Rolling Stones

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 5

Rolling Stones

they danced to the piper on a Sunday. Neither of these legends, however, has the ramifications of the one .associated with the Rollright Stones, at Long Compton, on the border of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. There are about 60 of the Rollright Stones —a circle of unhewen monoliths, in Oxfordshire, a single large stone, (the Kingstone) about 70 yards away, in Warwickshire, and five large stones about 400 yards away (the Whispering Knights). The story goes that once a king wanted to conquer England, but as he reached the top of the hill on which the stones stand a witch appeared, and said to him: Seven long strides shalt thou take. And if Long Compton thou const see. King of England thou shalt be. “Stick, stock, stone, as King of England I shall be known,’’ the King replied, taking the seven steps. Suddenly a mound of earth rose before him, and the witch said: As Long Compton thou const not see. King of England thou shalt not be; Rise up, stick, and stand still, stone. Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be. And I myself an eldern tree. So the king and his men were turned to stone, and the witch into an elder tree—the latter being a manlfesta- . tion of a widespread associai tion of the elder with gloom

and superstition. Scottish legend says that Christ was crucified on an elder-tree, and that the tree has not grown straight and strong since; other legends say Judas hanged himself on an elder, and that a knife stuck into one will draw blood. In Lincolnshire it used to be believed that elder branches burnt in the fireplace would bring the devil into the house. As for the Whispering Knights—two armies, the legend says, were once camped nearby, and one evening several knights from one army went out to parley with their opponents, intending treachery, but a wide-awake sorcerer turned them into stone. It is said that a farmer once wanted to build a bridge over a stream at the foot of the bill, and decided to use the stones from the Whispering Knights. But he found it difficult to drag them downhill, although he used many horses, and after he got them in position they would not lie still. When eventually he decided to return them, they were dragged up the hill without difficulty by a single horse.

One more legend associated with the Kingstone is that one day an armed warrior will emerge from it and conquer England—and the question prompted by developments in pop music in the last few years is: are the stones rolling again?