‘ello, if ‘ee have a minute or so, I’ll like to tell ‘ee a yarn. I’m from Dartmoor see, but then ‘ee may ‘ave guessed that from me accent. Life ‘as been up on this yer moor, for many a year. Back in the old days, this yeer moor was covered in forest, t’was a lot warmer round ‘ere too. It was such a shame when ‘em came yer and chopped all the trees down. They said at the time, that the wood was needed to build some ships down in Plymouth Dock. Luck ‘as it, some of ‘em was left yer, and they planted some foreign types from up north. Still the moor still is beautiful, can’t beat the place really.
In them early days, some folk started building an odd thing or two. Many these days don’t know why. I do thoug. It all started when these folk wanted somewhere to live. It t’was the same back then, with the missus giving out the orders. Don’t like it yer, put it over there, if you know what I mean. Anyway, after they built a little ‘ome for ‘em, usually a little ‘ut affair with a circle of stones, with a pole in the middle, supporting the roof. As time went lots of ‘em appeared, to make one of them there villages.
As time went by, them there villagers started to buil all kind of things. Before ‘ee know it, they laid out rows of stones, and then arranging them in circles. These things started popping all over the place up year. You modern folk seem to spend a lot time scratching there ‘eads, trying to figure out, what it is all about. They ‘ave come up with some weird and wonderful ideas, all a bit barmy, if ‘ee ask me. Seeing I was ‘ere at the time, I’ll let ‘ee in on the secret.
See, all them years ago, folk knew a lot about the ‘eavens above. All them there stars, and that there sun, that gives us all life. Yep, modern fok seem to think, that all these circles yer, were set up for some ritual or something. Not so, may I tell ‘ee. See what the old folk were doing, were looking at them there sunspots that appear on the Sun, from time to time. See, what they knew, was that, whem them there sunspots appeared, the missus stopped expexting little’uns, which was not good for village see. Them were using them stone circles to predict when them spots showed up. It was very ‘andy.
Over time, this ancient knowledge got a bit lost. Folk back then did not write anything down. They ‘ad no paper din’um. All this stuff was ‘anded down by telling the little’uns when they were old enough to figure it out.
They say, that them circles ‘ave some of them special powers. That may be right too. Last yer, a young couple came down this way, for a bit of a kiss and a cuddle, in the middle of a circle. ‘ad to close me eyes for a while, They got all carried away. I thought something was up, when the fella produced a yellow rose, and gave it to ‘er. Her was best pleased, and got all emotional. Anyways, about some months later, her and ‘im came back year, carring a little’un. Them wanted to come back to thank the ‘nery of the circle. Bless ‘um. They called this little’un, a little girl, Rose. That is cute init. Them sunspots could not been around at the time. Bless ‘um.
If you are trying to figure out where this yer circle is, it be near Merrivale, just down the road from Princetown. There be an Inn ‘ere too nowadays, so if ‘em ‘as to much to drink, ther may be mor little’uns coming along.
Who am I ‘ee may ask. My name be Granite, I be one of them stones in the circle.
my name is Gregory, Gregory Granite……
By Ray Steed
Written in Devon dialect
Edited by Kate Whitmarsh
© MysticDevon.com
