he asked what had been wrong.
He felt very sorry for the Little People, who still showed signs of having been in great trouble;
nevertheless, he wisely held fast to the knife while the Queen explained. She said that a man of the dun had
 8 S A M U E L P. M E N E F E E
loved a Harris maiden and they met and spent the long summer days together while she herded her father's
cows. But her father had found out and, being very angry, he had learnt from his daughter how to find the
entrance to the dun and had then come and stuck his fisher's knife in the door frame, and they, unable to
touch or pass cold iron, were prisoners in their dun, expecting to starve to death. He had saved them. What
could they give him?"

Here, it should be noted, there appears to have been a circumambulation of the fort
accompanied by withdrawal of the knife, the opposite of the action at Pudding Pie Hill.
We may, therefore, consider the knife to be a control device, regulating contact between
the ordinary world and the supernatural. This, of course, parallels the implement's
60
general position in a fairy tradition and belief.

HUMAN-FAIRY INTERACTION
Instances of circling to see the fairies are, in fact, reasonably common in British
folklore. Occasionally, such traditions are connected with Fairy Rings, which, as
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Christina Hole explains,

are those green, sour ringlets which sometimes appear on pasture land. The name is also given occasionally
to circles of small white or yellow flowers growing in fields. They are traditionally said to spring up where
fairies customarily dance, or to grow above a subterranean fairy village. It was formerly believed that if
anyone ran nine times round such a ring on the night of the Full Moon, he would hear the fairies laughing
and talking below. This could only be done with safety if the runner went the way of the way of the sun, for
to go widdershins round would put him in the power of the ring's owners. In Northumberland, it was also
considered dangerous to make more than nine circuits. I f this magical number was exceeded, some evil
would befall the runner.*'

In Shropshire, it was believed that if anyone walked around a field where cattle were
grazing and finished the circuit exactly at midnight, he or she could see the Little
62
People. At Flamburgh, anyone running around a circular pit nine times can hear the
fairies—but another tradition holds that the ghost of a suicide rises after the eighth
63
circuit to chase the offending individual. Marvellous treasures were opened to that
64
person running around Ghilpatric the Dane's Fort nine times without stopping, an
action which brings to mind the instructions given to Child Rowland in his hunt for
'the fair burd Ellen' who had been carried away by the fairies:

'Go on yet a little farther,' said the hen wife, 'till thou come to a round green hill surrounded with rings
(terraces) from the bottom to the top; go round it three times mdershins, and every time say, "Open, door!
65
open, door! and let me come in"; and the third time the door will open, and you may go i n . '

Such entries to fairy dwellings appear to have been particularly common in Scotland
and Ireland. In addition to the above examples, Lady Wilde and W. G. Wood-Martin
report that if one walks round an Irish rath nine times at the full moon, the entrance
66
will become visible and one may enter. As usual with fairy visits, however, it is
necessary to abstain from eating, drinking, or kissing a fairy wench to be able to return
67
to earth. Sir Walter Scott notes that in some parts of Scotland: 'It is believed . . . that
if, on Hallowe'en, any person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, towards
the left hand (sinistrorsum), a door shall be opened by which he shall be admitted into
68
their subterranean abodes.' Here, as in Child Rowland, the action must be made in a
direction involving the supernatural—both may be compared to the single Chancton­
bury account in which the participant was supposed to circle backwards. In effect, this
results in an unscrewing of the barrier between the ordinary world and the supernatural
This thesis is borne out by at least some evidence. One Scottish tradition holds that a
sick woman dreamed the means of her cure, and begged her husband to plough a
 CIRCLING AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 9
furrow three times sunwise around a fairy hill in order to save her life. T h e man was
6
dissuaded by sceptical neighbours, and his wife consequently died. ' Here, the sunwise
motion, the reverse of 'widdershins' or action taken 'towards the left hand,' was an
70
attempt to restrain fairy powers. Ruth Tongue, reporting a story which appears to
hail from Cumbria circa 1840-1850, gives a good illustration of the different results of
various circumambulations. The tale concerns a shepherd and two children who had
been stolen by the fairies:

Before dawn on their birthday, while it was still d a r k , . . . [Jack and Dick, two other children] went hand in
hand, looking for an old ewe and her two lost lambs, and came to the fairy hill. There was faint music and
bleating underfoot, but they knelt and prayed and made a cross, and then began to go round about the hill.

And when they had gone round seven times the music drew nearer. The fairy hill opened, and the two lost
boys and the old ewe and her two lambs came out of it.
'Seven of us,' says Jack and Dick. 'Best come home before sunrise.'
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Jack and Dick agreed to rescue Shepherd Alan at dusk, but they had been overheard by
'the Ill-wisher' who realized that 'the fairy hill was full of treasure to take, if someone
else could show what spell to use to open it.'

He sneaked after them in the owl-light, but this time they made a Cross, and only went round the hill three
times, and the music was nearer still, and the hill opened, and Shepherd Alan came out, and they took him
home quickly, while the hill closed again.

'Now for the treasure,' says the Ill-wisher, and he went on round about the hill widdershins, and he didn't
make any cross, or know seven or three are holy numbers that the hill had to obey, and there was only one
of him, and he went on counting [shepherd style] (being greedy) and when he got to Tetherna Dik (13), the
music was loud, and the fairy'hill opened, all bright lit, and he ran inside it. Then it closed with a snap, like
7 1
a trap,.. .

T h e idea that circling was an unscrewing of the barrier between the natural and the
supernatural finds support elsewhere—Jacob Allies, for example, gives a Worcester
story in which a fairy, grateful for the repair of a bilk, danced around her benefactor till
72
he was wound down into a cave and rewarded with biscuits and wine. Fairy beliefs
also illustrate the importance of the knife as a control for gaining a safe entrance to and
exit from the other world. In Scotland, steel—knives, pins, or needles—stuck in door
73
frames, voided fairy power. In Iona, it was an iron fish hook placed in the door of a
74
brugh which enabled its owner to enter and leave the supernatural revels at will.
Elsewhere, these objects served to guard mortal dwellings against supernatural in­
cursions. Christina Hole notes that in Scotland

the sudden straw-laden eddies of wind that sometimes spring up on a calm day were believed to mark the
passage of invisible fairies . . . It was unlucky to see one, but the ill-luck could be averted by throwing a
75
knife across the whirling dust and straws.

This leads to an interesting parallel with the Kit's Coty tradition mentioned above (in
which a cap or other personal object, placed on the capstone and circled three times,
was supposed to disappear), for in Scotland and Ireland, it was generally believed that
throwing a knife, earth from a molehill, or a bonnet at such a fairy host would force
76
them to drop any mortal prisoners they might be transporting. John Roy, for
example,
 10 S A M U E L P. M E N E F E E
who lived in Glenbroun, in the parish of Abernethy, being out one night on the hills in search of his cattle,
met a troop of fairies, who seemed to have got a prize of some sort or other. Recollecting that the fairies are
obliged to exchange whatever they may have with any one who offers them anything, however low in value,
for it, he flung his bonnet to them, crying . . . mine is yours and yours is mine . . . . The fairies dropped
their booty, which proved to be a Sassenach . . . lady . .

In a less fortunate exchange, one covetous Scot tossed his bonnet to obtain a tiny
bagpipe, only to find when he arrived home that it had turned to a puff-ball and a
78
crumpled fragment of willow-reed. In some areas, at least, it was supposed to be
possible for a brave man to sit at the crossroads on a three-legged stool during
Hallowe'en, the time of the fairy flitting. As the names of those to die during the year
were announced, he could reclaim their lives by casting an old garment forth as a
19
substitute sacrifice. This suggests that the personal object placed on the capstone in
Kent should be considered in a like manner, a theory which will be supported by
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subsequent evidence.

DEVILS, SPECTRES A N D RAISING HELL

'On St. Mark's Eve a witch had to go three times round our Church . . . (backwards?)... then look in at the
keyhole and recite some words that I can't tell you, as I never larned 'em! This was to show that they'd
selled their souls to the Devil. Now, if one on 'em was to fail to do this, then she'd loose all her power of
80
witchin'.'

'They say as them as 'as sold theirselves ter the Devil—witches an' such like—'as ter go ter the Church on
St. Mark's Eve, an' go round the Church three times back'ards; look in at the keyhole an' say certain words
81
(but I don't know wot). They 'ad this ter do each year or else all their power 'ud go from 'em.'

This husband-wife testimony from Thoresway, recorded by Ethel H . Rudkin, is

evidence of the diabolical association which circling suggested in Lincolnshire and
indeed throughout England. While it could possibly be interpreted as suggesting the
survival of a witchcraft ceremony utilizing this action, it seems more useful not to
strain the evidence, but instead to place it in context as one of a number of folk beliefs
incontestably linking the practice to diablerie. Rudkin, for example, lists other beliefs
gleaned directly or indirectly from local informants:

'When I was a boy there was a saying that if you ran r o u n d . . . [Glentham] Church seven times, and stuck a
pin in the belfry door every time, you would, on looking through the keyhole the seventh time, see the
82
devil.'

E. T . of Willoughton noted, 'Drop a pin in the keyhole of the Church door and run
8
round the Church seven times without stopping and you will meet the Devil.' ' And
the emphasis on the keyhole suggests that a Digby resident's comment—'If you was ter
look thruff the key'ole o' Dorrin'ton Church on a certain bright moonlight night,
you'd see the Devil playin' at glass-marbles, so they sa-ay . . . ' may be part of a similar
84
circling tradition. T h e keyhole in these cases allowed the circumambulant a limited
view onto the 'otherworld,' and as such may be paralleled by knot-holes, holed stones,
and shears which are often used in connection with the second sight, giving the seer a
85
safe peephole into the supernatural. Lincolnshire was not the only county in which it
was utilized—at Swanton Morley, in Norfolk, for example, he who ran round the
church as midnight struck and then whistled through the keyhole would see the
86
Devil. At Stoke Edith and Tarrington (Here.) the efficacious practice was supposed
to involve walking around the church seven times, repeating the Lord's Prayer
87
backwards before peering through the keyhole into the church. In those cases where a
 C I R C L I N G AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 11
pin was stuck in the door or dropped in the keyhole, the practitioner was presumably
preserving his own safety from supernatural forces, much as the visitor to a fairy
88
knowe would under similar circumstances. Should this interpretation be accepted, it
would give an interesting background for a love divination at Church Stretton (Salop.)
described by C. S. Burne:

A young man wishing to know who should be his future wife, was advised to walk three times round the
church at midnight, and each time he passed the porch to put his sword through the key-hole and say,
89
'Here is the sword, but where is the sheath?'

90
Whistling was, of course, a time-honoured method of raising spirits, while the
backwards recitation of the Lord's Prayer, in addition to its general association with
91
diablerie, is paralleled at other Herefordshire sites:
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According to Weobley folk, nothing is easier than to make the acquaintance o f . . . 'Old N i c k ' . . . You go to
Weobley Churchyard at midnight and walk slowly round the preaching cross seven times, saying the
92
Lord's Prayer backwards, and he will immediately appear.

Elsewhere in England variants of the belief are connected with different

3
churches—with Reach church in Cambridgeshire;' with a stone in St. Mary's church­
94 95
yard, Bungay; and with an old Unitarian Chapel in Sussex. There is a recently
collected example concerning the cedar tree in Sumpter Yard of St. Alban's Cathedral,
where making seven circuits is supposed to produce the Devil or a ghost in the
96
branches. Often the rationale behind the experiment appears to have been half-
forgotten; thus Edward Goldsworthy in Recollections of Old Taunton could note:

The churchyard was a racing ground, where the boys used to go to race, running around three times to see
which was the best runner. But what was considered the boldest and most courageous act for a boy to
perform was to run around the churchyard alone on a dark night. I did it once, but by the time I came back
to the front gate the hair on my head was sticking upright, for I thought I saw or heard a ghost behind every
97
buttress.

T h i s feeling is perhaps more understandable in view of the belief at Tewin,

Hertfordshire, that the Devil appears in the churchyard on New Year's Eve. It was the
custom of the ringers that one should chime the bell for midnight while the rest tried to
98
circle the church seven times before the final stroke. The Devil, supposedly, made off
with the stragglers. A belief analogous to that at Kit's Coty attached to the Witch's
Stone in St. Peter's church, Westleton, Suffolk:

Octogenarians in the parish have childhood memories of placing a handkerchief or a straw in the grating in
the wall above the stone, then running round the church, three or seven times, returning finally to the
grating at which it was forbidden to look until the very end. On the completion of the run, the object placed
99
in the grating would have disappeared, or alternatively, the rattling of chains would be heard.

Additionally, Ella Mary Leather, writing in 1912, could report that:

Seventy years ago, an old inhabitant of Weobley remembers that the big boys used to frighten smaller ones
by piling up their caps on a tombstone and running nine times round it. They said that would bring 'Old
100
Nick' under the bottom cap.

She continues more generally, noting:

Mr. John Hutchison writes that in his boyhood a man offered to raise the Devil for him by placing his hat
on two crossed sticks stuck in the ground, walking . . . seven times round it, repeating the Lord's Prayer
101
backwards. To lay him again it was necessary to reverse the proceedings.
 12 S A M U E L P. M E N E F E E
T h e focus of several variants of the tradition is often on churchyard tombs. Running
102
around Lady Ann Grimston's tomb at T e w i n , around the oldest tomb at Broadwater
103 104
Churchyard, Worthing, or around the Blunt family vault at Heathfield, all raised
105
the Devil, but a grave on the north side of Aston churchyard opens to reveal only a n
106
old lady. Dr. Simpson argues that 'old tombs and family vaults' may attract such
stories

because in the palmy days of smuggling they afforded such excellent hiding places for contraband; the
smugglers would have an obvious interest in frightening people away from churchyards, and the
107
temptation to make puns about 'raising spirits' at midnight must have been quite irresistible.

Often, such stories served other ulterior motives. The Broadwater Churchyard
tradition, for example, was recounted to local girls by the youths who squired them t o
the churchyard at midnight. 'I don't say we raised the Devil, exactly,' recalled one
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108
50-year-old man, who broke off, grinning. While these secondary motives can
explain the adoption or retention of circling traditions, this, of course, in no way affects
the explanation of why such beliefs originated.
Devil-raising traditions are attached to other prominent landmarks as well—a bush at
109
Three Went-Way in K e n t , an oak which once served as a gibbet at Beccles,
110 111
Suffolk, a tree with a murdered man buried at its roots at Kingston-on-Sea (Sus.).
Occasionally, ceremonies at such landmarks raise other spectres; thus those who r u n
round the Miller's Tomb seven times can expect the ghost of John Oliver, the
112
occupant, to jump out and chase them. Circling the grave of Robert Snooks at
Boxmoor, according to a tradition dating from the 1830's, would raise Snooks himself
3
if one shouted his n a m e , " while within living memory, people at Okehampton
believed that the ghost of Benjamin Gayer could be conjured up by reciting:
Bingie Gear, Bingie Gear,
I f thou art near, do ye appear.
114
while walking round a table with one's right hand outstretched. Other circuits
brought even more spectacular results—an obelisk at Tring Park Wood, if encircled a
5
breathtaking fifty times, would spout blood," while any unlucky wight who circled
Castle Law loch nine times while uttering the proper spell would see a hand arise from
6
a golden cradle and pull him in!"

LOVERS A N D LEVERS
Mention has already been made of the divinatory ritual at Church Stretton, Shrop­
shire, utilizing circling with a control element. A similar ceremony was used in
Cardiganshire, where the church was circled seven or nine times by a knife-carrying
17
practitioner, chanting 'Here is [the] knife,/Where is the sheath?" This occurred on
8
Hallowe'en, as did similar rituals using a glove (circling the house)," or in which the
9
prospective Prince Charming carried a shoe nine times round a dung h e a p . " That this
practice was not confined to Wales and the Border is suggested by sworn testimony in
the case of Barker v. Ray, heard in the Court of Chancery in 1827. The deponent
testified that Ann Johnson, who figured in the action, had said:

'I will tell you what I did to know if I could have Mr. Barker. On St. Mark's night, I ran round a haystack
nine times, with a ring in my hand, calling out:
"Here's the sheath
But where's the knife?"
When I was running round the ninth time, I thought I saw Mr. Barker coming home, but he did not come
120
home that night, but was brought home from the Blue Bell, at Beverley, the next day.'
 CIRCLING AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 13
It seems fairly clear that circling in such cases was supposed to raise the spirit of one's
intended, just as a circumambulation of the local church under other circumstances
would produce the Devil.

In another form of divination, recorded from Scotland in the 18th century, girls in
Breadalbane circled a house three times deiseil (sunwise) with a drawn sword in one
hand and a scabbard in the other. T h e future husband was supposed to take the sword
from their hands and return it sheathed. (Men, on the other hand, carried a distaff or
121
spindle.) William Henderson reports the same ceremony for the Anglo-Scottish
122
border, noting the occasional substitution of a willow wand for the sword. It is
noteworthy that here too, there is some evidence to suggest that spindles could serve
123
the same control purposes filled by the knife. Connaught maidens circled a haystack
three times, plunging a black-handled knife into it in the name of the Devil. They
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124
implicitly believed that the man who removed it would marry them. A similar
'project' was used in Wales where the girl placed a knife in a leek bed and then walked
125
backwards around it. In Argyll, keys were put in a riddle and carried around the
stacks and hayricks in the farmyard—the first person of the proper sex met thereafter
126
would be the future spouse. This ceremony is strongly reminiscent of the action of a
man at Holmesfield who 'said he would raise the Devil:'

He took a frying-pan and key, and, in the dusk of evening, went to a 'four-lane-ends,' or crossway. Many
people were assembled to see him perform this feat. The man rattled the frying-pan and the key together,
and repeated the lines:
I raised the Devil, and the Devil raised me,
I never shall forget when the Devil raised me.
All at once there was a great noise of thunder, in the midst of which the Devil came; but nobody saw him
127
except the man who had raised him by the key and frying-pan.

128
Alternatively, ricks might be raked r o u n d or peat stacks circumambulated on a
129
besom to obtain a sight of one's destined spouse, or a stack of oats or barley might be
130
'fathomed thrice' against the s u n . Finally, in another close parallel to raising the
Devil, a church might be circled as midnight sounded, by a maiden who scattered rose
131
leaves, or hempseed, to obtain a vision of her future spouse in pursuit. Here, we see
circumambulation at work in actual ritual practices which suggest that the association
of the action with archaeological sites and opening an entrance to the Otherworld may
once have been more than an idle conceit.

HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS
From an early date in England and Scotland there appears to have been religious
132
antipathy for ring dances—'carols,' as they were termed. Dancing, particularly in
churchyards, was frowned upon; one need only recall the popularity of the exemplum
133
the 'Dancers of Colbeck' to get some idea of the problem involved. In 1225 a
Scottish synod forbade the holding of 'dances or filthy games which engender lascivi-
134
ousness' at church locations, while a similar problem was considered by the Saynod
135
of Exeter in 1287. In 1450 the poem 'Instructions to Parish Priests' included the
136
admonition: 'Songe and cry and suche fare,/For to stynte thow shalt not spare.'
Occasionally, descriptions of ring dances occur in witchcraft accusations. In 1590,
Barbara Napier of North Berwick,
 14 SAMUEL P. M E N E F E E
dancit endlang the Kirk-yaird, and Gelie Duncan playit on ane trump, Jonne Fiene, missellit, led the ring;
Agnes Sampsoun and hir dachteris and all the rest following the said Barbara, to the nowmer of sevin scoir
7
of persounes."

Seven years later there were a series of such charges. Thomas Leyis, for example, was
charged with having come

to the Market and Fish Cross of Aberdeen, under the conduct and guiding of the Devil present with you, all
in company, playing before you on his kind of instruments: Ye all danced about both the said crosses, and
the meal market, a long space of time; in the which Devil's dance, thou the said Thomas was foremost and
led the ring, and dang the said Kathren Mitchell, because she spoiled your dance, and ran not so fast about
138
as the r e s t .

Nor were such circlings restricted to churchyards and crosses. Beatrice Robbie was
accused of coming 'to Craigleauche, and there dancing altogether about a great stone, a
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long space, and the Devil your master playing before y o u , " " while Margaret Og had
gone to the same place

on Hallow even last, and there, accompanied by thy own two daughters, and certain others, your devilish
adherents and companions, ye danced all together, about a great stone, under the conduct of Satan, your
140
master, a long s p a c e .

When one considers the connection of many English stone circles with the ' M e r r y
141
Maidens' tradition—girls supposedly turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday —a
case may be made for the connection of circling practices with some archaeological
sites dating back to at least Reformation times, and probably before that.

CONCLUSION
Where does all this leave us? In a sense we have come full circle, back to the students
of Trinity College. In retrospect their run can be seen to be the recent result of a belief
stretching back to the ballads—a practice applied to archeological sites, ecclesiastical
edifices, and crossed sticks. What has been shown? First, that circling traditions are an
integral part of the folklore of many archaeological monuments. Second, that these
same beliefs have been applied in fairy tradition and in raising the Devil (and
sometimes the dead), leaving little doubt that they represent a transition between the
natural world and the supernatural—what has here been characterized as unscrewing
the barrier between these dual existences. T h e presence of similar controls suggests
that the parallelism between monuments and other edifices is more than mere
coincidence. Third, it has been demonstrated that, at least in the area of divination,
circling represented part of actual rituals. Fourth, the presence of similar practices in
churchyards and at megaliths has been strongly suggested. T h e only thing necessary to
complete this circular argument would be to demonstrate that the circling practices at
archaeological sites were designed to open an entrance between the practitioners and
another world.

But the circle must stop here, if we acknowledge the importance of preserving
academic standards in such investigations. There are things which an anthropologist
might describe to which archaeologists can never aspire—and the definite ascription of
motivation from fragmentary folk beliefs is a case in point. What, therefore, may a
study of this sort demonstrate about the interplay between folklore and archaeology?
First, it indicates the necessity of considering all sources of a belief, be they archaeo-
logically oriented or not. T h e various descriptive levels of the circling belief used here
have illustrated the value of a multi-faceted approach. Second, this study should
 C I R C L I N G AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 15
indicate that many folk beliefs are incapable of being linked in more than an
ephermeral way with any specific archaeological site—the many levels on which
circling exists and its many focuses should certainly cause one to tread warily here.
Rather, the folklore of archaeological sites is valuable for what it tells us more generally
about people, about those who built and those who have lived with the monuments.
Finally, this study should indicate that there are, and always will be, limits to a study
of this sort. These limits are in part what differentiates archaeology from folklore, and
what makes a collaboration between the two disciplines so desirable.
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NOTES
1. Popularized in the Academy Award winning movie, Chariots of Fire, where the distance is given as
188 paces and the run is associated with Caius and Gonville College. The custom, however, belongs to
Trinity, and dates back to the 18th Century. 'The complete distance is 383 yards, and the clock takes 43
seconds to strike, so the feat, if accomplished, is no mean one,' Enid Porter, Cambridgeshire Customs and
Folklore (London, 1969), p. 322. (Foner mentions other such feats of skill on p. 323.) Some believe that a
similar tradition holds for Christ Church, Oxford; communication of K. C. Troy, March 1982.
2. J. H. Evans, 'Notes on the Folklore and Legends Associated with the Kentish Megaliths,' Folklore,
57 (London, 1946), p. 39.
3. Dr. Simpson notes, however, that 'most people don't realize Chanctonbury is an archaeological site;
they are solely conscious of its trees.' Letter from Dr. Jacqueline Simpson to S. P. Menefee (May 14, 1982).
4. Jacqueline Simpson, 'Legends of Chanctonbury Ring,' Folklore 80 (London, 1969), p. 125, quoting
Arthur Beckett, The Spirit of the Downs (1909). Dr. Simpson also notes that this variant appears in Esther
Meynell, Sussex Cottage (1936), p. 96; Sussex County Magazine, vol. 10 (1936), p. 5 (claiming 'an old
woman' as the source), and L. N. Candlin, 'Folk Memory of Buried Treasure in the Sussex Hills,' West
Sussex Gazette (March 2, 1967), cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 125.
5. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 125, quoting D. Harrison, Along the Sussex Downs (1958).
6. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 125, quoting R. Wyndham, Southeastern Survey (1939), p. 41.
7. Versions quoted in Dr. Simpson's paper were collected between September 1968 and March 1969,
Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 126. Dr. Simpson notes in a letter that she is 'still picking up new and
slightly varying versions of the Chanctonbury tale,' citing one from June 1979 and another from March
1980. Letter from Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, op. at.
8. Mary, school teacher, age 25, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by Dr.
Simpson. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 126.
9. John, age 19, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by Dr. Simpson.
Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 126.
10. 'Perhaps it was the Devil Brewing his Soup,' West Sussex Gazette (June 26, 1968), cited in
Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 126.
11. Patsy, age 16, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by Dr. Simpson, op.
cit., p. 126.
12. Schoolgirl. Collected March 16, 1980 by Dr. Simpson. Letter from Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit.
13. Schoolboy. Collected June 1, 1979 by Dr. Simpson. Letter from Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, ibid,
14. Arthur, housepainter, age 55, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by
Dr. Simpson. Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 126.
15. Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 127.
16. Dorothy, age 17, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by Dr. Simpson.
Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 126.
17. Jacqueline Simpson, ibid., p. 130.
18. Letter from Miss Davey, Chilgrove, Sussex, West Sussex Gazette (July 25, 1968) (referring to an
experience in 1962), cited in Jacqueline Simpson, ibid, p. 127.
19. 'Picture of Chanctonbury,' The Times (September 23, 1959), cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p.
126.
20. Norman Wymer, Companion into Sussex (1950), pp. 147-48, cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p.
129.
 16 SAMUEL P. M E N E F E E
21. Mrs. S., teacher, age 50, Worthing, Sussex. Collected circa September 1968-March 1969 by D r .
Simpson. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 126.
22. Nancy Price, Jack by the Hedge (1942), cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 126.
23. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 126.
24. Ibid, p. 127.
25. In particular, she notes the association of cauldrons with Celtic myth, L. N. Candlin, op. cit., cited
in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 127. This would appear to be a 'helmet of Mambrino' argument,
however, for a basin is not a cauldron, and Celtic cauldrons, while they sometimes held drink, were also
sources of food and even healing powers. See Roger S. Loomis, Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance (New
York, 1967 [1927]), pp. 227-36. As Loomis notes elsewhere, 'a chalice is not a cauldron,' Roger S. Loomis,
The Grail: From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol (New York, 1963), p. 152.
26. Including a) the processional aspects of the circuits, b) broth, milk and porridge's possible role as
ritual foods, and c) the fact that the legend appeared in print in the same year that the temple was excavated
and prior to its identification as a religious structure, Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 127.
27. Ibid., p. 128.
28. Ibid., pp. 127-28. See Samuel P. Menefee, 'A Cake in the Furrow,' Folklore 91 (Woodbridge,
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'Suffolk, 1980), pp. 173-92 for a treatment of one facet of this belief.
29. L. V. Grinsell, Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain (Newton Abbot, Devon, 1976), pp. 168, 171.
30. Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology (London, 1905 [1880]), pp. 284-85.
31. L. V. Grinsell, op. cit. p. 32, citing E. S. Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales(l925 (18901), chapter
6. See also W. A. Craigie, Scandinavian Folklore London, 1896), pp. 132-33.
32. G. Waldron, History and Description of the Isle of Man (1744), pp. 54-55, cited in L. V. Grinsell, op.
cit., p. 179.
33. Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island & Its Legends (Glasgow, 1961), pp. 124-26, which notes that 'this
story is also told of other duns in the vicinity.'
34. S. Baring-Gould, Book of Cornwall (1899), pp. 107-08, cited in L. V. Grinsell, op. cit., p. 91.
35. L. V. Grinsell, op. cit., p. 32. See also ibid., p . 91.
36. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 127. Several such traditions have been treated at length in S. P.
Menefee, op. cit., pp. 173-92.
37. S. P. Menefee, op. cit., pp. 176-77.
38. Guernsey Folklore (1903), pp. 207-10, cited in Marie dcGaris, 'Folklore of Guernsey, part 3, Fairies
(cont.),' Quarterly Review of the Guernsey Society, vol. 27, no. 3 (Guernsey, Channel Isles, Winter 1971), p.
69. Similar traditions are found in Devon, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Scotland, and Ireland, S. P.
Menefee, op. cit., pp. 176, 187, 190-92; Ella Mary Leather, The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire (East Ardsley,
Wakefield, Yorks,, 1970 [1912]), p. 44.
39. July 25, 1968 (in reference to an experience in 1962), quoted in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 127.
Indications are that this mounted figure is a fairy; see Lowry Charles Wimberley, Folklore in the English &
Scottish Ballads (New York, 1965 [1928]), p. 188; Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular
Ballads, vol. 1 (New York, 1965 [1882-84]), pp. 339-40. But see Iona and Peter Opie, The Oxford
Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford, 1952), pp. 65-66, in which the 'fine lady on a white horse' is
variously identified as Queen Elizabeth or Lady Godiva.
40. See, for example, those variants of the 'Countless Stones' tradition which suggest a supernatural
desire to remain unreckoned, S. P. Menefee, 'The "Countless Stones": A Final Reckoning,' Folklore 86
(London, 1975), p. 148, and closer folk-parallels involving the interruption of attempted desecrations of
archaeological monuments by (supernatural) thunderstorms, ibid., p. 152; L. V. Grinsell, op. cit., p. 64. In
Wales swarms of birds or bees, often equated with the fairy host, are supposed to attack those who attempt
to harm stone monuments, Lewis Spence, The Minor Traditions of British Mythology (London, 1948a), p.
145. Traditions chronicling the appearance of a 'guardian' to discourage treasure hunters also belong to
this type. To accept this explanation, it is necessary to view circumambulation as a practice through which
power may be gained over the supernatural, an explanation which will find support in subsequent
discussion.
41. S. P. Menefee, Divination in the British Isles (1974a) (B. Litt. thesis, Oxford University), pp. 106-08,
110-14, 150, 164, 180, 197, 337-38, 358-59.
42. Ibid., pp. 380, 383; Alwyn and Brinley Rees, Celtic Heritage (London, 1961), pp. 186-204.
43. S. P. Menefee (1974a), op. cit., pp. 227, 245-47, 252-53.
44. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129.
45. J. S. Lucas, 'The Hoard of Anglo-Saxon Coins Found at Chancton Farm, Sussex,' Sussex
Archaeological Collections, vol. 20 (1868), pp. 212-14, quoted in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129.
46. The tradition features in his novel, Alice Lorraine. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129. See also
Richard Doddridge Blackmore, Alice Lorraine: A Tale of the South Downs (London, 1893 [1875]), p. 16.
 C I R C L I N G AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 17
47. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129. Norman Wymer, who found this version of the tradition
current locally in the 1940's, believed the story to have been fabricated by Blackmore, N. Wymer,
Companion into Sussex (1950), pp. 147-48, cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129. W. Wilkinson, A
Sussex Peep-Show (1938), cited in Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 129 also mentions traditions of the
treasure-seeking ghost in connection with the Ring.
48. Young girl, Steyning, Sussex. Collected pre-1970 by Dr. Simpson. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p.
130. In this case, the apparition simply appeared out of the mist to a woman picnicing near the Ring at
noon. See also text at note 19.
49. Dr. Simpson was told this tradition in 1938 by her father and collected a more recent version from a
17-year-old girl who had heard the story from a schoolmaster, Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., p. 128.
50. S. P. Menefee, 'Studies in Megalithic Folklore* (1972) (Scholar of the House Paper, Yale
University), p. 154; L. V. Grinsell, op. cit., p. 58.
51. A long barrow. L. V. Grinsell, op. cit., p. 113.
52. A long barrow. Local woman, Milton Lilbourne, Wilts. Collected August 1933 by L. V. Grinsell.
53. Male. Collected circa 1939-45 by L. V. Grinsell. Notes of L. V. Grinsell; L. V. Grinsell, 'Sussex
barrows,' Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 75 (1934), pp. 238-39, cited in L. V. Grinsell (1976), op.
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cit., p. 125; D. Harrison, Along the South Downs (1958), pp. 262-63, cited in Jacqueline Simpson, The
Folklore of Sussex (London, 1973), p. 66.
54. Letter from local man, August 8, 1973, who says the tale was seriously believed c.1914 when he was
a boy, cited in letter from Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit.
55. Communicated by A. Halcrow Verstage to L. V. Grinsell circa 1949. L. V. Grinsell (1976), op. cit.,
p. 129.
56. L.V. Grinsell (1976), op.cit.,p. 174, citing W. Grainge, The Vale of Mowbray (\859), p. 167 and E.
Bogg, Richmondshire and the Vale of Mowbray (1906), pp. 185-87.
57. A stone circle, L. V. Grinsell (1976), p. 213, citing F. R. Coles, 'Stone circles in N.E. Scotland,'
Proceedings Scottish Antiquarian Society, vol. 40 (1906), pp. 198-99.
58. L. V. Grinsell (1976), p. 184, citing J. Spence, Shetland Folk-lore (Lerwick, 1899), p. 93.
59. Otta F. Swire, The Outer Hebrides and their Legends (Edinburgh, 1966), p. 77.
60. See Christina Hole, Encyclopaedia of Superstitions (London, 1969 [19611), p. 210.
61. Ibid., p. 157, presumably referring to the fairy ring at Chathill Farm, near Alnwick, around which
local children danced nine times; more circuits, and they would be carried offby the fairies, Lewis Spence,
The Fairy Tradition in Britain (London, 1948b), pp. 316-17, citing The Denham Tracts, vol. 2, p. 139.
62. L. H. Hayward, 'Shropshire Folklore of Yesterday and To-Day,' Folklore 49 (1938), p. 242.
63. Mrs. Gutch, County Folk-Lore, vol. 6, Concerning the East Riding of Yorkshire (London, 1912), p. 49.
64. Mrs. Gutch, County Folk-Lore, vol. 2, North Riding of Yorkshire, York, and the Ainsty (London,
1901), p. 17.
65. H. W. Webber, R. Jamieson and Sir Walter Scon, Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (Edinburgh,
1814), p. 398, quoted in Katharine M. Briggs, A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language,
op. cit., Part A, Folk Narratives (London, 1979), vol. 1, p. 181. Hints of this procedure are found in the
account of a Yorkshire conjure man accused of witchcraft and an association with the fairies in 1593. 'Being
asked how he got more [curing] powder, he said when he wanted he went to that Hill, and knocked three
times, and said every time I am coming, I am coming, whereupon it opened and he going in was
conducted . . . to the Queen, and so had more powder given him,' John Webster, Displaying of Supposed
Witchcraft (London, 1677), pp. 300-02, quoted in Margaret A. Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe
(Oxford, 1971) [1921], p. 244.
66. Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland, p. 257, quoted in Lewis Spence (1948b), op. cit., p. 277; W.
G. Wood-Martin, Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland, vol. 2 (London, 1902), p. 273.
67. See Katharine Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies (London, 1976), pp, 62-66; Lewis Spence (1948b), op.
cit., pp. 187-88.
68. Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake, Canto V, note, cited in F. Marian McNeill, The Silver
Bough, vol. 3, A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals: Hallowe'en to Yule (Glasgow, 1961), p. 15.
69. J. G. Campbell, Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands, pp. 83-84 (which also gives the story of a
child rescued by this method), cited in Lewis Spence, (1948b), op. cit., p. 264.
70. See Christina Hole, op. cit., pp. 329-30, for a general discussion of deiseil and widdershins.
71. Recorded circa 1920 by two Wiltshire folklorists from their 80-year-old grandmother, who had
learnt the story from a Cumbrian family nunc. Katharine M. Briggs, op. cit., Part B, Folk Legends (1971),
vol. 1, pp. 370-71, miscited to Ruth L. Tongue, Forgotten Folk-Tales (1970).
72. Jacob Allies, On the Ancient British, Roman, and Saxon Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire
(London, 1852), pp. 419-20.
73. Christina Hole, op. cit., p . 210; J. G. Campbell, op. cit., pp. 148-49, cited in Lewis Spence (1948b),
 18 SAMUEL P. MENEFEE
op. cit., p. 259; Lewis Spence (1948b), op. cit., p. 182. See also James MacDougall, Highland Fairy Legends
(Ipswich, Suff. 1978 [1910]), p. 11, 14,27, 28-30. For a variant in which a dirk was to be stuck in a chair to
rescue someone from the fairies, see letter from Dr. Katharine Briggs to Stewart Sanderson, March 10,
1964, quoted in Robert Kirk, The Secret Common- Wealth & A Short Treatise of Charms and Spells (Ipswich,
suff., 1976) (Stewart Sanderson, ed.), p. 19.
74. R. MacDonald Robertson, Selected Highland Folk Tales (Edinburgh, 1961), p. 5. See also ibid., pp.
14-15 for a fishing fork thrust into the lintel of a fairy mound in Glen Etive, Argyll; R. MacDonald
Robertson, More Highland Folktales (Edinburgh, 1964), p. 56, which tells a similar story about Kinloch-
bervie.
75. Christina Hole, op. cit., p. 210, who notes that, according to other forms of the belief, this was a
deterrence against witches.
76. F. Marian McNeill, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 119. See J. G. Campbell, op. cit., pp. 86-87, cited in Lewis
Spence (1948b), op. cit., p. 182. See also Patrick Graham, Sketches descriptive of Picturesque Scenery on the
Southern Confines of Perthshire (1812 [1806]), pp. 253-55, cited in Robert Kirk, op. cit., pp. 17-18.
77. Thomas Keightley, op. cit., p. 391.
78. F. Marian McNeill, op. cit., vol. 1, Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk-Belief (1977 [1957]), p. 110.
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79. W. Grant Stewart, The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland
(1822), p. 223, cited in Mary Macleod Banks, Calendar Customs: Scotland vol. 3 (London, 1941), p. 154.
80. Mr. W., Thoresway, Lin., circa 1925-36, quoted in Ethel H. Rudkin, Lincolnshire Folklore (East
Ardsley, Yorks. 1973 [1936]), p. 73.
81. Mrs. W., Thoresway, Lin., circa 1925-36, quoted in ibid, p. 81.
82. W. P., Glentham, Lin., Lincolnshire Chronicle and Leader, January 20, 1934, quoted in ibid., p. 73.
83. E. T., Willoughton, Lin., circa 1925-36, quoted in Ethel H. Rudkin, op. cit., pp. 71-72.
84. — B., Digby, Lin., circa 1925-36, quoted in ibid., p. 73.
85. See R. MacDonald Robertson (1961), op. cit., pp. 17-18 (fairy seen through shears); Robert Kirk, op.
cit., p. 63 (second sight by looking between legs or through knothole); F. Marian McNeill, op. cit., vol. 1,
pp. 94-95 (holed stone used by Brahan Seer), ibid., p. 56 (looking through circle made of finger and thumb a
form of prognostication). See also Hannah Aitken, A Forgotten Heritage (Edinburgh, 1973), pp. 65, 69,
which notes that self-bored stones were supposed to cover the entrance to the fairies' underground
dwellings.
86. Collected by L. V. Grinsell from C. H. Lewton-Brain, 1950. Notes of L. V. Grinsell.
87. Ella Mary Leather, The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire (East Ardsley, Yorks., 1970 [1912]), p. 40.
88. This is also reminiscent of cases where witches were scratched with iron 'above the breath' to
prevent (or cure) enchantments.
89. Charlotte Sophia Burne, Shropshire Folk-Lore: A Sheaf of Gleanings, vol. 1 (East Ardsley, Yorks ,
1973 [1883]), pp. 177-78.
90. Christina Hole, op. cit., pp. 361-63. Miss Hole notes that in Yorkshire, if someone whistled after
dark, 'the offender was driven out of the house and made to walk three times round it to break the spell,'
ibid., p. 362.
91. See William Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (East Ardsley,
Yorks., 1973 [1866]), p. 19 (method used by schoolboys in attempt to raise the Devil); John Harland and T.
T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore: Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs and
Usages of the County Palatine (East Ardsley, Yorks., 1972 [1882]), p. 17 (to raise the devil); Mark R. Taylor,
'Norfolk Folklore,' Folklore 40 (London, 1929), p. 132 (charm written to prevent return of dead wife).
92. Ella Mary Leather, op. cit., p. 40.
93. Walking round the church seven times will raise the Devil. Enid Porter, Cambridgeshire Customs
and Folklore (London, 1969), p. 377.
94. A three-foot-high stone near the church porch was raced around twelve times after the Devil had
been invoked to appear. Enid Porter, The Folklore of East Anglia (London, 1974), p. 131.
95. Children believed if they ran three fast laps around the neglected chapel and then peered in at the
window, they would see Satan sitting there. J. M. Stenning, Sussex County Magazine, vol. 27 (1953), pp.
72-76, quoted in Jacqueline Simpson, The Folklore of Sussex, (London, 1973), p. 66.
96. Collected from Mr. J. H. Collins, St. Albans, Herts., who had heard these variants in the 1930's, by
S. P. Menefee, July 11, 1976.
97. Edward Goldsworthy, Recollections of Old Taunton (Taunton, Som., 1975 [1883]), note p. 27.
98. Collected from the Tewin Women's Institute, April 1974, by Doris Jones-Baker, and Gover, Mawer
and Stenton, The Place Names of Hertfordshire (1938), p. 232, cited in Doris Jones-Baker, The Folklore of
Hertfordshire (London, 1977), p. 106.
99. Collected from Rev. J. A. Love joy, pre-1974, by Enid Porter (?), Enid Porter (1974), op. cit., pp.
130-31.
100. Ella Marv Leather, op. cit., p. 40.
 C I R C L I N G AS AN E N T R A N C E T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D 19
101. Ibid.
102. Died 1717, and popularly remembered for her disbelief in the Resurrection. Collected from the
Tewin Women's Institute, April 1974, by Doris Jones-Baker, and Gover, Mawer and Stenton, op. cit., p.
232, cited in Doris Jones-Baker, op. cit., p. 106.
103. Seven circuits. Collected from informants, Worthing, Sussex, in 1968 and 1971, by Dr. Jacqueline
Simpson, (1973), op. cit., p. 67.
104. Children believed that if you circled the vault seven times, the Devil would leap out, G. L. Hall,
Sussex County Magazine, vol. 29 (1955), pp. 27-28 (based on information dating from his mother's
childhood), cited in Jacqueline Simpson (1973), op. cit., p. 67.
105. See also communication of Stevenage Townswomen's Guild to Doris Jones-Baker, 1970, Doris
Jones-Baker, op. cit., p. 79 (twelve circuits of the tombstone to the left of the belfry door at St. Nicholas'
churchyard will raise the devil).
106. Seven circuits at midnight. Collected from Aston Women's Institute, by Doris Jones-Baker in
1971, Doris Jones-Baker, op. cit., p. 79. Presumably, this is the same tomb in the churchyard, seven circuits
of which would raise the Devil. Communication of Mrs. K. Carter to Hertfordshire Countryside {Sept. 1972)
and of G. W. Partridge to ibid. (November 1972), cited in Doris Jones-Baker, op. cit., p . 105.
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107. Jacqueline Simpson (1973), op. cit., pp. 66-67.

108. Collected from an informant, Worthing, Sussex, in 1968, by Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, ibid, p . 67.
This parallels the use of some love divination rituals as a cloak for courtship—see S. P. Menefee (1974a), op.
cit., pp. 419, 427.
109. Three circuits. Jack Hallam, The Ghost Tour (London, 1967), cited in Antony D. Hippisley Coxe,
Haunted Britain (London, 1973), p. 75.
110. Six circuits. Antony D. Hippisley Coxe, op. cit., p . 105.
111. By the Rectory. W. M. H. Luxton, Sussex County Magazine, vol. 23 (1949), p. 102, and
communication of L. N. Candlin to Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, 1971 (1973), op. cit., p . 66. See also
communication of Miss L. N. Candlin to Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, 1971, cited in a letter from Dr.
Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., (the Devil can be raised by running around a tree at Kingston Buci, Sussex);
communication of middle-aged female informant to Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, April 1975, cited in letter
from Dr. Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit., (even if you run seven times around Singleton Clump, Sus., you will
see the Devil).
112. Oral traditions from Worthing, Sus., circa 1920-1973, cited in Jacqueline Simpson (1973), op. cit.,
p . 45. Dr. Simpson notes that the carving of a skeleton on one side of the tomb may have served as starting-
point for the tale.
113. Three circuits. Shook, supposedly the last highwayman hung in England, was executed March 11,
1802. Francis Tompkins, Hertfordshire Countryside (June-July, 1965), p. 45 (and tradition dating from the
1830's), cited in Doris Jones-Baker, op. cit., p. 79. This suggests similarities to the Shropshire tradition that
if one stands on certain rocks near Edge at midnight and calls the name of the robber Ippikin aloud three
times, one will see his ghost, L. S. Hayward, op. cit., p . 240.
114. Four times mayor of Okehampton, Devon (1673-84). Antony D. Hippisley Coxe, op. cit., p. 33.
115. Hertfordshire. Percy Birtchnell, 'Berkhamstead's Old Wives Tales,' Hertfordshire Countryside no.
17 (Summer 1950), p. 38, cited in Doris Jones-Baker, op. cit., p . 106.
116. Kinrosshire, J. E. Simpkins, County Folk-Lore, vol. 7, Fife with some notes on Clackmannan and
Kinross-shires (London, 1914), p. 375. Other beliefs include the following: Cambridgeshire: walk seven times
around Soldier's Hill at Denny and you'll hear the monks sing (Enid Porter 11969], op. cit., p . 378);
Durham: Neville's Cross or Castle—walk nine times around and put your ear to the ground to hear the
sound of battle and the clash of armour (notes of L. V. Grinsell from an 1879 source; Antony D. Hippisley
Coxe, op. cit., p . 134); Lincolnshire: run twelve times backwards around the tomb of Robert Cooke in Digby
Churchyard and 'you will hear the cups and saucers rattle' (Ethel H. Rudkin, op. cit., p . 29);
Northumberland: boys who ran around the Witches' Obelisk at Delavel seven times without drawing breath
would raise the witch (M. C. Balfour [1904], cited in notes of L. V. Grinsell); anyone who walks round the
Kielder Stone, North Tynsdale, three times against the sun and then strikes it will hear a groan from the
interior (M. C. Balfour [1904], cited in notes of L. V. Grinsell), (John Leyden, circa 1775-1811, identifies
this voice as the 'Brown Man of the Heath,' notes of L. V. Grinsell); Yorkshire: walk around the pit in
Skipsea Castle grounds seven times and 'Awd Molly,' a ghost, will be raised (Mrs. Gutch 119121, op. cu., p .
52, citing an 1890 source). Other circlings were stated to bring luck or grant wishes.
117. Charlotte Sophia Burne, 'Classified Catalogue of Brand Material,' Folklore, 28 (London, 1917), p.
88.
118. Ibid
119. Ibid.
120. This occurred near Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorks. Testimony sworn August 2, 1827, quoted in T. I-..
 20 S A M U E L P. M E N E F E E
Lones, British Calendar Customs: England vol. 2 (London, 1938), pp. 186-87.
121. Perthshire. Recorded post-1736 by John Ramsey of Ochtertyre and cited in Alexander Allardyce,
Scotland and Scotsmen (1881) and secondarily in Banks, op. cit., p. 155.
122. William Henderson, op. cit., pp. 79-80. See also Margaret Baker, Discovering the Folklore of Plants
(Tring, Herts., 1969), p. 71.
123. See Otta F. Swire, Skye: The Island and Its Legends (Glasgow, 1961), pp. 112-13, in which a woman
gained the power of second sight for her son by placing a spindle across a ghost's grave; the spirit could not
reenter until it had answered her questions.
124. J. Cooke, 'Notes on Irish Folklore from Connaught, Collected Chiefly in North Donegal,' Folklore
7 (London, 1896), p. 300.
125. Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (East Ardsley, Yorks., 1973 [1909]), pp.
235-36, 255.
126. Ledaig. Recorded by Dr. Robert C. Maclagan circa 1894, Mary Macleod Banks, op. cit., p. 155.
127. Derbyshire. Sidney Oldall Addy, Household Tales with other Traditional Remarks (London, 1895),
p. 75.
128. Co. Leitrim. Leland L. Duncan, 'Further Notes from County Leitrim,' Folklore 5 (London, 1894),
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pp. 196-97.
129. Highlands. William Grant Stewart, The Popular Superstitums and Festive Amusements of the
Highlanders of Scotland (1822), cited in Mary Macleod Banks, op. cit., p. 128.
130. Rev. Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland (1881), cited in T . E.
Lones, op. cit., p. 125. See also, A. Poison, Our Highland Folklore Heritage (1926) (running round corn stack
nine times to see lover), cited in Mary Macleod Banks, op. cit., p. 126; Robert Burns, The Poems and Songs
of Robert Burns, vol. 1, (London, 1908 [1784-85]), (James Kinsley, ed.), p. 161; E. W. B. Nicholson,
Golspie: Contributions to its Folklore (1897) (circle haystack nine times backwards to see a ghost or your
lover), cited in Mary Macleod Banks, op. cit., p. 125.
131. A. R. Wright and T . E. Lones, British Calendar Customs: England, vol. 3 (London, 1940), p. 16.
See also S. P. Menefee (1974a), op. cit., pp. 107-08, 110-11. 113.
132. Reginald Nettel, 'Make We Joy Now,' Coimrry Life (December 2, 1976), p. 1687. See also S. P.
Menefee, 'The "Merry Maidens" and the "Noce de Pierre",' Folklore 85 (London, 1974b), pp. 23-42.
133. Robert of Brunne, Robert of Brume's 'Handlyng Synne', part ii (London, 1901) (Frederick J.
Furnivall, ed.), p. 286. See also S. P. Menefee (1974b), op. cit., pp. 25-26.
134. Rev. George S. Tyack, Lore and Legend of the English Church (London, 1899), p. 69.
135. England Howlett, 'Games in Churchyards,' in William Andrews, Antiquities and Curiosities of the
Church (London, 1897), pp. 220-21.
136. Specifically, the playing of games in churchyards. Ibid, p. 220-1.
137. Robert Pitcairn, Criminal Trials (Edinburgh, 1833), vol. 1, pt. 2, pp. 245-46, quoted in Margaret
A. Murray, op. at., pp. 54-55.
138. Spalding Club Miscellanies, vol, 1, pp. 97-98, quoted in Margaret A. Murray, op. cit., pp. 54-55.
139. Spalding Club, op. cit., p. 153, quoted in Margaret A. Murray, op. at., p. 131 (spelling
modernized).
140. Spalding Club, op. cit., p. 144, quoted in Margaret A. Murray, op. at., p. 131 (spelling
modernized).
141. S. P. Menefee (1974b) op. cit., pp. 23-24, 34-39.

(Those with variants or examples of related traditions are requested to communicate

with the author, c/o the Folklore Society.)