269 – Hagstones
- Physical description:
- 8 hagstones (holed stones) on a string with five knots.
- Museum classification:
- Protection
- Size:
- 280mm long
- Information:
Eight holed stones, five knots in the string. Hang in your stable and the pixies will not be able to night ride your horses. Witch charm from Bridestowe. (Adapted from text by Cecil Williamson)
According to a visitor to the museum, no fishing boat will set out from the south coast without a hagstone (known as a "lucky stone") strung on copper wire in the bows.
Scarborough Museum has numerous hagstones collected throughout Britain in the early 20th century; mainly hung in houses or stables to keep out witches; though two from Antrim, N. Ireland were hung on the horns of cows to prevent fairies stealing the milk; one from Exmouth was hung on a bedstead to prevent nightmares; one from Whitby was hung over the mantelpiece in a fisherman's cottage for general good luck. Scarborough Museum also has a piece of twine with eight knots (from Manchester) which was used to cure warts; and two "wristing threads" from Shetland (1916) - knotted cords (it's hard to tell how many knots) of natural (?) black wool, tied round a limb to cure sprains. (Information supplied by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
A visitor to the museum from Germany has told us that her parents, who used to live in an old farmhouse in Bavaria, had a hagstone ring hanging up in the house and also a hagstone attached to their house keys.
The Horniman Museum has an old stone spindle whorl, collected by Edward Lovett in County Antrim, which was hung from the horn of a cow to prevent 'pixies' from milking her.
The Horniman Museum also has a hagstone collected by Edward Lovett that was worn by a soldier as a good luck mascot during World War One, and a number of hagstones that seem to have been used as general livestock-protection charms - e.g. for sheep at lambing time, to protect pigs from swine fever, horses from the Devil.
The National Museum of Scotland has a hagstone - known as a Mare Stone - which a fisherwoman in Stonehaven hung on her bed to protect her from nightmares (see Hugh Cheape's chapter in 'Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland', ed. Julian Goodare et al. (there is a copy in the museum library)).This was one of the objects on loan to York Archaeological Trust for exhibition at the Merchant Adventurers' Hall from July 18th 2018 - February 19th 2019.
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Stone, string
- Copyright ownership:
- Copyright to The Museum of Witchcraft Ltd.
Eight holed stones, five knots in the string. Hang in your stable and the pixies will not be able to night ride your horses. Witch charm from Bridestowe. (Adapted from text by Cecil Williamson)
According to a visitor to the museum, no fishing boat will set out from the south coast without a hagstone (known as a "lucky stone") strung on copper wire in the bows.
Scarborough Museum has numerous hagstones collected throughout Britain in the early 20th century; mainly hung in houses or stables to keep out witches; though two from Antrim, N. Ireland were hung on the horns of cows to prevent fairies stealing the milk; one from Exmouth was hung on a bedstead to prevent nightmares; one from Whitby was hung over the mantelpiece in a fisherman's cottage for general good luck. Scarborough Museum also has a piece of twine with eight knots (from Manchester) which was used to cure warts; and two "wristing threads" from Shetland (1916) - knotted cords (it's hard to tell how many knots) of natural (?) black wool, tied round a limb to cure sprains. (Information supplied by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
A visitor to the museum from Germany has told us that her parents, who used to live in an old farmhouse in Bavaria, had a hagstone ring hanging up in the house and also a hagstone attached to their house keys.
The Horniman Museum has an old stone spindle whorl, collected by Edward Lovett in County Antrim, which was hung from the horn of a cow to prevent 'pixies' from milking her.
The Horniman Museum also has a hagstone collected by Edward Lovett that was worn by a soldier as a good luck mascot during World War One, and a number of hagstones that seem to have been used as general livestock-protection charms - e.g. for sheep at lambing time, to protect pigs from swine fever, horses from the Devil.
The National Museum of Scotland has a hagstone - known as a Mare Stone - which a fisherwoman in Stonehaven hung on her bed to protect her from nightmares (see Hugh Cheape's chapter in 'Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland', ed. Julian Goodare et al. (there is a copy in the museum library)).
This was one of the objects on loan to York Archaeological Trust for exhibition at the Merchant Adventurers' Hall from July 18th 2018 - February 19th 2019.