The legend of Stanton Drew.
The megaliths of the Stanton Drew stone circles, about 19 miles north of Glastonbury, Somerset, England.
The circles are of the Neolithic period, (New Stone Age) about 5,000 years old, with later megaliths added during the Bronze age.
The circles have a Henge, a ditch with an outer bank encompassing the site. Unfortunately, the ditch has largely silted up, but parts are still visible in this video as a ridge near a section of the NE circle, the most complete part of the complex of three. The Great circle and SW circle are in a bad condition.
Some megaliths from the Great circle; a part of one of the two processional avenues, and the smaller NE circle are seen here.
The largest megaliths are over ten feet tall. Megalith = Big stone.
The Stanton Drew megaliths are thought to be older than both Stonehenge and Avebury and the whole site is larger than both of those.
The images of the Cove are shown after the dawn pictures. These three megaliths, two upright and one broken recumbent stone, are in the garden of the Druid's arms the village pub, and are separate from the main complex. The Cove maybe a sort of redirector of Earth energy.
The legend says that people at a Wedding celebration were turned to stone by the Devil, who played his fiddle for them.
THE SONG OF STANTON DREW:
Midsummer eve it fell on a Saturday, Sue and William went to be wed. They had music played by a fiddler 'Let's go dancing,!' William said.
(Chorus)
They danced and danced and danced around They danced and danced to the fiddler's sound They danced with a skip, they danced with a hop, It seemed that nothing could make them stop. Midnight struck and then said the fiddler 'Dancing on a Sunday wouldn't be right,' Sue gave a laugh, 'Don't care if to Hell I go I'll find another fiddler tonight.'
(Chorus)
They danced and danced and danced around They danced and danced to the fiddler's sound They danced with a skip, they danced with a hop, It seemed that nothing could make them stop. Off went the fiddler, left them all grumbling, Then another fiddler came along the way. 'You'd like to dance and I'd like to play for you' Tunes he played both merry and gay.
(Chorus)
They danced and danced and danced around They danced and danced to the fiddler's sound. They danced with a skip, they danced with a hop, It seemed that nothing could make them stop. 'Stop' cried the dancers, 'NO' cried the fiddler, He kept on in spite of their moans. They couldn't stop their jerking and a stumbling, Then in a flash, He turned them into stones.
(Chorus)
They danced and danced and danced around They danced and danced to the fiddler's sound They danced with a skip, they danced with a hop, It seemed that nothing could make them stop. Stanton Drew in the County of Somerset That's where the Devil played at Sue's request, They paid the price for dancing on a Sunday. Now they are standing evermore at rest.
Copied from an ancient text by Kim Ravenscroft; she died in a motorcycle accident in 1998. R I P.
The music here is by the US based singer, Pamela Wyn Shannon, who not only sings, but also plays some of the instruments.
She is the finest folk singer of the last thirty years.
She wrote and is performing Netherworld here, the most sombre track from her album Courting Autumn a fabulous album full of emotion and light. It's of the English and Irish folk music genre, and performed wonderfully.
Pamela's website:
Thanks to Matthew for the use of some of his images in this video.
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Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams, usually of eleven players each.[1] A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a cricket pitch. A wicket, usually made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch.
The bowler, a player from the fielding team, bowls a hard, fist-sized cricket ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring runs, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman — if he or she does not get out — may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the non-striker), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the playing area. The match is won by the team that scores more runs.
Cricket has been an established team sport for hundreds of years and more than 100 countries are affiliated to the International Cricket Council, cricket's international governing body. The sport's modern form originated in England, and is most popular in the present and former members of the Commonwealth. In many countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies, cricket is the most popular sport. In Australia, while other sports are more popular in particular areas, cricket has been described as the national sport and has had a role in forming the national identity.[2] It is also a major sport in England, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe . Many countries also have well-established amateur club competitions, including the Netherlands, Kenya, Nepal and Argentina.
The sport is followed with passion in many different parts of the world. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, notoriously the Basil D'Oliveira affair (which led to the banning of South Africa from sporting events) and the Bodyline Test series in the early 1930s (which led to a temporary deterioration in relations between Australia and the United Kingdom).