Anyone who reads this blog regularly, and probably rather a lot of other people besides, will know about the legend around Wayland's Smithy long barrow. The Saxons gave this Neolithic tomb the Name of Wayland's Smithy, identifying the site with their Smith-god, Wayland. Tradition has it that if a traveller's horse has lost a shoe, they can leave the animal outside the monument, with payment on the capstone. If they come back later, the horse will have been shod and the money gone.
Apparently, this isn't quite as far fetched as you might think, and not because Wayland didn't think much of the British climate. Historically, it has not been at all unusual for tribal people to provide goods or services in exchange for money without the purchaser ever catching a glimpse of the craftsperson/vendor, and it is possible that an arrangement like this existed between the invading Saxons and the Romano-Britons.
When the site was excavated in 1920, they found two iron age currency bars, which would also suggest that people have been giving money to this monument for an awfully long time.
Next thing is they'll be telling us that the tooth fairy has been positively identified and has gone into retirement since the demise of the sixpenny piece. (Aah, those were the days ...)
4 comments:
Waylands's Smithy has such a hushed, sacred atmosphere. I left 10p there a few years ago, and made a wish. It's kind of coming true, so maybe the old boy is still at work somehow.
Brilliant!
I was actually up there this morning; somebody had left a bunch of daffodils in the terminal chamber. It's the most wonderfully peaceful place.
Great stuff Cathy. Thanks for posting it.
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for visiting our blog, thought I would say hello as sometimes I come here without leaving a message, tut tut!!
Its gone up since I was a kid, the tooth fairies leave £1 coin in our house.
Penny.
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