Tales from the Lakes: Witches & Waterfalls
Castlerigg stone circle
This Beltane / May Day, I found myself in the Lake District with my beloved. He’d planned the trip, it just turned out to be a happy coincidence that it just so happened to be Beltane.
And how lucky I felt, too!
With its backdrop of mist shrouded hills, lakes that reflect the sky, stretching further than the eye can see, stone circles and hidden waterfalls, it feels like you’ve stepped into the pages of some epic tale of magic and knights, monsters, dragons and witches.
And so, let us take a look at the land that has inspired great artists and the folk stories and tales tied to that wondrous patch of land.
Stone Circles, Druids & Witches
While Stone Henge and Avebury might be the most well known of the stone circles of the UK, there are in fact many dotted about the place, and the Lakes didn’t disappoint.
As always, we set off from home early in the morning, arriving just before eight am after a three-hour drive. Our first stop was the Castlerigg stone circle.
Perhaps a clichéd start to the trip, but to be honest, I just don’t care! And besides, there is a pull to such places. The questions that can never be answered, the motivations of those ancient peoples, the meaning. The pure magic of such places can be felt, mostly when no other people are there, and so glad was I that no other was there at that moment.
In my search for folklore and legend of this particular circle, there is not much and I am still on the search. Besides sometimes being called the Druid’s Circle, I am yet to discover any actual links to the Druids, but who knows?
Castlerigg isn’t the only stone circle we visited on the trip, though. The next day, at about the same time, we were driving along a single track road through a field. A cow farm was at the end of the road, but before that, it cut through the stone circle.
As we arrived, only a couple of others were there and so we waited patiently while they finished their own homage and before we alighted. This stone circle is called Long Meg and her Daughters, and unlike Castlerigg, the story of this circle is particularly well known.
The story goes that Meg and her Daughters, and, of course, were all witches. Instead of cowering away, they dared to dance on the Sabbath and were turned into stone as punishment. This is similar to the story behind the Nine Ladies stone circle in Derbyshire.
Rather more exciting though, this particular stone Circle has a curse attached to it, and all witches and occultists know that curses can be broken!
It is said that it is impossible to count the number of stones at Long Meg. There are many, over fifty. If you are able to count the same number of stones twice, or sometime thrice, version of the story depending, then Meg and her daughters will be released from their stone prisons and be free to dance on the moors once more!
Lady of the Lake
Okay, so more accurately, the lady of the waterfall, but we’ll come to that in a mo.
As you might well imagine for a place called ‘The Lake District’, there are a lot of lakes and lots of waterfalls too.
Waterfalls are indeed magical places and are mesmerising for sure. They symbolise power, a continuous stream of energy, beautifully raw and cleansing, so at odds to the calm surface of the deep lake further downstream.
This particular waterfall is called Aira Force. Aira comes from the Norse for Waterfall, and it is a common name for many of the falls here. The Aira is little more than a small brook that tumbles some 66ft down and onwards towards Ullswater.
It is a beautiful place, a pleasant stroll along light woodland along the banks, but as with most places of deep beauty, there is often something darker shimmering below the surface. Perhaps it is this darkness that adds to the alluring beauty of this place.
In this story, a local young woman, Lady Emma, was betrothed to a knight, Sir Eglamore. When Sir Eglamore had to leave owing to his knightly duties, Lady Emma would often sleepwalk, often walking close to the waterfall, a place she associated with her beloved, so much did she miss him.
One night, Sir Eglamore returned. Upon his arrival, he found his Lady sleepwalking perilously close to the falls. He frantically tried to wake her, and at least succeeded, but alas, the shock of waking startled her, she lost her footing and fell.
Unable to forgive himself, Eglamore lived out the rest of his life in a cave close to the falls. It is said Lady Emma’s ghost still haunts Aira Force to this day.
If you are ever able to, I fully recommend a visit to this place where magic shimmers in the very air and crunches underfoot. Where the shapes of sleeping dragons and slumbering giants can be seen in the rise and fall of the land. Where curses wait to be lifted and witches will dance once more.
EMMA KATHRYN
Emma Kathryn, practises traditional British witchcraft, Vodou and Obeah, a mixture representing her heritage. She lives in the sticks with her family where she reads tarot, practises witchcraft and drink copious amounts of coffee.
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